A/N: Hello! it took me a while to write this and i hope it turned out okay. And how bout that...it's exactly 7 days since my last post! Hope I can keep updating once a week. :) Enjoy!
Morning came shining through the blinds, the light hitting Arthur in the face and making the brit squirm beneath the covers. Arthur opened his bleary eyes, lying still as he recounted the events of last night.
God...if that was all a dream then I need to stop mixing fillings in my scones. A crash sounded in the kitchen followed by the sound of glass breaking which Arthur's brain decided was enough proof that last night he DID rescue a faerie cursed wolf. It sounded weird even in his own head. Arthur rushed off the covers, opened his bedroom door and ran to the kitchen, slipping on a pair of slippers on the way and was greeted with the sight of Alfred surrounded by pots, pans and broken glass.
"What the devil happened?!"
Alfred turned to see Arthur staring from the doorway then grinned.
"Mornin' Artie! I was looking for breakfast but I might've cleaned you out last night."
Arthur hurried to Alfred, carefully avoiding any broken glass debris,
"You idiot! I told you to rest, now your cut and bleeding again! Come on!" The brit proceeded to drag Alfred away from the messy kitchen and back onto the couch. Alfred notice with curious amusement how Arthur didn't correct his name, more concerned with his new cut.
"Relax, I'm fine! Seriously it's just a small cut and I'm mostly healed up already. It's why I got hungry."
Sitting on the couch, Arthur unwrapped the bandages and began examining the mostly healed wounds with amazement.
"T-this is remarkable! You're almost good as new!" Arthur checked his ankle, "Even your sprain is gone!"
"I did tell you that I heal fast." laughed Alfred.
Then he grabbed Alfred's hand and inspected the new cut, but it had already closed. Arthur stared in wonder and then, a thought struck him.
"Alfred..."
Alfred stopped laughing at the tone of Arthur's voice, "Yeah?"
"You're human now, yet you've retained your healing capabilities."
A curious look crossed Alfred's face then he suddenly perked up, looking at Arthur.
"You mean the spell is temporary?"
"I don't know, probably not since it's a curse but you still heal incredibly fast, then there was last night when you growled at me for trying to make you eat properly-"
"Instincts dude."
"-yes, but if so, then maybe the curse only affected you so much. Internally you're still a wolf, it's just your outer appearance that's human."
Alfred looks excited now, and Arthur could almost imagine a tail wagging back and forth.
"This is great! And now that you mention it, I can still smell and hear things pretty well, not as sharp as when I was a wolf but still clear enough for me to know it's working."
Arthur smiled, amused when Alfred started sniffing around the air, "Well this is good news, at least there's a chance for you to-H-hey!"
Alfred had gotten closer to him and appeared to be sniffing the air around him. Arthur backed up but was caught between the arm rest and Alfred leaned even closer, now nosing his hair.
"A-Alfred?! W-what are you doing?"
"I'm testing out my sense of smell and you smell really good," he said in an almost husky voice, "you smell like.." and he nosed into the side of Arthur's face, causing him to make a small gasp, then traveling down to the curve of his neck, inhaling his scent and making Arthur shiver, "something sweet...and minty..."
Arthur was completely still, his heart beat increasing, making him nervous and hoping Alfred couldn't hear it. Then, seeming satisfied, Alfred leaned back, blinking away the dilation in his eyes and grinned at Arthur.
"Heh, sorry, you just smelled really good. I just caught your scent and couldn't resist, but now that I have it, I can always find you!"
"R-right." said Arthur in a slightly strangled voice before he swallowed and tried regaining some composure, willing his blush to subside
"well, it's good to know you still have all your animal senses."
The brit stood up, still a bit shaky, "It's still early, I can make a quick stop at the nearby grocer and whip us up some breakfast, but first, I have to clean up that mess you made."
Alfred stood with him, "I'll help!" and followed Arthur to the kitchen.
After tidying up in the kitchen, Arthur convinced Alfred to take a bath while he was gone and showed him how to work the knobs, pointing to the soap and shampoo and instructing him how to use them. He drew the bath and told Alfred to just relax and get cleaned up and he'll be back with food and some clothes in a little while. Arthur dressed, grabbed his wallet, some bio bags then headed out of his apartment, down the stairs and out the lobby door.
The grocer was just around the corner and Arthur hurried inside to get his shopping done, not wanting to leave Alfred alone too long. He wasn't worried, just concerned that the git might break something else, yeah. He grabbed eggs, some bacon, ham, sausages, some vegetables, a bit of everything actually since he didn't know what Alfred wanted to eat, though he didn't seem picky over dinner last night. He grabbed his usual box of tea, paid for everything at the cashier and briskly made his way out, all that in about 10 minutes. He walked a bit more to the thrift shop nearby, balancing his groceries on each hand. He left the bags at the counter with a kindly old woman who smiled in greeting and began perusing through racks upon racks of clothes. Arthur realized belatedly that he should have gotten Alfred's size, how was he suppose to buy him pants? Arthur sighed, he supposed that he could just buy a pair of stretchy sweat pants for now. He grabbed shorts, shirts, pants, some boxers (no he wasn't blushing), a pair of sneakers slightly bigger than his own size and a sweater, though with the weather getting colder, Alfred would need a coat. But the store didn't seem to have a proper sized coat so Arthur headed to the counter with what he had and was about to pay for them when he saw it. It was tucked into the corner of a rack, Arthur went and pulled it out. It was a brown leather jacket with a black fur trim around the collar and based on the design, it looked like an old bomber jacket from the mid 40's. It wasn't a coat but Arthur liked it and it looked like it would fit Alfred, so he put it with the rest of his purchases, paid for them and made his way home. He took a bit too long at the thrift shop but hopefully Alfred behaved himself.
Another few minutes later, Arthur was opening the door to his apartment and surveying any damage. He entered and set his bags down then was startled to hear Alfred call from the bathroom, "Arthur? That you?"
"Yes, I just got back" Arthur replied, "Sorry I took so long, how was your bath? Are you done?" he closed the door and picked up the bags, dropping off the food on the kitchen counter and made his way to the bathroom. He was about to knock when the door opened and there stood Alfred. Naked. Again.
"That felt great!" Alfred grinned seeing Arthur, "I feel all squeaky clean now!"
Arthur felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he sputtered, "Y-You! At least put on a towel! Here-" he then shoved some clothes into Alfred's arms, carefully averting his eyes, "put these on."
Alfred stared surprise then in confusion at the bundle of clothes in his arms, "How do I put these on? Why do I need so many?"
Arthur pointed to various clothing with instructions, still blushing and still not looking in Alfred's direction. "You put your legs through these, this one first then this one, then you wear that over your head with your arms through these. You need extra clothes for warmth. Now get dressed while I make us some breakfast."
And before Alfred could ask anymore questions, Arthur was gone.
Arthur decided to make a classic English breakfast with toast, eggs, beans and sausages, piling everything into two plates on the table and proceeded to brew some tea. Alfred came in dressed in sweat pants and a simple shirt and sat down on the table,
"Hey Artie, what kind of food is this?" eyeing the slightly burnt toast and clumps of egg warily.
"It's Arthur damn it, not Artie!" Arthur turned towards the table and sat down with two mugs of tea, pushing Alfred's beakfast in front of him, "This is a classic english breakfast, that's egg, this is toast and the beans and sausages are meat." then handed Alfred a spoon and a fork "Dig in, and use the silverware this time."
Arthur began to eat while Alfred watched how he used the spoon and fork to cut up the food into pieces and scoop them into his mouth. Alfred repeated the motion, it was hard but it wasn't so bad. There was a question that had been nagging at the back of Alfred's head so he stopped eating and asked Arthur, "Hey, I was wondering...how did you get me into your apartment?"
Arthur paused with a spoonful of beans mid-air, Alfred continued, "I mean, how'd you do it? I was pretty large as a wolf, not to mention heavy."
"Oh yes, I suppose an explanation is necessary." Arthur put down the spoon, "I actually asked help from some of my faerie friends. They cast a glamour on you so people wouldn't see and with a bit of magic, they had you floating up and towards the elevator. Good thing no one else was using it at the time."
Alfred stared in disbelief, "Your friends with faeries? You asked them for help? What was the deal?"
"What?" Arthur blinked. Alfred continued on, "You asked for their help, they must have required something in return? Faeries don't just give out freebies!"
Alfred was starting to worry, even the friendliest of faeries can be a nuisance and he didn't want Arthur to suffer for that in saving him but then Arthur laughed. Alfred was surprised, why was Arthur laughing? It sounds nice.
"Alfred, it's alright. I've bee friends with these faeries since I was a child. I let them stay in my home anytime, I also leave them little treats and they've helped me before. I assure you that it is a genuine friendship."
"Oh," Alfred stared in small admiration, "Okay then. Just wanted to be sure you didn't get sucked into a bad deal. Ya never know with faeries sometimes." Arthur is friends, ACTUALLY FRIENDS with a bunch of faeries?! How'd that even happen? Just who is this guy?
Arthur chuckled, "Yes, they can be mischievous at times. Now finish up your breakfast, we have a long day ahead of us."
"Why? Where are we going?" Alfred perked up at the chance of going out as a human, not bothering to hide his excitement. Arthur just dug into his breakfast calmly, "Well we need to get you more clothes, proper ones in your size and I think it would be a good idea to integrate you into society now, so you can get used to being human and learn how we do things."
"Can we get more food too?" said Alfred as he looked at Arthur with shining eyes, looking like a human version of a puppy.
"Yes, as soon as you're done there." Having that puppy like expression aimed at him made Arthur want to pinch the other's cheeks. He probably doesn't even know how adorable he looks.
"Alright then, I really like your food better than what I usually eat! It's delicious!" Then Alfred wolfed down the rest of his breakfast, excited for the day ahead while Arthur is again trying to will down the redness from his cheeks, wondering what is causing him to blush so much.
A/N: I surprised myself when Alfred's jacket appeared in that thrift shop, didn't really plan that. And a side note on Faerie Lore, it's a common theme in stories that Faeries don't do stuff for free and usually when they ask for something, it leaves the human at the bad end of the deal. Usually when a Faerie likes you, it's not a good thing, you're like it's next toy. It's why Alfred was worried.
Until next time honeys!