It had been a week since The Incident and Francis knew Arthur still hadn't answered his Nan's calls, but Francis was certain he could get Arthur back in good spirits. After some convincing, Francis had gotten Arthur to agree to attend a dinner with Francis' friends. The friends, of course, were Feliciano and Ludwig.
Feliciano and Ludwig, though they lived in domestic bliss currently, most certainly had had their fair share of struggles. The biggest obstacle they had faced was Ludwig being unsure of his sexuality. He had been so confused when he had fallen for Feliciano, convinced that he was either a "late bloomer" or somewhere on the asexual spectrum. When his feelings for Feliciano became too much to bear, Ludwig attempted to cure himself by ignoring it and working out more. Luckily, Feliciano was a persistent little bugger and got Ludwig to loosen up.
The two of them would be perfect as an additional support for Arthur.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Arthur asked. They stood right outside the apartment door. They had been holding hands as they had walked into the apartment complex, but let go when Francis went to knock on the door. He was nervous; it had been awhile since he had met with acquaintances for a meal, and he never cared for small talk. "I mean, I vaguely know Feliciano and Ludwig but…"
"Yes, I think so. You need to surround yourself with positive, supportive people," Francis replied, knocking on the door once more. "Not that Matthew isn't a positive, supportive person but he's Alfred's twin. You need a break from Lay Mirabluh and his ignorance. Plus, some puppy therapy won't hurt."
"Puppy therapy?" Arthur repeated. He narrowed his eyes. "That's not a euphemism for anything, right?"
Before Francis could answer, the door swung open and they were both warmly greeted by Feliciano. "Ciao, ciao! I'm so happy you guys made it!" Feliciano gave Francis a hug and a welcoming kiss on the cheek. "Francis, it's always a pleasure!" He then turned to Arthur, giving him a hug as well. "And Arthur! We've run into each other many times! I'm so happy that we get to meet you properly! Why don't you two come in?"
As the three of them stepped into the apartment, they were first greeted by the delicious smell of a baked pasta dish. While Feliciano closed the door behind them, Francis saw that Aster was sitting next to the couch, tail wagging with excitement, holding a plush dog toy in his mouth. At least he's not knocking guests over, Francis mused.
"Okay Aster, you can go say hello to our guests," Feliciano said, closing the door.
The dog immediately stood up and made a beeline to Arthur, dropping the toy into his hands. A tender smile came upon Arthur's face as he knelt down and scratched behind the dog's ears. Francis took a step to the side so his knees wouldn't be knocked out from Aster's insistent tail wagging.
"Who's a good boy? Are you a good boy? Yes you are!" Arthur said, his voice was raised to a higher pitch. The dog sat down, tail thumping on the hardwood floor in excitement, and began licking Arthur's face. "Oh, thank you for the kisses!"
Francis smiled; it was always funny to watch how people changed when cute animals were present.
Feliciano laughed as he made his way over to the kitchen. There was the creaking sound of an oven opening as Feliciano bent down to take out a dish. He then carried the dish, with oven mitts, to the dining table. "Yeah, Aster loves meeting new people. He thinks that people only come here to say hi to him." he said. "Aster, you've said your hellos, now give Arthur some space!"
The dog stood up, tentatively took its toy from Arthur and wandered to the dog bed right near the fireplace. Aster sat down on the bed, placing his toy right next to him and watched alertly as Arthur and Francis sat down on the couch.
"So where's Ludwig?" Francis asked.
"Oh he's in the puppy room, making sure all of the puppies are eating their food and not trying to steal from each other's bowls," Feliciano answered. "He wouldn't admit it either, but he also probably got distracted afterwards by playing with them. He always gets sad and clingy when we're getting ready to give the dogs to their new owners."
"I can imagine it's really hard to say goodbye after you've taken care of them for so long," Arthur said sympathetically. "How do you guys do it?"
"Well, I'm never here when the owners come to pick up their puppies," Feliciano began. He pulled another dish out of the oven. "That's Ludwig's job. I hate to see them go and I start crying. They're like our babies, you know? But Ludwig manages to keep a straight face, then sulks for hours afterwards." As Feliciano set the dish on the table, he chuckled. "This time around though, Ludwig is keeping one of the pups. He got attached to the runt of the litter and thinks I don't know, but I do!"
"You're adopting another dog?" Francis asked, surprised. "Is your landlord okay with that?"
"Oh yeah! We always pay our rent early so our landlord loves us!" Feliciano grinned. "I'm actually excited to have a puppy again! And Aster won't be all by himself anymore!"
Feliciano then occupied himself with setting the table and Arthur leaned closer to Francis, whispering, "I think I forgot to mention that I'm actually terrified of meeting Ludwig in a setting where he's not playing bodyguard. I mean, he and I didn't exactly start on the right foot."
"Oh, Ludwig is just a giant teddy bear. He likes to try to be mean and scary, but he's really harmless," Francis assured him. "Did you listen to what Feliciano said? Ludwig got attached to a puppy. He's a softie."
"Yeah but, who can be mean to a puppy?"
"Trust me. Ludwig's a softie," Francis repeated.
There was the sound of a door opening and closing, and Aster stood up eagerly as if he had not seen his owner in ages, and ran over to greet Ludwig from the hallway. Ludwig softly greeted the dog, scratching his back and muttering in German. "Ja, ich weiß, ich weiß. Ich bin so lang weg gewesen."
"Hi Ludwig!" Francis said, turning around.
"Hi Francis," Ludwig responded. He glanced up to look at Francis and Arthur before pulling his attention back to the young dog. "I'm glad you could make it. And it's nice to meet you when I'm not yelling at you, Arthur."
"U-uh, yes, it's nice to meet you too," Arthur said, somewhat awkwardly. He had turned around to face Ludwig, who was still scratching Aster's tummy and not looking at him. "I apologize for breaking the rules a lot at Atomica."
Ludwig groaned as he stood up. "It's fine. It's not really your fault," he said, with a pointed look at Francis.
Irritated, Francis turned back around swiftly. "Don't make the rules so easy to break, then," he said, crossing his arms and feigning indifference.
"I don't think I was talking to you, Francis," Ludwig said, walking to the kitchen. He turned around and Arthur saw him smile for the first time. "Can I get either of you something to drink?"
The four men began to chat as Feliciano opened a bottle of Italian wine and poured everyone a glass. Soon they gathered around the table, passing the antipasti around as Feliciano cut the lasagna into small, servable pieces.
"How long have you two been together?" Arthur asked. He took a bite of the bruschetta Feliciano had made. He was quickly amazed at how delicious it tasted.
"Oh, I think it's been...three or four years? We've been married for a shorter amount of time," Feli answered, sitting back down. "The first year of dating was pretty rocky though. Poor Luddy was so nervous!"
Ludwig sighed. "Are you counting the year I was still in question of my sexuality? That doesn't count!"
"Why not? We were still seeing each other!" Feliciano giggled. He reached for a piece of bruschetta and placed it on Ludwig's plate. "He was embarrassed all the time, always blushing and stuff."
"Feli…" Ludwig grumbled in irritation.
"Anyways, so you and Francis have been seeing each other this whole time, huh?" Feli asked, nudging the plate closer to his husband, encouraging him to eat.
"Sort of," Arthur said, glancing at Francis. "It's been quite the rollercoaster."
"Are you officially out of the closet?" Ludwig asked. He pushed the plate away; it was clear he didn't like bruschetta. Francis smiled in preparation of a little argument between Ludwig and Feliciano to occur; though, because a new guest was present, they kept quiet and opted to skip the argument entirely. For now.
"I am now, since my cousin decided to out me to my entire family," Arthur answered dryly.
"Oh no! That's horrible!" Feliciano gasped. "Is he straight? Ugh, they're the worst."
"That's what I said." Francis was laughing.
Feliciano reached over and slid Ludwig's plate back in front of him. "I'm so sorry that you have to deal with that, Arthur. That's really unfair," he said, sadly. "I don't understand why others don't get that it's a personal right for us to come out to our family. Now it's been taken away from you and...how do you recover from that?"
"You can't, really," Arthur sighed. "Sure, I could say something at a family gathering but...what good would that do?"
"It would bring you closure, Arthur," Francis finally chimed in. "Have you spoken to your Nan?"
Arthur wiped his mouth with his napkin and turned away. "I've chosen to ignore the problem until it goes away," he mumbled under his breath, coloring slightly.
Francis scowled. "You mean to tell me you haven't answered her calls?"
"Can we- can we not talk about this here?" Arthur requested quickly in a low voice.
"Okay, I don't have a psychology degree, but I know that ignoring your grandma is a bad idea," Feliciano added, standing up. He took Arthur's empty plate and strategically placed a piece of lasagna on it. After giving Arthur his plate back, he took Francis'.
"I thought if I ignored my feelings for Feli, he would eventually leave me alone," Ludwig said, lifting his plate as well for some lasagna.
"Spoiler alert! I didn't!" Feliciano teased, giggling. At first, Feliciano hesitated, because Ludwig hadn't eaten the bruschetta. But still not wanting to cause a minor scene, he relented and put a piece of lasagna on the plate.
Ludwig smiled softly and set his plate back down on the table. Francis knew that he wasn't a man to give into small chuckles or laughter. "I'm sure it hurts a lot with all of this happening, but, talking to your family personally will help a lot," he continued reassuringly. "I was scared of how my family would react when I brought Feli along to meet them, but things turned out alright."
"You don't understand my family," Arthur said. "They're British, they will mock me for all its worth. They will belittle me and...and…"
"But they might not," Ludwig suggested.
Arthur huffed. "Well...do you have a devout Catholic grandparent?"
"No, but Feli does."
"Yeah, but my nonno is the most nonchalant Catholic I've ever met," Feliciano said, sitting back down. "He goes around saying that the teachings are more like suggestions. And so he didn't bat an eye when I came out to him and brought Ludwig home."
Arthur stared at his portion of lasagna on his plate, remaining silent. Francis reached over and patted Arthur's knee in sympathy. See, I keep telling you that you're making it worse than it needs to be.
The four of them ate happily, moving the conversation away from Arthur's family to other topics. Soon, they had all finished their meal and sat in silence, not knowing where to go next in the conversation.
"Would you like to meet the puppies?" Ludwig asked, setting his napkin on his plate.
"Yes!" Arthur answered eagerly.
The four of them stood up and walked over to the door leading to the puppy room. Ludwig slowly opened the door to make sure that there were no puppies near the door to escape. He waved Francis, Arthur and Feliciano inside and quickly closed the door behind him. They all watched as five German Shepherd puppies ran around with squeaky toys in their mouths, ready to greet their new guests.
"Ooh, Luddy, can I say the thing to make them do the cute little lineup?" Feliciano asked, bouncing on the tip of his toes.
"You can try," Ludwig replied with an expectant smirk.
Feliciano cleared his throat. "Achoo!" he shouted. When nothing happened, he frowned. "Did I say it wrong?"
Ludwig chuckled. "Yes, you did."
"Okay, let me try again," Feliciano said, determined. "Ack-ung! Wait no, it's action! Right?" Again, the puppies continued to play amongst themselves. Ludwig stifled a laugh as Feliciano whined. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Achtung!" Ludwig hollered. The five puppies all formed a line, sitting down diligently, their tails still wagging in excitement. "Let me introduce you to all of them. The one with the pink collar is Abby, the one with the green collar is Gunther, the blue collar is Sabrina, orange collar is Alaric and the purple collar is Blackie." Ludwig grabbed a bag of treats and knelt down by each dog to give them their reward for being so good.
"Blackie? Why do all the others have names and then...there's Blackie?" Francis asked, laughing.
"I named him!" Feliciano said, proudly. He wasn't bothered that Francis had insulted the silly name. "Blackie is the runt, and his fur then was all black! Ludwig named the rest of them."
Ludwig stood up. "To be fair, I named Aster, the last runt of the litter I fostered and kept," he said. He turned to Arthur, who was obviously eager to meet and play with the puppies. "You can pet them. They're well trained, so they won't bite."
Arthur immediately sat down on the floor as the puppies started to wander to him, climbing into his lap. Francis, despite not really liking dogs, sat down next to Arthur and braced himself for one of the puppies to at least play attack him. Instead, Blackie came over towards him, quietly with a squeaky toy in his mouth and sat down in front of Francis.
"Aw, you've made a new friend, Francis!" Arthur said. The puppies had piled into Arthur's lap, all of them fighting for a spot so they could lick his face. Arthur gently lifted up Alaric to place him aside, but the pup came wandering right back.
"How is it that you're more popular than me?" Francis joked back. Deep down he was somewhat jealous that Arthur was getting all of the attention.
"You probably smell like cat to them," Ludwig chimed in.
"I only have one!" Francis replied, reaching for the squeaky toy from Blackie's mouth. With the toy in his hands, Blackie then sneezed and toppled over. Everyone in the room laughed as Blackie stood up and waited for Francis to toss the toy across the room as if nothing had happened. The small pup's tail was wagging so hard, his butt was moving around along with it. "Alright, alright," Francis sighed, tossing the toy with hardly any force.
The four of them lost track of time and eventually discovered that an hour had passed with them sitting in the room. Francis mentioned that he and Arthur should get going, as it was getting late, and Feliciano quickly gathered up some extra food so Francis and Arthur could take it home.
As Francis and Arthur were about to walk out of the door, Ludwig stopped Arthur. "Sorry, I know you want to get home but I just wanted to let you know that, from my experience, you've already done the hard part."
"Which is?" Arthur replied, confused.
"Accepting yourself," Ludwig clarified. "Yes, if your family rejects you, it'll hurt like hell for awhile, I'm not going to deny that. But, you have your friends and you have Francis, and you will continue to make new friends along the way. So, the hard part is already over, at least from what I can tell."
Arthur smiled. "Thank you, Ludwig." As he turned to step out of the apartment, Francis smiled sweetly at him and Arthur put his arm around his shoulders.
"Oh, it was fun to have you guys over!" Feliciano added. "We should invite you guys here again soon! Oh! When's our next potluck, Luddy? Sometimes we have potlucks and you can bring whatever you want! We laugh and eat and have lots of fun! Last time, Gilbert brought a card game? Cards against humans, or something?"
Ludwig groaned. "Do we have to keep doing that? You know how my brother wrecks the place when he's drunk."
"Yes! It's fun! Plus, everyone needs to come and meet our new puppy!"
"I'd rather just spend the night with y-" Ludwig's comments were cut short as he closed the door. Francis and Arthur both snickered as they walked down the stairs together, secretly admiring Ludwig and Feliciano's relationship status.
"So are Feliks and Tolys still in town? Or have they gone back to Poland?" Arthur asked as he watched Francis unlock the door to his flat. He was slightly out of breath from climbing another set of stairs.
"Yes, they're still in town. From what I understand, they're now staying with Gilbert and Erzsébet until they can find an apartment for themselves," Francis answered, opening the door. "Though I'm relieved that they're gone from my place, I feel bad for Erzsébet. I know she and Feliks are also friends, but...not only does she have to deal with her rambunctious boyfriend, but she has to deal with Feliks stirring up trouble too."
"Fortunately Tolys is there to keep Feliks from being too obnoxious," Arthur added, following Francis into the apartment.
"Don't count on it," Francis replied, closing the door after Arthur. "Feliks has impulse control issues. Once he sets his mind to something, nothing will stand in his way, no matter how close those two are."
The two of them sat down on the couch and Francis reached for the three makeup bags he had left on the coffee table in preparation for a lesson with Arthur. "Are Feliks and Tolys even dating?"
"I think so. Whenever Feliks is around, Tolys is close by and vice versa. I've never seen one without the other," Francis said matter-of-factly. "However, I never knew Feliks before he met Tolys. From what I understand from Feli, Feliks wasn't at his greatest. Financially, at least."
"They seem like a couple," Arthur concluded. "Even though it's an odd match." He drummed his fingers on his knees and sighed. "Anyway, what's the makeup lesson today?"
Francis opened the first makeup bag. "Actually, I want you to show me what you've learned on me," he answered, smirking.
Arthur's eyes widened. "Are you sure you want me to do that? I've only practiced diligently for one wee-"
"Relax," Francis said, patting Arthur's back. "I'm kidding. On one half of your face, I'll be showing you what to do and the other half will be your side."
"This already sounds like a disaster."
Francis started by applying primer to the right side of Arthur's face, followed by blending a light layer of foundation. Arthur followed Francis' steps on the other half of his face, taking his time in hopes of following it perfectly.
"Shit," Francis groaned. "I always forget about your atrocious eyebrows."
"Do we need to start over?" Arthur asked.
Francis shook his head. "No, no, I can fix it." He laughed. "Good luck doing it yourself, though."
As Francis started to carve out Arthur's eyebrow with concealer and eyebrow gel, Arthur's phone rang. Arthur sighed. "Ignore it; it's my Nan again."
Francis pulled away from him and frowned. "Don't you think you should speak with her?"
"No, I know what she's going to say. Besides, this is our time alone."
"It's obvious she's concerned about you, Arthur. She keeps calling you." Francis said with concern. "Answer it, mon chou."
"But-"
"Answer it before it goes to voicemail."
Arthur grabbed his phone, hesitated for a split second before pressing the green button appearing on the touch screen. He put the call on speaker before answering, "H-hey, Nan."
"Oh Arthur! You finally picked up! I've been so worried about you, poppet!"
"Y-yeah, I'm rather sorry about that; I've been busy with the Nook and stuff," Arthur lied, glancing to Francis and drawing in a quick breath. "You okay, Nan?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Are you okay?"
Arthur snorted. "Of course I'm fine, Nan! Why wouldn't I be?"
There was a sigh from Nan. "Arthur, dear, you know better not to lie to your grandmother." Arthur rolled his eyes ignoring Francis' smirk. "Do you know what Alfred did?"
"What hasn't he done?" Arthur asked coldly. "I've been living with him for the past two and a half months. He's a piece of shit and he can rot in hell."
"Language," his Nan scolded him. "But, I gather that is a yes then." She paused. "Is it true, poppet?"
Arthur looked to Francis, covering the phone's microphone with his hand. "What do I do?" he whispered.
"Tell her the truth, Arthur," Francis answered. "She needs to know the truth and you need closure."
Arthur bit down on his tongue as he calmed himself down.
"Hello? Arthur? Did you hang up on me? Hello?"
"No, Nan, I'm right here," he mumbled. "Yes, it's true. I'm g-"
"Can you pretend that Alfred didn't do what he did?" Nan interrupted him.
"W-what?"
"Can you pretend? I need to call a family meeting to give Alfred a firm talking to, but mainly so that you can tell us yourself."
Shocked, Arthur stared at Francis. "Nan, that's really unnecessary," he protested weakly. "Everyone already knows and I'm not angry anymore. Really. Plus I've met so-"
"No, no. You need to have your moment," Nan interrupted. "Arthur, I know I said some terrible things when you were younger. I said them because I...I was ignorant. I was hateful and ignorant back then." She sighed. "I just wanted the four of you to be good. I didn't want to have one of you come home, ending up just like your mother. I shouldn't have said the things I said, and I'm sorry. I can't deny my own flesh and blood; you're my grandson, Arthur." She paused once more. "So, can you pretend that Alfred wasn't such a dick?"
"Nan! Language!" Arthur answered, stunned. He had never heard his grandmother swear in his life. Francis stifled a laugh.
There was laughter on the other line. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm thinking we'll have a family meeting Sunday. I'll cook a roast and bake your favorite cake. Apple crumb, innit?"
"With vanilla ice cream." Arthur concluded, happily.
"I will be sure it's just out of the oven then," she said, laughing. "I'll see you, Matthew and he-who-shall-not-be-named on Sunday. Along with your brothers, of course." She paused. "I love you so much, Arthur."
Arthur smiled and swallowed back his tears. Throughout all of this, he thought he would never hear his Nan say those words again. "I love you too, Nan."
With that, Arthur hung up the phone and sighed with relief. He turned to Francis who was smirking. "Don't you say it," Arthur muttered.
"Say what?" Francis asked, grabbing the eyebrow brush again. As he leaned in, his smirk widened as he whispered, "I told you so."
"Didn't I just tell you not to say it?!" Arthur shouted, jokingly. "You know you're going to have to come on Sunday."
"How many times?"
"No, not that kind of...ugh." Arthur groaned, blushing. "You're going to meet my family on Sunday."
Francis raised his eyebrows. "So soon?"
"Why not?" Arthur replied. The redness in his face had spread to his ears. "You've been with me through my whole discovery and...self acceptance. Which...thank you. And if my family is being open...then I want them to meet you. Besides, I think they'll like you. Well, they have to like you because I like you."
"Oh, you're so cute when you're trying to express yourself," Francis mused, setting the eyebrow pencil aside with a loving expression.
"I'm not cute!"
Francis squished Arthur's cheeks and pressed his forehead against Arthur's. "Yes you are! Look at how red your face is! I adore it!" he chanted. "I'll gladly come along to your family gathering. I'm excited to meet them; your grandmother sounds lovely." Francis moved away and handed Arthur the mirror.
"Oh, you want me to keep embarrassing myself and try to do this eyebrow exactly like the one you just did?!" Arthur protested. He took the mirror and grabbed the eyebrow pencil that was sitting on the table, grumbling. "I'll show you…"
Francis snorted and watched as Arthur attempted to redraw his brow. He rested his arm on Arthur's shoulder and stopped himself from laughing. Soon, Arthur turned to him, revealing an atrociously carved out brow that was arched up at his forehead.
"Can I help you?" Arthur asked, trying to be serious. He then started laughing. "I don't know what I'm doing!"
Arthur's laughter was contagious; Francis started laughing as well as he grabbed the box of makeup wipes. "I suppose I have to actually teach you, hm?" he teased, gently wiping away the makeup Arthur had applied. They continued to carry on for the rest of the night, laughing as they played around with makeup. Eventually, they grew tired and fell asleep on the couch as the night passed over them.