As Matthew and Alfred approached head quarters, the older blonde was already formulating a plan to get rid of his naïve younger brother. He glanced around the area and saw a Tim Horton's a couple blocks down. Giving a smile as he thought how easy this was going to be, he started coughing.
"Yo Mattie! Hey bro, are you okay? ARE YOU DYING!?" Alfred screamed drawing the attention of more than a few people. Matthew rolled his eyes.
"No Al, I'm not dying, my throat just got really dry all of a sudden. Do you think you could possibly get me some tea from the Timmies over there?" The violet eyed boy asked pointing over to the building in question, clearing his throat to further exaggerate his false discomfort. Alfred shifted his gaze from his brother to the coffee shop and struck a 'heroic' pose.
"Of course, Mattie! Anything for my big bro! I am a hero after all!" He proclaimed, blue eyes sparkling at the thought of his adventure-to-come. Matthew felt kind of bad for deceiving his little brother like that but he couldn't tell anyone about his true identity.
"My hero!" Matthew said dramatically breathless. Alfred laughed and bounded off.
The wavy-haired teen took this opportunity to grab the keys out of his pocket and jam them into the lock of the 'FOR LEASE' building after checking to see if anyone was around. Matthew opened the door, bounded up the stairs, and snatched his glasses off the desk of the main HQ room. He ran back down the stairs and made his way to the door. He opened it and walked out before locking it and giving a few tugs to check if it was, indeed, locked.
"Hey Mattie! What were you doing in that building?" A voice said from behind him. Matthew gave an exaggerated jump to add to his 'convince people I'm an innocent' routine. He whipped around to see Alfred staring at him quizzically and holding a steaming cup of, from what Matthew could see on the label, green tea.
"Wow, that was fast." Matthew replied trying to change the subject. Alfred grinned and Matthew knew he had eluded him.
"Well duh, Mattie. I AM the most heroically awesome person in the stratosphere!" He laughed so loudly he missed Matthew's mumbled 'Troposphere' completely. All of a sudden his laughter cut off. "But no seriously dude. What were you doing in that building?" He asked peering at the face so much like his own. Damn it.
"Uh, w-well, you know, I thought I saw a ghost in there." He finished lamely. Matthew was so bad at lying to his brother about trivial things. But by the way Alfred's eyes widened, he knew that Alfred bought it. "Yeah, and then I walked in and heard some creepy creaking noises." At this point Alfred was shaking in fear but listening intently. "Then I saw a dark figure appear at the top of the stairs and bolted. I heard it start running to run after me and ran out the door. I turned around and found the door locked and then you found me. I guess." Alfred was pale and trying to keep his freaking out to a minimum but it was obvious he was having some kind of seizure underneath his shaking outside.
"J-Jesus, dude! Why w-would you e-even go in there alone!? Are you an idiot? Y-you could have died!" His brother screamed lurching forward wrapping his brother in a tight embrace. Shit. This is the worst Matthew has ever felt in his life, he thought as he returned the hug. And it just got worse. The oldest gasped at the feeling of wetness on his shoulder. Shitshitshit!
"A-A-A-Al! D-don't c-cry. Shit! Come on." He urged wrapping his arm around his brother's shoulder and leading him towards their home.