I Think I Need a New Heart [5/?]
anonymous
June 10 2011, 03:14:04 UTC
Feli’s brother’s place was a little Italian restaurant tucked away in some back alley. It looked sketchy as mess but the food was excellent. The not-a-family ate there three or four times a month.
Feliciano’s brother, Lovino, was dick and that was probably the nicest way to describe him. He yelled and cussed more than Arthur which was saying something. The two, somewhat oddly, got along really well. More importantly the man cooked better than anyone they knew and didn’t overcharge.
“You’re late,” Francis said as Alfred and Matthew stumbled in.
“Missed our stop on the underground,” Matthew said; which was really quite generous of him considering that by ‘missed our stop on the underground’ really meant ‘Al wouldn’t stop singing and we nearly got in a fight with two tired businessman who just wanted some quiet and I was so busy trying to make peace that we couldn’t get off at the right platform’.
“And you’ve lived in New York for how long?” Arthur said, perusing the menu.
“Oh shut up Artie,” Alfred said maturely. Matthew and Francis rolled their eyes.
“Improve your vocabulary dolt. Maybe then you’ll be able to construct a retort worthy of a first grader,” Arthur said scathingly.
“This coming from the man who wouldn’t say anything but bugger off and bloody hell the last time he was wasted,” Francis mocked and then on further reflection added, “You are very British.”
“Better than being French,” Arthur snipped.
“Ready to order?” Matthew intervened before things could get nasty like they always did when nationalities were mentioned.
“Hm? Oh yes,” Arthur said absently, not even looking at Matthew
“Excellent,” said Antonio, appearing from nowhere. Antonio was Francis’ good friend and the waiter. He was also probably Lovino’s boyfriend but no one wanted to have a skillet thrown at their head so they never asked. “What can I get you all?”
“The usual,” they all chorused. They hadn’t changed their order in years. No one but Arthur even bothered to look at the menu. Matthew found this endearing though he never said so.
Antonio smiled and went to go assist Lovino in the kitchen leaving the quartet to themselves.
“How was your day?” Francis asked Matthew
“It was excellent!” Alfred answered. “We went shopping.”
Usually Francis would refuse to acknowledge Alfred when he interrupted but his attention was caught. “Shopping? For clothing?”
“Yep,” chirped Alfred, helping himself to some of the bread in the middle of the table. “I got some awesome stuff,” he said with his mouth full.
“I somehow doubt that considering your usual taste in fashion,” Francis said silkily, sipping at his usual glass of wine. Matthew sometimes worried about his alcohol consumption, he really did.
Alfred refused to be daunted. “I got some stuff that’s different than my usual. You’ll like it.”
His tone didn’t shift at all but Matthew caught the sloping vulnerability of his shoulders. He chimed in, “The new clothes are really nice. Gilbert helped pick them out.”
“Gilbert,” said Francis, eyes lighting up. “Maybe they won’t be so terrible after all. My darling Gilbert has such excellent taste.”
I Think I Need a New Heart [5b/?]
anonymous
June 10 2011, 03:26:04 UTC
Francis put a dramatic hand over his heart. “He is wonderful but alas my heart can never belong to just one person. I am a free spirit and my beautiful Gilbert understands this. It is tragic it is true but it cannot be helped.”
Alfred eyes were wide and vaguely horrified but Arthur looked unimpressed. “By that load of shit you really meant that he’s not into you.”
Francis looked imperious. “Don’t be, how do you English say it, daft Arthur. Everyone is into me.”
Matthew fought the urge to smack his foster-brother on the head with the salt shaker. Arthur had no such restraint.
“Now none of that,” said Antonio, striding from the kitchen and calmly removing Francis’ revenge, a plate, from his friend’s hand. “Lovi will be mad if you destroy another table.”
Peace was temporarily restored to the dining table.
“So why the decision to finally develop of sense of style?” questioned Francis, calmly smoothing the napkin in his lap like he hadn’t just been about to toss a platter at another man’s head.
Alfred wanted to leap in the air with joy. Francis was actually curious about him. He didn’t even have to have a single lesson in manners and he was already getting his attention.
“Just thought it was time for a change,” he said smiling brightly
“Hmph, perhaps Arthur should take a leaf out of your book. That suit is horrendous.” Alfred deflated as Francis turned away from him.
Matthew gave him an encouraging smile but he was mostly focused on the conversation between Arthur and Francis. He liked the way Arthur dressed, thankyouverymuch. He thought it was old fashioned and kind of sweet. And as a bonus his style managed to keep a lot of the competition away.
“…I mean honestly you work for a fashion photographer. I have an image to uphold and my assistant dresses like an old man in the sixties. Back me up on this Matthew.” The two men rounded on Matthew.
Matthew flushed a little under the attention. “Um…I think Arthur should dress like he wants.”
“Honestly, did I not teach you better than that?” Francis said, praying for guidance from the heavens. “And you dress so nicely too.”
Matthew always dressed nicely when he knew he would be seeing Francis later in the day. The nagging he would receive if he did not was never worth it. He had more cashmere sweaters that he wanted to think about and his jeans were designer and almost exclusively gifts from Francis. However anywhere else he wore old cargo pants, his hoodie, and a t-shirt. It was one of the reasons he loved his job. As a painter, he could stay at home in filthy clothes all day.
“Thank you my dear boy,” Arthur said smiling victoriously. “See the boy thinks the way I dress is perfectly fine.”
“He didn’t actually say that,” Alfred pointed out. “He just said you should dress however you want even if that’s like Mr. Rogers. “
“Mister who?” Arthur said dangerously. Luckily Al was saved from explaining exactly who Mr. Rogers was by the arrival of Antonio and of their food.
I cannot express how overwhelmingly grateful I am for all the positive comments. You really inspire me to continue writing this story and your affections are returned 200%. I apologize for chapter 4 as I felt it was a little choppy. I hope you like the characters that just got introduced as you will be seeing more of them. In particular Gilbert because I adore writing him. Also just noticed this Lovino is not dick, he is a dick meh sorry I have a tendency to skip words
I just love love love LOVE your characterization~! I mean, it's just so refreshing to see fabulous!Gilbert and a Matthew who isn't ignored by everyone.
I loved Gilbert in here. omg, you had me laughing the moment he entered the story. haha, where does he get all the money? Also this is the same anon who suggested Gilbert/Ludwig and well I would be super duper happy if you manage to incorporate it into the story. Like really ecstatic.
haha, I love how Lovino and Arthur get along in the story. I'm sure they both bond over their tsundere-ness.
I have to say though, and this is no offence to you, but well, Francis is kind of a jerk in the story. From the present stand point, I think Alfred is better off not being with him.
Also a typo I caught: “So why the decision to finally develop of sense of style?” Should be a there.
AuthorAnon here
anonymous
June 12 2011, 16:42:13 UTC
Your comments make me happy anon! I appreciate the feedback I'm glad you like Gilbert and I realize that France is a jerk. And in the next chapter he gets worse. A lot of the characterization of Francis and Arthur is from the POV of Matthew and Alfred so they don't really get done justice yey. Later there will be chapters from Francis and Arthur's POV that make them a little more multi-dimensional. And again I apologize to everyone reading these last chapters. They had several errors and the more I review it the more I see. The next one will be better I promise.
Feliciano’s brother, Lovino, was dick and that was probably the nicest way to describe him. He yelled and cussed more than Arthur which was saying something. The two, somewhat oddly, got along really well. More importantly the man cooked better than anyone they knew and didn’t overcharge.
“You’re late,” Francis said as Alfred and Matthew stumbled in.
“Missed our stop on the underground,” Matthew said; which was really quite generous of him considering that by ‘missed our stop on the underground’ really meant ‘Al wouldn’t stop singing and we nearly got in a fight with two tired businessman who just wanted some quiet and I was so busy trying to make peace that we couldn’t get off at the right platform’.
“And you’ve lived in New York for how long?” Arthur said, perusing the menu.
“Oh shut up Artie,” Alfred said maturely. Matthew and Francis rolled their eyes.
“Improve your vocabulary dolt. Maybe then you’ll be able to construct a retort worthy of a first grader,” Arthur said scathingly.
“This coming from the man who wouldn’t say anything but bugger off and bloody hell the last time he was wasted,” Francis mocked and then on further reflection added, “You are very British.”
“Better than being French,” Arthur snipped.
“Ready to order?” Matthew intervened before things could get nasty like they always did when nationalities were mentioned.
“Hm? Oh yes,” Arthur said absently, not even looking at Matthew
“Excellent,” said Antonio, appearing from nowhere. Antonio was Francis’ good friend and the waiter. He was also probably Lovino’s boyfriend but no one wanted to have a skillet thrown at their head so they never asked. “What can I get you all?”
“The usual,” they all chorused. They hadn’t changed their order in years. No one but Arthur even bothered to look at the menu. Matthew found this endearing though he never said so.
Antonio smiled and went to go assist Lovino in the kitchen leaving the quartet to themselves.
“How was your day?” Francis asked Matthew
“It was excellent!” Alfred answered. “We went shopping.”
Usually Francis would refuse to acknowledge Alfred when he interrupted but his attention was caught. “Shopping? For clothing?”
“Yep,” chirped Alfred, helping himself to some of the bread in the middle of the table. “I got some awesome stuff,” he said with his mouth full.
“I somehow doubt that considering your usual taste in fashion,” Francis said silkily, sipping at his usual glass of wine. Matthew sometimes worried about his alcohol consumption, he really did.
Alfred refused to be daunted. “I got some stuff that’s different than my usual. You’ll like it.”
His tone didn’t shift at all but Matthew caught the sloping vulnerability of his shoulders. He chimed in, “The new clothes are really nice. Gilbert helped pick them out.”
“Gilbert,” said Francis, eyes lighting up. “Maybe they won’t be so terrible after all. My darling Gilbert has such excellent taste.”
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Alfred eyes were wide and vaguely horrified but Arthur looked unimpressed. “By that load of shit you really meant that he’s not into you.”
Francis looked imperious. “Don’t be, how do you English say it, daft Arthur. Everyone is into me.”
Matthew fought the urge to smack his foster-brother on the head with the salt shaker. Arthur had no such restraint.
“Now none of that,” said Antonio, striding from the kitchen and calmly removing Francis’ revenge, a plate, from his friend’s hand. “Lovi will be mad if you destroy another table.”
Peace was temporarily restored to the dining table.
“So why the decision to finally develop of sense of style?” questioned Francis, calmly smoothing the napkin in his lap like he hadn’t just been about to toss a platter at another man’s head.
Alfred wanted to leap in the air with joy. Francis was actually curious about him. He didn’t even have to have a single lesson in manners and he was already getting his attention.
“Just thought it was time for a change,” he said smiling brightly
“Hmph, perhaps Arthur should take a leaf out of your book. That suit is horrendous.” Alfred deflated as Francis turned away from him.
Matthew gave him an encouraging smile but he was mostly focused on the conversation between Arthur and Francis. He liked the way Arthur dressed, thankyouverymuch. He thought it was old fashioned and kind of sweet. And as a bonus his style managed to keep a lot of the competition away.
“…I mean honestly you work for a fashion photographer. I have an image to uphold and my assistant dresses like an old man in the sixties. Back me up on this Matthew.” The two men rounded on Matthew.
Matthew flushed a little under the attention. “Um…I think Arthur should dress like he wants.”
“Honestly, did I not teach you better than that?” Francis said, praying for guidance from the heavens. “And you dress so nicely too.”
Matthew always dressed nicely when he knew he would be seeing Francis later in the day. The nagging he would receive if he did not was never worth it. He had more cashmere sweaters that he wanted to think about and his jeans were designer and almost exclusively gifts from Francis. However anywhere else he wore old cargo pants, his hoodie, and a t-shirt. It was one of the reasons he loved his job. As a painter, he could stay at home in filthy clothes all day.
“Thank you my dear boy,” Arthur said smiling victoriously. “See the boy thinks the way I dress is perfectly fine.”
“He didn’t actually say that,” Alfred pointed out. “He just said you should dress however you want even if that’s like Mr. Rogers. “
“Mister who?” Arthur said dangerously. Luckily Al was saved from explaining exactly who Mr. Rogers was by the arrival of Antonio and of their food.
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Also just noticed this
Lovino is not dick, he is a dick
meh sorry I have a tendency to skip words
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BOOKMARKING LIKE WHOA
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haha, I love how Lovino and Arthur get along in the story. I'm sure they both bond over their tsundere-ness.
I have to say though, and this is no offence to you, but well, Francis is kind of a jerk in the story. From the present stand point, I think Alfred is better off not being with him.
Also a typo I caught:
“So why the decision to finally develop of sense of style?”
Should be a there.
Reply
I'm glad you like Gilbert and I realize that France is a jerk. And in the next chapter he gets worse. A lot of the characterization of Francis and Arthur is from the POV of Matthew and Alfred so they don't really get done justice yey. Later there will be chapters from Francis and Arthur's POV that make them a little more multi-dimensional.
And again I apologize to everyone reading these last chapters. They had several errors and the more I review it the more I see. The next one will be better I promise.
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