"What? Y-you mean Ludwig? How did you know it was him?" Gilbert sat bolt upright, Stranger in a Strange Land forgotten on his lap.
"Well, I just, he f-fit the description…remember how you were telling me that you never thought the two of you looked related, so you told me what he looked like?" Matthew tugged his gloves off and dropped them next to the remote.
"Tall? Blond? Muscle-y? Hyper Italian hanging off his arm?" Gilbert absently stuck a bookmark in the Heinlein novel as he put it to the side.
"Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Is muscle-y even a word?" Matthew knocked snow from the bottom of his boots before dropping them into an undignified heap.
"Are you sure it was him?"
"As sure as I can be without walking up and asking him who he is." Matthew sat next to Gilbert, skittishly making sure to put plenty of room between them.
"I thought you said you met him." Gilbert tolerated the distance for a full .5 seconds before he scooted across couch until they were so close their knees touched.
"Kind of. I was at Mosoly, that little café on campus, having coffee with a friend, when he came in with the real estate agent who sold me this house. I didn't recognize Mr. Vargas at first; it'd been awhile since I saw him. Anyway, Professor Honda was there, and he said hi to them, and I heard him say 'Ludwig' and it all just sort of fell into place."
"Honda? Tiny little Japanese guy? Always being followed around by Heracles and Sadiq?" Gilbert shifted uncomfortably for a second before he realized that he was sitting on his book. Rolling his eyes at himself, he dropped it on the floor.
"Yeah. He teaches Japanese at AU. Why? Do you know him?" Matthew could feel the warmth of Gilbert's leg against his, and suddenly wondered why he produced any at all.
"I think so. Ludwig was friends with him." Gilbert leaned back into the couch cushions. "I never really expected Westen to stay here. I mean, I didn't expect his life to just stop because mine did, but I guess I figured he'd move out of the area."
"Vessen?" Matthew was a little confused at the sudden change in topic.
"It's just something I started calling Ludwig when we were little. It means West."
"West?" Matthew let himself relax a bit, glad to be home.
"Yeah. See, when we were little, our parents got divorced. My mom got me in the settlement, and moved to Dresden, in East Germany. Papa won Ludwig, and took him all the way to Kōln. They were basically as far away from each other as geographically possible while staying within the country." Gilbert sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "All four of us met once every six months in Göttingen. I'd always say 'Wir gehen West!', 'We're going West!' and somehow, in my mind, Ludwig became West, so I started calling him Westen. And he was little, right? He wanted to be like his bruder, so I became Osten. It was sweet, you know? Our parents thought we were crazy, but…" Gilbert shrugged. "It was our inside joke."
,,
"How are you going to talk your kids into this?" Ceilí put her hands on her hips as Arthur reached for his phone.
"Eh…" Arthur hadn't actually thought that far ahead.
"Al won't want to, because resurrection spells are forbidden, and 'Heroes never break the rules'. Matt's reason will be basically the same, except minus the 'hero' part. So how are you going to argue your case?" Arthur all of a sudden remembered why his sister was such a successful solicitor.
"Matthew will probably want to bring his…friend back. And Alfred will want to help Matthew?" There hadn't been a question in Arthur's tone when he'd started, but the more he spoke the less plausible his idea had seemed.
"Look, you need Alfred to do the match, and Matthew for the summoning, both of which are key components in the spell. You're going to have to come up with something a hell of a lot better than that."
"Just drag them out here the day before we do the spell, get everything set up, and don't explain until the last minute." Bhaltair suggested.
"But what about Gilbert? He's the most necessary aspect of the spell, and he's probably bound to the house." Arthur swished the whiskey in his glass absently.
"Then we have to go to him. Show up the day before the spell, etcetera." Bhaltair nodded, as if his plan was the best they could come up with.
,,
Matthew groaned quietly as he rolled over to glare at his ringing phone. He recognized the ringtone, a song from a dramatic French musical. With a muttered curse, he felt around until he managed to locate the annoying device. "Bonjour, Maman," he mumbled, fighting back a yawn.
Gilbert leaned against the wall, listening to Matthew's side of the conversation. He perked up slightly when he heard his own name, and suddenly began wishing that he'd paid more attention when Francis had attempted to teach him French.
There was more soft speech, and then: "Hey, Gilbert, what time is it? I can't see the clock without my glasses."
Gilbert spared the faintly glowing numbers barely a glance. "Mitternacht." Silence, in which Matthew stared blankly at Gilbert. "Uh, midnight," he corrected.
There was a bit more conversation, before finally Matthew said, in the sweetest voice possible, "Au revoir, Maman," and hung up. "I love her, really I do, but that woman would talk the ear off anything that would hold still long enough."
"I'm just gonna have to take your word for it." Gilbert ambled over to Matthew's bed. "I couldn't understand a word of that," he added, dropping down next to Matthew.
"I could teach you, if you wanted." Matthew offered.
"Nah, it's hard for me to learn new languages. The only reason I speak English as well as I do is because it would have been really hard to take classes in a language I didn't know. Also, Ludwig and I had a deal: if we could both learn English before our sixteenth birthdays, I'd take him with me."
"Take him? Where?" Matthew moved to the side, to make room for Gilbert, should he want it.
"Here. I started going to Atlas U on scholarship, and switched out my student visa for citizenship as soon as I could. I brought Westen over as soon as he was old enough, because staying with me was a more appealing option than staying at home." Gilbert sat next to Matthew and maneuvered himself under the blankets.
"Oh. I don't think I could ever live with Alfred again." Matthew let himself be pulled against Gilbert's side, and ordered himself not to blush.
"Yeah, we fought a lot. Luddy's such a neat freak, and I'm, well, not." Gilbert slid lower on the bed, dragging Matthew with him, until they were both reclining rather than leaning against the headboard.
"I've noticed." Matthew said dryly.
"Aw, come on, I'm not that bad!" Gilbert protested, tossing an arm across Matthew's stomach.
"Not as bad as Al." Matthew conceded.
"Quit making fun of my housekeeping skills—"
"—lack thereof—"
"—and go back to sleep." Gilbert reached over Matthew to turn the lamp off.
"Fine, fi-i-i-ine…" Matthew yawned as he spoke. Gilbert grinned cockily.
Matthew rolled his eyes, and started to press his lips to Gilbert's cheek. Gilbert turned slightly and caught his mouth. Matthew hummed quietly in the back of his throat as he returned the kiss.
,,
"Hey, Antonio!" Lovino barked. Antonio turned to look at him.
"¿Sí?" Antonio smiled blithely.
"Are you…are you going again this year?" Lovino scuffed the toe of his shoe against the floor, suddenly finding the process quite interesting.
"I have to. You know that, Lovi." Antonio hugged Lovino close to him, and rested his chin on his lover's shoulder. "Francis is going, and I can't let him go alone. You know how he gets."
"Che. Whatever, bastard." But Lovino returned the embrace.
"Gracias, Lovi." Antonio buried his nose in Lovino's hair, and inhaled the sweet, warm, scent.
"Prego. Bastardo." Lovino muttered, pretending he wasn't pleased by the prolonged contact.
Antonio just smiled.
,,
"Jeanne…I won't be coming over tomorrow." Francis absently stroked Jeanne's hair.
"I know. Take care of Antoine, all right? He can't hold his liquor." Jeanne shifted, damp sheets sticking to her bare skin.
"I will. We'll probably be out all night."
"You mean like you were last year? And the one before that? And every year since the two of you started doing this?" Jeanne teased lightly, poking Francis' naked stomach.
"We're predictable, I get it, so stop jabbing me so hard." Francis swatted her hand away, carefully aiming it to land lower on his body. She ignored its new position, to Francis' dismay. "But…this is the first time someone has been living there this time of year. Feli was always nice enough, but I wonder if the new people will let us in…"
,,
"Come up with anything better yet, Artur?" Ceilí arched an eyebrow, though it didn't have near the same effect as Arthur making the same expression.
"Er…I was thinking of using Bhaltair's idea, actually…" Arthur fidgeted under his sister's gaze.
"I suppose it'll work. Does Matthew have the right kind of environment at his house?" Ceilí absently brushed her hair out of her face.
"He does. His backyard will work, and Bhaltair can put up a barrier to keep his neighbors out." Arthur ran through his mind the necessary elements to the spell, listing both things he already had, and the things he would need to acquire.
,,
Um, okay. It's done now. Here you go. I-I don't really like the way it turned out…but I hope you guys do!
¿Sí?-Yes? (Spanish)
Gracias-thank you (Spanish)
Prego. Bastardo-You're welcome. Bastard (Italian)
Mosoly-Smile (Hungarian)
I'm sorry if any of the kissing scenes or the like seem awkward. See, I've never really been kissed. Yeah. It's, it's sad. Now you're thinking, 'what is she, twelve?' aren't you? Well, no. I'm in high school. Never skipped/failed a grade. I won't say what year, I'm too paranoid. I do not own Stranger in a Strange Land, but I do own a copy of it.
I didn't notice until I was writing this chapter, but the abbreviation for Atlas University (the college Mattie's going to) is AU.
I have a Spanish final coming up soon…¡Estoy muy nerviosa! ¡Necesito estudiar mucho!
I didn't have the time to proof this as much as I'd like to, but I'm kinda in a hurry. I might fix and re-upload this later, but for now, please don't hesitate to point out anything you might notice!
Okay, so Ayla The Librarian corrected my Italian, so here's the corrected version!