Chapter Song: Undeclared - The Dodos ( watch?v=qcSGX4tjxec)
Chapter 3: Undeclared
Looking up at the familiar building, Arthur sighed, breathing in the homily atmosphere it emitted. From inside Arthur could hear the sounds of many voices, laughing and shouting, as well as the sound of feet thudding on wood boards and pots clattering on a stove. Outside a middle aged man sat under the overhang of the house's roof where it extended out into a blacksmith's workspace. He was bent over an anvil, bluntly mashing the glowing end of some metal implement into shape with a metallic pang every few seconds. Arthur was sure the man was far too absorbed in his work to notice him approaching but he surprised him by sitting up and setting the hammer aside, lifting his metal eye protector up onto his forehead to see Arthur properly. He grinned wearily at the boy, his eyes crinkling at the edges. His face was rugged and lined and he had a strong jaw line, a light layer of salt and pepper stubble dusting the lower half of his face.
"Hello, Mr. Carriedo," Arthur tried to return the smile, knowing his could never be as welcoming or warm.
"Arthur," He took on a false stern expression, his golden eyes still echoing with his wide smile and giving him away, "I've known you for almost two years now and I've been telling you for just as long: call me Juan."
Arthur smiled sheepishly, "Ah, of course, I always forget, Mr.-...Juan, I mean."
The warm grin returned to the man's face, "Antonio's still inside, son, things are a bit hectic this morning with Market day n'all and... well, you know how it is."
Arthur nodded gratefully and circled round to where the front door was located as the familiar sizzle and pang of the molten metal being shaped resumed once again.
"-And Arthur," the man's voice rose up over the clanging momentarily," I almost forgot, happy birthday."
"Thank you, sir," Arthur let himself crack a smile, constantly forgetting this fact himself. Maybe it was ridiculous, to be so cheered on by the fact that today was his birthday when there were so many other pressing worries at hand, but it was a useless indulgence he allowed himself.
Climbing the three or four steps to the risen wooden porch of the house Arthur heard the bustling noises from inside swell. He tapped on the wood of the door hesitantly, almost hating to interrupt the pleasant chaos of the Carriedo household.
The door was pulled open with a creak and the sound of laughter and the smell of bread toasting hit him as it did so. Eduard, one of the younger Carriedo children stood in the doorway, looking up at Arthur and sucking on a bent out of shape teaspoon.
"Toni!" he bellowed," S'Arthur at the door!"
Leaving the door gaping open, the youngster wandered off back into the house, Arthur hearing him shout vaguely that they save him some breakfast and stop eating all the bread.
Arthur allowed the smile to play on his lips as he walked inside, closing the front door behind him.
Mrs. Carriedo was at the table, slicing up a single loaf of bread to be toasted over the fire, Eduard and Finn leaning in to claim the biggest slices for themselves. A young child and the only daughter of the Carriedo's was gurgling in a wooden baby's seat beside them, laughing gleefully at the noisy activities. Karlos, eighteen and the eldest Carriedo child, hurried through the room on his way out of the house, grabbing a slice off the table before his mother could slap him away, ignoring Eduard and Finn's indignant claims that he had taken the biggest one. Sophia Carriedo, the mother of all these children, looked up from the loaf to smile at him warmly. Wiping her hands on her dirtied cotton apron she came around the table to give the boy a motherly hug.
"Ah, and how are you on your birthday, my sweet turnip?" She was one of the few people he could tolerate calling him the pet name.
"I am very well, thank you." Arthur smiled at her politely as he spoke, for it was true. That morning, he was fine. He had food in his pocket - an immense rarity for many in the village, the pale sun streaming against him through the window and the warm feeling of the day being his own settled in his chest.
He liked Sophia. She was hard-working and she had taken Arthur under her wing from the very beginning, claiming that he was 'just lovely!' and 'much better mannered than any of her boys!'. It wasn't true of course, and he didn't like her because she flattered him (that only made him feel embarrassed) but because she always wore a smile, even when everyone else looked ready to give up.
At that moment, Antonio himself strolled into the kitchen, a grin on his face and his hunting pack already slung over his back.
"Turnip~!" he exclaimed upon seeing Arthur, winking because he knew how irritated it made his best friend when he called him that.
Arthur scowled in distaste and then, as usual, softened.
Arthur and Antonio had been friends almost as long as Arthur had been a Kattleroot citizen. Arthur couldn't really remember a time without him or his delightfully rambunctious family there. Antonio was older than Arthur at fifteen. He would be sixteen in only a few months, although honestly he looked as if he could be pushing seventeen or even eighteen years of age. He was tall and well built up from years of helping his father in the blacksmith's or his mother with her cows out back. His shirt sat taut across him with the promise muscle in places where Arthur's merely hung. His hair shone healthily in the morning light. Arthur thought bitterly of his own messy cut and his fruitless attempts at arranging it that morning. Antonio was tanned too, both naturally and from the sun, despite its growing absence in the winter. Antonio had the kind of Farming Region look about him, the tan, the soft features and defined jaw line. His only differing feature being his eyes, which rather than the trademark gold-brown of many of the villagers dwelling surrounding the capital, were green like Arthur's. His, however, more close to a Hazel shade. Antonio's eyes were extremely captivating, so captivating in fact that Arthur frequently had to catch himself from staring at them for too long. Like now, for example.
Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly, and looked out the window rather than at his seemingly perfect friend.
"Hey…"
Antonio grinned and leaned over him to take a piece of bread from where his mother was still slicing, only laughing good-naturedly at the tutting noise she made as he did so. Arthur held his breath as he grazed past him, body tensing though his gaze remained averted.
"When are you planning to head down to town for Market, ma?" Antonio asked her, chewing on the stodgy piece of bread and oblivious to the fact that his best friend had morphed into a statue beside him.
Mrs. Carriedo glanced at the old clock on the wall in the kitchen and clucked her teeth at the time.
"Very soon, I hope." She began to slice at a much faster pace.
"M'kay, well get me some of that capital jam, if they have it?" Toni looked at her hopefully, wondering if he was pushing his luck.
"Capital jam!- listen here, my boy," she began, waving her knife at him as she spoke," do you have any idea how much they sell that stuff for? We couldn't even afford capital dirt, let alone jam!"
"Awh, but ma! I love that jam! It won't be Market day for a whole 'nother month!" He kept pushing but he knew he asked too much. Perhaps pretending was his own way of blocking out the obvious impossibility of his family affording capital anything.
"Well, you'll have to wait! Anyhow, what's wrong with Mrs. Figgins' home made jam?"
Antonio wrinkled his nose, "With respect to Mrs. Figgins ma. Her jam smells like feet. As does she to be honest."
Finn let out a loud snort of laughter, earning himself a disapproving glare from Sophia.
"Well, you can dream on Toni if you think I'm forking out for any of your fancy capital jam today! Feet or no feet!" She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, surveying him stubbornly.
Antonio held up his hands defensively, trying to hide his grin.
"Okay, ma! Okay! But you know, I just thought as it's Arthur's birthday and all..." Antonio smiled deviously, knowing just how to get to his mother and Arthur simultaneously.
"What? Oh no, Toni! Don't go dragging me into this! I expect no such thing!" Arthur was now holding his hands up in the same kind of defensive surrender as Antonio.
"Oh, don't you go using Arthur against me!" Sophia finished slicing, much to Finn and Eduard's delight, the two boys bounding to the fire to toast their spoils, "You know I could never say no to that boy!"
Antonio laughed, "Yeah, yeah ma, I know, 'the son you never had' and all that...we've heard it all before."
Arthur flushed and looked to his friend in protest but Antonio only grinned in amusement as his mother shook her head at her second eldest son.
"Look now, you've gone and embarrassed the poor child!"
Arthur felt his cheeks heat up further now that an even greater degree of attention had been drawn to him. Antonio chuckled, patting Arthur on the back.
"It's okay," He said to his mother in a mock whisper, "he knows he's your favourite!"'
"Toni!" His mother despaired, but she had finally cracked a weary smile.
At Antonio's carefree laughter Arthur couldn't help but feel himself begin to smirk too, it was frighteningly easy to find laughter in the Carriedo household. No matter how hard times were or how downtrodden you felt. Arthur was sure this was why he liked spending time there so much. Although in his mind he knew they had plenty of times when the laughter stopped. When they hadn't eaten properly in days or one of Antonio's brothers was sick and Mr. Carriedo out front's grimace would be much deeper set than usual as he pounded at the anvil in what Arthur could only imagine as heartfelt frustration.
"Oh, out of here, both of you! Or I'll never make it to the market!" She shooed them off, still smiling despite herself, " -and for heaven's sake do be careful out in that wood!"
The two boys bundled out the front door with laughing assurances that they'd be fine and a brief 'love you, ma!' from Antonio as they left the house.
"We should get to it then," Arthur glanced at Antonio in false annoyance, unable to hide his slight smirk, "we've already missed all the best game because somebody can't wake up on time."
"Hey, hey, hey! Let's not point fingers!" Antonio crossed his arms, gazing at Arthur in shocked amusement. "You were pretty late yourself, I noticed."
Arthur just gave an exaggerated shrug. Rolling his eyes with a slightly guilty look he turned to begin towards the forest.
"Hey, wait," He felt Antonio's hand on his arm and turned to face him, a questioning look on his face. His friend was smiling down at him (a gesture which only reminded him of how painfully short he still was) his Hazel green eyes crinkling at the edges the way his father's did. He couldn't stop the small spark which seemed to travel from the place where he touched his arm to the pit of his gut, the sudden flush which hit his cheeks, merely to be touched by him. Stupid.
"I have something for you first."
Arthur blinked. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. He hadn't really been expecting anything at all. The thought that Toni had got him a gift and the ominous way in which he illustrated it made Arthur's stomach shift a bit in anticipation or excitement or both.
Antonio kept hold of Arthur's arm as he led him round the side of his house to his father's indoor workroom. His palm was warm against Arthur's skin and it seemed to heat up where he touched him, more sensitive in the places their skin brushed against each others. Arthur longed for the hot feeling in his cheeks to subside, afraid the older boy would noticed how flustered he'd made him. Antonio let go as they entered the room, going behind the work bench to root around in a cupboard underneath. Arthur was both relieved and disappointed.
He waited with baited breath, though he tried his best to act uninterested – it was difficult to keep from shifting restlessly from foot to foot. Getting a gift felt both exhilarating and unnecessary all at once. How can people give gifts in time like these? And yet...he really wanted to know what it was. His mind was blank to what the thing could be; his only indication of it was of Antonio's rummaging in the work cupboard, cursing when something fell out of place.
Finally Antonio rose again and Arthur's breath hitched in his throat at the object the older boy held carefully in his hands. His friend grinned, offering it out for him to take. Arthur couldn't keep up his nonchalant façade any longer.
"Toni, you...-I mean, I couldn't... You shouldn't have," despite his mumbled objections, Arthur found himself taking the object into his own anxious hands.
It was beautiful. He ran his fingers along the smooth wood of the weapon and couldn't prevent the small sigh of amazement from escaping his mouth. It was sculpted from soft wood and painfully neat - detailed even in places. Made from a mixture of wood and metal, it felt perfect under his fingers as he flexed them around the handle, testing pulling back the waxy string.
He'd been desperate for a new bow for ages.
"I figured you couldn't keep borrowing Karlos' old one anymore - it's no good." Antonio spoke, enjoying the look of wonderment on Arthur's face. "So a few months back I started making this. I got help of course; pa did all the metal for me."
Arthur could only look at his friend with an amazed expression as he stroked the bow. He was unable to find the correct words to say.
"There's this too," Antonio continued speaking, reaching behind him and pulling out a sheath of arrows with a leather body strap. "This is actually an old one, but I got ma to sew your name in it here. You see?"
Arthur took in both the bow and the leather quiver; setting them down carefully on the desk he turned his attention to Antonio at last.
"You didn't have to go to all this trouble, you twit." Arthur tried look at him seriously although his mouth wanted to break into a great grin. Placing a hand in the space between his friend's chest and his shoulder he pushed him lightly in some effort to scold him for the work he'd gone to.
Antonio broke into an easy grin, "You like it?"
Arthur let out a breathy laugh, allowing himself to finally smile, "It's the best thing anyone's ever given me."
"Awh, c'mere turnip!" Toni laughed again, the warm sound tumbling freely from his mouth as he pulled Arthur into a rough hug.
Arthur let himself be hugged, both liking and despising the way Toni seemed to engulf his smaller form.
"We should go test it out, huh?" His friend pulled away, his eyes bright.
"Yeah, and you'll definitely have trouble keeping up with my kill count now," Arthur smirked cockily at him, the easy competition between them something they'd grown used to and fond of those past two years.
"Oh ho, not likely, squirt!" Antonio grinned, lifting his own bow onto his back. Arthur elbowed him, despising this pet name far more than turnip.
"You want to bet?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, slinging the sheath of arrows over his shoulder.
"You're right, I wanna bet!" Antonio grinned as they left the workroom. "Loser has to gut and clean all the others spoils, Kay?"
"Deal," Arthur agreed.
They never really bargained with money, or even food. They were both much too scarce and valuable to play around with. Also there was the simple reason that neither of them had either of these things in high abundance themselves to gamble with. The competition was good though: it made them work harder and if they killed more, they would eat more, their families would eat more - sell more, earn more, live better. They were both skilled hunters anyway, why not up the stakes? Anyway, behind this playful facade it was easy to shroud the real reason for them going out to hunt and how much relied on them bringing something home. Bringing anything home.
They set off down the less well trodden path to the forest side by side, the fresh morning breeze whipping at their hair and clothes.
"Maybe I shoulda made you an apron for your birthday huh, Art?" Antonio was still smirking mischievously beside him, "gutting's messy work!"
"Shut it, Toni! I'm not going to lose!" Arthur shoved his laughing friend in the shoulder.
"Alright then, Art, if you're so confident," Antonio broke into a grin and Arthur barely had a second to consider what he was up to before his friend tore off down the track, "Race you there!"
Arthur watched his friend running ahead of him with a look of disbelief, a sharp laugh escaping his throat, "Hey! That's not fair!"
He broke into a run himself, following the sound of Antonio's echoing laughter towards the trees, his new bow bumping against his back and a strange smile on his face, taking refuge in this ability to escape to the woods with his best friend and leave behind the complications of everyday life. If only for that one moment.
Who knew how many more moments like that he had left?
A/N
Ah, sweet, smitten Arthur...
For those interested - Alfred will return in the next chapter!
Thanks for reading!
