I MAY OR MAY NOT UPLOAD SUNDAY, BECAUSE I HAVE AN EXTREMELY HEAVY HOMEWORK LOAD, BUT I WILL TRY MY VERY BEST.
IF I DO NOT UPLOAD SUNDAY, I WILL DO A DOUBLE UPLOAD ON THURSDAY.
~Awesome Maple
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia
Chapter 9
Gilbert awoke by himself that morning, stretching like a cat on the pullout sofa. Speaking about cats, Kumaamuk, was curled up beside him. As he petted the soft, violently purring ball of puffiness, it suddenly occurred to Gilbert that he didn't know what Matt did in his free time apart from working out, shopping, cooking, watching movies, and doing boring paperwork. Maybe today I'll find out!
Speaking of Matt… Gilbert stood up, Kumjira in his arms, and knocked softly on the white door of his host. He heard a grunt and some footsteps behind the door, before it was thrown open to reveal Matt in his pajamas.
"You're not a morning person, are you," Gilbert tried to joke, but the smile died on his lips as he took in his companion's appearance.
Matt's hair was a wild mess of what appeared to be a bird's nest and his curl was sticking to his head with sweat. His eyes were completely bloodshot and his cheeks red with embarrassment as he tried to cover his chest, and Gilbert could see that it had dark spots of sweat under his armpits and over his chest. There were heavy bags under Matt's eyes and he leaned against the door, scowling and demanded what Gilbert wanted. Gilbert was shocked by how terrible and raspy Matt's voice was, as though he'd… cried?
"You okay Matt?"
"Fuck off, what do you want?"
"Whoa, okay! I just wanted to tell you that it's already 9:00 and that we should eat breakfast," Gilbert set the white cat, which had been cradled in his arms, down on the ground as he observed his host.
"Okay. Give me a couple minutes," Matt grumbled and slammed the door with more force than necessary, making Gilbert stumble a couple steps back from the surprise.
Gilbert was disturbed to say the least. Never had he seen Matt in such a dishevelled and vulnerable state, because Matt had clearly stayed up the whole night crying or something. He wondered what had upset Matt so badly, but he knew it wasn't his place to ask.
Gilbert went ahead and weighed his options. Either he could cook and piss Matt off, or he could wait and possibly get a terrible breakfast, but this depended on Matt's state once he returned from his room.
I'll just have to wait and see, Gilbert thought, and he dialled Romano's number because he wanted to hear his friend's voice and malicious tongue which he knew would instantly brighten his day. And he was right. As soon as the Italian started swearing and claiming that the Spaniard was actually a girl and that he'd been mislead because of a mistake or something, Gilbert was laughing and smiling within minutes as he made up his mind and began to cook.
Matt had stayed the entire night on the phone with Lars. Matt was so thankful that he had Lars, because he knew that he could always count on him to stay up the whole night talking about all the troubles in his life.
Two days ago, when Matt had talked to Lars just before he'd gone and picked up Gilbert, Lars had convinced Matt to be more civil and to at least try to tolerate his guest. He pointed out all of Gilbert's flaws, but then pointed out all the good in Gilbert, which then convinced Matt that he could tolerate Gilbert, which would be the ideal minimum, and maybe even develop a decent friendship at most. But that was probably not going to happen. He was his teacher and Gilbert was his student. Matt was the host and Gilbert was the guest. Nothing more.
And then last night he'd had a particularly vivid image of the terror that haunted his dreams and woke up sobbing. He'd shakily dialled Lars' number and spoke to him about Yekaterina and how much he hated her, and Lars listened the whole time as Matt slowly exhausted himself just as he was getting to the part where he'd made the best decision—to "divorce that ugly bitch."
But Matt supported Lars too. When Matt was done ranting, he decided that he wanted to hear Lars' troubles, because Matt's were in the past and ranting was the only way to get it out of his system. He used to do weed and alcohol when he roomed with Lars for a while when he'd just moved into the town, but was past that and had to stop relying on substances to improve his mood. Lars, on the other hand, developed insomnia in his teen years and used marijuana as part of the treatment and he always took it via the smoking method (which explains the scent of weed on his clothes) so he always had some that he was willing to share.
Last night Lars had let go of a heavy load on his shoulders—in which his fiancé, Sakura Honda, a short Japanese girl, might have move away for her job. It was difficult and they were unsure because they had recently gotten engaged and were hoping to get married soon. She was an aspiring animator for Ghibli Studios, DreamWorks or Pixar, and was currently studying in the college in the town. Her talent had been recognized and she was invited back to her Japanese homeland to study there, but she wanted to stay with Lars in the USA.
They were waiting to tie the knot, first of all. Both Lars and Sakura's parents had immigrated to the state that they were currently living in and were getting old so they didn't want to leave. It was a choice between basically getting a great job and moving to a foreign country or staying and continuing to pay expensive college fees (and apartment fees) while waiting for a position to open up in the nearby studio to begin an apprenticeship.
Matt told Lars to stay here—he already had a stable job and was doing a good deed by supporting himself and his girlfriend, who had recently moved in. Sakura got a part-time job as a waitress at their favourite restaurant and she got great tips because she was so kind and amiable, but this tired her as she also had school. As long as they were financially stable, Matt urged Lars to stay and take up Lars' parents' offer for them to stay at their place and occupy the basement. Lars reluctantly agreed to talk to Sakura about moving into his parents' place, because while they would have less fees to worry about, there was a lack of privacy and Lars' younger sister was often home and she loved to get into other people's business.
After a long rant on both ends, Lars and Matt fell asleep soundly—or at least Lars did, as Matt awoke with the terrible dream. Again. Twice in a night was rare… but it happened every once in a while.
Matthew was pulled out of his thoughts when he smelled food being cooked. He had gone in the bathroom during this time, and he now hurried up and washed his face more quickly and burst into the kitchen.
"I figured you had a rough night, so I made eggs and bacon!" Gilbert smiled and handed Matt a plate once Matt walked in angrily, ready to mouth him off. Matt was speechless.
"What did I tell you about not being in the kitchen?" Matt grumbled, but he took the food (well, more like grabbed) and sat at the counter anyways. Silence passed between them as they ate Gilbert's delicious breakfast.
"So what do you do in your free time?" Gilbert asked, "I mean, apart from working out and watching movies and stuff."
"Well I usually hang out with my friend or volunteer at an animal shelter nearby," Matt decided that he might as well tell his guest of his interests. I mean, why not? His plan was to go to the shelter today anyways. Gilbert nodded, and they finished their breakfast.
After they brushed their teeth and got all ready to go, Matt brought out a piece of paper and Gilbert noted that it was titled "Daily List To-Do" with a bunch of checkmarks and blank lines. They were sitting on two stools beside the counter and getting ready to plan their day.
"We don't need to go shopping because we already did that," Matt said, "and today I don't have work. We have a lot of free time. Today we are going to see Lars at a restaurant and possibly go to the carnival after that. Before that, I'd like to go to the gym and volunteer at the shelter." Matt wrote down their checklist for the day.
1. Gym
2. Lunch
3. Animal shelter
4. Lars and carnival
"Sounds good…" Gilbert trailed off, lost in thought. How am I going to fit in my rendezvous with Carla? Should I text her? But I deleted the texts…
"Let's go!" Gilbert was startled from the loud sound of Matt's voice. Matt hopped off the stool and headed to his room to get his gym stuff. Gilbert was already ready to go—but he didn't pack a swimsuit. (Gilbert still shivered at the thought of Jaws from last night.)
An hour or two later, Matt and Gilbert were exhausted as they completed their fourth set of weight lifting and cardio. They had joined a group session and were currently surrounded by about ten or so people, and were all staring incredulously at the trainer before them as he asked them if they wanted to do another round.
Gilbert lay on the mat-covered floor panting and begging Matt not to make him do anymore, but Matt didn't need much convincing.
"Let's go to lunch," Matt pulled Gilbert up and they hobbled over to the nasty, sweaty locker rooms. They rapidly changed and headed out of the doors and into the bright parking lot.
"How was that?" Matt asked Gilbert once they were buckled in and driving.
"That was terrible. The instructor was so annoying!" Gilbert whined childishly, "but I guess the weight lifting helped a bit considering lifting patients is a pretty big deal."
"What do you want for lunch?"
"Something healthy. I don't think I could stomach any fast-food right now," Gilbert closed his eyes. He wasn't used to long intense workouts, but rather short bursts of energy. He did have endurance, but only for light activities, like jogging. Not the mad workout they just did that involved cardio, flexibility and weight training! The workout helped, Gilbert guessed, because Gilbert discovered the fact that he could bend in more ways than he thought possible. Gilbert smirked at the innuendo.
"Let's go home and shower," Matt suggested, and Gilbert nodded, buckling himself into the seat. Matt's companion dozed off in the passenger's seat almost as soon as they had driven out of the parking lot and were out on the highway. He'd actually decided to trust Gilbert in the front seat, and apart from fighting over the radio; Gilbert was very well behaved.
Matt snuck some glanced to his guest. Gilbert had a slim yet strong jaw that demonstrated both the fact that he was still young (around his mid- to late twenties) but that he had very strong roots with a culture that treasured hard work, because not only was he German, but he was specifically Prussian-blooded, or at least he claimed to be. Gilbert's eyebrows were straight and dark, which was a stark contrast to his silvery messy hair. His eyes were a dark red, framed with black lashes and Matt couldn't help but be amazed. His own eyes weren't actually hinted with purple or violet, but were a plain blue with an interesting optical illusion, and nothing more. Gilbert's on the other hand, were genuinely red.
He also had to note that while Gilbert looked weak, he was very strong. He had certainly bulked up a bit since he had started working with Matt, developing muscles that were becoming more and more defined as the days went on. His skin was equally pale and smooth, and Matt could tell that Gilbert definitely kept up with his personal hygiene. He was neat and tidy, just like Matt had hoped for.
Gilbert wasn't that bad. Sure, he was annoying as fuck, but he also listened very well and sometimes Matt just wanted to tell him what had happened in his life, much like he told Lars… but he didn't trust Gilbert with that kind of information just yet. Yes, he trusted him, but he didn't think he was ready to share.
Matt was broken out of his thoughts when his phone went off, and he answered it, the Bluetooth device communication to his phone what the other person was saying on the line and broadcasted it in the car so that Matt didn't have to hold the phone to his ear as he drove.
"Matt Williams," Matt said as the calls connected. Gilbert was still asleep.
"Bonjour Mathieu!" Matt heard a French voice greet him, and his blood ran cold.
"Dad?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Voila chapter woohoo nobody reads this anyways, so blah blah blah fun fun.
Anyways, as mentioned in the AN, I will try my best to upload, but no guarantees. I have a sh*t ton of physics homework, math and Spanish. I hope it will happen because I've finished the layout. Ch 11+ is when the action/suspense/interesting stuff actually happens. Yay!
Fem!Japan has been mentioned! And "dad", a French man (hint: popular fanon family) called. Lars isn't a pothead (he IS a paramedic, after all!) but I did some research and marijuana via smoking is indeed treatment for insomnia. Correct me if I f*cked up.
~Awesome Maple
