"This's my room."
Matthew looked up at the unexpected announcement. "Really?"
"Yup. I mean, it was my room, but I don't sleep anymore, so I guess it'll be okay for you to use it." Gilbert gestured around the empty space. "I had my bed over here, and my TV there, and my shoes were always in a pile right there, and, well, I think you get the picture." He smiled crookedly.
"Yeah." Matthew laughed softly. Gilbert realized that he liked the sound. "Give me a hand?" Matthew indicated the bed frame leaning against the wall and the mattress next to it.
"Sure."
,,
"Ve~! I can't believe that someone is moving into the house right next door to the one I just sold!" Feliciano smiled at his husband. "It's so strange!"
"Hm." Ludwig continued washing the dishes.
"I sold the first one to-to…whoever he was, he was very polite! And then right after that, not even a week later, a man with a very heavy accent bought the house right beside it!"
Ludwig didn't comment on the fact that, due to the combination of his quick speech and his Italian accent, some people had a hard time understanding Feliciano himself.
"Mr. Oxenstierna was very tall! It was scary, ve~! But Mr. Väinämöinen was so nice! He let me pet his doggy! It has a funny name, though. He says his Japanese friend told him that it means 'flower egg'…" Feliciano continued rambling. Ludwig put the last of the dishes away.
,,
"It's so nice here! What do you think, Berwald?" Tino grinned up at the taller man, Hanatamago wriggling in his arms.
"Mm." Berwald wanted to tell Tino that he was glad he liked it, but that would be sort of embarrassing to say.
"I don't get why I have to switch schools! We didn't move that far…" Peter grumbled over his GameBoy.
"Maybe not, but we did move into another school district. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll make new friends quickly." Tino assured the sulking boy.
"Whatever. I liked my old friends, but I guess I won't get to see them now, huh?" Peter sneered.
"P't'r." Berwald rumbled warningly.
"It's all right, he's just a little upset. He'll get over it and be happy eventually." Tino dropped his voice slightly to avoid Peter overhearing.
"I mean, now I'm gonna have to get used to this new place, and the new people, and the new school, and—"
"Peter, it's really not that bad. When I was only a few years older than you I moved to Georgia from Finland. Can you imagine how hard that was? A new culture, new customs, and a language I barely spoke. You could have moved to a new country rather than just a new neighborhood." Tino put his hands on his hips. Peter refused to look him in the eye. Berwald just smiled slightly as he remembered the first time he had met Tino, just two foreign kids trying to fit into an American school.
,,
"Hey, Matt? Were you expecting another moving van?" Gilbert queried, leaning in the windowsill. "'Cause if you are, it's pulling into the wrong driveway."
"Maybe someone's moving in over there." Matthew continued sorting his belongings as he put them away, wishing he had had the foresight to do so when he packed them.
"Probably. Looks like some blond guy. Two blond guys. And a blond kid. With a dog." Gilbert grinned when he saw the little white fluff ball.
"They have a dog? I hope it gets along with Kumahula." As if hearing his name, Kumajirou wandered up the stairs.
"Who?"
"Matthew." He barely noticed when he answered.
"Th-the fuck! It talks!" Gilbert jerked up and back, and his head smacked into the ceiling.
"Huh? You mean Kumalucy? Of course he talks; he's a Spirit Animal." Matthew absently stroked Kumajirou's head.
"Spirit animal?" Gilbert gazed at the beast suspiciously, remaining at the relatively safe level of the ceiling.
"Mm-hm. Almost everyone in my family has at least one. My brother, Alfred, has a, well, I'm not entirely sure what it is. Al claims it's an alien. Whatever he is, his name's Mr. Tony. Dad has a bunch, though. Alfred and I can't see all of them, either. But some of the one's I can't see, Al can, and vice versa, so we figure it's a selective thing and Dad isn't just crazy." Matthew frowned at some unknown object he had extricated from a box. It was wrinkled and crumpled. After a moment, he realized that it was a t-shirt. That must have been one of the boxes Al helped me pack.
"…so you believe in spirit animals and aliens, but not ghosts?" Gilbert slowly lowered a few feet, waiting to see if Kumajirou looked like he was going to attack.
"Well, yeah. I mean, I'd had contact with both Spirit Animals and aliens for as long as I can remember. I'd never seen a ghost before, so I had no reason to think that they existed."
"I guess that makes sense, but didn't you say something about Alfred when you first saw me? Something about how he wasn't just crazy?" Gilbert tentatively returned his feet to the ground and held out his hand for Kumajirou to inspect.
"Al's always claimed to be able to see ghosts. I never had, and Dad never said anything about it, so I assumed he was making it up to get attention." Matthew watched Kuma sniff at Gilbert's hand before nodding affirmatively, only to crawl onto Matthew's bed, curl up and go to sleep.
"What about your mom?" Gilbert scowled at Kumajirou. First it scares the hell out of, and now it's ignoring me?
"Mom never had a Spirit Animal. Makes sense, all that kind of stuff is more Dad's side of the family. Actually, you might have heard of Mom, or at least heard her name. She's Francine Bonefoy. Like the Bonefoy Hotels."
"That's your mom? Damn. She's hot. But the fact that your Mom's a Bonefoy isn't all that important to me. One of my two best friends was Francis Bonefoy, her cousin. Biggest sex-addict I ever met, too." Gilbert grinned at the memories of Francis' sexploits, the details of which he never failed to share.
..
Yes, I did just include France and fem!France in the same story. 'Cause I'm awesome like that. And yes, Francine is vaguely (very vaguely) based on Paris Hilton. I don't know why, so don't bother asking. Anyway, in this Peter is about 12, and Tino moved when he was 17, Berwald at 18. I moved just over a year ago, completely against my will. I didn't move very far, only to another city, but it still broke my heart. But enough with the sob story! My friend Tara came over to my house today. It was so much fun! I thought it might be awkward, at least at first, because I hardly ever (read: never) have people over. But it really wasn't, for which I thank every deity known to man. This is a little off topic (we had a topic?) but the other day, Tara and I were discussing various people we know, and she said, "I know someone who's African, and someone who's Irish! My mom's African, and my dad's Irish!" I met her mom today, and she has the most gorgeous accent! Readers of Alphabet Soup already know I have something of a fascination with accents of any kind. I think she said her mom was…Tanzian? That sounds right…anyway, ChiCho out!
PS: Thanks to everyone who reviewed/subscribed/favorite! I think this's the fastest response to any story I've ever posted! You guys are awesome! I love you all!