CakeTalk
Kiku really should not have been here this early. He did not want to be in the way for the final preparations, but Feliciano had made him promise to show up now, so he would stick his head in long enough for Feliciano to know he was here. He would probably save Ludwig from having to deal with more of the wedding than he had to today, it was very obvious to Kiku how much it bothered the man.
Plus, if he was to be honest with himself, he was hoping to walk in on Alfred so that the other would not have the chance to run away before Kiku could talk with him. He had thought about it and the likelihood of Alfred staying still if Kiku mentioned how cowardly running away was and that heroes never did that seemed rather high.
Talk to me, Alfred. Please... we are dancing around something we could have joined in long ago.
Kiku finally understood what Arthur had meant. This was not the type of challenge in which more time gave him the opportunity to gather courage. Time just seemed to take it away.
Not that they were pressed for time, not at all. Actually... it just depended on how one looked at it.
Looking for Feliciano was his excuse, but he found Alfred right off the bat. It was not hard, he was with Matthew and the both of them were standing next to that cake. Kiku nearly spoke when his eyes focused on Roderich's masterpiece.
"Excuse me, but is the cake..." Kiku trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.
"Going to tip over? Yeah," Alfred responded. "I think I'm just going to put my hands on it. Smooth or not."
"Wash your hands first then!" Matthew exclaimed as Alfred was about to do so. Alfred frowned, retracting his hands from the cake. "Or never mind, I'll go do it, eh!"
"You just want me to be the one in here when it collapses!" Alfred pointed at him, looking slightly hurt at that. Matthew simply looked bewildered.
"No, that's not it at all! I–"
Kiku stopped listening, leaving the room and went to find Feliks. Right on time he found the man as he entered the building with Toris. It took a short exchange of thirty seconds before Feliks took his extra gloves from Toris' pocket and lent them to him. Kiku took them and returned to the room, where Alfred and Matthew were concluding their argument.
"Just be quick–" Alfred was saying as Kiku walked up to the both of them. Alfred stopped talking and looked at him. "What's up?"
"Here." Kiku held out the gloves. Both Alfred and Matthew simply stared at them for a moment before Alfred took them.
"Thanks," Matthew said. Kiku noted that he looked rather exhausted by this point, which made him wonder just how long the both of them had been arguing about this cake. Instead of asking, he simply nodded, watching Alfred slide them on.
"Where do you think I should hold it?" he asked the both of them. Kiku stared at the cake, then looked at Matthew. Matthew still looked uncertain.
"Here."
Kiku and Matthew moved aside as Sadiq leaned past them, simply reaching over and realigning the cake with his bare hands. After he did so, he proceeded to smooth out the cake once more. Kiku was rather glad, but noticed that Matthew looked stunned and Alfred looked like he was angry.
"It's just the fondant," Sadiq said as he finished returning the cake to its former state. "Barely anyone eats it, it's too sugary. It's mostly just for decoration, 'cause it's like clay. You form it and it stays."
"Oh," Matthew said, while Kiku simply nodded. For Alfred, however, that explanation did not seem to help.
"Why the fuck would anyone put something on food that they're not going to eat!" Alfred shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. Shuffling his feet, Kiku tried to say something.
"Stop complaining. It turned out good for us, right eh?" Matthew pushed at his shoulder. Kiku shut his mouth as he watched Alfred still seem rather irritated by the situation.
"Thirty minutes 'til the lights go up," Sadiq said vaguely as he left the room. It took Kiku a few moments to realize what he meant by that, by which point Alfred was already leaving the room. Matthew gave him a look that told Kiku he knew exactly what was going on.
Everyone knows what is going on except for Alfred.
How had he fallen for such an idiot? "Alfred!" he called, chasing after him. "Alfred, please!"
Alfred stopped, turning around to look at him. He opened his mouth, shut it, then shrugged. "You should get to your seat. We'll talk after, 'kay? I promise, we'll talk after the wedding is over." Then he ran off. Again. He was always running away.
"Alfred, you coward!" Kiku shouted after him, covering his mouth right after that. Had Alfred heard him? He had not meant to say it like that... That would not help, not at all. "Oh... why will you not just let me speak...?"
At the very least, Alfred was right about one thing. He should get to his seat. They would talk about this later. Not too much later, just later. After this. Kiku would not let him run away anymore. They were going to get over this.
There was nothing to run away from. If only he could say enough that Alfred would understand that.
Notes:
Oh Kiku, you can go and get something that has taken several chapters to talk about within a paragraph. Yet it has been nearly two stories and you have only just begun to try and fix the problem between you and Alfred. I love you, despite your quirks.
People could eat fondant. No idea why they would though, it tastes disgusting. It tastes like clay. It could be clay. Disgusting, but good food decorative material. Take that as you may.
