Chapter 4: Verdant

Arthur carefully snuck down the stairs, pausing when something creaked under his foot. He perked his ears, but no one seemed to react to the sound. He carefully re-adjusted the strap of the bag containing his guitar, before continuing his ascend. He was almost at the front door when a voice made him jerk to a halt.

"And where do you think you're going with that?"

Arthur spun on his heels to look at the owner of the voice. It happened to be Patrick, who was holding a box of cigarettes between roughened fingers. Arthur scowled at him.

"Bloody hell Patrick, you almost gave me a heart attack! And you're going to give yourself one too if you smoke that inside!"

Patrick shrugged and played with his lighter.

"Don't worry about me, I was just on my way outside. Wouldn't want Nana glaring me to death." (Nana being their grandmother.)

Patrick's green eyes glimmered and he flashed a lob-sided smile.

"Tell you what Ari. You don't talk about my new hobby, and I won't tell them you're going to see your boyfriend."

Arthur felt the temperature rising to his cheeks.

"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend! Can't a guy have friends of the same sex anymore?!"

Patrick laughed mockingly.

"Right, right. Just keep telling yourself that boyo. That still doesn't explain you sneaking around the house like a burglar. Or why you're taking that thing with you."

Arthur nervously wiggled his toes in his pointed boots.

"Just felt like playing a bit without the Old Man yelling at me all the time."

Patrick's grin deflated, and for a long and anxious moment, Arthur was afraid his brother knew about the band. Then they could hear a door open somewhere above them.

The brothers jumped, immediately forgetting about their conversation.

"All right, time to go," Patrick said hastily, ushering him out the door.

Arthur looked back at him with raised eyebrows, but Patrick made an impatient movement with his hand.

"Just get out of here now that you still can, and make sure to keep your mouth shut about my smoking. Got it?"

Arthur smiled gratefully and nodded, before sprinting out the gates. Patrick sighed and made his way around the house, searching for a spot where he knew he couldn't be seen or smelt.

The boys never noticed a hidden figure peering after them from a window on the third floor.

xoxox

Arthur impatiently rang the doorbell to Antonio's house. They had agreed on rehearsing here, since the Spaniard had a rather large basement with lots of space.

Antonio lived in a large villa, earthy colours and pleasant greenery concealing the true nature of his species. Arthur conjured up a miniature sun to take in his surroundings. He let the light shine on a fountain with turtles, the decorated entrance to a stable (everyone knew Antonio had a pet bull), expensive looking mosaic tiles leading up to the door and orange trees, softly letting their branches sway in what felt like a soft summer breeze. Winter seemed to have no power here, and the mage briefly wondered if the coco had let a magic user work on his family's garden.

Arthur looked up from his watch when he heard the door slide open, and began saying hello when the words instantly died on his tongue.

In front of him stood a naked Francis, one single rose covering his private area.

"What the-"

Arthur was so startled he stumbled backwards and tripped over his own feet, sending him to the ground with a painful thud. The sun instantly vanished, leaving them both shrouded in darkness.

In a flash the incubus was gone, replaced by a kneeling Antonio. Worry was written all over his face.

"Ah, lo siento Arthur. I was just practising my scare-tactics for a bit. I didn't startle you too much, did I? Do you feel like you could pass out? Faint in the head? Dizzy? Does your heart hurt?"

Arthur blinked and shook his head, trying to chase away the disturbing mental images.

"Antonio? Might I ask why you chose to become that blasted sex demon? …Naked?"

The coco grinned sheepishly, blissfully unaware of Arthur's true reaction to his so-called 'scare-tactic'.

"I thought, since you two fight all the time, and you always say you don't want to kiss him, that would be a surprise for sure!"

"A surprise indeed," Arthur mumbled. 'Only not in the way you intended.'

Antonio offered the mage a hand and helped him stand.

"Anyway, what can I help you with amigo?" the Spaniard then cheerfully said.

Arthur dusted off his jacket and pointed at his guitar.

"Band practice. That was today, right?"

Antonio blinked before his smile fell.

"Oh, didn't we tell you? Gilbert couldn't make it and Lovi and Feli were busy as well, so we decided to delay it until later in the week."

Arthur immediately scowled.

"What? That blasted wolf, he should've told me! Is he at home now?"

"Yes, but-"

"I'll go tell him what I think about his behaviour right this instant! Stupid dog, not even warning me…"

And with that Arthur stormed off, not giving the Spaniard another glance.

"Ah, wait!" Antonio called after him, but Arthur was already too far for him to hear. Antonio awkwardly scratched his head. "I think I should've told him why Gilbert can't come," he mused.

A couple of streets further, Arthur was already racing up to the werewolf's front door. Gilbert's house was strikingly different from Arthur's humble abode (*cough*mansion*cough*). From the outside, it looked just like any other house in the street. Boring square grey walls, a steel mailbox hanging next to a leaden door, an equally square garage box right next to the small three-story building. The windows didn't have drapes hanging in front of them, but the wolf family had created makeshift ones out of carton and a lot of duct tape. With a job as gym teacher and A LOT of mouths to feed, Alfher Beilschmidt didn't have much choice when it came to decoration.

Arthur impatiently rammed his finger onto the doorbell, ready to give the albino a mouthful. He could hear several locks being undone, before Ludwig carefully peeked outside.

"Ah, Gute Nacht Arthur. Is there anything I can help you with?" Ludwig asked, opening the door a little further after finding out who the visitor was.

"Bloody right there is- Ah, my apologies Ludwig. Didn't mean to shout at you like that." Arthur cleared his throat and started over, this time at a much calmer tone. "I would like to speak with Gilbert. Is he upstairs?"

Ludwig nodded slowly, but didn't move. He frowned and looked at the ground, as if deep in thought.

"Well, if he's there, would you mind letting me in?" Arthur insisted, wondering what made the German act the way he did.

"East is… unwell," Ludwig said, putting a suspicious amount of stress on the word.

"He's sick? What with?"

For some reason, the wolf started blushing. What on earth could be embarrassing about being sick? It happened to all of them every once in a while. Except maybe the demons, as far as Arthur knew he hadn't ever seen a sick demon. Sick as in ill that is, for Francis was as sick as a creature could get in the mage's opinion.

"He uh… How do I explain this…" Ludwig shook his head and straightened his back. "Either way, I don't think now is a good time to visit him. I suggest you come back at a later moment."

Before he could close the door on Arthur though, they heard a voice calling from upstairs.

"West? Who's that at the door?"

Arthur listened carefully to the albino's voice, but it didn't seem hoarse or thick to him. Probably nothing to do with the throat, nose or lungs then.

"East, get back to your room," Ludwig shouted back. Instead of listening to his brother, Gilbert's hunched figure suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. He instantly started grinning the moment his piercing crimsons fell upon the blond.

"Hey, Artie! You came to visit?"

"Came to remind you of band practice," Arthur corrected him.

Ludwig watched their exchange with growing concern, his tail between his legs and his ears tense.

"Ah shit!" Gilbert exclaimed, slapping a hand against his forehead. "I totally forgot to tell you! Entschuldigung, Spatz."

"Seeing as you're not sick enough to be bed-ridden, mind if I come up for a moment?"

Ludwig immediately opened his mouth to protest, but Gilbert cut him off with a hand gesture. He stared out at nothing for a few seconds, ear tips pointed upwards and mouth forming a straight line. Then he nodded.

"Yeah, you can come up. West, let him in."

"East-"

"I said let him in," Gilbert repeated, smiling reassuringly.

Arthur could do nothing but raise an eyebrow at the brothers' strange behaviour. Oh well, at least he could finally enter now. It was a tad chilly outside, seeing as the winter season was about to commence.

Arthur climbed the stairs and followed his friend to his bedroom. It was a small room, but the walls were so filled to the brink with posters and piles of books that you would have thought it small regardless of its real size.

"What's in those?" the mage asked, nodding at the rows and rows of what seemed like handwritten journals.

Gilbert followed his gaze and hummed.

"Diaries. And no, not the girly kind!" he said when Arthur failed to hide a snort. "I'll have you know that my diaries are awesome!"

Arthur observed the rest of the room as Gilbert sat down in a desk chair. It was surprisingly tidy for a wolf like Gilbert. No clothes were spread over the floor, the bed was made, and the only mess he could see was a weird sticky stain of what looked like ice cream on his mouse pad. His desk was decorated with several photographs, most of which contained the Bad Touch Trio on one of their mischievous outings. There was one photo of Gilbert with a man Arthur didn't recognize, but he knew better than to pry. Gilbert had made a little nest of newspaper and cotton balls on his night stand, where Gilbird the chick was currently taking a nice nap. His drum sets weren't here, but Arthur knew he preferred to keep them stored away in the garage (the pack didn't have a car, so there was plenty of room down there).

"It occurs to me that I've never seen your room before," Arthur commented.

The werewolf nodded, but made no further remark. He seemed oddly distracted by something, and was even more squirmish than usual. He kept moving his chair from side to side, and when he finally held the damned thing still, he took on the irritating habit of crossing and uncrossing his legs. First the left leg came over the right knee, then he spun his chair some more, and when he stopped it was the right leg's turn.

"Will you stop that?" Arthur asked when he'd finally grown tired of the incessant movements.

Gilbert ceased his swinging, but immediately began tapping his feet against the floor.

"So, what's up?" the wolf then asked, unconsciously keeping up his agitating behaviour.

"Band practice, remember?" Arthur reminded him.

"You can sit down, you know," Gilbert interrupted the mage.

"Thank you," Arthur sighed. He was never one to just make himself at home anywhere he came.

Arthur tentatively took place at the edge of Gilbert's bed, not taking notice of how those glowing rubies closely followed his every movement.

"As I was saying, band practice. I went over to Antonio's house, and he said you were held up or something? So I came here to check on you. Not that I was worried or anything!" the mage quickly added, ears turning a slightly embarrassed red. Arthur also wasn't the type to just let others know how much he cared for them.

Gilbert snickered, but then grew serious.

"Yeah, I apologize again. I really should've let you know too, since we're the ones that started this whole thing. Sorry, Engel."

Arthur huffed to hide a pleased smile.

"Apologies accepted, you dog."

Gilbert grinned widely, after which he once more spun his chair around.

"But seriously though, are you sick?" Arthur asked, trying his hardest to resist the urge to shoot forward and grab that blasted piece of furniture to hold it still.

"Ah, more or less," Gilbert avoided the question. "It's a wolf-thing," he explained, after seeing Arthur's frown deepen in discontent.

"Explain," Arthur commanded, crossing his arms. "It's not because I'm a mage that I won't be able to understand your troubles."

Gilbert chewed on his lower lip, feet doing a crazed little tap-dance. Arthur finally lost his patience and got up, after which he harshly grabbed Gilbert's knees to hold them still.

"And would you quit it?! It's really tiring to watch!"

Gilbert tensed the moment his knees were captured. His legs instantly ceased their movements, and he looked down with a shocked expression on his face.

"Ah… Sorry, I'll stop."

Arthur nodded approvingly and took his place on the bed again. Gilbert indeed stopped moving around so restlessly, but his limbs did twitch every now and then, as if aching with nervous energy.

"Now please, Gilbert. Do explain what illness you have."

Gilbert's eyes shot around, looking for a way out.

"It's uh… Well, it's definitely something only wolves have… Although Francy-pants does resemble us when we're like that," he muttered as an afterthought.

At the mention of that name, Arthur's thoughts immediately shot to the incubus, to those seductive blue eyes and that purring accent, and the 'scare-tactic' Antonio had tried using on him earlier that night…

"Stop."

Arthur blinked and looked up, quickly chasing away the images. Was Francis ever going to let him be?

Gilbert was completely tense once more. His nose was scrunched up, his eyes glimmering with an emotion Arthur couldn't quite place, and his nails were digging themselves into the fabric of his sweatpants. And sweatpants were exactly what the wolf needed, because only now did Arthur notice the glistening drops on the wolf's lips, and the dark pools under his armpits. He hadn't paid attention to it at first, but Gilbert was in fact really sweaty, and he reeked of it too.

"Stop what?" the blond asked, body leaning forward on its own accord. As if instinctively reacting to that, Gilbert pushed his own body against the back of the chair.

"That," the wolf growled. It wasn't an angry growl, more… nervous?

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Arthur sighed, shifting around some more.

He was starting to grow a little uncomfortable under the way those eyes honed in on him, studied him as if he were delicious prey. Maybe Gilbert was in hunting-mode? Maybe that was the 'sickness' he had tried to describe?

The wolf slowly and deliberately licked his lips when Arthur let out another long-drawn breath. His eyelids dropped, half-concealing his flaming jewels with widened pupils. He leant forward, or maybe slackened was a better word, and if he were a cat, he probably would be rumbling like a motorboat by now.

"Gilbert? You're acting a little… odd," Arthur admitted, crossing his arms once more as if to protect his chest. Maybe he really was trying to protect himself, maybe his body took up the signals his human mind couldn't detect.

"Odd?" Gilbert breathed. He sounded like he was in a place far, far away from here, and had only left a husk of his body behind. A husk which was really starting to freak Arthur out.

"Yes, very odd. You uh… You're not hungry or anything, are you?"

Gilbert lightly frowned, as if not understanding the question. He was still leaning forward, and his legs were now trembling, making it look like he was getting ready to pounce. His breathing was heavy, sounding like he could start panting any moment now.

Arthur suddenly stood up, no longer feeling at ease here.

"I think I should leave."

Gilbert moved with him, and when Arthur tried to open the door, he put a hand against the surface and slammed it shut.

"Why would you leave?" the Prussian purred, still in that strange state of mind.

Arthur defensively put his hands up and moved back.

"I'm warning you, Gilbert. You are my friend, but if you keep up this behaviour, I will have no choice but to curse you."

The defensive movements only seemed to provoke the albino further, as he suddenly surged forward and tackled the mage onto the bed.

"Gilbert!" Arthur shrieked, heart speeding up and sending a wave of adrenaline through his veins.

The wolf was successfully pinning him down on his back, and Arthur could feel hot breath on his neck. He squeezed his eyes shut when the other moved closer, distress not allowing him to remember any means of self-defence.

However, instead of teeth, he suddenly became aware of the Prussian's tongue on his neck, trailing up and down the flesh. Gilbert was drooling on him, as if thoroughly enjoying the taste. His skin felt hotter than the sun and he was actually whimpering while he was licking at his neck.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Arthur shouted, and Gilbert finally seemed to snap back to reality.

The wolf shot up, still straddling the mage's hips. His eyes grew wide with astonishment the moment he realized where he was and who he was with, and more importantly, what he had been on the verge of doing.

Gilbert wasted no time in getting off of his friend, crashing to the ground in his haste. Arthur shot up as well, after which he scooted back and pressed himself flush against the wall. His hand quickly found his wand, and he clutched it like it was a life-belt. Gilbert stared up at him, expression shocked and ashamed.

"Es tut mir leid!" he exclaimed, before quickly scrambling up. He glanced around, as if looking for something. His ears where lying flat on his scalp, and his hands kept pulling at the base of his (now sweat-soaked) shirt.

"I uh, I'll be right back!"

And with that the wolf ran outside, leaving Arthur to calm down on his own. The green-eyed mage apprehensively got off the bed as soon as he could breathe normally again, and he cautiously snuck out after him.

"Gilbert?" he called, glancing down the empty hallway.

The teen could hear muffled sounds coming from the bathroom, and his feet started walking towards it on their own accord. Arthur's heart thumped in his chest as he snuck closer to the door and placed his ear against the plywood surface. He could now clearly hear muttered obscenities ("Scheiße… Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße!"), over the sound of running water. And then there was… Wait a minute… Was that- was Gilbert…. moaning?

Arthur instantly stepped back the moment a loud and clear growl cut through the door. He slapped a hand over his mouth and his cheeks paid a visit to blush central.

Gilbert wasn't hungry, nor had he seen Arthur as a prey. Well, not that kind of prey at least.

Gilbert was in heat.

It all made so much sense now. Ludwig's awkward avoidance of the topic, the sweating, the restless shifting, why he stayed at home, why Gilbert had told him to stop the moment he started thinking about Francis… Being a wolf, he could probably smell every mood-change Arthur underwent. How embarrassing!

Arthur was more than glad he'd successfully made Gilbert come to his senses before it was too late. He wasn't exactly keen on having sex with a lust-driven werewolf, especially not one he only saw as a friend.

The only question that remained was: what to do now? One option involved leaving, but that would be cowardly. Gilbert was his friend, so he couldn't just abandon him like that. It would break the guy's heart, make him think that Arthur was now terrified of or repulsed by him. Not only that, they were in the same band and had the same friends, so Arthur was bound to spend more time with him after today. No, he definitely could not leave things like that, even if he felt like running away as fast as possible without looking back.

So Arthur quietly made his way back to the bedroom, sat down on the mattress, and waited for Gilbert to…. finish (oh, how Arthur wished he could erase the memory of him moaning). He folded his hands in his lap and tried to calm down, set on showing the other he wasn't afraid. They were just going to talk it over like adults, and it wouldn't be awkward, no siree, not one single bit.

An exceptionally loud howl cut through the air, and Arthur's blush intensified when he realized what that meant. He prayed Ludwig hadn't heard (even though he knew that couldn't be the case, since wolves had quite a good hearing), and continued his waiting.

Finally, Gilbert re-entered the room. His eyes immediately shot to Arthur, before dropping to the ground. The usually pale creature was now tainted a dark red, both from his earlier escapades and from a high level of shame.

"I'm really sorry Arthur… I didn't mean to- to… You know, do that to you."

Arthur nodded, but didn't say anything. Didn't know what he could possibly say either.

Gilbert quietly shuffled to the other side of the room and sat back down in his chair, making sure there was as much space as possible between their figures.

"I don't usually have friends over when I'm like this," Gilbert explained, voice tiny for once instead of loud and boasting. "Don't want them to think I'm a pervert. Only Francis and Tonio know."

"It's okay," Arthur mumbled, trying not to let his voice tremble. "Just uh… Just know that I don't really plan on doing that with you-"

"Of course not!" Gilbert shouted, his head snapping up to stare at the mage. "I know that! It's just that, when you started thinking about whatever the hell you were thinking about, you gave off a certain smell, and uh… Yeah, I suddenly couldn't control myself anymore. But it won't happen again, I promise! Don't know what came over me, it was just really sudden."

Arthur held his hands up to soothe the distressed werewolf.

"Gilbert, it's all right! I understand! But if you think I'd better leave you while you're like this, just say so okay?"

The albino shook his head.

"I told you, I'm fine now. Just try not thinking about that stuff again, and I'll be able to control myself for the rest of your visit."

Arthur pushed away the imagines that immediately threatened to show up again, and smiled reassuringly at the other.

"Okay. Sorry Gilbert."

"Nein, I should apologize. I really didn't mean to pounce on ya."

Arthur shrugged and looked down at his hands, suddenly not knowing how to continue the conversation. The room was still filled with awkward tension, and he felt the need to say something to chase it away.

"So uh… How does it work? You know, the 'being in heat' stuff. Is it once a year, or…?"

Gilbert smirked. "Are you seriously asking me about that?"

Arthur scowled at him.

"I'm just interested is all! What's the point in being friends with a werewolf if you don't know how they work?"

Gilbert snickered. "I suppose I could tell you. It usually happens only once a year, somewhere in the period from late December to April. It's like our mating season, we just get really sexually active for a short period of time."

It somehow became a lot less awkward when Gilbert talked about it so openly. That was nice.

"It's not like we're not interested in sex at all outside of that period, but I guess it's just our animal side that takes the upper hand then?"

"And what about Ludwig then?"

"Like I said, it can happen anywhere in that period. I just got mine extra early this year, I guess. Most of the time it doesn't bother me all that much, but now it suddenly became really bad for some reason. Ludwig made me stay at home," Gilbert said, rolling his eyes at his brother's overprotective behaviour.

"I guess it makes sense," Arthur mused. "Wouldn't want you jumping the other students," he added with a smirk.

"Yeah, but it's only the ones that smell delicious. Aka, the ones that are in heat as well, or are aroused."

Arthur blushed when Gilbert raised an eyebrow at him.

"I wasn't aroused at all!" he shot back. "And how on earth could you think I smell delicious?! I'm a guy, for heaven's sake!"

Gilbert shrugged.

"I'm bisexual. Guys, girls, it doesn't matter to me at all."

This made Arthur pause, his eyes widening at the blunt confession.

"O-oh… I didn't know."

Gilbert shrugged again.

"It's not like I wear a sign with 'Hey, guess what guys! You can date me too!' Francy-pants and Antonio know, but the others never bothered asking, so I didn't bother telling."

Arthur suddenly felt the almost irresistible urge to tell Gilbert of his own secret. Before he could spill the beans though, they were interrupted by a voice calling from downstairs.

"Das Essen ist fertig!"

The albino grinned at him.

"You staying for dinner, Artie?"

Arthur quickly snapped his mouth shut and stood up.

"I suppose I am, thank you."

As he followed the wolf downstairs, he dismissed the sombre thoughts swirling through his mind.

'I'll tell him some other time,' he promised himself.

xoxox

Next time: meet the Beilschmidt pack! (Yeah, there are other pups beside Ludwig and Gilbert.)

Words:

Lo siento: I'm sorry
Gute Nacht: Good night (used as in "good morning" or "good afternoon")
Entschuldigung: Apologies
Spatz: Sparrow
Engel: Angel
Es tut mir leid: I'm sorry
Scheiße: Fuck/Shit
Das Essen ist fertig: Dinner is ready