Based on the youtube au from jokermun's tumblr.
When Arthur checked on his latest upload to YouTube, he didn't expect the comments section to be flooded by a different fanbase.
"Who is Alfred and why is everyone commenting about him?" Arthur asked himself. He sat at his computer, scrolling and scanning the comments, nearly every other one popping out with Alfred's name. It momentarily confused Arthur, seeing as how the video he'd uploaded had documented an ordinary trip to the vet for his beloved Scottish Fold, Jasper. No one he had spoken to that day had been called Alfred, as far as he was aware. So why?
Arthur glanced at his cat suspiciously. "Did you have something to do with this?"
Jasper lay on top of the nearby bookshelf, fluffy tail twitching back and forth and mossy green eyes narrowing at Arthur as if to say, "Why yes, this is my clever scheme to take over your channel. The time for the feline empire to rise has come. Bow down to me, Human."
Arthur snorted at the thought. "As if you would need to take it over. My channel already consists of you enough." Considering how his channel was titled "Confessions of a cat owner," that wasn't an exaggeration.
Turning back to the computer, Arthur made an effort to actually read some of the comments rather than skim through. What he learned was that this Alfred had apparently watched some of his videos.
Good for him? Arthur thought, not understanding why this was such an exciting occasion. There were plenty of people who watched his videos; he had over a hundred thousand subscribers. What made Alfred so special?
"A gamer?" Arthur murmured. "He has a gaming channel. What's he doing watching my videos then. Last time I checked, you aren't a game, are you Jasper?"
Jasper laid his head down, completely ignoring his owner.
Arthur shook his head and decided to check out Alfred's channel. Not because he was interested in gaming or who this Alfred bloke may be! Arthur merely needed to ascertain what the gamer had said about his channel to warrant such a strong reaction in his comment section. For all Arthur knew, Alfred had talked shit about his channel and sent his viewers to harass Arthur. It was a valid concern, considering he saw a couple of people say, "Watch out Arthur, Alfred's gonna fight you."
"Well bring it on, lad," Arthur said as he found someone in the comments who mentioned the name of Alfred's channel and which video the gamer had checked out Arthur's.
"Alfred the Hero, how adorable," Arthur teased at his computer screen as he clicked on the channel. "How many subscribers do you reckon he has, Jasper? A couple thousand? No, maybe ten thousand, at most."
Snickering, Arthur glanced at Alfred the Hero's sub count. He nearly toppled his chair when he lunged forward to gape at the screen.
"Over two million?!" Arthur screamed. Jasper let out a grumbling meow of displeasure at his owner's loud antics, but Arthur had more important things to worry about than disrupting his cat's nap.
"How in the world does this prat have over two million subscribers? It's just video games! It's not like it's worthwhile content. All you do is watch someone else play a game. How is that entertaining?"
The website must be on the fritz. Yes, that had to be it.
"Surely that many people don't waste their lives over something silly like this," Arthur said, leaning back in his chair to sit regularly. He thrummed his fingers by the computer mouse, still too baffled to get past staring at the sub count.
Arthur huffed and went to look at Alfred's videos. He found the particular video he was looking for rather quickly, seeing as it was one of the more recent uploads. It was the third installment of a play-through of a game called Silent Hill 2, and from the creepy thumbnail Arthur guessed it fit in the horror genre. He clicked on it and waited with a scowl.
"Hey dudes! Welcome back to another action-packed adventure. When we last left off, our hero had just reached the Hell Side Apartments. That's what it's called now. The game lied before. It's not the Wood Side Apartments. It's filled with demons. But I've still gotta find my ghost wife, so wimpy demons, prepare to meet your maker!"
Arthur sat in a daze as he listened to the distinct American accent. It was an exuberant voice, filled with downright dorky determination, and not entirely bad to listen to. But that's not what had Arthur staring at the computer monitor so intently. No, it was the fact that, in a little box in one corner of the screen, Arthur could see Alfred.
"Good lord…" Arthur gulped, ignoring the game in favor of staring at the gamer. Alfred was young, as Arthur would have guessed he'd be, but all the rest? Arthur couldn't have guessed that soft, honey colored strands of hair fell beneath bulky headphones. Or that behind admittedly sophisticated glasses, sky blue eyes played every emotion with vivid animation. Or the boyish curve of face…and the excited, blinding smile. The camera was even angled to where Arthur could see his firm shoulders and upper torso clothed in a tight T-shirt, and Arthur found himself drinking in the sight with a tilt to his head.
Arthur may have to retract his earlier statements. He could definitely see why watching someone like Alfred would be an entertaining pastime.
If only the man didn't scream like a little girl.
"OH MY GOD, IT TRIED TO EAT ME!" Alfred screamed, his face horror-stricken while he dodged some lumbering, four-legged creature. "I hate those things! I hate this place! Why for the love of God do I only have a stick?! Give me a gun. I need a gun. Please tell me this game has guns."
Arthur rolled his eyes. Typical American, going mad without his gun. Still, Arthur had to admit, it was pretty hilarious to watch Alfred running around like a headless chicken. Yes, Arthur had begun this video with ulterior motives, but it's not like he knew exactly when in the video that Alfred supposedly checked out his channel. He might as well enjoy the show.
And what a show it was. Even when monsters weren't running about, Alfred would jump at shadows or random patches of blood. Arthur did appreciate the heavy, dark atmosphere of the game, but it wasn't that scary. For all of Alfred's bravado, he was like a trembling little kitten.
"You should come watch this Jasper," Arthur laughed. "He's yelling at a television now. Why don't you just whack it with your stick, lad?"
"STOP BEING CREEPY!" Alfred yelled as his game character struck the TV with a wooden plank.
Arthur had to pause the video, he laughed so hard.
"This…this absolute git!" Arthur chuckled. "He actually did it! Hahaha!"
Grinning from ear to ear, Arthur continued the video. He watched, totally invested in Alfred's dramatic gaming tactics. Maybe some would doubt the authenticity of Alfred's fear, would say he acted over-the-top for more views, but something about Alfred's reactions screamed genuine.
At one point, when a monster snuck up on him mid-sentence, Alfred literally squealed in terror, paused the game, and snatched the headphones off. He slumped over to the side, face in hands and the microphone picking up the slight sound of his muffled, heavy breaths.
"A bit too much for you?" Arthur teased lightly, though really he felt the strangest urge to reach through the monitor and touch Alfred's heaving shoulder. Surely the boy wasn't crying, was he?
No, thankfully when Alfred sat back up, there were no tears (or at least none Arthur could see). Instead of fear, now resolve hardened the American's features. Arthur blinked at the sudden change. What would Alfred do now? Would he dive back in, throw caution to the wind, and fight the monster off in a daring battle?
"Wait…what's he doing?" Arthur asked himself.
Alfred, rather than unpausing the game, exited from the game entirely. Black enveloped the screen, which quickly switched to the search engine for Google. Alfred must have switched over to look something up on his computer.
"Here we go," Alfred said as he typed in what he wanted.
Cats. Hundreds of pictures of cats.
"Are you serious," Arthur said, unimpressed.
As if in answer, Alfred chirped, "Nothing like cat therapy to heal a stressed heart. Not that I was stressed or anything. I could totally take that demon on. Just making a pit stop here. Don't mind me folks. Oh wait! Better yet, let's look up some videos!"
And that's what he did. Alfred went to YouTube and searched for cats. He clicked on a compilation of cats sneezing.
"Aww, look at 'em!" Alfred cooed.
Arthur had to look away for a moment and stare wordlessly at his own cat. Jasper eyed him back, and for a moment Arthur imagined the feline could understand his exasperation.
Following the symphony of sneezing cats, Alfred looked for another cat video.
"My cat is out to get me," Alfred murmured, reading the title of the video. Arthur whipped his head back around when he recognized the title. "Aww, what did his kitty do?"
That was all it took for Alfred to click on the video. It loaded, and then Arthur was viewing his own face.
"Sometimes, I really think this cat is out to get me," the Arthur in the video confessed to the camera. He looked down at his lap, where Jasper lay uncaring of his master's dilemma.
"He's so cute!" Alfred yelled. "Both of them!"
Wait, what?
While Arthur sat in shock at his computer desk, the Arthur on screen continued talking, "This morning when I finished my shower, I stepped on a dead bird that my cat no doubt left on the bath matt for me. Though I can't decide whether this was to flaunt his hunting prowess at me or simply a misconception that I cannot fend for myself and must have meals caught in my honor. Either way, I do not appreciate the sentiment, nor the effort I had to put in to explain to my neighbor as to why I was caught exiting my home holding a bird carcass. Now 'bird killer' will surely be added to the list of names my neighbors affectionately call me."
Alfred laughed, obnoxiously loud, and demanded, "Lay off the cat, dude! He was trying to help ya out! Just look at his face. How could you think a face like that was evil? Holy shit, his ears are so floppy. I wanna pet 'em!"
"Jasper, you have a fan," Arthur called to his cat half-heartedly.
As the video continued with Arthur musing on Jasper's wicked intentions, so did Alfred's laughter.
"This dude is hilarious. He talks a lot of crap about his cat, but you can tell he adores him."
"Lies," Arthur denied quietly. "He is the bane of my existence."
"It's cute," Alfred smiled. "I'm gonna fight him, make him admit he has a super, adorable cat."
"I don't think he's aware that we live in separate countries," Arthur confided in his cat.
"I'm gonna subscribe," Alfred said, doing just that.
"You were just declaring your desire to fight me, why can't you stay consistent?!" Arthur yelled at the computer.
"Okay, time for more monster fighting!" Alfred cheered. He switched back over to the game screen and stared at it for a full ten seconds before clicking off. "On second thought, we've covered enough ground today. The hero has earned a break. I'll catch you dudes in the next video. Peace out!"
The video ended.
Arthur slumped in his chair, wiping at his face.
"How exhausting," he said and pushed out of his chair. He was going to go sleep for the next five years.
I looked up popular cat names in England and Jasper was on the list. So yeah…