ART FOR "ONE HALF ROMEO" CAN BE FOUND HERE: http : / / emgee-chan . deviantart . c o m / # / d2x 9spj
When Arthur woke up the morning after the light show, he smiled to himself. Everything happened so fast, he wished he could replay each moment since their very first meeting over and over again. He looked down to the plush in his arms and snuggled it closer. This was completely out of character; oh, he knew. But he was in love, and love can make you feel so much unlike yourself; In a good way.
Still holding his unicorn in his arms, he turned around expecting to see Francis sound asleep in his own bed. Unfortunately, what he saw was an empty bed, messy covers, and a neatly packed luggage bag. Piqued, he arose from his mattress and looked around. No Francis. Not in the bathroom, in the closet, or under the bed. Arthur began to think to himself, "Well, his stuff is still here…did he leave the room?"
Just then, and right on cue, the door to their hotel room swung open, and there stood Francis, attempting to balance two trays of food, and two cans of pop in his hands. Arthur gently tossed his plush on the bed, and rushed over to help him.
After setting both trays on the table, Arthur looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it. Today would be their first official day as a couple. Though it was exciting and new, Arthur also felt nervous and anxious. Francis and Arthur stared at each other for a brief moment before consuming their food in a comfortable silence.
With a bun eaten and table cleaned up, the couple packed the rest of their possessions into their bags and called a cab. It was still early in the day, so when they arrived back at their dorm they found themselves lifelessly bored. That is, until, they received a knock at their door.
Arthur blinked, but with the little energy he still had, he shouted, "Come in! The door's open!"
And there entered none other than the high spirited couple from next door; Matthew clapping excitedly and Alfred blowing on a poorly tuned trumpet.
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
If Arthur's face could get any more redder, he was glad he didn't have a mirror nearby to see. Francis on the other hand, smiled up at their friends as he and Alfred shared some small talk. Matthew walked up to Arthur.
"So, how are you two doing?" Matthew smiled happily at Arthur.
"Pretty good, it's nice to be in a steady relationship for once instead of being alone." And he was very very glad for that. Francis was one of the very rare people he actually got along with; which explains why the only best and close friends he had were Alfred and Matthew. The other two joined them on Arthur's bed.
"So!" Alfred started, "…with all that 'lovey dovey couple talk' aside, we need to talk about another important thing: Christmas shopping."
They all agreed; Christmas was fast approaching, and they would have to shop early if they wanted to get good presents for their friends and family. The discussion went on longer than everyone expected, and eventually, their friends had to leave, but the conversation continued between Francis and Arthur. In order to buy Alfred and Matthew their gifts without them seeing what they were, Francis and Arthur decided to have a mall date to do some Christmas shopping without them.
Arthur woke up from his nap, hearing the alarm beside him bleep noisily, while Pierre tried to imitate the sound. He pressed the snooze button before getting up, giving his plush a quick squeeze and placing it above his pillow.
Francis had afternoon classes at this time, and as a result Arthur would have to wait for him to return so that they could go shopping.
As usual, a snack made by Francis was placed neatly on the table, with a rose and a note attached. Dragging his tired feet to the chair, he slumped down and picked up Francis' signature rose and read the message:
"I miss you a little, I guess you could say, a little too much, a little too often, and a little more each day. I will see you later!
Love always,
Francis."
"…Stupid romanticist…" He blushed and walked over to his bedside table to shove the note into his folder.
Well, this was bad. No, more than just bad, very dreadful, actually.
He's never had to take up two hours getting dressed, or finding a good enough outfit. He needed help. Fast.
Pounding on the wall beside him, he yelled, "YOU TWO. STOP THE LOVE MAKING AND GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE. NOW."
Instantaneously, Alfred and Matthew exploded through the door, panting hard and dressed rather…well, he could say that they were barely dressed at all due to the situation of him calling them into his room during their "happy time".
Alfred panicked, "What's the emergency?"
His response was a mere huff of air, followed by a "…I can't find an outfit for my mall date."
Before Alfred could jump at Arthur in rage, Matthew held him close in an attempt to calm him down. He settled after a good lecture by Matthew, of course, and proceeded to helping Arthur find his outfit.
"This. Is. Impossible." Arthur fell face first on his bed, "…I'm. Going. To. Look. Stupid."
"No you won't! here!" Matthew grabbed a white shirt and green sweater vest, and tan pants "These are fine! Just put them on!"
"Yeah! Shit, Artie! You're worse than a love struck teenage girl getting ready on prom night."
That, he had to admit inwardly to himself, was in fact not far from what he actually was. Arthur rolled his eyes at Alfred, and took the clothing from Matthew to change.
"…Are you positive that it looks alright?"
"It's fine, Arthur. Don't worry so much about it." Matthew gave him a reassuring smile, before finishing Arthur's outfit with socks and shoes.
When they had finished, Arthur took a deep breath in order to relax himself, and looked at the clock.
"…Time to go."
At the mall, the twosome wandered around, trying to find gifts for their families first. They stumbled upon a home hard ware shop.
"A tea set?" Francis looked at the object carefully.
"It's a good gift to give your family; they'll be able to use it. It'll be a good souvenir for them from you, also." Arthur assured. He had bought a collection of antique kitchen ware such as these, many of which he left in his parents' home.
"Alright then! I will go pay." Francis walked to the cashier and handed the box to the clerk to pay.
As Arthur waited for Francis to finish up, he started to think about what he could give as a present to him. His face was red again, wasn't it? He thought hard; what could you give to someone who already has everything they could ever want, and possibly even more? Arthur started playing with the loose thread at the end of his sweater vest, face still glowing, deep in thought.
He felt a hand tilt his chin up, and rest over his forehead, "Arthur? Are you feeling well? Your face is red, you are not sick, are you?"
The closeness of their faces shocked him from his thoughts. "No, no, I'm fine; J-just thinking of what to get for…Alfred and Matthew."
"Ah…" Francis was also stumped as to what to give to his new friends, "…perhaps we could share a gift to give them?"
Now that was a good idea, and Arthur wouldn't have to spend an immense amount of money like last year. He had bought Alfred a bucket load of McDonalds coupons (his poor friend should really get off that stuff.), and gave Matthew a few novels that he enjoyed reading. Arthur looked to Francis, "Where should we buy their gift?"
Cue the jeopardy theme song music…now!
As difficult as it was, Alfred and Matthew showed very small interest in everything else that didn't concern each other.
"Maybe we could buy them one of those 'couple-type' gifts." Arthur suggested, and since there were obviously no more ideas coming up, Francis agreed, "…I think I know the right place to go."
Letting Francis be his guide, they walked around the mall some more until they came to a halt at a very…suggestive looking store.
Arthur stood paralyzed in astonishment, "…Francis…you know what this place is, right?"
Oblivious to the comment, Francis nodded like it was no big deal, "Do not worry, I have a good friend who works here. He emailed me directions to visit him."
"…if you say so…" Arthur hesitantly followed Francis inside. Making it to the counter, a tall man with unusually light hair had his back faced to them as they waited for him to finish his conversation on the phone. Once done, he avoided all eye contact and proceeded to run the store.
"Hey, how can I Hel-…Francis? Is that you?" Arthur was now even more surprised than when he walked into the store. Not only did this man tower over him, he also looked really shady, with even stranger red eyes that could pierce into your soul (he has got to stop reading those mystery books) and an almost super-narcissistic attitude that could rival Alfred's.
"Bonjour, Gilbert. This is Arthur…" He introduced slowly, almost bracing himself for the response that was to come, "…my boyfriend."
It was a good thing the shop was dimly lit; Arthur's red face was very much readable. Gilbert stepped from behind the counter; and examined Arthur from head to toe several times before patting Francis on the back laughing, "That's sweet! You finally found someone you actually like!"
Arthur was very thankful for the compliment, but no words could come out of his mouth. Those red eyes were very…intimidating.
Francis noticed Arthur's uncommon silence and caught him staring awkwardly at Gilbert. He tugged him closer putting an arm around his waist, "Do not worry; he wears red contact lenses for fun."
Gilbert smirked, "Because I'm just plain awesome like that." This made Francis laugh, he was happy though, meeting the same old Gilbert. "You never did change, even when we met in Europe."
"Of course! So, what brings you both here to my domain?" Yep, Arthur was scared and clinging tightly with both arms wrapped around his torso.
"We are looking for Christmas presents for our friends. They are dating as well."
"Oh, I see. So what kind of couple are they, exactly?"
Arthur summoned up some bravery and spoke a bit, "…there are types of couples?"
"Hey! Shorty can speak!" Arthur scowled at the nickname, as Gilbert laughed and nodded, "Let me explain. There are three different types of couples. Firstly, would be the 'preppy couple'. This is the type of couple that likes to keep it easy, simple, a steady pace with light romance filtered in. Secondly, is the 'romantic couple' this would be the type of couple that goes for the full out heated romance, can't keep their hands off each other, all that stuff. Lastly, is the 'adventurous couple' this describes a couple that does all that sporty junk together. So, which are they?"
The answer was clear, "Romantic. For sure, indefinitely, one hundred percent."
"Well then…" He led them to a section of papers hung on a bulletin board, "…I suggest buying them a 'Couple's Get-a-Way Resort Package' the prices are pretty fair, and it'll make them happy. This one in particular…" Gilbert pointed to a restaurant package, "…comes with a free gift basket. All for the same price as the other resort prices."
Francis looked to Arthur questionably, "What do you think?"
It wasn't a bad idea, especially since they were splitting the price between them. And he had to thank his two best friends for supporting him, even if they did violate everything he owned…which reminded him, he needed to re-fill the sanitizing spray for his desk…
"Sure, I think it'll be a great gift for them."
"Cool. I'll go wrap everything up for you then!" Gilbert then ran to the back as the duo waited patiently at the front counter.
When he returned, everything was wrapped nicely within layers of Christmas themed wrapping paper.
"That'll be twenty two dollars!"
Huh? That can't be right! Arthur spoke up, "…That's half of the original price on the wall!"
Gilbert pat Arthur on the head as he burrowed himself closer to Francis.
"I'll make it a discount for friends, alright? Ok? Awesome! Here you go! Now you better leave before the boss gets back."
They both thanked Gilbert before leaving the shop. Upon waiting, however, Arthur did figure out what to give Francis for Christmas. He'd have to plan everything carefully, though.
The next week was going to be fun.
"At lovers' perjuries,
They say, Jove laughs."