"C'mon Nikki—"

"Don't call me that." Mathias could picture Nikolai's flat expression.

"Just for a little while?" Mathias pleaded over the phone.

"I have class." There was the sound of someone talking in the background, and Nikolai answering quietly.

"You can come over after class!"

"I'll have homework." Nikolai pointed out. "And I plan on doing it."

"I'll help you! You've got a history class this semester, right? And you told me yesterday that you were learning about Nordic history. You know I'm an expert at stuff like that!" Mathias yelled. Peter scowled and adjusted his earbuds.

As much as it pained him to admit it, Mathias was right, he was much better at Nordic history than Nikolai. "I suppose I could come over for a little while. But weren't you evicted? Where are you staying?"

Mathias pulled a face. "With Berwald. His little boy-toy didn't want me to, but he talked him into it. And apparently they've adopted some brat since I last saw them. He's this little British kid named Peter. A complete asshole."

"I can hear you, you idiot." Peter snapped over his shoulder.

"Good. Anyway, you're really gonna come over?" Nikolai could hear the excitement in Mathias' voice, and could practically see his grinning face.

"I said I would. Idiot," he added for good measure.

"Don't be like that, Nikki!" Mathias continued speaking over Nikolai's protests. "It's not nice to call your boyfriend an idiot!"

"You are not my boyfriend. And you are an idiot." With that, Nikolai hung up.

,,

"…Y-you're what? On such short notice?...Dad, I'm not sure that's a good idea…Al's coming too?" Gilbert listened boredly as Matthew spoke with his father. "…But why? You've never shown any interest in visiting before." Gilbert perked up a bit. Visiting? "…is Maman coming?...Okay…She is? Is she alright?...Oh…Tell her I said hi…Yeah, Al too…Bye Dad…Yeah…See you in a few hours…Uh-huh…Good-bye, Dad." Matthew sighed as he snapped his phone shut.

"What was that all about?" Gilbert asked, looking up from his absent fiddling with a thread sticking off of his shirt.

"Well, Maman's in the hospital. She fainted, and hit her head on the way down, but she's okay."

"You said something about visiting." Gilbert pointed out.

"Ah, yeah. Apparently Dad and Al are coming over. Today." Matthew slid his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose. "And they don't know how long they're going to be staying."

"Can't your brother see ghosts?" Gilbert wasn't sure if he should be worried or excited.

"Yeah…" Neither was Matthew.

,,

"Nikki! I can't believe you actually came!" Mathias crowed, picking Nikolai up and spinning him around.

"P-put me down!" Nikolai yelped, in a rather undignified manner.

"But Nikki! You're really here!" Mathias squealed, still holding Nikolai off the floor and pressed against his chest.

"Mmph!"

"Sorry." Mathias set Nikolai down more gently than was expected, but not before pressing an inconspicuous kiss to the top of his head.

Nikolai sighed, and glanced out the window. He noticed an extremely pale man with white hair lounging on the front porch of the house next door. Nikolai frowned. Something about the man seemed off, and it wasn't his albinism. "Mathias. Who lives there?" He nodded toward the house with the albino.

"A blond guy with a dog. I think it's a dog. That's the only thing it could be, 'cause if that isn't what it is, then it's a bear." Mathias grinned down at Nikolai.

"Does he live alone?"

"Yeah, as far as I know. He's the only one I've ever seen over there." Mathias played with Nikolai's hair, which Nikolai resolutely ignored.

"I see." He looked back at albino. I suppose he's a spirit, then. I wonder if the owner knows about him. His question was answered when a slender blond man opened the door and looked down at the ghost. They appeared to converse for a moment before the spirit stood and followed the man back inside.

"C'mon Nikki! Let's do something fun!"

Nikolai then decided two things: 1) getting Mathias to stop calling him Nikki was a lost cause, and 2) Mathias' definition of 'fun' was probably going to involve something very perverted, very stupid, or very, very both.

,,

"Why do I have to come inside? It's nice out today." Gilbert whined.

"You're going to help me clean." Matthew informed him.

"Says who?"

"Says the person who hasn't called an exorcist to get rid of you." Matthew replied, tying a bandana over his hair and donning a pair of rubber gloves.

"Ouch. That's harsh, Mattie." Gilbert pulled out the cleaning supplies from under the sink.

Matthew smirked. "Bon garçon."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Damnit! They can't be here already, can they?" Still cursing in a colorful combination of French and English, Matthew made his way to the door.

"Hello?" Matthew was honestly a bit confused by the man standing on his doorstep. He was slight, and pale, with blond hair parted to the side and a cross-shaped clip holding it in place.

"Hello. I noticed the…the person sitting on your porch earlier. I would advise you against associating with his kind." With that, he turned and left.

"Well, that was strange." Matthew commented. "Was he talking about Gilbert? He must have been, he's the only one who's ever sitting on my porch. But he couldn't have been! Could he have…? But then that would mean that he can see…But he couldn't have been!"

"Who couldn't have been what?" Gilbert asked, walking up behind Matthew and putting his chin on his shoulder. Matthew jumped at the unexpected contact.

"Nothing, nothing. Come on, we need to clean."

Gilbert frowned. "It's not nothing. What gives?"

"Forget about it, Gilbert. Let's start in the living room. Why don't you go get the vacuum?"

"Matthew, don't change the subject. You looked like you were on the verge of a major freak-out. I get that some things aren't my business, if they aren't just tell me, and I'll back off. But when you just flat-out refuse to tell me something, it makes me wo—kinda paranoid, you know?" Gilbert nearly kicked himself, but Matthew hadn't seemed to notice his slight slip of the tongue.

"I'm sorry, it's ju—"

BANG. BANG. BANG.

"The Hero has arrived!"

"Stop yelling, git!"

..

Maman means 'mom' in French. I think the idea of someone, anyone, calling Tino someone's 'boy toy' is hilarious.
Bon garçon- good boy.
I think that's everything. If you have any questions, or if I forgot to translate something, give me heads up! …I can't believe I'm updating twice in one day…Equilibrium out!