Arthur's house seemed to always be warm and cozy, which was one of the reasons little Alfred loved to come visit him; the main reason to spend time with his older brother. Alfred could never get enough attention from Arthur, and he treasured every moment they spent together. Playing games and going on adventures, having snowball fights, making snow angels and snowmen together, but mostly being in his arms as he was now. Now, it was just him and Arthur in the living room by the fireplace, the two looking outside at the gently falling snow that was filling in their scattered footprints against the darkness of the night.
Arthur's eyes were closed as he smiled softly, his hands gently rubbing the back of the small colony in his arms, his body swaying softly. Alfred wrapped his arms around the elder blonde's neck tightly, nuzzling the pale neck in front of him making Arthur shiver softly from the light red and cold nose pressing against his neck. The colony simply loved the comfort of being in Arthur's arms; he so wished he was around more often so he could stay like that forever. But for now, nothing else mattered but England there with him. The two things that mattered even slightly at all were England and the numbness of his toes. Alfred wiggled a bit in the older man's arms, peeking up at his big brother's green eyes with his own innocent blue ones. "Awthur, my toes are still cold... I can hardly feel them... "
Arthur smiled softly down at the small boy, mentally in awe of his size and how adorable he was before responding. "Oh? How about we tuck you into bed, America, it's fairly late. I'll even tell you a story tonight if you want."
Alfred's eyes simply lit up as soon as he heard the word 'story.' Nothing would make him happier than cuddling up against Arthur, wrapped in warm blankets and listening to a story until he and Arthur fell asleep. Arthur had never offered to tell him a story before, usually he would sing some tune in another language that Alfred didn't understand or just lay him down and stroke his hair until he fell asleep. "Really? A story?" Alfred's face was bright with anticipation. Arthur wanted to simply melt from the large blue eyes and the smile that seemed to be as big as the boy's lips would allow, all too irresistible to the Briton.
"Well of course, but you have to promise to be good." Arthur made his way down the hall with his little brother still held tightly in his arms. Alfred nodded "I'll be the best little bwother ever!" The Briton chuckled softly, taking Alfred into Arthur's room and set him on the large bed. Alfred immediately ducked under the covers, only his head popping back out and snuggled in, getting as much warmth from the layers of blankets as he could. Arthur smiled softly and went over to the small fireplace in his room, grabbing a warming pan and filled it with embers from the fire before coming back to the bed. He slipped the pan at the bottom of the bed and let it start to heat up the sheets. The Briton put his hand on the small blondes shoulder to get him to move over and make room. Alfred rolled over several times, smiling at his older brother as he pulled back the sheets and laid down, his colony quickly rolling back towards him and curled up against his chest. Arthur wrapped his arms around the boy, Alfred anxious for the story and started wiggling. "Awthur, are you going to start?"
"Hm? Oh, yes," Alfred cuddled against him, all ears on the story. "Once there was a lonely wizard who spent his days with his magical friends: a unicorn, pixies, fairies, and other beautiful creatures- "Alfred started to whine and puffed his cheeks out a bit "Awthur you're telling it wrong!"
"Telling it wrong?" Arthur tilted his head a bit, confused on how he, the British Empire, could tell a story wrong.
"It needs a hero, not a wizard! I'll help you!" Arthur thought for a moment, trying to figure out some story that would make the child happy, a bit more comforted that he wasn't at the thought of some help.
"Alright then," a small smile came across Arthur's face. "I'll start off. Once there was a brave little hero named Alfred-" The small blonde immediately got a big smile on his face, cutting off Arthur from the story for a moment "hey! That's me!" Arthur let out a soft chuckle under his breath. "Alfred was the greatest hero in the world; no one would dare challenge him or they would be defeated by his amazing strength."
Alfred was wiggling a bit, trying to break in again "Yeah! No body messes with me!" Arthur couldn't help but smile, though constantly cutting him off was slightly rude. He would have to lecture him about that later along with a lesson on pronouncing r's correctly for his name.
"That's right, but there was one who thought he was better than Alfred, he was called..." Arthur hesitated for a moment, trying to think of a good villain. After only a second or two, Arthur got a bit of a smirk on his face "he was called the evil, frog-faced Francis!" Arthur did his best to imitate some kind of a face a frog would make, making Alfred laugh softly. The smile on his face was a sign for his big brother that he was enjoying the story and brought a little bit of comfort to Arthur.
"No way! I'm way better than him!" Alfred was imagining himself beating up a man with the face of a frog, making him laugh a bit louder and his smile seemed to keep growing.
"The great hero knew this, but the frog was jealous of his power and wanted it all for himself! So one day, he came and tried to kidnap Alfred and steal his power!" Arthur hugged Alfred tighter and nuzzled his head a bit, receiving a squeak and giggle from him.
"No! He can't get me! That's not fair! He thought he did, but instead, he grabbed Matthew and took him back to his frog pond!" Arthur took a moment to trying to remember who this so called Matthew was, nothing recollecting about him. "Who are you talking about Alfred?"
"My brother! You've met him before." Again nothing on whoever Alfred seemed to think was his brother. Perhaps it was just his imagination, so Arthur decided to play along with it.
"If you say so. Anyways, the frog took Matthew back with him, but Matthew managed to send Alfred a letter asking for his help to save him from the evil frog's hands." Alfred seemed to keep interrupting, but Arthur was slowly getting used to it. For the story, anyways.
"And a hero never turns away from a cry for help! But the only way to beat the frog was to get help from the best big brother ever, Awthur!" Alfred smiled at his brother, cuddling more into him. Arthur blushed a bit, unable to resist smiling softly back at the smaller blonde.
"Yes, the two working together could not be beaten by anything, especially a frog! They quickly made their way to the evil frog's pond to save Matthew, finding he was held trapped in a cage! The frog seemed a bit shocked once he saw his prisoner wasn't Alfred, but was going to take advantage of the situation as best he could. The frog thought quickly and saw the resemblance between Alfred and Matthew, knowing that was why they had come to save him." Arthur made the froggy face again, making his voice sound high and girly (which seemed all too easy for him, making Alfred laugh softly to himself). He mimicked a French laugh and accent as best he could in his girly voice. "ahonhonhon, what do we have here? Brothers? You will never get him back until Alfred's power is mine and mine alone so I can beat the ever amazing British Empire!" Alfred giggled, poking Arthur's arm softly instead of immediately interrupting him.
"He wouldn't say that! Villains don't complement heroes." Arthur was a tad bit shocked Alfred knew so much about heroes and villains, but he supposed it was just something the colony was interested in and saw no problem in it.
"Shush, I'm telling a story." Alfred laughed again, keeping quiet for a bit longer and listened to the story. "Alfred was not about to stand for his brother being captured, so he thought of a way to distract Francis for long enough that he would be able to set Matthew free and they could make their grand escape!" Arthur took a moment, trying to figure out what he would make his voice sound like for Alfred and what he would even make up for the distraction, but Alfred had already decided to intervene yet again.
"Yeah! So I said 'Hey frog! I bet your food doesn't taste good; it's all snails and flies! Arthur's food is waaay better!'" Arthur couldn't help but hug the boy tightly, smiling in thanks, his pinks slightly blushing deeper.
"That's right!" my food is so much better than that bloody frog's! thought Arthur. "This infuriated the frog because along with thinking he was better than Alfred, he was also jealous of my own cooking skills! The frog turned red in his cheek from anger! 'It is not! My frog food is better honhon! I'll even show you!' With that, Francis dashed off to the kitchen. Alfred ran up to the cage, easily pulling the door completely off and Matthew was free! The three made their escape back to safety, the frog left to cry over his flies and snails dinner. Once they were safe back home, Matthew hugged Alfred tightly (Arthur did so to the small boy) and thanked him for saving him. He said he couldn't have asked for a better hero." Arthur smiled at Alfred who quickly wiggled out of Arthur's arms and stood up as tall as he could on the mattress and made a classic heroic pose.
"That's right, because I'm the hero!" Alfred practically yelled it out as loud as he could, reaching the far corners of the room. The boy seemed to be more hyper than he was hours before in the snow. Arthur laughed softly as he picked Alfred up by the waist and held him up in the air. Alfred giggles and spread his arms like a bird, then balled one hand up and put it over his heart; the other too balled up but was extended out in front of him: the classic superman pose. "Yay!"
While Alfred was being held up, imaging his flight, a second blonde peeked around the corner of the door way, the same height as Alfred but had a curl. "Sacrebleu..." The second blonde rubbed his eyes tiredly, a small polar bear peeking into the room from behind him. "Why's it so loud in here?"
"Matt! I just saved you from the evil frog!" Arthur set Alfred down on the ground next to the bed, the older blonde now sitting on the edge of the mattress and watching as Alfred ran over and glomped his brother. "You're safe now!" Matthew blushed deeply, trying to not fall over from the sudden hug.
"Q-quoi?" Matt looked at Arthur as if to ask what Alfred was talking about. Arthur only smiled warmly at the two, laughing softly.
"We made up a story together," Arthur got up and walked over to the boys, still in a tight embrace and picked the both of them up in his arms. "I'll tell it to you if you want."
"Yeah! Again, again!" Alfred was simply eager to get another story, even if it was the same one. Matthew simply nodded, Alfred smiling at him widely for it. "Thanks bro!" Arthur carried the two boys over to the bed, Alfred and Matthew lying on either side of him under the covers. Arthur retold the story again and again with new additions from Alfred every time while Matthew simply listened with a soft smile and his bear in his arms. Alfred demanded the story to be retold as soon as it was over, Arthur unable to resist denying the boy. Soon Alfred curled up against Arthur and closed his eyes, drifting to sleep. Arthur smiled softly, glancing over at Matthew who must have fallen asleep after a while because he was snuggled in between Arthur and the bear. The Briton simply smiled, wrapping an arm behind the heads of both boys, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep himself.