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ppatpranss · 4 years

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GAYA SA PELIKULA EP. 02 Review: Let’s talk about that dinner scene.

“May nahanap ka na bang mauuwian?”

I always have this kind of fear over a series that I already liked in the first episode: a fear that the second one will not live up to it, and so will the rest. But Gaya Sa Pelikula on its second episode did not disappoint, and instead set a whole new pace that further strengthens the story it wants to tell. In this episode, you get easy banters, hilarious make-believe and intriguing fantasies, heartwarming softness, a piercing tension at every turn, that very subtle buildup of romance, and of course, that wonderful conversation on the dining table.

Early warning that I have been gushing about the dinner scene since last night, so it will take up a lot of space in this review/discussion.

[WATCH EPISODE 02 HERE]

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What sets Gaya apart

Every time I watch an episode of this show and would rewatch it, I am always overwhelmed with the amount of observations I am able to write down. There are a lot of elements that make this such a good watching experience, and all of those elements just naturally come together. By this, I mean that it does not rely solely on, say, just directing or writing or acting. All of these come together, and I appreciate that you can clearly see how well-thought out everything is.

Episode 02 is a lot more free-flowing and non-structured in my opinion. Transitions feel a lot smoother this time compared to the more scene-after-scene approach of the (no less incredible) pilot episode. Because of this, I actually feel like this point is the real beginning of the story – that this sets the tone for a lot of the future events that could possibly happen between Karl and Vlad, and the people in their lives.

Personally, this is what sets Gaya apart not just among the BL series, but also in Philippine TV in general. For the longest time, we got used to stagnant or repetitive conflicts. Sometimes all the drama are injected to overwhelm the audience. But this one takes its time well. This is a show that wants to bring its audience along its every journey.

Parallels, heartbreaks, buildups

The opening scene picks up where we left off, with Ate Judit now writing a check for Karl’s rent because Vlad will stay over. She reminds Karl that while she’s a cool sister, she won’t stand for her brother getting hurt again. With this, she specifically mentioned “a boy too sweet to swat a fly” who broke his brother’s heart before.

First of all, I’m getting a sudden whiplash whenever this is brought up because I know exactly who it is. Given the first encounter of Karl with Vlad, where he saw him drunkenly dancing to a song about intense heartbreak (again, stream tyl by kakie!), it must have been something truly painful. It doesn’t help as well that there is an obvious parallel going on here with the fact that the description also fits Karl. At one point, Vlad also tells him that he does not need to worry because he looks like someone who does not have a power to hurt him anyway. They are really setting us up as early as now for the heartache, no?

In the same way, I appreciate how this show inserts the sexual attraction also forming between the two of them. Sexual attraction is a part of romance. Gaya normalizes it and emphasizes that it is just natural. The couch scene was particularly genius because of the double meanings of Karl and Vlad’s exchange. But more than that, I like how it also unapologetically shows the physical component of that attraction by having Karl and Vlad sit close together. Vlad even has his arm around Karl. Even the fact that Karl stared at Vlad when he got out of the bathroom was a nice touch.

While the One More Chance dream fantasy was all sorts of hilarious and sexy, it is a testament to how Karl’s subconscious is already telling him something that he keeps on denying. I also like the nice touch there when Karl woke up, he was just disoriented that he had a dirty dream, but not disgusted by it (there are some series and dramas that do this). He is attracted to Vlad. However, for Karl to accept his feelings, it also means that he needs to accept his sexuality. A point which was discussed primarily in the scene before this – the conversation at the dining table.

The phenomenal dinner scene

I wish I am able to give justice to this scene through words, and I’ll try because we need to talk about it (or I need to talk about it). As a fan of films and TV series, I feel like conversations are the most difficult to bring to the surface. You need to keep the audience’s attention while also making sure that the depth is there. For me, what I always look for in conversation scenes are three things: (1) how normal these conversations would sound like as if you are overhearing them from the table next to you; (2) how a director captures the rawness of the exchange between the two actors; and (3) how natural would the delivery be of each line. I think the third point is very important. Some actors have this tendency to talk in a certain kind of perky tone that makes it sound superficial. Thank goodness, both Ian and Pao were really great in this scene.

Of course, the most well-known example for a good conversation scene is the entire Before trilogy – it remains the gold standard for exhibiting the power and the magic of conversations, of an entire film with just these two people talking and forming connections. While this dinner scene isn’t exactly a Before levels type of perfection, to me it was a perfect scene in the face of BL series and the Philippines TV landscape in general.

𝗚𝗮𝘆. 𝗕𝗮𝗸𝗹𝗮. 𝗕𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘁. 𝗕𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗲𝘂𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗺. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁.

One of the things best highlighted in this scene is when Karl did the gesture with his hand. That is unfortunately common in the Philippines, with people literally doing it to your face when they ask you. Or some of them done behind your back with matching giggling and knowing looks. I should know because I’ve seen it among my relatives when they try to refer to or describe a cousin or an uncle who is gay or might be gay. Karl was conditioned to think this way, and it’s no surprise that he would struggle to ask the question and get the word out. Meanwhile, Vlad is confident in his own skin. He doesn’t miss a beat and tries to get Karl to say the words in a way that both lectures him and encourages him.

This is what makes the scene purely amazing. It is confrontational, but it is not dramatic. It isn’t even preachy at all. It’s just a seemingly ordinary conversation between two people over a meal, trying to get to know and understand each other. You really got to hand it to Severo for constructing a dialogue this way because it also brings out both of Karl and Vlad’s current disposition. Moreover, this topic is a big deal and there are a lot of conversations that need to be had around it. But this scene easily summed it up around that one simple gesture. In less than a minute, it was able to tell you that being called gay, bakla, bayot, bading is not an insult. No grand monologue was needed.

Aside from that iconic exchange, I also loved the second part of it. It’s not going around much on Twitter so I can see some people reacting to the earlier exchange as if Karl was really just insulting Vlad. But the deal here is, Karl is also in the process of unlearning his bias and conditioning. He grew up in a household where his Dad would take digs against his gay uncle, Tito Santi. There’s even a hint of Tito Santi being physically hurt by his father if he’s “babakla-bakla” (basically another insulting way of saying lalambot-lambot). You can just imagine how difficult it must have been for him to grow up and feel like he needs to follow a certain path that his parents see for him.

Hence, when confronted by Vlad with the question, “Ikaw ba, bakla ka?” he was defensive. His tone shot up much higher than normal and was almost panicked. You can literally feel all of his guard come up. Vlad asked him why he was acting like he just accused him of a crime, and to his credit, Karl immediately apologized. But again, I just really understand Karl and I can’t wait for him to really see himself and get to know himself. There is so much about him that I am interested to learn and for him to learn as well about himself. I always see him as like a kid learning to take his first steps – he stumbles but tries to stand again even for just the sake of himself. His many mess-ups in life make his character compelling… and I guess this is just me on my #ProtectKarlAgenda.

Interestingly, as per Direk JP, above scene references an iconic scene from Jose Javier Reyes’ 1993 rom-com film MAY MINAMAHAL which, coincidentally, I just watched last month when I found its restored version on iWant. Amazing as well that the specific scene of them having a meal together was really my favourite from the film because it was a turning point for Carlitos (Aga Muhlach) and Monica (Aiko Melendez). It was when they finally start to get to know each other because for the longest time, they would just flirt in the cafeteria. It was a fitting reference because for Karl and Vlad, they are already starting to get to know each other by sharing even a small part of themselves. I also find it adorable watching Karl watch Vlad messily eat his food. I live for those small soft moments because it just seems so pure and innocent.

All in all, the dinner scene truly delivered. It was iconic and powerful. Major props to Gege and Direk JP, but also to both Ian and Pao. I loved how Pao was able to capture Karl’s reluctance and embarrassment, and Ian just exudes the confidence you need to see in Vlad. How can I describe this connection? Magnetic, I guess? They can easily throw these lines at each other, sustain the tension, and kind of just get lost in it. At every turn, Vlad has the power in this scene as he tries to pull Karl towards him, but also Karl stands on his own ground despite being unsure. I appreciate that about Karl – his life can be a mess, but he never really loses his sense of self and principles.

Finding a home

Aside from everything that happened in this episode, one of the things that I definitely loved is its subtle hint of these two people finding a home in each other. The most striking line for me, really, was when Karl asked Vlad, may nahanap ka na bang mauuwian? I like that this can translate to have you found a place to stay in? and have you found a place to go home to? The episode had such a great run in double meanings, and this one takes the cake more than anything. Karl was starting to feel guilty about kicking out Vlad, and it also happens that over his phone call with Tito Santi, he told him to always find a way to repay kindness with paying it forward to another person or to the community. Luckily, Vlad went back to his apartment to use the restroom.

When Vlad was about to leave, Karl called him back and asked, “Nag-dinner ka na ba?”

Vlad stayed for dinner.

When Vlad was done with dinner and was about to leave again, Karl stopped him and said, “Dito ka na lang matulog.”

Vlad stayed the night.

When Vlad was about to leave to come live with his ex-boyfriend after cooking breakfast as a thank-you, Karl offered him a place to stay, “Will you be my housemate?”

Vlad said yes and stayed.

Epilogue

In today’s epilogue, Karl is still seated on his side of the couch, but Vlad this time was standing at the back of the other side, leaning forward. A stuffed whale occupies the space beside Karl. Every now and then, the two of them would look at each other but it is Karl who would often glance back at Vlad – as to what his eyes are telling him, I don’t know. But if I am allowed to guess, perhaps he was trying to get him to sit beside him? Perhaps, as the closing note goes, there is always a space for Vlad there.

Comments; Ramblings

It’s only the second episode but Gaya is already sparking conversations and it does it in such an engaging way for its many fans. For me, this one really sets the foundation for what is yet to come for the story of Karl and Vlad. If anything, this episode emphasizes that struggle will always be a part of queer love, at least in our current socio-political climate. It isn’t just in regard to identity, but also with everything that comes with the acceptance of who you are by yourself and the Other.

For the pilot episode discussion, I talked about how there seems to be a running theme in this show about seeing – of looking at yourself, the other, or a beloved. This episode shows us Karl seeing Vlad; closely and slowly starting to unravel what it was about him that compels him. For Vlad’s part, I’m pretty sure he’s starting to see who Karl is, too. I feel like him feeling comfortable enough with the idea of staying in Karl’s place and actually living with him over the sem break is an indication of strangely feeling at ease (home?) with someone he just met.

The concept of persons as homes takes me back to a post from a Facebook page called Bibliophile, which was lifted from a poem written by Warsan Shire called ‘For Women Who Are Difficult to Love’: “You can’t make homes out of human beings. Someone should have already told you that.” This episode made me think a lot about that. On one hand, it feels romantic and uplifting to know that you have someone you can call your home, someone you can always return to as Yiu-fai put it in HAPPY TOGETHER [1997]. On the other hand, it feels scary because people change and if today the door and the windows are open, it might not be the same the next day. But I suppose I can feel hopeful for both Karl and Vlad. Perhaps, the door to Karl’s apartment will always be open for Vlad and the space beside the couch will always be reserved for him.

Gaya Sa Pelikula airs new episodes every Friday 8PM (Manila time) on Globe Studios’ Youtube channel.

GAYA SA PELIKULA Ep 01 Review [x]

#gaya sa pelikula #like in the movies #pangpang #ian pangilinan #paolo pangilinan #pinoy bl #filipino web series #filipino bl #boys love #juan miguel severo #jp habac #gsp review #owned

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imastrangeone98 · 4 years

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Four-Eyes - Chapter 2: Making Friends

(A/N: hiiii it’s been a while since I wrote for bnha, but don’t worry! Im back... for now. Muahahahahahahaha!! but yea, here’s the next chpt and I hope you guys enjoy! there was some interest in this series, and I’m hoping to take it far!)

But seriously now that I think about it, I haven’t done this shit in a LONG time. Some characters may be a bit ooc... sorry

So this chapter is basically just Ayame being completely awkward for a whole day.... she’s kinda like me in that regard XD

Finding the classroom was easy enough. Selecting a seat was easy enough. Waiting for the teacher and potentially late classmates was easy enough.

What wasn’t easy was the vigorous amount of questioning from her new seat mate.

“Hey, hey, why do your eyes change color? Is it your Quirk? What is your Quirk? I’m Hado Nejire, by the way. What’s your name?”

“Sasaki Ayame. As for my eyes-“

“Hey, hey, have you heard from the upperclassmen about our teacher?” the blue-haired girl continued to ramble, question after question, not seeming to care that Ayame didn’t respond to all of them.

She liked this girl.

Not many people were willing to voice their thoughts out loud, especially those that seem obvious. Asking questions was a healthy part of development- not just for children, but for growing adults to push back against ignorance and sheer stupidity.

“So, Ayame, what school did you come from?” her newfound companion asked her, head tilted to the side. “I don’t think I saw you in my junior high school.”

She hummed. “I didn’t attend any school. I was educated at home.”

Nejire whistled. “Home-school? What’s that like?”

“Convenient,” she said simply, counting down the seconds until class started. “If I wanted to be anything other than a hero, I probably would’ve kept going with it.”

Nejire opened her mouth to ask yet another question, only for the bell to ring at exactly 8:25 AM.

Right on time, Ayame thought, just as the door began to slide open. Instantly, a tall, buff man with silver hair and a bright red-and-silver costume barged into the room, yelling for the students to sit the hell down and pay attention, dammit!

She studied him. Vlad King. Pro hero. 194 centimeters. Quirk: Blood Control- it allowed him to freely manipulate and control all possible factors of his blood.

He began to take roll. Students raised their hands and announced their presence when their respective name was called. Except the indigo-haired boy who sat in the corner, Amajiki Tamaki, who nearly fled the room when his name was called.

“Hado Nejire!”

“Present!” she chirped, hand raised high. “Hey, hey! Teacher, why are your-“

“Kuronawa Hikari!” he barked, completely ignoring the question.

Nejire sulked. Ayame stifled a laugh.

As he continued to take roll, certain names and Quirks stood out from the others. The aforementioned Kuronawa Hikari, for one thing: midnight black hair, sunlight-yellow eyes, skin like the Milky Way Galaxy, and Quirk: Yin and Yang; it gave the user to absorb all forms of light and convert it to powerful energy, while also allowing herself to turn her entire body into light waves and/or pure darkness. It was a Quirk with lots of potential.

Even the Amajiki boy was interesting. Despite his easily exploitable shy personality, she could tell that he had lots of hidden talent. He was one to monitor.

“Togata Mirio!”

Silence. Ayame sweatdropped. In the corner, Amajiki covered his eyes and whispered a mournful “No...”

Vlad King grumbled. “Togata Mirio! You better be in here in three... two... one-!”

“Here!” a voice called out by the door. All eyes locked on it.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, in the blink of an eye, a blond-haired boy seemingly phased through the wall, landing on his butt...

Literally. His entire body was naked.

Togata Mirio. Age: 15. Quirk: Permeation- it allowed him to phase through everything, including air and light, in exchange for losing his senses. A truly difficult Quirk to master.

She’d keep an eye on him.

The class was silent. Then one boy cried out, “Oh no! It’s Lucas!”

Everyone burst into laughter, even the naked boy, who scrambled to cover himself with his hands while simultaneously attempting to get his clothes and backpack. Ayame rolled her eyes, but the tiny smile on her face was unmistakeable.

Togata finally managed to grab a seat with his pants on, right in front of Amajiki, who leaned over to whisper something in his ear. The blond burst out in laughter, much to the chagrin of his friend and the annoyance of the teacher.

Names came and went; it took about 13.49 seconds to reach the last name: “Yamamoto Fudo!”

Silence.

Vlad King grumbled. “Yamamoto Fudo! I swear to-“

“What do you want?” a boy snapped. The voice came from the middle of the class, and all heads snapped to find the source.

182 centimeters. Charcoal hair, glowing red eyes, obsidian skin with small lava-like lines running up and down his body. Quirk: Volcano; a fire-based Quirk that allowed the user to manipulate fire and lava in any realistic shape and form, as well as being able to control the density and flow of the fire, at the cost of potentially overheating or literally burning himself up. A truly high-cost, high-reward Quirk.

It could also explain his seemingly volatile personality. Ayame decided she would avoid him.

Vlad rolled his eyes. “So now you decide to make an appearance.”

Yamamoto huffed. “Whatever.”

With a grunt, the teacher closed his notebook. “Well, here we go. Another batch of newbies to train. Better not slack off, now! I wanna see each and every one of you give their 110 percent. Plus Ultra!”

“Plus Ultra!” everyone cheered.

Is this what students do to motivate themselves? Ayame wondered. Scream out a bunch of vague motivational words that in their basic form, have no relative meaning whatsoever?

“Now head to the gymnasium! It’s time for orientation!”

More loud cheers as her classmates dashed out of their seats.

“Hey, hey, Ayame! Why are you sitting down? Let’s go together! Maybe we can find my friend Yuyu, she and I were friends in our old middle school-“ Nejire grabbed Ayame’s hand and practically dragged her out of the classroom, towards the gym, rattling on about her friendship with Yuyu and what they could possibly hear during the orientation, asking rhetorical questions about the principal and his Quirk.

“Friendship is something that takes time, but is just as abundant as humor.”

In such a short amount of time, Ayame couldn’t help but wonder if she had managed to make a friend.

———————————————————————

A/N: wow this is such shit but I’m still posting it. Look at this miserable loser who who can’t write for shit yet finds great pleasure in it anyway XD

But yea... here it is. I finally have chpt 2 ready.

Next up is coward pt 2! Mando fans, look forward to it!

#boku no hero academia #bnha #togata mirio #bnha mirio #hado nejire #bnha nejire #amajiki tamaki #bnha tamaki #sir nighteye #sasaki mirai #bnha oc #four-eyes

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sinceritygem · 5 years

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Reasons Trevor and Alucard’s Friendship Matters to Me

Watching this series, Trevor and Alucard’s friendship hit me really hard, not in the least because I realized it’s the dynamic I have with my partner and one of my best friends (I’m Alucard, if anyone is wondering).

The reason that this dynamic resonated so deeply with me is that the series really captures the way that, despite being so different on the surface, these characters are dealing with very similar traumatic experiences. They are able to find companionship specifically because they both have outside status, and that friendship is presented as thoroughly beneficial and healthy inside a show that’s full of darkness:

1. They Get to be Their Full, Flawed Selves

Alucard is a half-vampire with the weight of stopping his dangerous father from destroying the world on his (very young) shoulders.

Trevor is the only heir to a family of vampire hunters who were both legendary and hunted to extinction, who also feels responsible for stopping Dracula. But everyone hates him. He’s also quite young.

Both of these men have impossible burdens, and are ostracized by other people who have no real understanding of their experiences. We literally meet Trevor in a bar with other patrons talking about how they want his whole family dead, and we know humans (and his own fucking father) want to kill Alucard.

These two are set up to be diametrically opposed enemies: Alucard is all class and coldness where Trevor is crass fiery chaos. Alucard is an upper crust noble where Trevor is a working knight. They’re literally the Vampire and the Vampire Hunter. But we never really go there. They are aware of their differences, but when they’re together, they get to be young men. They give each other shit for the way they talk or stupid things they do -- not actual distaste for one another. Their badgering happens because they are safe to be flawed, and safe enough to let the other see who they are. Other than Sypha, neither character lets anyone else in the show remotely this close to them. When Trevor and Alucard meet, Alucard coldly and aloofly asks if they’re searching for a savior, the larger-than-life role he’s constantly forced into. In return, Trevor shrugs and says he fell down a hole. He doesn’t have this expectation of Alucard, and Alucard is free to meet him as a peer, which he pretty quickly does. There’s a great follow-up exchange in Season 2: Sypha: Try not to kill each other while I’m gone. Alucard: Oh, please. We're not children. Trevor: [Pointing at Alucard] Eat shit and die. Alucard: Yes, fuck you.[They both chuckle.] This is the bullshit of friends, not mortal enemies. It’s also the bullshit of late teens or early adults, not two men who have the entire weight of the world on them. Because of their friendship, they get to actually be people.

2. They Can (Finally) Rely on Someone

Alucard and Trevor have both spent a lot of time alone, and have both been abandoned by family members, emotionally and/or through death. Alucard literally left home and slept for a year, and Trevor roams around getting drunk and starting fights. These are people who expect to be abandoned and disappointed.

But they trust each other. Pretty immediately.

This exchange starts partially out of need. Alucard says, “I need a hunter and a scholar. I need their help to save Wallachia, perhaps the world, and defeat my father.” But it does matter it’s Sypha and Trevor. He appreciates their honesty, and their bluntness. He very quickly appreciates their humor. And it’s mutual. Trevor respects Alucard’s wit, humor, and commitment to his goal.

3. Their Suffering is Understood, But Not Dwelled On

Part of the reason for above is because they have an understanding of shared experience, even if they’ve handled it differently.

More importantly, they both get what trauma does, and have a respect for each other for having gone through it. Alucard has a line right at the end of Season 1, when the gang is assembling, where Trevor asks why Alucard wants to team up and kill Dracula. Alucard says, “Because it is what my mother would have wanted. And we are all, in the end, slaves to our family's wishes.” This is a huge connection for Trevor, who can see both the humanity (taking a kind action for a loved one) as well as relate to the burden of our family’s wishes, which in his case is passing on the vampire hunter manner. But it’s also more personal than that. There’s a line late in Season 2 where Alucard says, “I’m disturbed to find I had more of a childhood than you did.” Alucard is not coy about how fraught his childhood was, but that also gives him the empathy to actually understand that Trevor had it rough. He isn’t belittling Trevor; he’s actually seeing him.

These men who have had almost no one support them suddenly have a person who values them as they are and can deeply see what they are experiencing. That’s huge.

4. They Don’t Have to Worry About the Other One Being Afraid of Them

Alucard and Trevor could both kill each other. They establish that the first time they meet and remind each other of it constantly.

This is actually a trauma response. They’re so used to people leaving, that they’re pushing to see if the other will leave.

This is crucial to their friendship, because the other one doesn’t leave. He’s not even really phased. He just makes a joke and keeps going. This is how they build trust, and it mirrors Lisa’s relationship with Vlad -- one of the clearly healthy dynamics in the show.

We can contrast this with Trevor’s interactions with the Priest and various tavern-goers, who all hate him genuinely and immediately. His pushing away tactics “work” in these cases and get him hated.

Alucard is similarly disliked by the vampire community and we can assume general humans. Worst of all, his own father has actively rejected him. Alucard thus decides to be cold and distant, similarly pushing others away. But in their friendship, they are equals, and they are kept around, even with all their flaws and monstrous ability. They even start to exchange some traits. Trevor thinks things through a little more and isa little more genuine, and Alucard relaxes a little more and engages in some asshole tomfoolery. They begin to let down their defenses.

5. This Dynamic is Healing Oriented

The reason this dynamic gets my heart strings going is that IT MATTERS SO DEEPLY. These are two damaged souls fighting an impossible fight, and THEY FOUND SOMEONE WHO RESPECTS THEM AND SEES THEM. Alucard and Trevor don’t ask each other to be different than they are; they use their skills and approaches to try to solve an impossible task, while validating that they want the other one around. They also accept and support that the other person has experienced trauma.

These are the friendships we deeply need when we’re carrying the weight of things like PTSD, abandonment, neglect, abuse, and other mental health worries. I love Alucard and Trevor because they are such GOOD, HEALTH FRIENDS, even when their own shit is still messy. I absolutely relate to Alucard Tepes, and this show gave me a renewed appreciation for the Trevors in my life. I’m here and as healthy and strong as I am because they saw me and they loved me.

A follow up to “Reasons Alucard Tepes Matters to Me” Here [X]

#castlevania #alucard tepes #trevor belmont #castlevania season 2 #alucard #trevor #adrian tepes #meta #castlevania season two

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acklest · 5 years

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@1000roughdrafts tagged me! I love these.

Rule: answer 21 questions and tag blogs you’d like to get to know

Nickname: I’m just Amanda, named for the Waylon Jennings song of the same name. I do not like Waylon Jennings.

Sign: Pisces

What I’m Wearing: Maylene and the Sons of Disaster t-shirt, Deadpool pajama pants, and socks with tiny American flags on them.

Dream Job: I have desperately and unwaveringly wanted to be a writer since I was 8 years old and read Madeleine L’Engles’ A Swiftly Tilting Planet.

Favorite Quote: Aut inveniam viam aut faciam (”I shall either find a way or make one”), attributed to Hannibal (the military commander, not the psychopathic serial killer), have it tattooed across my arms. It’s like my little always-visible “you can handle this” thing.

Favorite Food: Meat. Bring me all the red meat you have.

Favorite Movie: L.A. Confidential; The Usual Suspects; Michael Clayton; Galaxy Quest; Man on Fire; The Crow; Fight Club; Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; Get Carter (the Michael Caine original), I have Tombstone memorized, so that’s a thing.

Favorite Sport: Hockey

Dream Trip: Before I die, I want to see Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden in Italy. I also want to see The House on the Rock in Wisconsin and make a whole road trip out of it.

Languages: Seeing as I am: (1) an ex-smoker who always sounds like she has a slight cold (2) a southern mush-mouth, (3) (at the moment) pretty drunk, I assure ya’ll that, at the best of times, I barely speak English.

Favorite Song: I have 25,000 songs in my iTunes library and I love so many of them. I’m going to go by the top 5 “most plays” or I could literally sit here for hours trying to decide. Disposable Heroes - Metallica; How Many More Times - Led Zeppelin; Where the Devil Don’t Stay - Drive-by Truckers; Mind Eraser, No Chaser - Them Crooked Vultures; Sinister Kid - The Black Keys

Favorite Book: I’m counting the entire Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan saga as one book and no one can stop me; ditto Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos books, American Gods - Neil Gaiman, Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson, Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury, Downbelow Station - CJ Cherryh, The Crocodile Bird - Ruth Rendell. Ugh, I’m gonna think of 900 more right after I hit Publish.

What Do I Hate: Oh my god, Tumblr doesn’t have the server space for that particular list. But if I have to pick one, it’s people who feel its their duty to coax introverts into “fun”, to fix them. Introverts don’t go around telling extroverts to read more or be quiet. Leave us alone.

Random Fact: I once dropped acid with four other high school friends out in the middle of a field and I spent my whole “trip” making sure they had blankets and water and making sure bugs weren’t getting on them and I was apparently very orderly and aggressive about it. I was therefore called Mama Buzzkill well into my twenties.

Describe Yourself as Aesthetic Things: Abandoned buildings, radio static, cheap paperbacks, black coffee that is now barely warm and has to be consumed like a shot of whisky or it will be cold and gross, wet piñata full of drug paraphernalia, the exchange of an unmarked brown envelope for a wad of cash... Am I doing this right? It just feels so dramatic. Is “Costo” an aesthetic, because we have to go to Costco tomorrow.

Do I Get Asks: Nah, I have anon disabled, it’s nothing but trouble, and if someone wants to reach out directly, it makes more sense to hit the message button and strike up a conversation that way. Is that “Fan Mail” thing still a thing here? That was hysterical.

Other Blogs: Not really, the multiple blogs thing was a pain in the ass. I don’t have the time or patience.

Hogwarts House: Pottermore placed me in Slytherin years ago.

Patronus: Honey badger

Favorite Characters: Dean Winchester (Supernatural). Let’s just go with him. I can’t think of any other character right now anyway. I am overwhelmed with grief.

Any Updates on a New Fic: I just had to delete chapter 9 of Anything and Everything All at Once because I jacked up my plot line. I’m not going to post more chapters until I have all of the remaining chapters done. I’ve learned my lesson.

#tag games #personal #about me #not spn #I have to go sleep now #longpost

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rantingfangirl · 7 years

Text

Cross Life Chapter Three

Summary: Moving across the pond was supposed to signify new beginnings for the Kirkland family. Arthur’s parents seemed to take that a bit too literally for his liking.

Chapter Index

This was moved from my old blog

Vlad giggled, popping a piece of caramel popcorn in his mouth. Arthur took one from the bag, rolling it between his fingers, examining, before eating it. The three were sitting together in the school’s courtyard, enjoying the small lunch break that they had before having to return back to class.

Well, Vlad and Lukas were enjoying themselves, with their shorts and short-sleeved t-shirts. Sweat trailed down Arthur’s back and he mentally patted himself on the shoulder for remembering to put deodorant on that morning. Though they sat under one of the numerous trees in the courtyard, the shade and soft breeze did little to shake off the sweltering heat.

Stuffing a handful of popcorn in his mouth, Vlad’s voice was muffled, half-chewed bits falling out onto his shirt and lap as he spoke. “An-and then I said to ‘im, 'stay in your bed and go to sleep, or the boogeyman will come out, pull ya down under the bed, and we’ll never see you again!’ Didn’t hear even a single peep that night.”

Lukas chuckled, making a comment on how Vlad shouldn’t talk with his mouth full. He received several chucked pieces of popcorn as a response.

Arthur snorted. “Yeah, because scarring your little brother’s mind is totally going to make him stop 'misbehaving’.”

Vlad threw his arms up in the air dramatically, eyes wide and mouth open with shock. “C'mon, Arthur! I’m just teasing him!”

“I agree with Arthur-” Lukas leaned back, propping his arms against the concrete for support “- you keep scaring your brother like that, he’s gonna have some serious problems when he gets older. He could even turn out to be like you.”

“Oh, and your brother Emil is definitely-” the two bickered back and forth, Arthur tuning them out. He pushed his sleeve up, wiping the sticky sweat off his forehead.

Arthur scanned the courtyard, eyes squinting in an attempt to not be blinded. Tables sat in a pit in the middle, trees, including the one Arthur and his companions had claimed, surrounded it and providing much needed shade. He could see the doors to the nice, air-conditioned cafeteria from where he was sitting, and wished that they had chosen to sit there instead.

Turning his head, he spotted something familiar, freezing. At a certain, crowded table, a particular caramel head sat, his head down and using his arms for a pillow, a black haired boy whispering to him and rubbing his back while the others leaned in towards him.

Arthur gripped against the concrete, an unfamiliar feeling making his hands shake. His shoulders tensed and he narrowed his eyes, staring. After about a minute though, he sighed, slumping over, reaching his arm to rub the back of his neck. He was still angry with what Alfred did the day prior. That must have been it.

He looked back towards Lukas and Vladimir- who he guessed were his friends now. The two were staring at him, eyes expectant. Arthur raised an eyebrow in return, but deflated, hanging his head down and slumping hi shoulders. “I’m… sorry. Just wondering who they were.” He jerked his head towards the crowded table, mainly towards Alfred and the one whispering to him.

Vladimir nodded, Lukas turning to stare towards the group. Arthur could have sworn there was a tinge of longing in his gaze, but chose to ignore it, thinking it was probably nothing. Vlad gave Arthur a knowing expression, nodding his head towards Lukas. “It would be useful for you to know them, I guess.” Vlad sat up, crossing his legs. “Those guys are part of the baseball and soccer team.” Arthur smirked. “You mean football team.”

“Yes. Football team.” Vladimir turned to Lukas, elbowing him in the side to get his attention. “Speaking of the football team-” he turned to Arthur, raising his brow “-American football team, I mean. Rumor has it that they’re not going to have it this year.

Arthur perked up, propping his chin on his hand. "Why? Did some stupid jocks do something?” He watched the movies, the ones with American football players with sensitivity levels in the negatives, their IQs even lower. Ones that tormented the lives of those who didn’t comply with their standards. Perhaps something had happened, something horrible enough to suspend the team for the year. Vlad shrugged, grabbing another piece of popcorn. “Not enough people to play, I guess? It’s not that popular.”

“What do you mean, 'not popular’? Isn’t it the best thing since sliced bread in America?”

Lukas turned towards him- “No, that would be Betty White.” and looked back to the table.

Vlad rolled his eyes, telling Arthur to look it up. “The thing is, football is just not that popular. In fact, people here couldn’t care less about football.” He grabbed some popcorn, shoving it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing. “Now baseball, that’s popular. Soccer, too, when it’s not baseball season. I’ve never been to a football game before in my entire life. Been ta hundreds of baseball ones, though. I think Lukas used to play. Lukas?”

“Played in elementary school. Quit when I got hit in the face with the ball.”

“And there ya have it. Those guys at that table over there, they’re the best on the team. Not counting Kiku, though, he doesn’t play. Alfred F. Jones, Gilbert Beilschmidt- that’s Mr. Beilschmidt’s eldest son, by the way- Antonio Fernández Carriedo- that sure is a mouthful- and, the one and the only, Mathias Kohler.” Vlad wiggled his eyebrows when he said the last boy’s name, which prompted Lukas to roll his eyes.

“Oh, shut up.”

Arthur scooted up. “Wh- Mathias? Who’s that?”

Vlad smiled, a small dent appearing in the middle of his chin. “Mathias is the boy that Lukas is smitten with. Watches him whenever he passes by, can’t talk to him without turning into a stuttering pile of goo. Ya know, that kinda crush.”

Lukas’ cheeks spread with a color not unlike that of a pink rose. Turning his head into his shoulder, Arthur could barely make out his voice. “Knock it off, Vlad.” “Ok, fine. Fine. But you’re going to have to face it and you know it.”

Arthur tucked that small piece of information in the folds of his mind, saving it in case he would have to use it for future blackmail.

The three made small talk for the rest of the lunch break, topics like the weather and future homework coming up, Vladimir making the occasional joke at Lukas’ expense. The entire time, though, Arthur’s attention kept wandering towards that table.

Perhaps he had been harsh to Alfred yesterday. A bit too harsh. He knew the boy started crying when he left, could tell by his shaking and voice crack. Maybe he should go over there and apologize and-

No. Alfred deserved what he got. If he hadn’t reminded Arthur of… that, then maybe he wouldn’t have yelled at him. What he said was completely justified. Arthur nodded, sealing the fact.

When the courtyard started to empty out, the three exchanged their goodbyes, promising to see each other whenever they could. Arthur grabbed the now-empty bag of popcorn, throwing it away on the way to his next period, which happened to be choir.

He didn’t know why anyone thought it a good idea to schedule a choir class after lunch, but he dealt with it. Mr. Vargas was a nice enough director, ignoring him after their introduction in favor of spending the period to paint vivid images of what this year contained. Arthur knew today would probably be much more eventful and that maybe he would get his part. He had no preferences, only that it wasn’t next to the sopranos. Their voices often gave him pounding headaches, especially when they hit the highest of notes.

Arthur walked down the hallway, busy admiring the glittering trophies and banners yelling about past championship wins. He turned the corner, running into someone with an 'oomph’! Taking a few steps back, he adjusted the strap of his backpack. Looking up, a “my apologies” on the very tip of his tongue, he froze upon seeing him.

It was Kiku. Alfred’s boyfriend. Arthur looked him up and down, at his pink t-shirt, his jeans, the few strings of black hair brushing against his chin, only to be nodded away, and he could tell that Kiku was doing the same to him.

The words on his tongue had shriveled up and died, the strong, sour feeling from lunch spiking up again. He smiled anyways, his words sweet like honey. “I’m terribly sorry-”

“Are you Arthur Kirkland?” His voice had a sharp, tense edge to it, making Arthur’s smile falter. It was back up again in a moment.

“Yes, I am. And you are…?”

“Why don’t we skip the pleasantries, if you don’t mind.”

His smile fell, replaced by the nastiest sneer he could manage. Arthur rolled back his shoulders, tensing his back. He lowered his voice so eavesdroppers would have a difficult time hearing. “What do you want, Kiku.”

Kiku raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side, only to sigh, returning to his calm expression. “So you know me.”

“What- do- you- want?” It wouldn’t be long until the bell rang and he wanted to get to class on time. Kiku was keeping him from the choir room and if he didn’t get out of the way soon… Arthur clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. Kiku tugged down the hem of his t-shirt, the faces of animated characters stretching along with it. Arthur looked down. Kiku’s fingers were clenching the fabric as if he were mustering the courage to talk to him. How cute.

“Alfred is my best friend. He has been since middle school. Alfred is the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful person I know. And it will always be that way. And you made him cry. Alfred, you made him cry. I don’t know how, but you did. For three hours last night, he cried into my shoulder. For three hours. I don’t even know you, just a name and a face and what you did. But, I can’t help but dislike you- no- hate you. For making Alfred… not Alfred.”

Arthur sighed, lifting up his watch to check the time. Only a minute to get to class. As much as he was enjoying their heartfelt confession and ooey-gooey snuggle and cuddle time, he really needed to go. “I don’t know about you, but I would like to get to my class sometime this century. Can we-” he rolled his hand in a circular motion “-wrap this up quickly?”

Kiku looked like a fish out of water with his gaping mouth. He was probably expecting Arthur to apologize in a frenzy, to have tears making tracks down his cheeks, pleading for forgiveness and saying that he didn’t mean to hurt his little golden boy’s feelings. Arthur snorted. He was being underestimated more and more these days.

He snapped on his sweet little smile from before, raising his voice to his normal volume, moving his arms to stand akimbo. “Is there anything else you need, Kiku? I wasn’t lying, I really do need to get to class.”

When he heard no answer, he shrugged, making a short humming noise to go along with it. Arthur pushed pass Kiku, strolling down the hallway. He could see the choir room from where he was.

“Please believe me when I say I don’t take what I’m about to say lightly-” With a groan, Arthur stopped, contemplating whether or not he should have continued walking “- and I am rarely as livid as I am now. I hate you, Arthur Kirkland. I hate you with all my heart. I despise you because you hurt Alfred. My Alfred. And I will never forget it.”

Arthur tried to make it seem like he was actually paying attention to this declaration, bopping his head side to side, left-right-left-right. Back turned to Kiku, he shrugged again, starting to walk. “How dramatic.”

He didn’t pay any mind to Kiku, who was stuttering after his response. He didn’t pay any mind to his claims about Alfred crying into his shoulder for three hours the night before. Nor did he even care.

He pushed open the door to the choir room, cursing when he saw most of the seats were full. Mr. Vargas was standing at the front, writing something in loopy scrawl on the chalkboard. Arthur dashed to an empty back seat in the boys’ section the farthest from the girls. Anything to get away from the sopranos. When the bell rang, Mr. Vargas clapped his hands together, smiling with straight, pearl-white teeth. “Good afternoon, everyone.” His smile grew wider when the class greeted back in uneven voices, Arthur for once choosing to respond with them. “We are a choir, and a choir is a family. Now, let’s try this again, and this time, as a family. Good afternoon, everyone.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Vargas.” Though it was monotone, the greeting was in unison, which seemed to please him.

Arthur watched as Mr. Vargas turned to the piano accompanist, a boy who looked to be the same age as Arthur with wrinkle-free clothing and styled hair. He whispered something to him, turning back towards the class.

“Yesterday, we went over last year’s failures and triumphs. What we would fix and what we could keep on doing this year. Today-” Mr. Vargas stretched his arms above his head, rolling back his shoulders “-we will be 'choosing’ sections.” The class groaned, Arthur not understanding why. Mr. Vargas slung his head back, groaning louder and more obnoxious than any of the students. “C'mon, guys! This is necessary. It is. We have new people come into this choir, who we’ll consider family the moment they step in the door, and we have beloved ones who go and will be considered family even after they’re long gone.”

Arthur slumped back, rolling his eyes. He had no idea what Mr. Vargas’ deal was with family, but he’ll never consider these people that close to him. Ever. But he still didn’t know why his supposed family was so opposed to seats being arranged. Arthur looked around, several faces scowling, others indifferent. No evidence as to why the groans took place at all.

Mr. Vargas, still standing in front of the classroom, stood akimbo. “Who are our newbies this year?”

Arthur once again looked around. No one had their hand up. Which made him frown. Slowly, shyly, he raised his hand. Mr. Vargas’ eyes snapped to him, smile getting wider and wider as his hand got higher and higher. Arthur wiggled his fingers in the air, brow raising as he did it. He had a feeling that he would be the first person subjected to the apparent torture that was picking seats in the Vargas regime of the high school choir.

Mr. Vargas cleared his throat, crossing his arms. “What’s your name, young man?”

“Arthur Kirkland.” With how many times he had been introducing himself lately, one would think that he had some elaborate and well thought-out way of doing it, but he didn’t. No flourish, no nothing. While he had thought of doing an eloquent, “Arthur Kirkland, my dear lady or lord,” he had decided against it, out of risk of being called a smart ass, which, while he would certainly take delight in being called one, he didn’t really need at that moment.

Mr. Vargas nodded his head towards the piano. “Step up to the piano, son.” Arthur wanted to comment about how he wasn’t his son and to never call him that again, but instead pushed himself out of his chair, walking up to the accompanist. Mr. Vargas stepped back, towards the two, looking at the keys. “Let’s do… key of B.”

He could hear the snickering of those behind them but chose to ignore it when the accompanist pressed the key. It was a bit too high, to the point where he would have troubles hitting the highest note. He gave a look to Mr. Vargas, who seemed to sympathize with him. “Go to the key of F, Roderich.” Roderich played the key. “One octave lower. Perfect.”

It really was better. Arthur allowed himself to relax a bit. Mr. Vargas turned to him, looking him up and down. “You have experience in a choir?”

Arthur wanted to cringe at the though. “Yes, sir. Seven years of church choir back in the UK.” He hated every minute of it. The songs were boring, the director had a stick up her ass. Maybe four. No one in the congregation was ever happy with what they did and made sure to give their input after performances. Arthur had a sinking feeling that this would be the same thing.

“Better experience than some people here. How’s sight-reading?”

“Mediocre.”

“It’ll be great by the end of the year. Roderich, play the starting note.” Roderich pressed the key, the noise vibrating through the now silent room. “Now, I don’t know what you’re used to, but we do things a bit differently here. Watch.” Mr. Vargas took a deep breath, Roderich playing the starting key again. “Va~ Za~ Zinga Zinga Zinga Zinga Zing.” His voice was deep and rich, moving to the various pitches with ease born from decades of practice. “That one started with the starting note. The next one, you start with "re”. Va~ Za~ Zinga Zinga Zinga Zinga Zing. And then you go on to “mi”. Got it? Heh, I learned this at a director’s camp a couple years back. Pretty good, right?“

Arthur nodded, not sure if he was doing it as a compliment to Mr. Vargas’ learning or if to show he got it. He breathed in, his stomach expanding. Just as Mr. Vargas had done it, Arthur did the stupid assessment, going up the scale by one after each segment was over.

When it ended, he relaxed his shoulders, his cheeks hot. Turning to Mr. Vargas, Arthur raised his eyebrow. Mr. Vargas averted his eyes, bopping his a bit. Arthur couldn’t tell if he was trying to build suspense or if Mr. Vargas actually didn’t know what part to put him in, even after that minute of doing eight of those ridiculous segments. Mr. Vargas rolled his eyes back, running his fingers through his hair. "Uh… let’s put you in~-” Mr. Vargas paused, lifting his hand to stroke his chin. He stood there for at least three minutes, Arthur beginning to understand why everyone hated this day. The man took forever to “choose” if he was even doing that. “-bass. Let’s put you in the bass part.”

Arthur sighed, shoulders slumping. Finally, they were done. He turned, walking back to his seat. Mr. Vargas called up the next victim, who Arthur felt a tinge of pity for, but that feeling disintegrated when he remembered the laughter behind his hack as he did his. And the fact that he was made to go first.

While funny at first, watching Mr. Vargas embarrass his students one by one in front of the entire class quickly grew to be dull and irritating. After the fifth guinea pig, a soprano whose voice was high enough to give Arthur a headache that felt like his brain was being viciously stabbed, he had finally had enough, discreetly sliding his current book from his backpack. Arthur had gotten multiple pages in when a very, very familiar name popped up.

“Alfred, my boy, come on up.” Arthur jerked his head up, softly closing his book. He had forgotten Alfred was in the choir. Sure, he had seen him yesterday, joking and playing with some assumed friends of his, but he just dismissed it as yet another class with the fool who thought him to be Australian.

And there he was. Arthur watched Alfred as he walked from the back row to the piano. Alfred and Mr. Vargas shared toothy grins, giving each other a high-five. “Think I’m gonna go down ta bass, Mr. V?”

Mr. Vargas let out a deep, loud laugh. “We’ll just have ta see.” He turned to Roderich, nodding to the keyboard. “Give me a B.”

Like it had what seemed like hundreds of times before, the room fell silent when Roderich pressed the key. Arthur watched as Alfred took a deep breath, fingers fidgeting. As Alfred sang the segments, his voice, while high, was pleasant and smooth. Arthur grinned.

Despite what Kiku said, Alfred looked perfectly fine. His smile was as bright, cheery, and, though he would never admit it to anyone, as contagious as it had been the day before. So either Kiku was a lying piece of rubbish, trying to get Arthur to get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness, or Alfred F. Jones could reign in his emotions quicker and more efficient than anyone he had every met. Even better than himself.

Alfred finished the last segment, high “do”, looking at Mr. Vargas with hopeful eyes. Mr. Vargas rubbed the back of his neck. “Eh…” He was doing his suspense thing. Arthur groaned, leaning back.

Alfred’s voice was whiny, and though Arthur had spent years of something like it dealing with Peter, he thought it cute. “C'mon, Mr. V!”

“Eh-” Alfred lifted off his heels, up-down-up-down. Mr. Vargas yelled, “Tenor!”

Alfred huffed, stopping his foot down with a “Darn it!”. He then frowned, hanging his head down. Mr. Vargas gave him a couple of pats on the shoulder, which were hard enough for Arthur to hear the thumps even from where he was sitting, before nudging Alfred back to his seat.

When Alfred slumped back into the chair, kicking his feet at the carpet flooring, he turned his head in Arthur’s direction. Arthur gave him a reassuring smile- which from him, was rare- but Alfred just scowled, looking away.

He tsked. Okay, maybe he had deserved a little bit of that, considering his little vent the day before, but the sooner Alfred realized that it was all his fault, he being the one who provoked Arthur, then they could put this all behind them and move along.

If Alfred was going to be like that, then fine. He would ignore him as well. Arthur turned his attention back to his book, opening it as the piano sounded. He rubbed his forehead, wincing at the high note. The rest of the period was going to be long, if he didn’t kill himself first.

The bell rang, the class seemingly sighing with relief in unison. Arthur pulled his backpack from under his chair, shoving his book inside and zipping it up.

After an entire period, Mr. Vargas had only assigned less than half the class their sections, claiming that they would do the rest tomorrow. And the thing was, he probably knew what part a good number of people were, but, as Arthur had heard, Mr. Vargas enjoyed doing more than he had to, usually making the class suffer. Though, Arthur doubted the man really cared.

He stood, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. The classroom was quickly emptied, the only ones left being himself, Roderich, Mr. Vargas, and a few stragglers. Arthur was just about to clear out into the hallway, already having one foot out the door, when Mr. Vargas spoke.

“Arthur Kirkland?”

“He stopped, ducking his head back into the classroom. "Yes, sir?” “Come here. I wanna talk to ya.”

Arthur huffed, walking back towards Mr. Vargas’ desk. Mr. Vargas and Alfred were at least on friendly terms, that much was evident, and he could’ve blabbed and blown out of proportion what had happened yesterday. Or maybe it was Kiku, the fool.

Mr. Vargas was leaning against his desk with both his hands propping him up on the veneer. “We have a Madrigal Choir here. Y'know what that is, right?”

“Madrigals are secular songs sung several centuries ago.”

“Pretty much. I want you to join ours.” He handed Arthur a paper, a smile widening on his face.

Arthur took the paper, looking it over with a scrutinizing eye. he raised his head up back to Mr. Vargas. “Why me?”

Mr. Vargas’ cheeks darkened and he averted his eyes, raising his arm to rub the back of his neck. It seemed to be a nervous habit of his. “Uh…” he sighed, dropping his hand. “Look, my grandson- he has… troubles when dealing with other people. Rude. Pushes them away. Tries his best to humiliate them when he can.” Mr. Vargas looked off, smiling about his brat of a grandson “-one time he held a fake mustache to one of Mr. Beilschmidt’s sons, Ludwig, I think it was. You shoulda seen it. Hilarious.

But he’s actually kind, gentle, caring to the people he cares about. And when he’s in cooking club, talking about cooking, or just anything about it in general, he has something that he’s interested in. He has something that he belongs to-” “I’m not your grandson, Mr. Vargas.” And he certainly didn’t want to be compared to him, whoever he was.

“ And I know that. But why did I ask you? Let’s just say that your conduct isn’t exactly a secret among the teachers. The ones that have you, at least. You need something to belong to. Now, I know you might say that you already have this choir, but you need something else. This, this could be it. Please consider it. We’d love to have ya.” Mr. Vargas winked at the last part, Arthur smirking to go along.

Arthur didn’t need to know about Mr. Vargas’ grandson, nor did he care. He knew that the teachers were aware of his reports and he was flattered that they were talking about him. But that didn’t mean that he needed or wanted to be asked to join a Madrigal Choir, of all things.

He nodded, moving his eyes corner to corner to make it seem as if he were actually considering it. "I- uh… will think about it.“

Mr. Vargas’ smile was blinding and he seemed elated as he put his arm on Arthur’s shoulders, leading him towards the door. "I really hope you decide to do this.”

Arthur nodded, walking out of the classroom. He turned back towards Mr. Vargas, giving a small smile. “I do as well, sir. have a good day, sir.” He started walking down the hallway, making his way to his next class. “Don’t be who they want you to be, Arthur!”

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir.” He saw people staring at him, at Mr. Vargas. He glared at those people, snorting at their shocked faces, and walked faster. Arthur would only join that stupid choir when Hell froze over.

#Aph UsUk #UsUk #Aph America #Aph England #RantingFangirl #The Fanfiction Life of RantingFangirl

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rantingfangirl · 7 years

Text

Cross Life Chapter Nine

Summary: Moving across the pond was supposed to signify new beginnings for the Kirkland family. Arthur’s parents seemed to take that a bit too literally for his liking.

Chapter Index

This was moved from my old account

Arthur tapped his foot as he scanned through the Sea of Fools, looking for a particularly obnoxious one. Of course, Alfred would be late. It was just like him, and Arthur was annoyed with himself for thinking that he would bother to be on time.

Mr. Wang had given an ending time- and a vague one, at that- but he had failed to give a start time. Hell, Alfred would probably show up at fifteen minutes til four, only to check over Arthur's work and leave. He would still collect his extra credit that way, and it's not as if Mr. Wang would believe Arthur if he were to complain. Teachers like him never did, especially if said complaint was concerning a favorite student of theirs.

Arthur decided that he would give Alfred one more minute to arrive before he would leave maybe if he missed multiple sessions, time after time, then Arthur would be able to request a different tutor. That would surely be ideal.

And it wasn't as if Mr. Wang was lacking good students in his class. Earlier that week, when he had been assigned this god-awful torture, Mr. Wang had claimed that Alfred was one of the top performers in the class. One of them. Arthur could always trade him in for another, more cooperative and reliable tutor, and he could use the complaint as extra ammo for his cause.

Maybe he would even get someone who arrives on time.

Sighing, Arthur checked his watch, scowling when he discovered that another two minutes had passed. Two minutes that he could've spent walking home, swimming in his thoughts and solitude. "Speaking with the fairies", as his mother- that vile woman- called it.

Arthur could be mentally writing a story or fantasizing about winning an argument or violently killing his enemies, but no. He had to wait for Alfred F. Jones, who couldn't be bothered to show up to a tutoring session on time. It made Arthur's blood boil, made him want to just say, "Screw it," to everything and just walk away.

But then again, throwing down the towel wouldn't get him back up to an A.

And so Arthur stood there, waiting and waiting. He leaned against the wall to the library, watching and judging people, which, considering that he spent seven precious hours of his day with them, he figured he should be able to do. It was amusing, actually, being able to snort at their obnoxiously colored hair and their wrinkled clothing. He wondered if any of them even bothered to look in the mirror before leaving their houses.

Sure, he knew it wasn't the nicest thing, but it was something to pass the time, which seemed to go slower each time he checked his watch.

Eventually, the hallway cleared out, leaving Arthur alone. It was quiet, to the extent where you could hear a pin drop. Perfect conditions for reading.

Slinging his backpack over his shoulder and onto the tile floor, Arthur sat down, crisscrossing his legs. He cringed, thinking of all the dirt and dust that would be sticking to his pants. He would have to give himself a good pat down when he stood.

Unzipping his backpack, Arthur pulled out his current read, tabbing through the thick pages to where he'd last left off. Vlad had recommended it to him, which meant that it was riddled with vampires and other supernatural creatures, and while that would normally be a turn-off, he was hooked. The story was captivating, the plot unique, and the characters relatable. And though the romance was a bit cheesy, with dramatic love declarations and mush and gush, that was exactly how he liked it. In fiction, anyways.

Arthur reread the previous two paragraphs before moving on to his current one, refreshing his memory. He tapped his feet against the tile, his fingers tightening around the edges of his book and face leaning in as he sped through page after page.

Arthur paid no attention to his surroundings and didn't hear the footsteps as they approached, nor when they stopped. "Hey, Arthur! Sorry for keepin' ya waitin', we were afraid that ya would've left already." Arthur jumped as he was ripped out of his trance, squeaking in surprise. His finger slipped out from the crease, forcing him to scramble to save his spot. It would be a pain in the ass to find again.

After saving his reading experience from doom, Arthur looked up to see who could've begun a conversation so carelessly and haphazardly. He had to admit to himself, as he found Alfred- along with Kiku, damn him- standing in front of him, Arthur couldn't say he was surprised. Of course, it would be them.

Alfred took a step back, his eyes wide, raising his hands in surrender. "Woah... sorry 'bout that. Didn't think I would scare ya that badly."

Tsking, Arthur shook his head with disdain. So he knew that talking to Arthur would frighten him, but chose to go along with it anyway. The nerve of that boy.

With a groan, Arthur stood, pulling his backpack along with him. Making sure his bookmark was in its proper place, Arthur snapped his book shut, returning it to the pocket from whence it came. He flicked his wrist up, checking his watch, before looking up at Alfred. He scowled. "You're twenty minutes late."

Alfred winced, taking in a sharp breath. Kiku stayed silent, just staring at Arthur, and the latter couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. "Eh~, sorry, man. As I was about halfway home- Kiku and I were gonna go over to my house and play video games or somethin' like that- I thought, 'Oh shit, I'm tutorin' Arthur today!' I had completely forgotten! I couldn't just leave ya standin' here, and it's not like I've got yer phone number or anythin', so here we are! Man, ya should've seen it, though. I made such a sharp turn into the school parkin' lot that Kiku went face-first into the window. It was hilarious."

Alfred lifted his hand to touch a slightly red part of Kiku's cheek, but the latter shied away from before Alfred could make contact. Alfred pouted, but for some strange reason, it didn't look genuine. Interesting. Arthur pocketed that little exchange, saving it for later.

Arthur nodded, forcing a lazy smile on his face as he did so. "That must've been a sight to see."

Alfred smiled, his teeth so white Arthur doubted that they were even real. Perhaps they were crowns.

The hallway was silent as Alfred's smile faded, the three waiting for someone to speak. After about a minute, Arthur decided he was done waiting, turning around and walking towards the glass double doors. "Let's try and find a nice table in the corner to sit at."

Alfred snorted as he and Kiku followed, a thump sounded each time his foot hit the carpet. "Why would ya wanna sit in the corner, we're probably gonna be the only ones in-" Arthur glared at him, swiftly cutting Alfred off. Kiku's eyes narrowed at that, his lips pursed into a fine line, but he stayed silent. Good. "Or, y'know, a corner table's fine, too. Perfect, actually."

Yanking open door, Arthur shivered as he stepped into the library. Though it was quickly growing towards the end of September, and many people were now trading in t-shirts for long sleeves and jackets, the school's librarian insisted that the air conditioner be kept on at full blast. while it had been much appreciated at the beginning of the year, when Arthur regularly melted onto the concrete sidewalk, now it was just plain mental.

"Brr! It's hella cold!"

Arthur stopped, turning around. Alfred skittered to a stop against the floor, just barely keeping from running into him. He ran his hands up and down his upper arms, grimacing. Arthur supposed he was regretting his sleeveless shirt and short shorts at that moment.

Giving Alfred a deadpan glare, ignoring Kiku when he took a step closer to the former, he raised an eyebrow. "Hella?"

Alfred stopped, cocking his head to the side and frowning. Arthur thought he looked cute, if only a little bit, but would largely deny it should anyone confront him about it. "Hella."

"Hella."

"What does that even mean?"

"Ya don't know?" Alfred crunched his eyebrows together.

"No, I don't."

Alfred looked shocked at that, his eyes wide. He took a step back, slowly shaking his head as if he couldn't believe what Arthur was saying. He looked almost comical, and Arthur fought to keep a small smirk from cracking on his face.

Arthur made a quick glance towards Kiku. He had yet to say anything, and probably wouldn't the entire tutoring session. Not that it bothered Arthur. He could certainly go without hearing the fool's voice.

Unfortunately, he still had to hear Alfred's.

"Do ya not have an Instagram?"

"Oh, I do." He hadn't had one for long, though. Before, he had never found it necessary, but Vlad thought it quite the opposite. They made him an account during lunch one day, making sure that he followed Vlad and Lukas. Arthur promised the latter that he would follow Mathias when he got to know him better.

"Then how have ya not seen it before! Literally, everyone says it!"

Arthur snorted at that. Ridiculous. "Not everyone. I don't say it. My friends don't say it. My family doesn't say it."

Pouting, Alfred crossed his arms. As he spoke, his voice sounded whiny. Childish. "I don't mean everyone~. It was just an exaggeration! Stop being so serious."

How Alfred managed to go from snarling days before to pouting like a toddler denied a nap would forever be a mystery. Maybe it was because he was with Kiku, and wanted to look good- not that he was at this current moment. Or perhaps Alfred seriously didn't want to lose those extra credit points and college recommendation. Either way, his behavior was odd, almost fake, and it made Arthur curious. If only a little bit.

Moving his hand onto Alfred's shoulder, Kiku pulled him down to his height. Alfred narrowed his eyes, blinking rapidly as Kiku whispered into his ear. He nodded his head, smiling, rubbing and patting the latter's shoulders. "Yeah, okay. I'll come get ya when we're done."

Kiku smiled, glancing at Arthur with a look of subtle distaste. As he walked away, into the maze of the library, Arthur watched him go. "He's quite the character."

Alfred sniffled, a funny look on his face. "Yeah. I guess."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. That was an interesting reaction. He almost wanted to ask what was wrong, but didn't, knowing full well that he wouldn't get the answer that he wanted. If anything, Alfred would tell him to mind his own business, complete with a one-finger salute.

Turning around, he continued his walk to the corner of the library. It was large, shelves and shelves arranged in rows and rows. Much bigger than the ones at his old schools, which Arthur found fantastic. Libraries were wonderful, peaceful places where he could do his two favorite things: read thick hardbacks and stay away from his basket-case family. The bigger, the better. And the fact that he had to spend an hour and a half with someone like Alfred in such a sacred place...

He would rather swallow his teeth.

They found an empty table that was far away from the air conditioner, Arthur thanking any powerful deity for it. He dropped his backpack onto the dark, dirty carpet, not caring what got on it. Alfred slid his own on the table, scooting it towards the edge.

Unzipping his very back pocket, Alfred pulled out a notebook, textbook, and a folder. He looked up at Arthur, his smile looking forced. "Okay~, where do ya wanna start?"

Sitting down in one of the chairs- plastic and uncomfortable, like all the ones in this school- Arthur took out his own supplies. He didn't know where to start, didn't even want to, but he would be damned if he was going to spend his precious free-time alone with Alfred doing nothing productive.

"Mr. Wang wants me to redo that homework assignment I failed." The man was merciful enough to offer him a second chance, even if that chance came with this.

Alfred winced, his nose and the skin around his eyes scrunching up. "Oh, yeah. Ya did fail that." Narrowing his eyes, he cocked his head to the side, lightly clicking his tongue. "How did ya manage to do that, by the way? To get every single question wrong? I got a hundred percent on that test."

Alfred must've thought that to be an innocent question, simple small talk, because he couldn't possibly be that cruel. To rub Arthur's failure in his face while showing off his own success. Or maybe he was. Maybe he's been aching to mock him since Tuesday morning, or last Friday at the café, or maybe since their confrontation in the parking lot. Perhaps it was Kiku who had put him up to this, as revenge for the scuffle they had on their first meeting. It would just be like that snake to do so.

Gritting his teeth, Arthur clenched his fists. He smiled as best he could, not bothering to hide the venom that dripped from each word as he spoke. "Well, Alfred. Not everyone can have a magical calculator and a protractor swimming around in their thick skulls."

The confusion on his face was infuriating. "I don't have-" He paused, his eyes widening. Leaning back in his chair, Alfred raised his hands in surrender, giving Arthur a shaky smile. "Hey, hey. Sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean it that way."

Yes, he didn't mean it that way. Of course, he didn't. Arthur pulled out his test, scowling at that awful red ink. It stood out so much against the white of the paper, like blood splashed on snow. "Sure, you definitely didn't mean it."

"Yeah, I didn't." Alfred nodded, smiling, obviously not catching the sarcasm that lined Arthur's words. it was an American thing, he had noticed this past couple of months. It made for an amusing game, to see how far he could get without them noticing that he was mocking them.

He usually got pretty far.

Scooting his chair to the side to touch the edge of the table, Arthur flipped the paper horizontally, so that they could both see it. Grabbing two mechanical pencils, he tossed one to Alfred, who caught it with one hand. Alfred looked up, surprised, before breaking into a beaming smile. "Hey! That was a nice throw! Kudos to ya."

Arthur bit his bottom lip, slightly cocking his head to the side. Either Alfred was trying desperately to get in his good graces, to make up for something, or he was genuinely like this. When he wasn't pissed off or being a hair-pulling level of irritating, of course.

He narrowed his eyes, looking Alfred up and down. At his superhero t-shirt, his tanned skin, his glasses- they were new, bright blue plastic instead of the plain wire ones, hair that still reminded Arthur of caramel sweets. His smile, his laugh, the way his skin crinkled as he did both, the dimples that would show. How fake and tired he looked.

It was so obvious, to the point where Arthur couldn't figure out how he didn't notice it before. He knew he couldn't say anything, couldn't ask, unless he wanted to explain. To throw random, half-assed accusations that stemmed from half-assed theories made on the spot. That would only lead to further disaster.

Alfred looked up at him, his eyes wide. In a bout of impulse, Arthur looked away, clicking lead into his pencil. He could feel Alfred staring at him, and spoke without even a simple glance in his direction. "Is there something wrong?"

There was a sharp intake of breath, and Alfred set his hand on the table. From the corner of his eye, Arthur could see Alfred shake his head, his hair going into disarray. "Uh... it's nothin', don't worry 'bout it. Ya wanna start?"

As Arthur nodded, Alfred flipped his pencil between his fingers, letting the grip rest on the bump on his index finger. "Let's get started, eh? Um... uh, how 'bout ya show me yer process for each question and we can see where ya went wrong."

Arthur nodded, staring at the paper. As they worked, Alfred finding every single mistake in every single one of Arthur's problems, the gap between their abilities grew even more apparent. The situation with Mr. Vargas earlier this week was nothing compared to Alfred having to explain five times how he got the answer for one problem.

They were barely a quarter way through the paper when Alfred began to grow irritated. His voice was slower, the twang in his accent thicker. Alfred kept smiling though, kept on laughing at his jokes and nodding his head each time Arthur asked him to explain again.

Arthur knew that his bottom lip would be raw by the time they were finished. He had reverted back to his old habit, which, now that he thought about it, never really went away. His hair was smooth and without a single tangle from carding through it, and the thought of how greasy it would be by this evening bothered him.

Sighing, Alfred slammed his pencil against the table. If it cracked, Arthur told himself that he was going to kill him.

"God... why don't ya get this? Even a freshman could learn how to do it, with how much I'm tellin' ya."

Arthur leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes. "Excuse me?"

Alfred sighed, shaking his head. He sat up, rolling his neck back along with his shoulders. Looking up with a particularly pitiful gleam in his eye, he put a hand to his forehead. "I'm- it's just-" He paused, deflating. "I'm sorry."

"Sure you are."

"I am. But this- I just-"

Arthur groaned. Couldn't the idiot just get it out? He crossed his arms, his mood going sour as he watched Alfred try to "save" his ego. He found it a little insulting, actually, that Alfred couldn't be straight and just say that he was awful.

He raised an eyebrow. "If I need to go to Mr. Wang and see if I can get someone else to tutor me-"

"No! Don't, that ain't necessary!"

He looked shocked, fearful, his eyes wide and panicked, his jaw tight and tense. Either the boy really, really wanted that college recommendation, or something else was afoot.

Arthur desperately hoped it was the former. He didn't want to deal with Alfred's angsty drama. Not now, nor in the future.

Which brought Arthur to a mistake of Alfred's that he had just noticed. One that he had to fix at that very second. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "That isn't." Alfred furrowed his brow, cocking his head to the side, waiting for Arthur to clarify. "That isn't necessary. 'Ain't' isn't a word."

Alfred scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It is, too. They've got it in the Oxford Dictionary."

Arthur deadpanned. "I sincerely doubt that."

"Welp. It's true. Google it, why don'tcha?"

"I don't think I will. Rather, I suggest you go back to year two and learn proper grammar-"

"Year two? What in the hell is that?"

Arthur snorted. "Obviously, you can't-"

"Ah, Kiku, you're still here."

Arthur stopped, looking in the direction the voice came from. From the corner of his eye, he could see Alfred tense, muttering something under his breath.

Kiku was sitting at a table adjacent to them, a stack of think books next to him. Arthur hadn't noticed Kiku was there, most likely because he was too busy dealing with his fool of a boyfriend.

As he thought about it, he could see how Alfred and Kiku were such a good couple, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Both were general pains in his ass, hell-bent on making his life as hard as possible. They made him want to pull his hair out, bit by bit, and seemed to make it a hobby to do so.

Standing in front of Kiku, his brown hair was messy, as if he had just woken up and rolled out of bed. He was tall, his tight white t-shirt going barely past his hips and his olive green cargo shorts ending just above his knee. Whoever he was, Kiku was happy- no, elated to see him.

Closing his current book, Kiku set it to the side, a small, warm smile spreading across his face. "Heracles! How are you?" He leaned against the table, his hands folded on top of the veneer.

"Fine, you?" He pulled out the chair across from Kiku, slumping as he slid into it. Heracles had no backpack with him, and Arthur hoped- for the former's sake- that he hadn't been stupid enough to leave it in his locker for the evening. Even Alfred was smart enough to take his home with him every night.

Kiku nodded, offering the same response his friend had. He picked up his stack of books, moving them away to the side, clearing up the space between the two of them. "Do you have time to talk? I'm just waiting for Alfred to finish up what he's doing."

Arthur couldn't help but snort at his subtle diss, biting his bottom lip and ignoring Alfred as he gave him an odd look. He looked confused, which was highly amusing, considering that his boyfriend was the subject.

Heracles soured at the mention of Alfred's name, but Kiku didn't seem to notice. He smiled, and when he spoke, his voice was lazy. Lethargic. "Actually, I was just about to ask you the same thing."

Kiku laughed. Arthur sat back, rapidly blinking. It was the first time he had heard it, and while it was quiet and breathy, it didn't seem to fit him.

Though, if Arthur was being real with himself, it was probably just that he didn't want such an unpleasant person as Kiku to be happy.

Hearing Alfred sigh, Arthur turned back around in his chair, his attention away from Kiku. Cocking his head to the side, he let his curiosity get the best of him. "Heracles?"

Alfred huffed, carding his fingers through his hair. Arthur couldn't tell if it was out of frustration, jealousy, or both. "Heracles Karpusi. He's Kiku's best friend. Well, besides me, of course." He added the last part quickly, his words too fast to be anything casual. Jealousy it was, then.

"And does that bother you, him being so close to your boyfriend?" He rested his cheek against the palm of his hand, raising his eyebrows. Arthur knew he was being nosy, but didn't really care. There was good gossip on the line, gossip that would do great at the lunch table.

Alfred sneered, lightly shaking his head. "What're ya, my therapist?"

He snorted. Even if he was, Arthur would raise his prices through the roof to deal with someone like Alfred. Which, he thought bitterly, he was doing twice a week these days for free, anyways. "No. God, no." He laughed breathlessly. "Just making conversation."

Deflating, Alfred shook his head, a defeated expression on his face. He turned his attention back to Arthur's failed homework, picking up his pencil and swinging it between his pointer and middle fingers. "'Course you were."

Arthur watched as Alfred fixed his hair and surroundings- clearing his calculator, stacking the numerous scratch sheets, etc.- the latter all the while sending glances of various distaste in Heracles' direction.

He looked up at Arthur, and, noticing him staring, stuck his tongue out. Arthur snorted, shaking his head and clicking his tongue at Alfred's childishness.

Picking up his pencil, Alfred bounced his leg, annoyingly causing the table to shake. He had been doing it the entirety of their session, and while Alfred claimed it made him concentrate, it got on Arthur's nerves. "What question were we on again?"

Arthur scowled, deadpanning. They had come away from their task for not even five minutes, and he had already forgotten. Alfred offered a sheepish smile and laugh as a way of an apology, but he ignored it.

"We're on twenty."

He nodded, smiling as if he knew it all along. "Twenty. Right~."

Arthur rolled his eyes, huffing. As they started back up again, he found himself constantly turning around and checking the time on the nearby clock, counting down the minutes until he could finally return to his house.

"Jesus Christ, where is he?" Vlad huffed in frustration, pouting and crossing his arms.

They were sitting at what had quickly become their usual table in the courtyard, their lunch laying on the metal top. The space across from them was empty, Lukas not having yet arrived, to Vlad's ever growing irritation.

And Arthur's, as well.

"I'm sure he's on his way. Lukas is rarely late."

Vlad rolled his eyes, drumming his fingers against the table. He had grown unusually snappy these past few minutes, which could be blamed on the circumstances of today's lunch break. "Yeah. Which is why it's so weird." Vlad froze, his eyes widening to the size of saucers, his mouth gaping. "Wait. Do you think they could be having-"

"And here they are." True, Lukas and his guest had finally walked into the courtyard, but they were far enough away to be out of ear shot. The severe unwant of hearing Vlad finish his sentence was enough for Arthur to point it out, even if it was a pet peeve of his.

As he got closer and closer, Lukas' smile grew wider and wider. Mathias was smiling as well, though it was smaller. Shaky.

Arthur snorted, shaking his head. He was nervous. How cute.

"Guys, this is Mathias." Lukas nodded to him, Mathias smiling and saying his greetings. Arthur watched as the two sat down, grinning at each other as they did so.

Vlad watched as well, a smug smirk spread across his face. He rested his cheek on the palm of his hand, slowly nodding his head. "Oh, we know who Mathias is." Vlad put extra emphasis on his name, his smirk growing into a smile.

Lukas rolled his eyes, tsking. "Stop." He turned to Mathias, who was playing with the holes in the table. The smile Lukas had on his face was nauseating. "Mathias-" he looked up from his fiddling, turning his attention to Vlad and Arthur as Lukas motioned to them. "This is Vladimir Popescu-" Vlad nodded, his smile unwavering, giving his usual introduction spiel. "And this is Arthur Kirkland."

Mathias' smile faded, and Arthur mentally cursed. He had forgotten the vendetta against him since his situation with Alfred- and Antonio for that matter. It was stupid of him to assume that they had done the same.

"Arthur Kirkland? You're Arthur Kirkland?" Mathias' eyes were wide, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Lukas furrowed his brow in confusion, Vlad doing the same, also cocking his head to the side in addition.

"Why're ya lookin' like Arthur like he's the man who savagely murdered yer mother?" Vlad leaned in, hunching over the table.

Mathias perked up, shaking his head and blinking rapidly. He gave the three a bright, reassuring smile, or at least that's what Arthur figured it was supposed to be. "Oh, sorry, it's nothin'." Glancing at Arthur, his smile faded a bit, but was quickly back at full force. "Arthur just has a bit of a reputation at our table."

Arthur nodded, his suspicions having been confirmed. So they knew his name, maybe a general description, -but not his face. Surprising, but, at the same time, not so much. He had made sure to avoid Alfred's friends- especially Antonio, after that cake incident- and rarely saw them outside of lunch, and even that was from afar.

Vlad relaxed, leaning back, a small but wary smile on his face. It was weird, Arthur thought with a tinge of bitterness, that Vlad and Lukas were worried about him, even in such a trivial situation such as this one, when his old friends never were. They never really cared, Arthur just being another person to buy them alcohol and cover for them when a teacher came around the corner. Hell, when he told them that he was moving to America, they didn't care, didn't say so much as a goodbye.

And here he was, two months later, with Vlad looking as if he were prepared to rip a throat out over him. It felt... nice, to have someone feel that way about him.

Lukas smiled, giving Mathias a small laugh and a nod of his head. "I'm pretty sure that Arthur has a reputation everywhere. All of various qualities."

Arthur laughed, tipping his head back, not bothering to confirm how true Lukas was. He looked down, reaching for their lunch- apples and whipped peanut butter- as he listened to the others' reactions. From the corner of his eye, he could see Mathias smiling, hearing him chuckling, though they both seemed forced. As if it was a struggle not to reveal the truth.

As the laughter died down, the smiles beginning to fade, Vlad pounced. "So, Mathias." He grabbed an apple slice, dipping it into the peanut butter and biting into it with a crunch. "What did ya think of yer date? With Lukas? Last Friday?"

Mathias smiled, looking off to the side. His eyes glazed over a little bit, his shoulders relaxing as he most likely relived the memory. Vlad watched, growing impatient, drumming his fingers against his cheekbone. Arthur could hear him tap his foot under the table.

Leaning forward and scooting in, the hard table cut into his stomach. He folded his arms and hunched over the table. Arthur gave Mathias a honeyed smile, one that was nice and sweet. "Oh, yeah. We've only heard Lukas and his gushing."

Lukas tsked, Vlad laughing and clapping his hands. Mathias chuckled, looking slightly uncomfortable, but trying his hardest not to show it.

Looking down, Mathias scratched the back of his neck. He raised his head and smiled, a cocky little grin filled with pearly-white teeth. One of his canines was slightly crooked. From the corner of his eye, Arthur could see Lukas double take at his smile, but the former ignored him.

"It was fun. Really fun." His smile grew wider, and he nodded, sure of his answer.

Vlad blinked in a quick succession, leaning back. He laid his hands flat on the table, giving Mathias a surprised smile. "Fun? It was fun. That's all you have to say."

Mathias took in a sharp breath, his face falling. He looked like a kicked puppy, living up to his nickname, his lips pursed into a fine line and eyes filled with... something. Rejection, sorrow, or maybe guilt, he supposed.

Arthur tsked. He was losing his touch.

Rolling his eyes, Lukas put a hand on Mathias' shoulder. He gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile, making Arthur want to gag from the sweetness laced in it. "Mathias, ignore them. They're just protective." He turned to Arthur and Vlad, frowning. "Guys. Y'all need to leave 'im alone."

Mathias shook his head, his freckles scrunching up as he smiled. "Nah, it's fine. I know I'd be protective of ya, too. 'Cause you're just so stinkin' cute."

Lukas smiled, laughing and lightly shoving his shoulder. "Stop." Mathias giggled, strands of his hair falling out of place as he did so. The two shared a look. One of those disgusting ones that made you vomit in your mouth a little.

A hand slithered up Arthur's back, stopping at his shoulder, causing him to jump. He turned, relaxing upon realizing that it was Vlad and not a random assailant. The latter leaned towards him, hot breath blowing on his ear as he whispered.

"They haven't even been dating for more than a week and they're already giving each other looks like that. Disgusting." Arthur nodded, agreeing fully and whole heartedly. Next thing they knew, the two would become a "we" couple.

And that would be the exact moment Arthur makes his hasty escape.

Not being able to bear any more of their lovey-dovey mush, Arthur racked his mind for a possible question, saying the first thing that came to mind. "Mathias." He looked up from his conversation with Lukas, a small bit of color draining from his face upon realizing it was Arthur speaking. "What exactly gave you the courage to accept Lukas' proposal? For the date, I mean."

Vlad made a quick glance towards Arthur, smirking, before turning to Mathias. "Oh, yeah. So, did it just pop up, a heat of the moment sort of thing, or was it slow and left to boil over the years?"

The confusion on Mathias' face was almost enough to make Arthur laugh. He stuttered over his words, remaking and remaking his answers, before finally settling on, "What?"

Vlad and Arthur both smiled, Arthur's a bit more sarcastic than the former's. cocking his head to the side, Vlad's smile grew, the seal on his lips breaking to show teeth. "Oh, y'know. Lukas has been wantin' ya for the past- what?- nine, ten years and-"

"Vlad. Stop."

From his tense jaw, hardened eyes, Lukas looked angry- no, murderous would be a better way to describe it. He put his hand on Mathias' shoulder, pulling him to the side to whisper in his ear, not unlike the way Vlad did with Arthur. After a few seconds, Mathias pulled away, smiling and whispering something back. Lukas huffed, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, reaching for an apple slice. He waited impatiently for them to finish, fidgeting his fingers and biting his lip. They had to stop eventually. Maybe.

When they were first trying to set up Lukas with Mathias, Arthur had no clue that this would happen. The quiet, aloof Lukas Bondevik had turned into a monster, one that giggled and squealed and tickled. Gone was the beloved friend he once knew, replaced by... this.

"Mathias~. Ya never answered my question."

The two jumped, turning to Vlad, who had a sweet, unknowing smile spread across his face. Finally, the interrogation would continue. Finally.

Mathias pouted, looking like a toddler told that he couldn't have his desired toy. Averting his eyes, he blinked- once, twice, three times- letting a fair amount of time between each one. "Well-" he scratched his head, huffing and smiling like he was one of the happiest men in the world. "It's kind of a funny story, actually-"

"Oh, do tell."

Arthur snorted at the way Vlad said it, his tone sounding like he was about to hear some juicy gossip. He himself was excited to hear Mathias' story, only to see if there was some kind of lie wedged in it, just to make sure everything was good and genuine.

To see if this wasn't just some kind of sick game to Mathias.

Mathias looked at Lukas, the expression on his face unsure. Not even a week of dating and he already looked like that. Lukas nodded, smiling, giving him damn permission.

One week. What will a year be like?

"It started around, like, the third grade-"

"Oh, so ya started crushin' on him around the same time he did you."

"Yeah, actually-"

"Wow, what a coincidence." Arthur couldn't help it. He had to say it.

Lukas sent a glare in his direction, Vlad snickering, covering his mouth to hide it. Arthur didn't say anything back, keeping his attention on Mathias.

The latter kept smiling, not showing any sign or anger or annoyance. It made Arthur wonder if he was always like this- him being the Human Golden Retriever, of course- or it someone, such as Alfred and the other fools at the table, prepared him for this. For Arthur.

For some reason, both seemed likely.

"It's- uh, it's kinda weird, I guess, but in the fourth grade, I joined the orchestra because I heard that Lukas was thinkin' about it."

A small noise came out of Vlad's mouth. It was quiet enough that only Arthur could hear it, the couple across from them not showing any signs of doing so. Vlad leaned back a bit, careful not to fall off the bench, crossing his arms. "So, the rumors were true, then?"

Mathias' nose scrunched up, piles and piles of freckles wrinkling along with it. "There were rumors?"

Vlad's smile had turned smug. Like a long time theory of his had been proven true. "Yes, there were."

Mathias turned to Lukas, looking confused. The latter just smiled at him, patting his arm, before moving his attention to Vlad and Arthur. "Guys, I think it's time y'all stopped with the-"

"Why, Lukas? Arthur n' I are just gettin' to know our new friend. Y'all're plannin' on bein' together quite awhile, aren'tcha?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Mathias, what instrument do you play?" Blinking rapidly, Mathias turned his attention to Arthur, cocking his head to the side. His eyes were wide, smile tight. He had definitely been prepared before coming.

"I'm sorry?"

Arthur cleared his throat. "In the orchestra. What instrument do you play?"

Mathias perked up, straightening his shoulders. He seemed to relax a bit, now that he had finally gotten a relatively easy question. "Oh, I play the cello."

Vlad twisted his body around, looking Arthur up and down with a raised eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Arthur shrugged. "Just curious." He leaned to the side, looking under the table. The space around Mathias' feet was empty, and so was the bench next to him. No case. Arthur sat upright, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt. "You don't have it with you. Did you leave it in the orchestra classroom?"

A sheepish smile. As if the whereabouts of his cello had been a recently discovered secret. "Uh, nah. I keep it in my locker, get it out on my way to class. So I don't haveta lug it around everywhere."

Arthur nodded, satisfied with his answer. He quickly tried to think of something else to say, freezing when an idea popped into his head. "Speaking of your locker-" Lukas perked up, looking back and forth between Arthur and Mathias. The latter kept his smile bright and sunny, just as he had been doing most of their little get-together. "What did you think of our- Lukas' letters?"

Vlad looked at Arthur, staring at him with awe and jealousy. Arthur smirked, happy that he had thought of the question first.

Cocking his head to the side, it took Mathias a few seconds to realize what Arthur was talking about. His eyes widened, his mouth gaping. "Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry." He chuckled, it being a bit breathless. "Sorry 'bout that. Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I saw the first one. I read it, and was like, 'Who the hell is this?'"

Lukas laughed, that turning into a giggle. Going along, Arthur chuckled, though he didn't really see what was so funny about it.

Mathias continued, though his voice was slower. Unsure. "Actually, I kinda thought it was an accident, until I got the second letter. And the next one and the next one. the flowers were really a surprise, and my mom ate most of the chocolate before I could get to it."

He sent the three a sheepish smile after the last part, an apology for not putting their gift to "proper use".

It didn't matter. They were chocolates, and not even good ones, either. They were made with an American recipe, which, of course, meant a severe lacking of sugar. Arthur spat out his piece when he tried it, gagging his way to the bathroom.

"How did you figure it out? That it was me sending them?" Unlike Vlad and Arthur, Lukas' voice was soft as he spoke, like he was having a simple conversation, and not interrogating him.

Vlad sent Arthur an exasperated look as Mathias turned- actually twisted his body, resting his side against the table- to Lukas. The two smiled at each other, a rosy pink slowly spreading across their cheeks.

Arthur tried his best to suppress the gag, but failed. Vlad sent him a quick glance, sympathy shining in his eyes.

"At first, I had no clue who it was. Hell, I didn't even know who that Frithiof guy was." Mathias laughed, and Arthur had to give him credit for remembering the subject for their first letter. Even he had forgotten, and he was the one who wrote the damn thing.

"Everyone at the table- over there, where I eat lunch with my friends, I mean- was tryin' to figure out who was sendin' 'em." He shook his head, smiling as if he felt stupid for not knowing the answer was right in front of him. In this case, it was literal. "And then, you walked up to the table, lookin' all nervous n' everything and you were clutchin' that book you always carry around with ya, and it was right there! You were there! I felt so embarrassed, not bein' able to figure out that I what I was lookin' for was close enough to slap me in the face."

Lukas tipped his head back and laughed, Mathias doing the same. He grabbed the latter's upper arms, squeezing tight, then rubbing them up and down.

Arthur stared at them with a raised eyebrow, feeling a bit nauseous. He vowed then and there, that if he ever found someone insane enough to be in a serious relationship with him, he would never be as affectionate with them as those two were with each other. At least in public, anyways. He refused to be- no, he couldn't be- that cruel to those around him.

Arthur turned to Vlad, throwing all his desperation into the look he gave him. The latter nodded, thankfully understanding what Arthur wanted him to do.

Reaching for an apple slice, Vlad made his voice loud enough that those at the neighboring tables would be able to hear it. "So~, Arthur." He bit into the apple, glancing to the side to see if the two had stopped there fondling, waiting until they came apart. They did, eventually. "How was your tutoring session with Alfred?"

Arthur groaned. They had moved on from one hellish situation to another. He should've expected Vlad to bring it up, considering that he had ranted and raved so viciously about it earlier that week. It was foolish of him to think that they wouldn't ask about it.

Lukas pulled away from Mathias, who pouted- actually pouted- and returned his attention to his friends. He rested his elbows on the table, cupping his face between his hands. "Oh, yeah I was wonderin' about that. How'd it go?"

Mathias furrowed his brow, cocking his head to the side. "Arthur's tutorin' Alfred?"

Lukas shook his head. "No, the other way around. Arthur's been failin' a lot of his assignments, so Mr. Wang has Alfred help 'im after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays now. Yesterday was their first session."

Mathias slowly nodded, an unreadable expression spreading across his face. Arthur frowned at Lukas, feeling slightly betrayed that he would divulge that much. The latter smiled back, and though it was small, Arthur knew that he had finally gotten his revenge. Arthur gritted his teeth.

That bastard.

Silence fell over the table, and it wasn't until Vlad cleared his throat that Arthur realized he was still waiting for an answer. He scowled, remembering the events of the previous afternoon.

"He showed up twenty minutes late, regularly insulted me, and, worst of all, I had Kiku as a chaperone." More and more anger showed in his voice as he spoke, and by the end of it, he spat out Kiku's name in disgust. Arthur grabbed an apple slice and, not bothering with the peanut butter, popped it into his mouth, chewing violently. It made him feel a little bit better.

Vlad winced, swearing. "That bad, huh?" He shrugged, pursing his lips. "Hey, at least ya didn't have to do it with Kiku."

He snorted. "That would be literal Hell. I would rather fail than spend more than five minutes with him."

The three laughed, Vlad slamming his hand against the table. Mathias stayed silent, his eyes narrowed and his mouth etched into a frown. This was Arthur's first official meeting with the boy and he already thought it didn't fit him.

Lukas, upon seeing Arthur staring at him, whipped his head over to Mathias. He put his hand on the latter's shoulder, only for him to slowly pull away. "Mathias? What's wrong?"

He shook his head, keeping his attention on Arthur. Before he even spoke, Arthur knew exactly what was coming. Exactly. "Alfred insulted ya? As in, Alfred F. Jones, Alfred? He wouldn't do that, he's such a nice guy."

Arthur huffed, deflating. It seemed that every single time Arthur went in a five-foot radius of one of Alfred's friends, they said that line. Every single time.

Vlad shook his head, tsking. "I know y'all constantly say that about him, but Alfred isn't perfect."

Mathias tensed. "Yeah, I know that, but-"

Setting his hand on Mathias' back, Lukas shook his head. "Mathias, yer not gonna win this. Those two are very stubborn."

Mathias huffed, shaking his head. He muttered something too quiet for Arthur to hear, and most likely the same for Vlad, while Lukas gave him an apologetic smile. He only received a tiny one back.

Silence fell over the table, save for the chewing and crunching of apple slices. It was all terribly awkward, in Arthur's opinion, and he racked through his mind to find a new conversation topic.

Alfred was off the table. Mathias had grown defensive of him, and it pained Arthur to have the image of the fool in his mind. He was the only one in choir, and bringing up orchestra again had the risk of starting another mush fest. Arthur wasn't even sure that Vlad played an instrument, so that would leave him out of the conversation altogether, anyway.

He definitely didn't want to talk about grades. That would only succeed in rubbing salt in his open wound, something he sincerely wanted to avoid. Besides, their lunch period was, as they had decided a few weeks ago, "sacred", with no talks of projects or homework allowed. Arthur found the rule to be almost counterproductive, but didn't object to it.

The mood of the table was rapidly deteriorating, the once playful and questioning atmosphere turning to gloom. Arthur didn't know why he cared so much, he could just take out his book and read for the rest of the period, but a conversation, for some strange reason, sounded much more desirable. And less awkward, for that matter.

There was nothing in particular that Arthur was curious about, not anything that anyone at the table would know about, maybe except-

Oh. <i> Oh. <i/>

Arthur perked up, eyes wide, blinking rapidly. How did he not think of him sooner? He had the potential of becoming a major part of his plan, after all.

"Mathias." He, along with Vlad and Lukas looked up from wherever they went during the period of silence. Mathias smiled, still looking angry, making it smaller than usual.

"Yeah?"

Arthur paused for a second, pursing his lips into a fine line. What was that kid's name again? The one who looked like he was a few steps from toppling over and falling asleep?

"Do you know... oh, shit, what's his name?" He ran his fingers through his hair, cringing at how greasy it was. Arthur smacked his forehead, groaning. Vlad chuckled, shaking his head, not bothering to help as he watched Arthur struggle.

It started with a G- no, and H, and it sounded Greek or something-

He had it. "Hercules. Do you know Hercules?"

Vlad and Lukas broke out into a wave of chortles and cackles, clapping their hands as if they were damn seals. Mathias smiled, breathing in sharply, looking as if he was barely keeping the laughter contained.

"Pft. Hercules?" Mathias shook his head, chuckling. He clamped his hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he tried to keep it all in. "Do ya mean Heracles? Heracles Karpusi?"

Rolling his eyes, Arthur tsked, huffing. Vlad and Lukas had yet to stop laughing, and Mathias was close to joining them, if how tense his smile was was any indication. "Shut up, at least I got most of it right."

Vlad's face was growing red, and he wiped his eyes and set his hand on Arthur's shoulder. He had half the mind to brush it away, and almost did, but knew that if he did, they would only carry on.

"Arthur- Arthur." Vlad shook his head, lowering it to the table and folding his arms around it. The shakes of his shoulders and the muffled noise only made Arthur fume.

He gritted his teeth, digging his fingernails into the palm of his hand. Arthur took a deep breath, rolling his neck back, trying his best to calm himself by counting to ten.

It didn't work.

"Shut the bloody hell up and answer my god-damn question." Several people around them turned to Arthur as he snarled, but he ignored every single one of them.

Mathias' eyes widened, his smile growing and becoming laced with... wonder, strangely enough. "Did you just say-"

"Don't." Arthur knew exactly what he was going to say, stopping it before he punched him in the face. That would certainly earn him brownie points in various social groups.

Mathias raised his hands in surrender, Lukas huffing at it. Their laughter slowly died down, causing Arthur to relax- only a little bit, though- and deflate. "Just- just answer my question, will you."

Mathias nodded, giving him what he assumed to be a reassuring grin. "Yeah, man, sure. Ya wanted to know if I knew Heracles, right?" Arthur nodded. Mathias winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "Mn, can't say that I do. I mean, he's sat with us at the table a couple times, yeah, but he mostly just talked to Kiku. Hell, it's almost like he's got a crush."

Vlad furrowed his brow, frowning, glancing back and forth between the two. "Who's Heracles?"

Arthur snorted. So he mocked him without even knowing who Arthur was talking about. Fantastic. He ignored him. "So, you would say that Heracles has a crush on Kiku?"

Mathias shrugged, clicking his tongue. "I dunno, I guess. He's always blushin' around and talkin' to 'im and everytime he looks at Kiku, he's got this funny look in his eye. And he doesn't really seem to like Alfred to much, or vice versa, really, but I'm not really sure."

Arthur nodded, his theory having been confirmed. Somewhat. He would have to do some inner digging.

Vlad cleared his throat, looking peeved. Arthur gave him an apologetic smile for having ignored him, but it was brushed off. "Who's Heracles Karpusi?"

Mathias smiled. "Just a weird guy who sleeps all the time. He's not really too important, and isn't gonna be. Hell, I dunno why Arthur even asked about him."

Vlad and Lukas both shared a look at that, seeming curious and just a bit suspicious.

Arthur himself had to disagree with Mathias' later statement. If he was correct and his theory proved to be completely- and he meant completely, one-hundred percent- true, then Heracles would play a huge part in the plan. If the idea that was slowly forming in Arthur's mind went through, then Heracles could be the person to set it all off.

He tapped his fingers against the table, letting the idea finish laying itself out. He smiled, feeling smug, ignoring his lunchmates' demands at knowing what he was so happy about.

#Aph UsUk #UsUk #Aph America #Aph England #RantingFangirl #The Fanfiction Life of RantingFangirl

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