Arthur woke up the next morning due to the sunlight that had crept through the window. He exhaled noisily, still a bit groggy as he sat up in his bed. Peering over at the clock he scratched the back of his head. It was already seven.
Sitting on the foot of the bed, he stayed silent for a moment. He didn't hear Alfred's booming laughter coming from downstairs. Odd. The angel shook it off, seeing as how he knew Alfred was tired from driving all across town for his countless interviews.
Oh. I had forgotten to ask him about that last night, Arthur remembered as he headed downstairs where he found Matthew diving into a bowl of Frosted Flakes.
"Muhnin' Arfuh!" Matthew said with mouthful of cereal. Arthur frowned. Apparently Alfred had done a wonderful job at teaching the child proper manners.
"Morning, Matt. Would you like me to make you breakfast? It seems your brother is still asleep." Arthur offered, walking towards to the kitchen area.
The amethyst eyed boy immediately went stiff and quickly scarfed down the rest of the cereal in his bowl. "N-No thanks! I'm full!" I don't want a repeat of last night's cooking. "Ah, my bus is here, see you later!"
With that Matthew stumbled over to the door, grabbed his things and left.
Arthur grimaced.
"You don't have to seem so bloody eager."
Hearing a knock on the door, the angel rose up from his chair, expecting that Matthew had forgotten something. Which he did; one of his school journals with a polar bear on the cover.
"Here you go, Matthew. You've ought to pay more attention and stop forgetting your things," Arthur scolded upon opening the door, shoving the journal forward. The hand that took it, though, definitely did not belong to Matthew.
"Oh my. What do we have here?" A fluttery voice questioned as Arthur raised his head slowly to stare up at the man.
He didn't know why, but he was pretty sure he did not like this man.
"Why, you are so beautiful!" The man stepped forward as if to admire the British angel up close. "What's a sweet chaton like you doing in this house?"
"Francis, don't start."
Twisting around to find the source of the voice, Arthur saw Alfred walking towards them. Ah. Just like a hero to the rescue, right in the knick of time.
Alfred stood beside Arthur and scowled at the older man.
"Ah, aren't you, mon ami, the one who told me to come over in the first place?" Francis grinned deviously, his eyes fixated on Arthur. "And how rude of you! You haven't even introduced me to this blond beauty."
The angel was definitely confused. Having this man in the house could blow his cover completely! Had Alfred gone mad? After all, if Francis were to find out, he would probably go crazy and tell everyone he possibly could. And then where would Arthur be? Stuck in a cage somewhere, being poked and questioned by humans all day and night. He shuddered; he would not last in those conditions. Arthur could feel that Francis would not be the type to keep his lips sealed. This man was a definite threat.
"This is Arthur," Alfred mumbled. "Don't get any funny ideas."
The curly blond's smile only grew wider.
"Arthur," he breathed the name out sensually as he took said man's hand and kissed it. "How wonderful it is to meet you, mon cheri. I hope we can get better acquainted soon, if you understand." Francis smirked, waggling his eyebrows.
Arthur's cheeks burned.
"Francis!" Alfred shouted, taking a step forward in anger, but Arthur had beaten him to the punch. Quite literally.
Leaning against the wall for support Francis wiped his mouth, his lip possibly busted. But it had only egged the man on more.
"Oh~! Feisty, are we? I am going to enjoy staying here very much."
Arthur was brought out of his fit of rage.
Stay? Here? Oh, no, no, no. This pervert is not staying here. I will personally make sure of it.
"Alfred."
"Arthur, listen, I can explain! I swear!" The blue eyed man assured the angel. The Brit was about to lash out in anger but was stopped by a restraining hand on his wrist.
"Francis is…trying to help my situation." Alfred grumbled in a barely coherent voice. He was clearly frustrated from having to admit that he, Alfred F. Jones, needed help. Especially from someone like Francis. "He's gonna stay here and pay rent just 'til I can find another job. Please…try to act reasonably."
At this time Francis had already gotten off the wall and was acting as if the squabble had never happened.
"Don't be so bitter, mon cheri~! Now that we're going to be living under the same roof you'll get to be graced by my presence daily." The man snickered as he ruffled the angel's already unruly hair.
Alfred could feel the hatred emanating off of Arthur's body.
It was then that Alfred realized that this wasn't one of his smartest ideas.
----
Arthur had been sexually harassed twenty three times in the very first hour of Francis' arrival. He was so sick and disgusted by the man already.
In fact, he was so disgusted that he had locked himself away in Alfred's room, promising not to move until the man left. This did not make it any easier on Alfred. But then again, now that Arthur was far, far away from Francis, he wouldn't have to constantly worry every time the man touched the angel. After all, with one wrong movement, Francis could've easily felt Arthur's wing. Maybe it was a good thing that Arthur had locked himself away. That way Francis wouldn't find out the truth.
Francis was now sitting in across from Alfred, concentrating on a gigantic pile of wanted ads and application files.
Alfred was doing the same, nodding at the jobs he seemed interested in and frowning at the perverted jobs Francis suggested. It was then that Francis complained that Alfred was just too picky.
"You know, it's going to take quite the job to pay for this lovely house." Francis said, undoubtedly stating the obvious.
Alfred rolled his eyes. "If I didn't know that already, you wouldn't be here and I'd be working at some burger joint."
Francis frowned and sipped his tea in a passive aggressive manner.
The blue eyed man sighed exasperatedly.
"If you don't mind me asking, Alfred, who exactly is that lovely chaton that greeted me at the door?" Francis questioned nonchalantly, sifting through more paperwork.
Alfred froze. He hadn't even thought of an excuse yet. He also knew by pausing for such along time to answer Francis was getting suspicious.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
"He's just a friend who needed a place to chill for a li'l while. He's in a bit of a money bind like me."
Francis eyed the other blond skeptically. "So, you're sheltering that boy, just out of hospitality? Is that correct?"
"Yup," was the only thing Alfred could muster up in reply. He kept his eyes glued to the forms as if they were the most interesting things he had ever read and prayed that Francis wouldn't bring it up again.
And he didn't.
For now that is.
A/N: Bwahaha, oh Francis. I love you. As a plot device that is. :3 Read and Review, please? I'll let you hug Mattie. :D Thank you for everyone who has been reading this and commenting on it so far. :)