Edited for @aph.russia 's fairy-tale au contest. It is a time loop au that was inspired by "Heat-haze Days". I changed a few aspects of it so I hope that this is counted. Warning: Rated M (to be safe) for language and character death, and the ship is UsUk. Sorry for any inaccuracies.
Humans are the most intelligent species in the world. We made our own different unique languages, we created clothes out of scratch and we invented marvellous things. Things that can help us understand the world better. Science, Math and more. We know everything. We can explain everything. However, what if we encountered something we couldn't decipher? A code we couldn't crack? Would we attempt to solve it or would we leave it unknown, a fabricated tale only passed from mouth to mouth, from our own deceived experiences that no one sane would truly believe?
[20th December 2018, 6.31am]
"Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep-"
"Bleugh." A groan escaped Arthur as he fumbled around blindly around his nightstand for his phone, wincing at the unnatural bright light as he stopped the alarm. Ah shit, his head's pounding like mad. He stood up, and almost immediately, his legs gave way and he collapsed. He felt dizzy and felt like puking. Not a good idea to be up then, considering the fact that he was drunk to the point of being trousered about… 7 hours ago? Shouldn't have had the drinking competition with that bloody French co-worker. Pshh, what's more important is that he needed to actually be chirper as a morning bird to deal with him.
So Arthur got up and dragged his feet against the cold smooth floor (the floor is so cold did it switch from marble to ice or something) to the dining area and groggily landed on his couch. It's hard to be motivated to actually do things when it's a Sunday and you're working for the other 6 days but... it is for the sake for a dear friend indeed. He switched his position by flipping over to his right and the rock hard surface greeted him. Cranky and sour, Arthur kicked the leg of the sofa but the only thing he got out of it was a very painful toe. Never mind, he was definitely wide-awake now.
Arthur still felt nausea attempting to rise up at the back of his throat and he did not want to make a mess. So he hastily searched through the cupboards, cheering a bit inwardly when he found the very last Earl Grey tea bag left. As he absentmindedly continue his daily morning routine, Arthur smiled a bit. Alfred F. Jones. Arthur was going to meet him. That fellow could be considered a nuisance since he most likely still maintained his childish habits but his windswept blond hair and gleaming blue eyes and cheeky smile would make up for it-
"Pheeeeet!" The kettle went off and Arthur concentrated on the task of pouring the water into the cup, pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind. He focused more on seeping the tea bag into his freshly-poured cup of hot water, not minding the fact that there was no milk. He ran out of it yesterday and took note to buy it after the meet-up with Alfred.
At 7am on the dot, Arthur Kirkland left wearing 2 jackets and carrying a grocery list in his backpack, not knowing what was going to happen that day. No one knows what happens in the future. In fairy tales Arthur used to adore reading and watching, endings were predictable. There were always happy endings. Beauty and the Beast. Cinderella 1, 2 and 3. The Little Mermaid. Going through so much to obtain a happily ever after. Too bad that it's all magic and stuff with heavily idealisation in it. It can't happen in the real world. Not now, not ever.
[20th December 2018, 7.17am]
Arthur walked for a while in the cold, enjoying the silence in the early morning air. He was pleasantly surprised to see it snowing. It was uncommon for England to snow. Arthur stood at a spot for a while, watching the snow fall. Soon the floors were sparsely covered in white and Arthur continued walking. The destination was a park, which he strolled at for a while aimlessly; after all he had a lot of time to kill. They agreed to meet at 7.45am. The trees barely had any leaves on them, the sound of his shoes scrapping the rocky pavement echoed throughout the empty park and the sunrise painted the sky in a brilliant mix of purple, pink and orange. "Hm, thought that only happened in Bob Ross's paintings." Arthur commented aloud. For fun, he ruffled his hair a bit and sure enough, small flakes of snow fluttered down all around him. It had been 4 years since Arthur last visited the park. It looked so different.
Even though Arthur was enjoying the scenery, he was not exactly looking forward to the long time he had to wait for Alfred. He was silently mourning for not bringing a book to entertain himself when his walking led him to a familiar part of the park. Arthur slowed his pace and looked around. A playground. At least that thing didn't change. The memories of that place were quite interesting.
[7th July 2006, 8.48am]
"Hi!"
Arthur jumped a little at the sudden noise and glanced in annoyance at the disturbance. A cheerful young-looking boy wearing a blue jumper was grinning at Arthur, unknowingly tramping all over the sandbox. Great, his sand-based empire was ruined. He was even planning to build a pirate ship. Arthur shot the foreign boy a glare but that person continued smiling, unperturbed by the subtle hostility. He sighed, no use anyway. "Hi?"
The dense boy beamed up at him. "My name is Alfred F. Jones! I'm from the USA and just moved here," the boy named Alfred extended his right arm, "and what's your name?"
Arthur stared at him. Strange kid, approaching strangers in the morning without being worried about being in danger. He hesitantly grabbed Alfred's handand shook it. "Arthur Kirkland from this very state." Alfred grinned even more and commented, "So that's why your accent is weird." Arthur quickly let go of Alfred's hand. He must have looked offended too because Alfred quickly corrected himself. "No, I mean it in a good way! It's unique, I've heard the taxi driver from the airport having the same interesting way of saying words!" Arthur's shoulders relaxed a little at the genuine response, briefly forgetting that he was supposed to be displeased at him. Maybe that boy isn't so bad after all.
They talked about many things. Ranging from Doctor Who to earthworms to magic to Disney movies to Arthur's "caterpillar-like" thick eyebrows (which caused his eyebrow to twitch a bit in irritation and caused Alfred to laugh louder) and to so many other randomised topics.
Alfred had a high energy level. Not hyperactive, but always boisterous and cheerfully smiling. His words were always filled with unsettlingly high intensity. While this should have discouraged Arthur from befriending him, the British was also intrigued. The 9-year-old could also handle Arthur's peculiar attitude, eventually causing the older boy to warm up a lot to him. They started to hang out more and slowly became not just ordinary friends, but the first real friend in his 11 years Arthur actually felt happy to have.
They met up with each other whenever possible and often played together in the playground, snickering as they tried fruitless attempts of emptying the playground's sandpit and dumping it to the already sandy floor, playing miscellaneous games with the most unusual rules, or just talking to each other.
Arthur assumed that their personalities would clash; Alfred was almost the exact opposite of him. Arthur preferred to stay indoors to read books or play in peace, while Alfred preferred to go out of his way to make friends outdoors. Arthur would rather be a bystander to an accident, compared to Alfred who tries his best to intervene. Arthur was more of an insignificant soldier guarding an already secured palace, and Alfred was more of a dashing knight making his way to the throne with the victory of his heroic quests. With this, they really don't match so Arthur assumed their companionship wouldn't last.
But no. They grew closer. Instead, Alfred was the one encouraging Arthur to let loose, to throw caution to the wind at times and to just have fun. Arthur didn't need to be mature, didn't need to prove that he was old enough to join into his conversations such as his older brothers' talks, didn't need to be neutral and have a carefully even tone. Not when he's around Alfred. Because Alfred didn't judge. Alfred didn't care. Alfred just wanted a buddy to play with and to talk to. He wasn't complicated. He had a simple mind-set with untainted intentions. Alfred later progressed to being Arthur's best friend.
Sometimes, Arthur's and Alfred's mom would both sit on a bench, watching them draw gibberish on the sand and whatnot. Even when the not-so-scorching-because-this-is-England sun of Summer shone down at the two boys, they played games like Hide and Catch, laughing barely-stifled screams once they were discovered and chasing each other around. When flowers of Spring started growing with the aid of nearly daily rain, they explored the entire park, with their shoe soles getting dirty from the mud. They did it so much that they later decided to take off their shoes when doing so to avoid a scolding from their parents. When Autumn came, Arthur swept up the leaves in a huge bundle and watched with half-concealed amusement as Alfred jumped inside the pile. Arthur tried being exasperated but Alfred helped to clean up the mess.
Winter was their favourite season. The cold cooled off their body heat and people don't bother coming to the park due to the temperature. No one really disturbed them. And on rare occasions, snow would appear. That was the best part. They caught snowflakes with their tongues, flung snow at each other and when they're all out of breath, they would sit on the swings, panting but beaming against the chilly air. Those were also the times where Arthur would open up the most and Alfred lent a listening ear (and vice-versa). It felt… nice.
A few more years passed. The two grew busier with school, social activities and more. Arthur didn't want to admit it, but they were drifting apart. They both still tried their best to meet up at least once every three weeks to catch up on what's happening in each other's life. Alfred grew taller and stronger and never failed to remind the older boy at every single meeting, causing Arthur to scowl with no malice. How simple it was to just forget about their current life problems when they see each other, the issues melting like the snow under the sun. It felt like Arthur and Alfred were both rulers, they could do whatever they want in their world. Because at the end of the day, no one could burst their bubble, no one could destroy or muddle with their alliances.
[20th December 2011, 11.42pm]
Arthur was 16-years-old, when something strange happened. It was quite late and they were at the same spot as always. Alfred's parents went overseas and Arthur's parents left to visit their grandparents so the overly worried mothers sent one of Arthur's older brothers to supervise them. Too bad that that very person ditched them after having too many bottles of beer. Alfred tried begging Arthur's unnaturally red-haired sibling to let him have a sip but the guy just laughed and brushed him off, sitting casually on the nearby bench. Soon, he was drunk and pie-eyed, with one of the glass bottles slipping from his hands, shattering from the impact on the ground.
Arthur looked at his brother with slight concern. "Allistor, I don't think it's wise to keep drinking, remember that time when we visited you in Scotland and you broke into Sebastian's room and dyed your-" "Screw that fucking shit, I getta and I'm gonna do whatever I want aye. So I don't care what smartasses like ye think so PISS OFF OR SUCK MY WULLY!" Allistor ended the sentence with a roar and kicked another empty glass bottle hard, the bottle nearly hitting Alfred in the process. Alfred mouthed the word "vulgar" at an unsurprised Arthur.
Allistor suddenly looked like he was about to cry, his expression changing from bright flashing anger to immense sadness. "Ye kids stay 'ere, I needa get me girlfrien' back, I'm going off my nuts at it, she must love me, she still loves me..." Allistor walked pathetically, grabbing a streetlight for support to get off the bench. And so the two teenagers watched Allistor stumble off towards near a construction area for a traffic light that was not so far off. Alfred raised both of his eyebrows, giving Arthur a look and Arthur only shrugged. "His girlfriend broke up with him. I'm already used to him being angered easily when drunk, don't worry though. He'll be safe." Alfred commented, "He has the same excellent use of word choices as you." "Oh piss off you dick." "See what I mean?" "If I shove that glass bottle up your arse I wonder if you'll keep doing that."
The two friends started chatting again. They shifted closer in the sandbox so that their legs were brushing with each other, not that they even noticed. Arthur watched as Alfred drew random patterns in the sand. "If one wish of yours could get granted, what'll you wish for?" Arthur asked out of boredom, quietly scrutinising the superman logo doodle.
Alfred sat still for a moment, looking thoughtful before pointing his finger at the drawing and said, "Well, since I'm a hero-" Alfred noticed Arthur rolling his eyes. "I am still! Uhh, a lifetime supply of food like popcorn, distributing it to people allllll over the world and never gaining weight. Wait, but that's literally three wishes and that's still kinda douchey and selfish. Maybe flying? That's cool. I know! I wish," Alfred drew something that looked like a rectangle with squiggly lines," that I have something like the TARDIS from Doctor Who. But it justs travel through time. Essentially for restarting the day to save my future probably big-boobed beloved lover." Alfred did an exaggerated motion of jiggling fake large breasts in front of his chest and licking his lips, causing Arthur to stifle a laugh at the poorly executed wince-inducing attempt. Alfred seemed to be the only person that manages to make Arthur's smile reach his eyes.
Arthur stopped sniggering and said, "Your drawing is atrocious by the way." Alfred's eyes narrowed and now it was his turn to ask Arthur to shut up, which made Arthur laugh again. Alfred's blue eyes were looking at Arthur, and Arthur paused, looking at them, and in his head he thought that blue was the best colour to ever exist. Alfred steadily met his gaze (Arthur's breath hitched) and replied, "Hm, at least it's better than your cooking skills." Arthur looked away, effectively breaking the moment. Thus, they continued bickering, their bare feet buried in the cool sand of the sandbox and their pants having sand grains all over it, and both oblivious to everything in general. Feelings, heightened atmosphere, surroundings.
They talked about their dream jobs (Alfred wanted to be a vet, police officer or something along the lines, go figure), played games like 'Shoot, shag, marry' ("Yes, I will shag Tom Felton. Because there's absolutely no way I will shag Miley Cyrus- god damn it stop giggling like that!") and other trivial things like that.
They were halfway through playing 'Never have I ever' when the streetlights suddenly stopped working. In less than a moment, the entire park was barren of light. The conversation died down in an instant. Darkness had taken over the park (it seemed like there was a blackout because not even the apartments nearby had their lights on), clouds covered up the moon and Arthur could feel Alfred tensing up. Oh no. Arthur vaguely remembered Alfred's deathly fear of the dark. They sat in silence as the cold wind blew past their face and only then did the 16-year-old realise that the park they often frequented could be scary. In a hushed tone (Arthur was not sure why it just felt wrong to continue yapping away), the British asked, "Alfred, what's the time now?" Alfred took a second to react, clicking his watch button to check. "It's 12am. Exactly." "Oh. That's a nice coincidence." "Uh-huh."
They sat, not knowing what to do for a moment. "Arthur?" Alfred's voice was trembling.
"Yes?"
"This may sound stupid but I-I don't really like the dark."
"...I know."
"Where's your brother again?"
"He left already and I'm sure he won't pick us up. We can leave now you know. We're not bounded to this place or anything." Arthur tried for a light-hearted chuckle but he personally thought he sounded like he was an old man rasping for time to live. "Yeah so there's no one at my home at all... Arthur can I come stay over at your house tonight please?" In the dim light, Arthur couldn't see much. Just Alfred's outline and shape. Everything else looked like a mixture of blue and black washed in a dark purple shade. Alfred looked so small, so vulnerable. Arthur wanted to cradle him, as if he is now the knight saving Alfred the princess. "Sure Alfred, come on up you go. Let's get out of here."
And that's when the scariest part hit. Alfred got out but Arthur didn't.
Alfred stood up and hopped out, started putting back on his sock and looked back at Arthur, who was halfway standing up, one leg outstretched to get out of the sandbox. Arthur proceeded to move but felt something warm wrapped around his leg. He looked down. Only to see an arm, pale enough to be seen in the darkness, covered in sand in the middle of the box, clutching Arthur's calf. The grip tightened and the hand started tugging. It was that moment where Arthur's panicked scream echoed throughout the neighbourhood.
The arm started pulling Arthur down. Arthur was sinking into the sandbox. Alfred rushed forward and quickly grabbed onto Arthur's arms and pulled him frantically as Arthur continued sinking. Alfred's great strength seemed to fail him as a different arm grabbed onto Arthur's other free leg. Arthur was trying to kick and step onto the foreign things but his movements were limited and they held his legs so painfully tight. Arthur's vision became blurry and he felt hot tears trickling down his face in fear, the temperature contrasting against his face. This felt surreal, like a weird dream. He felt one of the fingernails sinking into his skin for a better grip and he tried to wriggle free with renewed energy but to no avail. His heartbeat was a frenzy and his mind couldn't function properly. No one was nearby, just Arthur and Alfred of them, in a deserted playground with the unexplainable happening.
Arthur could hear the sand grains trickling in, like sand in an hourglass. Even as Arthur tried to look into Alfred's morning-sky-like eyes, the whole thing felt unreal. Arthur kept thinking that everything's fake, he's just hallucinating, it's only his imagination hahaha but his dreams were never as vivid as this and his mind kept screaming, "COLD COLD COLD" at the exposed skin. Crazy was an understatement, it seemed so fiction-like, so impossible.
The sandpit was small, and yet the sand level was now on the green-eyed male's thigh. The arms pulled with unrelenting strength and Arthur once thought he was in quicksand, going to die just like in the movies Alfred forces him to watch. His eyes watered even more when he thought about Alfred crying from losing Arthur. "ARTHUR GRAB MY LEFT ARM NOW." The scenario of Alfred mourning at his death was cut off and he immediately followed the orders. Even through the entire bizarre ordeal, Alfred was smart enough to use an arm to grab the nearby broken glass bottle Allistor dropped and dug it into the moving sand. Using all the force possible, he sank the sharp tip into one of the arms. The hand loosened its grip a bit and Arthur immediately stepped up a bit, his leg outside the sandbox as he tried to pull free from the other hand but Arthur was moving too much, panicking too much.
Arthur fell back first onto the sand. Through the churns of sand, Arthur saw red blood dripping from the long cut inflicted by Alfred. The arm reached out for enough to yank Arthur's hair and for an instant, his head was under the masses of sand. He didn't dare breath and he squeezed his eyes shut. He felt trapped. And that's when Arthur heard a sickening "crunch" and felt Alfred grabbing his shirt and pulling him up. The hands sank back into the sand. And just like that, the entire ordeal was over. In less than 3 minutes.
All was still.
The lights went back on. Arthur was coughing and coughing, using his jumper sleeve to wipe off the sand on his face. When that was done, he tried walking to the bench to inspect his wounds but his leg was so numb that he lost balance and accidentally toppled onto Alfred, landing on top of him as they fell. Alfred winced at the impact, saying a quiet, "Oof." as they landed on the floor right in front of the playground. They laid there, panting heavily in the cold winter air, sandbox in ruins (when did that happen?) with sand spilling everywhere. Arthur didn't realise he was crying until he heard himself breathing and gasping, his lungs expanding and contracting so fast that he thought he would get into a panic attack and his breathing went even faster at the thought of that but then he felt a hand threading into his hair.
Alfred was stroking his hair, whispering soothing words and steadily calming Arthur down. They stayed like that for a very long time. Arthur listened to Alfred's heartbeat slowing and basked in the warmth of Alfred's hug. He really needed it. "Did that just really happen? Tell me I'm not going insane. If not, I need to go to the mental ward and my brother will be so pissed." Why is it that this time, the 14-year-old was the more mature one, the one trying to lighten up the mood? Wasn't Arthur supposed to be the one protecting the damsel in distress? "That happened. My leg still hurts. I couldn't retaliate in time. Thanks Alfred for helping. I'm pathetic." Arthur's voice trailed off to a defeated murmur, but Alfred continued stroking Arthur's pale blonde hair. "You're not Arthur, I am. I should have reacted faster. I felt like I was losing time, like I was losing you. Your long sleeve tore and started to slip at one point. I was so scared. I was so so damn scared." They eventually brushed up and headed back to Arthur's home.
Things were… different after that. Both talked about the incident the next day, checking with each other again and again and again that it wasn't a dream. Alfred had the theory that the arms belonged to zombies but it was dismissed. It was strange. Arthur and Alfred were supposed to feel excited. A real unexplained paranormal experience? The reporters and conspiracy theory people would have a field day! But they just felt tired, surprised, not a single shred of pride in them. Besides, who would believe them anyway? Wow, a portal-like thing happening in the middle of the sandbox mhm sure sure whoa huge coincidence no one else was there please do go on about this wild totally believable tale! There were no security cameras, and none had whipped out their cell phones to take pictures of the sight, and people could always accuse of Photoshop. The events seemed unbelievable even to Arthur, and he still believed in unicorns at the age of 16.
The sandbox disappeared.
Arthur and Alfred still talked and played with each other, but they had their own lives too. More years passed. A cat attacked Alfred and someone Ukrainian saved him, and that someone became his girlfriend, Arthur had sex with some African girl he barely knew. Alfred became the basketball captain, Arthur retired from his head student prefect position. They exchanged numbers, they played multiplayer games and told each other stories of their lives. Alfred broke up with his girlfriend, Arthur got drunk for the first time. Alfred made out with some "feisty Italian" guy or something in a bar, Arthur had a one night stand with a Spanish male in a motel. Alfred went to a university in Canada when he was 17 to join his older brother in pursuing his dreams, leaving Arthur alone to work in a dingy office.
It was the last day of November in the year 2018, and Arthur was watching the news about a guy reporting statistics of worrying climate change when he received a notification. His heart skipped a beat when it was a message from a contact that he hasn't heard from for months.
Alfred "Flaming" Jones 《19.38》: Heyaaaaaaaaa
Arthur K. 《19.40》: Nice to hear from you again
Arthur K. 《19.40》: I still don't think the 'a's are needed
Alfred "Flaming" Jones 《19.41》: Yay glad u feel that way, anyway, me and mattie are coming back to london next week for quite a while, wanna meet up?
Arthur K. 《19.42》: *'Mattie and I'. Just to confirm, Mattie is Matthew right?
Alfred "Flaming" Jones 《19.42》: Sheesh stop getting on my case about it lol but yeah mattie's matthew. im surprised u remember him.
Arthur K. 《19.43》: Okay then, which days are you available?
Alfred "Flaming" Jones 《19:44》: Hmm im free on the weekends
Arthur K. 《19.45》: I'm working on Saturday and later taking care of my godson though. How about Sunday 7.45am?
Alfred "Flaming" Jones 《19.46》: / that early?
Arthur K. 《19.46》: If it's an inconvenience towards you, I could always arrange a later timing,
Alfred "Flaming" Jones 《19.46》: Nah it's not a problem, im just a bit lazy. Guess its more time 2 spend with u i guess. So it's 10th dec? wanna have lunch and dinner together?
Arthur K. 《19.47》: Yep why not, see you soon
Alfred "Flaming" Jones 《19.48》: See ya, I miss you! :D
Alfred "Flaming" Jones: 《Last seen at 30th November 2017, 19.48》
Arthur placed down his Samsung phone, getting up from his couch to grab a book to read. Even when he flipped to a bookmarked page, he found that he had read the same paragraph three times without absorbing any of it. Arthur shook his head, ridding himself thoughts that Alfred had actually thought and missed him, and settled himself down. He ignored his 23-year-old heart that was fluttering like a high school girl having a crush.