Roommates Are Great

This was the start of his life. Arthur Kirkland didn't pay any attention to the jibes of his brothers as the family drove to World University. He supposed his mum just trying to be nice, bringing the whole family along as a means of support for this next big step. She wouldn't be scheming and trying to get him to stay in uni and not drop out like Angus his older brother had done. Of course not.

"I'm supposed to be playing Mario Kart with Raivis," Peter whined. Arthur's shoulder had been subject to sharp jabs ever since they left the house. His younger brother's fingers were like bloody knifes, for godsake! "You jerk, your success isn't worth this!"

"Poor Artie's probably upset that he didn't get into Oxford or Cambridge," Angus scoffed.

"Bullshit," Arthur snapped. World University was prestigious in its own right. It was known for being a melting pot of diversities and it offered him exactly what he wanted. Nobody was surprised to hear he would study English. Why would he be annoyed in any way?

His mother tsk-ed at him from behind the wheel and muttered about Peter being too young for that kind of language (as if – at ten, he had heard all the swears of the day) and adjusted her glasses. This was normal in the Kirkland family. Everyone was used to how things went. Arthur couldn't say that he wouldn't miss it, but he wasn't exactly sad to leave it all behind.

He had been smart. Right after he got his acceptance letter he had gone flat hunting with his dad – he didn't want to stay in the dormitories of any university, not after hearing Angus' horror stories that most likely weren't to be believed and anyway, he liked the idea of more space – and found a nice place that was pretty close to the school. Someone else would be living in the same flat with him, but he didn't mind. It made it all the more affordable for him so there were no complaints on his part.

The car pulled into the car park of the complex and he practically leapt from the car. Erin and Eoghan kicked his two suitcases onto the ground when he opened the boot and didn't spare him a second glance. They were obviously going to miss him. He hoped his teapot hadn't been damaged.

"Do you want us to walk you to your flat, dear?" his mother fussed. "We can settle you in if you like? I'll make you a nice cuppa and help you unpack some of your things."

"I'm fine, mum," he grimaced. He hadn't been looking forward to saying goodbye in the slightest; not because he didn't want to leave them but because of Rosie Kirkland's high flying emotions and the tears that were sure to come. Even though Peter was begging for a McDonald's from the car and Angus was growling at him that he had better shut up, his mum dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and fretted about him being alone. He felt like he was in a clichéd movie or something.

"You're still a baby in my eyes!" He was nineteen. "Oh, you'll never manage to look after yourself." He had been ironing his clothes since he was fifteen and he never saw any fault in his cooking, despite what others had to say. "There's really no need for you to move." As if he was getting the train every day at stupid times in the morning! "You must call every now and then, entertain this old woman and let me know you're alright. I do worry about you, Arthur."

"Bloody hell mum, I'm not going to war!" he sighed exasperatedly. "I'm fine, I'm not Angus. Now will you leave, for crying out loud, I want to go and get settled in. I'll call you later, yes, I'm sure the flat won't have burned down in the space of a few hours and I won't have turned to drug dealing to cover the rent." Arthur ignored her protests, grabbed his suitcases, gave his mum a swift peck on the cheek and walked in the direction of the landlord's office.

"Goodbye, ickle Artie-kins!" Angus mock sobbed from the car.

Arthur didn't look back and resisted the urge to flip the bastard off.

Yao Wang had handed over the keys to flat 21 with a grin and wished him good luck with his studies. After lugging his suitcases up the stairs, he dropped them to the ground and fumbled with the keys. This wasn't the nicest flat he had seen when he was searching about, but he had liked it well enough. Muffled sounds coming from inside made him think that his roommate had probably already moved in.

The stench of stale pizza, sweat and other things he didn't want to identify hit him like a fucking wrecking ball and he almost choked. Inside was illuminated by the glow of the TV screen – blinds drawn – and there were abandoned cardboard boxes thrown all here and there across the floor. So that explained the smell of pizza. It was enough to make him never want to eat pizza again.

A lump was parked in front of the TV. The lump seemed to be a person wrapped in a duvet. "Hello?" he said warily. The lump shuffled slightly. "Are you –"

He didn't get a chance to answer as someone moved at the speed of light, yanked him into the building and slammed the door shut. A tall boy with blonde hair and a weird cowlick blocked the door and breathed heavily. His glasses had slipped down his nose and sat crooked. "What the fuck?" Arthur snapped. "What do you think you're doing, you jackass! Let me get my things!"

"They're out there, dude," the boy panted. "I'm saving you!" Oh for Christ's sake, Arthur didn't know he would be living with an American with mental issues. He was being squished against the door and he did not like it at all. He tried his best to push the other boy away, but he was much bigger than himself (Arthur reckoned he just passed his shoulder in terms of height) and quite a bit heavier, judging by the effort he had to put into shifting the American just a few centimetres.

"My bloody things are out there! Get out of the way, lunkhead."

"The zombies, man. I'm telling you. This world is doomed! Forget your damn things, possessions don't matter in the zombie apocalypse! Keep your head about you and you'll survive. See how calm I am? I'll be the hero in this fucked up world!" He could have fooled Arthur. There were tell-tale purple rings under his eyes and his hair was sticking to his head, except for that one rogue strand that stood up like an aerial receiving an alien transmission. Obviously he had been under that duvet for a while.

But it wouldn't be a good idea to upset the idiot, no. So Arthur would be the picture of serenity if it meant he could get the high hell out of there and find somewhere else to live, last week in August be damned. "Good idea. Look, I have some things that could be useful in my bag. How about you let me get them and we'll work through this together?"

The living room light suddenly flickered on and the dolt jumped for the duvet with a strangled yell. "Zombie! Don't eat my brain!"

Arthur doubted he would suffer from the loss of his brain. Arthur doubted he possessed one in the first place.

"Alfred-san, you're out of tea." An Asian boy paced quietly over to Arthur and gave a small bow. He had a cup of tea in his hands and it reminded Arthur of the box he had brought specially in his bag. "You must be Alfred-san's roommate. I am Kiku Honda, it is very nice to meet you."

"Arthur Kirkland. You don't live here, do you?" Arthur was becoming more and more confused. It was only supposed to be him and this Alfred living here, so why was someone else here and why was he acting as if the quivering blob on the floor was normal?

The shorter boy took a seat on the scuffed corner sofa. "I live two doors down. Alfred-san and I both do aerospace engineering." Aerospace engineering was pretty impressive, he had to admit. So it would seem this guy had to be reasonably smart to be able to do something like that. That was just Arthur's view on it; he could barely add two and two. Maths and physics flew right over his head. "Maybe lending him my newest game was a mistake…" Kiku muttered.

Alfred was still whimpering about zombies underneath his fluffy shield. Red letters flashed on the screen in what Arthur figured was some Asian language and Kiku sipped his tea calmly. "Is he okay?" Arthur asked. He'd never seen a grown man cower like that. Well, nearly grown.

"I don't think he's slept in forty eight hours." That answered that, then. "He's tired himself out, though. Alfred-san has always been like this for as long as I've known him. He'll just sleep here and he'll be okay." As if to prove his point, soft snores rumbled from within the duvet.

If Kiku was used to this then Arthur didn't like the thought of having to get used to an idiot living with him. He'd lived with Angus for all his life and now he wanted some peace. Alfred repeatedly scaring himself shitless with horror games wasn't peace if it made him like this! This wasn't how he pictured the beginning of his life at all! But he collected his belongings from outside the door, now that he was free to go outside, and resigned himself to unpacking once Kiku left. He guessed he could make the best of things. Anyway, he heard there was a great library on campus. Maybe he could find himself a comfy shelf and live with the books.

Alfred tore the duvet away and tried to remember what he was doing before he fell asleep. He vaguely remembered shutting off all lights, placing out all the knives in the kitchen and maybe yelling about zombies… The flashing red letters on the TV screen reminded him that he had been playing one of Kiku's superfuckingassterrifying games. He'd figured it was game over when that zombie had jumped on him and chewed on his brains. Oh yeah, and his new roommate had moved in, hadn't they? Shit, he hoped he hadn't done anything weird!

The blinds and windows were open and the sun was shining through, which wasn't how he had left it. Pictures of flowers and landscapes and other girly crap were hanging on the walls. He should probably tell whoever he was living with that he was okay with a feminine touch but he didn't want to feel like he was living in an advertisement for Sylvanian Families. And he couldn't think of what his new roommate looked like either… It'd be a nice bonus if she was hot. The pizza was gone too, even though he wasn't finished eating.

He stretched himself and was grateful that he hadn't neglected to wear any trousers. He wouldn't make a good first impression in his boxers. Unless she was into that. He padded into the kitchen, planning on making himself a mug of coffee to wake himself up and found something he didn't expect.

There was a boy with choppy blonde hair, eyebrows that looked almost sentient and a scowl that seemed pretty comfortable on his face standing by the kettle. Oh. How friendly. And not a hot girl after all… Though the clock was telling him that the time was barely past eight, so maybe his new roommate wasn't a morning person. "Yo! I'm Alfred Jones, nice to meetcha." Ever the totally awesome hero type character that everyone instantly loved that he was, Alfred stuck out his hand and flashed his winning grin as a gesture of friendship.

"Nice to meet you. If you ever flip out and try to convince me it's the goddamn zombie apocalypse again, I will knock you for six," the stranger replied in a crisp English accent. He sounded kind of snooty to Alfred and he didn't even look at him when he talked, as if the tea he was making was his number one commitment.

"Ah?"

"Arthur Kirkland; I have no intention of making friends with a manchild like you." And with that amicable note, Arthur left the kitchen and Alfred felt somewhat ruffled. What a jerk! Okay, so obviously he hadn't made the best first impression on this Arthur and it seemed like he wasn't one to let bygones be bygones, but Alfred was a nice guy. In fact, he was proud of his general loveableness. And he wasn't even an asshole about it. He got on with everyone – that's how it had always been. This Artie would come round to him eventually; all it would take was a bit of the old Jones charm.

"Look, Artie," he started, following the boy into the living room. It was weird to think a boy had put up the feminine decorations… There was even a bowl of the things that made the room smell nice in the centre of the coffee table. "I'm sorry if I was weird or somethin' at first, but I swear I don't do that a lot! Anyway, since we're living in the same house and all I'd really like for us to be friends. You seem like an interesting guy and I don't mind if you want to decorate the place all frou-frou like this if you don't go overboard. How 'bout we start over again?"

'Oh, Alfred. You are a real charmer,' the American complimented himself.

Yeah, Artie would so go for that. Who wouldn't?

"My name is Arthur, not Artie. And I haven't made the place look 'all frou-frou'!" Irritation sparked in the English boy's eyes as he mocked Alfred with his air quotes. "I've just added a few homely touches. Just because you'd rather leave old pizza everywhere so the place smells like something came here to curl up, die and rot all over the fucking place, and you have some crippling allergy to light when you're playing your stupid games, and you think it's okay to leave your dishes in the sink for the bloody housework fairy to come along and clean – because they won't clean themselves, Alfred – doesn't make my adjustments frou-frou! Grow up and come back to me, then perhaps we can start over."

"Dude, someone has shoved a stick so far up your ass I can't hear anything past your choking."

The caterpillars residing above those bright green eyes slunk together as Arthur glared. Alfred swore those things were watching him… The English boy grumbled and Alfred didn't even care about whatever weird English insult had been tossed in his direction. He had been wanting coffee earlier and it was probably best if he drank it in his bedroom to erase the temptation of dousing the stupid paintings that he didn't even want in his living space any more in the hot beverage. He turned heel towards the kitchen, Arthur harrumphing himself down onto the sofa.

Fine. Artie didn't want to be friends. Artie was probably a coddled mummy's boy who grew up arranging flowers. Artie's eyebrows were straight up the fuzziest things he'd ever seen. Artie was a dick. Fine.

Artie was the first person he'd come across who didn't like him. Fine. They didn't have to like each other, they just had to live with each other.

This would be such a great year.

Hi :D Exams are over and I'm back to writing again! This idea has been floating around in my head for the past few months and I think I can have a lot of fun with this story and write in a lot more character than I've done before. Might even bump it up to an M at some point... I probably won't update on a regular schedule as I seem to have acquired a life this summer, but I think I can try for bi-weekly. I'm taking my time with this one. Because I wasn't doing that before or anything.

Let me know what you think! I'd be really grateful. Another thing – I now have tumblr. My URL is motherfucking-super-panda, so go bug me there ;)

I'll see you when I see you.