In Which Alfred Tries to Talk Himself Out Of Trouble, Which Ends Much Worse Than You'd Expect


Even though Alfred considered everything he did to be acceptable between rivals, he chose to be a little more vague to save his own skin, or at least his ears from Arthur's lectures.

He looked determinedly at his plate and tried to sound casual as he responded vaguely.

"It's nothing. I was just hanging out wirh Ivan in his room, and crossed some personal boundaries, that's all."

Mentally, Alfred patted himself on the back for his good excuse. That should be good enough for his brother's to know that it was Alfred's fault he got hit, and hopefully make Mathew look less like he was moments from strangling Ivan, who he used to like quite a bit. Mathew gasped, and When Ivan looked at his twin, Mathew quickly avoided his gaze.

Alfred looked to Arthur for help instead, and quailed under the icy cold look of anger Arthur was directing his way. Alfred didn't understand why Arthur looked so angry, and helplessly looked to Ivan for help, only to flinch again at his expression. Ivan, who usually thought it was amusing when Alfred got into trouble was giving Alfred a look that Alfred wanted to identify as sympathetic, but he refused to believe Ivan could feel that emotion.

Ivan moved his hands carefully, ever so slowly, in a way only Alfred could see, drawing a line between Arthur and Alfred with a finger, then jerking his thumb across his throat in a neck slice motion, a wordless message Alfred interpreted to mean something along the lines of "Arthur is going to kill you." Alfred stared blankly back at Ivan, genuinely confused.

He didn't see a reason that Arthur should be mad just because Alfred was a little insensitive, his brother knew that was how he was. But Arthur was giving him an unmistakable look of pure fury. Slowly, Arthur put his fork and knife down, which Alfred was grateful for, since Arthur looked like he might stab him with one of them. Then Arthur pushed back his chair coldly, and Alfred began to think that maybe somehow he'd messed up and it was worse than he thought.

"Alfred, I need to speak with you for a moment. Come with me."

Alfred tried to calculate how quickly he could make it to the door and run before Arthur caught him. Ivan casually tipped his seat back to block that path of escape, and Alfred gritted his teeth, swearing revenge on Ivan -if he survived- before obediently pushing out his chair and trailing after Arthur with a scolded puppy. Arthur led him into his office, directed Alfred to sit down in his chair, and then coldly loomed over Alfred, and Alfred retreated back into the chair as far as he could hoping to disappear.

To his surprise, Arthur didn't say anything to him, just made a 'wait" gesture and left the room to make a phone call. When Arthur came back with Francis, both looking incredibly grim, Alfred began to clue into what was the problem.

Francis sat on Arthur's desk, and Arthur stared down at Alfred coldly. For a moment both older boys stared at Alfred icily, and then Alfred heard a question he'd never expected to hear directed at him, not in a million years.

"Alfred," Arthur said seriously, looking very dangerous, "Did you try to force yourself on Ivan?"