Chapter 20. When You Spill Something.
Arthur impatiently tapped his finger against the desk, just willing the class period to be over. Not only was he terrible at Physics, but all of these people were starting to really piss him off. Alfred was popular, after all, so Arthur had to act like that, actually socialize with people, and listen to what they were saying. And yet…
"I heard he slept with, like, three girls just this weekend."
"Doesn't he have a boyfriend or something?"
"You know he'd probably sleep with anyone, even in a relationship."
They giggled. Those damn girls giggled. Arthur tightly clenched his fists as he looked ahead, tried to focus on the matter at hand. This is why he didn't socialize. Stupid, idiotic rumors and stupid, idiotic people that believed them.
"I really wouldn't mind to sleep with Francis, after all."
Arthur was irritated. Not at what the rumors were saying, not by a long shot. He knew Francis well enough to know that he wasn't the player that everyone made him out to be. Sure, he was flirtatious, but he had this idiotic sense of love and commitment that made Arthur's stomach do flips. Maybe if he were single, Arthur could have believe some of the rumors, but that was a long shot.
And Arthur certainly wasn't one of those stupid people that he'd read about in books to get pointlessly worked up over something stupid like rumors. For one, Arthur would actually talk to Francis before getting mad at him, not that there was anything to be mad about in the first place.
No, Arthur was mad that these damn rumors were actually cycling around and no one bothered to shut them up. He would do it now, while he was Alfred, but there was a pretty low chance he could actually pull off a conversation like that and still act like Alfred.
Finally, the bell rang and Arthur wasted no time standing up and leaving the room, barely having enough time to pick up the work that he'd forgotten in front of him. He still felt angry, like he needed to hit something, as he headed towards the clubroom. He just needed to find the right target.
"You really shouldn't sit like that when you're trying to study," Matthew laughed, shaking his head as he watched as Gilbert sat upside down, staring down a handout from Matthew's French class. Matthew sat at the table in the clubroom with Francis, who patiently waited beside where Arthur would usually sit. They'd switched into their own bodies, at least for the time being.
"I like German way better than French," Gilbert muttered under his breath.
"Sit up straight, Gil," Matthew shook his head. The door slammed open suddenly and Alfred…er, Arthur walked in. It was difficult for Matthew to come to grips with other people switching bodies. Arthur did seem pretty pissed, however, as he stormed inside. Francis stood up curiously as Arthur walked right towards him and, without hesitation, struck his hand across his face. Matthew blinked in surprise.
"This is why I don't normally socialize!" Arthur snapped as Francis delicately touched his cheek. It must have stung pretty bad, too, it looked like Arthur used all of Alfred's strength in that one.
"Damn," Gilbert whistled, sitting upright.
"Can I ask where that came from?" Francis asked curiously.
"It's because you don't do anything to silence those damn rumors going around about you!" Arthur snapped. Francis blinked before smiling slightly.
"Oh, those rumors are far from true, you-"
"I know that, you idiot," Arthur scoffed. "I'm not stupid. They just pissed me off, is all."
"I'll work on trying to improve my reputation," Francis chuckled, smiling softly. Arthur shook his head and pointedly sat down in his usual spot. Matthew just laughed, shaking his head. He turned to Gilbert.
"You should keep working on that handout," Matthew suggested. "I'll help you if you need it. It's review over something we learned last year, so I don't really need to look much at it."
"I could always help you if you need it," Francis suggested with a small smile. Arthur just rolled his eyes, flipping through a book mindlessly.
"How about we do something that's not French?" Gilbert suggested. "How about…say…German?"
"We've already gone through what I already had to study from," Matthew rolled his eyes. "I can look online, I guess, but you'd have to spend your time waiting studying French."
"But, Birdie!" Gilbert whined, leaning back on the couch. That was when Matthew saw Arthur take a particular interest in a passage in his book. He opened his mouth to ask him about it when Alfred waltzed into the room, whistling some tune he probably heard on the radio that morning.
"Yo, you found anything yet, Artie?" Alfred asked curiously.
"Be quiet," Arthur said hurriedly, not so much as glancing up. Matthew raised a brow. Arthur didn't even act this way when he found a possible spell to fix them in the past. Maybe this was a real lead. Gilbert seemed curious about it as well.
"Come on, dude, you could at least try to talk to me when I come in," Alfred sighed. "Where's the love?"
"Fine, please be quiet," Arthur scoffed, still not looking up. Gilbert leaned forward curiously as Francis attempted to read what he was going over.
"What, did you finally find something good?" Alfred smirked, beginning to walk over.
"I need to switch bodies with you right now," Arthur stood up suddenly, and without giving any more warning, kissed Alfred. Back in his normal body, Arthur swiftly stormed out of the room, leaving Alfred to stand in surprise.
"Wonder what he found," Gilbert mused, looking where he'd left.
"How come he…" Alfred muttered. "I mean, if this is about magic or whatever, couldn't he do it in my body?"
"It's something about an affinity for magic or some bullshit," Gilbert rolled his eyes. "You've got no affinity so he can't do his magic mumbo jumbo while he's in your body. He's gotta switch or some shit like that."
"I didn't know about that," Matthew muttered. It kind of made sense. It was rather interesting that it mattered what body he was in in order for him to actually use magic. It made Matthew wonder if he could use magic himself, if he understood any of the Latin.
"I can't help but wonder what has him so excited," Francis shook his head, looking over the book. He blinked, somewhat in surprise. "At the very least, there's a picture of a pot."
"No way," Gilbert smirked, swiftly standing and running over to look at what Francis was looking at. Matthew stood and looked curiously as well, Alfred looking beside him. "No way, he's gonna make a potion? He's more like a witch every time I see him!"
"Dude, that's gonna be so gross!" Alfred groaned. "Don't potions have, like, eye of newt in them or something?"
"Where would he get eye of newt?" Matthew asked bluntly. "We're in a high school."
"Can't he just make it appear out of nowhere?" Alfred shrugged. "Just accio eye of newt, right?"
"Can you really be that stupid?" Gilbert sighed. "From all the movies and shit I've seen, they have to go harvest that shit, you don't just make it appear. He'll probably put on his witch's hat and fly on his broom to where he can get that shit."
"I don't think you really understand," Francis shook his head. "If anything, he would be a wizard, no?"
"Are you all idiots?" Arthur scoffed from the doorway and all four teenagers looked at him curiously. He was holding a small box in his hands.
"Whoa, you already got the eye of newt?" Alfred asked in wonder and Arthur punched him in the stomach as he passed him, carefully putting the box down on the table.
"This isn't that kind of potion," Arthur sighed. "Most of them really aren't."
"Then what did you get, witch boy?" Gilbert asked curiously and Arthur glared at him.
"I went to a chemistry lab and asked for a few things," Arthur sighed. "Like sulfur."
Matthew looked into the box, finding that Arthur had gotten a burner, a glas container, as well as a few other ingredients. He couldn't help but wonder how Arthur had actually managed to get all of these ingredients, and so quickly, too.
"How come you had to switch with Alfred before leaving?" Gilbert asked curiously. "It doesn't take magic to get shit from a science lab, right?"
"No," Arthur smirked. "It does require magic to actually convince them to give me potentially dangerous chemicals without permission."
"You broke the rules," Gilbert smirked. "Awesome!"
"That's kinda impressive from a little nerd like you," Alfred laughed. "So, is this gonna put us all back to normal?"
"If all goes well, it should," Arthur nodded. "I don't know why I overlooked it so much until now, but I'm at a level to do it and it should permanently change us back. In theory."
"In theory?" Matthew asked.
"Nothing can be for sure," Arthur sighed. "But it's worth a shot."
Gilbert leaned forward curiously as he watched Arthur stir his…concoction. It smelled nasty and Arthur had to continuously use magic to wave away concerned teachers and janitors. He'd been working on this potion since lunch, letting it simmer through half of the day. The only time he'd left it since the end of the school day was when he had to kiss Alfred to make sure they stayed in their respective bodies. Gilbert, Francis, and Matthew watched him with interest as he constantly consulted his book and added another pinch of some ingredient that looked like a clover. Gilbert glanced at Matthew, who was in Gilbert's body for the time being so they could relax without worrying about switching back.
"That should be it, then…" Arthur mused after stirring the potion carefully. He took two of the paper cups he'd managed to get as well and carefully poured the now cool liquid into them. He'd taken it off the burner about half an hour ago.
"So, we're just supposed to drink it?" Gilbert asked, staring at the cup from where he sat rather than picking it up.
"Not…exactly," Arthur sighed. "The instructions for consumption are very…specific."
"Okay," Matthew said hesitantly. Gilbert looked closer at the liquid. It was a murky green color that kind of reminded him of swamp water. "What are they?"
"You both take a drink of what I filled in the cups," Arthur sighed, "but you don't swallow. Then…you two…have to move all of liquid to…one person's mouth…without breaking contact with your lips. Do it again, moving all the liquid to the other's mouth. Then have it back to half and half and swallow. You can only…pull back after you've both swallowed all of it."
"Are you fucking serious?" Gilbert dead-panned.
"I wouldn't say it if you didn't have to," Arthur scoffed. "Need I remind you that I have to do the same thing with Alfred if this works?"
"It doesn't seem…that hard," Matthew muttered.
"What kind of fucked up potion makes you do that kind of shit?" Gilbert grumbled, but he picked up his cup. "Whatever, Birdie, let's get this over with, huh?"
"I guess," Matthew muttered, blushing slightly as he picked up the drink. He bit his lip slightly before taking all of the liquid in the cup into his mouth. Gilbert sighed, doing the same. He couldn't help but be kind of nervous with the idea of doing this, but he let it pass. He leaned carefully towards Matthew and connected their lips.
They switched places automatically, as expected. Taking a deep breath through his nose, Gilbert continued, following the instructions. He hoped it didn't look as lewd as it felt and sounded, it was starting to make him blush. Eventually, finally, the two made it back to the point where the liquid was half and half and they swallowed in unison. Gilbert opened his eyes, not even realizing when he'd closed them, panting as they separated. Matthew was flushed as he blinked at him, panting as well.
"Goddamn," Gilbert muttered. The potion actually didn't have much of a flavor, so at least that was nice. "I guess we should test it, huh?"
"Right," Matthew nodded and Gilbert placed a quick peck on his lips. And there was no weird feeling. No looking into his own eyes as he pulled back. Gilbert couldn't stop the smile that spread onto his face as he still looked at Matthew's face after he kissed him. So he kissed him again. Matthew laughed slightly, pushing Gilbert away. "It worked."
"Hell yeah, it worked!" Gilbert smirked proudly. He looked at Arthur, who gave a sigh of relief, looking at the potion. "Good going, witch boy!"
"I'm not a witch," Arthur sighed. "But I'm very happy that everything can return to normal now."
"You two really knew how to do that rather well," Francis smirked from his seat and Matthew stiffened, blushing furiously. Gilbert felt himself blush as well. "I'm sure you've had plenty of practice."
"Fuck you," Gilbert smirked, shaking his head. "Now all that's left is to see Arthur and Alfred get to it."
"Don't remind me," Arthur shook his head, looking at the beaker and sighing. "I wonder if that idiot's even done with practice." He picked up the cylinder to carefully pick it up and begin pouring into two more cups.
"Dude, I got here as fast as I could, did it work yet?" Alfred nearly slammed the door to the room open, Ivan following him closely behind, looking into the room curiously.
"So far, it doesn't seem to have any side effects," Arthur sighed.
"So far?" Gilbert asked.
"Awesome!" Alfred smiled, all but tackling Arthur. Gilbert noticed that he was still practically in his uniform, only bothering to take off his jersey and pads on top. In the process when he tackled Arthur, the latter fumbled and dropped the beaker he'd been holding, as well as the only cup holding any liquid. Everyone in the room watched as it shattered and spilled onto the floor.
"You…you…" Arthur was practically shaking with anger. "You imbecile!"
"You had more of that, right?" Alfred asked dumbly. Arthur reached forward to choke him.
"Are you that dense?!" Arthur snapped. "Do you know how long that took? How much effort I put down?! You fucking idiot! That was our only way to change back!"
"Can't you just make another one?" Alfred asked, carefully prying Arthur off of him. Gilbert couldn't help but laugh slightly at the scene. At the very least, his own problem was solved, he could actually go home tonight, damn that would be amazing…
"Not today!" Arthur snapped, punching Alfred in the arm. "And it's a bloody Friday, which means I can't get to these damn supplies until Monday!"
"Oh," Alfred supplied dumbly.
"Idiot," Arthur grumbled to himself, glaring at the mess on the floor.
"So you two have switched back?" Ivan asked curiously, walking over to Gilbert and Matthew.
"Permanently," Gilbert nodded proudly. "No more pretending to be nice around you in public, jackass."
"I'm so happy," Ivan smiled and Gilbert shivered.
"It's a relief," Matthew sighed, pointedly looking at Gilbert, who just shrugged. "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again."
"It's such a shame Alfred's so clumsy, or else the mess would have already been fixed," Ivan laughed slightly, looking to Alfred, who was apologizing as Arthur starting kicking him in the shins.
"Yeah, if he hadn't tripped in here the other day, he and Arthur wouldn't have even switched in the first place," Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Your brother's a piece of work, Birdie."
"Tell me about it," Matthew nodded.
Just so y'all know, I estimate that this is gonna end after four more chapters. We're really close now. Also, I'm so done with the idea of someone hearing rumors about their boyfriend or whatever and then actually getting mad at them over the rumors. Sure, it can be a good plot device and lead them to fights, but honestly those people need to be smarter. Arthur's intelligent enough to know that, hey, you should probably ask your boyfriend before you believe the words of strangers.
Anyway, they've switched back! At least, Matthew and Gilbert have. Alfred's just gonna go around messing up even more stuff as he goes along. It's kind of entertaining. It's fun having him act as a bumbling idiot, especially considering the story I'm going to write once this is over…
Anyway, I'm done for now! So I'll see you all next time!