Title: An Interesting Proposition
Author: The Similar (Me!)
Rating: T (for language, alcohol, later use of weapons etc)
Authors Note: Translations are at the bottom, please enjoy!
"Is everybody here?" Arthur asked impatiently. "Good. I've called you here because I have an… interesting proposition to offer you…"
Matthew looked around. Arthur sat behind a desk, Francis lounging just behind him to the left. There were many people clustered into the small office. Everybody was dressed fancy and very professionally. Many stood at the back, with the limited number of chairs all in use. Mathew was one of the people who stood.
"Oui, s'il vous plait se taire. This is definitely most interesting." Francis voiced.
Matthew looked at Alfred, his brother, who stood beside him at the back of the office. "I don't know about this Al… I mean, we have seen neither Arthur nor Francis for years. I don't recognize many people out here either…"
"Matt, it will be fine. They invited us here tonight. Besides, I know more than half the people in this room. Would you just calm down?" Alfred silenced him with a quick glare before returning his attention to the man at the front. "Now listen to what he has to say."
"I need… an exploration team." Arthur seemed to ponder his words, speaking them carefully. "We will disclose little information, you know how it is. We are sure you will find this offer most pleasing."
"This is an expensive exploit, but we will be funding, in both equipment and your purses." Francis winked.
Matthew stayed quiet as the room broke out in chuckles and smirks. The people here were light-hearted and he swore most of them were tipsy as well. He wondered when this would be over so he could go home.
"This is not going to be an easy expedition. It will be hazardous; we will need people who can hold them against the unknown. This may or may not be entirely legal; we haven't had a chance to see and quite frankly, we aren't going to take that chance. We have not come this far along to have our operation shut down by some stupid government. Certainly, if you've helped us before in something, you may have more information on the risks, but this will be different. Today, we discuss the final stage."
Matthew gulped, not really understanding what was going on. Some people nodded, others murmured to acquaintances, but none looked as lost as he surely did. Even Alfred looked like he had a sure idea of what was going on. Matthew shook his head in disbelief.
"I would like everyone to excuse themselves to the parlour in the front of the house, if you feel like you want to stay after what I've just said. Alfred, Matthew, stay here for a minute. The rest of you I will call back in groups, as discussed before." Arthur finished in the same monotone voice he began with.
The mass left slowly, hustling each other around and chatting. Alfred and Matthew moved slowly to the desk, remaining professional and standing. Alfred peered at Arthur down his nose. Matthew stood back, just behind his brother, avoiding Francis' gaze. This was going to get messy.
"So, it's been 6 years and now you finally contact us." Alfred sniffed sarcastically. "And it happens to be a job. Can't say I'm impressed here, Arthur."
Arthur flushed. "Hey, I-"
"Ah, mon cher Mathieu." Francis said lazily.
"Allo." Matthew said timidly.
"No need to be shy, we are all family here, n'est pas?"
"We were, until you decided to dump us on our asses and cut contact with us." Alfred snapped.
"Certes, vous me pardonnez, Mathieu?"
"Je ne sais pas, Francis…" Matthew replied, aware of how rusty his French was becoming. Francis was the only one he could speak French with, and since he had all but abandoned him 6 years ago, he had very little practice, living by himself in Canada.
Arthur sighed. "Look, we want you in on the job. We want you two to be on the inside, because this job actually matters. We trust you"
"What job? Was there other ones?" Alfred asked, curiosity overcoming his annoyance.
"Well, you see…" Arthur began before jumping into a long-winded explanation of what he and Francis had been doing lately. The gist of it was that Arthur had talked to his 'faerie' friends and found out a couple of secrets. Francis had the money, while Arthur had the knowledge. So, for the last 6 years, they had gotten involved in various heists and other dangerous activity that might as well have gotten them kicked off Earth itself. Or at least made his inhabitants mighty pissed at them.
"We have figured out the location of a sacred city." Arthur proclaimed at the end of his mostly unnecessary rant. "Its in an old closet Francis and I bought from Heracles, a Greek black market vender and good friend. We have all these people to help us now because it's very-" Arthur was cut off by a snort form Alfred.
"You mean we're going through a closet? To another 'world'?" Alfred burst out laughing. "It's like Narnia! This is all a joke right? We'll get into the closet; and then what? Let me guess," He paused for effect. "A big fat, NOTHING."
Matthew looked apologetically at Arthur and Francis, the two men who had raised him and his brother together. It did sound very far fetched, but he guessed it could be plausible. Matthew shrugged.
Arthur, obviously fed up and hurt, jumped up and banged his arms down onto the desk. "Shut up, you never believe me!" Alfred jumped at the sudden movement. "I am absolutely serious, so just shut up! I have spent so long planning this, just to have you go and shrug it off!"
"Whoa man, calm down." Alfred raised his arms.
"Calm down? Why don't you calm down?" Arthur yelled at him.
"Why do you always make this my fault? You got worked up first!" Alfred yelled back.
"Francis, pourquoi? Why this big affair?" Matthew asked Francis, collectively ignoring Arthur and Alfred arguing just like old times. "Why not just go?"
"Parce qu'il est dangereux. We need the man power. You will see all the parts of the plan come together later, when we have the other groups come and, visitez-nous." Francis explained, easily slipping into a strange combination of French and English.
Matthew nodded. "Um, il y aura souvent des armes à feu utilisée?"
Francis gave a slight nod. "Oui, mais taire, mon cher, s'il vous plait."
Arthur and Alfred stopped yelling, to glance momentarily at Francis and Matthew. The language was lost to them. Arthur straightened his tie and efficiently cleared his throat, an obvious signal to quit talking in a language he could not understand. Matthew gave Francis a curt nod and turned back to the two other men.
"You will sit behind my desk with Francis and observe us as we conduct interviews and inform the participants of what they need to know. Now, our first group will be our arms team. We will supply them with artillery and they will be able to use it well. They will be our main offence line." Arthur explained.
There was a knock at the door and a little blonde boy peeked in. "The first group is ready to see you!" he squeaked.
"Thank you Peter." Arthur said calmly, sitting back down. Alfred and Matthew sat down on the stiff couch behind the desk and waited for the rest of the evening to unfold.
The first group came in and out effortlessly. A young man and two young women. Roderich Edelstein, Elizaveta Hedervary and Michelle Verlaque were immediately contracted to work as supervisors to security and the like in the house while the entrepreneurs were going through the closet.
The group was easily persuaded into doing the job when large sums of money were brought up. Michelle's eyes glowed when the initial payment came into question, and Elizaveta had to pry her from her chair and out the door to make her shut up about the cash. Roderich stayed stoic throughout the entire conversation, occasionally sneaking glances at Elizaveta all the while.
They all left easily, champagne in hand, and went back down; to either stay and enjoy the other guests company (unlike, considering the other guests), or to leave.
The group that followed, however, was not so agreeable. They came in quietly, but giving off the air they were all irritated with one another in some form.
"Please, gentlemen, sit down." Arthur said smoothly, pouring out more champagne for his accomplices behind him.
"Pay attention, this team is coming in with us." Francis whispered to Alfred and Matthew.
"Champagne?" Arthur asked, gesturing at them with the bottle.
"No, thanks." The serious-looking blonde one replied. He nudged the shorter man beside him before he could say yes and glared at the rest to make them silent. "We would like to talk about the job without the influences of alcohol."
"Smart decision." Arthur remarked, pouring himself a glass anyways. "I am Arthur Kirkland, and behind me here is Francis Bonnefoy, Alfred Jones and Matthew Williams. Now, I need names, and experience…" he took a sip of champagne.
Matthew observed the crew as they introduced themselves. They were a particular lot.
"Ludwig." The grim blonde one said with a tone that implied he had no last name.
The shorter brunette answered enthusiastically in a startling Italian accent, "I am Feliciano Vargas!"
"Antonio Fernandez Carriedo," the tanned pointed to the man next to him, while grinning, "and this is Lovino Vargas!" Feliciano's brother huffed, crossed his arms, and slumped farther down into his chair.
"And I am Gilbert Beilschmidt." The final man announced, in a slightly German accent, much like the first man. He was an albino, and had crazy red eyes that freaked the hell out of Matthew.
"Very nice, now to business." Arthur hurried. The men were getting more and more irritated with each other as they went on, and this interview would not go over very well if they ended up fighting.
"Long time, no see, Feliciano." Francis spoke.
"Ve~! Francis, what has it been? 10 years?" Feliciano jittered excitedly.
Arthur turned back to look at Francis quizzically.
"We had a couple of jobs a while ago." The Frenchman shrugged.
"Now, gentlemen, back to business," Arthur straightened. "We need you to hold a couple of guns and perhaps knives, if you're lucky, and be able to fire it straight. Think you can handle that?"
Matthew snuck a glance at Alfred, to see how he was handling, but Alfred just stared straight ahead. Matthew realized he was showing no weakness and hurriedly tried to put on the same façade.
Ludwig stiffened. "I think we can handle that just fine, Mr. Kirkland. Feliciano and Antonio have done jobs with Mr. Bonnefoy before, as mentioned, and I'm sure Mr. Jones knows Gilbert." Ludwig's tone shifted, from polite and reserved, to hard, matching Arthur's tone.
"Oh, really? How nice." Arthur took another sip, brushing off Ludwig's threat of Alfred possibly seeing the wrong kind of people. Alfred flushed, surprised. He has indeed met Gilbert, a while ago. Hell, he was his main supplier.
"What will you do if we decline? How will you know we won't bail?" Romano questioned.
"Why, thank you, Mr. Vargas, for bringing that up. Francis, show him what kind of power we have." Arthur replied smoothly.
Francis stood, and pulled his suit jacket open, revealing the gun nestled into the front of his pants.
"It's going to take a lot more then a gun to scare us, Mr. Kirkland." Gilbert snickered cruelly.
"It's not the gun, Mr. Beilschmidt. I have people in this city." Arthur leaned back in his chair. "I have people who can ruin you, not just your life in the working world, but your social life, your underground life. I know who you are. I know who all of you are. And Mr. Beilschmidt, I can quite frankly ruin that little side business you own, I mean, you're practically ruining it yourself."
Gilbert's face burned as he realized what he was talking about. "I-I, b-but" he stuttered, glancing around. Matthew stared on in confusion.
Ludwig calmed turned to Gilbert. "I didn't know about this little side business you have apparently been running. Mein Gott..."
"But surely you must be noticing how some of the guns you order never arrive? Anyways, now is not the time to discuss such matters." Arthur remarked.
Ludwig pulled back, and faced Arthur once again. "Are we in? I think this may be getting out of hand."
"Sure, since you seem to be showing good judgement. Have your team ready for us to leave next Thursday." Arthur concluded, watching as they got up and left.
Peter came in again. "Are you ready for another?" he asked. Arthur nodded, and in they poured.
For the next three hours, Matthew sat and listened to dull business talk of supplying guns, bringing in house-keepers, security, and new technology advances. He leaned again the couch in a horrid slump, until Francis whispered to him again.
"This crew might be coming too."
Matthew sat straight again, this time with half the effort. The newcomers were obviously very foreign, much more then the other ones and Matthew didn't want to decipher the horrid accents he supposed they had.
"Arthur!" A tall, large man in a long jacket and a scarf greeted the man behind the desk. "So good to be seeing you again, yes?" He drabbled on with a thick Russian accent.
"Ivan, how are you?" Arthur looked away sceptically.
Ivan took no notice of Arthur's look; or question, and hustled the two girls behind him into the room and onto the chairs.
"Alfred, Matthew, this is Ivan, Natalia and Katya. I used to work alongside them, but that was a really long time ago." Arthur avoided Ivan's grin and looked down. "Ivan, Natalia, Katya; this is Alfred Jones and Matthew Williams. Natalia will be the medic alongside us, with Katya helping her. Ivan will be… persuasion…"
Matthew dipped his head in acknowledgement. Francis looked away uncomfortably.
"Well, now that that's all settled, I think it's time for you go." Arthur said in a rush.
"What?" Ivan's smile gleamed. "But, you have not offered any champagne to us! All other guests left with some."
Arthur sighed. "Fine, fine, here is some champagne; you can finish it on the way out, goodbye." Arthur stood up, signalling that they should leave.
And leave, thank god, they did.
"Mon Dieu, that guy scares the hell out of me." Francis said after they left. "Katya is nice, but Natalia, our nurse? Elle est si froide!" Francis laughed, obviously tipsy.
Alfred turned to Arthur, relishing the few moments they would get before someone else came in.
"Just what the hell is going on here?" Alfred threw up his arms. "All this threatening with guns, what is this? I thought we were just going through a damn closet, not sneaking around doing illegal things!"
"WELL, you certainly know how to do that!" Arthur shot back, referring to Ludwig's obvious comment about his drug habit.
"That was 4 years ago and it's your fault." Alfred huffed, like a child.
"How? How was it my fault?" Arthur said sarcastically.
"You left me and Mattie all by ourselves. Tell me how that is not damning." Alfred said, hurt.
Matthew sighed, "How many more to go?" he asked Francis.
"One." Francis said tiredly.
On that cue, Peter brought the last man in. He was a short, Asian man with small figure. Alfred sat back down with a dramatic sigh and Arthur turned.
"Kiku, where is Yao?" Arthur asked immediately, barely allowing the man to sit down.
"Yao sends his condolences, but he is busy with work. He has sent me instead. He has a unique deal to offer you." Kiku said softly. "He said that the technology and artillery you wanted would come at a much lower price if you took me with you."
Arthur stared Kiku in shock. "What kind of lower prices?" he asked quickly regaining posture.
"A 70% decrease in price; in addition to that, I will be there to show you how to work the technologies." Kiku said, not meeting Arthur's eyes.
"Done." Arthur said. He offered Kiku a glass of champagne as well, but Kiku declined and left.
Arthur fell back in his chair.
"Finally, we are done that stage. No more hassle."
And not a moment too soon, Matthew thought.
Authors Note:
Once more, I hope you enjoy! Please review if you would like to. The next chapter will be better, I promise!
Also Michelle Verlaque = Seychelles
And Katya = Ukraine
Translations:
(Francais) there will be less next time, I promise.
Oui, s'il vous plait se taire - Yes, please be quiet.
Ah, mon cher Mathieu - Ah, my dear Matthew
n'est pas - translates literally as not, but is used as no (we are all family here, no?)
Certes, vous me pardonnez, Mathieu - Certainly you forgive me, Matthew
Je ne sais pas - I do not know/I don't know
Francis, pourquoi - Francis, why?
Parce qu'il est dangereux - because it is dangerous
visitez-nous - Visit us
Um, il y aura souvent des armes à feu utilisée? - um, will there be guns used often?
Oui, mais taire, mon cher, s'il vous plait - yes, but keep quiet please, my dear
Mon Dieu - My God
Elle est si froide - She's so cold
(German)
Mein Gott - My God