Chapter 9

"What kind of jobs?" Arthur asked, the stew temporarily forgotten before him.

"At the castle. I have a lot of experience as an adviser, so that's what they're offering me. Vik here has military experience, so they're going to try him out as a lieutenant," Alfred answered with a watchful eye, gauging Arthur and Viktor's reactions.

"I haven't proven my loyalty or anything." Viktor frowned, his brow knit with worry and insecurity and Alfred laughed at Viktor's naivety.

"They understood the situation though, and that's the important part for now. It's a better way to earn money than for you to tear off more nails," Alfred stated somberly, his eyes shifting down to Viktor's hand, which quickly slid under the table. "Besides, if we keep using that trick, the price of 'em will drop," Alfred pointed out and Viktor sighed, nodding.

"That is true," Viktor groaned out, looking down. "I was trying to help, but the same help won't work so many times, da? Maybe it would be best to take the position." He frowned, looking over at Arthur. "What about you? Me and Alfred could work at the castle to make sure you're safe. Would you rather stay here?" Viktor asked before looking away, a sturdy frown sliding onto his face. "I don't know if I want to leave you all by yourself. What if something happens?" He looked up at Alfred, who slapped a hand over his face.

"He lived by himself his whole life. I think he can handle a couple of hours while we're at work." Alfred watched, trying to break the amused grin from his face at Viktor's predictable answer.

"Besides," Arthur started, "I don't think I'd be much use in a castle. I'm a gardener. I do trick spells. I doubt anyone could use my magic for anything of actual worth. I'd just be in the way," Arthur mumbled.

"What kind of magic do you do?" Viktor asked, now interested. He'd seen a few spells, but they seemed disconnected, and he hadn't noticed an element yet.

"I don't know. Small stuff. I can make things move and change color and sometimes I can change something's size." Arthur leaned over, taking a bite of the stew, but a certain darkness came over his face and Viktor realized something was bothering him.

"Have you ever noticed an element? Water or wind or something like that?" Viktor asked, his eyes wide in interest as he looked over the shorter man, who shook his head.

"I do what my faeries tell me." Arthur shrugged. "I haven't seen them since England, so I don't know if I can even DO magic right now." He sighed sadly and Viktor frowned.

"What your... fairies tell you?" Alfred stared, a touch of worry showing on his face as Arthur nodded, his eyes shifting away. He groaned, not even thinking about it before the words had popped out of his mouth.

"It's a long story." Arthur watched as Alfred nodded, but watched him with skepticism.

Viktor looked down, his finger coming up uncertainly to his lip as he looked around, his eyes reflecting the scattered mental search on what to do. "Then try something." He glanced over and Arthur looked up, one eyebrow arching before he nodded and stood.

"It can't be much. My tools were destroyed, but something small I know I can manage." He took a deep breath and walked to the side of the table and narrowed his eyes, looking around at what to do. Something caught his interest and he smiled as he closed his eyes, whispering the words he knew by heart after so long. Alfred and Viktor were both surprised to see a gust of wind come, blowing Arthur's hair back as he mumbled soft words, a soft glow coming from his throat. It was barely able to be heard, and Viktor stared, his eyes widening as he recognized the sound of the words. When Arthur opened his eyes, he was surprised to find Viktor's eyes wide, not even looking for what had changed, instead dead set on him. "Aren't you going to look to see what I changed?"

"You know Latin?" Viktor asked softly and Arthur shook his head.

"Is that the language the spells are in? I understand a little, just what the faeries have taught me." He let out a soft smile. It just creased the corner of his mouth and Viktor smiled softly, his eyes traveling over to Alfred when they stilled. He gawked, his jaw dropping to see deep red eyes looking back at him.

"Dude, your eyes!" Alfred jumped up, getting close to Viktor's face, staring him intently in the eyes. "You switched our eye colors! That's so cool!" Alfred giggled like a little girl, staring at Viktor with a grin.

Viktor winced, his heart pounding in his throat. "That is what my eyes look like?" he asked, near panic and Alfred noticed the look on him.

"Yeah. Why? I'm sure it looks better on you than it does on me." He grinned and Viktor swallowed hard. No wonder Arthur was scared so often when he looked at his eyes! They were terrifying! He looked down, frowning.

"You can keep them for a while, if you want," Viktor mumbled, happy to have the blue ones instead. Alfred's eyes were at least able to be dealt with. They were blue, lively, shiny and sometimes when he was really excited, you could almost see stars in the corners.

"So..." Alfred spoke in an almost velvety voice, looking up at Arthur with a seductive smirk which was honestly greatly helped by the seriousness of his eyes at the time. "What do you say, instead of staying with Viktor tonight, if you stay in my room?" he asked and Arthur glared as if accosted, surprised and a bit startled. His cheeks turned bright red as he slowly shook his head.

"No, thank you," Arthur spoke softly, but it took him a few seconds to pull his eyes away. Arthur looked back down at his food and let out a soft sigh, a little bit of a smile coming to his face as he realized he could still do magic, if he remembered the chants. He looked up at Viktor, his mouth open to speak and stilled, his eyes wide.

Wide blue eyes gazed into his in interest, the corner of his mouth up, showing he was hiding a smile. In the top left of each eye, just inside the blue, were little white stars and Arthur just stared for a second. "I'm sorry, I think I messed up," he spoke softly, gazing amazed at the twinkling of the stars.

"Nyet, Alfred's eyes do that often." Viktor looked away, trying to play it off as a normal thing while Alfred decided not to grant him the easy way out.

"Only if I'm really REALLY happy! So what has you in such a good mood?" Alfred chuckled, leaning forward, his eyes narrowing, and the intensity of the blood red gaze stilled Viktor's air in his throat.

"That's so terrifying!" Viktor groaned, shivering as he backed away, his eyes closing to try and block out the sight. "It's no wonder you freak out when I stare at you! Those eyes are horrible!" Viktor shook in his seat, curled up a bit as he fought to keep his head faced away, though his eyes were still clenched shut.

"It's not that." Arthur smiled, shaking his head. "You look a lot like Ivan. It's uncomfortable when I forget for a second and see him staring at me. His eyes turned almost that same color, a few times as well," Arthur spoke softly and the other two turned to him before looking at each other.

"This shade?" Viktor asked softly while pointing and Arthur nodded, giving a soft hum as he turned back to his food and started eating. Viktor looked across, seeing Alfred staring back, his eyes wide in surprise. They both knew what that had meant.

The food was finished silently. Arthur went to change and go to bed before Viktor went up, giving him a chance to change in private. "His eyes turned red..."

Alfred shivered. "It's only happened a couple of times. I don't know what happened, but that dragon really is fucking up your body. We need to find a way to get you back into it." Alfred watched as Viktor nodded, his brows knit with worry.

"But if he was that angry, and Arthur was the output for that... anger-" Viktor's voice wavered halfway through the sentence before Alfred cut him off.

"I don't want to think about it," Alfred mumbled, looking down.

"We're lucky he's alive. He could have killed him." Viktor shook, his eyes wide on his hands on his lap. "Like when Arthur knocked me out, he could have killed him and never even meant to. I don't know what to do about this." Viktor looked up, his brows knit together, his shoulders hunched as if he were feeling the pain Arthur had gone through.

"I don't wanna think about it." Alfred repeated before looking over, his eyes again blue and Viktor couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief at that, at least.

"I just want him to be happy. If he'll be happier at home, I'll let him stay. I don't know what else to do," he admitted, his eyes half lidded, staring with a worried tilt to his brow at the fireplace. "Can you think of anything?"

"What do you see in him?" Alfred asked, staring. "All the years I've known you, I've never seen you be like this, especially over a guy." He frowned, his eyes staring into Viktor's as if he could read the answer in his eyes.

"I wronged him," Viktor admitted, his gaze leaving Alfred's eyes to head back to the fireplace. "I stole him from his home. I chained him to my ceiling and... I molested him. I didn't know he was going to go through so much right after, or I never would have... but I did. I started this. The only reason I was knocked out was because I tried to make him feel safe, I tried to lay down and not act, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to kiss him." Viktor sighed, his eyes shifting somewhere closer, eventually settling on his knee.

"What?" Alfred asked, his jaw dropped and again water dribbled from the corner of his mouth. "YOU WHAT?!" he repeated after a second, jumping to his feet, staring completely bewildered at the man before him.

"SHH! Quiet!" Viktor tried to hush the other, but quick footfalls on the ceiling above told him he hadn't been fast enough.

"Everything alright?" Arthur's head popped out from around the separator for the stairs and Viktor turned to him with a smile and a slight blush.

"It's just a misunderstanding! Everything's fine! Right, Alfred?" He turned and Alfred just stared at him, his jaw still dropped.

"Hell no, everything's not alright! What?! I thought maybe it was self defense, maybe it was just an accident, but holy hell, all of that was because you couldn't keep your mouth to yourself?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" he screeched and Viktor sat, honestly so startled he couldn't stop staring.

Alfred held his head down, slapping a hand over his face to hide his expression as he tried to work around the words he'd just said. "Sorry, Artie. I didn't mean to panic you. Everything IS fine, I'm just a little... high sprung after the kings' visit today," Alfred forced himself to say. He sighed as he slid back into his seat, and Arthur frowned, his brows furrowing.

"Kings?" His lips pressed into an 'o' as his head tilted, showing his confusion.

"Ah yeah, Tino and Berwald. The king of Finland, where we are now, and the king of Sweden, the next country over." Alfred smiled. "Tino was the shorter one. Berwald can talk more, but he has a hard time with pronunciation in English, so it's hard to understand him," Alfred explained while Viktor sat still, facing Alfred, trying to keep his heart from pounding out of his chest at Alfred's prior words.

"I didn't know they were kings. Why were they already familiar with you two?" Arthur asked, sliding in on the couch beside Viktor, who turned away, now trying to hide his blush at the realization Arthur wasn't wearing a shirt yet, only satin green pajama pants.

"Ah, well, since everyone's known for like fifteen years I was Ivan's most trusted adviser, and since Russia and Finland are often at war with each other..." Alfred shrugged his shoulders high, his hands palm up beside his shoulders.

"Ivan was at war with kings?" Arthur asked, his eyes widening and Alfred startled, surprised before his eyes narrowed.

"What part did you think he played in the attack?" Alfred asked, sitting and Arthur shrugged, leaning back.

"Professional pervert? That guy... I don't' know what to think of him, or of what part he played. He seemed like a very spoiled man. I don't even understand what he was thinking even before he changed," Arthur admitted and Alfred stared, one eyebrow arching.

"What was he like before he changed?" Alfred grinned and Viktor glared, his cheeks turning bright red.

"He was... interesting," Arthur admitted. "I was scared and embarrassed, humiliated beyond all belief, but at least he was kind about it. He may have molested me, but he seemed worried about my comfort through it. I actually thought he was being kind before I knocked him out. I hadn't meant to." His eyes shifted down as if replaying the memories in his mind. "Maybe it mixed something up in his head. Maybe that's why that happened. He was a pervert, but at least he was a good one." He glanced up to Alfred with a worried expression. Viktor stared, his eyes turning sad, his mouth turning to a frown.

"What about the other one?" Alfred asked, this time a bit softer, a bit kinder, a touch of worry shifting onto his face. "If you don't want to..."

"He punched me in the jaw because I started crying." Arthur spoke, staring down at the ground between the couch and the chair. "He grabbed my face and hit my jaw with a hammer. When I yelled about it, he yanked my mouth open and told me if I closed it at all before he was done with me, he'd tear it off, and I knew without doubt he would. He was terrifying." Arthur started chuckling nervously, the color slowly bleeding away from his face, his eyes widening as he remembered the man. "I was ready to die. At least if he was too busy fucking me, he wouldn't hit me. I wanted to be eaten because I knew it would stop the pain." Arthur spoke with his voice starting to waver, not even realizing he was skipping from thought to thought, his mind losing its ability to rationalize. His eyes were stuck open, his pupils shrank in horror as he looked up at Alfred. "He kicked me in the balls because he said it would make them swell. He twisted my arm and dislocated it! I had to smash it back into place myself because he said I didn't scream enough when he punched me in the back!"

Arthur stared, his chest heaving through breaths as his panic seemed to intensify. He stood, taking a defensive stance as he started yelling, and it was obvious to both in the room he was reliving the memory in his mind, to some small degree. "When he was done with me, after he'd forced himself down my throat, he punched me in the eye because I almost threw up on him! He stopped it from coming up by shoving himself further in! I couldn't breathe! I could barely stay conscious! Then he kicks me in the chin to close my mouth! I was terrified! I've never been so scared of anything in my life!" Arthur had tears streaming down his face as he yelled, the sound softly echoing back from the wood. "I've never even had nightmares as horrible as Ivan Braginsky!"

Arthur screamed out in panic as something blocked his vision and he felt arms wrap around him, softly running over his hair. The warmth of the man before him caused Arthur to still, confused and terrified for a second. "It's over. You're safe now. You're safe." He heard softly spoken comforts as he gripped for dear life to the man before him, praying it would keep him from drifting down those memories again as he felt his chest expand in a deep, stuttered breath, but it wasn't until the breath was so quickly shoved out he understood he was crying. Loud, terrible sobs echoed through the room as Arthur pressed his head against Viktor's shoulder, his knuckles white as he desperately clenched the material of his coat on Viktor's back.

Alfred could only sit and stare, his own eyes stuck wide in horror. He knew he had tears on his cheeks, but after the startle of the words he'd just heard, he couldn't find it in himself to move his hands. He just sat, staring, waiting to hear it was some sick joke. When instead gasped out sobs met his ears Alfred's eyes shifted up, seeing Arthur clung to Viktor. His cries were little more than screams as he released his pain and fears and all Alfred could do was shake.

"I'm sorry," Alfred whispered. "I never should have asked. I didn't understand," he whimpered and Viktor turned, shaking his head, telling Alfred that now wasn't the time for such words. Alfred closed his mouth before standing and walking up the stairs.

He couldn't handle anymore that night.

It took a long while for Viktor to calm Arthur. He'd finally sat on the couch, pulling the smaller man over himself, straddling his lap, but Arthur didn't even seem to notice. He started to calm, but started falling right into sleep. Viktor, realizing this, lifted him softly in his arms.

He walked up the stairs, carrying him chest to chest, his hands beneath Arthur's rear to keep him in place, but even in his sleep, Arthur was clenched to him, his fingers locked in the thick coat. He made it into the room and carefully laid him on the bed, softly caressing his hands to loosen the fingers so the coat could slide away before he walked over, closing the door. He found a pair of sleeping pants and shrugged off the rest of his clothes before sliding the pants on and climbed onto the bed careful not to wake the other. He laid down and wrapped an arm carefully over his waist and was a bit surprised that Arthur turned, pressing his face against his chest again as another soft stutter made it's way through the young man. Viktor couldn't help but smile and softly coo comforting words as he closed his eyes before drifting off.