sortinghat_logs | No Funny Business!

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No Funny Business!

WHO: Alfred F. Jones and Arthur Kirkland
TONE: I'unno probably awkward. :V
RATING: PG-13 because teenagers
WHEN: During winter break after the Yule Ball I guess?
WHERE: Alfred's home
WHAT: Alfred invited Arthur to spend a day or so over at his place! Hopefully it's not a total mess!
STATUS: Ongoing

Alfred was glad that he didn't live far from the train station, but that didn't mean he was patient. He was seated on a bench with a handheld game, keeping himself busy. Or trying. Just...he was way too excited about Arthur coming to visit. It was making him fidgety.

Why wasn't he here yet? Was something wrong with the train? Did he change his mind? Maybe not, but the train was a whole five minutes late so it worried Alfred!

Gah, why didn't wizards have cell phones?? That'd make this so much more tolerable.

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Spending time using muggle public transport was not Arthur's idea of a good time but ah, the things we do for the comfort of those not accustomed to magic. It was under the insistence of his mother that he take the train from King's Cross and since it was only a forty-five minute trip, he'd reluctantly agreed.

At least he'd been able to get a seat. The trains were quiet at this time of year. He hadn't even terribly minded that they'd been delayed.

When it pulled in, ten minutes late, Arthur hopped off with a bag slung over his shoulder. It was only two days, so he hadn't needed to bring much. He paused a moment on the platform, then spotted Alfred and swallowed once before approaching, lifting his hand in a small wave.

Alfred would have agreed on the train thing, not because he didn't like trains, but because his butt tended to get numb after a while.

By the time the train finally pulled up, Alfred was fretting like a kid who'd gotten bad grades at school, and when Arthur finally walked out onto the platform, well...that was the equivalent of having a parent arrive to scold their child. Or at least it produced a similar effect; Alfred was still excited, but now he had butterflies, and he wasn't sure if it was a positive feeling, or if he was just terrified of screwing this up.

Maybe it was both.

He covered it up though, by pulling a grin and closing the distance between him and Arthur. He wasn't going to just wave, this was his boyfriend and he'd prefer a more tactile approach!

"Hey dude! How was your trip~?"

Had Arthur known what was going on in Alfred's head.. he probably wouldn't have appreciated the comparison. Luckily for Alfred, he doesn't, and he doesn't wriggle out of the hug that the other boy grabs him up into, either.

Not at first, anyway. There's only so much public display of affection he can deal with at any one time.

"I can say I've easily had better trips, but it certainly beats using a portkey," he said, wrinkling his nose slightly at the memory of the last time he'd needed to use one of those. He felt nauseous just thinking about it.

Alfred didn't cling to Arthur too hard when he started squirming. He was perfectly fine allowing his boyfriend the space he wanted, after all. This had to go off without a hitch, or else...well...he didn't know what he'd do! Besides, any more intimate affection could be expressed better at home, right?

"Ah yeah...I don't really dig portkeys that much. I guess it'd be the same principle as a roller-coaster, but those are more fun and things don't blur up on ya," he said with a sage nod, as if Arthur should know exactly what a roller-coaster was. "Anyway, we'll be walking the rest of the way, I live pretty close to here!"

Closing his game, he stuck the small system into his back pocket.

"D'you need a hand carrying any of your things? Here, I'll help out," he offered earnestly, holding a hand out to take Arthur's bag.

"There's less feeling that you're being dragged a long distance by your navel, too," he commented wryly, offering his bag out to Alfred when he asked if he could take it. He'd been hauling the thing around for long enough, he had no problem in handing it off to the other boy for a while. That done, he pushed his hands into his pockets and made a small gesture for him to lead the way.

"Muggles have that part right at least, though I can't say much for the amount of time it takes to get anywhere. I have no idea how you tolerate it."

Alfred took the lead then, carrying Arthur's bag with complete ease.

"Yeaaah, I'm not really much for that whole sensation. It's kind of gross after you get where you're goin', like someone's tryin' to pull your guts out or somethin'. At any rate, I don't mind public transport! I mean it's not like I can Apparate, and neither can you. So it's either a train or a portkey."

After exiting the train station, the young American looked back at Arthur, slowing his pace enough that they were able to walk side by side more or less.

"Ohhh, or Floo Powder. But I don't like that stuff. I'd rather do the portkey, to be honest. There's nothing more annoying than bein' in a gross fireplace if you ask me."

Which...no one had. But Alfred's opinionated. ~~YOU GOTTA DEAL WITH IT.~~

"I'm aware I can't apparate, thank you." He'd be learning how to as soon as he possibly could, they could count on that. No more of this Floo Network business or bloody portkeys. The only public transport he ever really used was the train to and from school.

"When it comes down to it I'd much rather use the Floo Network, but that can go wrong if you get soot in your mouth when you're trying to speak."

For a moment, he looked amused, as if recalling a specific instance of such a thing, but he didn't elaborate, and pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket to put on as they left the station. "I'm not going to have to use a bus while I'm here, am I?"

"Yeah, that's the part I don't like. It's the part I hate, actually. Plus the soot's gross when it gets on my bomber. You know, if I'm wearing it and stuff."

The American always seemed to be wearing his bomber jacket under his robes anyway, so the if really didn't apply.

"And if you don't wanna ride a bus, then we don't gotta. We'll just hafta walk anywhere that you wanna go is all. But I think we'll be okay at home for the time you're visiting~ We've got snacks and pop and computers and video games! And Netflix too~"

And there he went again, rambling off things that probably didn't make sense to Arthur.

The fact that the other boy was always wearing that bloody bomber didn't need saying. Arthur just rolled his eyes and jogged forwards a little to catch up to him, a moment later pushing his hand into Alfred's and gripping onto his fingers, the only indication that he was uncomfortable with the bustling crowds.

"What the bloody hell is a Netflix?" he asked, and that thought was right - very little of that made sense to Arthur. He knew what a computer was, but he'd never really used one, and watching him type would no doubt be a painful affair.

"If it's all the same I'd rather keep as far away from the buses as possible."

Alfred hardly minded the contact. In fact he encouraged it with a gentle squeeze, smiling a little. He wasn't that great at reading moods, so he didn't realize that Arthur was uncomfortable with the crowds. Not that it mattered, it'd be a short walk.

"Netflix is a program of sorts that you pay for, and it lets you have access to a bunch of shows through the TV! It's how I keep up with everything worth watching! I like playing video games more though. Maybe I can show you some!"

He smiled, a bright cheerful expression lighting up his face.

"I'm really glad you got to come, Arts. I hope you like my house!"

Eventually they broke away from the crowds, heading into a residential neighborhood and stopping in front of Alfred's home. It was a nice house, two story and definitely a roomy place, just looking from the outside. The yard was well-kept and there were flowers planted along the borders of the house, bright and colorful. Alfred pulled Arthur along excitedly to the door, eventually sliding his hand free of the other teen's in favor of unlocking the door.

"Well this is it~ It's no mansion, but it's home!"

The instant the door was opened, out darted Tony, excitedly winding himself around and through Alfred's legs, much to his amusement.

"Dude, come on! Wait till we're inside, Tony!" he said with a laugh, which his cat pointedly ignored, moving instead to Arthur and meowing loudly for attention.

Alfred might as well have been speaking another language for all Arthur understood of the explanation. More fool him for expecting something simple. Muggle technology would probably never really make sense to him, but at least he was marginally interested in it rather than dismissing it as useless like so many purebloods did.

"Mother practically pushed me out of the door," he commented wryly. He hadn't said that Alfred was his boyfriend, but he had the feeling that she knew.

At least the cat was something familiar. Arthur smiled and crouched to pet the creature, ruffling two fingers against the fur on top of his head before stroking right down to his tail and tugging it gently. "Hello there, Tony," he cooed, before looking up. "He acts like you've been gone for days."

Ohh...he certainly hoped that he wasn't the reason that Arthur had been shoved out the door. He'd have to meet Arthur's family next, after all. And it could be potentially awkward if they didn't like him from the get-go.

"Oh, Tony always does that. He's really clingy, but he gets all sorts of attention, if you couldn't tell by his size. Oh, well...he's also a Maine Coon, those are big anyway."

He watched as Tony pressed into the fingers scritching at his head, arching his back and flicking his tail as Arthur worked all the way down his body. He wasn't shy about starting the purr-motor for the guest. He let out a loud MYAOW as Alfred picked him up, carrying him like a baby and into the house.

"C'mon though. That's enough flirtin' with my cat!" the teen teased, kicking his shoes off at the door and pushing them more or less neatly together. "You can leave your shoes there, and drop your things off in my room~ You hungry? I'm sure we've got something you can snack on."

The house is, at the moment, quite empty. Alfred's mother and brother had gone out for a while, not that it needed mentioning right now. He'd get to that. For now, letting Arthur in to see the inside of his house was enough. And it was a nice house. The decor was nothing fancy, just light wood and plain wallpapers. There's a mild collection of angel figures spread across the entire house which Arthur will likely catch sight of here or there on shelves or small tables as Alfred leads him through a few rooms and to the stairs. He paused to let Tony down after a bit of cutesy antics, then put his hands to his hips and grinned.

"So it's a nice house, hm?"

Certainly not grand, but a cozy living space~.

"It looks like he's mostly fur to me," Arthur commented, amused as he straightened up and brushed a few long hairs off his coat. One eyebrow went up slightly - he wasn't always on the ball with Alfred's way of joking - but he stepped inside and toed his shoes off, leaning down to line them neatly side by side and as tucked out of the way as he could manage.

He looked around curiously, pressing his lips together as he examined what of the house that he could see. It looked simple enough. Arthur's family wasn't on the rich end of the scale as far as purebloods went but they were comfortable, and their house was a little bigger than this, though not much. He paused by a shelf, peering at the angel figurines displayed there, and cast Alfred a questioning look.

"Are your parents religious?" he asked, a faint tone of disbelief behind that. He'd never understood the point in religious belief, himself.

"Religious? Oh, well yeah. We're Christians! The angels are just a hobby for Mom though, if that's what you were thinking of. She really likes them, and she spent a lot of years collecting the ones she keeps around."

Alfred started heading up the stairs, expecting Arthur to follow.

"C'mon though, so I can show you my room!" he said, sounding excited as he took the stairs two at a time all the way to the top and waited for Arthur near his bedroom door, only pushing it open once the other teen had joined him.

His room doesn't...quite look like he's been living in it. Probably because his mother had cleaned it up after he'd headed back to school, made his bed and straightened up his things. But it still belonged to him, what with all the comic books and hero figures. Mostly Batman and Superman, and some Disney things. Teen or not, his room had a very childlike feel to it.

Then there was the small flatscreen TV with all the video game systems connected to it, and the desktop computer at the desk near his bed. Tony had taken it upon himself to jump onto that bed, curling up on Alfred's pillow and purring contentedly while Alfred himself set Arthur's things down near his closet.

"We're gonna be alone for a little bit. The family's out, but if you wanna use any of my things, you're free to!"

Edited 2013-01-30 18:15 (UTC)

He frowned a bit at that. Christianity in a family with magic didn't sit right with him, but muggles were strange and he bit the inside of his mouth to hold back the comment he wanted to make, instead settling for a dubious sound and moving away from the angels to follow Alfred upstairs.

Arthur knew the feeling of a room not quite belonging to a teenager, but in his case it was more because his brothers had been in and been through everything that wasn't hexed closed. As much as his mother tried to keep them out, there was always one who'd go snooping to see if he'd left anything behind. Well, except David, but he'd just do damage control as best he could.

The game systems drew his interest, though only in the way that he'd never really seen them before.

"You know I have no idea how to even if I wanted to, don't you?"

Alfred would understand it if Arthur told him he didn't buy into the whole Christianity thing. Honestly, it was weird. But hey, the angels were a hobby and he wouldn't deny his mother her hobby. All the same, neither would he tell Arthur not to make any displeased noises.

Besides, being up in the room was a fine distraction.

"Well~ Is there anything you'd like to see in use? I mean I'm sure I could run an easy game for you and let you at it. What sort of games would you say you like to play in general? Like...puzzles, sporty things, or do you like storylines?"

He was pretty easygoing about the whole thing. Not only would this help him find out what kind of game Arthur might like, but it was also an insight on things he liked if he got the right answers. Right? Right! Alfred was always right!

He could hold in his displeased noises. The angels were pleasant enough from an aesthetic perspective, and as long as no one tried to shove scripture down his throat he was fine with it.

Arthur frowned at the question and picked up one of the game console controllers in the tentative way of someone who's never used one before and isn't sure how their hands should fit around it.

"I can honestly say I have no bloody clue. What do you like?"

"What do I like? Man, I like whatever. What'cha got there is a Wiimote by the way! Maybe you'd like Super Mario Brothers! That's pretty much one of the better games I got on here...then I guess I have Brawl. Hmm..."

Alfred moved to his bedside table, picking up the TV remote and turning it on, changing the video settings just as easily as he might cast a simple spell. He had the idea that perhaps the Wiimote might be more Arthur's thing just because it gave a better range of motion than a PlayStation controller, and besides...wizards had excellent hand-eye coordination. Or at least...they had to if they were to cast accurate and successful spells, plus Arthur was on his Quidditch team! Obviously this was a thing he could do.

"If you want, I can show you how it works?" he offered, gently placing a hand over Arthur's and attempting to coax the controller from his fingers. "It's pretty easy and I think you'll dig Wii games. And if not, we got plenty of other things we can have a look around at."

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No Funny Business!

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