Title: Of Lamps and Ladders
Warning: Clumsiness and bits of stupidity thrown in.
- A belated birthday gift for my dearest friend Veldargone 8D Hope you enjoy it, darling! XD -
A slightly muscular, but a bit thin hand twisted the round glass– more commonly known as light bulbs— and leveled it down to the eye level of the man who screwed the bulb off the ceiling. He narrowed his emerald green eyes, observing the insides of the bulb. It was a bit foggy, save for the wires that are undoubtedly broken. A sigh escaped the man's lips.
He replaced the bulb with a new one, the spare light bulb he had kept in cases like this. He finished screwing the new bulb into its rightful place, when suddenly—
"Hey, Artie!"
the door was opened with such a force that it knocked the ladder, in which he's standing on top of, off.
-x-x-xx-x-x-
Arthur Kirkland had just gotten home from another long, boring meeting with his Boss when he noticed that the lights on the short corridor's ceiling just inside the front door is slightly dimmer than usual. He looked up and found that one of the three ceiling lamps are not working properly. It flickered on and off for a while, and then it died permanently. Arthur sighed in exasperation.
He put down his umbrella, wet from the raging rain outside, and took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack, along with his hat. Even though he wore a hat, the rain had managed to affect his messy blonde hair too, dampening them slightly. He took off his shoes and, as organized as he is, put it beside the carpet since its slopes are still muddy from the rain.
The green eyed man walked down to the basement and turned on the lights. He can actually see the moist dust on the air, softly illuminated from the dim lights. Arthur covered his mouth with his palm as his eyes narrowed themselves in reflex, coughing off any dust that entered his lungs. Then he glanced over the room.
His gaze started from his old coats, stacks of books, old telephones, ancient machines... and ended at a set of unfinished wooden carving of toys. He remembered the exact moment when he stopped working on it.
.x.x.x.
A yawn escaped Arthur's lips as he stretched his body, a little blob of tear on the edges of his eyes. He had been sitting there for hours now. A smile went across his features as he glanced down at his work, held by his hands gently as if it may break.
It was a new set of wooden soldiers for Alfred.
"He really liked these when he was young… I hope this would make him change his mind about claiming independence and just forget it—" A sudden entrance cut off his thoughts, a subordinate had just rushed into the room. The man seemed to realize his mistake and quickly stuttered his apologies. Arthur lifted his hand in a forgiving gesture and the man turned his gaze to the country personification from the floor, returning to his original state of urgency.
"A-America had just declared a war against us for independence!"
The wooden soldier fell along with a piece of the holder's heart.
.x.x.x.
Arthur brought his hand up to clear his eyes off the thin layer of crystalline that he had unconsciously formed. He shook his head and opened the right cabinet, just beside the door, where he usually keeps stocks for house equipments like screwdrivers and hammers.
He found a spare light bulb and took the small cardboard box with him so he can put it in the recycle can; a habit he had started to develop after all the lectures, warnings/reminders, and presentations he had given and/or received about global warming.
He'd had enough talks with the professors around the world that are researching into the matter to realize how urgent it is, and his Boss had also added that he should "set an example" , even though barely anyone knows about him being a human representation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland except his neighbors (because he occasionally also need help from them, and so that they won't be shocked out of their skulls when they realized that Arthur didn't grow older at all generation after generation).
Arthur took the steel ladder along with him from the basement, and starts heading back to the broken ceiling lamp. His house, as silent as it is, only had his footsteps on the wooden floor doing its thud thud thud noise as he walked past the recycle bin, throwing in the small cardboard box without even glancing at it. He placed the ladder right on the spot under the broken lamp, and after checking a couple of times that yes, the ladder's not going to budge and fall off, he climbed up. Just like the song his neighbor played over and over goes, one step at a time.
The last thing Arthur would need is an injury that would require hospitalization or cause distracting pain, seeing that he has a truckload of papers that he still needs to read over. But that's just a cover. No one knew that the Arthur dislikes pain, despite the fact that he's used to it over the years of war and rough life. By now, he can handle pain well and still keep a straight face even under immense pain. Although, he covered his dislike with an excuse that he'd rather not be in pain if he can avoid it.
Arthur reached the top of the ladder and sat on it. After making sure that he's not swaying or in any danger of falling off, both of his hands reached up to replace the blasted piece of electricity technology that are actually pretty useful.
His left hand holds the replacement and his right one unscrewed the light bulb. Criet criet criet goes the small screeching noise of the surfaces' friction, and he brought down the broken bulb to eye level. He frowned in distaste at the thing that brought so much work for him (not much, actually, it just added to the things he had to do) and reached up to screw the light bulb replacement—
"Hey, Artie!" A voice boomed as the door was slammed open. Here comes the domino effect, and to make it more cliché, everything seemed to slow down suddenly in Arthur's eyes.
The edge of the door was opened, to the right, with so much force that it managed to hit the bottom left part of the ladder and disrupts the balance Arthur had earlier successfully attained. The ladder, out of balance from the external addition of force, swayed to the left (since the bottom left part was knocked to the right) and Arthur, logically, followed the ladder's motions. The center of gravity had moved, and now there is nothing in-between Arthur and the floor but the force of gravity pulling the man down to Earth.
'Bugger.'
The time returned to its original speed and Arthur's eyes widened comically for a split second before shutting itself completely out of light, his body bracing itself for the impact.
'This would probably cost me a broken bone or some dislocated joints. Nothing much, probably would need a day to recover. It won't hurt much, if I remember it correctly. Not as bad as sword wounds and gunshots—'
When Arthur realized that he's not moving (anymore, at least), he opened his eyes a bit and see… the mesmerizingly familiar blue eyes, unmistakably belonging to one insufferable git with a huge grin planted across his face.
"Whoa, Artie. What a way to say welcome!" Alfred laughed, his cheerful voice so care-free that it reminded Arthur again to how in-tune he is to his country, the United States of America.
"Urk. What the bloody hell…" Arthur brought his hand up to his temples, his heart racing from the brief moment of adrenaline rush. He felt Alfred's strong arms supporting his back and his hips, holding him like a bride in her wedding ball— "Put me down!" A blush rose to Arthur's cheeks and ears as he realized his position.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" the blue-eyed man asked, completely ignoring the British man's demand and still not letting him down. "My head hurts a bit, but it was your fault in the first place anyway!" Arthur grumbled. "Anyway, put me—" Alfred silenced Arthur effectively with a kiss to his temple.
"Anywhere else?" Arthur asked, his face so close that his breathe warms Arthur's skin. Arthur's blush increased tenfold. "N-no. Now put me do—" Alfred kissed Arthur briefly, although long enough to steal the words out of the other's lips.
Arthur kissed back, with a little bit more intensity than the last one, his arms wrapping themselves around the standing man's neck. Alfred smiled into the kiss for a bit, then pulled back to smile at his lover. Arthur smiled genuinely back, saying "I sincerely wish you would finally learn how to knock before you enter, you know,"
Alfred smiled, as if it's the easiest statement to get back at, as he said, "You don't mind me catching you and kissing you anyway." With a kiss to seal a wordless deal.
A/N: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYYYY XDDD sorry this is like. almost a month late =_= hope you enjoyed it 8D