Arthur had never felt more terrified about going to sleep that night. Not only was he in France, a country he had a slight prejudice against, he also had to share a bed with someone he couldn't stand.
He and Abel tried to, as long as they were in their room, avoid and ignore one another as much as possible. This all seemed to go pretty well, even when the most feared moment was there. Arthur had to suppress a snigger when Abel grumbled about French people being too short; he was taller than the bed, so his feet stuck out on the end. Because of this, he saw no other way out than curling up, and with that also taking more space and leaving less for Arthur. For the Brit who wasn't used to letting anyone in this personal space of two feet, this was pretty uncomfortable. And the fact that the person next to him had chosen to sleep shirtless made it even more awkward for him. Even though Abel didn't seem to care in any way.
Luckily, regardless of the one-sided awkwardness, both Abel and Arthur fell asleep quickly that night. Not that surprising, as it had been a very tiring day. This sleep was more than welcome, and so was the feeling of warm blankets and a soft mattress. The soft breeze that came in through the open window made both the temperature and the thick air in the small room a lot more bearable. Pleasant even.
However, after only a few hours, the first problem occurred: Abel woke up after a short while of shivering thanks to the uncomfortable chill down his back. When he opened his eyes, his thought processes were still very slow.
'Ugh, what time is it?' he thought, taking a glance at his mobile phone. He quickly noticed it was only two in the night.
A little more annoyed already, as his head started to work a little. 'Why don't I have any blankets?' He thought frustrated, slowly turning his head and glaring at Arthur.
The Brit was sound asleep, smiling like an innocent child being contently curled up in the blankets. All of the blankets.
Abel rolled his eyes and gave a grunt in annoyance. "Fuck you, Arthur." He said out loud, and kicked his classmate over the edge without any form of hesitation.
With a loud yelp and a hard bang, Arthur ended up on the floor right next to his bed. Loudly swearing and shouting, he crawled out of the pile of blankets. "What the bloody hell is your problem?" He shouted at Abel, who was still glaring daggers at him from higher up.
"My problem is that you're possessive and I'm cold. You're not alone, you know." Abel sneered.
Arthur gritted his teeth. Sure, he was embarrassed, but he couldn't let Abel know. He simply crawled back onto his bed, rearranging the blankets a bit and turning around to go back to sleep. "Arsehole." He whispered at his classmate.
"Klootzak." Abel whispered at the same time, before going back to sleep as well.
After this little incident, all they wanted was to go back to sleep and forget about this dreadful situation as soon as possible.
Fate, however didn't appear to be on their side. Three more hours later, it was Arthur who woke up. This time, the problem appeared to be his ability to sleep soundly. Half-choking, he woke up to a bad nightmare. The first thing he usually did when having a nightmare was turning around, but now he suddenly found himself unable to. 'What is it now?' He wondered, slowly getting a few thought-processes starting up in his head. Then the realisation reached his mind that there was an arm loosely draped around his waist, and he was in fact, on his roommate's half of the bed. Also was Abel shamelessly leaning against him, leaving him absolutely no personal space whatsoever.
Arthur's face slowly turned into an expression of utter horror and disgust. "Eyaaaaah!" He shouted. "Goddammit, Abel! If you want to fall asleep somewhere, don't do it on me, you bloody wanker! Have you gone out of your bloody mind?! What the bleeding hell is wrong with you?!"
Upon waking up, Abel gave a shout as well. He quickly pushed Arthur away and crawled back a little himself. Not only at the position he and his classmate were in, but also at what said classmate had just shouted out loud after hours of silence. Every sound felt like it could be tearing his eardrums. "Shut up, you blasted idiot." He hissed. "Not everyone in Paris has to know what is happening in here."
Arthur was practically boiling with rage. Being in such a position was utterly humiliating, and above all, it was Abel. "Well, that won't be a problem. Those French frogs refuse to speak English anyway, so no one in Paris will have understood what I just said."
"Yeah, sure. What about our classmates? I guess Elizabetha fainted by now."
"Well she can go to bloody hell with her disgusting mind."
"Forget it." Abel grumbled and turned away.
Even more annoyed and cranky than before, Arthur turned around again. He did not want to think anymore. All he wanted was sleeping. And so, the two went back to sleep again. Abel already had a plan in his head, just in case. If Arthur would do something he didn't like again, he already had a new nasty plan ready. And indeed: Throughout the night he got kicked and hit several times by a very restlessly sleeping Arthur.
'Just you wait." Abel thought. 'I'll get you. You'll see.'
He took his cell phone, searching for a certain file he had saved there. It wasn't like he could sleep anymore before it was six 'o clock.
Abel sat straight up in his bed, getting a weak hit from a sleeping Arthur any now and then. The Brit rolled to the edge of his bed again, nearly falling off.
Abel raised an eyebrow as he plugged the television speakers into his phone. He tapped the touch screen a few times and then put it down on the shelf the television was on. He then lay back down with a content grin on his face. 'Just you wait, Arthur.' He triumphantly thought to himself. When he was just about to settle into a comfortable position again, he received, instead of a hand, a foot in the face for a change. The idiot had somehow managed to turn a quarter in his sleep. "Fuck you, browface." Abel whispered.
When the clock of the cell phone changed from 05:59 to 06:00, the just installed alarm went off. Without any form of warning, a loud and fast guitar solo blasted though the speakers in a volume that was too high to be comfortable after a long time of silence.
"Yaaargh!" Arthur screamed, slammed out of his sleep by Dragonforce's guitar art. In a reflex, he backed away, tumbling over the edge. Again.
For the second time in a short amount of time, Arthur found himself on the floor, covered by a pile of blankets.
Abel laughed loudly, accompanied by the intro of Soldiers of the Wastelands. He turned off the music when he saw Arthur's poison-glaring eyes rise above the surface of the bed. The Dutchman still kept laughing loudly, falling onto his back at the hilarious reaction Arthur had just given.
"Bloody hell, Abel! I swear you can't get any more childish than you are now. Stop laughing like a baboon, you bloody git!"
Abel, however entirely ignored the message. He turned off the music and tried to keep his laughing under control. "You-ahahaha! You should see your face right now! Geniaal!" He rolled onto his back on his bed, twitching and nearly choking with laughter. "Just…your face-daahahaha!"
"That's it! I've got enough of you and your childish behaviour!" Red with anger, Arthur ran out of the room towards the one of Mr. Trouillefou on the floor below. He rammed on the door of the man's room, not giving a shit it was in fact just past six in the morning.
After the French teacher had gotten over the shock of the noise, he appeared in the doorframe. He looked like he hadn't slept either, and Arthur hoped he'd never have to see his teacher with heavy bags under his eyes, his always neatly combed hair a complete mess and his belly lightly hanging over his pyjama trousers ever again. Not to mention the already greying chest hair. "Merde. What is it now, Arthur?"
"Sir! Abel is driving me stone bonkers! I haven't gotten the chance to rest for one single moment in the past night. I've been kicked out of my bed! Literally! Please let me switch rooms, with a girl if you must, but please don't make me spend the rest of this week with that barbarian in one room!"
In the meantime, some other students had woken up of multiple reasons. Abel's un-subtle wakeup call, for example, or Arthur's shouting in the corridors. A few girls turned around and walked away when they saw their complaints were already being taken care of.
Matthew, who had woken up because of the music and shouting, decided to wait a moment and listen to the conversation between Arthur and Mr. Trouillefou.
The dark-haired teacher let out a heavy sigh. "Arthur. Calm down. It's fine. I'll let you swap rooms."
Arthur sighed in relief.
"But I'll have to find one first. The only room you could move into is Francis' room because he is alone. And that has a reason."
Arthur gritted his teeth. 'Well,' he thought. 'I suppose I'll have to choose between getting molested in my sleep or not sleeping at all.' The idea alone made him shiver.
By the corner near the stairs, Matthew was listening to the conversation. No, this wouldn't qualify as eavesdropping. They simply didn't see him.
He knew it. This was his chance to get rid of having to share a room with Alfred. This was one of those rare moments he'd gather enough courage to speak up and get what he wanted, instead of what other people wanted at his cost.
"I'll swap rooms with you, if you want." He proposed, drawing the attention to himself. It came out as a relief. Not only to Matthew, but to Arthur as well.
"Are you okay with that?" Arthur asked. "That bloke is a pain in the arse, I tell you."
"I'll be fine." Matthew answered with a sweet smile. For now, he was glad that they actually heard him this time.
"Well, than that's taken care of." Mr. Trouillefou announced. He waited one moment for Abel to arrive as well so he could agree or disagree with the plan. "Abel, Arthur is going to switch rooms with Matthew. Are you okay with that?"
The carefree-looking teenager took a friendly glance at Matthew, but it seemed as if he had already decided. "'kay. Sure."
Trouillefou let out an air in relief. "Matthew. Can you wake Alfred up and tell him you're going to swap rooms?"
"Sure!" Matthew replied and was immediately off to tell the news to his brother. As he proceeded to his room, Matthew cheered inwardly. He'd finally be able to sleep! Aside from that, he'd also get to share a room with someone he really liked instead of just anyone who didn't have a roommate yet.
And had Abel, by any chance, just smiled at him? Or had that just been his imagination?
~o~o~
Oh, how I love torturing Arthur. No, not in that way, you pervert!
Translations:
Klootzak is an informal word for scrotum. It is one of the many Dutch equivalents of asshole.
Geniaal is the adjective form of genius.
Merde means shit in French. But I assume you already knew that.
Anyway, please review!