So…. This is kind of making fun of the accents that the people where I live tend to have. T's and D's sound pretty much the same when they are inside of worlds. Also, I was comparing nicknames for the name Gilbert (Gil, Gilly, Bert, Bertie) and realised…. Well, you'll see. I actually only like Gil, but I know if I name my son Gilbert Achilles (my new favourite name with the name Gilbert in it) that one of my older sisters will call him Gilly. I do not like Bert or Bertie as both sound like "embarrassing Grandparent trope names" Anyway, on with the story.
I've started working on two new one-shots (this one and another one) instead of my actual stories in my free break from college classes. I need some time management. I HAVE TOO MANY PROJECTS TO WRITE NEW ONE SHOTS…
Gilbert "The Awesome Gil" Beilschmidt was awesome. Or people let him believe so, at least. He knew that everyone thought he was awesome of course. Why wouldn't they! It wasn't like he only had seven friends, and it wasn't like that was only if you counted his brother Ludwig and those losers Elizabeta and Prissy pants Roddie! Antonio and Francis were enough to be twenty friends on their own, and Matthew….
Well, Matthew was special.
Very special.
Gilbert had never really been in love—or had much experience in romance in general—which is why he didn't understand at first why his heart would race when Matthew smiled at him, or how angry he got when someone ignored the quiet Canadian. Or how jealous he felt when they didn't. It didn't make sense until a week before Valentine's day when he found himself staring at a card that was in the pet shop where he got his bird seed for his pet chick, Gilbird—it was a gag gift from Antonio's ex-boyfriend, who stole a small baby chicken from his next door neighbour.
Romulus Vargas, the boy's grandfather and one of the town farmers, had demanded Lovino return the chick to their neighbour, but he had already given it to Gilbert, who thought the chick was too cute to pass up.
All that led to now. The shelf in front of him was in a display of cards for animal lovers to give to their significant others or crushes or whatever, and normally Gilbert just ignored this kind of shit. Now, he couldn't help but think of Matthew. He picked up one card that featured a bird on the cover that said "Everytime I think our relationship can't get better, we hit a new beak." (1)
It was then that he realised that he had a crush on Matthew.
And he immediately called Francis, who he then hung up on when his advice about…. certain things made him blush in the middle of the store. He called Antonio next, but his advice didn't help much either. He just brought up how he had gotten Lovino to date him—leave a trail of tomatoes for him to follow to your bedroom, it worked with Lovi, he said—when Gilbert hung up, deciding not to remind him that Lovino had also broken up with him seven months later. And Gilbert still wasn't completely sure what had happened there.
He finally called Lovino himself, who yelled at him for about five minutes, though the only part that Gilbert bothered to listen to was, "Buy the stupid card you potato eating idiot" which he translated as "You're so awesome Gil! Matthew will fall head over heels when he sees the card you found for him!"
Because clearly that's what Lovino meant. Duh.
Gilbert was totally not sweating on Valentine's Day while he was waiting at Matthew's locker with the card, ready to give it to him. Awesome people do not get nervous!
When Matthew walked into school, he was almost late. Gilbert figured that it was Matthew's brother's fault. When Alfred followed Matthew into the hallway with his hair clearly unbrushed, still wearing his batman pyjama shirt-mismatched with his spiderman one-that was more or less confirmed. Gilbert sighed. He may seem like a troublemaker, but he was never late.
He did still have enough time to give him the card and talk to him for a few minutes before the warning bell would ring. (2) That was sort of a good thing. Sort of. Matthew glanced at him. "Uh… Gil…? You're blocking my locker." In his hand was his hockey stick and his helmet. Oh, right. He had practice today.
Gilbert moved a bit, his hand that was holding the card was shaking, but he tried to ignore it. Matthew looked at him worriedly. "Gil? Are you alright?"
"What? Ja, of course I am! I'm awesome."
"Yeah, you say that a lot." Matthew picked up a card that was in his locker and Gilbert felt an immense pang of jealously. Matthew sighed and turned to his brother. "Al, this one is for you."
"Hell yes! Another one?" He looked at it. Gilbert decided to ignore the idiot for now, lest he have to listen to his nonsense about heroes. Not that Gilbert wasn't the same way about being awesome, but at least he didn't sleep in or come to school in mismatched pyjamas!
Matthew looked disappointed, which was so not the reason that Gilbert had finally manned up and given him the card that he was supposed to give him in the first place. "Here, Birdie." He wasn't even aware that he had slipped out a nickname at first.
"Birdie?" Matthew asked in a state of confusion as he took the card from the other teenager. Gilbert watched him anxiously. Was it just him or was Matthew taking forever to open the stupid thing?
Finally, the Canadian managed to slide the card out of the envelope that Gilbert had made sure to lick shut the day before. He opened it. Gilbert started to make plans to escape by heading to class. The warning bell rang in the distance and Gilbert wondered if he could escape now by heading to class so he didn't have to deal with the rejec-no, Matthew wouldn't reject him. He was awesome, verdammt!
Matthew smiled, seemingly unaware that he only had a few minutes to be in class. Well, they did have first period together, Gilbert thought. He felt a soft pressure against his cheek, and it took him a moment to realise that Matthew had pressed a kiss there. "This was sweet of you, Gil." He heard. He felt a blush coat his face as he realised that he wasn't too good with sappy stuff.
Gilbert glanced at him. "So, Birdie? Are you awesome enough for me yet?"
Matthew chuckled. "If that means what I think it means….Sure. But... "
"Ja? What?" What was keeping Mattie from recognizing his awesomeness?
"I want to give you a nickname as well?"
"Well, sure. Shoot, kid."
"I'm not a kid."
"I'm older! Anyway… You can call me awesome?"
"Yeah, no."
"You already call me Gil! That can be your cute pet name!" He said as they walked to their first class together.
"Everyone calls you Gil…"
"Alright fine. What else?" Francis and Antonio were watching him curiously from outside a classroom. The teacher was apparently late. Well, wait. No, that was Kirkland's class. And Mr. Kirkland didn't like "those two bloody wankers" or whatever he called them. At least according to Francis.
Honestly, in all the chaos that ensued after he realised his crush on Matthew, he had completely forgotten that Matthew was Francis' cousin. Shit…. Before he could think too hard on the thought Matthew replied with another name. "Gilly."
Gilbert grimaced as he walked over to open the room of their classroom. "Sounds like a name Grandma Bertha would call me as a kid."
"Bertie?" Matthew suggested.
Gilbert pulled his hand back away from the knob and turned to his new boyfriend with a serious expression on his face. "Mattie, we can't both be called Birdie!"
1. This card really does exist. Found it online when I was looking up Valentine's Cards for animal lovers.
2. My high school I went to for the first half of hs had a warning bell in the morning that rang at 8 and then class started at 8:05. My second high school that I finished out at had NONE except for at lunch time. Like, wtf. How am I supposed to know that I'm late when there was no five minute warning bell? No sense! To put this into context there were almost no clocks in the hallways.
So, yeah, just a parody of my (and everyone around me's) accent. Birdie/Bertie sound the SAME when you sound them out here.
I have also started the most recent chapter to ISTTYDMT, The Dying Ember, and Not In Our Favour. Hoping to finish them, but probably won't for a while, lol. Would love reviews and check out my other shit and crap and whatever else you're supposed to say when your advertising shamelessly *sits inside of the review box with puppy dog eyes like an abandoned free puppy who needs a home*