Despite the so-called godly pancakes, Gilbert still didn't come to dinner with the bear. Eliza almost hit him with a frying pan, but was held back by her boyfriend, Roderich. Plus, Gilbert was on the floor laughing at being hit with a frying pan for not eating pancakes. Roderich dragged her out, and shook his head at Gilbert's stubbornness. "Arthur and I will smuggle some out tonight, and then-" The Frenchman was cut off. "Whoever said anything about me going with you?" Arthur exclaimed, and the two started bickering again.
"What's the deal with those guys?" Gilbert asked Toris. "Oh, Arthur and Francis? Well, Francis basically desperately wants Arthur, but Arthur's in love with someone else. We haven't seen him in ages, so we're trying to encourage Arthur to move on." "Who?" "He goes by Alfred…" The hate with which the nervous Lithuanian said the name shocked him. "Um…okay?"
True to his word, Francis smuggled some leftover pancakes into Gilbert's room. Of course, he was hesitant, but he was hungry. When he put the first bite into his mouth, his eyebrows shot up. "Woah! And you say that bear makes these?" "Oui. Matthieu is quite a cook." Francis answered. "Okay, I'm eating with…Matthew…next time. But do you guys eat there as well?" "Duh," Arthur rolled his eyes. "Of course we do. We're his friends, not servants!"
"Well? Come on! Let's go!" Gilbert said, albeit a bit nervously. But Francis and Felkis blocked his path, identical evil expressions on their faces. "Oh no." Francis sneered. "You are not going to dinner with Matthew dressed like that." Felkis nodded, nose wrinkled in disgust. "Well, he can't be late either, so let's skip the fashion show and get down there!"
Arthur shoved past the two blonds, providing an easy opening for the Prussian. "Thanks," Gilbert whispered as they walked. "Um…how about you repay me by not being an arse to Mattie? He, uh, doesn't exactly know you're coming." Arthur muttered back. "You're kidding, right?" "Sorry. Let's go, okay?"
Twin shouts echoed around the stairway, causing Gilbert to look around in confusion. Arthur threw his arm out and slammed him into a wall, right as two kids shot past them into the hall, laughing. "Peter!" the Brit yelled at one of them. "Sorry Mr. Kirkland!" one of them called backwards. They burst through some doors and into a large room. "Matthew!" they yelled, in unison. Arthur walked in the door calmly, while Gilbert just hesitantly followed.
Both boys were chattering excitedly to the bear, who was sitting quietly, Elizaveta leaning against his side. Matthew's violet eyes locked with Gilbert's red ones, and for once it was the albino who looked away first.
Turns out, dinner was actually enjoyable. All of the people who lived in the house were really…good…friends. They argued as much as they could, others inserting sarcasm whenever they could. All of them had weird pasts, and many of them looked strange, so Gilbert felt right at home. He observed Matthew closely. The bear was almost ignored, he was so quiet, but he picked the best moments to snark out unexpectedly, that the others never really forgot about him. The two children were often found climbing on him. But as the night wore on, everything was forgotten. Dinner was finished, but the conversation continued. But when Liz busted out her frying pan, and everyone scattered.
The Prussian found himself in the garden. The blanket of snow covered everything, and the whole place was quiet and still. Then the sky burst to life. "The Northern Lights," he breathed, staring up in wonder. "Pretty cool, huh?" a voice laughed, from behind the awestruck man. Whipping around, he was greeted by the sight of Matthew, an amused expression on his face. "Honestly, being out here is probably the only thing that's kept me sane all these years." he continued, tipping his head up. "Can you do me a favor?" "Uh…sure?" "Could you stay away from upstairs? There's stuff up there I don't need you seeing." "That's like the surefire way to get me up there." Matthew laughed, violet eyes twinkling. "God…let's make sure you never meet Alfred!"
"Who's this Alfred guy everyone keeps talking about? There seems to be a mixture of love and hate for him." The bear kept his head pointed at the sky. "Alfred is a sore subject. Don't bring him up around anyone here. They might talk about him, but don't ask." "Is he dead?" "What? No, not at all. But if Toris, or Tino gets ahold of him, he won't stay that way for long." "Oh…Finnish sniper, huh?" "Yes."
This was the longest conversation that he'd had with the bear, and didn't want it to end, but Matthew still unnerved him. He was a talking polar bear for god's sake! "Well…nice talking to you." He backed away quickly, ducking inside out of the cold. But turning back, he could still see a silhouette under the blazing sky, staring upwards.
But the conversation irked him. Finally, when he was sure Matthew wasn't around, he ran up the only staircase, and darted through the first door. It was a bedroom. A beautiful maple tree grew from the floor, almost as if it was saying: "Screw gravity!" It really was beautiful, but the leaves seemed to be falling off slowly. "Gilbert?" a voice murmured from behind him. He winced, knowing who it was. Matthew's head was tipped to one side, seeming curious rather than angry. "What're you doing up here?" "Uh…told ya so?" he tried. The bear sighed. "Please leave…"
He didn't hesitate to slip past and out, but not before he saw a picture of two people, his age, with their arms around each other. The blue eyed man looked vaguely familiar, but the other, violet eyed man…he was adorable! And he also looked like Gilbert had seen him before, the feeling stronger than the other. Who was he?
"I don't have time for this…I have to go see if Luddy is ok!" the Prussian muttered to himself, steeling himself to go out. Matthew had technically asked Gilbert to leave, meaning that…whatever. "Kesesese~ I'm such an idiot." Stepping outside, he promptly fell and scraped his arm on the ice. "F*ck." he muttered, then took of running (carefully) into the woods.
Gasping for breath sooner than he'd like, Gilbert stopped to rest against a tree. The scratch on his arm was bleeding slightly, and was starting to sting something fierce. Distant howls echoed through the hills, causing the runaway to stiffen. The blood…he thought, before setting off hurriedly again.
Too late. Always too late. The wolves had caught up to him, and now he was surrounded. Backing up slowly, he tripped. "Sh*t!" he cursed, knowing he was doomed. He closed his red eyes, bracing himself in terror for the immense pain he was about to experience. But before the wolves reached him, a roar seemingly broke the sound barrier, it was so loud. A massive bear hurled out of the trees and tore the wolves apart.
Curling up in a ball, trembling, the Prussian man watched in morbid fascination as the bear made quick work of the pack. But one snuck up behind it and slashed open it's shoulder. The wolf ran off after a glare from the bear, who ignored it and padded lightly towards Gilbert. "Please don't eat me…" came the muted mutter from the albino. "Why on earth would I do that?" the bear laughed. "Matthew?!" he screamed, throwing himself at the bear and hugging him. "Thank you…"
"My pleasure." said said person/bear warmly. "Now come on. We need to get back to my place." Catching Gilbert's look, he continued. "You were going in the wrong direction, and it's going to get colder at night." "That's not physically possible." he complained, walking besides the surprisingly graceful creature. "Believe it or not, it's true. Not that I can feel it anyway." the bear teased, shaking his think coat of fur. "No fair~!" he jumped onto the bear and buried his face in his fur. "Jeez…" Matthew muttered, but didn't throw the human off.
When the mansion came into sight, their pace slowed considerably. Matt was flagging. "Sh*t," Gilbert muttered, remembering the scratches on his savior's shoulder. "Hey man, can you make it to the house?" he asked. "Imma big strong polar bear," he muttered back. "I'll be fine."
But the second they crossed the threshold, Matthew collapsed. "Shoot…Eliza! Vash! Toris! Anybody! Help!" he yelled, hoping someone would answer. "Gilbert, you bastard if anything-Mattie!" the Hungarian cried, and slid down the banister, with her boyfriend and Tino behind her. "Matthew!"
"Mein Gott…this is all my fault." "Yes it is, so get over here and help you bastard!" Arthur yelled at him, apparently overhearing the albino's self-pity. Gilbert stepped over, and ripped off a piece of his clothing (not crotch cloth, for all of you perverts who are thinking like me) and bound the bear's shoulder tightly. "Mattie?" Gilbert asked, unconsciously using the nickname. He poking his shoulder. "Al…knock it off…it's too early to wake up," he muttered, not fully awake yet. Roderich and Arthur chuckled at his complaint. "Kesesesesese~ I'm not Alfred." "Wha-oh. Hey Gilbert. Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what happened?" "No prob, man. You got scratched totally un-awesomely on the shoulder when you saved my *ss. Then you passed out." "Oh." Matthew lay his head down on the floor again, tired. Gilbert made a split second decision. He sat down and leaned against the bear's side. Matt blinked but didn't protest.
The two unlikely friends fell asleep together, while Elizaveta (poorly) tried to contain her fangirl squeals.
"Alfred!" Feliciano shrieked, pounding on the door to his friend's house. "Wha? Feli, what are you-" "Monster! There was a, a monster, and it-" "What? M-monster?" the American yelped. "Not a monster, Feli. It was a bear. A giant bear." Ludwig assured him. "It did talk, Ludwig." Kiku reminded him. "Uh…Holy cow! Man, you're bleeding!" Alfred jerked the trio into his house, and began treating the wound. "Where were you anyway?" he asks curiously.
"We were…up north." "Did you-" "No. Sorry, Alfred." The American's face fell, and he looked down quickly. His brother had disappeared into the northern wilderness, around the same time the love of his life had. "S'ok." he muttered back. The three had never met the fabled Arthur Kirkland before, but assumed they would hear news of him if he was still alive. "Everyone keeps disappearing." Alfred murmured. The American finished the job, and helped the German to his feet. "Well, I'm afraid it's getting dark, and you should be getting home! I've got a trip tomorrow, and need to get my rest!"
An unmistakable invitation to get out. Alfred needed to mourn for a while. They left, unaware of green eyes watching from a window.
Hi guys! Sorry about late update times! Consider this story a consolation? I've reached a bit of a block, but I'll get over it soon! I feel so stupid, posting the prologue first, but whatevs. I love all my readers! *heart* Furrfurr2001!
