A/N: Thank you everyone that gave me numbers! The chapter came out very... interesting (and hopefully funny). And, sadly enough, this story is drawing to a close (on my end, your end still has several fun chapters to go!). On the upside, here's an extra long chapter for you guys and a little AlxNat on the side.
Blobers: Thank you for the lovely review. You choose TinoxMatthew (FinlandxCanada).
Chapter Thirteen
Getting Ivan cleaned up wasn't as easy as it sounded. With some half-hearted protesting, he managed to get Ivan to put the wet shirt back on (much to his dismay because he had hoped Ivan would protest). It wasn't like they carried around spare clothing for people his size. By the time he herded the wet and delectable Ivan (in front of him of course, so he could enjoy the firm back and tasty ass through the clingy fabric) to the haunted house, he realized he had forgotten Natalia's lunch.
"Hmm, hang on one sec," Alfred grinned showing off his cheesy fake vampire fangs. Matthew was quite sure the "blood" on his fake tux was ketchup from his lunch. He disappeared then re-emerged with something that looked like it was poached from a decayed polar bear, "You can be a yeti!"
Ivan frowned and looked at Matthew, "May I stay with Matvey?"
"Er, I'm with Natalia… but the carnival's over in two hours anyway. So we could hang out then." Matthew wanted to plead yes yes, come with me, but then that would be leading the yeti to slaughter. Ivan was peering at the suit with misgivings, but at the mention of Natalia he automatically reached for it.
Matthew snagged Alfred's cloak and gave a tug to whisper in his brother's ear, "I want pictures."
Alfred blinked blankly before a slow smile crossed his face, "What's it worth to you?"
"Trade?"
Alfred considered it and nodded.
Great, now Matthew was going to have to figure out how to get Natalia's picture on the sly. He remembered his naked flight through the ice skating rink and blushed in mortification. That was in a rink full of raunchy college students. He really didn't want to take a similar tact while in the presence of overprotective momma bear parents who might pepper spray him.
He went to see Francis and secured some cheese pizza, apple slices, and Sprite. He figured that since it wasn't a burger and coke, Natalia might actually eat it. She accepted it with a curt thank you and a nod, not commenting on his wet hair or how late he was. He suspected Arthur had proceeded him.
The rest of the day actually finished without a hitch. He got several pictures of Natalia that simultaneously made him want to puke from sugar overload and pass out from the sheer nervousness of being caught. Well, that was the case for the first few pictures, until he realized he could bribe random children to do his dirty work for him.
He spent the last twenty minutes trying to remove the sticky finger prints and random pictures of boogers from his phone.
He decided his original opinion of children was still standing.
Natalia actually helped him clean up instead of just watching. She moved silently and efficiently, showing none of her normal creepy, stalkerish tendencies. Matthew could almost appreciate that she was a real human being and not a vengeful spirit of possession.
"You shall not have him."
Matthew dropped his end of the table on his toe. He swore in his head, being raised not to swear in front of a lady, even if the lady was of dubious quality, and slid the table off with a small gasp.
"Pardon." Matthew winced as Natalia leveled him with an ice glare, "Ivan is mine." She might as well have added the 'bitch' at the end. Then it'd be like a high school romantic bullying. But like Ivan, she was too subtle to use plebian cuss words. Or she didn't know them. But Matthew was pretty sure it was a snob thing because the handful of words he knew in other languages were ALL cusswords. Or, like, saying hi, how are you?
Matthew checked to see that all the foam weapons were locked up for the evening. Check. Foam axe? Check. Swords? Check. Knives… knives…? Check. Whew. Not that silly little things like being weaponless or a girl would save him if she went psycho. She could probably use the table as a lethal weapon to break his spine.
"Do not pretend to be stupid. Your brother is a much better actor." Natalia hissed, "And I see how you look at him!"
"My brother?"
Natalia pushed the table into Matthew's gut with a sharp twist of her hip. He oofed and almost dropped it on his toe again. Okay, that was a stupid thing to say. Now might be a good time to bow out and disappear.
"You understand nothing."
Matthew was sure he had already stuck his foot in his mouth, but apparently there was more room in there for his other foot too, "I'm not any competition. Why don't you threaten Al? That's who Ivan really likes!"
Both of their eyes widened.
"…Alfred? But he is male." Natalia whispered, looking unsure but not really confused. Ah, so she had an idea about Ivan's preferences before this little conversation. Matthew felt like less of a heel for spilling Ivan's secret.
"So am I, but you're threatening me." Matthew snipped back. He was really tired of living in terror of this woman. He knew it was uncharacteristic but his mouth was on instant talkback mode for some reason. It must be because his sanity ran away like a coward leaving him with only stupidity and a smart mouth. "Anyone can see Ivan's terrified of you. And you make it worse by chasing him!"
Her ice eyes flashed and she repeated, "You know nothing! Ivan loves me!"
"He probably does, but that doesn't mean you need to own him like a pet!" Matthew flashed back feeling a familiar hockey rage bubbling up in his chest. Ivan was his own man. He wasn't her pet or toy to own and break. "Do you really want to marry someone who will be afraid to sleep in the same bed with you? You're a scary witch Natalia, and I don't know what my brother sees in you, but there's got to be some good in there because Ivan and Alfred seem to be fond of you! Ivan is not going to love you the way you want if you keep chasing him!"
She gently set down her side of the table and drew herself up straight. She stared at him for a moment, tears glittering in the corner of her eyes, before she bolted. And this is why Matthew was better off gay. He had no skills with women. Nor did he particularly want any, but he felt horrible for being such a jerk.
He flicked open his newly-sanitized phone and sent a quick text to his brother. Alfred was suicidal enough to deal with that can of worms. He might actually even thank Matthew for it later, if he remembered. And if he avoided the hospital. Matthew wondered if he should pre-emptively call 911. He decided to send another quick text to Arthur.
Arthur had been expressly disapproving of Alfred's infatuation and would delight in a chance to be a cockblock.
Putting away the rest of the stuff, he wondered where the rest of the staff was. All the booths seemed to be locked up and shut down. Walking down the deserted carnival, he had to shiver a little. It was already getting dark and shadows were being cast in funky shapes. Since it was autumn, a chilly little wind had sprung up and rattled eerily through the booths and portables.
Matthew took several more steps before he realized that the wind didn't have footsteps. And there were definitely footsteps behind him. They were heavy and somewhat ponderous. He walked faster, hoping to blend into the shadows. If it were a stranger following him, he could easily lose them with his powers of being overlooked and forgotten. No luck. The footsteps picked up the pace too.
Suddenly a big hand grabbed him from behind making him scream. Matthew slowly turned around, about ready to faint anyway, and screamed again. Berwald's intense blue eyes were just inches away and his glare had sent biker gangs fleeing before. He didn't know how Tino dealt with this every single day. The Finn was a brave, brave soul with more balls than the rest of them, Matthew decided. Maybe that's why he was such an alcoholic fish.
"Th' c'ke w'lk." Berwald mumbled something the sounded like he was talking around a potato wedged in the back of his throat. Matthew nodded, his poor heart ready to go on strike. Today had been way, way too stressful for it. Between Natalia, Berwald, and a very sopping, fetching, near-naked Ivan, he was lucky he hadn't shot blood out of some orifice.
Berwald led the way towards the one lit stall left. Matthew was surprised to see Ivan, Søren, and Gilbert hunched over tiny, colorful plastic chairs along with a few other volunteers. Francis was calling out to Gilbert and Toni was sulking beside him. Kiku was next to the music player, manning it with the air of a tired grandfather humoring his spoilt grandchildren.
The music started and the players started moving. When the music stopped everyone dove for a chair. Unfortunately for one other volunteers, he and Gilbert moved for the same chair. The guy never knew what hit him while Gilbert sprawled over the orange plastic like a king. Ivan sat in a tiny blue chair smiling serenely and Søren looked ready to maul over his yellow chair. Francis deftly removed a chair from the circle and Kiku flipped on the music. Rinse and repeat. Matthew actually heard the next guy smack into the wall.
Soon it was down to the three powerhouses. Everyone else had left, either by fear or by violence.
"Ready to be my bitch, boys?" Søren whooped and Kiku said quietly, "Are you supposed to be here?"
"Pfft, fucking stick-up-the-ass Arthur didn't invite me, if that's what you mean. Something about scaring the kids. Whatever, I'm here for the free cake. Ol' Luddy won't let me in his shop anymore, since I pinched Feli's butt. I was totally smashed otherwise Feli would so not be my type. But I was banned. So I want some free cake, dammit!"
Matthew wasn't sure Søren wasn't drunk right now.
"So not awesome." Gilbert said, "At least the kids don't have to deal with your unawesomeness. It'd scar the little brats' minds!"
Kiku started the music, taking a prudent step backwards, and Matthew stood next to Francis to watch the carnage unfold. Francis and Toni were quietly placing bets on the outcome with a few other people and didn't notice him standing there.
He thought it was kind of odd that Ivan and Gilbert were in a cake walk. Gilbert had free access to all the cake he could ever want, if only to bribe and shut him up. Ivan had already said he didn't care for sweets. Maybe he decided to win a cake for Alfred. Everyone knew that every tooth in Alfred's head was a sweet tooth.
The music stopped.
Søren dove for the dinky plastic orange chair. With a wide grin, he plopped down and proceeded to land on his ass on the floor. Gilbert grinned viciously, chair in hand, and sat down daintily. Ivan was perched on the blue chair like a large bear balancing on a tiny ball waiting for the next trick. His feet were tucked beneath him benignly but Matthew had seen him hook them behind Søren's ankles while Gilbert swiped the chair.
"You guys are assholes, you know that?" Søren groused. He sprawled in the middle of the circle and yawned. Apparently he didn't care if he was trampled. "Total buttmunchers."
Ivan peered at Gilbert from under his bangs, "Perhaps you should apologize for your rude behavior earlier?"
"Ha, the Awesome Me does NOT apologize. Especially not when you so deserved it, you cheating show off. You are not awesome enough to get Mattie's attention." Gilbert retorted, looking angry.
Wait… Mattie's attention? Matthew wanted to bang his head into the wall. They were having another pissing contest… over him? Gilbert hadn't been his boyfriend in forever and Ivan was just a friend. Couldn't they find something more important to fight about? Or at least something that didn't have ears and was highly offended to be claimed like a prize for winning some stupid game!
The music started and went on and on and on. The two patiently circled, making a few feints when Kiku looked like he might push the button. Kiku gave a sigh and both of them lunged for the chair as the music clicked off.
It was less a game of musical chairs and more a wrestling match complete with underhanded pinches and jabs. Gilbert managed to scramble to his knees and threw himself at the chair. Ivan snagged him by the back of the pants and pulled. Cute yellow chick boxers that Matthew vividly remembered greeted the world and blood rushed to his face and other placed as he remembered why he saw those boxers in the first place.
Even pantsed, Gilbert threw himself towards the chair. What he didn't count on was Søren, who was still sprawled in the middle of the floor. With a neatly executed roll, he hit Gilbert at the shins with his honed hockey body. Gilbert didn't stand a chance. He tumbled to the floor, flailing and cursing while Ivan made his move.
Søren jerked his other hand out and snagged the metal leg. He gave a hard yank as Ivan went to sit down, sending the big Russian falling to the floor beside his two sworn enemies. He hit the ground with an angry growl and a thump.
Matthew suddenly had an idea. He walked past the crowd of rubberneckers and slid a chair up silently. He sat on it in the middle of the chaos, waiting for someone to notice. His plan was shot if no one noticed him, but with Kiku and Francis, there was a decent chance someone would.
The scuffling on the floor lasted a few more minutes before Ivan kicked Gilbert off his leg and sat in the poor chair. It shrieked in pain at his bulk being thrown at it but held steady.
Ivan didn't say anything, just smiled down at Søren and Gilbert.
"Ah, Matthew-san… when… forgive me, I did not see you were playing!" Kiku stuttered looking embarrassed. Slowly everyone else looked too and a murmur went through the crowd about the sudden challenger. Most of the people sounded dubious that he would last three seconds on the last round.
"That's okay Kiku."
Ivan gave him an odd look and a little wave. Gilbert glared at Ivan before shooting Matthew a wide grin and an encouraging 'kick his ass for me!' Søren laughed and cleared the floor taking Gilbert with him.
They stood up and Kiku removed the chair Ivan had been sitting on. Probably because at this point it was a safety hazard. Plastic kiddie chairs weren't intended for grown adults to be throwing themselves on them. Probably because no one even thought grown adults would be doing something this stupid.
The music played at Matthew warily eyed Ivan. If it came to a wrestling match there was no way he'd win. But he was small and quick, so if he could get to the chair without any interference, he'd win. Simple. Right, simple. And that's why Ivan was staring at him like he was yeti-bait.
Why wasn't Alfred here? He'd be stupid enough to take Ivan head-on. Oh, right, because he was stupid enough to take Natalia head-on.
The music cut off and Matthew lunged forward as fast as he could. His only prayer was hitting the chair before Ivan could. He almost whooped when he felt the rough plastic beneath him and a half second later he was firmly in the chair. A second later he was in the chair with a lap-full of Ivan.
And all he could do was give a strangled cry.
"Where is Matvey?"
Matthew tried to narrow his eyes in response and tell the jerkwad exactly where he was and that he was going to shove a foot up his ass if he didn't move, but it just came out as another squeak.
Ivan wiggled a little, pretending to look around, and Matthew's protests turned into soft gasps. That… that was so not fair! How did Ivan do this to him? A few more wiggles and he'd have something else up Ivan's ass other than his foot.
"Ivan-san, get off Matthew-san." Kiku said meaningfully.
"I am in the chair. This is the point of this silly game, da?" Ivan rumbled and Matthew shivered at the vibrations rolling through him.
"I'm already in the chair!" Matthew managed in outrage. He gave Ivan a half-hearted punch to the back between the shoulder blades. Ivan merely gave a light laugh in response as if it tickled him.
Ivan slowly got to his feet and looked down playfully. Matthew, who had just thought all kinds of mood-killing thoughts, was immediately battling his very obvious infatuation with Ivan's touch and smile. The infatuation was winning much to his embarrassment. And all it would take was Francis noticing his bottom half and he'd never live it down.
"Your prize, Matthew-san." Kiku held the package out with a small smile and Matthew took it as a distraction. He opened it and was really surprised to see that it was his maple fudge. He looked towards Gilbert, who was already laughing and walking off with Francis and Toni. Gilbert caught his eye and gave a wink. Matthew flushed, realizing why exactly Mr. Awesome had been a deathmatch cake walk with Ivan.
"This is Matvey's favorite, da?" Ivan asked coming up behind him.
"Yeah, it is."
Matthew then realized why Ivan had been in the cakewalk. He flushed and ducked down feeling like he kind of ruined the winner's joy at giving him the prize. But that was a pretty small part compared to the feeling that he kicked their ass and took it for himself. He wasn't a damsel in distress dammit.
"Gil, wait."
Gilbert turned around with a suggestive smile on his face and his ruby eyes twinkling with amusement. That was the great thing about Gilbert; he was always ready for some fun.
Matthew reached him and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
Gilbert regarded him with an arched eyebrow, "I think you missed the Awesome Me's lips. That's okay, we all know you can't be as Awesome, so you should try again."
Matthew just laughed softly in return, "That never worked before, why do you think it'll work now?"
"Worth a shot."
"Thanks."
Gilbert looked at him quietly for a second, "No problem. I know you're a fudge addict. I was just going to get you your fix after working all day with the crazy woman!"
Matthew paled a little at the thought. He had forgotten about Natalia. He hoped Al could find her and calm her down. He wasn't up for a nighttime visitor with knives. He liked to keep all his body parts in good working order.
He felt Ivan standing behind him, although the Russian didn't say anything. He turned around. Reaching Ivan's cheek was a little trickier than Gilbert's. Ivan was much taller and much more skittish about being touched. Plus Matthew wasn't sure if he could manage to 'miss' Ivan's lips like he did Gilbert's. But fair was fair.
Ivan peered down at him with a curious smile on his lips and a touch of coolness to his eyes. Matthew wasn't sure if it was because he lost- Ivan was a sore loser anyone with half a braincell could see that- or if it was because he gave Gilbert a kiss.
He grabbed the nearest chair without overthinking it and clambering up. He was aiming for Ivan's cheek and just as his lips were about to meet cool, smooth skin the chair gave out from under him. Oh fuck it, he grabbed the broken safety hazard chair. Way to be smooth.
His lips dragged across Ivan's cheekbone and landed on the tip of his nose. Then they brushed harder over his surprised, semi-open lips before gravity decided Matthew had had enough fun for one day. He braced to hit the thinly covered cement floor hoping he didn't break anything. He had hockey practice on Monday after all.
He jerked to a stop just a few inches from the floor, which was good because he was lined up for a very unfortunately encounter with the chair leg and his crotch, the chair's final revenge, if he had fallen any further.
Ivan kicked the chair aside and let go of the back of his hoodie. He landed with a much softer thump than he anticipated, his lips tingling and his heart beating wildly.
WOW.
Oh, wow, just wow.
Ivan looked down at him, a blush over his cheekbones and big nose. His eyes were wide and he looked as startled as Matthew felt.
"Thanks, eh? For the fudge…"
Ivan just stared a little longer before giving him a hand up. The Russian jerked his hand back as soon as Matthew was steady and looked towards the door.
"Alfred is taking quite the long time going to the restroom… perhaps I should go look?" Ivan mumbled. Matthew felt hurt. Maybe Ivan didn't feel the same jolt. Maybe he found it disgusting and embarrassing that Matthew kissed him on the lips.
"Er, okay… but I think he went home already." Matthew lied offhandedly. He hardly noticed the stares from the other people in the room as he went towards the door, "I'm tired. I think I'll go home too. See you tomorrow Ivan."
"Good night, Matvey."
"Night."
Alfred had a pretty good idea where Natalia would be hiding. When he got Mattie's text, he was half annoyed that Mattie would hurt her feelings and half glad that he had this chance. He had been trying really hard but Natalia just wasn't falling for his charms. He was slowly going through all his tricks and nothing was working.
He was going to have Francis help him find a restaurant she would like even if he had to open his wallet a little bit. It wasn't like it was his money anyway; his parents were crazy giving when he asked although sometimes they groused about his "pork spending," whatever that meant.
He knew Mattie thought he was crazy and he didn't miss the looks Ivan shot him. He and Toris had a few talks about it and of course the trio gave their advice. Even Arthur had given him the 'concerned older brother talk,' which for some reason covered condoms, but mostly say don't date the girl and certainly don't get in a position where you NEED the condoms.
He felt a little lost.
If he didn't get a girl, he moved on; it had never been a big deal. Actually, he couldn't think of a time where he hadn't gotten the girl. He was Francis' biggest rival in that department (just not the sex one because sleep and run wasn't his style; totally not heroic). But suddenly he didn't want to just leave Natalia alone. She made him feel warm and silly and tingly all over. When he admitted it, somewhat shamefaced, to Arthur and Kiku he expected to be laughed at and told he was a stupid git. Instead Arthur had given him this queer, totally gay smile that creeped him out. A lot. Then he explained at Alfred had a crush and most people had crushes in middle school. But it was to be expected that Alfred was a slow developer. Kiku just looked like a deer in the path of an oncoming train.
Still, Arthur's egghead tendencies to read stupid shit came in handy. Alfred was amazed to learn Arthur was a closet romantic and that Kiku had been feeding him a steady stream of perverted cartoon stuff.
And Alfred was quite sure that Arthur would like to try out some of those things in those comics on Kiku. Ha, now who was emotionally stunted?
So anyway, he had this "crush." And it was damn inconvenient. Everyone else was having a blast at the cake walk, unwinding after the day, and he was shuffling around in the chilly evening looking for Natalia. Damn Mattie, and they said he trampled over peoples' feelings!
He wandered for another few minutes, considering giving up, when he accidentally ran across her. Or rather, over her. She was on some steps, watching the sun sliding down. Her pale blue eyes were gazing emptily and she was frowning at nothing. Something tugged in Alfred's chest at the sight and he scowled lightly at the stupid feeling.
Purposely stomping up, he plopped down next to her and gave a huge, satisfied sigh. She continued to ignore him and he took a breath to settle the butterflies. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, he offered, "Man, I'm beat. But it was such a cool day though. The kids had such a blast, and I love watching them have so much fun."
She gave him a glance and he offered a toned down smile. He was learning to tone down his natural exuberance a bit. Not too much, that would make him fidget until he shook like a martini in the making, but just enough to keep her from snapping at him.
Arthur had commented that at least someone was getting through his thick head about proper manners.
"Are you coming tomorrow? Cuz I don't know if Artie said anything, but we really appreciate your help. It's awfully nice of you to help Mattie out with the kids. He's scared of them, you know? You should've seen him as a teenager, haha. This little kid went to hug him and he almost peed his pants. Then he ran away and the little kid thought it was a game and chased him! It was hilarious."
"He did seem unhappy."
"Nah, not unhappy. It'd be all good if he treated them like he does Ludwig's dogs. Kids respond well to things like happy voices and stupid gestures." Alfred grinned at his brother's lack of child experience. Matthew swore kids hated him, but Alfred could see he really was afraid of them. There wasn't anything to be scared of. Kids were fun and sweet.
"I enjoyed working with the children." Natalia admitted softly, "One little one fell but he was not too injured. He did well with the knives."
Alfred beamed, just happy to hear her talking to him normally. He remembered the little boy dutifully explaining the nice woman who helped him. Alfred felt himself falling just a bit more. It didn't surprise him at all that Natalia was so sweet with little kids. This was beyond stupid of him, a small voice grumbled in the back of his mind, Since when was he a masochist?
"I would enjoy coming back tomorrow." Natalia said with a soft smile. Alfred wanted to whoop and pull her to her feet to twirl her around, but he settled for a happy laugh and a quick squeeze of her hand. She gave him a startled look, staring at his hand like it was a snake, and he flushed brightly. He hadn't quite meant to do that. He shot his hand a dirty look but it didn't move.
He studied his big, blocky hand resting lightly over her small, slender ones. If she was going to get mad at him for his initial contact, then he might as well hang on until she made him let go.
She looked at their hands for a little longer before lifting her chin with a haughty huff that would have done Arthur proud. The warm, bubbly feeling was threatening to choke him.
"It's getting kinda cold, huh? Why don't we go find everyone? I'm sure Mattie and Ivan are inside." Alfred offered even though he didn't want to see her face as she watched Ivan and ignored him. Despite what everyone thought, Alfred could be patient. And he could pay attention. And he could see that Natalia had some serious issues, which didn't mean it didn't hurt when she fawned over Ivan in front of him, but he forgave her because that's what heroes did. And he could also see her good points, like being nice to little kids and the dedication she had to her figure skating (boy had he been surprised when he followed her to the ice rink that first day but it had quickly become his favorite day of the week; he told Matthew he had extra football practice so he wouldn't get laughed at).
He didn't mind Natalia's cold behavior too much because he thought everyone deserved a chance.
He didn't know why Natalia was so desperate for Ivan's affection, and he'd be stupid to say it didn't hurt seeing her attempts to get another guy, even if it was Ivan, who wasn't interested anyway. And it hurt to see her hurt when Ivan ran away. Alfred felt torn. He wanted to help Mattie and he wanted to help Ivan and he wanted to help Natalia.
But he was realizing he couldn't be everyone's hero at the same time. He just wasn't smart enough to figure out how to make it work. And he hated himself for it.
"No." Natalia said with a shiver, "I think I should go home. My host family will be worried."
Alfred wondered how her English was so good. Ivan's English was really good, but he still tended to speak in baby sentences, unless he was being a tricky bastard about it. Maybe he was pretending to suck at English on purpose to make it easier to mock Alfred; Alfred wouldn't put it past him and found it amusing. And Katerina's English was a bit broken and simple. But Natalia's had a crisp, conciseness that reminded him of Arthur; like she could use her words as a weapon. He wondered why she had to be like that. The knives, the words, the ice wall… he didn't get it.
"Here." He tossed his jacket over her shoulders before she could protest. Nervously he babbled, "I'll walk you home, just so I know you're not going to be tempted to jack my jacket. I know it's so awesome you'll have a hard time resisting, but the jacket is vintage and all, so you can't have it. Plus, my grandfather gave it to me. He rocked. He gave me my first pocket knife when I was eight and taught me how to shoot straight. He was a cool old man."
"Is he dead?" Natalia inquired. She looked funny smothered in his jacket, her hair tucked under the collar and her nose poking out the front. He thought she looked incredibly endearing like that and fought back a blush. Jeez, Arthur was right; he was acting like a sissy schoolgirl.
"Dead?" Alfred gave a laugh, "Hell no. That old man is never going to die. He got married in Vegas to some old lady and moved to Belize to retire."
"I suppose I could use your jacket. And it would be acceptable for you to accompany it to my residence." Natalia said slowly, clearly not willing to give up the jacket now that she had stopped shivering. Alfred removed his hand to get up and offer it back to her. She hesitated a moment before firmly grabbing his palm and pulling herself up.
"Sweet." Alfred chirped, giddy at his success. This was only the second time he'd actually gotten her permission to accompany her somewhere (not counting his upcoming date, which was going to be so awesome she'd have to be impressed). It would've been super awkward to trail her down the street to her house while she marched ahead of him. He figured he'd either get the cops called on him or some guy on the corner would offer him a dog collar complete with whipping sounds.
He heard his phone alert him a text. He glanced at it on the sly; it was something boring about Mattie being upset and going home. He didn't bother to reply and shoved the phone in his pocket. He was only one hero and he was busy right now.