I Kissed a Boy (Part 10)
Warning for language (aka Alfred's mouth).
Alfred dumped the helmet back into the cargo hold and shouldered his heavy book bag and waved at Antonio as he headed back towards campus. Alfred always felt bad that Antonio had to follow him around on Thursday mornings, then drag him home and then had to turn around and rush back to campus for his afternoon classes. But Francis had classes all day on Thursdays and Gilbert was usually busy working on finishing up some project at home all day that would be due the next day. That left Antonio the most logical choice for babysitting duty apparently. He didn't seem to mind it though. Something about all the here to unknown pretty girls in the science department to keep him occupied.
Alfred sighed and trudged towards the apartment. He hoped they could drop this whole misadventure soon. There had been very little activity on the frat boy front over the past week but Gilbert said not to take anything lightly. They were still out there they were just being more sneaky about it. He glanced nervously around the neighborhood and wondered if they had tracked him here. Even if they didn't he still didn't feel completely safe. He always expected someone to shoot at him or something. Probably he should have the others introduce him to their neighbors soon. At least he would be able to put a face to who was shooting at him.
As he passed by the entrance to the flower shop the door swung open. The door had a tiny bell on it that jingled lightly in the afternoon air. Alfred stumbled and stared at the door with wide eyes. The entire few weeks he'd lived here he'd never actually seen anyone enter or exit the shop. He gaped in surprise at the man who stepped out of the building now with a cigarette in his hands.
He was monstrously tall with shaggy hair and a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck despite the fact that it wasn't that cold. He was also wearing what looked like a thick jacket. An awful lot of clothes for simply stepping out to get a smoke. In his shock Alfred lingered too long and the man's eyes swung to pin him a hard stare. Alfred recognized them as the eyes that had peered out at him from the basement apartment on his first night here. He shivered and remembered how Antonio had hurried him along that night.
He now understood why. He immediately wanted as little to do with this man as humanly possible.
He shivered and took a quick turn to head around the side of the building towards the stairs that led to the apartment. He heard foot falls behind him. He swallowed and forced himself not to look back. The man's apartment lay in the same direction. Maybe he was just going home for his break or something. As his foot landed on the bottom step a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He couldn't help a small yelp squeak out of his mouth. His shoulders were always stiff and sore and the man's hand was heavy. Taking a calming breath he turned to look behind him.
"You are the new tenant upstairs?" the man asked in a voice thick with a heavy accent.
"Uhm...yes...I guess..." Alfred said swallowing thickly and taking a quick step up to the next step.
"You guess?" the man questioned with a raised brow. "You do not know if you are living here now?"
"I mean..." Alfred said slipping up yet another stair bringing him taller then the other man for half a second before the man followed him up a step. "Yes...yes I am staying there...now..."
"You are not on the lease," the man said stepping up another step.
"Oh I..." Alfred swallowed hard wondering if he was about to get kicked out and mentally trying to figure out where he'd go if he was. "I didn't know there...was a lease..." he said lamely as he backed up two more steps. A quick glance behind him showed he was almost to the top. He knew Gilbert was inside so maybe he could take care of this problem before he could get thrown out.
"I own this building," the man said a little coldly. "I am the landlord of this apartment I rent it out to the other three and they are all on the lease. I take my duty very seriously. You would not like me to not take it seriously would you?"
"Uhm..." Alfred blinked in confusion. Maybe there was some sort of language barrier going on in this conversation because Alfred suddenly felt like they were having two very different conversations. "Of course you should do your job," he reassured the man quickly. "I just didn't know about a lease is all..."
He finally stumbled up onto the landing next to the door. He still didn't have a key, and at the moment he wasn't sure he wanted one if this beast was living downstairs, so he pressed his finger against the door buzzer. And since he was really in a hurry to get inside he mashed the button repeatedly as he pressed his back up against the door.
"I tell you what...Gilbert is right inside...I'll go and talk to him and we can get this cleared right up!" he said with a false brightness as the man stepped up onto the landing and towered over him.
He let out a yelp, mostly of relief, as the door behind him swung open. He could feel Gilbert's breath on his neck and he instantly felt relief course through him even though Gilbert was probably no match for the beast in front of them.
"What the hell man," Gilbert ground out. "I heard you the first time! There's no need to...oh..."
He trailed off as Alfred shifted slightly to the side so that Gilbert could get a good look at what was in front of him. A glance over his shoulder showed Gilbert grimacing slightly before steeling his face into it's normally impassive state.
"Hello, Ivan," he said in a tight voice.
"Good afternoon, Gilbert," the man, apparently Ivan, said with a bright smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I was introducing myself to your friend."
Alfred swallowed and took a step backwards pressing himself up against Gilbert. Gilbert seeming to take the hint wrapped an hand around Alfred's arm and and pulled him backwards into the apartment. Then he stepped forward and placed himself between the two men.
"Ivan, Alfred Jones," he said waving his hand. "Alfred this is Ivan Braginski, he runs the flower shop downstairs."
"And I own the building," Ivan said with a frown. "And this apartment."
"Yeah...that too," Gilbert said tightly.
"Your new little friend here was telling me how he lives here in this apartment now," Ivan said with a slight quirk of his lips. "But yet he is not on the lease."
"I...I didn't know there was a lease!" Alfred insisted quietly feeling a bit braver now that he was in the apartment.
"Yes you have said that repeatedly. "I am not deaf," Ivan said darkly.
"I didn't say you were!" Alfred said with a huff wondering how he had gotten off on such a wrong foot with this guy.
"I have told you," Ivan said in a patient condescending tone. "Now I am telling Gilbert. If you want him to stay he needs to be on the lease by the end of the week."
"Yeah, yeah," Gilbert said with roll of his eyes. "We'll get it done."
"You do not understand me Gilbert," Ivan said lowering his voice to something just about a whisper. It was scarier then if he was yelling. "I have insurance on this building it will not cover him if he is not on the lease. I will not be able to offer him protection if he is not on the lease."
Gilbert sobered and nodded his head. Once again Alfred felt like he was missing a major part of the conversation.
"I will talk it over with Francis and Antonio this evening when they get home and we will come down and get him added to the lease as soon as possible," Gilbert reassured him.
"Good, good!" Ivan said brightly his entire face changing to sunny childishness. "I am so please we will get this worked out quickly. I look forward to seeing you soon Alfred."
"It was...ah...nice meeting you..." Alfred said as politely as he could manage. He winced at how phoney it sounded.
"Bye," Gilbert said shortly and slammed the door in Ivan's face.
Alfred swore he heard quickly on the other side of the door as he swung his eyes back around to stare wide-eyed and Gilbert. "What the fuck was that?"
"That...was...Ivan..." Gilbert said with a smirk patting him on the shoulder. "I suppose I should have warned you a little bit better about him."
"You think?" Alfred said sharply. "Who the hell is he and where did he come from some top secret former Soviet research facility? He's a beast!"
"He claims he comes from Saint Petersburg so I don't know anything about a top secret former Soviet research facility but...that wouldn't surprise me. He came over after the communist system fell over there I don't know how old he is now so I don't know how old he was then. He's got two sisters who share the downstairs apartment and help him run the shop. Kat is really sweet but stay away from Natalya she's scarier then he is..."
"There's someone scarier then him?" Alfred squawked in shock. "How is that possible?"
"She's got a short temper," Gilbert explained with a shrug. "Ivan tends to be a slow boil but don't ever be around him when he's boiling over the edge...it's rather horrifying."
"Great," Alfred said with a weary sigh as he went to throw himself down on the couch with a groan. "Just great. Is there anything else you'd like to share with me?"
"Well there's a pretty strong possibility that Ivan is a high level operative for the Russian mob and this building is a front for some of their illegal activities."
Alfred jerked back up to his feet and gaped at Gilbert in open shock hoping against hope that the other boy was just giving him a hard time again. Gilbert was staring back at him with stone faced seriousness. "The fuck!"
"There's also the strong possibility that he's just some slightly unhinged guy that fled to the US from post Soviet Russia and decided to open a flower shop in a shit hole part of a crappy town and that he's just acting suspicious because he gets off on it."
"So what you're saying is that you don't actually know for sure if your landlord is a mob guy that has you under his protection or is just a raving lunatic with delusions of grandeur?" Alfred snapped out in exasperation.
"That's pretty much what I'm saying," Gilbert said with a nod and a smirky quirk of his lips. "I mean it's not like we can just stroll up to him and say 'hey dude is this a front for the mob?' Those are the kind of questions that get you shot in the back of your head at 2am in the morning which I'd kind of like to avoid."
"You don't fucking say!" Alfred snapped again and threw himself back onto the couch this time face first. "And you thought bringing me here instead of leaving me in the dorms was the safer option?"
"Think of it this way, kid," Gilbert said with a chuckle. "No one in their right mind is going to mess with Braginski regardless of if he's a mob guy or not. As you said the man is a beast and he does keep a watchful eye on the neighborhood. You're safe here. And if your name is on the lease Ivan will make sure you stay that way."
"Safe living in a building that might or might not be a front for the Russian mob!" Alfred said sharply. "Don't mobs have mob wars and stuff?"
Gilbert shrugged his shoulders. "If the mob does control it they intend to keep it completely under lock and key. There has been no blatant mob activity here in the past two years there has also been no regular gang activity, drug activity, or prostitution the corners. People are a little gun happy around here but that's mostly just because Vash was here first and he's more than a little gun happy. You can check the records there hasn't been a murder in this neighborhood since Ivan took over this building. This is the safest neighborhood in town other then the ritzy ritzy places. I wouldn't let you stay here if it wasn't safe."
"Oh," Alfred said deflating a little at the bare truth in Gilbert's voice. He frowned and lowered his voice to mutter an apology. "Sorry."
"You're smart to worry," Gilbert said with another shrug. "It proves you're finally starting to grow some street sense."
Alfred glared and him and then rolled over onto his back and then stared up at the ceiling. "If I sign my name on the lease does that mean I'm controlled by them?"
"Of course not, it's just an apartment lease!" Gilbert huffed at him with a roll of his eyes.
"Are you absolutely sure of that?" Alfred countered. "Who knows what sort of mob double talk he put in that thing!"
Gilbert snorted and waved his hand. "The other non-teacher black sheep in Antonio's family, his cousin, is a lawyer we had him look over it to make sure there was no mob double talk in it. But...if it will make you feel better we can have him look over it again before you have to sign it."
"Thank you," Alfred said with a sign of relief.
"Just a word of warning before you meet ol' Ned is that he's a bit...intense...and angry," Gilbert said. "Like all the time. But maybe that's just from having to put up with Antonio in close proximity his entire life. I know that would make me angry and he's one of my best friends. Just...don't call him by his full name even if Antonio does it will piss him off and if he brings brownies with him don't under any circumstances engulf them."
"Why not?" Alfred said with a pout. He liked brownies. He didn't like it when brownies were kept from him.
"You eat them you will end up high as a kite," Gilbert said. Alfred stared at him blankly still having no idea what he was talking out. He sighed softly in exasperation. "They're pot brownies. It's sort of his specialty."
"Oh!" Alfred said and felt completely foolish for not getting it. "I've never gotten high from pot before..." he said thoughtfully thinking of all the drugs that had been forced on him over the years by doctors and the reactions he'd had to them. "I've had my share of pharmaceutical highs though let me tell you. I wonder how pot would compare..." he mused curiously.
"No!" Gilbert snapped shortly. "Don't even think about!"
"But!" Alfred whined. He was a grown adult he could make his own decisions.
"No way," Gilbert growled at him. "Arthur would kill me if I let you get high."
"Oh please," Alfred said with a snort. "Like he hasn't smoked pot loads of time over the years...if not done worse."
Gilbert paused as if to ponder the point and then shrugged his shoulders "Then your brother would definitely kill me if he found out!"
"You clearly know nothing about my brother," Alfred said with an even bigger snort. "He's the biggest pothead I know! I'm the good one in the family by far! Well except maybe Peter but he's like ten and doesn't count."
Gilbert stared at him for a long moment and huffed. "Doesn't matter. You won't be eating those brownies on my watch. I will not be responsible for corrupting a minor!"
"I'm 18 years old! I'm not a minor!" Alfred said with a disgruntled huff. He was so tired of people treating him like a little kid all the time. He was an adult! Even if he didn't really look like it or act like it a majority of the time.
"Close enough," Gilbert scoffed.
Alfred saw red and sent his most intimidating glare Gilbert's way. From the way the other boy continued to smirk at him it apparently wasn't intimidating enough. He'd have to talk to Mattie or Arthur see if they could teach him how it was done properly. They might even do it...once they stopped laughing at him.
"Yeah well..." Alfred said huffily. "If you didn't want to corrupt me then you shouldn't have kissed me, threw me onto the back of your motorcycle and whisked me away to your apartment on top of a building owned by a crazy potential Russian mob guy, with a next door neighbor who shoots at anything that moves and lord knows what other insanity is roaming just around a corner!"
Gilbert's smirk turned to a disgruntled glare of his own. He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut again to glare with even more intensity. He certainly didn't need any working in the intimidating department.
"Do your homework."
"You're not the boss of me!" Alfred snapped back without thinking.
He instantly felt like a huge idiot and ducked his head. So much for not being childish. He wasn't surprised when Gilbert started laughing at him. A deep belly laugh that made Alfred feel a little warm inside.
"Look," Gilbert said with laughter in his voice. "As much fun as arguing with you is I have a huge project that needs to be done and I'm sure you've got about twenty things that need to be done by tomorrow. So I'm going to go get my work done and you can get your stuff done and then I'm going to come back here and kick your ass verbally some more."
"I'd like to see you try!" Alfred said intensely. A rush of strange excitement trailing down his spine as Gilbert's smirk turned to an almost fond smile.
"Don't worry," Gilbert drawled playfully, reaching out to flick Alfred's nose, sending another trail of something down Alfred's spine. "I will!"
Then with a slight wave of his hand he turned and left the room quickly probably because he knew that Alfred was gearing up to lob another argument his way. Alfred stared after him for a long moment and then drew himself to a sitting position with a chuckle. Then he reached for his backpack and started pulling his stuff out of it. The sooner he got started the sooner he'd be done.
He was definitely looking forward to later.
TBC
Notes:
-I am far too amused with Ivan in this. As always my Russia muse threatens to run away with things so his presence will probably be extremely limited because I can't trust him.
-Ned is of course Netherlands. His first name is Edwin (which is indeed a Dutch name) so you can see why he prefers to go by a nickname. Ned is oftentimes used as a nickname for names that start with "Ed" such as Edward or if you're a fan of Game of Thrones Eddard. Being able to use it was the sole reason I chose Edwin for his name, I'm far to used to calling him Ned to think of him as anything else lol. Not sure if he and his infamous brownies will appear in the story. They might...they might not.