Alfred- Freshman
Arthur- Sophomore

It was roughly three in the afternoon on a Sunday when Arthur's world got flipped upside down.

He was sitting at his desk, typing up a paper for his children's literature class and enjoying the sweet sound of Sunday (the only day in which everyone in the dorm was quiet enough, for whatever reason, for him to get any work done at all), when Matthew threw his dorm room door open and stared at him with an expression that oozed exasperation and apology.

"I tried to talk him out of it," he panted, as way of a warning, "but it was Uncle Tony's idea, so I didn't stand a chance."

Arthur closed his copy of Charlotte's Web immediately and granted matthew his full attention. He had only met Uncle Tony once, when he had gone home with the Jones twins for Thanksgiving, and it had not been a pleasant experience. He knew that whatever was about to enter through that door was not going to bode well for him.

"What," he demanded, "has Alfred brought with him?"

Matthew's eyes drifted down the hallway, where Alfred was, no doubt, making his way to the room. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied tiredly.

Somewhere down the hall, there was a crash, followed by a girlish shriek (Alfred) and a gruff voice cursing in Spanish (Matthew's roommate, Miguel). Arthur sighed, pushing back his chair and walking to the doorway. "I should honestly just wait until they get here and grant myself a few more moments of blissful ignorance, but I'm starting to fear for the safety of the building," he grumbled, poking his head into the hall.

Where he was met face to face with the biggest bloody aquarium he had ever seen.

His mind immediately sped through every worse case scenario he could think of.

Alfred and Matthew had left for the weekend on a "manly bonding fishing trip" with their father. Both Miguel and Arthur had been invited, but after finding out that Uncle Tony would be joining them, Arthur promptly refused. Alfred had pestered him for hours, as Miguel had readily agreed, and he and their Cuban teammate were hardly on good terms, but Arthur remained stubbornly adamant that he would not spend a weekend with "that mental git" Uncle Tony, lest he wake up with concrete shoes on the bottom of the lake. Needless to say, Alfred had been forced to go on the trip without his roommate and Arthur had enjoyed a lovely weekend, allowed to live another day.

Had Alfred brought something to get back at Arthur for leaving him with Miguel for a whole weekend? He shuddered at the thought. Finally, Arthur forced himself to look past the tank and gaze at what was inside.

It was fish.

Not just any fish, however. At least, not any fish that you would expect to see in a college dormitory. Oh no, what was in that tank was no goldfish or beta; it was a big, silvery, brownish thing, with shiny scales, bulging eyes and a gaping mouth. It took up a good half of the tank, which considering the size of the tank, was quite a feat, and every couple of seconds or so, it would wave one of it's monstrous fins and drag it along the glass.

It was hideous.

"What the bloody hell is THAT?" Arthur exclaimed.

"I named him Whale!" Alfred chirped with a grin. "I caught him myself! Dad said he wasn't good for eatin' so I was gonna throw him back, but Uncle Tony reminded me that we're totally allowed to have fish in the dorms and we convinced Dad to let me keep him as a pet!"

"A pet?"

"Yeah!"

Arthur turned to Matthew and Miguel, silently begging them to tell him this was all some sick joke, but their faces remained unchanged.

"If it makes you feel better, Mom tried really hard to get him to drop the idea," Matt said, shaking his head. "But then she walked into the bathroom and saw that thing staring at her from in the tub, freaked out, and demanded he got it out of her house."

Alfred pouted. "Whale is not a thing."

"Yes it is," Miguel agreed with a nod. "An ugly, ugly thing. Like, muy feo, amigo." He took a deep breath. "Now can we put this down, por favor? It's heavy as hell."

Arthur crossed his arms across his chest with a huff, just barely jumping out of the way as Alfred came barreling through the door with his end of the tank. He and Miguel unceremoniously placed (see: dropped) the tank onto Alfred's dresser and Alfred promptly started fiddling around with plug-ins and wires and gages.

"You aren't seriously considering keeping that thing in our room?" Arthur cried desperately. "There is no way Roderich would allow such a thing!"

Matthew tisked. "Oh trust me, he tried. Unfortunately, the rule is you can keep fish in the dorms, plain and simple." He glanced at the fish tank wearily. "There hasn't been any reason to make it any more specific."

Alfred and Miguel got to work setting up the fish tank. By the time they were done, the soft wurr of the filter filled the room, accompanied by the occasional bubbling of a little plastic treasure chest that just barely fit in the corner of the tank. Matthew and Miguel excused themselves back to their room, using homework and unpacking as an excuse to get as far away from that sea monster as possible. Arthur inwardly cursed his luck he couldn't go with them.

"Isn't he great, Artie?" Alfred asked, pressing his face against the glass of the tank. "I'm so excited we have a pet in the room! Ya know, they say people with pets live longer, because pets bring people so much joy!"

The fish tilted itself up slightly and stared at Arthur blankly. He blanched. "Right. Joy."

O

Whale had been living with Arthur and Alfred for about a week, and Arthur was feeling about as far from joyful as possible. The thing had an obnoxious little habit of staring at him. When he was trying to do his homework, when he was getting dressed, and worst of all, when he was trying to sleep, Whale's unblinking eyes were always trained right on him, staring.

Alfred had the top bunk, so he would never know just how unnerving having that fish stare at you while you tried to sleep was, which Arthur finally told him one morning after another fitful night of no sleep.

"Just," Alfred sighed, gesturing to the air and he grabbed his American football gear and threw it into his gym bag, "I dunno, face your back to him or something if it bothers you that badly!"

Arthur scoffed. "That doesn't stop it from staring, Alfred! I can still feel his creepy eyes bore into the back of my head!"

"I'm not getting rid of him, Arthur!"

"Then move him, at least! Somewhere where he can stare at you all night long, perhaps!"

They glared at each other for a few moments before Alfred finally gave in with a frustrated, muffled scream. "Fine!" he exclaimed, marching over to the wall, unplugging the tank, and lifting it into his arms with a grunt. Arthur's face finally dropped.

"W-wait, what the hell are you doing?" he cried. "That thing weighs a ton!"

"I'm moving him!" Alfred snapped as viciously as he could while carrying a large and heavy tank down the hallway.

Arthur followed closely behind, fussing here and there and jumping whenever it looked like Alfred might lose his grip. "Wha- I mean- Alfred! Where on Earth are you taking it?"

Alfred made a sudden left, kicking open the door to the public bathroom with a bang. "I'm taking him in here, is that okay?"

Making sure the drain was plugged, he took a deep breath and flipped the tank over, dumping Whale and his water into the bathtub. With the tank now empty and much lighter, he sighed in relief and placed it down on the tiled floor. Arthur blinked owlishly as he bent down and filled the tub with more water until the fish was fully submerged.

"There," Alfred said, standing up and crossing his arms. "Now he wont stare at you anymore." He turned on his heel and walked out of the bathroom. "I gotta get to practice."

Arthur's mouth hung open. He sputtered out a few words before taking off after him down the hallway. "Alfred! Wait! You can just leave him in there!"

"Dude, no one ever uses the bathtub. Besides, now he has more room."

"But!" Arthur froze realizing he hadn't really thought his argument through, and wasn't even sure why he was arguing in the first place, to be completely honest. All he knew was that Alfred was upset and it was somewhat his fault. "Roderich will be angry," he finally settled on.

Alfred chuckled. "Then he can move Whale back himself."

"Alfred-" Arthur cut himself off when Alfred turned to look at him over his shoulder with those big, blue eyes of his, hand holding the edge of the doorframe leading into their room. "You... If you really want a... companion so badly... there is always me."

Alfred's eyes widened. "Arthur..." he mumbled. Then suddenly, he grinned, sweeping down to grab his gym bag and swinging back out the door. "No way!"

Arthur watched his laughing and skipping form run down the hallway with a self-deprecating laugh. "Ah-ha...You bastard."

He wondered how long that damn fish would last if he drained all of it's water.

O

Later that night, the two were forced by Roderich to put Whale back in their room. Apparently, some of the residents had complained the thing had been staring at them while they tried to pee ("Imagine that!" "Oh, shut up!"), and if they didn't move it back, the resident director would be forced to remove it permanently.

Arthur refused to do most of the work, obviously, which left him on tank duty as Alfred wrestled around with the fish in the tub, trying to get a grip on it. After his third unsuccessful attempt, Alfred finally broke the silence, a coy smile on his handsome face.

"Ya know, Artie."

"What? And don't call me Artie. I hate that name."

Alfred laughed. "Okay, Art," he pointedly ignored Arthur's grumble before continuing, "I was just thinking, I wouldn't mind a human companion every now and then. You know, if the offer still stands?"

Arthur coughed, the tank almost slipping from it's resting place between the sink and his hip in his shock. "What?"

Alfred shrugged, and if Arthur didn't know any better, he could almost swear he saw a slight pink tinge his cheeks. "You know, like... friends? I'll even let you cover Whale's tank at night or something. If he still freaks you out."

Arthur resumed filling up the fish tank, ensuring Alfred couldn't see the blush and stupid smile he had on his own face before nodding. "Yes. I think I would like that." He turned to face him when he knew it was safe to do so without dying of embarrassment. "But I would still rather you simply move him so he stares at you all the bloody time."

Alfred laughed, cursing as Whale escaped his grip once again. "Not gonna happen, dude, but nice try!"

Life in room 305 wasn't perfect, Arthur reasoned with himself that night amongst the wurr of the fish tank filter, now slightly muffled by the thick blanket resting on top of it.

But, he thought fondly as Alfred began to snore quietly above him, maybe things were going to get just a little bit better.

This will not be the last of Whale, I promise you. XD I don't have much to say on this chapter surprisingly... Hmm. I guess I can talk about Uncle Tony and the Thanksgiving adventure, which will be shown up in a later chapter. XD This chapter takes place not long after Thanksgiving, but before Christmas. Yes. Not much else to say! XD

I think next chapter will finally get us a chance to see Alfred working out, so there is something to look forward to! :D I bet Arthur is excited for it too. XP

Anyway, until next time! Thanks so much for reading and thank you for the lovely reviews!
-Car