ARTIST: carriecmoney (Ellarose C)
(art viewable at the tumblr or the livejournal under this URL)
AUTHOR: arakni666 (White Mizerable)
January 1st, 2014 - Heads Carolina
"You got a quarter?"
Arthur mumbled something incomprehensible against Alfred's stomach, before sighing irritably and turning his head just enough to glare up into tired blue eyes. "Why do you need a quarter? It's almost midnight."
Shrugging, Al patted that familiar tangle of dirty blond hair and kept his gaze on the television. It wasn't quite time for the countdown yet, there were still several more minutes, but people were already yelling in Times Square, dancing in the lightly falling snow. "I was just thinking. We never made it to New York."
"Oh." Arthur's brows scrunched up as he rolled that over in his mind. "That's too bad, I suppose." Then he shifted on their uncomfortable motel bed, uncurling his legs to let them hang off the edge as he readjusted to lay his cheek on Al's chest. "We did go to a variety of other places."
Al nodded, not moving from his partially propped up position against the pillows. "Guess we did. We got up here, Maine and lobsters and everything. Went down to Disney World."
"Niagara Falls."
"Las Vegas."
"New Orleans."
"Disneyland."
"No," Arthur said snidely, "that doesn't count, it's basically the same."
Al snorted. "Not at all. But fine, we went to… Hawaii."
"Yes, Hawaii." A pause. "How did we get to Hawaii?"
"You know, I don't even remember. Pretty sure it was on a plane."
"How did we afford plane tickets?"
"That's what I don't remember."
Contemplative silence.
"No, wait, it was that weird Spanish guy."
"Who? No, yes, I remember him. Are you sure it was him?"
"It was either him or the French guy. But I don't think it was the French guy 'cause I'm pretty sure you broke his nose."
"…Right. Right, I do recall that."
"Yeah. Hawaii. That was something, really."
"Oh, definitely."
They didn't speak for several minutes. Arthur let out a content hum, shifting again until his ear was right up over Al's heart, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the cold-flushed reporter on the television. Al yawned, once, and let his fingers settle against Arthur's side, his eyes still fixed sleepily on the screen's flickering image. The ball drop was only a minute or two away.
Then, a quiet mumble from Arthur, barely loud enough to break the stillness. "Why a quarter?"
"I was just thinking," Al said again. "We never got to New York. So maybe next year."
"Huh," said Arthur. "Next year."
"Yeah."
The ball dropped.