AN: Thanks so much; Veldargone, Phamenia and TheNinjaWangsta for reviewing! No, Alfred and Arthur aren't in a relationship...yet :3 Oh, they will be, though~

Please enjoy!

Chapter 2:

Getting to a world conference on time after he had spent the night with Alfred, sitting through mind-numbly bad acting and then keeping all those nasty shadowy ghosts from his imagination at bay was always so tiring for Arthur. First, he had to awaken Alfred from his slumber, which was difficult enough as that younger nation preferred to lie in.

Then he had to slip out of the hotel without anyone seeing him as the hotel staff were quite adamant that there were no 'freeloaders' - meaning, if Alfred was paying for one person to use a single room then only one, solitary person could sleep in that single room over night. So if anyone were to see him step out of Alfred's room at dawn's first light, Alfred's bill would have just sky rocket.

Those hotel staff...they've got eyes like hawks.

He wasn't doing that to help Alfred save money, of course. It was just...Francis, Kiku or even Elizabeta might just happen to see him walking out of the hotel and get the wrong idea. Their minds, especially when working together, could come up with some colourful –utterly scandalous- scenarios.

After making sure he got away, he then had to rush back home, greet his gentle and kind fairy friends and unicorns, freshen up, gather his paperwork for the day, hastily arrange it in his briefcase and then head back into London, successfully skipping breakfast and his morning tea.

And that bleeding Git was completely oblivious to all the trouble he had to go through for him!

But now, finally after a morning of hectically running and sneaking around, Arthur could sit down and have his delightful cup of tea while he reads the morning paper. Ah, such a calming and peaceful routine...

"Hey Artie!"

Well, there went his peace and quiet. He wasn't expecting Alfred to make an appearance for at least another couple of hours as he was known to be fashionably late. Did that American not know how the wonders of silence?

A second later, Alfred's face appeared before his, shocking Arthur just a little by how close he was. "Did you read the paper?"

"I'm trying to read it now, Alfred," Arthur replied with a twitch of his large eyebrow, hiding his cross look as he lifted the paper higher, blocking his view of Alfred grinning at him. Damn Git looked so refreshed and energetic...

However, the paper barrier between them was no match for Alfred's intent on annoying the life out of him. He simply took his hand and pushed the paper down, filling Arthur's sight with his brightly smiling face again.

"Well, did you read the part about the young girls who were found murdered in their bathroom?" he asked as the paper crumbled under his strong hand.

Arthur suppressed a shiver as his stomach suddenly clenched painfully. He felt a sense of fear and nervousness wash over him. No, he hadn't read that story yet; he had only just got his hands on the paper, so he hadn't had time to read any of it yet.

So, quickly, he removed the paper from Alfred's grip and took a good, hard look at the front cover. Sure enough, there was the story of the slain girls. He didn't have to read the entire article to know what happened. He knew, just by seeing a few key words, he knew.

Oh, when will these people learn not to provoke the dead? Those poor girls...

"It said their eyes were clawed out!" Alfred said aloud as he plonked himself into a seat beside him, his arm hanging casually over the back of the chair, Texas sitting comfortably on the bridge of his nose. "Doesn't that sound familiar?"

Yes, it did sound frightening familiar.

"Yeah, it sounded suspiciously like that Bloody Mary myth," Alfred continued.

"No," Arthur said tensely, his shoulders becoming ridged and straight, his hands tightening to cause the paper to literally wrinkle under the strain.

"Uh huh," Alfred carried on, yet again completely and utterly oblivious to his discomfort. "I thought that, you know, we should investigate it and-"

"Absolutely not, Alfred!" Arthur snapped, his face creased in a look of fury. "I'm not going to tell you how to summon Bloody Mary. You shouldn't dabble with that you do not understand."

Even after reading about those poor, unfortunate girls meeting their deaths in such a grotesque manner, he still wished to meddle with something that was beyond his comprehension?

Alfred was momentarily taken aback of his stern retort before quickly frowning himself, annoyed frustration shimmering in his blue eyes. "Oh, come on!"

"No," Arthur hissed as he slammed the paper down onto the table, pushed himself onto his feet and then stalked away.

Please, just drop it, Alfred, Arthur thought to himself. Please.

But Arthur should never have underestimated the determination of a certain American when he has his mind set on something, for a few hours later...

"Hey, Iggy!" Alfred said as he came bounding enthusiastically over to him. "I was watching this program on how to get in contact with the dead and-"

Arthur cut him off with a sharp look. "No."

And a few hours after that...

"Hey, Iggy! I just had this really cool drink. Do you know what it was called? Bloody Mary! Isn't that a coincidence, I was just-"

"No."

Arthur's patience was surely running very thin. All he wished to do now was head home and sort through his gradually growing paperwork. He needed to go through it. And he needed Alfred to let go of this dangerous notion of calling upon Bloody Mary.

"Come on, dude!" Alfred all but whined at him as he moved to stand directly in front of him, blocking his path to freedom. "Just tell me!"

Arthur levelled him with a piercing look, his grassy green eyes hard and stern. "No," he said as he stepped around him.

"Please?" Alfred asked as he continued to pursue him.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"No."

"Pretty please with sugar on top and-"

That was it, Arthur had enough of this.

"Shut up, you flaming git!" he yelled harshly as he spun around to glare at Alfred, dropping his briefcase to the floor with a loud thud and took a threatening step forward, his hands curled tightly and painfully into fists by his side. "I'm not going to tell you how to summon Bloody Mary! I refuse! It doesn't matter how many times you ask or how you beg, I'm not going to tell you! Christ Almighty, why can't you just accept it's for your own good!"

A stunned silence swiftly followed and Alfred just stood there, his mouth slightly open in shock, his eyes staring at him unblinkingly. Then, he furrowed his brow and gave him this oddly curious look. "My own good?"

Arthur blinked a couple of times himself before blushing with a stutter; "Ah, well..."

Then, a sense of desperation touched him and he took a step forward to reach up and grasp Alfred by his shoulders, looking at him in the eyes. "Alfred, listen; summoning Bloody Mary is very dangerous. It's best not to mess with this kind of thing, alright? Whatever you do, you do not mock the dead, Alfred, they can..." he trailed off, shaking his head almost frantically.

Please, not to you...don't let it happen to you...

"Just...don't, ok?"

Alfred was clearly shocked and taken aback by this. "Ah, sure."

"Good," Arthur said around a sigh of relief. He then cast his eyes to his own hands that were still clinging onto Alfred's strong shoulders desperately and he quickly pulled them away, a flaring blush raging across his cheeks as he stumbled backwards, awkward and embarrassed.

"So, um, let's just drop this nonsense, alright?" he asked as he shakily fixed his tie before fumbling for his briefcase on the floor. "I have some paperwork that I need to sort through tonight so I can't watch any scary movies with you tonight."

The bright, cheerful, whiny Alfred made an immediate comeback. "Aw, but Iggy!"

A bristle and an indignant cry soon followed. "Don't call me that!"

Poor Iggy XD

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