Chapter 27

"Grilled cheese! Grilled cheese! Grilled cheese!"

Matthew set out a plate with two cheese sandwiches in front of his brother so he would be quiet. Alfred made a successful fist. "Yes!"

Matthew narrowed his eyes and turned back to the stove. I'm only cooking because apparently, 'Food tastes better when I do it.' He just did not want to hear his brother complain. Sure, it was Alfred's house, too, but he was looking forward to 'alone' time after a long-ass day.

Ivan waited for his own food, much less noisily, "How was your school?"

With an occupied mouth, Alfred announced, "I don't usually say this, but it was awful, dude. You're so lucky demons don't have to go there."

Matthew shook his head as Ivan let out a snort, "Yes, lucky." Too distract from the sounds of Alfred making out with his sandwich, he asked a little louder, "What about your day, Matthew?"

"Oh, uh, long and boring."

A little giggle. "You are not at school anymore. We should do something that is...not as long or boring."

"Oh?" Matthew tossed a creeping smirk over his shoulder. Alfred stopped chewing to glance between them. "What were you planning?"

"Watching those kittens and puppies on the screen."

"That sounds like a wonderful plan. After dinner."

"Of course!"

"What?" Alfred looked stumped as Matthew gave Ivan his sandwiches before finally making his own. "Okay, uh, since demons don't go to school, what do they do? Do you have demon jobs like community service, or whipping bad people for all eternity?"

"We switch every five hours after a pitchfork-poking session, and when the weak ones do not make it, we must toss the bodies into a pit of lava."

"Huh?!" Alfred dropped his half-eaten sandwich back onto his plate. "Mattie, I thought you said people don't-"

Matthew groaned, "They don't!"

Ivan sang, "I was pulling legs again! If all the sinners went to Hell after they died, it would get really crowded!"

"Oh...oh," Alfred sounded too relieved. "So, if somebody was really, really, really bad, like, so bad that the angels don't want them, what happens?"

"Oh, no, Alfredo, I do not know!" It sounded odd for Ivan to be heavily sarcastic, "Maybe you should ask an angel if they have a reject pile."

Matthew wagged a spatula at them. "Be nice."

Ivan asked, "Why do you worry so much?" He leaned toward Alfred, but Alfred stared at his sandwiches like they were about to go somewhere. "Unless you have done something so awful that you believe there is no way out through repentance?"

"What?" Alfred broke out of his trance to noisily snort, "Fuck off! I didn't do anything! I was just curious. Jeez."

Ivan shrugged and settled back to his own stool.

"Alfred!" Matthew put his hands on his hips so Alfred should know he was pissed, "What did you do now?"

"I didn't do anything! I said I was just curious! It isn't everyday I get to talk to a demon and get to know these kinds of things without selling my soul!"

Ivan laughed a little, as in disbelief, "Why would you sell your soul in the first place? I could always just take it as is!"

Matthew rolled his eyes as he turned back to his grilled cheese in the making. "No, let people sell their souls, and then, not only would you get their soul, but anything they offered to sell."

Alfred scoffed, but Ivan was enamored, "Matthew! You are very smart!"

"Thank you."

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

"Did you fight with Arthur again?"

"Why's everything have to be about Arthur?"

Matthew had dragged Alfred upstairs after dinner, wishing for a few minutes to talk to him alone so there was no escape from the answers he wanted. "Then, what is it?"

Alfred tugged the blanket on his bed before draping it over himself. "No, we didn't get into a fight."

"Okay, so?"

"So what?" Alfred did not seem to happy that Matthew propped himself against the door, imprisoning him in his own bedroom. Too bad.

"This is about Arthur, isn't it?"

"I-I didn't say that!"

"Well, it's written all over your face, you ass!"

Alfred smacked his palms onto his face, glasses and all. "Quit staring at my face then!"

Matthew weaved side-to-side, gauging how red his brother had become. "Aha!" He zeroed on the bed like some kind of vulture for flushed ears, "What happened between you and Artie?"

"Shut up!"

"What happened?"

Alfred ducked under his blanket, like that would stop Matthew from immediately trying to rip it away. "Nothing happened!"

Turns out, he had a pretty good hold on his cover. "Something obviously did!"

"That's the thing, Matthew!" Matthew's name came out as Alfred's head did at the same time. He was serious! "Nothing happened!"

"But you..." Matthew clamped his mouth shut to study those sad blues. "Oh, Al," he settled beside his brother, coaxing a bit nicer, "did you want something to happen?"

Alfred stuck a fist full of blanket to his face again.

It took a lot for Matthew not to snicker. "You know you can talk to me about it."

"Y-yeah?"

"Yeah. But you're going to have to say you like him first!"

Back into the blanket. "Argh, shut up!"

"Someone's got The Feelings!" Matthew seethed at the lump, "Come on, say it!"

"No!"

Matthew sat back and crossed his arms. "Well, fine! Don't do anything."

That got Alfred to peek into the world. Pleading eyes held his brother's for a moment, before bursting, "What do I do, Mattie?!"

"Pfft! You have to admit it, first!"

"Is that how you and Ivan..."

"Yep! So, say it!"

Alfred scoffed and threw his damned blanket over his head again. "No way! You just want me to say it!"

Damn right, I do! Alfred needed a verbal self-commemoration of coming out of the closet more than he realized. "The first step to confessing your love, is to admit it to yourself first."

"Shut up, Dad."

Matthew was trying to help this guy. "Okay, that's it. I'm coming for the ears!" He lunged forward.

"What?!" Alfred shrieked, momentarily popping his head out, but when he caught sight of Matthew's murderous outreach, he dove deeper in the covers. "No! Leave my ears alone!"

"What a sad attempt to protect yourself!" Matthew dug around the squirming pile of blankets and knocked Alfred's glasses off of his face. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

"Eek! No!"

"Aha! Got one!"

"No!" Alfred threw out an arm to feebly swat, but Matthew strategically tented himself behind him and above the covers, so he wound up trapping himself. "Ow! Quit it!"

Matthew yanked on his ear again. "I'll quit it once you say you like Arthur!"

"You suck!"

"No, you suck!"

More useless wiggling, "Ow, ow! No!"

"Come on, Alfred, you know what to say!" Matthew grabbed for the other ear. "Do I have to take them both? What would Dad say when he sees you walking around with no ears? How would you wear your glasses?!"

By now, both of Alfred's ears were more than red. "Mercy!"

"You know what would bring mercy!"

Alfred sobbed and pawed at the side of his head. "You're so mean! Okay, okay!"

Matthew stopped pulling, but did not let go. "Okay, what?"

Alfred pressed his face into the bed and mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I think I like him. Okay?"

Matthew hovered closer with a cheesy grin. "Like who?"

"Mattie...quit it. You know who."

"Ugh. fine." Matthew pulled away and let his brother sit up, hair astray and face flushed as if he just ran through his own war. "So..."

"So what?!"

Matthew went to tug Alfred's ear again, but giggled when Alfred swerved to one side. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Ha-ha! Are you kidding?! I'm not doing anything about it!"

"What?!" Matthew's voice cracked. "Are you stupid or something?!"

A whine, just to tick him off further, "Why are you calling me stupid?"

"Because you're just going to wallow in your feelings? Ugh! You should tell him, dumbass!"

Alfred rubbed his ear, pouting, "If I just walked into his place and told him all of that, he would smite me!"

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Why would he do that?"

"Because I got the Feelings, and he probably doesn't."

"Really? Usually you're so optimistic. Why say stuff like that now?"

"He's an angel, man!" Like they did not have feelings. Oh, no, Arthur had lots of feelings. "He's probably got a bunch of other stuff to worry about other than...y-you know..."

"Letting you touch his butt."

Alfred almost smiled as he fiddled with his blanket again. "Yeah, like letting me touch his butt."

Alfred must be one Hell of a juicy person-burger to the angel if that is the case, but it was not. At least, it better not, or else Matthew would exchange some choice words with those awful eyebrows. "Well...what if he does like you?"

"That doesn't help!"

"Why not!"

"Because!"

"Wow."

"He like, you know. When we first met, he zapped our brains or something. To make us forget what he is. He said I shouldn't be around him, but I kept pushing, and now he lets me stay." Despite this, a melancholy look reached Alfred's face. "Sometimes I feel like I'm a giant nuisance, and if I tell him that I'm...you know..." In love? He slapped his forehead, "It's just so cliché! Wow! I got the Big Feelings for an angel now? Who knew that would happen?!"

"Yet you stick around."

"Uh, yeah! It's because I like him."

Matthew wanted to pull his brother's ear again. At least he was now admitting it aloud. "I think there's something else. Something else like, I don't think he's letting you stay." He leaned in with a cheeky grin, "I think he wants you to stay."

"What?" Alfred curled his nose. "Really? Ha, you think so? He dunked you in a freaking pond in the middle of winter!"

"He dunked me in that pond when he thought a demon was controlling my mind." Weren't you paying attention? "Sometimes what he does and how he feels are two greatly different things. Maybe he acts that way so people don't hurt him."

"He told me that people don't need to know what he is, and what he does, so they don't interfere."

"Yet here you are!" Matthew jabbed a finger into Alfred's chest. Hopefully, that will get the logic into his heart. "He let you stay. You know why? I think he likes you back."

"Oh, Mattie!" Delighted, Alfred's legs did a little dance. "No!"

"Um, yes?! See? You'd like that, huh? You're smiling!"

"Oh, my God!" With a squeal, Alfred shoved his blankets back over himself. "Shut up!"

Matthew lunged forward to yank the damn thing away and tossed it to the floor. "If you're just going to let yourself suffer like this, then either stop hanging out with him, or man up and tell him you have the Feelings!"

"But..." Alfred shut up and stared for a long moment. Matthew kept his gaze steady, pouring his utter annoyance into his brother's eyes, "I-it's going to make things weird between us either way."

Alfred had his idiot-block up. "What did I just say?! Why complain to me if you're not going to listen? Sitting here isn't going to do anything. It didn't do anything before, and it's not going to do anything now." Since his lovely fool of a brother still sat there, bemoaning life, Matthew pushed from the bed with a heavy sigh and latched onto his arm. "Come on."

"Mattie, no."

"Yes! Get your lard butt off the bed!" Matthew heaved, and actually managed to peel Alfred away from his safe haven. "Good! Let's go! You're going to go to that motel and have a nice, long talk with Arthur."

"Whoa, what?!" Alfred latched onto the door frame. "No, I'm not!"

After all of that, "Yes, you are!"

"Fuck off!"

Matthew wedged behind him and started to kick at his heels. "You fuck off! Ass!"

Alfred only moved because Matthew hit the back of his knees. "You're a savage!" He suddenly threw himself backwards, almost toppling Matthew onto the floor with his powerful rear-end. He seized the opening to spin around and dash toward the bathroom, most likely to lock himself in there.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Matthew gave chase and lunged after Alfred. He almost missed, but managed to snag a belt loop and yanked down. When he tripped, he took his brother with him, and both of them crashed to the floor. Alfred spat and started to wiggle out of his jeans to escape. He reached for the door knob. Matthew was losing. "Ivan! Ivan, I need your help! Get up here!"

"Ha-ha, you have to call in reinforcements because you can't handle me!" Despite that, Alfred began thrashing more urgently and managed to crawl deeper into the bathroom with his pants over his ankles. Matthew tossed them aside and leaped to his feet the same time his brother did, and shoved himself against the door so it wouldn't close.

"Oh, you asshole!"

"Quit pushing, man!"

"You quit it! If you're not going to get out of here on your own, then I'll make you!"

Alfred's feet slid on the bathroom tiles as he tried to push the bathroom door shut while Matthew wedged himself between the frame to keep it open. "Yeah, right! You can barely keep this door open!" He was all big talk until another pair of hands pressed against the door.

Alfred yelped, arms flailing, and Ivan caught him before his head would bounce off of something unpleasant.

"Yeah! Get him!" Matthew snatched his brother's jeans from the floor. "We're taking him outside!"

"No way!"

Unfortunately for Alfred, there was no where to go and no time left as Ivan slung his arm around his throat from behind and dragged him out of the bathroom, unfazed as hands reached for anything to anchor themselves. Matthew beamed in triumph, which seemed to make his brother more angrier, more red in the face. Unless that was Ivan strangling him as he towed him down the hall.

"You're fucking strangling me!"

It was a little bit of both. Ivan let go to wrap his arms around Alfred's torso for a rough trip down the stairs. Alfred managed to kick back at his shins, but Ivan only mused over his attacks with a delighted giggle. Matthew followed closely, unhooking Alfred's hands whenever they managed to latch onto something. Once everyone reached the bottom of the staircase, he squeezed by his brother's grabby attacks and threw open the front door. He tossed Alfred's pants at him as Ivan let go to push his back, and Alfred stumbled and nearly flailed off the porch.

He snapped his head toward the pair, and shouted, "Hey!" but the door shut in his face. Matthew locked it for further measure just as his brother pounded against the strong wood. "Matthew, you're awful! If Arthur rips me a new one, I'm blaming you!"

Matthew called back, "You might like it!" He hurried to the rear door and locked that one, too. The windows were a possibility, but by the time Alfred would have opened one and began to crawl through it, he was sure that either him or Ivan would just smack his head until he retreated. He eyed his brother yank his jeans back on and sulk down the sidewalk in the direction of the town's shops and motel. "I think we're safe now," he told Ivan. He faced his company with a docile smile. "Good teamwork."

"Likewise." Ivan held a courteous arm out that was just strangling somebody two minutes ago. "Would you like to watch the television and cuddle?"

Matthew eagerly latched on. "Of course!"

~.~

~DINGALING~

~.~

With an organic heater against his body and an episode of the world's cutest puppies and kittens lowly buzzing in the background, Matthew almost immediately fell into a slump on the couch. A faint ringing arose in the living room, and a hand snuck across his stomach. He lazily sniggled, and his eyes cracked open. Ivan pinched his cell phone between a forefinger and thumb, staring at the screen in what Matthew wondered was animosity.

Ivan touched the phone with a small jab, and nicked a green circle, picking up the call. A muffled, "AllĂ´?" came out of the device, and he gasped, almost dropping it.

"Matthieu?"

Ivan uncertainly put the object to his ear.

"Matthieu, are you there?"

Matthew quickly closed his eyes to pretend he was still sleeping when Ivan glanced over. "He is sleeping."

The living room went quiet, until Matthew caught his father's voice sharply demanding, "Who is this?"

"I am me."

"Who is me?! If you have done anything to my son-"

"I did not do anything!" Ivan cried out. He twitched when Matthew grumbled, pretending to be disturbed, and slung a leg over his lap.

"Who. Is. This."

"Ivan!"

Francis was quiet for a moment. There was a heavy sigh from the other line, "Why did you not say so in the first place?! I almost had a panic attack!"

"Do not do that!"

"I almost did!"

"Oopsies?!"

"So...where is my son?"

Matthew clenched his jaw to prevent from smiling. Ivan said, "He is sleeping at the moment."

"Ah, I was wondering why he did not pick up his phone."

"He is sleeping."

"You said that."

"I did!"

A low chuckle erupted from the phone. "I have you know my boys are not supposed to sneak in other people when I am not there."

"I did not sneak in. I entered through the front door."

"Oh, of course. I suppose I will make an exception for you, cher."

"Ah, thank you?"

"You take care of mon fils, you hear me?"

"I hear what you are saying." Ivan probably did not know a lot of the words he was saying. Demons most likely did not have French lessons, or at least, around these parts they did not.

Another laugh, but this one was more frightening, "Heh, heh, heh. Not only do I know how to please a man, but I know how to destroy one."

Matthew almost died right there. Did Dad seriously just say that to Ivan?

Ivan wondered aloud, "Are you...threatening me? Why does most of this family want to fight all the time?"

"I am warning you."

"About what?"

"What do you think?!" Francis cried. "Mon Dieu..." He fell into a slur of French. "Be honest with me. Are you from around here?"

A sharp moment of silence. Matthew almost opened his eyes, but Ivan let out a nervous giggle as he wiggled against the couch, "I try not to make it obvious."

"Ah! A foreigner?! I am sure that is an interesting story, but I do not have time at the moment. Do not tell my boys this, but they will be seeing me by the end of next week. Our secret."

"Hush, hush."

"Oui, very hush, hush. Until then, behave yourselves."

The phone line made a muffled noise and clicked off. Ivan held it against his ear for a moment, eyebrows furrowing from the sudden quiet. Matthew shot up and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "My Papa is coming back in a few days!"

Ivan jumped and exclaimed in delight, "Matthew!"

"Hey, you." Matthew put him in an affectionate choke hold before relaxing to give his biceps a squeeze. "Did my dad try to creep on you?"

"Is your father not always creeping?"

"Hm, true." Matthew looked to the living room window and noticed it was dark outside. "Did Alfred come home when I was asleep?"

"Yes." Ivan made a motion, not sure what to do with the phone, before setting it on the coffee table. "I called out to him when he came through the door, but he told me to be quiet and hurried upstairs."

"I wonder if he's still awake." Matthew narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular. "I wonder if he even spoke to Arthur like he was supposed to."

"About what?"

"Oh, um...stuff." Matthew snatched his glasses from the coffee table and rushed out of the living room. "Stay here!"

"If I must..."

Matthew darted up the stairs on all fours like an animal (it made him go faster, in his defense) and stopped in front of his brother's door. "Al?" With no reply, he knocked on the white wood. "Al, are you in here?" He checked the bathroom, but it was unoccupied, so he returned to the bedroom. "Hey, I'm opening the door now." He did just that, and his shoulders slouched at the lump on the bed.

Alfred was rolled amongst his blankets, his back to any intruders, and he did not move. Matthew whispered-yelled, "You're sleeping already?" Usually he was the one to stay up into the morning instead, but it was a bit too early to go to sleep, even for early birds.

Although, Alfred had developed this pattern to pass out whenever he hung around Arthur for a while. Matthew wondered if that creepy goodwill 'feeding' was not as harmless as he once thought. "Or are you ignoring me?" Nothing. He shrugged and wedged out the bedroom. "I'll be downstairs if you want to talk."

Matthew squinted at the clump of blankets one last time, in case Alfred could feel his suspicious gaze and that would pull him out of bed. No luck...this time. He clunked down the steps and eagerly lunged over the back of the couch with a loud thump. Ivan gave him a surprised look when he grinned and nodded like a cool guy, "What's up?"

"Where is Alfredo?"

"Sleeping, I guess. I don't think he wants to be bothered."

"What did we send him to?"

"Earlier? Tough love between him and Arthur. Al can handle himself, though, so whatever happened, I'm sure he'll recuperate quickly."

"Why was he 'freaking out' when I dragged him outside? I thought humans were eager to love angels."

"This is Alfred we're talking about. Sometimes I doubt he's even human."

Ivan tipped his head. "What else would he be?"

"I think there was a meteor shower around the time I was born, and my dad found a strange rock that had a baby alien inside of it, so he took it home and raised it with me."

"What is an alien?"

"Oh, um...they're people from outer space."

"Outer space?"

"Yeah, it's really big, and all around us..." Matthew dropped his struggling gestures, "You know what? Never mind. How's your, uh, chest thing doing?"

Ivan tugged on his shirt, and a few buttons popped open to show off the angel-induced jewel. "Oh, it is doing wonders. Although, it feels a little cold..."

Matthew caught some of the white fabric and gave it a curious tug. "Whoa, how'd you get this scar?" An edge of another one crossed a faint but long trench against Ivan's pale skin. "Hey, wait, you have-"

Ivan's hands clamped onto his and pried invading fingers away from his marred chest. Matthew glanced from the wrapping around his neck, to his face, to the pink blooming across his cheeks. "Matthew, you should ask me first before attempting to remove my clothes!"

"Oh, shit! I'm so sorry!" Matthew yanked away, putting as much distance between himself and Ivan on the couch, like that would keep his hands under control. "I was just curious - ugh, I'm such a creeper! I am so sorry!"

Ivan grinned at his blabbering. "Oh, so you are not going to ask?"

"A-ask about what?"

"Are you going to ask me if you can remove my clothes?"

"What?!" Matthew's eyes caught the gauze around Ivan's neck again before quickly darting away. Then back to the pale skin peeking into the world. Then to a very interesting spot on the wall of the living room. "Oh, hush."

"No, it is okay. I understand." Ivan started to button up his shirt again. Matthew gnashed on the inside of his cheek from the loss. "I am not sure I like to look at myself, either."

"No!" Matthew clamped a hand over Ivan's. "Um...I do like...looking at you. Can I...?" He quickly added, "So I can see what the angels did."

After a too long of a curious stare-down, Ivan solemnly nodded and captured Matthew's fingers to his chest. "Right here. See? It is not so bad, yes?"

"Nuh-uh. Not at all." Matthew focused keeping his eyes and fingers against the angel-induced scar, rather than...anywhere else. "Does it hurt?"

"No, but it...churns? When you touch me. Ah, that might just be me."

"Oh!" Matthew pulled his hand back with a little giggle. He tipped his head, trying to get a good squint at the gauze around Ivan's neck, at the bits of jagged marks peeking along his pale skin, "You know, beforehand, you seemed reluctant to get this jewel-thing. Did you really think it was a trap?"

Ivan ducked his head, putting a hand over his throat. "You are such a curious thing, Matthew. Somehow...it flatters me when I am not able to flatter you, too."

Matthew could not stop smiling, probably looking like an idiot. "You're very welcome."

"A trap, though? Maybe not...but I kept thinking of what the angels would do to get you away from me. I hated to simply stand there and..." Ivan's eyes slipped close.

He was too far away. Matthew slowly leaned forward to press their foreheads together. "It's all right."

"It is."

Matthew slightly pulled back to gaze at his face in wonder.

A little smile found Ivan, setting things right again. "If I knew how peaceful it felt afterwards, I would have eagerly ran to those angels to be like this."

"Peaceful?"

"Yes." Ivan leaned forward, and they held one another in a moment of content silence. "I used to feel so...hot-blooded. I needed something to make my heart race. Life was meaningless otherwise. Now, I can sit here, with you, as that Sun goes across the sky, and not feel stagnant."

Matthew giggled against his broad chest, "You're not stagnant."

"Not anymore, I am not!" A lively laugh, "I am still a demon, though! I will always want to keep that part of myself. Especially now. I still want to do so much with you. I can be so much. My Inquisitive One." Ivan blinked out of his deep thoughts, and stared at Matthew, "My words get jumbled sometimes, but you understand what I mean, yes?"

"Of course. Have you always been this cute?"

Obviously taken back, Ivan snickered, and brought himself close again. "Of course..."

Matthew grinned, totally about to get his game on, when there was a knock on the door frame. They picked up their heads, gawking at Alfred propped against the doorway, barely holding back laughter. "Can I talk to you? Unless you're too busy!"

"Are you?" Matthew retorted as Ivan sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "I thought Arthur tore you a new ass and you were recuperating."

Alfred let out an obnoxious cackle, "What? Come on, dude!" He knocked on the door frame and jerked his head to the steps, "I'll be in my room when you're done being gay."

"You ass! Ugh!" Matthew threw his hand up as his brother thumped upstairs, "I can't believe that guy sometimes!"

"Come back soon, Matthew."

Matthew gave Ivan a hard look. "I will."

Ivan smiled, and Matthew hurried to his brother's bedroom, a little more battle-ready to deal with a lovelorn Alfred.