"Angelique," Arthur called to the retreating figure of Francis' mate. He had just slithered out the door of his den to go searching for her when he happened to spot her sleek, dark hair she kept back in two strands with woven ties in the distance. Upon hearing her name, she paused in her advancements down one of the paths and turned to greet him with a smile. She was a very kind woman with dark eyes, hair, and skin that was a commodity among the lightly colored clan. It was easy to see why Francis had taken her as a mate with her distinct features and helpful personality that allowed Arthur to feel comfortable coming to her for assistance.
"Hello, Arthur," she greeted, automatically resting a hand on her newly pregnant stomach despite the fact that she wouldn't be showing for a couple more months. Her natural maternal instincts were another attribute that had caused Francis to fall for her. There had been a time in Arthur's life when he knew that he had been the one to capture Angelique's attention and according to his mother he could have mated with her if he so wished. That was the problem, he supposed: he had never had a desire to mate with anyone. Really, it was his own fault that his brothers teased him so mercilessly.
Arthur closed the distance between them, looking around the area surreptitiously to make sure that there would be nobody to overhear their conversation. He had been thinking long and hard on how he could sneak away to see Alfred without Francis noticing and now that it was Wednesday morning, it was time to put his plan into action.
"I need a favor," he cut straight to the point. He didn't have the time for small talk at the moment and although he wouldn't have minded chatting with her on a normal day, he was on a mission. She raised her brow inquisitively, but remained silent in indication that he could continue with his request. "I need you to pretend to be nesting today and keep Francis busy."
At this, her eyes widened in surprise. It was an unusual request, he knew, but it was the easiest way he could think of to make sure Francis was too occupied to pay attention to Arthur's presence (or lack thereof). Nesting was something Naga females often did when they were getting close to delivering their children. It was a period in which the mother-to-be would fuss over every possible detail in the den, demanding that their mates bring them various things in order to craft the den to perfection. It was also a period infamous for being extremely tiring to the males, leaving them with no time to do anything but carry out the demands of the females. If Arthur wanted Francis distracted, this was the perfect way to do it.
"Why?" came the natural question. Arthur knotted his fingers anxiously; he knew that Angelique was kind and always willing to help, but when the request was so personal to her there was a chance she would be put off.
"I just need a day where I don't have to deal with him," he replied. He figured half-truths were his best bet in this situation, as he couldn't reveal what he was really trying to do and Angelique was all-too-familiar with the animosity that had plagued his relationship with Francis since childhood.
Smiling slightly, she removed one hand from her belly to toy at the ends of her hair. "I would be happy to help you, Arthur, but he'll be suspicious of why I'm nesting so early."
"I know," he admitted, "but he'll also believe you without too much hesitation. Just make sure to be very demanding, alright? Keep him busy."
"I can do that," she said devilishly. "When do you want me to start?"
"Now, if possible," he instructed. "And keep him busy until late tonight."
"You'll owe me one," she said seriously.
"Understood," he replied, giving her a final nod as he became aware of another Naga entering the area. He moved away before they came upon their discussion. It wasn't out of the ordinary for him to be talking with someone, but he wasn't going to make any more careless mistakes when it came to going to the human world and it never hurt to leave no witnesses. Even if Angelique didn't understand his motives, he knew that he could trust her to carry out their deal.
Returning to his den to bide his time until he could sneak away, he decided to curl up in his nest and take a small nap. It was common for Naga to return to their dens periodically for a nap and if he wanted to make this successful, he had to act as natural as possible and carry on exactly as he normally would. He needed this plan to work. Sure, it had occurred to him in the last couple of days that his plan was only a (very) temporary solution to the problem, but he couldn't think of any other alternatives and with any luck, Alfred would have some ideas.
His internal alarm clock alerted him when it was time to wake up from his nap in the early afternoon. With swift actions, he immediately folded up the blanket he had subconsciously begun to cuddle in his sleep and headed outside of his den. The sun had risen high in the sky by that time, so the majority of his clan were out sunning themselves on the large, flat rocks that littered the area. Since he was being as careful as possible, Arthur turned and headed down one of the most common hunting trails, being sure to remain in plain view of a large cluster of elders. Until that point, he had been going down a lesser-used trail that simply led to the outskirts of the safe zone. He realized now how foolish that had been of him, especially without a proper reason for his actions. Using the popular hunting trail would garner no suspicions, as it was perfectly normal for Naga to slither away at this time and catch some food.
Thankfully, he was familiar with this trail and knew that if he followed it far enough, it would eventually cross over with the same one that led to the clan border and he could safely exit without being seen. He would take every precaution possible this time and to his relief he made it to the clearing with the triangular rock without a hitch. Everyone in his clan would think he had gone hunting so long as he didn't stay out for too long.
When Alfred arrived shortly after, he didn't miss the way both of their faces lit up with ecstatic smiles upon seeing the other. Arthur knew much about body language; it was one of the primary forms of communication among his kind. He wasn't sure how to feel about his own expressions in this scenario, but he decided immediately to ignore it and school his features back into their usual grumpy form. Moments after accomplishing this, Alfred jogged across the clearing to close the distance between himself and the perched Naga and surprised both of them by practically tackling him in a hug. Arthur's eyes widened, bracing himself for the impact and hoping the force wouldn't knock him right off the rock.
"Arthur!" Alfred greeted enthusiastically. Arthur fumbled momentarily, unsure as to exactly how he was supposed to respond to the unexpected display of affection. After a moment, he simply mirrored the human's actions and draped his arms around his friend's neck to return the embrace.
"Someone's happy to see me," Arthur joked. Alfred chuckled and tightened his grip momentarily before pulling away.
"Of course I am," Alfred chirped. He looked as if he had run the entire way there with the way he was panting and wiping sweat off his face while managing to maintain a blinding grin.
Arthur hid his own smile behind a hand as Alfred climbed onto the rock to sit next to him. Yes, after the past couple of days of stress and worry, it was wonderful to be back here with Alfred and not fret over the scrutinizing eye of his clan. Recalling the reason he had had to go to such great cautions today, Arthur's smile immediately fell to be replaced by a discontent frown.
"What's wrong?" Alfred asked immediately, for once being attentive. Arthur huffed and locked eyes with his friend.
"We have a problem," he stated bluntly, but grew flustered upon realizing what he had implied and hurried to correct himself. "I-I mean, I have a problem, you don't have to do anything about it…I wouldn't want to drag you into anything."
"Hey," Alfred scolded lightly. "I'm your friend! If you have a problem, then I want to help." Arthur relaxed gratefully at Alfred's words. He should have known Alfred would be willing to assist him even if he didn't have to.
"Right, well, Francis—have I told you about Francis? He's one of the wankers that loves to tease me—has noticed that I've been leaving the clan's boundaries. He said that if he ever catches me sneaking away again, he'll alert the clan elders. I'm not entirely sure what that would entail, but I doubt I want to find out. The only reason I could even come today was that I found a very temporary way to distract him, but it won't work again…" he rushed out, his words becoming more hurried and upset as he went.
Alfred's eyebrows rose steadily with each passing sentence that the Naga uttered. He still didn't know very much about the habits and culture of the Naga, but he had learned enough from Arthur to know that he was expressly forbidden from leaving the clan boundaries. Obviously, he had been doing it anyway, but Alfred hadn't known that he could get in serious trouble for it.
"So…what does this mean, exactly?" Alfred asked, hoping it wasn't what he thought.
"I'm…really not sure," Arthur admitted. Realizing the truth in his words, he desperately locked eyes with Alfred. "I don't know! I've been thinking about this for the past three days and I still have no reasonable solution."
Alfred bit his lip anxiously. "Are you saying we can't see each other anymore?"
Arthur remained quiet for several long, tense moments. He was semi-aware of the fact that he had begun to wring his hands together—an old distressed habit he thought he had kicked ages ago—but for the most part he had reverted into his own world to think deeply on the question that Alfred had just asked of him. He wanted to be able to say "of course we can still see each other" so badly that it was nearly a physical presence, but the truth was that—
"I don't know," he repeated miserably. "I'd be lying to you if I said that I did."
He internally cringed at seeing the look on Alfred's face. The boy's blue eyes immediately became wide and stunned, shining slightly with the faint gloss of tears, where his mouth was slightly opened and turned down. All in all, he looked as if he had just been told that his kitten was hit by a car and Arthur hated how loudly his mind screamed do something!
"But I'm sure there has to be a way," Arthur said quickly, tentatively reaching out a comforting hand to pat the human on the shoulder. He didn't miss the irony of how he was the one trying to make Alfred feel better when it was him that actually had the problem. "If we put our heads together, perhaps we can find a solution."
Alfred perked up instantly. "Of course we can!" he exclaimed as if he hadn't just been on the verge of tears. "There is no way I'm going to let this Francis guy ruin our friendship!"
Arthur smiled to himself at Alfred's enthusiasm. Were all humans that easy to motivate? He had a feeling it was just an Alfred thing. "Right," he confirmed. "I've been thinking about this a lot, though, and I haven't thought of a single thing beyond just drowning the arse in the river. Actually," he mused with an ominous grin, "that sounds like a right brilliant idea."
"Erm…as a law-abiding citizen I feel the need to strongly discourage that course of action," Alfred said nervously.
Arthur deflated in disappointment. "Well then that leaves bringing you back with me to prove that you aren't dangerous. Though," he sighed, "that's probably a terrible idea. If anyone but Francis saw you, I would have to explain that I had been leaving the boundaries and I would still end up getting punished. Not to mention the sight of you would probably cause the elders to die of heart attack."
"Why do all of your suggestions involve death?" Alfred wondered aloud. "Are you sure there isn't a way to keep tricking Francis so he wouldn't notice when you left?"
"The thing about my kind is that we are constantly out and about. The clan is social and it's strange in itself that I've been leaving for several hours every few days. Usually even if we go out hunting it's in a group or at least with someone else. He'll notice me leaving. The distraction I used today is a one-time-only kind of thing," Arthur explained.
"Well aren't there any points in the day where everyone isn't out? We could start meeting at other times…" Alfred offered hopefully.
Arthur tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "No, not really. All day there is at least someone out sunning or hunting." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "This just isn't working!"
Alfred looked on helplessly as his friend visibly edged towards having a meltdown. "Hey, Arthur? What about when you guys sleep? You mentioned before that everyone sleeps at night, right?"
"Yes…" Arthur's eyes lit up in comprehension. "Oh, that's perfect! I could come see you at nighttime and then nobody would ever think I had left! Plus, it's very normal for us to have a nap in the afternoon, so it wouldn't be suspicious if I used that to catch up on missed sleep!" Feeling his chest inflate with newly kindled hope, Arthur smiled brightly at Alfred. Why hadn't he thought of that? "But what about you? Could you leave the university at night?"
"Yeah, of course! I've always been more of a night person, anyway," Alfred mused. "Plus, if we met up at night I could come see you more since it wouldn't interfere with classes. And college is practically built for taking naps!" He returned Arthur's smile, happy that he had been the one to put it there. He privately thought that the lack of sleep was likely going to kill him and his grades, but if it was truly the only way he could keep seeing Arthur, he wasn't going to complain.
Feeling as if everything would be alright for the first time since last Saturday, Arthur flopped back against the rock and looked up at the sky, wincing slightly from the bright sunlight. The rock was warm underneath him, making him feel a level of contentedness he hadn't experienced in a good long while. He sensed more than saw Alfred lean back to lie next to him and tilted his head to look over at his companion.
"You have no idea how relieved I am," he commented. "I've been so worried that I would be forced to live the rest of my life stuck with the clan." He shuddered. "This needs to work. I can't go back to that way of life now that I know what's out there."
Alfred sighed deeply beside him. "I get it. I wouldn't want that for you, either. Just make sure to act like you aren't tired from being out at night or else you'll gain suspicion."
"Obviously," Arthur snorted. "If I ever get caught again, though, I can just walk into the human world and never look back. They can't stop me."
Arthur glanced curiously at Alfred when the human suddenly shot up from his relaxed position on the rock.
"Arthur," he began seriously, making the Naga furrow his brow. "You have to promise me to never actually do that."
Arthur was confused into silence. He didn't think he had ever heard that tone in the other's voice before and it made him wonder if he had said something wrong.
"What? Why?" he asked as he sat up to be level with the human.
Alfred took a deep, steadying breath before leaning closer and firmly grasping Arthur's biceps. "You just can't do that! It would be dangerous!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Arthur squawked, struggling to put some distance between their faces. Normally if he was manhandled, he would pull his arm back and sock whoever it was square in the nose, but he knew that he couldn't hurt Alfred.
"Arthur, not all humans are like me, okay?" Alfred said, squeezing Arthur's arms lightly to punctuate his point.
"Of course they aren't," Arthur scoffed. "It's not like you're the only human I've ever laid eyes on, after all."
"That's not what I mean!" Alfred said hurriedly, finally letting go of the Naga and leaning back with wide eyes. "You can't just go out and show yourself to a crowd of people, okay? I know you think that humans are good and all that, but to be honest, you wouldn't last ten minutes before someone called the government to take you to a lab for experiments or something."
"What? No," Arthur shook his head in disbelief. "That can't be true. Humans are harmless!"
"Some," Alfred said in a sigh. "Some are fine and wouldn't freak out, but a lot of them would be scared when they saw you," he explained. "No offense!" he quickly added upon Arthur giving him a hurt look. "But you remember how I reacted the first time we met. It just wouldn't be safe for you."
Arthur stared into Alfred's face, hopefully searching for a sign that the other was only kidding. Finding none, he looked down into his lap. "Oh," he said simply.
"I'm sorry that we aren't what you thought," Alfred said carefully. "That's probably my fault. I've only been showing you good stuff, but believe me when I say that we can be a terrible species. But there really are some good humans that would accept you, like me! Just promise to not go charging into anything, okay?"
Arthur recalled all the words members of his clan had ever said to him about staying away from humans and every thought he had ever had about how wrong all of them were. Had he just been naïve the entire time? But no, he thought as he considered who he was talking to, Alfred is good. Alfred is more than good. Humans can't be anything but a good species if Alfred is a part of them.
"I promise," he said sincerely. His resolve for his promise solidified upon seeing the pure relief on Alfred's face.
"Great," Alfred breathed out. "Because I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. You're a really good friend, Arthur."
Arthur blushed and turned his face to the side to avoid Alfred's gaze. "As are you. You're really my only friend," he admitted quietly, hoping his words wouldn't be loud enough to reach the inferior ears of the human. That hope was immediately thrown out the window, however, when he felt himself being violently crushed into his second hug of the afternoon. This time, he didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Alfred's broad shoulders and bury his nose into Alfred's neck, inhaling the scent of soap and sweat that lingered there. Why is this so comforting? Arthur wondered idly.
"Why are you so warm?" he said instead. Alfred chuckled against him and drew back so that Arthur could see his mischievous expression.
"Well," he drawled, "there's this thing called thermoregulation and it maintains my constant body temperature through chemical reactions and—" He cut off abruptly as Arthur decided to take back his earlier commitment to not hurting him and delivered a sharp punch to his upper arm, causing him to promptly fall back onto the rock in laughter.
"You imbecile, if I had wanted a technical explanation, I would have asked for one!" he said irritably, but was fighting a smile.
Alfred grinned up at him. "Well, technically you did…"
Arthur pursed his lips and shoved Alfred half-heartedly as the boy burst into laughter and as he suppressed his own humor, he knew that everything would indeed be alright.
A/N: Ugh it's late and I really wanted to put this up before going to bed so you'll just have to forgive me if there are any typos in this chapter...
YOU GUYS. Do you see that really freaking adorable cover image? That was just done for me by the amazing gohanfan1 earlier today. Thank you so much for like the fifth time! I love it SO MUCH and I can't stop marveling over the fact that someone actually took the time to make art for me! It ended up not entirely fitting, so if you want to see the whole thing there is a link to the original in my profile :D
So somewhere between the last update and this one we hit (and surpassed) 50 followers. WUT. I cannot express how grateful I am every single day for all of the support I'm getting. I was blown away by the amount of reviews I got last chapter as well! If that continued I would be on cloud 10,000!
Sorry it took me a little longer for this chapter. In addition to for some reason being difficult to write, I had a lot going on in my life that disallowed me from working on it (AKA I graduated and have family members staying in my house that literally throw a temper tantrum if I pay attention to my computer). I hope you enjoyed!
