And here we are again! Ready to go! Enjoy!
Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya!
'The Tell-tale Heart' belongs to Takuya!
Chapter 4 : The Tell-tale Heart
It took a while to get the ponies back to where they belonged, not to catch them and take them back down to the studio but to separate Feliks from them while he squealed like a fangirl but finally , to his ever-lasting sadness, the ponies were sent to the depths of the eleventh floor.
As they got back to work, Alfred did not mention superheroes, deciding to wait until Arthur was feeling revitalised and in a better frame of mind before bringing that up again. There were other ideas but nothing that really popped. And then half way through the afternoon Arthur's jet-lag caught up with him and he fell asleep.
As Arthur slept, Alfred looked at him and wondered should he ask Arthur if he could possibly be his soul mate and he realised that he could find out if Arthur's heart was even beating right now. Arthur was deep in Dreamland and unlikely to wake so Alfred could find out if Arthur had even found his soul mate. He debated whether or not to do this and slowly he put his ear to Arthur's chest, half hoping to find that Arthur's heart was beating and half dreading it.
Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump!
So Arthur had found his soul mate! Arthur had not mentioned anyone in his life but that was not so surprising, after all, they had hardly know each other for two days and the first day was only for an hour, hardly enough time to swap life stories so Arthur could know who his soul mate is.
But then again, maybe not!
Alfred looked down at his sleeping colleague, wondering if this was his soul mate. He looked the right age, he had a similar name and there was that feeling of de ja vu at the airport.
Could it be him?
He was pulled out of his wondering by the sight of Feliks coming through the offices and he went to wake Arthur. Feliks would tolerate a lot of things but sleeping at work was not one of them. Unless you were the narcoleptic Greek down in Art.
"Feliks is coming!" Alfred warned, giving Arthur a shake. "Wake up!"
"Hmm...what?" Arthur muttered as he opened his eyes.
"Feliks is coming," Alfred repeated. "Don't let him find out you've been sleeping! Only Hercules can get away with that because of his sleeping disorder." Arthur rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, just before Feliks burst into their office.
"I was, like, totes thinking," he said. "As Arthur is, like, tired and jet-lagged, he should, totes, leave early and, like, get some sleep. Alfred, you should, totes, take him!" Before he left, unseen by Arthur, Feliks gave Alfred a wink.
Alfred turned back to Arthur who could not help grinning at Alfred. It was funny to be woken up just to be told to go and get some sleep and Alfred saw the funny side as well.
The drive back to Arthur's hotel was less frenzied and Arthur could not wait to get his head down but, as tired as he was, he was aware of Alfred casting glances at him when he thought Arthur was not looking but when Arthur looked in his direction, Alfred quickly turned away.
Arthur vaguely wondered what was wrong with Alfred but he was too tired to ask about it and he was happy to see his hotel as they pulled up outside of it and Arthur got out of the car.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said to Alfred and shut the car door. Alfred looked out at him.
"Don't forget our drink tomorrow night!" he called. He really wanted to ask, if only to get it out of the way and know one way or another but he would not spring it on Arthur right now. He would ask him when Arthur was rested and relaxed.
"I won't!" Arthur promised and with a wave, went into his hotel. Alfred watched him as he disappeared. What if Arthur was his Artie? What then? How would Arthur react? Alfred was suddenly very nervous and did not know whether he hoped that Arthur was Artie or not!
And there was a day and night to go!
The next day, Arthur felt much better after a decent night's sleep as he waited for Alfred to pick him up. When he arrived, it was Alfred that seemed frazzled. Planning to ask Arthur about being his missing soul mate had kept Alfred from sleeping and he looked exhausted.
"Are you feeling all right?" Arthur asked, getting into the car. Alfred nodded.
"Just tired," he replied. "I didn't sleep well last night. How are you this morning?"
"Much better," Arthur said as Alfred pulled out into the traffic. "I should be more productive today but I don't know about you! You look wiped out, are you going to be all right?"
"I'm cool!" Alfred replied and then struggled to stifle a yawn. Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe we should forgo that drink so you can go home and rest," he suggested.
"Hell no!" Alfred exclaimed. It was anticipating and dreading that drink that robbed him of sleep to begin with so putting it off was not going to be helpful. Besides, he really wanted to know!
Arthur was slightly taken aback by the vehemence of Alfred's response but said nothing. If he really wanted that drink …..
Before long, they pulled up outside the advertising building and were taking the elevator to the twelfth floor, fortunately free of ponies, and greeted once again by Toris.
"Good morning, Alfred! Arthur!" he said.
"Hi, Toris!" Alfred replied and then a yawn escaped him.
"You looked really tired!" Toris commented.
"He didn't sleep well," Arthur replied. Alfred shrugged off.
"A good cup of coffee and I'll be set for the day!" he replied, confidently and headed for the vending machine.
"He's not going to get a good cup of anything from that!" Arthur replied, hoping the coffee was better than the tea. Toris nodded.
"What we need is a decent coffee machine," he agreed. "Maybe I can persuade Feliks to get one? What's the point of being the boss's soul mate if I don't use it to everyone's advantage once in a while?" Arthur smiled but it was tinged with sadness. Toris wondered about that but did not know how to ask.
"Alfred said you shot down his superhero idea," he said, instead. Arthur sighed.
"Maybe I was a little abrupt," he admitted. "I was tired myself yesterday but I can't help but think it trivialises the message."
"Can I give you some advice?" Toris asked and Arthur nodded. "Whenever Alfred tries to push the superhero idea, Kiku would consider it until Alfred's enthusiasm begins to wane and then suggest other ideas and get Alfred interested in them. But I wonder, if carefully handled, if the superhero idea might work for the renewable fuels thing? I admit Alfred has suggested superheroes before but it just doesn't work for things like advertising funeral directors!"
"Funerals!" Arthur choked. "Are you serious?" Toris chuckled.
"It made sense to Alfred at the time," he replied. "Fortunately, Kiku was able steer him in a more dignified direction. But maybe, this time, Alfred might be on to something!" Arthur was not so sure but he would give it some thought.
Alfred returned from the vending machine, sipping at his coffee and, judging by his face, it was no better than the tea but he clearly needed the caffeine and then he and Arthur went into their office to work on the ad campaign.
Alfred just wanted the day over with, despite the fact that Arthur seemed to be more open to listening to his ideas but his plans for tonight claimed his attention and time seemed to drag but, finally, work finished and they were able to leave work behind.
Alfred took Arthur to a bar near where he lived. Alfred ordered a beer while Arthur asked for a whiskey and they found somewhere to sit.
"So what made ya work for the mad-house?" Alfred asked Arthur, using the term everyone who worked for Hetalia Advertising used.
"I was head-hunted," Arthur replied. "I was working for an advertising company in England and some of the campaigns I put together drew attention and I was offered an attractive package to work for Hetalia Advertising so I took it!"
"How'd ya family feel about ya coming across the pond?" Arthur cringed at the English language being butchered but elected to say nothing and just mentally corrected Alfred's grammar.
"Actually," Arthur replied. "My parents were very supportive about the move. My brothers, however, were not so sure about it, especially Allistor!"
"How many brothers have ya got?" Alfred asked. "I've got one, Matthew! He's a mountain-rescuer in Canada!" Arthur smiled.
"That's great!" he replied. "I have four brothers, I'm the second youngest! Allistor's the eldest, followed by Rhys, then Patrick and my younger brother is Seamus!"
"Why'd ya brother, Allistor not want ya to take the job?" Alfred figured the brothers must be close if Allistor did not want his little brother to come across the Atlantic.
"He feels responsible for me because of something that happened when we were kids." Arthur replied. "He sees it as watching out for me, I see it as sticking his nose in. Don't think we're joined at the hip or anything like that! We can barely be in the same room without an argument erupting. He thinks I'm an irritating pain and I think he's a overbearing prat!" Arthur sipped his whiskey. Alfred wondered what Allistor felt responsible for but felt it was too early to ask about that.
"What about your parents?" he asked, instead. "Still about?"
"Yes." Arthur said. "They're retired and live in Kingston-on-Thames. Your parents?" Alfred's mood dropped.
"Mom and Dad separated!" he replied which surprised Arthur. Soul mates did not separate unless Alfred's parents were not. "My name is actually Alfred F Williams-Jones but when our parents separated, Matthew blamed Dad and dropped the Jones. I started to call myself Jones to support Dad!"
"Are your parents soul mates?" he asked. Alfred nodded and Arthur looked at him in shock.
"They haven't separated because they hate each other," Alfred clarified. "Mom didn't want it to happen but Dad felt that ….. it's kind of complicated!" Alfred was clearly uncomfortable discussing it so Arthur dropped the subject.
Alfred did not like to say that the family had been pulled apart by what had happened to him and his father decided that they would be better off without him and Madeline could not persuaded him otherwise! Matthew, in a rare display of temper, accused his father of giving up on them and stopped calling himself Jones and he and their mother went to Canada while Alfred refused to give up on his father and stayed in the same city and visited him regularly in the hopes of healing the rift.
Alfred looked at Arthur and wondered should he tell Arthur about when he was three and ask him if he was the boy at JFK airport but decided it was too soon in the evening and he would just get to know Arthur better before he touched on that subject so they talk about this and that, what hobbies the other had and so forth. Arthur loved gardening, reading and embroidery of all things. Alfred liked archaeology, horror movies (which he can't watch alone) and, of course, superheroes. After a hour of small talk, Alfred decided to broach the subject of whether or not Arthur could be his soul mate.
"Arthur," he began. "Do you ….." Alfred faltered and he could not get the words out as much as he wanted to.
"Yes?" Arthur asked, waiting for Alfred to finish.
"Do you …..," it was no good. Alfred need some Dutch courage before he could go there. "Want another drink?" He finished, lamely. Arthur looked down at his now empty glass and nodded and Alfred went back to the bar.
A few drinks later and it became apparent that Alfred's tolerance for alcohol was much higher that Arthur's as Arthur began making random comments about not knowing if he was catholic or protestant (Alfred did not know what to make of that but deemed it as unimportant as he was not at all religious) but he became a little concerned when Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred sobbing.
"I want my Alfie!" he wept but it was muffled by Alfred's jacket that Arthur had his face pressed into and Alfred did not hear it properly. Alfred (who was rather drunk himself, just not as much as Arthur) patted Arthur awkwardly on the back and decided that if he was going to ask Arthur, he better do it now while Arthur was still in any fit state to listen and Alfred had enough alcohol in his system to not care about the consequences.
He propped Arthur up in his seat but Arthur put his head down on the table with a clunk.
"Arthur, are you still alive down there?"
"Just about!" was the slurred answer.
"I have something to ask you!"
"What?"
"When I was three," Alfred began, determined to do this thing. "I met my soul mate at JFK airport. He was a blonde boy the same age called Artie but I was pulled away from him and I never saw him again. When I saw you at the airport, you felt familiar to me and you have the same name and you're the right age so I'm wondering, Artie..." Alfred took a deep breath.
"Are you my soul mate?"
Snore!
Alfred looked down at Arthur who snored again. He had fallen asleep! Finally, Alfred had worked up the courage to ask Arthur and Arthur was unconscious in a drunken stupor. Damn Arthur and his intolerance to alcohol. Alfred's head fell on to Arthur's shoulder as he realised that he was going to have to do this again and it had taken several drinks to get the courage up the first time. Great, life officially sucked! Not only would he not get his answer but he now had to deal with a drunk, unconscious colleague and he was not exactly sober himself. Arthur's hotel was some distance away and Alfred did not think he could get him there by himself and no taxi driver in his right mind was going to pick up two drunk men so Alfred decided to take Arthur to his apartment which was closer.
He stood up, swaying a little and then took Arthur's arm and put around his shoulders, picking Arthur up and swaggering out of the door into the night. People on the street avoided them as they staggered their way home, or dragged in Arthur's case, and it took a hour for them to reach Alfred's apartment.
Alfred struggled to get the key in the lock, hampered by an unconscious Arthur and his own inebriated state, finally managing to get the door open and drag the pair of them inside. Arthur mumbled something about 'Dumbledora the explorer' that would have made no sense to Alfred, even if he was sober. He pulled Arthur into his bedroom and dropped him on to the bed.
Arthur was going to be out for quite some time and Alfred decided it would not be good for him to sleep in his clothes so he began to strip him, throwing his clothes on to a nearby chair and missing it completely so they landed on the floor. It took some time to get Arthur's clothes off and when he was down to his underwear, Alfred pulled the blankets over him as he snoozed away, dreaming some drunken dream.
Alfred was exhausted himself after all that so he pulled off his own clothes, dropping them everywhere and, as it was a large bed with plenty of room for both of them, he climbed in with Arthur, settled down and went to sleep immediately.
To Alfred's booze-soaked brain, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Can anyone detect a certain awkward moment coming up! XP Poor Alfred couldn't have known that Arthur's a lightweight when it comes to drinking! Alfred and Arthur are going to pay for it in the morning, that's for certain and in more ways than one! Anybody got a good hangover cure? XD
To Amawesomereviewr - I hope the rest gets two thumbs up too! :)
To Nightshine315 - Gibbling, maybe? :D Hopefully we'll to the happy stuff soon! ;)
To Normandy - Arthur and Alfred both have Feliks rooting for them! :) What! How dare they take Doctor Who off any channel! That's a crime against Humanity! DX
So close and yet so far! I'm such an evil teaser, aren't I! XP
Till next week,
Hasta la Pasta!
