Phew, I finally got it done. I actually wrote this chapter once before, but I decided It was way too angsty and came up with this. I hope it doesn't disappoint!
(PS. now with 100% more SuFin. You are welcome.)
Bingo! Chapter 4, by A True Shipper
For the next few days, it rained. Arthur had suspected it, there was no way they could have many sunny days in a row, not in England anyway. Luckily he didn't mind living indoors for many days in a row, he had gotten used to this anyway. Alfred, however, seemed bored out of his mind.
He had managed to get by Tuesday and Wednesday, but when Arthur walked downstairs from the bedroom on Thursday morning and saw Alfred making breakfast, he saw anger and annoyance in the American's eyes.
"Good morning." Arthur said as he walked over to the stove to see what Alfred was making.
"It would be, if it wasn't raining all the goddamn time…" Alfred said, anger in his voice as he flipped the bacon on the frying pan.
Arthur hadn't really been annoyed by Alfred before, but this was getting on his nerves. Unlike Arthur, Alfred seemed to need some time outside and activity every day. When he didn't, he was restless and bad company. And Arthur was the one who had to stand all that, he was the one stuck in the villa with him anyway.
Arthur glanced at Alfred annoyed, but hid his anger for the American like the gentleman he was.
"We should go visit someplace today. You don't seem too keen on staying inside playing board games and reading books…" Arthur said and the American looked at him.
"Like where?" Alfred asked with slight curiosity.
Arthur picked up the little booklet about their villa from the kitchen counter and started reading.
"How about a museum?" Arthur asked, even though he knew the answer already.
"Boring!" Alfred exclaimed and snatched the booklet for himself.
"Oh! There is an indoor sports hall!" Alfred exclaimed with a grin.
"No way!" Arthur replied angry and snatched the booklet back. Arthur didn't see how an indoor sports hall could ever be fun since Arthur hated most sports with burning passion.
"Come on! It will be fun!" Alfred tried to convince him. Arthur shook his head.
"Aww… Well I don't want to go alone, so if not there, where?" Alfred asked and Arthur was glad he had dropped the idea of an indoor sports hall.
"Maybe the booklet has some more suggestions." Arthur said and opened the "Activities" section so that they both could see it.
"Rafting! That's like, the coolest thing ever!" Alfred exclaimed with a grin and Arthur didn't know how the boy had spotted the text after looking at the page for just a split second. Arthur however did slightly like what he heard. He had been rafting a few years ago with some of his cousins, and while Arthur had been terrified at first, the experience had actually been pretty enjoyable. There was of course the chance that this rafting place they were going to could be much more extreme than he would like.
"…Okay, but no extreme routes." He found himself saying with slight caution and the smile on Alfred's face warmed his heart.
"Okay!" Alfred repeated and lifted his spatula in victory.
Arthur smiled at the childish gesture and said;
"Alfred, the bacon is burning."
After a breakfast of burned bacon and eggs, the two took a taxi to the rafting river. Arthur wasn't too happy they kept using the taxi to get everywhere, but neither Alfred of Arthur could drive, so a rental car was out of the option.
Arthur stepped out of the taxi to find himself standing in light rain outside an old, small wooden building which stood close to a river. He only saw a few cars, and the little building was seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Arthur thanked and paid the driver the absurd sum the trip took, and he and Alfred walked through the door to the building.
Arthur felt a comfy warmth engulf him as he stepped inside and saw a little wooden desk occupied by someone who seemed like a receptionist. There were also few blue benches next to the walls and a few paintings about rivers and nature there and there.
Alfred walked to the tall man at the reception.
"Hi! We would like a rafting trip. …A calm one, if that's possible." He added as he heard the cough from Arthur.
"Greetings. We have a few seats left on our next trip, which is in about ten minutes." Arthur heard the very low and monotone voice say. The blonde receptionist said this with a slight accent Arthur thought sounded Swedish.
"Sure, sounds great! How much is it?" Alfred chirped and paid the sum the receptionist mumbled to him.
"Good, please put all important and non-waterproof things into those lockers." The receptionist told and pointed to some gray lockers in the corner of the little room Arthur hadn't seen before.
After sharing a locker to lock up their stuff and memorizing the code to it, they sat down on the benches to wait. There were no other customers, probably due to the weather and the minutes passed while Arthur talked with Alfred.
Then, out of the blue, a figure walked in to the room.
"Hi! You two must be our customers. I'm Tino, and I'll be your guide today." The blonde man said and before Arthur could even greet him back, Alfred jumped up to shake Tino's hand.
"Hi! I'm Alfred, and he's Arthur, my friend." Arthur felt a wave of happiness wash over him as Alfred called him his friend, and Arthur stood up as well.
"Hello." Arthur greeted politely.
Tino seemed taken aback by Alfred's hypersociality, but then smiled hesitantly and said:
"Follow me."
The trio walked through the door. They went around the building and continued to the slowly flowing river. Arthur saw three navy blue inflatable rafts on rocks next to the river.
The trio stopped next to them and Tino turned to face Alfred and Arthur.
"Before we go, I'd like to give you a few instructions." Arthur and Alfred just nodded in response.
"The river you see here flows slowly at the start here, so we have a bit of time until we get to the good bit. You both need life jackets and helmets, you will find them over there." Tino explained and pointed to some cabinets next to the back wall of the reception building.
Arthur and Alfred made their way there and Arthur found a bright orange life jacket of his size fairly easily. He then put on a horrible looking neon green helmet. Arthur was happy he remembered to take a raincoat and boots; the place didn't seem to rent them.
Alfred also found a matching lifejacket and a helmet, and luckily had been reminded by Arthur to bring waterproof clothing. They both looked ridiculous, but who cared?
Alfred and Arthur walked back to Tino to find him wearing similar gear. There was however a small boy, maybe ten, next to him.
Tino noted the questioning looks Alfred and Arthur were giving the boy, and spoke up.
"This is my son, Peter. Since we have room for one more, he wanted to come along." Tino explained.
"Aren't you… a bit young to go rafting Peter?" Arthur said and looked down to meet the boy's blue eyes.
"Don't get cocky! I might be a bit young, but I'm way braver than my father when it comes to rafting!" The boy stated confident, and Arthur saw Tino nod, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Good to hear! I'm Alfred and this is Arthur." Alfred said with a grin and nudged Arthur.
"Yeah, hi." Arthur said shortly.
Peter looked at the two for a bit.
"Is he, like your boyfriend or something?" Peter asked with an innocent curiosity and Alfred and Arthur both looked at the boy and blushed at the exact same moment.
"No, just friends." Alfred said hesitantly and Arthur just nodded. But Arthur didn't help but think; did they look like a couple?
"Oh okay, I was just curious. Let's get going!" The boy chirped and tugged Tino's sleeve.
"Erm… yeah. It's best we get going." Tino said, seemingly embarrassed of Peter's words.
Soon, the four of them were sitting on a raft in the middle of the river, slowly moving with the stream. The weather had improved; the rain had stopped and there were a few cracks of light shining through the clouds.
Arthur was excited. He was a bit scared of what was to come, but if Peter was coming along, surely the trip couldn't be too extreme?
Arthur and Alfred were sitting side by side in the front of the raft with Tino and Peter in the back. They had paddles, but they didn't need them at that moment.
"This is going to be so cool!" Alfred exclaimed and Arthur heard a loud "Yeah!" from Peter. Arthur wanted to believe Alfred as well, but was a bit scared, even though he didn't want to admit it even to himself.
The raft made its way lazily down the river, but after a few minutes Arthur noticed the speed was picking up.
"The best part is coming up!" Peter shouted. Arthur didn't know what to expect from the "best part", but then he saw the water foaming in the distance.
The sound of the water was getting louder and louder, and Arthur couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. 'Maybe this was a bad idea after all…' He thought.
"Dude, you look pale." Alfred said and elbowed Arthur. The boy snapped back to reality from his worrying and muttered;
"I'm fine."
The raft started rocking up and down with the water. Arthur gripped the handle at the side of the boat tighter. Then, the raft hit the first bump.
The front of the raft rose up, and splashed violently down to the water. The resulting splash of cold water soaked Arthur's face. The raft went through another one, and Arthur's face lost color.
It was then when Arthur realized he might have been overconfident. He had been counting on the fact that he had done this before; but it sure didn't feel like it. The raft was rocking in all directions and Arthur felt sick. Then, he felt a warm hand grab his cold hand. He looked to his right to see Alfred looking at him concerned.
Arthur felt instantly better from the contact, and forced himself to pull it together. He forced the fear that had formed in his gut away. 'I should be enjoying this, not being afraid!' He thought.
"To the right! Now!" Arthur heard Tino shout. However he didn't have time to do anything before the left side of the raft collided with a rock.
The raft jumped over the small rock and splashed back down violently. All four jolted with the sudden movement and everyone was blasted with ice cold water. Arthur was now actually scared. The collision itself hadn't been that bad, but how did they not see the rock before? Arthur wondered if the route was more extreme than he thought.
But he wasn't alone. When he turned to meet the American's eyes, the overconfidence usually visible from him was gone. There was an expression of concern and slight fear, and Arthur thought he looked out of place and lost.
They didn't get much of a break. The raft's left side tilted upwards and the right downwards. The water was blinding Arthur and the cold water was freezing him. Arthur yelped in panic; what if the raft would flip over? The raft then returned to its normal position with a loud splash and the inside of it was almost halfway full of water. The sound of flowing water was like thunder in Arthur's ears, and in the middle of it all he thought Alfred had tried to say something, but it had been blocked out. Nobody could do anything when the raft suddenly went down the steepest drop yet, and Arthur and Alfred both screamed in panic. it hit the water forcefully, and then the ride calmed slightly. The raft hit one more bump, and Arthur accidentally bit his lip slightly, drawing blood.
The ride smoothened from there on.
"I'm so sorry! We weren't supposed to go through the left side of the river, it's more extreme than the right…" Tino spoke up as the sound of flowing water no longer deafened everything one could try to say. Nobody answered anything.
Arthur looked at Alfred. He looked even more shocked than Arthur was and Arthur barely held back a laugh. He thought it was kind of funny seeing him like that, but was also worried about him. Maybe this ride had been too much for the boy?
"That was so cool! AGAIN DAD!" Arthur heard Peter shout and wondered how the hell the boy found their little trip as "cool". Arthur was still panting, sweaty skin sticking to his clothes and cold water soaking his feet. It hadn't been as bad as it could have gotten, but that wasn't to say it wasn't bad. The scariness of the trip creeped through the adrenaline in Arthur's veins in delay, and he felt thankful to be alive.
"Paddle to the right. Our stop is there." Tino replied, ignoring Peter.
The four of them were all wet and cold when they finally got back to dry land. Arthur took off his gear like the others and noticed how Alfred was still pale and looked distant. He didn't ask the boy why, but Arthur was concerned for him.
"I texted Berwald. He will come pick up the raft and us soon." Tino said as he lowered his phone, which miraculously had survived their rafting trip.
"Who's he?" Alfred asked with a weird tone of voice Arthur had never heard him use before.
"My husband, the receptionist. I guess he never told you his name, he's a bit antisocial when it comes to new people." Tino continued and started moving his hands against each other to warm them up.
Arthur's mind started connecting the dots. He remembered reading from the booklet about the rafting place being a family business, and he had only seen two men and the boy.
Arthur suddenly felt the connection to Tino, like he always did when he met anyone gay. It was a weird feeling, but seeing someone who plays for the same team was refreshing.
"Okay." Arthur said and tried to warm his hands as well.
A few minutes later a big pick-up truck appeared to the little field they were standing in, and Berwald hopped out. Without a word, he helped Tino lift the raft to the back of the truck.
Arthur sat down to the left back seat of the truck, and Alfred sat next to him, still with the weird look from before. Arthur was now seriously worried; they needed to talk when they got to the villa.
The car rolled back to the building fairly soon, and Arthur and Alfred got back their valuables. Arthur called them a taxi back, and neither talked to each other before or during the taxi trip. However as soon as they reached the door of the villa, Arthur started asking questions.
"What is it Alfred, you've seemed a bit lost since the trip." Arthur asked as soon as he got his coat hung from a hook in the wall.
"Nothing." Alfred lied so obviously it angered Arthur. He grabbed Alfred's hand and tugged him so he turned to look at him instead of walking away from the hallway.
"C'mon, I'm not that dumb. Tell me, you are worrying me." Arthur said truthfully. Alfred sighed in defeat and gestured Arthur to sit with him on the sofa in the living room. They sat down at the opposite ends of the couch, sitting on the low armrests and facing each other.
"Well?" Arthur said questioningly.
"Well… I didn't exactly enjoy our little rafting trip…" Alfred stated slowly and Arthur nodded, encouraging him to continue.
"And I'm normally not really afraid of anything, but I was scared on that raft. As soon as I saw the panic on your face I… got scared. I felt so worried… and… ugh this is stupid!" Alfred looked down with anger in his eyes as he said it.
"It's not stupid to be worried for someone, or being scared. It's normal." Arthur said with a soothing voice he would use to talk to a five-year-old. But he was surprised; was all of this really because Alfred had been scared for what was going to happen to him? He felt slightly flattered, but was taken back to reality by Alfred's voice.
"I know, I know, I'm not five… but I don't want you to be scared, I feel guilty for dragging you with me." Alfred
"Don't be guilty idiot! You weren't in charge of it when we drifted off course to the other side, and if I hadn't wanted to come along, I wouldn't have." Arthur said angrily.
"Yeah yeah… you are right. I just… haven't felt like this in such a long time I'm reacting a bit weirdly." Alfred said as he lifted his head, grinning slightly. Arthur ignored the pretentiousness of it, and then realized how relieved he was to see that smile again. He smiled softly back.
"I don't feel like doing anything even slightly active for the rest of today. Games night?" Arthur asked and Alfred's grin widened into a smile and a laugh.
"Get ready to lose!" Alfred replied with a laugh and Arthur felt stupidly happy Alfred was okay. Or was he? Arthur thought Alfred had slightly faked his laughs and smiles, and this suspicion bothered him slightly for the rest of the day. He even asked himself why he was so worried for Alfred all of the sudden, but still he had a gut feeling Alfred wasn't telling the whole truth.
'Something is wrong.' His gut told him while the two played Moneypoly.
Here ends the almost plot-free fluff, expect some twists next chapter. As always tried really hard to make my grammar and stuff not suck, but do tell me if I missed something or the story doesn't make sense somehow.
I guess it was in character for Peter (Sealand) to be brave with water and all, his country is in the middle of it all anyway. I'm from Finland, and we don't call it the land of thousands of lakes for nothing. I guess Tino is pretty comfortable with water as well then.
(Idk if there are any rafting opportunities in actual Plymouth, but in this AU there is.)
Until next time!