~Head Over Heels ;; Eddie and Frank~

4 - Party Time

Barnaby's house seemed to pulse with the raving music on the inside, and even with the small amount of guests that came it always appeared to burst at the seams. As soon as Frank let themself inside, the bass seemed to smash against their head. They picked up a drink off the island in the kitchen, hoping to be rid of their headache with some caffeine.

Frank caught himself looking for Eddie. He did say he needed company, anyway, but Frank was sure that the entire neighborhood flocked around him. That's the way it always was with the new neighbors.

Frank stepped into another room, looking for Julie, to be bombarded by flashing lights and colors. They backed up and fled to the porch, slamming the door behind them. They sat down on the steps, slumped over, and covered their ears. The constant panging ache in their head was clearly prevailing against their attempt to have 'fun'.

A yelping noise came from the side of the house, just out of Frank's field of vision.  They stood, holding their head as they did so. And then from the trees was Eddie, running and screaming bloody murder.

"Eddie! What in Home are you--"

And flitting after Eddie was a big, blue butterfly. Frank watched Eddie do another lap around the house with the butterfly in pursuit. Frank wasn't the athletic type, anyway, and they'd just have to wait until Eddie slowed down, or-

Just as Frank was thinking the word "tripped", Eddie fell flat on the grass on his second lap. By the time he'd turned over, the butterfly had plans to land directly on his blocky nose. Frank couldn't help but chuckle as Eddie froze completely still.

"Eddie, it's not going to hurt you. Hold on, stay still."

Eddie let out a strangled noise of agreement, face frozen underneath the butterfly's sky-colored wings. Frank kneeled down on the ground, scooping the butterfly up into their hands. Eddie gasped and sucked in air as if he'd been choking the entire time.

"What a little troublemaker! These things have been following me around since I got here!"

Frank laughed again, inspecting the creature in their palms.

"This 'troublemaker' is called a red-spotted purple butterfly, I do believe."

Eddie sat up next to where Frank kneeled, careful to stay a safe distance away from the insect.

"That's an odd name for a pretty blue butterfly."

Frank nodded. "I can agree. Though it may be the dark gradient on the wings, see?"

After Eddie had gotten a safely-distanced look, they gingerly stepped over Eddie to place the insect back onto a nearby bush, dusting off their hands on their pants.

"I think I'm 'bout ready to go home after all that.." Eddie said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Would you want to, I dunno, stop over and chat about those insects you like so much?" Eddie took off his hat and held it. 

"It is awful late. Maybe instead you could walk me home? We can round the block a few times if you really want to spend that much time with me." Frank smiles only for a split second, holding their hands behind their back. 

 Eddie grins back. "Fine, but only if you let me stop in after work tomorrow. Deal?" He holds out his hand to Frank, to seemingly seal their promise.

Frank squints at his hand before shaking it stiffly. "Deal. Now, let's get going, Mr. Dear."