There are always two ways of dealing with a stressful situation. It's encoded into human DNA, and because of that, into Nation DNA as well. Their response system. How we deal with the world around us. Also called the Fight-Flight response system.
Because of this, every person is faced with a choice. They can fight the problem or they can flee from it. Simple.
No matter what it was that he faced, no matter what the danger was, no matter what the situation was, Mathew would choose flight. No matter what.
And Alfred? He would choose fight.
It was simple, and habitual. It was the way they always had been and, they thought, as they always would be.
Alfred? Always fight.
Mathew? Always flight.
It was just the way they were.
For Mathew, he didn't really think of it as there even truly being a choice in the matter. For him, it wasn't a fight OR flight response. It was just a flight response. There wasn't even a fight option for him to choose from.
Hence his stammer when he did have to face a situation.
Hence playing hockey. He never had to stay still on the ice. Yes, it could be dangerous, but hockey never cornered him. He always had the option to skate away, and yet he could still skate around and have fun.
Alfred, on the other hand, well, Mathew also knew that his brother would always choose fight.
It always made things very difficult whenever they would have an argument.
Alfred always wanted to confront the problem, no matter how embarrassing or stressful it was.
Mather, on the other hand, would always want to run away from Alfred to stop the argument.
When Mathew ran, Alfred would stop yelling to run after him, and soon enough, they would both forget their argument in the struggle after Alfred tackled Mathew to the ground to try and keep him in one spot.
But, no matter how much they had yelled at each other before, their struggle would always end in a cuddle, arms wrapped around each other, and a nap on the floor.
And that was just the way they liked it.
After all, "opposites attract," right?