AN: Wow, seven reviews (and a couple of threats xD) for one chapter. That's a record. Thanks~ Updates will be hectic with school starting. D: Yeah, ew.
He wiped the sleep away from his eyes before looking at the clock mounted up on the wall. A small snarl was on his lips as he buries himself deeper into his sheets. Five o'clock? Nobody's awake at this time. He honestly thought about just going back to sleep, but when he remembered that brief moment when he almost died… well, staying awake seemed like a better idea.
Maybe I should go get one of the nurses, one of them was pretty—oh. Who do we have here? Ignoring the rustling of the sheets as he moved closer to him, he propped his chin on his hand as he stared intensely at Matthew.
He was slumped over the chair in an awkward position that's sure to give him cramps when he wakes up, but… something was off. Maybe it was because Matthew just seemed a bit frailer like this, almost sickly. Wait. He stares harder at the blonde's chest. Gilbert's head snaps back, eyes wide. Holy shit he's not breathing.
Now is a good time to panic, better than any other time. Oh God, oh God, oh God! What the fuck do I do? Oh my God. Scheiße, scheiße, scheiße, scheiße, scheiße!
And then Matt lets out a small groan as he tries to turn over in his seat. Gilbert stops what he was doing (which was about to pull out his hair) and watches him in disbelief before his eyes rest on his chest. It's… moving. He visibly relaxes, sinking into his bed and his eyes slipping close. Just my imagination. Stupid neurological problems… God I'm tired now.
One eye groggily struggles to stay open and he leans over, resting against the edge of the bed as he watches Matthew sleep. He watches the steady rising and falling of the blonde's chest with mixed emotions. He doesn't know why, but he doesn't stop his hand from slowly reaching towards the other's chest.
It hovers over his chest and Gilbert's gaze flickers up to Matt's face. Still sleeping like a drugged man. With careful precision, he rests his hand on the boy's chest. And jerked it back in surprise at the sudden jerk of Matthew's body. Shit, what the hell happened? Red eyes watch Matt's face as the pained expression slowly leaves the boy's face and the unusual labored breathing stops.
Gilbert leaned back into his bed and decided that that was enough excitement for one day.
He fell asleep in record time.
And he woke up at the smell of something so sinfully good that he almost moaned in his sleep. Thankfully for him, his senses kicked in and woke him up before he could make a fool out of himself in front of Matthew.
Who was still sitting in the chair that Gilbert last saw him in, a plate held close to his mouth with the brown fluffy cake hanging out of his lips. The blonde hurriedly shoved that cake down into his throat. "Oh… hi Gil. You're awake."
"Can I have some?"
"Oh… um, I don't think your stomach would be able to handle it." Matthew replied, sending him a sympathetic look as he took another bite of the pancake. He made random moans and groans of pleasure as he savored his breakfast, much to Gilbert's indignation.
"That's low."
A playful smirk from the blonde and he cut off little pieces of the last pancake. He handed the plate over to Gilbert along with his fork. "Eat each piece one at a time. Any more and your gut might not be able to handle it." He advised in vain, Gilbert just swallowing the bite-size pieces in one breath.
"Wow. Thanks for listening to my advice." Matt rolled his eyes as he threw the red flower that he's been hiding at Gil. It landed right in the other's plate. Gil shot him a glare before picking up the pretty little thing, settling back into his bed.
His fingers went to stroking the petals.
"These are poppies aren't they?"
The other's head shot up at the question before he looked down at the plate. "Um, yeah. They're poppies. Why?" He asked as he folded the plate and threw it away in the nearest trash bin. He wiped his hands on his jeans as he sat back down in his usual spot, chin resting on his propped up arms. "Do you… not like them or something?"
He wasn't sure what prompted him to answer so quickly, but whatever… he didn't question it. "No! No! I like them!" He trailed off, smiling a bit at the relieved look on his companion's face. "My favorite flower is the cornflower though."
"Ah. I should have known. They're both war flowers though."
Huh? "War flowers?"
Matthew laughed at the clueless look on Gilbert's face before he suddenly seemed a bit… lonely. "Yeah… poppies are used to commemorate the sacrifices of those who fought in wars in the United Kingdom, Canada, and America."
Gilbert couldn't help, but feel like he was in a trance or something as he mindlessly nods. I wonder what happened… He wondered as he closely inspected that forlorn look in Matt's eyes. Something had happened to him that involved poppies apparently, but that was all he could really digress.
"And cornflowers…" Matt drew out a whistle as he leaned back into his chair, a carefree front shoving that little piece of vulnerability back. "They're a symbol for veterans in France." Matt's hand flippantly waved about in the air. "Kind of like poppies you know? War flowers."
"Hmn… interesting, but I like cornflowers because of an old story that my grandfather used to tell me." Gilbert paused to cough into his hand, a little smirk on his lips. In the deepest and grittiest voice he could muster, he said, "A story? You want to hear a story? Well, go do some work, you little slacker. Stop leeching off your brother and mother and then I'll tell you a story."
A blonde eyebrow quirked upwards as Matthew regarded the man in front of him in a different light. He scoffed. "How old are you again? Older than ten right?"
"Psh. Of course I'm not ten! You can't be this awesome after just ten years! Though I was still more awesome than the other ten year olders." Gilbert added with a wink. "I'm twenty-five kid, but that's off topic."
"Oh that's off topic? I'll show you—"
"Oh just shut up Chickadee and let me go back to my story!"
"Chickadee? When'd you start cal—"
"Okay!" He said, much louder than necessary. But whatever, it got his point across. "Okay, so as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…" He shot a comical glare over to Matthew who stuck his tongue out at him. "My grandfather used to tell me this story about when Queen Louise of Prussia was fleeing Berlin and she was pursued by Napoleon's forces. She hid her children in a field of cornflowers and kept them quiet by weaving wreaths for them from the flowers."
"Oh. I never knew—"
"Also, the blue cornflower is the color of Prussia's military uniform."
"Oh that's really interes—"
"Plus the cornflower is usually used to represent the nation of Prussia!"
Matthew didn't really know what to say so the first thing that came to his mind, he blurted it out. "Wow… you really like Prussia don't you?"
"I don't like the awesome nation of Prussia. There's a link between us! Soul mates I tell you! Soul mates!" The 'not-joking' tone in Gilbert's voice stopped Matthew from arguing with him so both just settled with doing their own thing.
Gilbert was perfectly fine with studying the flower. Though the more he toyed around with the pretty thing, the more perplexed he became. There was so much that he didn't know about Matthew, but here it seemed like Matthew knew most things about him. Probably got my files from his dad or something…
"Is there a… connection between the two of us or did you just randomly decide to pay me a visit?"
"Oh uh, my brother goes to your college."
That caught Gil's attention. "Only your brother? Not you?"
His fingers tap along his chin as he mulls over the question. What would be the best way to answer that question? "Only my brother." He repeated, one of his fingers going to scratch the side of his nose. "Um, I dropped out."
"Nothing to be ashamed about." Gilbert stated, red eyes carefully watching the blonde. He lowered his gaze, a bit embarrassed at having blurted that out. The response he heard surprised him.
"I'm not ashamed!" The younger man hissed out, voice sounding rather strained. "I may have dropped out of college, but that doesn't say anything other than something outside of my doing affected me!" Gilbert looked up to see Matt glaring at him with a fierce intensity that made him wish that he were dead. God, that look was so creepy. Out of this world even.
"It doesn't mean that I'm dumber, it doesn't mean that I need your pity or your sympathi—"
"What ever you say kid, but you're being rather defen—"
"Why are you in the hospital?" He snapped, hitting a tender spot.
"Hey, that's person—"
"Why'd you try to off yourself, eh!"
"Fucking; shut up ki—"
"Why'd you try to take the easy way ou—"
Matthew snapped out of his rant as Gil grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. There was fear in his blue-violet eyes as Gil brought his face closer to his and Matt looked away, scared of what he could see in those red windows to the soul.
Gilbert gave him one good shake and Matt cringed. Gil began to talk, tone low and cold. "Okay… I got it kid. It was personal and I was intruding." He lets go of the boy's shirt to scratch at his neck. "It may be stupid to outsiders, but it's touchy to us. I got it…"
Both feel into silence.
Matthew was the first to break it.
"Um… sorry."
"And I'm sorry about nearly making your shit your pants." He let out a laugh at the look sent his way. God, I miss how unique my laugh is… He preened to himself as he held up a hand to stop Matt from panicking about the odd noise that he just emitted. "So…tell me about your brother."
"And oh God—the first time Alfred ever saw a girl's underwear was when he was like… seven or something!" Matthew took in a deep breath between laughs, this story suddenly a lot funnier than usual. Maybe it was because of Gil's infectious laugh? God, you can't help but laugh at it if you can't laugh with it!
"They were playing follow the leader, he tripped, and grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on. Man! You should have seen him when her mother was lecturing him. He looked one straw away from breaking down!"
Both laughed, hard.
Their raucous laughter definitely didn't make most of the other patients happy, but they did garner a lot of attention from the staff. Most would stop by the room to see what was so funny, but once those two noticed them standing there they would quiet down. And once they left, those two would look at each other and then explode into a fit of laughter.
Needless to say, Gilbert quieted down when he noticed one of the nurses leaning against the doorframe, a bemused look on her face. He nudged Matthew, who somehow managed to worm his way onto the bed, next to Gil. Once Matt noticed her standing there, he slinked out of Gil's bed and back to his usual seat.
It wasn't as comfortable, but one couldn't complain.
"Are you two hungry?"
"Um…" Both chorused as they shared a glance. "Yeah. Pretty hungry."
"Good, 'cause you guys skipped lunch. I would be worried if you weren't hungry." She let out a soft laugh as she strolled into the room, hands on her hips. "So, what do you guys feel like having? We're serving leftovers from yesterday though."
"Oh… I'll have some fettuccine alfredo," Matthew faltered at that look the nurse gave him. "Um… please?"
"Much better. And you sir?"
"I'll make it easy for you, I'll have what Mattie's having." There was a pause and Gil quickly corrected his mistake with a sheepish grin. "Please?"
She gives him a nod before pointing at the red poppy in Gil's grip. "And would the flower like a vase with water?"
Gil looked down at the poppy, a small flush on his cheeks when he noticed that he was still fiddling around with it. "Ah, no..." He mumbled, looking the nurse right in the eye. "The flower is fine as it is. Thank you though, miss." He returned the woman's pleasant smile and watched as she disappeared from sight before turning to Matt, a question on the tip of his tongue.
"I've been wondering..." He started, picking up the flower and waving it around like a pointer stick. "Why'd you give me poppies? They're flowers for fallen soliders. So... why?"
"Well... life is like war. It's a battlefield throughout our lives." Matthew commented offhandedly, but it didn't fool Gilbert. He could tell that the kid was nervous as heck. Mostly because the blonde had a forced grin on his face and he wasn't looking him in the eyes.
"Poppies are for fallen soliders... not for those who lived. Those are cornflowers." Gilbert said slowly. "You said so yourself."
"Ah, well, th-that is correct. N-Not that you kn-know... th-that you know..."
"If life is a war and poppies are for fallen soliders..." Maybe it took a bit longer than it should have, but at least he pieced it together. "You thought I was going to die yesterday!"
Matthew didn't answer him. He only ran out of the room, narrowly missing crashing into one of the doctors. "Nurse! I'll be having my pasta to-go! Nurse?"
Gil watched him run out, a fond smirk on his face. He shook his head and slowly inched down into his bed, wrapping his blankets around himself. Unusual kid. It was the last thing he thought to himself before he fell asleep, smile still on his face.
Best he felt in a long time.