Oh lord. I'm so sorry this is late! But I'll more time to work on it now that I'm finished with a different fic. Hope you guys enjoy!
"Alfred? Please come out, love. It's been two days already."
The aforementioned teen looked at the door from his position on the floor with silent mirth. If looks could kill, the door and anything behind it would be on their way to Hell and back.
"Go away!" Alfred snapped before burying his head back into his arms.
Arthur sighed from the other side of the door before looking at Francis who had been standing behind him the whole time.
"Any ideas as to how we get him out?" Francis asked curiously as he assessed the situation.
Arthur looked at Francis and then at the door before mumbling something under his breathe. As if an idea finally struck him, Arthur scurried away. It wasn't a few minutes later until Arthur returned. But he didn't come alone. In the pirate's hands was a large pistol.
"What are you going to do? Shoot your way through?" Francis asked in slight exasperation.
Arthur looked at his weapon and then at Francis. "Do you have any brighter ideas, Frog?" When the Frenchman sheepishly shook his head, Arthur aimed the pistol at the doorknob.
"Just don't go barging in there and be forceful with him. Be gentle and talk to him about all of this in a civilized manner." Francis said as he crossed his arms.
"Yes, yes. Gentle. Got it." Arthur said absentmindedly before firing the weapon.
Alfred bolted from his seat on the floor and hopped onto the bed nearby and hid under the covers. Arthur was going to shoot his way in? The pirate was surely going to make this whole fiasco even worse.
The only reason Alfred had even locked himself in this room is because of the incident with Lovino and Antonio. Seeing Lovino in such horrible shape had made Alfred weary about Arthur. The blonde pirate hadn't been the one to hurt Lovino, but Arthur held the reputation for being more ruthless than the man who had actually done it.
That had to make Arthur even worse, right?
Alfred wasn't exactly sure, but he didn't want to stick around and find out. Given, his plan to barricade himself inside the ship wasn't exactly the best one he's ever had, but what other choice did he have?
He had been immediately hauled onto the ship after they had met with Lovino and Antonio. There had been no time left to get away.
"Alfred." Arthur almost snapped as he walked over to the bed.
The teen cringed away from the strong hand that was placed on his back. "How many times do I have to tell you to go away!" Alfred snapped angrily as he tried moving away from the pirate.
Arthur scrunched his face in irritation and said,"Tell me what's wrong and then I'll leave you alone."
Alfred peaked his head from under the blanket and looked at Arthur apprehensively. Should he trust the pirate? The older blonde had never really given him a reason to trust him in the first place. But what the hell. If it sounded even remotely fishy then Alfred would just choose not to believe him.
"You and I both saw how bad of shape Lovino was in. He looked terrible. I have no doubt in my mind that Antonio was the one that did it. What piques my curiousity is whether you're worse than him considering you're known as the best pirate of our time."
Arthur blinked a few times in slight astonishment. He had actually anticipated that Alfred was only being pissy because they had left Lovino with Antonio. Had he known it was something like this then he would have broken the door down even earlier.
The pirate ripped the covers off of the teen and quickly collected the struggling teen into his lanky but strong arms.
"Dude, let go of me! Have you gone senile?" Alfred snapped as he tried scooting away.
"Look, Alfred, I don't think Antonio actually hurt your friend. I know that man pretty well despite us being enemies. As much of a bastard as he may be, he would never hurt your friend." Arthur whispered.
Alfred looked up at his former caretaker with confusion written all over his face.
"But what about those cuts and bruises? Lovino was terrified of the guy! How do you explain all that?" the teen asked. He wanted to believe Arthur's words, but it was hard to after seeing evidence that led to the contrary.
"When someone is forced onto a ship they tend to get a few bruises. I think your face can testify to that." Arthur explained with a slight chuckle.
Alfred rubbed at the cheek that Arthur had struck when they were first reunited and winced as the memory flooded back to him. The purple flesh still stung a bit.
"Well, explain the fear. Lovino was freaking scared as shit when he saw Antonio." Alfred said.
Arthur rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he said,"I know the man fairly well and I know he would never hurt Lovino. If I had to guess, Lovino is the Italian 'girl' Antonio used to talk about."
When the teen gave the man a bewildered look, Arthur explained,"Back when I...first left you...I joined Antonio's father's pirate ship. When I was on there I had the chance to talk to Antonio. He told me that he had met a young Italian girl at the church they had visited while on land. When I saw your friend Lovino I couldn't help but think he's the Italian girl."
Alfred gave the pirate a blank look. "Is Antonio a dumbass? Lovino is a definitely a dude."
Arthur couldn't help but let a smile erupt on his face upon hearing the comment about the Spanish pirate being a dumbass. "Antonio can be rather oblivous when it comes to a lot of things. I think the gender of your friend was one of those things." Arthur said with a slight chuckle.
"So he didn't hurt Lovino? He's not going to punish him for running away?" Alfred asked as he sat up.
Arthur rested his hand on Alfred's and said,"No. I'm pretty sure Antonio hasn't hurt your friend.
Alfred let out a sigh of relief before getting up from his sitting position on the bed and saying,"Well, I feel better now. I'm still pissed, but not as badly as before."
Arthur shook his head in slight exasperation but decided not to push it.
"How does food sound then? You haven't eaten since we were docked in Spain." the pirate offered.
The teen perked up at the mention of food. How long had been since he'd eaten? Well, Arthur did say it had been two days since the incident at the port.
"Food sounds amazing." Alfred said as he got off the bed.
Arthur motioned for the teen to go through first before following him to where Francis was currently standing.
"Hey, Francis. Do you think you can make some food for me." Alfred asked as they approached the Frenchman.
Francis gave Alfred a white-toothed grin as he said,"No problem, mon cher. Anything specific?"
Alfred lit up and said,"How about beef stew? Arthur used to make it for me all the time when I was younger."
Francis immediately scowled upon hearing the order to make a dish that Arthur used to make. It was common knowledge that the Brit was a horrible cook. Asking Francis to make the same dish felt like a bit of an insult.
The Frenchman glanced over to his captain giving him a triumphant smirk.
"Why not. I shall make the best stew you have ever tasted." Francis said before whirling around and stocking off towards his beloved kitchen.
"You won't really have to try very hard . I've only ever had Arthur's. I'm pretty sure anyone can beat his excuse for food." Alfred said which was quickly followed by a laugh.
Francis never turned around but his hand quickly snapped up to his mouth to smother the giggle that threatened to come out.
Arthur quickly shot Francis a glare but let it slide. Being teased about his food was a common occurence that didn't really bother him as much anymore. The only reason he got riled up in the first place was because it came from Alfred.
"Well, now that you're done insulting my food, how about you go up on deck and visit with your brother. He's been worried sick about you." Arthur stated before going back into the room Alfred had just been busted out of.
Alfred took on an embarrassed blush as he remembered that his sickly brother was on the ship as well. How could he have forgotten?
Without further delay, Alfred raced out of the hallway and up towards the deck so that he could talk to his twin.
It didn't take long for him to find the light blonde haired teen standing near the front of the ship. But there was one problem. Matthew was alone. Because of his twin's illness, he should never be alone.
Alfred practically sprinted over to where his brother was standing.
"Matt! What in the hell are you doing alone? Where in the hell is Gilbert?" Alfred asked worriedly as he rushed over to his brother.
Matthew turned around and gave him a light smile. "We found an even better medicine. I'm strong enough to have moments alone now."
Alfred stared at his twin in amazement. "Really? Are you cured forever are do you still have the disease?" the older twin asked excitely.
Matthew shook his head solemnly. "No. But it lasts a lot longer than the other stuff did."
Alfred was a tad disappointed, but any positive change in his brother's health was welcome. "That's good. So what are you doing over here alone?"
Matthew pointed to the open sea in front of them. Alfred looked in the direction Matthew was pointing and found clouds that held a dark shade of gray gradually approaching.
"Arthur told me to stay here and monitor the storm before he went off to try and reason with you again. I'm supposed to go warn him when it's less than a kilometer away." Matthew explained as his violet eyes travelled the length of the growing storm.
Matthew seemed to think of something then. "How did the talk go? I suppose it went well considering you're not holed up in that room anymore."
Alfred nodded his head numbly. "Yeah. I'm still not happy about the situation with Lovino though. Arthur reassured me that he was never intentionally harmed, but he was kidnapped nonetheless." the blue-eyed twin admitted.
Matthew nodded as well in agreement. "Maybe once Antonio realizes Lovino is a boy then he'll let him go." the doe-eyed teen offered.
Alfred shrugged. "Maybe so. But if I've noticed anything about pirates, they aren't picky about who they like. Arthur won't leave me the fuck alone. I used to chalk it up to him trying to make amends with me, but now I just don't know. I mean first there was the kiss thing and then there was the date while at the port." the teen said he sat down on the deck and leaned against the railing.
Matthew followed suit and set himself down beside his brother. "I've had my suspicions as well. But I can't help but think something else is going on. Why would he go from acting like your former caretaker to trying to treat you like a lover?"
Alfred winced slightly upon hearing those words come from his brother's lips.
"Do you think he's just doing it to get the map?" Alfred murmured quietly. He wouldn't put it past a pirate.
"I don't know. I guess we'll just have to see as time goes on. I'm sure he'll show his true colors eventually. For now, just play along." Matthew said. But as an afterthought, he added,"And be sure to mess with him."
Alfred brightened up at the prospect of messing with Arthur as well. If the pirate was truly doing this because of the map-and Alfred had no doubt that was the case-then he would mess with the Brit's mind until he went mad.
"Alright. Sounds like fun." Alfred said.
Just as the two started laughing about their little plan, the distant sound of thunder rumbled throughout the air above them.
The two immediately jumped to their feet and looked across the expanse of ocean to find a mass of dark clouds slowly approaching. Neither had seen many storms in their lifetime, but even they could tell this was going to be a big one.
"You don't think we'll get caught up in it, do you?" Alfred asked warily as he scanned the darkening clouds.
Matthew shrugged his shoulders and said,"I can't be sure, but, it's a little less a kilometer away. I might be wrong, but I think we'll have to go through it."
Alfred shuddered. He had heard tales of ships sinking because of storms such as these. Knowing that they could indeed sink was making him just a tad queasy.
"Well, that's just lovely. What happens if the storm does hit us?"
Matthew shrugged once again and left it at that. He knew exactly what would happen, but he thought it best not to tell Alfred yet. It would only piss him off.
Alfred looked at his twin suspiciously but dropped the subject as well. He knew his brother well enough to know the younger twin was hiding something. He just couldn't figure out what.
Sorry for the slight cliffhanger. I didn't know how else to end it.
