It was now seven minutes until Alfred's shift was over, according to the old style clock above the counter. Alfred was busy picking at a band-aid that was stuck across his thumb, chewing on the brown cloth.
Allistor had left around two, mumbling about going to find something to drink. Alfred offered him water and more soda, but just got a slap on the back and a 'Nice try, Laddie' instead.
Alfred had noticed that he didn't leave a tip, or pay at all for that matter, and Alfred found himself cleaning in the darkest corners of the diner for enough money to scrounge up the cost of Scottie's meal. He wouldn't have enough out of pocket. Or out of savings. Just in general really, and this became more and more painstakingly obvious as he dragged himself around on all fours under tables and behind booths.
Matthew was asleep again, fully slumped over in his booth now, a steady stream of drool com out of his mouth and onto the seat. Somewhere during the early hours, in-between money-searching and the sunrise, Alfred had laid his jacket down on top of him. An old-fashioned bomber jacket with an airplane patch and a large '0' on the back. It had this sticky film on the backside, like sticker residue.
"Can I get you more coffee, sir?"
Now Alfred was patiently holding out a coffee pot out to a customer, a brown-haired man with papers lined out in front of him. He looked vexed, or at least he always did to Alfred, like he was going into an eight hour meeting, with his sunken eyes and bitten nails.
"N-no, thank you though." He replied. His eyes swept up and down Alfred's appearence. "Alfred, are you- no, thank you, I don't need any creamer- are you eating enough?"
This was why Alfred always wore his jacket. Without it, every t-shirt he wore looked like it was grasping for dear life on his shoulders, his ribs visible under the soft material.
"Me? Ha, yeah man! Don't worry about me, Mr. Laurinaitis. I'm good." Alfred joked, smiling as he swiped some crumbs off the counter.
"Well, you can always stay with me and Felixs, alright? We worry about you getting enough food."
"Thanks, Mr.L. But really," Alfred smiled. "I'm all good."
"Who is he?" Mr. Laurinaitis asked, glancing at Matthew over in his own booth, having just let out a particulary large snort and shifted around.
"Some Canadian kid. My age, he rolled in here last night. Named Matthew."
"Al, please, I don't think-"
"Calm down, broseph! He'll love it!"
A clicking sound woke Matthew up, like a camera shutter. Dazedly Matthew raised his head up, bumping it against the bottom side of the table. "Ow."
Alfred was squatting in the seat on the opposite side of the booth, leaning half-way onto the table. He was holding his phone up in the air in front of himself, the inward-facing camera on, both his and Matthew's faces in the frame.
"Hey! What are you-" Matthew started, interupted by a groan from Alfred.
"Dude! You ruined the shot!" Alfred whined, sliding back into his seat. He pouted and spun around to face Matthew. "I was gonna post that one on instagram."
Matthew sat up and wiped the drool from his mouth, blinking at the smiling blond across from him.
"Look!" Alfred shoved his phone into Matthew's face. "We look so alike!"
"Hm? Kinda, I guess..." Matthew pushed the phone away and covered his eyes from the rush of bright light streaming into the diner from the windows. "What time is it, eh?"
"'Bout Seven-thirty. I got off shift half an hour ago." Alfred slid his phone back into his pocket and stretched out in the booth.
"Who's he?" Matthew asked quietly, looking around the diner and seeing sitting at the counter, hunched over in his work and scribbling on a piece of paper. "That's not Scottie."
"Ah, he works in town hall. He and his partner do... I don't know, something." Alfred smiled. " I really like him. They give me a lot of clothes."
"They?" Matthew asked. He pulled Alfred's coat off his shoulders and folded it on the table.
"Oh, thanks, sorry. Didn't want you to be cold. And yeah, they. He and his partner, Felixs. They've been together for, uh...um... A while, I think. Don't know. Felix is pretty cool! Happy guy."
"Mattie?! What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Al, you... you still have these things?"
Alfred held the door open for Matthew, jacket folded in hand. It was cold outside, foggy, the sky overcast as a slight mist fell, blocking out the sun and casting no shadows. He leaned back against the open door and let his head fall back, closing his eyes to the dull light.
The waitress meant to cover the morning shift finally arrived, 30 minutes late, as usual according to Alfred. "It's really not her fault." He said as an old, green Volkswagon Bug swerved into the tiny parking lot, birds scattering every which way.
She was a short girl with short blonde hair, her apron tied crookedly, and she smelled like vanilla, something sweet that Matthew caught a whiff of as she skipped past. She was wrapping a green ribbon in her hair as she kicked her car door shut and half-jogged to the front door.
"Sorry I'm late!" She said as she rushed through the door, smiling as she passed Alfred, who was holding the door open for her. "Toris! Freshen your coffee?"
Alfred waved goodbye and let the door swing shut behind them as he pulled his keys out.
"Is this your truck?" Matthew asked, standing in front of a rather nice looking car, a freshly washed one with a pink heart dangling from the rear-view mirror.
"Uh...no. This is!" Alfred said, patting the hood of an old orange pick-up.
The truck was, in Matthew's opinion, a piece of crap. It looked like it had been T-boned at one point, a huge dent in the side of the truck bed, and rust easily flaked off into Matthew's hand as he squatted down and scratched at the front bumper.
"It's rusted pretty bad." Matthew said with a weak smile.
"Yeah, It's not pretty. But," Alfred laid a hand on the driver's side door. The door squeaked when he opened it."She's my baby. I got her from... I found it. Hey, want a ride?"
Matthew stood up and rubbed his hands off on his jeans.
"A ride?"
"Yeah, to like, a hotel or something? I mean, I think there's only one, but theres a bunch of rentable lodges if you want. Unless you want to walk but, we're like, 3 miles out from town." Alfred explained as he slid into the driver's side seat. He looked at Matthew through the window and smiled, slamming his door.
"Sure, I guess. I don't really have any money though so..."
"We'll figure something out. I gotta stop by my house really quick though, Change out of my uniform and all."
Matthew stood nervously by the side of the passenger side door before flinging it open and hoisting himself inside.
Matthew was holding onto the 'Oh-shit' handle for dear life, knees up against the dash as he peeked out from his under his other hand. Alfred seemed to have no respect for rules of the road, or even a need for a road if the last mile and a half told Matthew anything.
As an old Smith's song blasted from the trucks worn-out cassette player, Alfred drove the truck down a marshy road so dense with trees and plants that Matthew didn't even see it at first, and just assumed it was some off-the-path hiking trail until Alfred violently jerked the truck off the road. Broken glass under the tires, old rusted metal things littering the side of the road, and an old broken gate couldn't stop Alfred's truck from barreling down the trail, not even a ripped 'No Trespassing sign'.
The sudden drops around them as the road seemed to give out on either side only made Matthew want to pee himself out of fear.
"Now I live on the second story," Alfred explained as he tore down the road. Matthew caught a glance of an abandoned washing machine in one of the creeks far below off the road-side. "And I'll only be a few moments, just gotta grab my shirt and stuff, you know?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Ok." Matthew agreed, eyes shut tight as the road got bumpy.
It felt like an eternity until the truck was on gravel and Matthew finally relaxed. He let go of his grip on the handle and quickly switched to holding onto the door handle, ready to jump out and roll if needed. Which honestly he hoped he wouldn't, there seemed to be a large amount of broken glass on the ground.
Alfred swerved so that in front of them was a house, with chipped white paint and a worn looking outside staircase. One set of stairs led to the first floor porch, where a screen door was hanging open and mud-splattered boots were littered. A few guns were on the porch, stacked in the corner under a tattered plaid blanket and behind a yellowed porch swing. The top part of the house where apparently Alfred lived looked like a small attic at most, the outside staircase leading off the right side of the porch and up to Alfred's door.
"Wanna come up with me?" Alfred asked Matthew as he pulled the keys from the ignition. Before Matthew had a chance to answer, Alfred hopped out and slammed the door shut behind him, marching towards the front porch through the mud.
"Sure..." Matthew sighed as he wrestled with his seatbelt. "Sounds great."
Matthew stepped out of the truck and directly into a large mud puddle, gently shutting the door behind him. Glancing back towards the house, Matthew saw someone in the first story part of the house peeking out from the screen door, a little kid.
Matthew waved but the kid just stuck his tongue out at him. Matthew noticed that the kid did wave at Alfred, who smiled back and stomped up the stairs.
"Alfred? Alfred!" Someone called from inside the first floor. Alfred stopped in his tracks halfway up the staircase to the top story. "Is that you? Peter, get back to your homework."
"Hey, Tino!" Alfred replied, hanging onto a staircase rail as he leaned back.
A man stepped out onto the porch and smiled up at Alfred, brushing off his pants. He was covered in what looked like flour and had a cheesy apron tied around his waist with the words "World's Okayest Mom" stitched in the front. The kid clung to the back of the man's shirt and stared at Matthew, making dirty faces at him.
"How are you today Alfred? I made some -Peter, put that back, that's not yours- some cookies! Would you like to come in?" Tino asked, shutting the screen door as he pushed the kid back into the house.
"Oh, no thanks, but thanks for the offer! Hey, Tino, meet Matthew!" Alfred said, gesturing to the gangly Canadian, who was trying to get his coat unstuck from the car door.
Matthew felt stupid as he waved again.
Matthew watched as Tino turned to wave back at him and smiled. Tino looked like a happy guy to Matthew, was that his son in there?
"H-Hi, I'm Matthew." Matthew started as he got his coat unstuck, stumbling backwards. "I'm new here, I just-"
A loud beeping sound from inside of the house cut Matthew off and the ckid stuck his head out the door to look at Tino. He had what looked like flour suddenly plastered to the side of his face.
"Dad, I-"
"Peter!" Tino said as he threw open the screen door and ran inside. "What did I just say? I just told you not to touch that, didn't I? What were the words that literally just came out of my mouth?"
Alfred signalled Matthew to come up the stairs. "Just go right on in."
Matthew followed and headed up the porch steps two at a time, careful to avoid the many pairs of boots. There were... a lot of boots. Boots that were mud-splattered, some without matching pairs, all in different sizes covering the first few steps up.
The stairs up to the second story seemed tired, like they had been walked up thousands of times and were just only holding on. Matthew passed by Alfred, who gave him a beaming smile and then glanced back down at the front door. By the time Matthew had gotten to Alfred's door, Tino was talking to Alfred through the screen door.
"Alfred, are you sure you're okay?" Matthew heard Tino say, the loud beeping no longer.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Tino."
"What happened to your thumb?"
Matthew hovered in front of Alfred's front door, hand on the knob. Alfred couldn't see him from where he was standing, at least Matthew hoped he couldn't see him eavesdropping. Matthew noted that Alfred's door was unlocked and easily opened when Matthew leaned on it, the sudden give making Matthew trip over his own feet.
"Are you sure you don't want any cookies? Or anything else? I mean, we've got plenty of food and things if you need them and-"
"I'm fine! Tino, really. You guys just look after yourselves all right? How is Peter doing in school?"
"He's doing great! Alfred, just..." Tino paused and Matthew slipped inside of Alfred's house, pressing his ear to the crack in between the door and the wall. He stepped on something as he did, a pencil that he kicked behind him.
"Just be careful, okay?" Tino finished. Why did Alfred need to be careful?
Alfred must have nodded in response or something, because the only thing Matthew heard after that was the creaking of the stairs as Alfred walked up them, exactly the same sounds they made when Matthew walked up them. Matthew flipped around and for the first time, actually saw the inside of Alfred's house.
It wasn't a house.
It was a room.
A tiny room, with a tiny twin-sized bed in the corner laden with patchwork blankets, crocheted quilts, and old flowery pillowcases. The bed was shoved up under a window with tiny nick-nacks on the windowsill, a toy soldier, a notepad, and a little alien action figure. Comic books were stacked all around the room, on top of the tv and all around it, on bookcases, in bookcases, and on top of the small wardrobe shoved in the corner.
"Yeah, nice, ain't it?"
Matthew turned to come face to face with Alfred, who was leaning against the doorframe.
"Comics. Lots of, uh, comics." Matthew stuttered out, shoving his fists in his pockets.
"Yeah! I love superheroes, do you?" Alfred said, walking past Matthew and throwing his coat down on the bed. "My fav is Captain America."
"Superheroes? Never really thought of them much to be honest."
"No? Dude, you missed out. What did you do as a kid?" Alfred asked as he took a giant step over a comic stack to get to the wardrobe. "I get them for free from the library."
Matthew didn't reply. He couldn't remember what he enjoyed doing. He couldn't remember being a kid, it seemed so long ago.
"Don't know." Matthew replied, picking up a comic off the bookshelf.
"Nah? That's okay, I don't remember anything either. I can tell you all about the Back to the Future series, but nothing on what I liked as a kid." Alfred said, muffled as he pulled his shirt off and threw it to the side.
"So, you get these comics for free? Is that why you have so many of them?" Matthew asked as he watched Alfred rifle through his clothes. Alfred didn't seem to have much body fat or built up muscle, just like Matthew himself.
As Alfred finally grabbed a shirt, Matthew got a closer look at the things on the windowsill. He picked up the little toy soldier, a blue coat with a little wisp of blonde hair. There was a chip in part of the little gun the solier was holding, like the wood had been splintered.
"Found that on the ground one day. Don't know where it came from, but it seemed pretty cool." Alfred said, stepping back over the comics to Matthew. "I don't really like it, it gives me a creepy feeling."
"Huh." Matthew put it back on the windowsill.
"Yeah. I wonder who it used to belong to..."
"When did you find it? I haven't seen a kid play with one of these in, well, ever." Matthew asked, facing Alfred. "Nice shirt."
"Don't know, just remember picking it up. And hey, thanks!" Alfred said, pulling the shirt down so Matthew could see it better. The shirt was old and holey with a few grease stains, a little patch in the upper left corner with the words 'Sanooq Fire Department' on it. "It's not mine though, just a hand-me-down. Hey, did you like Tino?"
launching himself down onto his bed, Alfred looked up at Matthew and patted the space next to him on the bed. Matthew looked around awkwardly for a chair before sitting down on Alfred's bed.
"Tino? The guy downstairs? Yeah, he seemed nice, I guess. The kid, not so much." Matthew said as Alfred scooted back and leaned against the wirey bedframe, sitting cross-legged.
"Oh, yeah, Peter. He really is a nice kid but kinda pushy. Don't worry, bro, he's like that with everyone. I really like him! He's fun to play videogames with, he goes hard as crap in Mario Kart." Alfred paused. He looked distant for a moment before his smile bounced back. "That whole family does."
"Whole family? It's not just Tino and Peter?" Matthew asked, flipping through a comic with his hands but looking at Alfred. He landed on a page where Captain America was standing across from Bucky, the Winter Soilder and toyed with the page corner.
"Nah. Well, it's them, Berwald -He and Tino are together I think-, Mathias -I love him, he's so awesome!- , Lukas, and Emil. Lukas and Emil are blood related, I think." Alfred explained as he pulled aside one of the curtains and glanced outside.
"Big family, eh?"
"Yeah. Must be nice."
Both of them grew quiet and Alfred drummed his fingers against his knee.
"Yeah. Hey, can I see this hotel you were talking about?"
"Totally! I think you'll like it, let's go!" Alfred said eagerly, hopping up from the bed, leaving Matthew to flounder in the sudden loss of structure on the bed.
Matthew got up after managing to roll back onto his feet and followed Alfred out, leaving the Captain America and Bucky comic spread out on the bed.