Maybe if he had kept his eyes closed, he wouldn't have had to face the person in front of him. Maybe if he had been more careful, he wouldn't have lost his glasses. If he hadn't called out for Arthur in the hall, perhaps he wouldn't have gotten dragged into an unknown room. Better yet, this whole situation could have been avoided if he had left his ass on the couch and not moved a muscle. New lesson learned: don't do anything unless you have to.
"Are you just going to sit there?" The boy in front of him said, smirking widely. "Or are you so helpless that you need me to help you stand too?"
Shaken from his confused trance, Alfred blinked widely and let out a yelp of surprise, jumping away from the other boy. What the hell? What the hell what the hell what the hell?
"You!" He spat pushing himself to his feet and glaring furiously down at Arthur. "You fucking asshole what was that for?"
Arthur stared coolly at him, slinking slowly upward until he was once again at eye level with Alfred. "You wanted to know where the room was. Congratulations. You've found it."
"I wish I hadn't" Alfred snarled, curling his fists at his sides. "Quit messing with me. I don't know what you're problem is but I'm sick of it and you!"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Arthur shot back. "You started this."
"What are you, two?" Alfred snorted, folding his arms. "Don't go blaming this on me I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Like hell you haven't. Take it back."
For once in this 'conversation', Alfred felt genuinely confused and went as far as to cock his head at the other.
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"The punk comment. Take it back." Arthur seethed. Alfred narrowed his eyes and snorted.
"That's what's bothering you? Why the fuck do you care? It's not that big a deal."
"It is to me!" Arthur hissed, stepping forward dangerously.
"Why? Who cares what other people call you or think of you? That doesn't make you what you are. You know what I call people who listen to crap like that? I call them weak."
He wasn't ready for it. He should have seen it coming and ducked when he had the chance. Why didn't he? Who knows? Perhaps it was because despite their equal loathing for each other, he thought that just maybe the smaller boy wouldn't react like he assumed he would. The fist came at him faster then he would have guessed for someone Arthur's size. Fast and accurately. The boy's curled hand landed square at the corner of Alfred's jaw and to his horror, produced an ear-shattering crack.
"Fuck!" He swore, pulling back and clutching his injured mouth. "Fuck fuck fuck! What the hell man?"
"Apologize for what you said and maybe I won't hit you again." Arthur threatened, narrowing his eyes dangerously.
"I'm not going to apologize for that." Alfred snapped. "You apologize first and then I'll apologize for this."
He barely felt his body moving, but he knew it was. Two steps forward, arm pulled back, hand curled, forward motion, impact. His fist collided smack center of Arthur's face as hard as he could manage. Which must have been pretty damn hard because just like his jaw, Arthur's nose produced a sickening cracking sound.
"Ahhhhh!" Arthur hissed painfully, covering his nose. "Ah god I think you broke it you bloody wanker!"
"Good! Payback for my jaw." He snapped, nursing his injured mouth again. "Now we can both apolo-"
Arthur lifted his hands from his nose to touch the bridge tentatively, and as if his hands had been holding back a river like a dam, blood began to gush from his nostrils causing the smaller blonde to let out a cry of surprise and clutch his hands once again under his nose. Blood trickled out between his fingers and on to the hardwood floor, staining the ground with crimson drops.
Oh shit. Alfred panicked. He hadn't meant to make him bleed! Guilt and worry gathered in his gut as he watched Arthur sink to the floor, shirt now acting as a tissue for the blood. Even if it was this guy, he couldn't stand watching people bleed.
"I'm really really sorry! Here let me see it." He said nervously, stepping over to Arthur and bending down to his level. "Seriously I'm really sorry! It's broken isn't it? Do you know how to stop the blood? Is it-."
"Shut ub." Arthur muttered through his shirt. "Id not like I haben't had a bloody node before. I've broken id before too so id doesn't hurd dat much. I just hope id doesn't leab a bump."
"I really am sorry." Alfred said, biting his lip.
"Ib I say I'm sorry too will you go away?" Arthur hissed as best he could through the fabric. "Im sorry ok? Sorry for dis morning, sorry for earlier sorry for now. I still hade you, bud I owe my friend and apology to you and what better time den now? Now ged lost."
Alfred narrowed his eyes and sighed, settling down on the floor. "I want nothing more then to walk away. But this is my room too and I need to unpack. Besides, my hero instincts won't let me leave someone in trouble no matter who they are."
"Bloody hell not only do I despise you, now I'm pretty sure you're mental." Arthur muttered, speech returning to normal.
"At least we can agree on not liking each other." Alfred shrugged. "Look. I'm going to make this simple. I'm going to try to get along with you. Not because I want to be friends, not because I feel it's the right thing to do, but because it means a lot to some one important to me and he wants nothing more then to get to international. If that's going to happen we all have to get along here and I'm not going to let myself be the one that drags us down."
"Fine by me." Arthur snapped. "As long as I don't have to talk to you or see you any more then necessary I can work with that."
"Good."
"Good."
Alfred turned away, eyeing the floor. "Why did you take my glasses?" He asked suddenly. "Better yet why did you give them back? You could have crushed them or hidden them or thrown them out a window."
Arthur stared at him curiously, lifting his nose out from under his blood soaked collar. "I don't know. You looked weird without them I guess. It's hard enough looking at you as is, I didn't need to have you look even weirder." He smirked suddenly, getting to his feet and looming over Alfred. "I'm going to hold you to that I'll do anything bit by the way."
Alfred swore internally, but nodded. "Fine. A hero never goes back on his word, so I'll keep to that." Pushing himself up (more then happy to have the height advantage back) he stuck out his hand. "Can we agree on tolerating each other?"
Arthur narrowed his eyes and for a moment, Alfred wondered if he wasn't going to agree. But the Briton nodded and although he didn't return the attempted handshake, that was good enough.
"Let's make this clear now. This is my side, that is yours." Arthur said suddenly, gesturing to either side of the room. "Keep your crap on your side. Don't touch my stuff, don't cross the line I'm definitely going to draw, and absolutely do NOT talk to me."
Alfred felt the familiar feeling of dislike rise in his gut and bit his lip to hold back a nasty retort. He still really couldn't stand this guy.
"Yea fine whatever." He grumbled, picking his own bag up off the floor and plopping it on his bed. Arthur turned away, seemingly ignoring his response and went about unpacking his own bag, giving Alfred the chance to really get a good look at the room. It was relatively big, bigger room then his room at home at least. Two beds sat pressed against opposite walls of the room, large windows situated above both. Long white curtains hung from above them, blocking what insignificant amount of daylight may have been able to seep into the room what with the cloudy weather.
A small fan hung from the ceiling, the lights that were currently illuminating the room attached to it and filling the space with iridescent light. Besides that, there weren't any other light sources. The oaken blades of the fan spun lazily about, as if someone had just turned off the switch and it was slowing down. Oddly, it reminded him of his own useless fan and he suppressed a chuckle at the thought.
On each side of the room opposite the door and pressed snug against the wall, sat identical wooden dressers, just about a head shorter in height the Alfred was. On both sat a small alarm clock, but other then that both appeared to be bare.
The bed where his belongings currently sat was adorned with cream white sheets and a black comforter folded at the foot of the bed. He placed his hand on the sheets and sighed. They were scratchy, like straw. Not at all soft like his at home. But I guess that's to be expected. He laughed inwardly. Still, you would think such a rich school would at least have soft covers on their beds.
Other then that, the room was empty and simple. Like the picture of a dorm room. I wonder if there's a T.V anywhere in this place, he thought to himself taking another glance around the room. Are there any more floors in this cabin? He blinked slowly and realized that of course there had to be. There were only 8 rooms on this floor, and they needed ten to fit all of them. That must be where the other set of stairs spit off too, he decided.
A thump from the room next door drew him from his thoughts, causing him to spare a glance over his shoulder to the other wall. Antonio and Romano must be fighting or something. Arthur was glaring at the wall, an agitated expression on his face.
Speaking of other people, I wonder how Matty and Soren are doing right now? He mused, turning back to his bag. I hope they're doing all right. A second later, as if on cue, a familiar sounding shriek echoed thru the hall and Alfred felt his heart drop into his stomach.
O ~ O ~ O
"I'm fine Alfred I promise!" Matthew insisted, desperately attempting to get the taller blonde to cease his pacing. "I was just startled is all."
"Startled my ass." Alfred snapped. "I thought you had hurt yourself or something! Instead I find that- that wine bastard harassing you!"
"He just startled me, I already said the Alfred." Matthew sighed at his friend.
Alfred crossed his arms in dislike and leaned against the wall. One minute he'd been standing there unpacking his things, and the next he heard Matthew yelling in the hall. When he'd run out to see what was going on he saw his Canadian friend sprawled on his back on the ground just outside an open door, and clearly upset expression on his face. He ran over, kneeling down beside his friend and allowing his stomach to churn in worry. "Matty are you hurt? What's the matter, what happened?" He forced himself to ignore the stares of others from newly open doors and nodded at Matthew, goading him to speak.
"Ahaha oh it's nothing Francis just startled me a little is all and I tripped out the door." He laughed, glancing back through the door. Alfred frowned and let his own eyes wander to the room, only to see the French boy standing in the doorway with something of an awestruck expression on his face as he stared down at them. Grabbing his friend's hand and pulling him to his feet, he began to drag his friend away from the door. He'd known Matthew long enough that he could tell when he was lying, and that was absolutely the most faux smile he'd ever seen. Who did he think he was fooling?
"What's going on? What happened Matthew?" Soren called as he jogged up beside them. "Alfred did he get hurt? Matty why did you scream like that what's going on?" He asked persistently.
"Ah guys really I'm ok it's… oh my god Alfred what happened to your face? You have a huge bruise on your jaw!" He cried suddenly, pulling himself out of Alfred's grip to get a better look at the large purple and black splotch on the side of his face.
"Looks like he and Arthur really hit off." Soren mused, smirking all the while.
"Hahaha." Alfred grumbled, covering his bruised mouth. "It's fine really. Besides that's not the issue here! What did he-"
"What's going on out here?"
Lovely. More trouble. Alfred grumbled inwardly. "None of your business." He growled, not sparing the Briton a passing glance. "Go away."
"Angletere?" a voice called curiously from behind them.
"Oh hey look, it's your buddy." He muttered, pulling his hand from his face. "Hey here's an idea. Why don't you two stay up here and plot more way's to ruin our lives while we go downstairs and try to figure what sort of mental trauma you've inflicted on my friend? Sounds like a plan to me." Without another word, he grasped Matthews's wrist tightly while simultaneously hooking his hand around Soren's arm and pulled them brusquely down the stairs.
"I don't like it." Alfred huffed, pulling his mind from the memory and pushing himself away from the wall. "I don't care what the rules say, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be rooming with him!"
"For once, I agree with him Matty." Soren cut in. "I trust that guy about as much as I trust him," he jabbed his finger at Alfred, "with my life. I really think you should at least consider asking for a room change. But it's not about us. It's about you. So do you think you can deal with him?"
Matthew bit his lip, casting a nervous look at the ground. "I'm not sure." He responded finally. "He's just- just the type of person I don't think I'll get along with to well. I saw him flirting with Ms. Katherine on the way up here, as well as Elizaveta. And I think…" He trailed off weakly throwing his friends an awkward smile. "I think he must think I'm a girl because I could swear that he's flirting with me too." He laughed.
Alfred and Soren exchanged a worry glance and looked down at Matthew again. Not good. Alfred thought worriedly.
"I mean, he really does seem like a flirt doesn't he? Ugh I just I can't stand people like that!" Matthew said. His voice seemed to be losing its gentle overtone, and Alfred couldn't help but smile at the sharp edge that was creeping back into it. Now that, that was the Matthew he knew! Now that they were so close, it seemed so weird seeing Matthew all quiet and nervous. Of course that gentle solemn feel was a big part of his friend, but he'd gotten quite used to and comfortable with the Canadians louder side.
"Ahhhh I don't know!" Matthew cried, covering his head with his hands. "And I'm serious about the flirting with me thing guy's I don't know how to describe it but it was… odd." He finished. "I know I look like a girl but come on!"
"Maybe he's gay." Soren interjected.
Matthew shook his head. "No he was flirting with girls, remember? I just don't know what to make of it. Maybe he'd just trying to get under my skin, or tease me."
"Well whatever it is, Matthew you can't let him do it." Alfred said firmly. "Especially not if you have to room with that psycho."
"Speak for yourself." Matthew sighed, rolling his eyes. "Honestly not ten minutes together in that room and you and Arthur are already tearing each other apart. Didn't you promise you were going to try to get along? It looked like Arthur's nose was bruised too. Just how many punches did you two throw at each other?"
"Two." Alfred muttered. "Combined total of two. I think he dislodged my jaw, and I probably broke his nose."
"Wonderful." Matthew moaned, shaking his head. "Just what we need."
"Sorry." Alfred replied, giving them an innocent look. "But hey Soren how's your room mate?"
Soren rolled his eyes and sunk into the couch beside Matthew. "Wonderful. I swear why did I have to end up with the ice cube kid? I've had longer conversations with a mirror."
"That bad huh?" Alfred chuckled. Soren nodded, tugging at the end of his shirt.
"He won't talk to me man! I've gotten four words out of him and they were 'stay away from me'." He sighed. "Plus there's the fact that he sort of looks like a girl which makes it awkward for me."
"You think he looks like a girl?" Alfred asked incredulously.
"Well he kind of does! And it's freaking putting me off."
"Hate to say it, but I think you got the best one out of all of us." Alfred snickered. "At least you'll have quiet right?"
"Yea I know I know." Soren sighed. "Still I just want him to talk! I mean seriously how can any person be that damn quiet? I'm definitely going to get him to talk to me."
"Whatever you say." Alfred responded. "Back to the issue at hand. You're not staying in the same room as him Matthew."
"Alfred I promise you, I'll be ok." He insisted. "I may not like it, but rules are rules and I'll learn to get used to it."
"I just don't-"
"Excuse me, can I come in?"
The trio turned in surprise at the mature feminine voice coming from behind the front door, tossing each other confused glances. Was it the seamstress? But she was really early if it was; there was at least another twenty minutes before she was supposed to be there.
"Um hello? Is anyone there?"
"Oh yea sorry!" Alfred called, jogging over and tugging on the handle. "We were just wondering who it was, that's all."
"Oh it's ok." The voice replied pleasantly.
Alfred's eyes widened in surprise as the last of the door vanished to his side, and he stood staring at the woman. By the sound of her voice, he would have guessed she was much older. But this girl looked not to many years older then themselves, at maximum 19. She had sandy blonde hair that was pulled back in a loose ponytail, with bangs that hung to the side and framed her face. Her eyes were a shimmering light green, illuminating her face almost as much as her brilliant smile did. The girl was short; even with the step height difference, Alfred could tell he was at least several inches taller then her. Dressed in attire that reminded him of counselors at summer camp, she clutched a clipboard in her right hand and was fiddling with a pen in her other. This was definitely not the seamstress.
"Can I come in?" She laughed. "I mean if you want I can just stay here but you're going to have to do my job for me."
"Ah! S-sorry!" He stammered, stepping back and holding open the door.
Soren and Matthew, who Alfred noticed were both standing now, nodded politely to the girl as she stepped in the door.
"I'm Laura." She began. "I'm the one who's going to check up on Elizaveta on a regular basis. You all know about that right?"
They nodded in unison. "Yes the chairman informed us at the meeting." Matthew responded.
"Good so you know why I'm here." She laughed. "It's customary for all the girls rooming alone with boy's, so I'll be here at least one every week to check up on how she's handling…" she trailed off looking them over. "Well all of you." Laura laughed.
"Can you show me where he room is?"
Alfred shook his head. "No, sorry. I'm afraid you're just going to have to knock on doors until you find it. I can tell you where her room isn't though." He grimaced, remembering his eavesdropping and horrible run in with Arthur. "My guess is she's in one of the rooms on the third floor. Well her and Kiku."
"Dude there's a third floor?" Soren cried. "Awesome!"
"Yes all the cabins have three floors." Laura chuckled. There are four more rooms upstairs, as well as another living room with a balcony off the back."
"Now that is sick." Alfred cried. "There wouldn't happen to be a T.V up there, would there?"
She shook her head. "Not until you all earn one, no."
"Damn." Soren muttered, crossing his arms.
"Soren!" Matthew hissed, elbowing their friend. "Language!"
She laughed gently, giving them a small smile. "Don't worry you'll get there eventually. And don't worry I was a kid too. Still am. I don't mind the swearing, just don't do it around the teachers."
Matthew blushed crimson and uttered a meek, "Thank you."
"Good! Now I have to find Elizaveta. What were your names?"
"Soren." The Dane spoke up immediately, flashing her a warm grin. Alfred rolled his eyes, tossing Matthew a wry smile. There he went, flirting with the first pretty girl he had a conversation with. Suddenly, he realized that his friend must really feel like Francis was a terrible player. After all, he put up with Soren's antics and Alfred still had yet to meet anyone as bad as him.
"I'm Matthew." His Canadian friend said suddenly, obviously trying to put an end to Soren's flirting.
"And I'm Alfred." He grinned, wincing at the pain still pulsating from his jaw. Damn no smiling for a while.
Laura's eyes widened in surprise, as if she was just getting a good look at him. "My goodness! What happened to your jaw?" She asked, concern brimming in her voice.
"Ahaha." He laughed nervously, clutching his mouth. "Oh this? I just fell and banged it up bad." He felt his heart clench at the lie, guilt taking hold of his body. God I hate lying. He thought miserably. But if I tell her we were fighting it will cause problems.
"That looks pretty bad to just be from a fall." She replied, peering at it through his fingers. "It almost looks like you got-"
"Is 'zere someone else here?" A voice called from the stair, interrupting the young woman. Alfred grimaced at the familiar accent.
"Ah who is 'zis?" Francis inquired, voice creeping closer and footsteps approaching where the trio stood.
Laura smiled to him, nodding her head. "I'm Laura. I'm one of the counselors here and the one who's going to be checking up on Elizaveta once a week."
Alfred tensed as he felt the French boy brush past him toward the girl at the center of the circle. "It is a pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman." He smiled warmly, bowing deeply and taking her hand. "My name is Francis Bonnefoy. I hope we get to know each other well Ms. Laura."
Alfred could almost hear Matthew's jaw drop to the floor next to him, and would have worried about his own had he not been able to feel it still throbbing in pain. He had never, NEVER in all his years met anyone as bad as this guy. Alfred took back what he said about Soren. His friend was a saint compared to Francis now. Oh sure the words were sweet and gentlemanly, but he'd seen Soren flirt enough to know that the only think Francis was trying to get out of this poor girl was a kiss and most likely something extra.
"Why thank you!" She chuckled, cheeks glowing a light pink. "Aren't you sweet? It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I am sorry to be rushing off so quickly but I really do have to find Elizaveta."
"Allow me to help you find her." Francis smiled innocently. "I'm sure it would only take a minute and I-"
Before he could get another charming word in, an ear piercing scream echoed through the house.
"What the hell was that?" Soren cried.
"That was a girls scream no doubt." Matthew said, concern pooling in his violet eyes. "It must have been Elizaveta."
"Oh dear." Laura murmured. Pushing past the boys, she hurried to the stairs and out of sight, up the other side of the winding steps.
"That's not the way we went up." Alfred said. "Guess she really does know the lay out of these cabins huh? She must be going up to the other rooms."
"Well come on let's follow her!" Soren grinned mischievously. "It can't hurt can it?"
"Anything to get away from him." Alfred muttered inaudibly, casting his cobalt gaze toward Francis. "Let's go."
O ~ O ~ O
After a quick dash up the stairs and a turn down the hall, the trio (plus an unfortunate tag along) found themselves in a very different part of the house and standing behind the bewildered counselor as she gawked awkwardly into a room.
"What happened?" Alfred inquired, pushing his way to the doorway. Was she hurt? But if she were hurt Laura wouldn't be standing their gawking.
"Hey Elizaveta what's the…" He blinked slowly as the room came into full view. Well Elizaveta was in their all right. Sitting on a single bed right next to Kiku. She was clutching a book to her chest, giving the five people now standing in front of her doorway a curious look.
"What the fuck is going on?" Alfred asked, filling the silence. "What was that scream?"
"Ah! Alfred-san!" Kiku cried, rising suddenly as if he had just realized they were there. "I didn't see all of you there!" He bowed apologetically and turned his hooded brown eyes back to the girl on the bed. "I'm sorry about that its-"
"Why are you in a girls room?" Laura asked firmly. "You should know it's against the rules for boys to enter a female team mates room. What were you doing on her bed pray tell?"
Kiku's face burned bright red and he began waving his hands frantically in front of him, shaking his head side to side. "No no no ah prease do not misunderstand the situation! Elizaveta-san and I were just talking! It was nothing like that I promise!"
"Of course it wasn't anything like that!" Elizaveta said, supporting the flustered Japanese boy. "Kiku and I really were just talking!"
"Then what was that scream?" Laura sighed, holding her fingers on the bridge of her nose.
"Ah well we started talking and found out that we have some similar interests and he showed me this book…" She raised the book hesitantly before swiping it behind her back. "And I got really excited because it's something I've been looking for a while now so I got really excited and just sort of you know screamed." She smiled nervously, tugging on her short ponytail. "We're not in trouble are we?"
Laura shook her head, stepping into the room and giving the two a wry smile. "No you're not in trouble. But please don't be so reckless. You really worried us. Besides that it really is against the rules to have a boy in your room so I'm afraid if you two want to talk you'll have to do it out in the halls."
The two nodded obediently, Kiku still fiddling with his hands and keeping his eyes pointedly at the ground.
"Good!" Laura smiled. "I'm Laura, your counselor. I'll be checking up on you to see how you're doing every week Elizaveta. If you're having trouble with the boys or anything else here, just tell me and we'll work something out all right? By the way?"
Laura leaned in to the other girl's ear and whispered something inaudible, causing a bright smile to leap to Elizaveta's face. "What seriously?" she squeaked happily. "That's awesome! You can borrow the book any time you want! I mean as long as it's ok with Kiku." She tossed the black haired boy a questioning glance and he simply nodded with a dumbstruck expression.
"Ah yes of course. You can keep it actuary. I have my own copy so…"
"Nice!" Elizaveta laughed. "Thank you so much!"
Alfred blinked slowly, still trying to wrap his mind around the scene. What the fuck was going on here exactly? What was that book?
"Auuugh geeze I'm so confused but whatever!" He cried shaking his head. "You're ok so we better get back to unpacking and stuff. Besides we're getting fitted soon right?"
Laura nodded. "That's right. You're welcome to explore the upstairs as well if you'd like though. Ah but I would suggest unpacking and the like first." She laughed. "Well it was a pleasure to meet you," she said turning back to Elizaveta and shaking her hand. "I hope I can come by and steal the book from you some time. Oh and it was wonderful meeting you as well." She smiled, shaking Kiku's hand. "Well. I'll see you all later all right? Be good and try not to cause to much trouble ok?" With a final grin, she slid past Alfred out the door, waved, and descended down the stairs and out of sight.
"Well that was… interesting." Soren muttered, scratching his head. "I'm still majorly missing something here but she's right we better get back to unpacking and sorting things out."
"Did I here a scream?" A voice called from the stairwell. A brunette haired boy stepped into the hallway, head tilted curiously. "Is everything alright? Who was that woman that just walked down the stairs?"
"Yea you're a little late dude." Soren laughed. "Everything's fine."
Roderich nodded uncertainly. "Well alright if you say so. It's just-"
"Hey! What's going on up here?" Gilbert called, peeking his head around the corner.
"Could you not follow me?" Roderich muttered. "It's annoying."
"I wasn't following you!" Gilbert snapped, pushing past the other boy. "Why the hell would someone as awesome as me follow you? I just wanted to know what was going on that's all. It sounded like some girl screaming which surprised me since there aren't any girls here."
"You bastard!" Elizaveta snarled from inside the room. "I heard that!"
Aw shit I'm totally in the line of fire here. Alfred thought miserably, taking a step back. Elizaveta stormed past him, ignoring a few muttered protests from Kiku, and out into the hall where she could directly see the German boy. She scowled, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head.
"You're pathetic you know that?" she yelled. "Would you stop it already? What did I do to you that made you so mean to me? Knock it off already."
Gilbert's confident gaze flickered suddenly, odd red eyes pooling with what Alfred almost thought was worry, before regaining their self assured gleam.
"What are you going to hit me?" He taunted. "Not only am I a year older then you kid, I'm also a boy. You'd get your ass kicked so don't even try."
"I'd like to see you prove it." Elizaveta growled, taking a dangerous step forward. The trio tossed each other uncertain glances. What was the best thing to do in a situation like this? A hero would surely try to stop them, but Alfred wasn't sure exactly how to go about doing that. After all not even a hero got between a red scarf and a raging bull if he could help it.
"Gilbert that is enough." The sudden intrusion must have shocked Elizaveta as much as it shocked him, because the frowning girls face alit with sudden surprise at the words.
"You're obnoxious and bothering me. Besides that she is correct. Ms. Elizaveta has done nothing to warrant this behavior and it is a horrible thing to do, insulting a young ladylike that." Roderich scolded coldly. "I'm sick of all this fighting already. Antonio and Romano are still at it down there, and you-" he glared pointedly at Alfred. "Were fighting as well until just recently. This nonsense is ridiculous and I'd like an end to it."
"Easier said then done." Soren muttered rolling his eyes.
"He's right." Matthew stepped in nervously. "You can't just ask something like that of people so suddenly! I mean of course I'd like the fighting to stop…" he trailed off and Alfred found himself once again the center of attention. "But it's not fair to just tell people to change! And look at you, you're arguing with Gilbert aren't you? You don't have any place to lecture people."
Alfred felt a proud grin work its way up his mouth. It wasn't like Matthew to speak so freely to people he didn't know. He flicked his eyes sideway to glance at the two quieter members of the conversation. Kiku was standing at the edge of the room, fumbling nervously with his hands and looking like he wanted to say something, and Francis was standing behind them oddly quiet.
"You-" Roderich began to shoot back.
"Hey! Would you wankers shut the bloody hell up?" Alfred grit his teeth at the sudden sound of a severely unwanted voice amongst them. Arthur Kirkland appeared slowly from the staircase, eyes narrowed dangerously and almost immediately meeting his own.
"You're all so loud you didn't even hear the door bell ring. There's a woman downstairs at the door with a tape measure in her hands and she wants the lot of us. Don't know if you noticed but you all have been up here for nearly 20 fucking minutes doing god knows what. Now shut up and get downstairs before I have to drag you there myself!" And without another word (and a final nasty look at Alfred) the small British boy turned on his heels and stormed down the stairs leaving the group in an awestruck silence.