Hey! So this is a stroy I've had in my head for a while now. This one is updated irregularly, because it doesn't really have a main plot. This story is more like a sitcom mixed with an everyday-life sorta deal that you find in some manga and anime. So yes... there really isn't an ending unless I decide to end the series. XD
Now the first chapter is a bit slow only because the first one and a half chapters were actually rewritten. The original story was supposed to be full of angst and drama, but I changed my mind at the last second. So now most of what's here was slightly tweaked and re-edited to fit the new genre. XD
Enjoy~
Chapter One: Newton's First Law with a Glass of Pinot Noir
Summary: It's another typical day at work for Alfred. That is, until he meets a German man, who just so happens to live in the same apartment building.
Warning: A few swear words, and a few pans colliding with Alfred's head.
Alfred tightened his dark blue apron for the hundredth time that hour. The damn thing refused to stay tied around his waist. He wasn't even that thin. He brushed his golden blonde hair back, sighing in frustration. A sudden ringing sound broke him from his internal cursing, and he grabbed his pen and pad from one of the apron's front pockets. He casually walked over, picking up some menus along the way, to the couple that already took a seat for themselves. They chatted quietly until Alfred made his presence known.
"Good Afternoon. I'm Alfred, and I'll be your server today." He smiled brightly as he handed the two the menus. He held a pen and pad, preparing to write down an order. "Can I start you off with a drink?" He asked politely. The couple ordered as Alfred wrote down two short notes. He excused himself and fetched their drinks; when he returned, the woman looked up at him and spoke.
"I'm sorry if this sounds a bit rude to ask, but … are you American?" Alfred looked at her and smiled.
"Yep. Let me guess it was my accent, huh?" The woman chuckled a little while the gentleman beside her smiled and sighed at his girlfriend.
"We heard about this Swiss café a while back and thought we would try it today, but I never imagined an American working here." The woman continued, the boyfriend trying desperately to stop his love from being impolite.
"I didn't expect to be working here myself, I mean I can hardly pronounce the dish names on the menu, but somehow I've managed not to get myself fired for about a year, so I must be doing something right." He chuckled. The couple laughed and finally placed their orders, Alfred making sure not to rush them. He learned not to rush a Briton his first week on the job. Nearly got his ass fired for that little incident.
As he placed the order to the chef (who was also his boss), a second ringing was heard towards the front. Alfred quickly rushed up front to greet the new costumer, and grabbed a menu. The costumer himself had already taken his seat, waiting for a menu. Alfred handed the man the list of Swiss foods as he greeted the gentlemen. He waited patiently for the man to order his drink. He mused at how familiar he looked, but brushed it off.
The tall looking blonde placed the menu down just as a small young lady rushed by and tripped. Alfred was able to catch her by the back of her apron, however, as Newton's first law has taught us, an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by and unbalanced force. In this case, the object in motion was a glass of pinot noir, and the unbalanced force happened to be the blonde customer's chest.
As it collided, the wine spilled all over his shirt and lap. He tried to evade it, but all he managed to do was give it a greater opportunity to ruin his white dress shirt. Alfred blinked as did the young girl with green eyes. The other patrons stared, but quickly went about their business, not wanting to embarrass the other man. He looked very annoyed as he sighed in frustration.
Another sound broke the silence between the three as a few pots and pans clanged against a tiled floor. Another blonde man, who had a similar haircut as the younger woman Alfred still had a grip on, came bursting through the kitchen doorway. His emerald eyes burned with anger and concern.
"What happened now?" He demanded. Alfred helped the small woman lean back on to her feet. Her purple bow tied to the side of her head bounced a little as she rushed to the counter to grab a towel.
"Uhh…." Alfred picked up the glass and handed the man an extra napkin to help clean him self off. "Lil here accidentally spilled the wine on a costumer… again." He tried not to sound like he was blaming Lilly, but he couldn't take the blame for her this time since her older brother did see that Alfred had caught her. Vash, or what Lilly's brother preferred to be called, sighed loudly. He watched his younger sister cross the floor and hand the towel over to the costumer, quietly apologizing for the incident.
"It is alright. I know it was just an accident." He spoke in a deep German accent. Alfred handed the glass over to Lilly so she could take it back to the kitchen. She hurried back, so as not to aggravate Vash anymore, though truthfully, Vash wasn't mad at her, but she would assume he was and avoid him all day, like she normally would.
"The bathroom's over there if you want to wet the cloth. I can give you an extra shirt too, if you need it that is." The German got up and walked over towards the lavatory, thanking the young American as he walked by. Alfred cleaned up the mess quickly and went back to the kitchen to throw the table cloth and napkins in the laundry bin. He walked in and spotted Lilly sitting in the corner, brooding about her newest mistake. Alfred sighed and sat next to the girl.
"You shouldn't take this too hard, Lil. It was an accident, and the guy even forgave you. It's alright." She stayed silent. Alfred patted her head trying to cheer the girl up. "Don't worry about it; you know it wasn't your fault. Shit happens." Suddenly a pan collided with the spectacled male's head.
"Do not use such fowl language around my sister, Alfred…" Vash glared as he glanced back at the two. He was busy making the order, so he didn't have time to come over and knock some more sense into the American, which could be considered a lucky break for Alfred. Lilly looked up as Alfred removed the metal cooking wear off his head. She giggled quietly and gave the other blonde a smile.
"Thank you for cheering me up, Alfie." The American gave her a beaming smile before getting up and helping the young woman up as well. Lilly brushed herself off and poured another glass of pinot noir before going back out to hand it to the costumer, who was patiently waiting for it. Alfred smiled heroically as Vash quickly kicked him out of the kitchen, telling him to get back to work. Alfred had luckily grabbed a spare shirt with the café's logo on it for the German in the bathroom. Alfred went down the small hall, and knocked on the restroom door. A mumbled sound was heard and the click of a lock. Alfred handed the man the clean shirt, but the other paused as he looked at him.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" His accented voice rumbled slightly. Alfred blinked before he answered.
"You know I was wondering the same thing not too long ago."
"Really? Hmm…" The German looked as if he was in thought, completely forgetting the fact that he had no shirt on. Alfred didn't seem to notice either; he was in a similar thought process. The taller of the two finally spoke after a few moments asking, "Do you happen to live near the Globe Flats?"
"Yeah, actually, I live in that apartment complex." Alfred replied with a beaming smile.
"Which floor?"
"Seventh."
"I live on the seventh floor as well." The German's light blue eyes showed a bit surprised as he gathered the new information.
"No kidding? I live in number 4-G."
"I live in 9-G."
"Cool, we're like neighbors." Alfred beamed. The German smiled slightly as well, but the calm moment was ruined once Vash threw another pan at Alfred's head.
"GIVE HIM THE SHIRT!" The café once again went back into an uncomfortable silence as Alfred landed on the floor with a thud. The other man stared back and forth from the enraged Swiss at the hallway's entrance, to the now unconscious American beneath him. He quickly grabbed the shirt from Alfred's grasp and slipped it on. It was a size too small and it was slightly uncomfortable, but he'd live. The American on the floor however might need first aid.
.+.+.+.+.+.
The day dragged on from there. The German costumer had left, saying he needed to go home to grab another shirt. He had an important meeting he just couldn't miss. Alfred was upset afterwards, having forgotten to ask for his name. He mused at the thought that the two lived so close to each other, but never formally met. Alfred thought that reintroducing himself later was in order, considering their first "official" meeting was a bit… informal. However, the American would have to wait till later, seeing as he was the one doing laundry.
Mishaps, such as earlier, happened quite often at the café, so Vash made it one of the wait staff's jobs to go to a laundry mat and wash the table cloths. Tonight was Alfred's turn… Then again, it's always Alfred's turn. The American was the only person so far to hold up this job for as long as he did, making him the only waiter. Vash never liked people; he also didn't like to show people kindness (save his sister of course), so it was very difficult for him to deal with another person. Alfred considered himself lucky that he made fast friends with his little sister, Lilly. He knew she had something to do with him still working there.
Alfred stopped his thought process and entered the apartment complex he lived in. He thanked every deity imaginable for the fact that this particular apartment had a few washing machines in the basement. The convenience alone saved him so much time and money. He trudged down the stairs and placed the over stuffed laundry bag on top of a counter. He looked to his left to grab the detergent, when he spotted a familiar face looking at him.
"Hey!" He waved. The light blue eyed man smiled and greeted Alfred back. "Sorry about the wine thing again."
"It is not a problem. I understand that it was an accident."
"That's good, 'cause seriously we don't need another swat team coming there again…" The taller raised a brow, making a face of confusion. Alfred laughed and scratched the back of his head. "It's a long story…" He explained. Alfred began pouring the detergent in the washing machine and stuffed whatever was in the bag into the washer. "By the way, I never got your name. I was gonna ask, but you know… I got hit in the head."
"Yes, I thought that was illegal…"
"Well… Vash is an exception to that law… Anyway, my name's Alfred F. Jones." He stuck out his hand for the other to shake. The German chuckled and firmly shook it.
"I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt, it is nice to meet you Mr. Jones." Alfred's smile turned into a discussed frown as he cringed slightly.
"Oh dude! That sound's like something my father would call himself. Just call me Alfred… or Al, but don't call me Alfie, only Lilly can address me as such." He stated with as much of a serious face he could muster before laughing. Ludwig shook his head and chuckled as well.
"I see, well it is still nice to meet you Alfred." The spectacled man smiled brightly at the other. The two soon went back to their laundry, quickly starting up small talks here and there. A few more residence began to pile into the small laundry room. A small Asian man with a pony tail, who gave an annoyed look at the CD player, dropped his laundry bag next to a washer.
"Alfred, must you play that insufferable music while we do our laundry? Aru~"
"Insufferable? I happen to like Nicki Minaj and her alter ego Roman Zolanski." Alfred stated with a shrug. "Besides Yao, the music you put on all the time sounds like someone's whining into the mike." Yao Wang's jaw gaped open as the American laughed.
"How Dare You!" The long haired brunette suddenly held a skillet in his grip and threw it at the young American's head. After successfully detaining Alfred to the floor, Yao turned to a different radio station and introduced himself to the German, who was staring at Alfred's bleeding head. "Hello! I am Yao Wang, but you my call me Yao. I have not seen you around before. Are you perhaps new? Aru~" A smiled graced the Asian's delicate features.
"No Yao, he's just a vampire hermit who only comes out either on Saturday nights or to get milk." Alfred's form mumbled as he rubbed his head. Yao proceeded to smack the skillet against the American's lumped noggin with a load "dong".
"Uhh… J-ja. I'm Ludwig. I-is he going to be okay?" The German asked for the second time that day as he pointed to the unconscious youngster on the floor. He wondered if Alfred's head was like a magnet for frying pans.
"Oh yeah, he get's himself into these sort of messes all the time. I would not worry about him too much." Yao waved a sleeved hand at the American as if he was shooing someone off. Ludwig smiled meekly as Alfred slowly got up and turned to radio station back to his usual music choice.
"Jeeze Yao…" A sudden buzz alerted the trio. Alfred looked at one of the washing machines, and suddenly remembered that it was his. "Shit, washer's done." He opened it up and began stuffing the damp clothes and table cloths into the dryer.
"So Mr. Ludwig, where are you from, if you do not mind me asking. Aru~"
"Berlin, Germany. I graduated with an engineering degree and I heard about the better employment rates in England, so I decided that it was time to move." Ludwig answered soundly. Yao smiled and looked to Alfred.
"See that boy, Mr. Ludwig has a college degree, you should get one too so you can actually get a job." The Asian mocked. Alfred rolled his eyes as he started to walk back to the counter.
"One: you're not that much older then I am Yao, and two: I have two jobs thank you vary much." The spectacled man then plopped himself on the counter top and crossed his legs Indian style, as he referred it to.
"Two jobs?" The older duo exclaimed unanimously.
"I had no idea, aru?" The shortest of the three crossed his arm with a suspicious look on his face.
"What is your other job, Alfred?" Ludwig asked, now curious as to what the American's other career may be.
"Well, I don't consider it a job, but I…" Another buzzing sounded off and Ludwig walked over to the dryer to inspect his clothes. Alfred also pulled out his cell phone, as it had suddenly started to vibrate. Turning down the music (to Yao's blissful delight), he answered his cell, "Hello?"
A loud string of curses could clearly be heard from the other end, and Alfred had to wince away at the sudden outburst. The loud, angry sounding voice could be heard even be heard over all the laundry appliances that were working their stain removing magic. Ludwig stared as Alfred tried to get the person on the other line to calm down. He vaguely wondered who would win a swearing match, a sailor or the angry man on the phone. Ludwig imagined the sailor being put to shame at the audacity coming from the other.
"Christ Arthur! What the hell?" A moment of silence before more screaming was heard. "Alright, alright! I'll be up in a little bit! Sheesh!" With that, the young American hung up his phone and stared apologetically at Ludwig, who was still gazing at the other with a bemused expression.
"Sorry man! I need to go see my cousin! I'll talk to ya later!" Alfred quickly waved before rushing out of the room. The German was barely able to say good bye himself as Alfred slammed the door as he raced out.
"He forgot his laundry…" Ludwig noticed as he opened the buzzing dryer full of table clothes.
Yao smiled, "He always does. Maybe his boss will finally give him a concussion this time, so I don't have to listen to this crap for a while. Aru~" He chucked at the delightful notion, and walked over to the CD player and found the oriental music station with a quick switch of the radio dial.
"Oh! I love this song! Aru~"
I hope it's not too long. Anyway, like I said this is more of a "no main plot, sitcom" type of story, so I might need ideas every once in a while to figure out what I'm doing here. XD
As always, I'd like to thank HanakoAnimeaddict for betaing my story, even when she does it on her iPod. ;)