A/N: Okay, chapter 2! Let's hit it!
"She seems nice!" Arthur smiled as they all sat in the office of Arthur's condo after Marjane had to get back to campus.
"Yep!" Alfred nodded, Miguel whistling as he was working on a job-application on the computer. But Yong Soo, who had reverted into Han Soo, shook his head and spoke,
"Yankee, if your life had a face, I would kick its teeth in."
"Yeah…" Alfred hummed, but then he asked, "Wait, what?"
"What Han meant," Yong Soo explained as he got control back, "Is are you really happy or are you really evil?"
"You meant do I got ulterior motives or something?" When the Korean nodded, Alfred scoffed, "I'm shocked!"
"Wounded even?" Yong Soo smiled. But Alfred only pouted before turning towards Miguel and asking,
"So, you thought she was nice?"
"Si, she's nice." Miguel replied, not even looking away from his work as Alfred sighed,
"Yeah…"
Afterwards…
We find Alfred walking to a small apartment, not too far away from Arthur's condo but nowhere near as nice. He struggled to open the rusting blue door before walking inside and shaking the snow off of himself before stating, "Before you hear anything from anybody else: Yes, I am dating a seventeen year-old."
"Hm…" A calm voice laced with a Japanese accent asked, "Is she a cute little loli?"
"Hah hah," Alfred huffed, shoving his jacket into the closet, amongst piles of manga, DVDs, and Japanese candy wrappers. Sitting by the small table, a young Japanese male looked up from the international super-model magazine he was reading and asked,
"Does this mean that we have to stop sleeping together?"
"Does this place look like it can fit another bed?" Alfred asked as he rushed into the bathroom. The black-haired male, Kiku Honda was his name, looked around the small studio apartment and sighed,
"No. I guess this means more invasion of personal space…" Looking around the small living space, we can see that it's covered head to toe in Japanese knick-knacks and anime memorabilia. Hell, the only things that showed that Alfred stayed here was the lame Superman poster on the wall and the dirty clothes on the ground.
"So, the whole seventeen year-old Iranian girl thing," Alfred sighed as he came out of the bathroom, "Don't tell too many people?"
"Alfred-san," Kiku gently put the magazine away in a nice pile, "You know me."
"I mean don't tell my mom." Alfred begged, Kiku pulling a cell-phone out of his pocket as he went into the bathroom,
"You know me.", and shut the door. Alfred could only ask,
"Who are you texting?", before his own cell-phone (nowhere near as cool as Kiku's) rang. He opened it up and answered, not even looking at the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"A seventeen year-old?" A loud, French voice screeched into the phone, "How scandalous can you be? Not even I would go zere!"
"Hi Mom…" Alfred sighed. "Whatever you heard isn't – Who told you?"
'Mom', who was actually Francis Bonnefoy, the on again, off again, lover of Arthur Kirkland, was at work in a café during this time. After he served someone a cup of coffee, he replied,
"Kiku, of course!"
"Damn that gossipy Jap…" Alfred hissed, the bathroom door opening as Kiku stated,
"You know me."
"Damn it Kiku!" Alfred yelled just as the door was closed again.
"So…" Francis hummed, holding the phone against his ear as he prepared an ordered sandwich, "Who is zis mystery girl zat you date?"
"Her name's Marjane Satrapi." Alfred sighed, "She's Iranian." The phone was quiet for a moment before Francis chuckled in disbelief,
"A seventeen year-old, Iranian, college-freshman?"
"It's the Catholic university, too…" Alfred shook his head, Francis nearly choking out and almost cutting his finger,
"You mean – With ze uniform and everything?" Alfred nodded,
"The whole deal…"
"Alfred!" Francis screamed, "This has all ze workings for statutory rape! Please tell me you two haven't—"
"No." Alfred explained, "We've barely held hands…"
"Why!" Francis screamed, "Why are you doing zis?" To which Alfred sighed, sitting down in bed,
"I don't know… It's just… Nice, you know?" Francis sighed, calling someone for their order, before he began again,
"Mon cher… It's been a year since you brutishly broke up with you-know-who," Flashes of concert posters went through both of their minds, "Are you truly over it or are you just being insane?" Alfred was quiet for a moment before he asked,
"Can I get back to ya on that?"
BRIIINNGG!
The next morning found Alfred and Kiku standing out in the cold, snowy grounds outside Marjane's university. "I really do not want to be here, Alfred-san…" Kiku groaned as he shivered in his jacket.
"You know, this school has nice pretty girls from all over the world." Alfred stated, stabbing at Kiku's weakness for girls of all races.
"I hate you…" He whispered. "Even I would have to seek council with my ancestors before dating a seventeen year-old." Alfred chuckled,
"Well, she's only allowed out when the sun is up, so I wouldn't really say dating… More like—"
"Playtime?" Kiku smirked, Alfred frowning,
"That ain't much better."
"No it is not."
"Alfred!" They both turned to see Marjane rushing towards them.
"Hey sweetie!" Alfred smiled, ruffling the girl's hair before stating, "This is Kiku. My unimportant, quiet, Japanese roommate. He's Japanese."
"Oh!" Marjane smiled, "One of my best friends is from Japan! Would you like to meet her?"
"Not necessarily, no…" Kiku replied.
"So, you should probably get going now then…" Alfred hinted, "You know… Shoo…" Kiku smiled before he seized Marjane's hands and said,
"You are too good for him. Run.", before slowly walking away.
"Ready!" A voice on a computer screen announced, two animals (an eagle and a lion) set. "Go!" At that, Alfred and Marjane grabbed two game controllers and began playing the game which had them trying to get each other through a jungle filled with hunters and poachers. While they were playing, Alfred began rambling:
"Did you know… That Superman didn't originally have Kryptonite for a weakness? In the earliest comics and animations, Superman could actually be slowed down by fog or smoke. They of course had to change it because, well, what kind of superhero gets taken down by clouds of smoke, am I right?" ( 1 )
"Wow!" Marjane laughed as they teamed up for a special attack. Just then, their session ran out. For a moment, Marjane stared deep into Alfred's sky-blue eyes. Alfred looked at her too. Before nudging his head towards the game console. "Oh!" Marjane blinked before putting more money in to start a new game.
Going to the mall meant a quick stop by the Golden Dragon Take-Out Restaurant, where the owner, a young Chinese man named Yao, already had Alfred's order ready; which the blonde shared with Marjane as they went into a small clothing store.
"I don't really listen to that much music," She admitted as she looked through the skirts, "I mean, I know kids who play piano and such. But you guys…" She sighed dreamily, 'You guys rock!"
"Why thank ya kindly!" Alfred smiled, "I always knew that I rocked by myself, but it's good to hear that the band does too."
"You guys are going to be huge!" Marjane exclaimed as they went into a CD store. The brunette was looking through all the CDs and posters as Alfred answered,
"Well, we're already kind of big… But it would be nice if more people started wearing our shirts…" Then he sighed, "And by more, I mean any."
"Cool." Marjane nodded before looking through the CDs again. But she didn't see what she was looking for so she called over to the sales associate, "Excuse me? But do you have anything by B^Cubed?" The employee turned around, revealing a face that looked a lot like Alfred's but maybe a bit younger and his blonde hair was longer and wavier. The expression in his amethyst eyes was also a bit annoyed before he adjusted his glasses and asked,
"Have you tried that huge section marked 'B^Cubed'?"
"Thank you Mattie…" Alfred whispered to his twin brother as Marjane went to go look. When she was gone, Matthew blinked and asked,
"Are you coming to my party on Friday? Are will you be too busy…" He glanced over towards Marjane and called out, "Baby-sitting?"
"Thank you Mattie!" Alfred hissed, but he went to catch up with Marjane and spoke, "Don't listen to him." Then he grabbed the CD that Marjane had grabbed, one with four European guys on the cover (two brunettes, two blondes), and tossed it away, "And you really shouldn't listen to them…"
"I love them so much!" Marjane sighed, Alfred returning the sigh,
"Yeah, I loved them too until the main singer turned into a clingy whimp, but hey, that's just me…"
"Toris Laurinaitis is so amazing!" Marjane smiled, "Do you read his blog?"
"I'm sorry, but weren't we talking about me?" Alfred laughed, trying to change the subject.
"I've never gone out with anyone so talented!" Marjane mused as Alfred walked her down the street.
"Oh, you go out a lot?" Alfred asked, Marjane shaking her head,
"No… I've never even been kissed." Alfred stopped for a second before slowly walking over to Marjane, her eyes wide as he leaned down and whispered,
"Come on, give me a hug." She giggled and jumped into his arms before they locked hands and began walking again.
They walked all around the neighborhood before Alfred announced, "And here's where I live!", as they got to his crappy apartment.
"Wow! So this is your 'secret-lair'?" She asked before pleading, "Can I come in? Please?"
"Sorry, but no…" Alfred frowned but, just before Marjane could pout, he offered, "But you can see the place where me and my brother grew up!"
"Oh! That would be cool!"
"Okay then!" Alfred took her hand and turned her around to see the condo where Arthur lived, "There you go!"
"Wow…" She whispered, Alfred doing the same as he checked the time on his phone.
( 1 ) This is actual trivia. In the original Superman animations, his weakness was smoke and polluted air. ... And there goes my last shred of coolness.
Anyway, thanks for reading! If you could leave a review, that would be great too...
-Tyranno's girl.