Downtime

Of all the things that were never supposed to happen when someone was at someone else's house... this had to be at the top of the list. It just was not fair. This was the worst thing that could happen.

"Maddox, Yong Soo... leave him alone, aru. Honestly! He needs to rest."

Alfred had gotten sick. That just sucked.

Groggily he peered out from his blankets as Yao shooed the other two out of the room. To be fair, Yong Soo had just been trying to cheer him up. Alfred knew this. He had still felt like punching him, because he really was not in the mood for it. Yao was a life saver. Alfred had not nearly appreciated him enough until right now.

Which was really weird, because now Alfred was the most reminded of Arthur. It was only when he or Matthew or Angus got sick that Arthur became the most caring brother in existence.

He would have to ask if Yong Soo felt the same way about Yao.

That was if he remembered to ask. Alfred's head was in a fog and he could barely remember all what Yao said when he first got sick. Nor could he quite remember what it was Maddox was doing in the room after Yao had made him go to bed. He was not really that tired. Alfred might have protested more if he had not fallen asleep at some point.

What a waste of being in a different sector.

It was even more of a waste of time. He had just gotten a letter from Kiku and he needed to reply to it. He had a few questions to ask, stuff to talk about, and... stuff.

Ugh.

Alfred let his eyes slowly open when he heard things shifting next to the bed. No offence Kiku, but I think I'd rather be sick in my own bed next time, thanks.

"Yao...?" he asked drowsily, before coughing. He felt a bit better, sure. His fever must have gone down. Now he just felt... bleh. And tired. Now he felt tired.

"You should go back to sleep."

That was not actually said in English. It was said in Mandarin. If Alfred had been feeling more himself he would have celebrated for having translated it without any hesitation or indecision. But as he was not feeling like himself he focused more on who had spoken.

"Xiu?" he corrected, blue eyes focusing as much as they could without corrective implements placed in front of him. All he could see was the long thick brown hair. She had really nice hair.

Xiu looked back at him. Even without his glasses, he could see the concern in her gaze. It was quite different than the usual... indifference. "How... are you... feeling?" she said, in struggled English.

"'m okay."

"...take."

She handed him some medication. Alfred managed to sit up to swallow them, absently taking the glass of water she handed him afterwards.

"谢谢."

Xiu looked at him, slightly surprised. He took a few swallows of water to prevent another cough, glancing up at her while he did so.

"Glad you don't hate me," he said slowly, after he had finished drinking.

It took her a few moments to understand him, but he could tell when she did. Xiu simply smiled at him as she stood back up. She said something he could not follow, then something he translated as: "Are you hungry?"

"A bit," he said, before he thought about making it simpler. "Yes. 是的."

She giggled before turning and walking out the door.

Memo to self: find out if Xiu has a twin sister who is friendly, Alfred thought, coughing as he stared up at the ceiling.

By the next day Alfred was feeling well enough that he thought he could get back to a normal day, but Yao seemed to have none of that.

"It's just a cough," Alfred protested.

"I will have none of that," Yao said, shooing him back into his room with tea. Tea. Of all things, tea?

"Do I have to drink this?" he asked Yong Soo, who had gotten away with being in Alfred's room by hiding behind the door.

"If you want to get better," Yong Soo shrugged. "Come on – you drink it and I'll sneak some games in here."

That was a fair deal. Alfred choked down the tea and Yong Soo brought in some video games for them to play.

"Does Xiu have a twin sister?"

"What kind of question is that?" Yong Soo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She was nice to me earlier," Alfred explain.

"That's just stupid! Xiu's always nice, da ze~!"

Alfred frowned. "...even when threatening to tell Yao about stuff?"

"Especially then!"

For a few moments, Alfred just stared at him. This was interrupted by a cough, which no longer made his lack of reply cool. "Sometimes I wonder if you hear yourself. Then I remember English isn't your first language."

"I know exactly what I said!"

"That's stranger."

In the end, Alfred assumed that Xiu did not have a twin sister. So he saw the same girl both times. And when he saw her at dinner, she smiled at him again instead of ignoring him. Maybe he had passed a test?

He and Yong Soo watched as Maddox set all of Yao's puppets up like they were staring at the television.

"Maddox, stop that," Xiu said (more or less).

Maddox finished doing what she did not want him to do and walked away. Yao informed Yong Soo and Xiu they would have to clean up after him. Alfred did not see the sense of that, except he got the impression Yao was going to lock Maddox in his room so that he could not put them away himself. It would be interesting if Maddox actually stayed there.

"Has he always been like that?" Alfred asked. Yong Soo and Xiu looked at him strangely.

"More or less," Yong Soo replied. "It's Maddox."

"It's Maddox," Xiu repeated.

Alfred supposed that was really the only way to describe the youngest member of the household. Yong Soo and Xiu both flashed him smiles. He smiled back, eyes sticking on Xiu a little longer than they did on Yong Soo.

Why did she look so different now than she did when he first met her? How weird.

Kiku,

I think your sister finally doesn't hate me. I don't know why she did in the first place. But she sure doesn't now. I don't know what she's saying half the time, but I think she's pretty nice.

Thankfully. Alfred was not sure what he would have done if she really had hated him. Being ignored was one thing, but... Then again, he was not sure what caused the change. What if she ignored him again? Was it really just a language barrier, or was she really that weird?

Or both. He could not forget that. Still, best not to say that to Kiku. He was not sure what sort of relationship he had with his sister. Kiku did not write that much about her.

Alfred juggled between his letter and his make-up homework. Sure, he would prefer just to write the letter, but he did need to get this stuff done. Yao got on everyone's case about their homework. More than Arthur. Then again, Arthur tended to get on their cases for other stuff. Mostly Angus for the crowd he hung out with. And Alfred for other things. Never Matthew. Then again, Matthew was only around for six months out of the year.

When Alfred got home, Matthew would not be there.

Damn. He had better make sure that Matthew had things at home sorted out before he left. Without Alfred around Matthew was going to leave a mess. Arthur and Angus never kept him in line. Well, occasionally Arthur did, but it was never the right things.

I'd never forget you. It's a stupid question. After living in your room for six months, it would take amnesia for me to forget you. Did Angus say I forget things? Cause if he did, he's a liar. I've been writing him too. If he hasn't heard from me it's because of the post office, not me. I have not forgotten him.

And after learning your brothers can be just as obnoxious as mine? We're on the same page. Who else could understand what I've been through?

Speaking of which, I need a favour.

Man, he was still tired. Getting sick really did suck.


People are people, no matter where they are.