Arthur's POV
The words rushed out. I didn't mean to say that. Who was I kidding? I wanted to share a bed with Alfred ever since he mentioned it. I just hadn't meant to be rude about it. Alfred probably thought that I was some creep now. I didn't want that. I wanted him to like me, like I liked him We had only officially known each other for about a day, but talking over the shell I had grown to like Alfred, and was afraid to admit it, but I think that I might more than like him.
I heard something clatter behind me and turned to see pans on the floor and Gilbert hugging a surprised Matthew. "Do you guys want anything to eat?" Matthew squeaked out, visibly trying to ignore the Gilbert stuck onto his back. "I can make something, if you want." Him mentioning food reminded me that I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon and was rather famished. Apparently everyone else felt the same way, if all the head nods were anything to go by. Matt picked up a pan from the place on the floor they had been knocked to and began mixing something up. He poured it in the pan in small circles and eventually flipped them. About 20 minutes later, there was a HUGE heap of the circles sitting there.
All while Matthew was doing this, Alfred was grinning. He looked like a kid that just got a puppy. When the plating was getting done, Alfred reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bottle holding it like some kind of sacred item. He opened it and poured it all over the plates of circles, then handed a plate to each and every one of us.
"You, my friends have just received the wonderful delicacy that is pancakes. They are Matt's specialty." So these were the legendary pancakes that I had heard so much about. The way he had spoken about them, they had to be delicious. I waited as both Gilbert and Francis took a tentative bite and seemed to enjoy it. I tried it and it was amazing. It was plain but really good. I ate the rest, though in a slightly more gentlemanly manner than some of my companions. *cough* Gilbert and Alfred *cough*
"Those were awesome! Like they were really almost as awesome as me!" Gilbert had said it. It had been in a really rude manner, but he was right. Francis nodded and proceeded in saying something that I ignored, because I didn't want to listen to him. The dumb frog could get annoying, especially when he was right.
"What did you think, Artie?" Alfred had asked me what I thought. It had been an innocent question. Why did he have to make that face when he asked it though? He looked childish and pleading. What I didn't understand was why. My answer couldn't mean that much. Still though, he was wearing a puppy dog face.
"Those were delicious." Alfred laughed.
"Dude, I knew you would say that. When you ate them your face lit up. Mattie sure is a good cook, right. We practically live off those." So it wasn't a pleading look. Alfred was trying not to laugh. He was working so hard at it that his eyes watered up and sparkled. And here I thought that he just really wanted me to like what he liked.
"I'm sort of tired. Can we turn out for the night and continue this in the morning?" I was beginning to feel heavy on my feet. I could seriously pass out at any given moment. With my statement an extra wave of fatigue ran over me and I was only standing because of something bracing my sides. Whatever was holding me led me to the bedroom, and I quickly got comfortable. The last thing I remember before the flowers of Veneciano's world was Gilbert telling Matthew that he wasn't tired and wouldn't be unless Matt would let himself be used like a teddy bear.
I was back inside the shell. The flowers had grown tall, and many reached up to my knees. I heard laughter behind me and turned to meet Veneciano. He ran up and hugged me, small arms reaching around my waist.
"Arthur! I missed you. Are you working hard to find Romanche? I can't wait to see him again! I know that you'll be able to get us together again." It was nice to see that he still had faith in me. The inspiration that he was giving me was sure to make me more powerful in the magical arts.
"You will no doubt be with Romanche soon. My friend is even keeping him company, so you don't have to worry about him being alone." I smiled at you Veneciano, picking him up and placing him on my shoulders. I scanned the area seeing the bright flowers and blue sky. "Soon, you and Romanche will stand together under this blue sky. Just imagine it." Veneciano giggled from atop my shoulders.
"I can't wait. Promise that you will hurry Arthur. I really miss him!" I placed Veneciano down and handed him a flower.
"I promise, on this flower, that you will be together again with your Romanche very soon. Promises made on things as pretty as that flower can never be broken. Its magic." His eyes widened.
"Really?" I nodded. Then, I watched as he went to play in the tall flowers. He looked so peaceful. Despite what I just promised though, new doubts had arisen on my mind. Fixing the shell would mean saying goodbye to Alfred, and I didn't think I was strong enough to do that. The thought scared me. What if I couldn't handle life without him. I know that it was strange and I had only known him for a little while, but life was hard to picture without his hero complex and extreme fear of horror movies. I was worried.
I left the dream world of flowers and awoke in the middle of the night. An arm was wrapped around me and caused an immediate freak out. Alfred woke up, and I remembered the situation. We were sharing a bed because I wanted to sleep with him-I mean I was worried about him hurting himself sleeping on the couch. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." I really was. He seemed to be sleeping well and I also wanted to keep his arm around me. It was warm.
"Its all right. Sometimes that happens. Do you need anything, like water or something?" He was sweet even when he sounded so sleepy. I declined his offer anyway. How could I burden him when I had so rudely woken him up? "Alright then." He shifted and I listened as his breathing became even until I knew that he was, without a doubt, asleep. Then I leaned against him, feeling his warmth and loving every bit of it. Alfred made for a comfy pillow.
The next time I woke up, it was morning and Alfred was already out of bed. He was wearing a shirt with a big cat on it. I guessed it was his uniform shirt for work. "I didn't mean to wake you up, Artie, but I have to go to work. Matt is already at school, so it is just you three. He will be home about a quarter till three, and I'll be back this evening. See ya tonight. Bye." I watched Alfred as he ran out the door and down the hall. I heard the front door slam shut and knew he was gone. This was going to be a long day waiting for him.
Gilbert and the frog were still asleep. While I waited for them to wake up, I decided to investigate the shell, and see what I could do. I gathered up both pieces trying to find where they lined up. Once I had a good idea, I tried to fit them together like a puzzle piece. It didn't work. Nothing was ever that easy. I would have to try some kind of charm to get them together. When I tried it was like putting two magnets together while they were facing the wrong way.
"Yo, Arthur. Do you need some help from the awesome me?"
I shook my head. "There is some kind of force keeping them apart. It won't do any good."
"Or maybe the unawesome you is just not strong enough to put them together." He grabbed both parts from my hands and tried the same thing I just did. It didn't work. "Its like magnets. I used to do this all the time with Ludwig. If we both take a piece we can force it together."
"That might not be-" It didn't matter. A part of the shell was already in my hands with the other one getting closer. There was no opposing force though. That is, until the shell was only about 1 inch apart. We were both flung back and a green light was emitting from the shells. When the light went away, there were still two parts of the same seashell. there was something odd though, with the dots. They were rearranged.
Gilbert got to them first and began reading aloud the words that the dots made. "parts... forever bound... together... one... found. Arthur, that doesn't make any sense." I made my way over to see the gaping holes in the writing. Whoever made this wanted us to try more than once. I decided to write down what was there in case it disappeared later. "I'll wake up Francis. He might be able to help."
"Don't. He won't do us any good. Elizabeta isn't here for someone else to push with. It says pairs. By us trying to put them together, we crossed the pairs made by the shell. Think about it." His eyes got a bit of a spark.
"So you're saying that you and Alfred make the first shell pair, and me and Matt make the second one. That means if those guys try to put it together, we'll get the rest of the riddle." I nodded.
"That's right. Its the rest of the riddle that I don't understand. I think it is saying the shell will be forever bound together once we fix it, but I can't figure out anything else."
He nodded. "The shell won't fall apart again if we this and do it right. Also I think something is lost and that's what made it fall apart in the first place, so when we find it, the lost thing will be like glue" That was really inciteful. Maybe Gilbert wasn't as dumb as I always thought he was. "Or you could just fill awesome into all the blanks, and it would describe me." Maybe not.
"Before that awesome thing, I thought you were really onto something. How did you get so good at riddles?"
He laughed, the signature 'kesesesese' ringing through the room. "The awesome me is good at everything. I had plenty of practice though. Lud thought that riddles were the coolest thing in the world for a while, when he was younger. After about 50 a day for 2 or so years, you get pretty good at the things."
"Fifty a day. That sounds like an exaggeration." His eyes widened and he shook his head. "Maybe not then." The day proceeded on and we talked about his brother and the simalaraties between his and Alfred's position. Before long Matt was home.
Gilbert hugged (tackled) him on sight. "Matt! How was school? I'm glad you're here! I missed you, awesomely of course." Matthew awkwardly patted the bigger man until he let go and backed away. Then he saw the beginning bruise on the smaller boy's face. "How did that happen?" He was now in protective Gil mode. Good luck to any that crossed his path.
"What, this? Its nothing. Some guys at school just needed something to take out their anger on. It doesn't hurt that bad. They have been leaving me alone more ever since Al beat them up."
"Well they are about to start leaving you alone for good." I knew that voice. Francis knew it better though. He hopped up and tried to calm him down. It was no use. There was only one person in the world who could calm him down now and he was in Europe. He went out the door, leading Matthew by the hand.
Francis and I could only sit and wait and have faith that Matt could stop him before he went on a killing streak. Hopefully there were two people in the world who could calm protective Gil down, and Matthew was one of them. Our chances weren't looking good. After about an hour of waiting they came back. Gil had a scratch on his cheek and a forming black eye. The other guys must be half dead if they had a chance to hit him twice. Maybe there were like 20 of them or something. Matt was fretting over him. He ran to get some ice and handed it to Gilbert.
"Hey, Gil." Matt's voice was quiet and kind of strained.
"Yeah, Birdie?"
"Promise me that you won't do that again. You have to promise." His eyes were pleading, but Gilbert shook his head.
"I can't promise you that. When you said some guys beat you up, I lost control. If I promise you that, and you get beat up again, it will be a broken promise. The awesome me takes his promises very seriously." There he goes again, ruining a deep speech with that obsession with awesome. I swear he is addicted to that word or something.
We didn't have to wait long before Alfred was home. He took one look at Matt and proceeded to freak out. "Matt, what happened? Was it the same guys as before? I will take them down. I need to go beat some kids to a pulp! Who is coming with me?" Matt chuckled a bit and Gilbert let out a long laugh.
"The awesome me beat you to it dude, and believe me, they won't mess with Matt anytime soon. They were expecting you and kind of hid, but then they got all this awesome and they were down." Alfred slowly nodded.
"Alright man. Just know that if you ever protect Matt without inviting me in on it, you will have a real fight on your hands. We can be dual protectors. Our name can be the hero and the awesome. It would be so cool." They both laughed.
"You got it man! Matt is double safe now!" Mentioned person left the room and began cooking something. It was probably supper. He wasn't joined by anyone in the kitchen. When I tried to supply him with company, I was begged to stay away from the food. I ignored the insult to my cooking and simply sat back down.
Over dinner, we explained our discoveries of the shell to Alfred and Matthew. Alfred supplied some new meaning to the riddle, as well. "What if the thing that has to be found is one of the kids. They have been looking for each other for a long time. They might be what was holding the shell together. I think they are also why the shell is connected when it is broken." He had some good thoughts. We were getting closer to fixing the shell, and... closer to goodbye.
AN: I actually like this chapter for once. Arthur is hard to write so tell me if I am really OOC or something. There is lots of fluffy PRUCAN in here too. I love it. Also I think that France needs a lot more face time but it is not in the story. *sigh*. This only has 1 or 2 chapters left. Please review.