Arthur had been helping Alfred readjust again on the bed for the umpteenth time since the younger had found several reasons he needed to get back up. The British man was beginning to feel his headache again with the way Alfred was whining about needing to do something and how unheroic it was to just lie still while the others searched for the missing Italian, mumbling to himself that Alfred truly meant well even if he was trying his patience.
He'd just gotten him to lay with his arm propped up by one of the pillows when he heard Feliciano's voice beyond the door. Curious as to why he'd return so quickly when he'd been so adamant about looking for Romano, he'd opened the door to spot the Italian pulling the radio away from Kiku in his overzealousness, the Japanese man reaching out to warn him to not to tug on the precariously set up device. Arthur had heard the usual pleas for Germany to come save him, turning to give a stern warning to Alfred to not move from his spot, before turning and seeing Feliciano begin to wring the cords absentmindedly in his worry as he related what was going on.
"What the hell are you doing with the radio? Give it here." Arthur demanded, stepping forward to take it from Feliciano before he wrecked it on accident, both his and Kiku's eyes widening as the Italian predictably panicked at the sudden appearance and tone Arthur used. He quickly took off, the radio being tossed upwards as he fled to the engine area, forcing Arthur to have to lunge forward to catch it or else have it hit the floor and likely break again. He just barely managed to catch it in time, falling to the floor himself as he held it carefully.
"Oh, Arthur-kun, are you alright?" Kiku asked with a sympathetic wince on his face as he watched the British man slowly and carefully get back to his feet with the device. Arthur hastily put it back on the small table next to Japan, placing a hand to his head as the edges of his vision began to darken.
"Arthur? Arthur?!" Kiku called out, Arthur blinking a couple of times slowly to try and clear his muddled head only to feel like he suddenly lost his sea legs of which he was so proud. He felt himself begin to tip backwards, only to sag into someone's hold, belatedly realizing that all his efforts to keep Alfred still had just been completely undone as he was supported by the injured American.
"Easy Artie. I gotcha." Alfred said as Arthur continued to push himself to stand up on his own. "I gotcha bro…I…I…uh oh…." Alfred said, his grip on Arthur loosening up. At first, Arthur thought he was going to be dropped ungracefully onto his butt as the taller blonde appeared to lose his grip.
But instead, he found himself crumpling into Alfred's hold as the American tipped back, the two of them landing with a thud in the small walking space that had been the sleeping area for the two Italys the night before. The continual movement only furthered the ache in his head, Arthur involuntarily letting out a groan as he shut his eyes and let himself lay on top of the unconscious American personification.
"Oh..." Kiku began, Arthur hearing him mutter what he thought sounded like several Japanese curse words as he watched the two collapse in a heap in front of him, his injured leg making it impossible to get up to check on them. "Yao! Yao! Come quickly! Yao, I need your help!" Kiku shouted, Arthur wishing that the other wouldn't be so loud before realizing that he was associating loud with the normally calm Japanese man. "Yao!" Kiku called out again, Arthur clenching his eyes tighter as the yell seemed to echo in his head.
"Aiya! What's with all the screaming? I am coming." Yao called out, quick footsteps heard as he hurried to get to his brother. The raised voice, urgent tone, and the fact that he'd said that he specifically said he'd needed him, all indicated that there was a serious problem. "Aiya…" Yao repeated, this time in a more breathless tone as he saw the two blondes on the floor, Kiku attempting to get up to go over to them.
They weren't too far from where he sat, but even that movement clearly pained the Japanese man. "No Kiku…sit there. I'll help them. You keep working on the radio and don't move or you'll make yourself worse too." Yao said, gently pushing Kiku back onto the couch before tuning to look at Alfred and Arthur. He was just leaning over to check on them and to come up with some way of possibly getting them disentangled and back onto the bed, when Francis reemerged, both Italys in tow.
"Everyone can relax. Romano simply decided that he'd look over the engine again, but that was too much hard work to continue without taking a sieste or two." Francis said, Romano grumbling about being woken up by Francis, and that everyone knows the best ideas come in one's sleep.
"Wonderful. Then he can help with these two." Yao said, the other three noticing the two on the floor still. "Help me get them back to bed." He said, Francis striding over to help as best he could with the limited room. Unfortunately, this meant that Yao more or less ended up stepping on Alfred as he tried to get on the other side of the large American, but Alfred didn't make a sound.
"Angleterre, wake up. Come on…" Francis said softly, gently tapping the British man's face to get him to open his eyes. He was rewarded by narrow slits of green peeking out from beneath barely opened eyelids as Arthur attempted to rouse himself. "There we go. Allonze mon lapin…" Francis continued, pulling Arthur up just enough for Yao to start sliding Alfred out from under him.
"Ugh…he's too heavy…" Yao complained, Francis doing his best to get Arthur more awake as he held him in his arms. The Frenchman didn't bother to give the Chinese man a response or even a look, too busy with how Arthur continued to lean into him for support, pressing his face into the older blonde's chest like a small child looking about to take a nap.
"Non…as adorable as you are trying to be, you need to help me get you to bed. Must you make me do all the work?" Francis said to Arthur, Yao giving one more tug on Alfred to get Arthur completely off of him so he could start essentially dragging him back to the bedroom. As Yao pulled him back over to the bed, a thud caused him to pause and to receive the others' attention from watching the exchange between Arthur and Francis.
"What was that?" Francis asked, Yao's face taking on a tinge of embarrassment.
"Nothing. Alfred-aru did not hit his head on the doorframe or anything like that." The Chinese man said, readjusting his grip under the younger man's arms. "It's no matter. He's already unconscious anyway…" He said, hefting Alfred up and onto the bed. Alfred landed on his side, his injured arm luckily not the one he was tossed onto. Yao rolled him over onto his back, still panting from the exertion of getting him back onto the bed. "He will so owe me for this too…" Yao grumbled, heading over to help Francis, the Frenchman successfully having dragged Arthur unsteadily to his feet.
"'M fine…Stop f-fussing." Arthur protested, shuffling forward with an arm around Francis and the other around Yao. The Chinese man huffed at that, looking over Arthur's shoulder to see the Italy brothers standing awkwardly in the entryway for a lack of anything better to do.
"Lot of help you two were." Yao said, both Italy brothers looking upset at that before Romano snapped out of it quicker.
"There's not enough room for us all to lend a hand, dumbass." Romano said, typical scowl in place and placing a hand on his brother's shoulder in a rare show of sibling care. "We'd have only ended up tripping over each other more. You and the wine bastard got there first…" He said, Feliciano nodding in agreement with his brother's reasoning, Kiku sighing as he anticipated a possible argument breaking out.
"Well, the radio's still working and we were able to contact the others. We should be picked up soon if they're all tracing the signal." The Japanese man calmly interjected. "Let's just all try to be patient. We can decide what to do later." He said as he looked at the others before returning to inspecting the radio to be sure that Feliciano hadn't actually done anything to it. He breathed a sigh of relief that Arthur's quick actions had actually managed to keep the radio in as intact a state as it had been before being tossed by a frightened Italian.
"Oui. There is not much more to be done anyway." Francis said, he and Yao placing Arthur on the space remaining on the bed next to Alfred. "Alfred will not be able to continue getting us closer to land, but he did get us close enough that help will be able to find us. And with the engine the way it is, we have no other option other than waiting." He said with a bit of a sigh.
Romano snorted as he leaned against the doorframe where he and his brother stood. "I think I'll go back to my siesta then. Come on Feli." He said, urging his brother to give the others some space, causing Kiku to wonder if it was just possible that maybe one of the two Italy brothers might be able to read the atmosphere at least a little. But then he realized that the southern Italian probably really did want to return to taking a nap in whatever peace and quiet he'd found, grateful either way that it seemed like there would be some attempt at maintaining peace.
"Next time, perhaps we could all visit Tahiti instead." Francis said as he leaned against the wall, running a hand through his dry and frizzled hair that was no doubt bothering him. "It's nearby and…well…no need for leaving it." He said with a shrug, Yao rolling his eyes as he walked back over to Kiku to look over his younger brother's leg once again to be sure he hadn't done anything earlier when he'd tried to stand on it. But it seemed like they definitely were set on one course of action now that Alfred was down for the count, but none of them were particularly fond of the idea of just waiting with only a few bottles of water left and not nearly enough food.
And so they spent the rest of the day waiting for a sign from anyone else that help was lingering off the horizon, Kiku playing around more on the radio to keep sending out a signal while the food was being rationed off. Thanks to being on board Alfred's ship, there was still a decent amount to eat, although the fresh water supply wasn't the best. But a few more static-heavy messages had come across the radio since then, giving them all a little more hope that their prolonged sea trip would be coming to an end. Arthur had woken up feeling more like himself again and had managed to find a place squeezed next to everyone else, no one wanting to get too far from the radio and nightfall had already made spotting ships practically impossible.
"Do you think we should wake Alfredo? I mean, won't he want to eat too?" Feliciano suggested as they ate what was left of the food before it spoiled – they were on Alfred's boat and while it was stocked the way the American did for a day's worth of sailing was plenty, along with what Yao had brought from his boat, with seven eating from it there wasn't a whole lot left.
"I don't think he'll be up to it Feli. It might just be kinder to let him sleep until help comes." Francis suggested, the northern Italian looking a little bummed at not getting to share a meal with an equally food-loving friend of his. But other than the typical familiar squabbles between the others as they huddled around the radio, not much else was said during their improvised dinner.
Yao offered to take the floor to sleep, giving the Italians the space with the steering wheel to themselves. That plan was readily agreed upon, Arthur going so far as to then offer to periodically switch with Francis his place on the bed beside Alfred and to take the limited space on the floor beside the bed. With that, the group did their best to get some sleep, needing rest if they were to have to go another day at sea, now aimlessly drifting without Alfred's help.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Alfred woke up to find that almost everyone was asleep except for Kiku. The Japanese man was determinedly still working at the radio, Alfred wondering if there was also a worry about what might happen should they all remain asleep. The American felt himself drifting back into unconsciousness when a sudden idea came to him as he thought back on his dream involving his whale friend. He gasped, not knowing how he could have forgotten about asking his whale for help.
"Arfred-kun? Are you awake?" Kiku's voice drifted over to him in a hushed whisper, obviously concerned about waking anyone else up. Alfred shifted a little, arm aching and disoriented from waking up in pitch darkness. "Arfred?" Kiku called out again, a little louder and less sure of himself at not receiving a response right away.
"Yeah…'m up…" Alfred said, easing himself into a sitting position. "Wha' happened?" He asked as he finally righted himself, knowing that someone was beside him but not entirely sure and his last memory was a little fuzzy.
"You and Arthur-kun both fainted in front of me. I'm sorry, my friend, but I was not able to tend to you immediately. I had to call for Yao to come pick you up." Kiku said, Alfred trying to see with the limited light from the backup lantern that the Japanese man was using to see what he was working with at the radio.
"No sweat. And I didn't faint – I passed out. Heroes don't do that girly fainting." Alfred said, slowly sliding off the bed and tentatively standing, holding onto the wall as he bumped into something on the floor. That something gave a little groan and moved a little before quieting, Alfred mentally pleading for whoever had taken that particular stretch of floor to not wake up.
"Hai. Of course Arfred…"Kiku said in his usual agreeable manner. But Alfred swore he saw a brief smirk on the other's face, ultimately chalking it up to the way the low light was playing with his vision.
"I need to get back out on deck." Alfred said, cautiously stepping over who he now realized was Francis. "I gotta call somebody…" He said, moving forward to carefully step around Yao as well, keeping his injured arm held closely by his side.
"Nani? What are you talking about?"Kiku asked, reaching out and grabbing Alfred's uninjured arm to prevent him from continuing forward. "You need to lie down…Blood loss and lack of food are making it difficult to think clearly. Please…" Kiku said, Alfred tugging gently against his friend's hold. "The only way to make a call is with the radio and I promise I'm working hard to reach somebody else…" He urged his friend, grunting as he tried to stand up again to follow after Alfred.
"Nah. Just gotta….know who to call. I'll be right back. I need the fresh air anyway." Alfred said with a grin before yawning and slowly heading back out, ignoring Kiku's calls to come back. He climbed back out onto the deck, carefully heading over to the side of the boat. He splashed at the water a few times with a piece of broken something that had been scattered on the deck before giving out a few whistles that had taken a while to get the hang of after he'd befriended the whale.
It was like his brother's bear and had stuck with him ever since he'd grown attached. And he knew that no matter where he was, somehow the whale would eventually find his way to him if he was on water. Often, his whale would hang out in his backyard pool, but there were plenty of other times that the whale opted for the open ocean – a fact that Alfred was pleased to remember had been fairly recent.
Alfred sat down to make himself a little more comfortable, periodically giving out that whistle a few more times as time passed. He was beginning to nod off as the sky started to grow brighter with the oncoming sunrise, so that he was taken by surprise when his whale came up alongside the boat with a cheerful whistle in greeting as it gently nudged the boat.
"Hey buddy…" Alfred said with a genuine smile as he stretched out his arm to pet the side of the whale, his whale squirting some water at him from its mouth. "Yeah, I know…it's been a while. I should'a called ya sooner too, but I'm silly sometimes." He said as his whale continued to playfully get the American soaked with more occasional splashes.
"Can ya help me out buddy? I busted my arm being all heroic and stuff and my twin's probably out there lookin' for me. Think you can find him and bring him here? I could use the help." Alfred asked, confident that his whale understood what he was saying. "I'd have you pull us back, but who knows if my boat'll hold up and I don't want you gettin' hurt…" He said, stroking the side of the whale again fondly.
"Just see if you can bring one of the rescue ships here as fast as ya can and then I'll be able to spend some time with you, okay?" He asked, his whale blinking up at him with wide eyes as it appeared to practically nod in agreement with Alfred. The American laughed as the whale pushed himself up again out of the water to get closer to the beaming Alfred at spending time with his buddy again.
Alfred pushed him away playfully and covering his face as the whale submerged with a deliberate slap of his tail to splash Alfred again. The American watched him for as long as he could see him with the naked eye before letting himself slide back onto the deck and to see if he could get comfortable again enough to go back to sleep. All too soon it seemed to Alfred that he was being jostled about, prompting him to crack open one eye ever so slightly to see what was interrupting his nap.
"Ah! Sleeping beauty has awoken…" Arthur's sarcastic voice greeted him, Alfred sighing as he heard the tone. He reluctantly opened both eyes, groaning as he felt the familiar ache that came from going too long without eating properly and the itch in his arm. "Perhaps you can explain why Kiku dragged himself over to us with a broken leg to go after you? Hmmm? It had better be a good explanation too…" Arthur said sternly, leveling a glare at the American that if Alfred had looked more closely he could tell was filled more with worry than anger.
"Makin' a call to get help. Don' worry 'bout it…" Alfred said, noticing the 'us' meant Francis and Arthur with a lingering Yao. "I told 'im I'd be right back…" He said, also growing aware that it wasn't dawn anymore as the sun bared down on them.
"Well you took long enough to make your 'call' that he thought you'd fallen overboard when he heard loud splashes. You scared him bad enough to try and get to you himself! Stupid child…" Yao said as he stood with his hands on his hips. His anger was made clearer to Alfred as he spotted Kiku on deck as well once Francis moved out of his immediate line of sight, showing him next to the Chinese man.
"Oops…sorry dude. I told ya' I was comin' right back, didn't I?" Alfred said, Yao turning back to tend to the pained Japanese man. Kiku whispered something to his older brother and made gestures to get him to stop, but Yao continued to make adjustments to his earlier attempt to tend to Kiku's leg.
"No, you didn't." Kiku said through gritted teeth as Yao accidentally aggravated his leg. "You said you were making a call and needed some fresh air. You were up here forever, Arfred-kun, and there was much splashing. It sounded like you were trying to get back onto the boat but couldn't…I did not know what to think." He said, Alfred feeling confused at that as he tried to figure out why his friend would think that way.
"Either way…we had better get Kiku and you back into the cabin. We 'ave left the radio unattended for a while and we don't want to ignore anyone's actual calls." Francis said, Arthur scowling again at Alfred once more before sighing and helping to hoist Alfred to his feet.
"Relax. Go give Yao a hand Francis. You shouldn't be up either Arthur since you fainted earlier." Alfred said, going against what he was saying as he swayed where he stood.
"Yes, well, you fainted too if I recall correctly." Arthur said as he came to Alfred's aid by stepping up to his side to give him more support, careful not to jostle his arm too much.
"I did not. You fainted. I passed out. Totally different things…" Alfred said, taking a shaky step forward and hesitating as his knees buckled and he needed to hold tighter onto Francis. Arthur quickly wrapped his arms around Alfred's torso to help right the American, Alfred taking deep breaths as his head cleared.
"And you're obviously delirious…" Arthur said, voice strained with the effort of holding up his younger brother as Francis attempted to not fall over himself as Alfred pushed him up against some debris.
"Nah uh…that's you…with your fairies." Alfred said with a small chuckle as he looked directly at Arthur, the British man huffing at that usual insult.
"Alfred…" Arthur began, talking over the chuckles, "…shut up. Or I may just find I suddenly can't hold you up." He said, Alfred scoffing at that. But when Arthur followed through with his threat, letting go, Francis was the one to curse at him as Alfred sagged into the Frenchman's side. "Oh yes, I can see you're perfectly fine." Arthur said, resuming his position to continue dragging Alfred back to the cabin and the waiting bed.
"Glad you got it old man. But like I said, relax. I got a friend gettin' us Mattie right now." Alfred said as they climbed back into the cabin, Kiku hopping along behind them as he leaned on Yao with far less vocal protest than his American friend toward receiving help.
"Well, if your friend is anything like Angleterre's, than we may be waiting for a while. In the meantime, you could make things much easier for all of us if you just stayed put in one spot." Francis said as he and Arthur deposited the American back onto the bed.
"As for Mathieu, I'm sure he's looking for us all too." He said a little more gently, Kiku heard hissing in pain behind the three of them as he assumed the position he'd been in for the past day and a half. "Angleterre, if you wouldn't mind…" Francis said, motioning with his head toward Alfred in a way that went over Alfred's head. Before he knew it, Arthur was sitting beside him, more or less making his way out impossible to do without notice, even if Arthur fell asleep again as well.
"Oh come on…I'm not gonna be able to move much anyway. Not without eatin' in so long. Is this any way to treat the leader of the free world? " Alfred complained, pouting at the apparent need the others thought was necessary for a babysitter. Arthur smirked at him, pushing him back onto the bed with more force than the American remembered the British man having before making the connection that it just seemed like Arthur had gotten stronger. Alfred dramatically sighed as he just let his head fall back onto one of the pillows, Arthur chuckling a few times at the childish actions as he made himself more comfortable.
"Come now. I thought you liked having company? It'll be just like one of your ridiculous sleepovers sans terrible telly." He said, unconsciously tucking in the younger man as he spoke.
"Oh, Angleterre, merci…" Francis said with an over-exaggerated gesture of placing a hand on his chest. "I always knew you had a hidden fondness for me." He said, Arthur's brow furrowing as he tried to decipher what the Frenchman was talking about. Seeing the confusion as he watched them from underneath the arm he'd flung over his eyes, Alfred snickered.
"Sans terrible telly." Alfred repeated with a mocking attempt to copy a British accent, Arthur's eyes widening as he picked up on what he'd inadvertently did. The British man huffed and refused to look at Francis while the other snickered.
"That was one word and was just a slip of the tongue. It's further proof of my head injury." He said, taking his embarrassment out on Alfred as he smacked him on the head, Alfred hiding his face behind his arm again to prevent any more assault.
"Yeah, yeah…a Freudian slip's just when ya say one thing but mean your mother." Alfred continued to tease and chuckling at his own joke, Francis continuing to join in as he shut the door on them, sure that rest would come soon enough if the British man decided to simply knock the younger man out. He walked over to where Kiku was accepting Yao's help once more, stepping past the Chinese man to head over to where the Italy brothers were no doubt still sleeping. The day was only a few hours old and already it seemed like there was too much excitement going on, the Frenchman settling himself on the floor next to where Romano was yet again cuddling with Feliciano in his sleep. He closed his eyes and thought he might as well use the brief silence to pray that help came before they ended up doing each other in.