Shinigami-cat: So I got a review the other day and they didn't long in so I couldn't reply to them (which saddened me a little), but they brought to my attention that they were disappointed in me because this story is apparently cliché and Gilbert is OOC… I honestly didn't realize either of these things until they were pointed out. So I just wanted to say that I'm sorry to everyone who is thinking the same things. I honestly tried to do something different/dark/depressing I didn't realize I was doing something cliché. Also I guess I did make Gilbert a little different I just didn't realize I made him so dramatically different and for that I'm sorry… I OWN NOTHING!

Nice Gestures Bad Dreams

Something wasn't right with Matthew. He seemed a little different now, it wasn't a bad change or a good change, it was just different. He seemed a little quieter. Which was an achievement in itself. Matthew was already a quiet person. He seemed to be putting up more walls around himself. He was blocking everyone out. He was isolating himself. Gilbert didn't understand it at all.

He knocked on Matthew's door and waited for someone to answer. After a few moments, Samuel opened the door and looked at Gilbert. He didn't look at Gilbert with untrusting or disgusted eyes anymore. They had more of a warning look. They kind of gave off a 'Hurt Matthew and I will end you' feel. Gilbert didn't mind that much though.

"Hey, can I come in and see Matthew?" Asked Gilbert hopefully.

Samuel nodded. "Yeah sure… He's in his room doing god knows what."

Gilbert smiled a little and walked inside towards Matthew's room. He had been out of the asylum for about three days now and had since locked himself away in his room. When Gilbert did come to see him, Matthew seemed to be wrapped up in reading about strange things. He didn't want to admit it, but Matthew was starting to scare him a little.

He opened Matthew's door and looked inside. The blond was sitting on his bed reading an old, thick, leather bound book while strange, paper thin wooden dolls were scattered about. Matthew looked up at Gilbert and smiled a little. "Hi Gil, what brings you here today?"

"You're coming to school tomorrow right? So I thought I'd catch you up on some things." Said Gilbert happily. He walked in and sat next to Matthew, picking up one of the wooden doll things. "What's thing thingy?" He turned it in his hand a little, accidently snapping it in half. It was more fragile than it looked. "Oops."

Matthew chuckled a little. "That's fine. They're pretty old, but I have a lot of them. It's called a hitogata" He passed another one of them to Gilbert and went back to his reading.

"What's a hitogata?" Asked Gilbert. He turned it over in his hands again, but more carefully this time.

"A hitogata is like a voodoo doll. You take a piece of paulownia wood and carve it into the shape of a person. Then all you need to do is write their name and year of birth on the doll and that's it. My grandmother used to know an Onmyoji from Japan who made a lot for her."

Gilbert frowned a little and looked at the hitogata more closely. "Really? Are they hard to make? How many do you have? What are they used for?"

Matthew shrugged a little. "I found a shoe box in the attic full of them… I guess you can use it to hurt people and to use on spirits… Like if one of them wanted a specific person to hurt you would just need to write the name and birth of the person before throwing it at the spirit and the hitogata would become the stand in for the spirit… They are also relatively difficult to make."

"Oh…" The albino sighed a little and took the book out of Matthew's hands, closing it. "Enough about that. How about you come over to my place tonight? Just you and me? Just like I promised you."

In all honestly, Matthew looked a little conflicted at this. "I'd like to, but-"

"Please Birdie? I'm sure Samuel will let you if you just ask." Said Gilbert hopefully. "I promise you'll have a good time. Don't make me beg."

Matthew chuckled a little and nodded. "Okay Gilbert. I'll ask him, but I can't promise anything. Didn't you say you were going to catch me up with school stuff?"

"Lovino punched Antonio, Liz hit me with a frying pan, Francis flirted with Liz's mum because she's a MILF and got knocked out by Liz and her frying pan and I have been awesome. Now you're all caught up."

Matthew chuckled a little and rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant, but thanks anyway… I meant more academic wise."

"Academic wise nothing special." Said Gilbert with a grin. He looked over the hitogata and frowned a little. He didn't really like them that much. They seemed a little too odd to him. Matthew's grandmother was still a bit of a mystery to him and the things she could apparently do and did do when she was still alive. "What's with the sudden interest with this kind of stuff?"

Matthew shrugged a little. "Nothing. I guess I just want to try and find out more about her… That's all, really." Although Matthew sounded sincere, he had this guilty look on his face, like he was hiding something.

"Okay Birdie. Are you going to ask your uncle?"

The blond smiled and nodded. "Sure. I'll do that." He picked up a shoe box that was sitting next to him and started to pack away the hitogata.

"… Does Samuel know about this?"

Something flashed behind Matthew's eyes. It looked a little like fear, but he might have been mistaken. "No… Please don't tell him that I'm going through her things… I don't think he would understand and he would probably freak out. You never know with him."

"Okay…" He slowly stood up and pulled Matthew to his feet. "Come on Birdie, we'll go to my place now. You haven't been there in ages."

Matthew smiled a little and followed Gilbert out of the room, still holding his hand. They passed Samuel who was sitting in the lounge room watching TV. He looked up at the pair and frowned a little. "What's all this then?"

"C-can I stay over at G-Gilbert's tonight?" Asked Matthew quietly.

Gilbert gently squeezed Matthew's hand reassuringly. "Don't worry sir. We'll be sleeping in separate rooms and we aren't going to do anything inappropriate."

"You better not." Said Samuel in a warning tone. "If you do, you're dead. Got it?"

"Loud and clear." Said Gilbert with a grin. "I'll bring him back in one piece, I can promise you that."

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The walk back to Gilbert's house was relatively quiet. They just walked back there hand in hand. It made Gilbert feel a little better to see Matthew out and about, even if he still looked distracted.

'What's on his mind?' Wondered Gilbert. 'He seems so out of it these days. I wish he would just tell me what was wrong… Doesn't he trust me or something?' That thought hurt him the most.

"Are you okay Gilbert?" Asked Matthew quietly. "You seem distracted?"

"What? Me? Distracted? No way." Said Gilbert happily. "I'm just... I just want… You know you can tell me anything right? I'll always be here for you no matter what you're going through. You don't need to go through it alone."

Matthew blinked a little in surprise and blushed. "O-oh… Well I'm fine right now… really I just… I'll tell you a little later okay. I promise I'll tell you, just a little later…"

"Sure Birdie." Said Gilbert with a small smile. "Whatever you need."

"Thank you." Said Matthew quietly. He seemed to relax a little, but not entirely. He still seemed a little distracted about something. He still wasn't sure what it was though.

To get to Gilbert's house they had to walk past the forest and down through the town. They walked down the side of the road furthers away from the forest. Gilbert glanced over at the darkened scenery and frowned a little. It seemed darker than usual today. He frowned a little as he watched the shadows moving around between the trees in an erratic pattern. He didn't know why, but it sent a sharp chill down his spine.

"What are you looking at?" Asked Matthew quickly.

Gilbert shrugged and looked back at Matthew. "Nothing… The forest just seems darker than usual. That's all… It just seems darker to me now. Not sure why though. I mean it's just a forest."

The blond frowned and looked across the road to the forest. He opened his mouth a few times, like he wanted to say something but always stopped at the last second. He instead nodded and sighed. "Yeah. Just a forest. Don't you think it's just like one big grave for animals? Everyday another one dies in there… the mass of bodies must be horrendous…" He shook his head a little and chuckled. "I always seem to end up talking about the darkest things these days… Kind of scary."

"Yep." They turned down a road away from the forest and into town. It wouldn't be too long until they reached Gilbert's house now.

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When they got to Gilbert's house he threw opened the door and called out. "Hey West? Is my little bro still home?"

"Ja, I was just about to leave." Called Ludwig from upstairs. A few moments later Ludwig appeared carrying a backpack. When he saw Gilbert he sighed a little and crossed his arms. "Don't burn down the house."

"Have you no faith in me?" Whined Gilbert childishly.

"Don't have any wild parties."

"No faith!" Cried Gilbert in shock. "He has zero faith in me!"

"No ritual sacrifices of any kind."

"… Okay, now I know Feli's been making you watch 'ten things I hate about you' again." Muttered Gilbert. He pushed Ludwig towards the door. "Okay, time for you to get going. Come back tomorrow and have a good night."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Ja, ja, ja. I'm not a little kid. Stop treating me like one."

"I'll stop treating you like one when you're older than me." Said Gilbert. "Which will be… never."

"Whatever." Muttered Ludwig. He glanced over at Matthew and nodded a little in acknowledgement before he left.

When he was gone, Gilbert turned to Matthew and smiled brightly. "So… is there anything you want to do? Play a game? Watch a movie?"

Matthew shrugged a little as he looked around a little. "I don't really mind what we do… I'm just happy I'm here. Can we go to your room for a bit?"

Gilbert smiled a little and started to lead Matthew to his room "Just be a little careful. I'm still finding little bits of glass everywhere." He opened up the door to his room and the two went inside. Most, if not all, of the glass objects were gone, apart from the window which had been replaced. In addition to the changes in Gilbert's room was the birdcage sitting on his desk, housing one Gilbird.

The yellow bird chirped happily and jumped over to the cage door. He seemed excited to see the pair. Gilbert chuckled and let the little fluff ball out of his cage to let him fly freely around the room. Gilbird flew straight into his master's sliver locks and stayed there.

Matthew chuckled a little at this and sat down on Gilbert's bed. "It's nice how you two get along so well. It's kind of cute."

Gilbert grinned and sat next to Matthew. "Glad you think so. He's pretty awesome."

Matthew nodded and sighed a little. "Hey… you never really told me what happened that day… With you parents and the glass. Do you think you could or is it too much?"

The albino frowned a little and looked down at his feet. "Well… I just… It was after my dad beat me up a little and they locked me in my room. I just… I got so angry and then everything exploded. I… I have no idea what happened. It couldn't have been a power surge and I still don't know what happened. I guess I just don't know what happened. It might have just been a fluke or something. I don't know."

Matthew lightly held Gilbert's hand and squeezed gently. "Okay… Thank you for telling me… Can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything, Birdie." Said Gilbert.

"I… I think you have psychic powers." Whispered Matthew quietly.

Gilbert looked at his boyfriend in shock, blinking several times. "… I think I misheard you."

Matthew looked down, his face was bright red. "I um… I just… from what you said it um… it sounds like you had a kind of psychic awakening. I read in my grandmother's notes that some people… they um… When they have their awakening it's usually because of trauma and most never experience it again so I… I just thought that maybe… but maybe not… I'm sorry. Just forget what I said. It's stupid."

Gilbert sighed a little and patted Matthew's head. "Birdie, I don't have psychic powers… I think you've been reading too much of your grandma's old notes or something like that."

"I guess you're right…" Said Matthew quietly, though he did sound a little hurt.

The albino frowned and tilted Matthew's head up so they were face to face. "Don't be all sad Birdie. Tonight, let's just forget all that weird, confusing and strange crap and just focus on us. The good things, not the bad." He gently kissed Matthew soft lips. "Want me to get you something to eat? I'm not the best cook, but my food is edible."

"… Okay." Said Matthew slowly. "What are you cooking?"

"It's a while until dinner, so just some of this and some of that." Said Gilbert happily. "So I can microwave something for us um… how do you feel about microwaved macaroni and cheese?"

Matthew chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You really are the master of cooking."

"Damn straight I am." Said Gilbert with a grin. He got up and walked to the door. "I'll be back in a second okay?"

Matthew nodded and pulled his legs up so he was sitting cross legged on Gilbert's bed. "Sure. I'll be waiting."

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He couldn't help but nervously scrape his nails along his neck as he walked along the cold dirt path. The further down the path he walked the more he felt a strong sense of dread starting to fill him. He didn't understand why though. It was just a damn forest. A place for trees and animals. He didn't see why he should be worried at all.

'What the hell damn it.' Thought Gilbert bitterly. 'This place… these things… what the hell is going on here?'

He looked up at the trees and sighed sadly. They were slowly starting to lose their leaves in the autumn air. The crisp yellow and orange blanket that covered the ground was more than enough to confirm this.

As he kept walking he ended up tripping over something imbedded in the ground. Frowning, Gilbert kneeled down in front of the object and ran his fingers over it. It was hard like a rock, but it was much too thin. It was coloured like a stick, but it was much too smooth. With a bit of difficulty he managed to wiggle it out of place to examine it more closely. It was brittle like a dry stick, but the middle of it was pretty hollow with a thick dark red, almost brown paste inside it.

Immediately, Gilbert dropped it, like it was burning him. "A- a bone?" He quickly got up and started to move further away from where he made the grizzly find. "Damn it… Why am I fucking freaking out about that?" He wondered out loud. "It's just… it probably wasn't even human. This is a damn forest for crying out loud! It could have been an animal bone." His own attempts to reassure himself weren't working at all. If anything it made him doubt himself even more.

The caw of a bird snapped Gilbert out of his train of thoughts and made him look up at his new surroundings. Somehow his autumn landscape had changed into a dead and bushfire ravaged landscape, ash was falling from the sky like snow and despite the still smouldering trees and shrubs, the wind was freezing cold. It was strange. It was odd. It was different.

Once again the bird cawed, followed by the distinct rip of flesh caught his attention. Looked towards the source of the noise. It looked like a large, swarming mass of black feathers over a body.

A heavy weight started to form in the pit of his stomach as he approached the corpse. He didn't know what he would find, but he was sure he wasn't going to like it at all. The closer he got, the stronger his dread became. Especially when he could hear the pathetic begging of someone pleading with the birds to let them be.

When he got close to the body, some of the birds flew away to revel an arm riddled with claw marks and missing chunks of flesh. This person was missing his thumb and their middle finger. The blood from their corpse mixed with the thick ash making a dark, black, sticky mess.

Taking a deep breath, Gilbert took a few more steps towards the body. This caused the majority of the birds to fly away to show Matthew's bloody, mangled corpse. Almost all the flesh from his torso was gone with only the gleaming white bones remained. His left cheek had been picked clean of flesh and his eyes had been plucked from its sockets. There was more bone than meat on his body and still he didn't die. He was still whispering quietly for the birds to leave him alone and for death to take him already.

Gilbert just stood there, unable to move. He felt like a lump and formed in his throat, rendering him incapable of speech. Instead, he fell to his knees and hesitantly held Matthew's hand. He didn't care if Matthew couldn't feel his touch. He just wanted to touch him without braking him. 'This… this isn't real… This has to be a dream… I just… Why? Why does this have to happen.'

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Gilbert's eyes snapped open. As the world came back into focus the first thing he noticed was the pounding of blood behind his ears, secondly was the fact he was gasping for air, thirdly there was weight on his stomach that was pinning him down. He blinked a few times and looked deep into Matthew's concerned eyes.

'That's right… Birdie and I had dinner, watched some movie and we went to bed… It's night time.' Thought Gilbert slowly. 'It was all a dream…'

"Are you okay Gilbert?" Asked Matthew quietly. His voice was full of concern. "You were whimpering and muttering things in German under your breath…"

Gilbert smiled a little and gently reached up to touch Matthew's face. His skin felt so soft, smooth and cold against his fingertips. "I'm fine Birdie… Just a bad dream. That's all. We all get them sometimes."

The blond frowned a little at this answer, but nodded anyway. "Okay Gilbert… I trust you." He moved to he was lying next to Gilbert and sighed a little. "Just… if you want to… you know you can talk to me about anything right?"

Gilbert nodded and held Matthew close to his chest. "Ja, I know… Thank you Birdie. Now, go to sleep."

TBC

Shinigami-cat: Ha! I'm posting again! That means I did finish my assignment Sunny-chan! So yeah! Take that! Please review.