AUTHOR NOTE heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey... i cant write still for shit but... wanted to post SOMETHING since its been a while... and i dont wanna quit.. really short dumb chapter.. hopefully i will start writing longer chapters it might take a while though im still not very good with writing.
Alfred found himself spending a lot of time with Arthur after they had coffee together; at first, it was mostly phone calls. He'd been pretty popular in high school, but most of his friends had moved on to college. Alfred mainly socialized with his family; Francis was probably his only friend who regularly had time for him, and he'd rather spend that time with his brother when he got the chance.
Alfred called him a lot when he got bored, which was pretty often. Arthur was kinda grouchy most of the time, and rude, but he still wanted to get to know him better. He was funny in his own kind of weird way, and really interesting, and he knew a lot about history- Alfred liked history, too, but found it kind of difficult to read about at length.
Most of the time when he called, he'd answer sounding annoyed. Alfred couldn't figure out why, but after a while, he would loosen up, and Alfred began to think he needed someone to talk to more than he did. From what he'd told him, Arthur sounded pretty lonely. Alfred kinda felt bad for him, even though he'd probably give him a punch to the arm if he expressed pity for him.
He'd learned a lot about Arthur, and one of those things was he had pride, too. Probably more pride, even if he looked kind of like a rejected Harry Potter character with his twiggy frame, shaggy hair, and frumpy clothes.
They'd had some bizarrely personal conversations, considering their fresh relationship. They were hardly friends. Or at least, Alfred didn't know if they were; he'd like to think they were, though. At they very least, he was sure enjoyment of each others' company was mutual.
"My mother passed a few years back. I haven't seen my father or my baby brother since the funeral; my other brothers just kind of scattered about. Haven't heard from them either," he spat the last sentence as if it were vile, but his tone softened as he spoke again. "I do miss them, sometimes."
"Why don't you just talk to them? How hard could they be to find?"
"The feeling is probably not mutual. We had a falling out." Somehow, Alfred got the feeling that was an understatement. He waited as if he would go on, but Arthur went quiet.
Alfred hesitated briefly before deciding to delve into his own family. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear about it, but he seemed done talking about his own. It felt right to share, now; like he owed him something for the information. Not that he had much to supply, the way he saw it; but it was worth trying.
"Well, I don't always get along with my own brother either. Or my cousins. Or my dad even, sometimes. He cheated on my mom, you know." That got his attention. He seemed to stop thinking about whatever he was... thinking about.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. My brother is actually Canadian! My dad had an affair on a business trip or something. I was really young at the time, so I don't really have any memories of what that was like. It's hard to really be all that upset about it."
The conversation drifted into a somewhat awkward silence.
"My parents are divorced, too, I mean."
He went quiet again, as if hesitating.
"At least you're in touch. My father never writes or calls unless there's been an emergency."
Then it was Alfred's turn to go silent. "Uh, wow. Bummer."
A sigh crackled through the phone. "Sorry. I suppose I'm not quite used to talking about these things. I didn't mean to make things out to be so depressing. Perhaps that was too personal."
"Uh," Alfred stated. He was kind of flattered he was opening so much. He hardly spared him any details about himself when they first had coffee together. Alfred smiled, even if he couldn't see it. "It's okay, Artie."
"...Artie?"
Alfred felt his face heat up a little. "Uh, do people not call you that?"
"Not generally, no. Only my mother ever did that," he said. For a moment Alfred thought he'd upset him, but Arthur sounded as if he were only stating facts, so he went with a simple, "Oh. Cool." when he responded.
He could practically hear Arthur roll his eyes, even though he didn't really say anything after that.
"Um, Alfred?"
"Mm?"
"Goodnight."
He smiled again. "Goodnight, Artie!"
