Wit Of The Staircase 76/?
anonymous
January 14 2011, 02:51:26 UTC
*
Dinner went normally. Too normally, in fact. Arthur and Alfred were hardly lovey-dovey - Matthew would've questioned their sanity if they ever were. Yet there were little things between them. They weren't arguing for the moment, and Matthew was sure there was stuff going on under the table. He suspected it was hand holding and really hoped it wasn't all out handjobs, because that was more Francis' thing, and he really didn't need to get the mental image of his siblings doing that.
It was later that he rapped lightly against Al's door. He could just hear the sound of Al's mp3 player, with some metal thing going so loud he probably couldn't hear a thing. Matthew opened the door and stepped in. He pulled off the headphones and pushed stop. Al only looked back for a moment.
"Hey, Mattie," he said, with a smile. His gaze returned to the screen where he was laying waste to hoards of alien invaders.
"You didn't tell me," Matthew said. Sat on the bed, next to Alfred's Halo marathon.
Al looked up, confused for a moment. Then realization dawned on him.
"Oh...yeah. Well, you didn't tell me either."
"That's totally different. You would've disapproved. With your fists, even. I've been tangentially associated with you guys for so long, and rooting for you..." Matthew trailed off.
"It sort of just happened," Alfred said, with a shrug. We were fighting, and then we were kissing. And then there was more fighting, but somewhere along the way we exchange words. And stuff. And now we're together."
"Does it feel weird?" Matthew asked.
"Not really. Does it feel weird to you?"
"No. I've figured this would happen eventually since I was really young. Frankly, it seemed to take way longer than it needed," Matthew said. He stretched, and Al jabbed him with his elbow.
"Hey!"
"You were totally asking for it."
"Jerk."
"Canadian," Al shot back.
"Really? The worst you can do is say that I have good health care and better cheese than you?"
"Oh you have better cheese all right," Al said. "The cheesy sort. Like you."
"You suck at insults," Matthew said.
"I'm still more awesome than you," Al said.
Matthew rolled his eyes. "There's slime mold in Mongolia that's more awesome than me."
"Oh come on. You could kick that Mongolian slime mold's ass. But As your big brother, it is my duty to be cooler than you."
"I'm three days older than you, just in case you forgot," Matthew said.
"Mother Nature might disagree, but I'm still the older brother like, in spirit or something. I am so not second brother material."
Al shot a few Grunts, and they screamed, their blood splattering across the alien landscape. A remaining Grunt screamed We're all going to diee! in a high pitched voice. Alfred climbed in one of the vehicles and ran them over, snickering at their yelps and cries.
"Hey, wanna co-op?" Matthew asked.
Alfred grinned. "Sure. Gotta love that instant health refill."
"You just like killing me," Matthew grumbled.
Alfred leaned over and ruffled his hair. "You know it."
"You know...if that Francis guy really makes you happy, then I won't stand in your way, and I'll try to keep Arthur from being a total bitch about it," Al said. "But remember I got your back, ok? If he breaks your heart, I'll smash his face in."
"Good to know," Matthew said.
And they went on playing, splattering aliens and feeling closer than they had in a long time.
*
That night, Matthew pulled out his mp3 player and switched playlists. He had a new one he'd been working on. With Edith Piaf, Stars and now, Miles Davis. He put on his headphones, just in time to drown out the sounds coming from Arthur's room across the hall. He fell asleep, listening to the song they had danced to on repeat, his mind filled with images of swaying with Francis, and then collapsing on the couch together and just being there. --
Sorry for the wait, guys. September-December is really busy with me with nano and Christmas present writing -- to say nothing of Yuletide, and the odd number of exchanges I always pick up every year. So yeah. I'M BACK, HOPEFULLY WITH FASTER UPDATES! Thanks for hanging with me ♥
Re: Wit Of The Staircase 76/?
anonymous
January 14 2011, 08:00:21 UTC
I'm so happy Arthur and Alfred are finally together :D And I'm so happy you updated. This is a great story and you have a great sense of flow. The slime mould line killed me.
Re: Wit Of The Staircase 76/?
anonymous
January 16 2011, 05:50:28 UTC
ANOOOOON YOU'RE BAAAACK! ♥
I love how the relationship is shifting - not just the cuddling instead of making out, but that Francis' whims now include teasing Matthew instead of groping him and making him embarrassed. Even the keep-away game has a completely different tone than the one with his cell phone way back in the day, and it's adorable. But Francis is still his pervy self, so yay not going too far in the other direction!
I'm very much in love with chill-but-protective!Alfred, and Francis + Jazz = win. (Nothing against Francis + Edith Piaf, but it's nice to see him enjoying something else too.)
Re: Wit Of The Staircase 76/?
anonymous
February 17 2011, 11:27:19 UTC
OH WHAT, HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS EXISTED BEFORE NOW?!
I literally just read it through in one sitting, and ohmygod it was just PERFECT. I'm not that keen on highschool AUs, to be honest, mainly because the people who write them seem to have never been to a real school, but this...this is just wonderful. I love how the whole thing isn't set actually in the school all the time; Matt actually has a life outside his studies. And how we can see him falling more and more for Francis, and I'm sure at some point he'll get his heart broken, but he can't help it and GAHHH. How you write Matt is perfect, too. He's a loner and an outsider, but he's still got that kind of passive-agressive snarkiness we just see hints of in the comic/anime. Francis is written beautifully, too; a total sleaze but a romantic at the same time, and it's just so beliveable.
Also: the side pairings. The bit where Alfred is at the party, and Arthur is sitting waiting for him to come home and "break his heart a little more" really got to me, and I don't know why...I think it's just so...them. And Gilbert hating on Roderich, but still wanting to sleep with him, and Antonio and Lovino, and even the tiny mentions of Feliciano and Ludwig are just so perfect...
Okay, here I shall end my rant, and hope that you update soon.
No, one more thing: your writing is amazing, so natural and relaxed (?) and it flows wonderfully.
Dinner went normally. Too normally, in fact. Arthur and Alfred were hardly lovey-dovey - Matthew would've questioned their sanity if they ever were. Yet there were little things between them. They weren't arguing for the moment, and Matthew was sure there was stuff going on under the table. He suspected it was hand holding and really hoped it wasn't all out handjobs, because that was more Francis' thing, and he really didn't need to get the mental image of his siblings doing that.
It was later that he rapped lightly against Al's door. He could just hear the sound of Al's mp3 player, with some metal thing going so loud he probably couldn't hear a thing. Matthew opened the door and stepped in. He pulled off the headphones and pushed stop. Al only looked back for a moment.
"Hey, Mattie," he said, with a smile. His gaze returned to the screen where he was laying waste to hoards of alien invaders.
"You didn't tell me," Matthew said. Sat on the bed, next to Alfred's Halo marathon.
Al looked up, confused for a moment. Then realization dawned on him.
"Oh...yeah. Well, you didn't tell me either."
"That's totally different. You would've disapproved. With your fists, even. I've been tangentially associated with you guys for so long, and rooting for you..." Matthew trailed off.
"It sort of just happened," Alfred said, with a shrug. We were fighting, and then we were kissing. And then there was more fighting, but somewhere along the way we exchange words. And stuff. And now we're together."
"Does it feel weird?" Matthew asked.
"Not really. Does it feel weird to you?"
"No. I've figured this would happen eventually since I was really young. Frankly, it seemed to take way longer than it needed," Matthew said. He stretched, and Al jabbed him with his elbow.
"Hey!"
"You were totally asking for it."
"Jerk."
"Canadian," Al shot back.
"Really? The worst you can do is say that I have good health care and better cheese than you?"
"Oh you have better cheese all right," Al said. "The cheesy sort. Like you."
"You suck at insults," Matthew said.
"I'm still more awesome than you," Al said.
Matthew rolled his eyes. "There's slime mold in Mongolia that's more awesome than me."
"Oh come on. You could kick that Mongolian slime mold's ass. But As your big brother, it is my duty to be cooler than you."
"I'm three days older than you, just in case you forgot," Matthew said.
"Mother Nature might disagree, but I'm still the older brother like, in spirit or something. I am so not second brother material."
Al shot a few Grunts, and they screamed, their blood splattering across the alien landscape. A remaining Grunt screamed We're all going to diee! in a high pitched voice. Alfred climbed in one of the vehicles and ran them over, snickering at their yelps and cries.
"Hey, wanna co-op?" Matthew asked.
Alfred grinned. "Sure. Gotta love that instant health refill."
"You just like killing me," Matthew grumbled.
Alfred leaned over and ruffled his hair. "You know it."
"You know...if that Francis guy really makes you happy, then I won't stand in your way, and I'll try to keep Arthur from being a total bitch about it," Al said. "But remember I got your back, ok? If he breaks your heart, I'll smash his face in."
"Good to know," Matthew said.
And they went on playing, splattering aliens and feeling closer than they had in a long time.
*
That night, Matthew pulled out his mp3 player and switched playlists. He had a new one he'd been working on. With Edith Piaf, Stars and now, Miles Davis. He put on his headphones, just in time to drown out the sounds coming from Arthur's room across the hall. He fell asleep, listening to the song they had danced to on repeat, his mind filled with images of swaying with Francis, and then collapsing on the couch together and just being there.
--
Sorry for the wait, guys. September-December is really busy with me with nano and Christmas present writing -- to say nothing of Yuletide, and the odd number of exchanges I always pick up every year. So yeah. I'M BACK, HOPEFULLY WITH FASTER UPDATES! Thanks for hanging with me ♥
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I saw the update on the fills list and I was like "No. Way!" And it WAS you!
Keep up the beautiful literature~! As I said, I'm so, so, so glad you're back!!!
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I love how the relationship is shifting - not just the cuddling instead of making out, but that Francis' whims now include teasing Matthew instead of groping him and making him embarrassed. Even the keep-away game has a completely different tone than the one with his cell phone way back in the day, and it's adorable. But Francis is still his pervy self, so yay not going too far in the other direction!
I'm very much in love with chill-but-protective!Alfred, and Francis + Jazz = win. (Nothing against Francis + Edith Piaf, but it's nice to see him enjoying something else too.)
Reply
I literally just read it through in one sitting, and ohmygod it was just PERFECT. I'm not that keen on highschool AUs, to be honest, mainly because the people who write them seem to have never been to a real school, but this...this is just wonderful. I love how the whole thing isn't set actually in the school all the time; Matt actually has a life outside his studies. And how we can see him falling more and more for Francis, and I'm sure at some point he'll get his heart broken, but he can't help it and GAHHH. How you write Matt is perfect, too. He's a loner and an outsider, but he's still got that kind of passive-agressive snarkiness we just see hints of in the comic/anime. Francis is written beautifully, too; a total sleaze but a romantic at the same time, and it's just so beliveable.
Also: the side pairings. The bit where Alfred is at the party, and Arthur is sitting waiting for him to come home and "break his heart a little more" really got to me, and I don't know why...I think it's just so...them. And Gilbert hating on Roderich, but still wanting to sleep with him, and Antonio and Lovino, and even the tiny mentions of Feliciano and Ludwig are just so perfect...
Okay, here I shall end my rant, and hope that you update soon.
No, one more thing: your writing is amazing, so natural and relaxed (?) and it flows wonderfully.
Now I am done.
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