Alfred sat shivering in a corner, staring forlornly at the front door. Although he didn't know this, Ludwig had locked it earlier so as not to lose anyone else. To Alfred, however, it seemed like all the demons of hell were conspiring against him, keeping him here against his will.
Hugging his knees closer, he sat quietly and waited for ~It~ to come. Instead, a harried Canadian stumbled into the front hall, flashlight in hand and bear in tow.
"Alfred?"
"…"
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
Alfred looked up to see the worried face of his brother and wondered if that's what he looked like right now: face pale and eyes teary and hair curl drooping in exhaustion.
No way, he ~had~ to look cooler than that.
"Al, why did you run off?", asked Matthew, annoyance flashing in his eyes now that the initial worry had passed. "I looked all over for you; I thought you were hurt!"
"Heroes don't get hurt, Mattie", answered Al quietly.
"Heroes don't mope in the hallway either. Come on, let's go to bed."
"No."
"What do you mean, no?", snapped Matthew. "You're not going to sleep in the hallway, are you?"
"I'm not going to sleep"
"Do you even know what you look like? Any more 'not sleeping' and the bags under your eyes will smother New Jersey."
"…"
"Alfred F. Jones, you get up right now!", growled Matthew, pulling his arm urgently.
"Let me go", protested Alfred feebly, staying where he was.
"Alfred…"
"…"
"Alright, you asked for it!"
And suddenly, Alfred's world was turned upside down, Texas slipping down his nose. Readjusting the state, the found himself face to face with the back of a pair of jeans.
"Put me down, Mat!", squeaked Alfred in indignation, recognizing the Canadian's backside.
"No way", answered Mat, readjusting the American slung over his shoulder a little and beginning to walk towards the rooms.
Now Alfred had his face buried in a soft hoodie. Better, but still totally un-heroic.
"Ma~at~", Alfred whined, kicking and twisting a little, trying to get out of the Canadian's grip.
"Ow! Would you stop that?! You're difficult enough to carry as is, eh?"
"Put me down Mat!"
"Not until you stop being an idiot!"
And with that, Mat used his hip to prop open a door and carried the American into a cozy, warm room. The first thing Alfred noticed was the nightlight, shining brightly from beside the bed. The second was the hamburger-patterned sheets on the bed.
"Aww, you used the sheets I gave you!"
Matthew blushed and unceremoniously dumped his brother on the bed. Before Alfred had a chance to break for the door, Matthew used his weight to pin the other man's legs to the bed by the simple method of sitting on them.
"Alright, Al, I thought we went over this. There are no ghosts in the hotel. Or demons. Or anything else for that matter, except us invited nations and maybe Natalia."
"Natalia?"
"I saw her wandering the halls with a knife before. But you know how she is. She wouldn't hurt you unless you got between her and Ivan. Which I hope you're smart enough not to do?"
Alfred nodded.
"Oh, and there's Prussia too. But he's not a ghost. Not yet, anyways. So you really have nothing to be scared of."
Alfred gave him a disbelieving look.
"Alright, you know the story that you mentioned? The one Ivan told you? Well, in that story, the curse only lasted for three nights, eh? So you just have to be ok tonight, and you won't have to be scared anymore."
Mat looked down at his brother with a pleading look.
"And what about tonight?", muttered Alfred.
"Well…", Matthew nibbled on his bottom lip in thought, curl bobbing quite adorably. "I suppose you could stay here tonight. Ok?"
Alfred was about to protest that the quiet Canadian wouldn't be much help when fighting a monster, but the hopeful look Mat was giving him made him swallow the words.
Maybe, just maybe, he'd be okay here?
"A-Alright.", muttered Alfred, smiling weakly at his brother. Matthew immediately broke into a grin and moved to sit beside Alfred. Ow. Ow, he could feel his legs again, now that the Canadian had gotten off, and the pinprick feeling was nasty.
"Just don't try to run away, eh? Kumajirou will guard the door."
"Heroes don't run away.", mumbled Alfred, kicking off his sneakers.
Matthew's answer was muffled as he pulled off his hoodie. Grabbing the maple leaf patterned blanket from the foot of the bed, he covered both of them with it, pulling Alfred into a loose hug at the same time.
"…"
"…"
"…. Mat…"
"What?"
"That's awkward."
"…Shut up, eh?"
"…"
"…Mat?"
"What?!"
"You're not gonna fall asleep before me, are you?"
"'Course not."
"… promise?"
"…Promise."
"…"
"…"
"…really?"
"Go to sleep, Al."
