Best Mistake [Boy x Boy]

† Chapitre Deux †

† Exactly two months had passed, and just as Mr. Frank predicted, he had vanished about one month ago, leaving Xanti the ownership of the bookshop. He'd gotten used to living in the bookshop, and he got along well with the two employees who already worked here. †
† Meeting them had been kind of awkward, for all three of them. "Kids, this is Xanti, your new boss," Wasn't a great conversation starter. †
† "What do you mean, our new boss? Who is this guy?" The man, later introduced as Sam Dillans. "Why does he get to be boss?" He turned over to look at the girl, later introduced as Darcy Hernandez, for agreement. †
† "Mr. Frank, please don't call me boss yet. Nothing's been confirmed yet, and I'm sure it displeases your employees," Xanti wore an uncomfortable smile, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. †
† "What's this guy doing here? Is he, like, one of those guys who seem really nice and sweet on the outside, but are actually creepy and insane on the inside?" Darcy commented, her eyes looking over Xanti critically, making him look away uncomfortably. †
† "No, he isn't," Mr. Frank chuckled to lighten the very awkward mood, "I'm a bit confused as to why he's here, too. He seems like he should be in at least Elysium, but alas, he is here, and he will work in the bookshop; soon maybe own it. So I want you kids to get along, alright?" Even after his little speech, they still looked skeptical of him. It would take another two weeks before they got around to liking him, two weeks of Xanti getting used to working there and getting used to being dead in the Underworld. †

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† Mr. Frank's vanishment had been quick and sudden, all four of them had been in the shop when all of a sudden, he just slowly disappeared, the thud of books making everyone jump a little. Nobody had expected it then, and the three were left alone. †
† Xanti, Darcy, and Sam all took a day off the following day, sitting silently in front of the bookshop. Nobody said a single word, and nobody was allowed inside. That's how it was the entire day, they never left, not even for food. †
† Xanti hadn't even known Mr. Frank for long, their meeting had been so sudden, but he had grown close to him. Only knowing Mr. Frank for one month wasn't enough, it was just too short a time. That entire day, Xanti spent wondering why Mr. Frank had trusted him so easily, why he had been so kind to a stranger like Xanti. He could've just ignored him, like everyone else. But no, Mr. Frank had shown him a great kindness and gladly welcomed him, without question. For that, Xanti was extremely grateful. Xanti could also tell that Darcy and Sam were upset, he wondered what they were feeling, having known Mr. Frank for far much longer that he himself had. Darcy and Sam weren't the nicest of the nice, but he could tell that they were really good people whom got along great with Mr. Frank. They were all upset, Mr. Frank had been a great guy. †

†| †| †

† Now that Xanti owned the place, nothing had really changed except that there was one less person around. Darcy and Sam were in the second book room, reorganizing the books, while Xanti was sitting behind the front desk. †
† One thing Xanti loved about his job now was that when there were no customers in, he could just sit there and read a book. He could grab any book in the room and read it, escaping to his own little world where he could pretend to be a hero or a hacker or someone who played an important role in history, not Xanti the dead and awkward bookshop owner. He could distract himself with books, since he still couldn't entirely grasp the fact that was, indeed, dead. †
† Xanti had just finished a book about the Wizard of Oz, but with a plot twist where all the good guys were bad guys, when Darcy and Sam announced they were leaving. That's how it usually was, Xanti was left alone in the shop for the last two hours until he closed it and went up to the third floor, where he lived. He had to admit, it was pretty nice to live in the same building that you worked in. He didn't have to walk miles to get to work, and the bookshop was fairly close to some restaurants and shops where Xanti could go and get what he needed to "live", so to speak. †
† "Get home safely, guys," Xanti smiler and waved them off as they opened the door to leave. †
† "We will," Sam answered, "Take good care of our bookshop, will ya?" he chuckled as he and Darcy left. Xanti chuckled and got up, putting the book he'd just finished back where it was and looking around for another one to read. The one he'd just read was fantasy, and now he was in the mood to read something a bit more historic. Slowly, his hand grazed over the book spines, a common tendency of his, looking over the titles for something that would catch his eyes. He came across a book titled 'The Underworld' and pulled it out, beginning to read the summary. It would be about all of the history of the Underworld, all of the myths about it. Smiling to himself, Xanti grabbed the book and made his way back to the seat behind the glass counter. Opening the book, he began to read it, and got about four chapters in, when he heard the little doorbell ring as someone entered the shop. †
† "Hello, welcome to my bookshop, how may I help you?" When Xanti looked up, his breath was taken away. Standing at the front was the most handsome man he had ever laid eyes on. He had the darkest yet most mesmerizing blue eyes, perfectly fair skin, and possibly the darkest black hair he'd ever seen. Xanti didn't even know he was staring, and when he realized he was, he forced himself to look at this hands. †
† "Oh, um. . . Hi," he seemed to freeze for a moment, making Xanti wonder if he'd done something to freak him out, or if maybe just by looking at him, he didn't like him. "Do you have any book recommendations?" he asked. †
† "Well, that depends on what kind of books you like to read," Xanti responded, straightening himself up a bit and wondering how messy his har was, unable to look in a mirror. Why was he getting so worked up over a stranger? Why was he feeling this, a feeling unbeknownst to Xanti, for a guy? Was he. . . Had he been gay when he was alive? He had no time to think about these kinds of things! This guy probably already had an Underworld girlfriend or something. †
† "I'm more into fantasy," he said, a small smile forming. Xanti smiled as well, butterflies growing in his stomach. †
† "You should really read this book series where the story takes different tales and shows the villain's view of it," Xanti walked over to the right corner, where all of the fantasy books were, and ran his hand along the book spines, his addicting habit, until he found the series, a series of three books. He pulled them out and when he turned, he found the man standing a ways back behind him, smirking as if he found Xanti amusing, which made him feel a bit embarrassed. "H-Here it is. . ." Xanti mumbled, holding the books out for him to take. †
† "Thanks, and if I may ask, what's your name?" He asked, walking in front of the counter while Xanti walked behind the counter where the register was. †
† "M-My name? Xanti Faustus," Xanti smiled brightly, "And yours is?" He asked politely. †
† "Me? Ajax Diabolos," Ajax said, handing the books to Xanti for him to put them in the small paper bag he had in hand. Ajax pulled out his wallet and smiled at Xanti. †
† "That's a nice name," Xanti commented as he handed Ajax the small bag full of books, "That'll be $24.89," Xanti sheepishly smiled. †
† "Here you go," Ajax handed him the money, "By any chance, Mr. Xanti Faustus. . . Are you free tomorrow?" He smirked at Xanti's blushing face, and raised an eyebrow. †
† "T-Tomorrow?" Xanti thought to himself. The following day would be a Sunday, when the shop only opened for five hours. "Yeah, I am," Xanti could feel his face heating up, and the butterflies in his stomach growing more and more giddy. †
† "Alright, Mr. Faustus, at what time shall our date be?" Ajax chuckled. Xanti's heart stopped at the word 'date'. †
† "At. . . Five? Is five good?" Xanti furrowed his eyebrows, thinking that if the store closed at three, two hours would be enough time inbetween. †
† "Five is perfect," Ajax smiled playfully, "See you tomorrow," Winking, he walked out of the store, leaving Xanti to 'die' of excitement for the following day. †