You don't do things like that...

[allamericanreject]

WHO: Alfred F. Jones and Arthur Kirkland
TONE: ACCUSATORY? Eheh...
RATING: PG-13 because CURSING
WHEN: Backlogged to July 27th
WHERE: Camp! \o/
WHAT: So it's a day after the whole camp busted out and had their "funtime" in the town. And Alfred's nosy as to where his bunkmate was all night, as if he should be asking when he was out all night too.
STATUS: Ongoing

Alfred had no idea what to think about what had happened the night before. He felt like he should have had more control of his thoughts and emotions than this, and it was just plain frustrating how he didn't.

Here he was, staring at the ceiling and wondering where the hell Arthur had been while he himself was out with Amelia. Sure, Alfred would go out and do things during the night, but Arthur wasn't that sort. Alfred expected him to sit around and be a useless lump in the cabin, not HAVE FUN.

What frustrated him even more was that Arthur wasn't in his bed or even anywhere to be found in the cabin. It shouldn't have bothered him, and he shouldn't have gotten dressed and stormed out of bed and through the camp looking for the bushy-browed blonde.

But he did, and he was going to find out where Arthur had been because it was eating him up not knowing.

Comments

[allamericanreject]

"...I don't know where mine went either."

Remember bandaids. Forget wand. Alfred's the worst wizard ever.

"But anyway, I know it's my fault. I want to help. I overreacted." He wanted to say that Arthur had sent him over the edge with what he said, but the other teen probably wouldn't take credit for it, so he just let it go. "Just stay put, I'll find both of them."

He adjusted his glasses momentarily, then started peering around. Hopefully he'd find his first, and then he could just Summon Arthur's or something.

...But no. Of course not. He finds Arthur's wand first, and asking the man to make quick work of finding his current enemy's wand is...well, a bit much. Nonetheless, he does walk over to Arthur and hold his wand out.

"Here's yours. Lemme just go and look for mine, then."

[rule_britannia]

He stayed where he was, knees drawn up to his chest and Alfred's jacket around his shoulders, until his wand was found and handed to him. Then, he got up, tugging the jacket a little closer around him. His forearms ached, and were covered in small, dirty scratches, but he ignored that as he lifted his wand and muttered a spell.

"Accio wand," he said, and in the next moment Alfred's wand came flying towards him. He caught it deftly, and held it out, looking away sullenly. If he was going to apologise, it'd be a while until he felt like doing it.

[allamericanreject]

"...Oh. Thanks."

Alfred took back his wand sheepishly. He'd have stuck it into a pocket, but the thing was too long and would probably look stupid. Which was why he'd been keeping it in his jacket...and Arthur was wearing that right now.

"Do you want to stay out here a little while? I can be quiet and not bother you if you want."

But he's obviously not going to leave. He'd tried and failed already.

[rule_britannia]

"... I guess."

Arthur shrugged and looked off down the path. His anger from before had all but evaporated, leaving him wondering just where it had come from. It wasn't something that was comfortable to think about, and he rubbed his arms with a small wince.

"Not that I'd think for a minute that you're capable of being quiet."

[allamericanreject]

"I can be quiet," Alfred insisted. He sat down, looking offside. The guilt was starting to hit him hard now. Arthur had looked so frightened, and that's not how he should feel around Alfred. not anymore...

His thoughts distracted him and kept him quiet. His guilty expression more than showed why he was quiet, if the other boy saw it.

[rule_britannia]

".. 'kay, then." He sat down with him, still holding his jacket close around his shoulders. Arthur could feel the boy's guilt without even looking at him, and it was only a matter of time before he'd start feeling irritated by it.

"Pack it in, you're being annoying."

[allamericanreject]

"I'm not doing anything," he snaps back with far less bite than usual, looking away from Arthur. No point in glaring at the teen, that'd only make Alfred feel worse about pinning him and screaming in his face. He won't argue extensively though. He was afraid they'd end up in the same situation.

[rule_britannia]

"I can feel your self-pity from here."

Arthur glanced over at him, then shrugged the jacket off his shoulders and dropped it over Alfred's lap. He wasn't doing it out of spite, it just felt.. odd to be wearing it when Alfred was sitting right there.

[allamericanreject]

"It's not self-pity. I feel bad for what I did."

If nothing else, Alfred's very honest. He seemed a bit distraught that his jacket's being returned so quickly. And here he thought he was finally doing something right.

"...Say Arthur. I got a question," he mumbled, but he didn't ask. It's like he wanted permission first, to do something questionable.

[rule_britannia]

He rubbed his hands up his arms, feeling a chill for the lack of the thing, but he'd be fine in a moment (he told himself stubbornly). When Alfred spoke he made a quiet sound and glanced over at him, a small frown creasing a line between his eyebrows.

"... Well? Don't leave me in suspense, Jones."

[allamericanreject]

"...Can I just...hug you? You really need one, and I wanna prove I'm not gonna hurt you. See, I...got frustrated, and...I think if I could hug you, that'd...help?"

That was the worst explanation ever and he knew it, but fuck it all. Aside from feeling bad...there was also the fact that Alfred wanted to be NICE he wanted to make Arthur warm--that was a good one!

"'Sides, you look cold. I could help with that."

If anything, he had the puppyeyed expression on his face that usually made his parents melt. The one he never knew he was wearing at any given time.

Yes the Look.

[rule_britannia]

"... Hug me?"

Augh, bloody hell, what was that look on his face? Arthur cringed and looked away, only to give a sidelong glance back at him. He wrinkled his nose briefly in uncertainty, then frowned and let out a short, irritated sound.

What did Alfred want to hug him for anyway? It wasn't as if they even liked each other.

"... Fine."

[allamericanreject]

That look on his face was one that became the bane of anyone's existence, if Alfred got close to them. Arthur probably hadn't seen it yet, since Alfred was usually too busy picking on him to pout.

He wasn't picking on Arthur now though. In fact he seemed a bit shy as he shuffled closer and slowly wrapped his arms around the other boy. He was so gentle, far gentler than he'd ever been.

"I really am sorry."

[rule_britannia]

He didn't get hugs often, except from his mother and occasionally from David when his eldest brother was feeling charitable or felt sorry for him, and he didn't quite know how to react to it. That much was obvious as his shoulders tensed and he ducked his head slightly, shifting uncomfortably before he finally relaxed into the hug.

"Yeah, well.." he mumbled, looking down at his knees. This felt odd, but not in the kind of way that made him want to complain about it.

"Me too. You're not that much of a prick."

[allamericanreject]

"Heh...don't go spreading it around. People might think you dig me."

He let out a soft chuckle, tightening his grip as Arthur relaxed, but only enough to pass as cuddling. He didn't want to spook the teen, but he also didn't want to let go. When was the next time he'd have a chance to hug Arthur Kirkland?

Then again, why did he even want to hug this guy? The only time they interacted...was when they were trying to jinx each other into submission. Besides, Alfred was a guy, Arthur was a guy, and...this felt kind of gay.

[rule_britannia]

"In your dreams," Arthur sniped, but there was no real annoyance in it. His mind was too taken up with being comfortable in this hug, which was weird in itself.

It was only a matter of time, though, before it just became too odd-feeling and he had to squirm out of it, shrugging out from under Alfred's shoulder and scooting away from him slightly.

[allamericanreject]

"Yeah..."

Alfred got a little too comfortable before Arthur started squirming away. In fact, his head had started to lean into the English teen's shoulder a little. He tried not to pout as they separated, but a bit still showed through.

"So...uh. How about this camp, huh? Haha.."

[rule_britannia]

Arthur caught that pouting, and scowled slightly in response to it. The guy hadn't been enjoying that, surely? He rubbed his hands up and down his arms then got to his feet, pushing his wand more securely into his pocket.

"It hasn't changed a sodding bit."

[allamericanreject]

"...What, the camp? It's not supposed to change, dude. It's a camp."

Alfred's quick to get to his feet, brushing off the back of his pants and acting--at least for the most part--like nothing had happened. He snatched up his jacket and wand as well, putting the former back on. it wasn't as if Arthur needed it anymore, right?

"Oi, Arts. D'you suppose shit'll ever change, or does it gotta stay the same?"

Innocent enough question. He hopes, anyway. No, no. He's not asking about their situation. And he's definitely not standing behind Arthur and giving him the weirdest look while he can't see it.

[rule_britannia]

Alfred had spectacularly missed the point of what he was meaning to say, but the only indication he gave of that was a slight roll of his eyes that the other boy couldn't see anyway. The question, though, made him frown.

He didn't turn, so he didn't see the weird look on Alfred's face, and that was probably for the best at the moment. However, he did catch a hidden meaning behind the words, or at least one as they apply to him, and he felt his face heat up.

"The only thing constant in the world is change. Things always change."

[allamericanreject]

"Well I guess that's comforting. I wouldn't wanna spend years doing something I don't feel's right."

He's smiling now. Maybe Arthur didn't think much of it, but now Alfred felt better about things. He could almost hug the guy again!

...Almost. But he liked his balls uninjured, thanks, and he learned from that mistake. Perhaps he might actually remember it for future reference.

"I'm still going to clean you up and put band-aids and Neosporin on you...erm. But not in that order. But anyway. It's a hero's job to make sure he does whatever he can to help people."

[rule_britannia]

Touching Arthur without warning would be inadvisable under any circumstances, but especially right now. He'd never reacted well to surprises, especially not being grabbed out of nowhere, and many people had had their first introduction to him via an elbow in the stomach.

"A hero? That's what you think?"

He wasn't even going to touch that one.

[allamericanreject]

"Well what do you want from me? I like heroes. I've always wanted to be one. I guess I ain't done a good job of it so far, but I can change, right?"

Really, he thought he'd done a half-decent job, but it wasn't as if Arthur was supposed to know how many times he'd bullied people who would try to bully the English boy. Alfred was the jealous sort, for one, and for second, the older he got, the more resentful he got of people picking on anyone.

He just didn't want to stop picking on Arthur, because then their connection would go away. And it just felt...natural by now. That, and Arthur really grinded his gears sometimes. Go figure.

[rule_britannia]

Well, he had just said that people change and it would be remiss of him to accuse Alfred of being unable to. He grumbled irritably and rubbed one hand over his eyes, then lifted them heavenwards and sighed. His shoulders dropped, and he let his hands fall to his sides.

"Alfred, is there a reason you pick on me as much as you do?"

Arthur looked back over his shoulder, then turned. They'd never really talked about this, but if they were going to be open and honest and all that crap..

"I never did anything to you."

[allamericanreject]

Alfred raised an eyebrow. The whole motion looked just a little bit overdramatic, even for someone like him. Oh well, whatever. He wasn't going to let the hero thing go. He'd felt that way ever since he was a child, he was just a tad immature back then.

And now? Still immature. But he wouldn't admit that to himself.

Oh shit Arthur was looking at him and asking him serious questions now.

"H-huh? What? I....why do I pick on you? That's silly! I mean, aren't you a Slytherin? And I'm a Gryffindor? I thought we were supposed to hate each other! You kinda got on my nerves too, bein' all smart and stuff. I guess."

He was doing that rambling thing again, and it was probably making everythign come out so damn wrong.

"Augh, just...wait. No. Wait a minute. I mean, lately I've been picking on you...because...if I don't, you aren't going to have anything to do with me, are you?"

Shit shit shit shit!