Walk a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes
Title: Walk a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes
Genre: Angst/Drama/Romance
Pairing(s): USUK (onesided at the moment), America/others, Korea/others, Taiwan/others (last two are implied)
Word Count: 1, 410
Rating/Warnings: Prostitution (lots of mentions of it), sex (nothing explicit), 15
Summary: When he is researching his next book, Arthur Kirkland has to find out about the people living and working on the streets of London. Some things are better left unturned. AU For the 'literature' prompt of the usxuk summer camp.
You've reached Matthew Williams' phone. Please leave your name and number after the beep.
Hey Matt, it's me... Alfred. Listen I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean - you shouldn't of - I didn't want you to see me like that. I know that I embarrassed you in front of your friend. I'm sorry that I'm so disgusting. Just call me - please? My number's changed again, it's 07846321295.
You've reached Matthew Williams' phone. Please leave your name and number after the beep.
Alright, maybe I shouldn't have called you on your work phone but it's the only number I've got. You won't give me other one - oh no sorry, my mistake. You gave me your home number and then changed it without telling me. Some brother you are. Maybe I just shouldn't call.
You've reached Matthew Williams' phone. Please leave your name and number after the beep.
I'm sorry about the last message. Why do I leave all these messages to apologise to you? I should see you in person. Do you think we could meet up? Not after work I swear and I'll change afterwards. Please Mattie?
You've reached Matt. Leave a message.
Thanks for the number. I know you're busy but whenever you have just like an hour, maybe we could meet up for coffee? I know you're ashamed, we can do it in a part of the city where no one will recognise you - or me. There's this guy who showed up around the street corner where we hang out. He says he writing a book but we just think he's some sort of policeman. Rather hot policeman if so. Alright, I know that stuff makes you uncomfortable so I'll hang up now. Talk to you soon.
Matthew sat on his sofa, face hidden in his hands, as he listened to all the messages he had saved. Those four messages seemed to sum his relationship with his brother, awkward apologies, anger and actual talking. Why was it always so complicated?
He pressed the button to play the last message again. When he got to the part where Alfred said that he knew that Matthew was ashamed, all in a pleasant, calm voice, he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in thought. He was not ashamed of his brother, even though his lifestyle was not one he approved of or wanted for anyone he cared about. Matthew just wanted to get Alfred out of that situation. He wanted to stop being able to tell how well Alfred's 'clients' treated him by how his voice sounded the next day. He wanted to stop being recognised by future business partners for all the wrong reasons such as how much he looked like his brother. He wanted to be able to look at those same future business partners without disgust clouding his vision and the thought 'you fucked my brother for money' in his head.
There were many things Matthew wanted but the only thing he could work towards at the moment was building a better relationship with his brother. He picked up the phone.
---
Alfred could see his phone screen light up through his jeans. Knowing that it could only be Matthew, Mei or Yong Soo, he started to move towards it eagerly. A thick, heavy arm was flopped across him, pining him down but Alfred wriggled out of the man's hold and replaced his body with a pillow which the man gladly started to hug.
"Hi." He answered the phone in a whisper, not wanting to disturb his sleeping customer. Quickly, he started to route around for his clothes and pull them on.
"Alfred, it's Arthur," an familiar voice spoke through the phone and Alfred momentarily froze before dressing quicker than before. It took no time at all to slip his clothes on, he had plenty of practice in doing it quickly and quietly, but finding the man's wallet to extract the money owed was a more difficult matter.
"Arthur?" Alfred asked, trying to stall Arthur. He needed to concentrate on finding his money before he could focus on whatever Arthur was going to tell him.
"The writer who has been annoying you for the past few weeks?" Arthur said with a slight hint of impatience in his voice. Alfred found the man's wallet as Arthur was talking and quickly extracted all the notes before giving a quick glance at his ID. The man on the bed gave a grunt and Alfred hurried to the door, glad to be free of the room.
"Ah yes Arthur. How did you get this number?" Alfred said, his voice slightly louder now but still just as calm as it had been at the start.
"Mei had it programmed into her phone. I got it off there," Arthur answered and Alfred bit his lip. Where was Mei and why did Arthur have her phone? The fact that she might be asleep and Arthur had made use of her services occurred to Alfred but he ignored that conclusion as it made his stomach clench. "She's in King's Hospital." Immediately Alfred felt guilty for all the horrible things he had just been thinking about Mei and Arthur and he started to worry about Mei.
"What's wrong? Is she okay?" Alfred asked as he started to walk down the back alleys, slipping away from anywhere that he could hear people to avoid trouble, towards the hospital.
"They think she's pregnant," Arthur replied tersely and Alfred drew in a harsh breath. There was no risk of him getting pregnant from his job so he couldn't understand, but he knew that it was Mei's worst fear. There were only three options when you were pregnant and none of them were suitable when you were living or working on the streets.
"Shit." Alfred said the only thing that he could say and hurried his walking.
"Exactly. Get here soon Alfred," Arthur said and Alfred almost thought he heard a note of pleading in Arthur's voice. The next moment the call had been cut and Alfred shook off his imagination. He had more important things to do.
---
Sometimes Arthur wished that he had never thought of the stupid idea for his next book. What possessed him to think that writing a book about the life of all the drug addicts, prostitutes and criminals that lined the streets of London would be a good idea?
He threw his notebook down on the hotel bed before flopping down next to it. He had made notes on everything he had done today and he needed to transfer the notes from paper to his laptop. He didn't move. So much had happened that day that Arthur needed to process it.
The first thing had been Yong Soo being worried for some reason. He kept glancing around at everyone and had been very jumpy when anyone had spoken to him. Arthur knew that it could be anything, a disgruntled customer, another prostitute who was angry at Yong Soo for stealing their 'turf' or even he didn't sleep well the night before. Arthur suspected it had something to do with his past, why he became a prostitute. Yong Soo was extremely open about everything apart from where he and Mei had come from.
Next thing on the list was Mei's pregnancy, now confirmed. She was obviously terrified, the poor girl, and Arthur could understand why. She could carry it to term but that carried all sorts of risks and she would not be able to earn any money during her pregnancy. It wasn't like prostitution got maternity pay. But abortions on the NHS were difficult to get and backstreet abortions were more dangerous than labour itself.
The one that was gnawing at Arthur's mind was Alfred. It always was Alfred. Bright, lovely Alfred with a heart of gold. Alfred who had made Arthur laugh, who had reminded him why he was doing the book in the first place, so people like him could be understood and offered the chance to get out of that lifestyle if they wanted to take it. Alfred who had come in reeking of another man's sweat and cologne.
At this sour thought, Arthur groaned and rolled off the bed. Time to stop thinking and call Peter. He should still be up, Tino didn't put him to bed until seven thirty. Listening to Peter's chatter about his day would take his mind off unrequited love.
Loving the comments I'm getting so far from all you guys, I will answer them soon. I shall stop starting new AUs soon, I promise and will actually start adding parts to the already existing ones. This was going to be a continuation of my Victorian AU but that's going to be something different.
Genre: Angst/Drama/Romance
Pairing(s): USUK (onesided at the moment), America/others, Korea/others, Taiwan/others (last two are implied)
Word Count: 1, 410
Rating/Warnings: Prostitution (lots of mentions of it), sex (nothing explicit), 15
Summary: When he is researching his next book, Arthur Kirkland has to find out about the people living and working on the streets of London. Some things are better left unturned. AU For the 'literature' prompt of the usxuk summer camp.
You've reached Matthew Williams' phone. Please leave your name and number after the beep.
Hey Matt, it's me... Alfred. Listen I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean - you shouldn't of - I didn't want you to see me like that. I know that I embarrassed you in front of your friend. I'm sorry that I'm so disgusting. Just call me - please? My number's changed again, it's 07846321295.
You've reached Matthew Williams' phone. Please leave your name and number after the beep.
Alright, maybe I shouldn't have called you on your work phone but it's the only number I've got. You won't give me other one - oh no sorry, my mistake. You gave me your home number and then changed it without telling me. Some brother you are. Maybe I just shouldn't call.
You've reached Matthew Williams' phone. Please leave your name and number after the beep.
I'm sorry about the last message. Why do I leave all these messages to apologise to you? I should see you in person. Do you think we could meet up? Not after work I swear and I'll change afterwards. Please Mattie?
You've reached Matt. Leave a message.
Thanks for the number. I know you're busy but whenever you have just like an hour, maybe we could meet up for coffee? I know you're ashamed, we can do it in a part of the city where no one will recognise you - or me. There's this guy who showed up around the street corner where we hang out. He says he writing a book but we just think he's some sort of policeman. Rather hot policeman if so. Alright, I know that stuff makes you uncomfortable so I'll hang up now. Talk to you soon.
Matthew sat on his sofa, face hidden in his hands, as he listened to all the messages he had saved. Those four messages seemed to sum his relationship with his brother, awkward apologies, anger and actual talking. Why was it always so complicated?
He pressed the button to play the last message again. When he got to the part where Alfred said that he knew that Matthew was ashamed, all in a pleasant, calm voice, he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in thought. He was not ashamed of his brother, even though his lifestyle was not one he approved of or wanted for anyone he cared about. Matthew just wanted to get Alfred out of that situation. He wanted to stop being able to tell how well Alfred's 'clients' treated him by how his voice sounded the next day. He wanted to stop being recognised by future business partners for all the wrong reasons such as how much he looked like his brother. He wanted to be able to look at those same future business partners without disgust clouding his vision and the thought 'you fucked my brother for money' in his head.
There were many things Matthew wanted but the only thing he could work towards at the moment was building a better relationship with his brother. He picked up the phone.
---
Alfred could see his phone screen light up through his jeans. Knowing that it could only be Matthew, Mei or Yong Soo, he started to move towards it eagerly. A thick, heavy arm was flopped across him, pining him down but Alfred wriggled out of the man's hold and replaced his body with a pillow which the man gladly started to hug.
"Hi." He answered the phone in a whisper, not wanting to disturb his sleeping customer. Quickly, he started to route around for his clothes and pull them on.
"Alfred, it's Arthur," an familiar voice spoke through the phone and Alfred momentarily froze before dressing quicker than before. It took no time at all to slip his clothes on, he had plenty of practice in doing it quickly and quietly, but finding the man's wallet to extract the money owed was a more difficult matter.
"Arthur?" Alfred asked, trying to stall Arthur. He needed to concentrate on finding his money before he could focus on whatever Arthur was going to tell him.
"The writer who has been annoying you for the past few weeks?" Arthur said with a slight hint of impatience in his voice. Alfred found the man's wallet as Arthur was talking and quickly extracted all the notes before giving a quick glance at his ID. The man on the bed gave a grunt and Alfred hurried to the door, glad to be free of the room.
"Ah yes Arthur. How did you get this number?" Alfred said, his voice slightly louder now but still just as calm as it had been at the start.
"Mei had it programmed into her phone. I got it off there," Arthur answered and Alfred bit his lip. Where was Mei and why did Arthur have her phone? The fact that she might be asleep and Arthur had made use of her services occurred to Alfred but he ignored that conclusion as it made his stomach clench. "She's in King's Hospital." Immediately Alfred felt guilty for all the horrible things he had just been thinking about Mei and Arthur and he started to worry about Mei.
"What's wrong? Is she okay?" Alfred asked as he started to walk down the back alleys, slipping away from anywhere that he could hear people to avoid trouble, towards the hospital.
"They think she's pregnant," Arthur replied tersely and Alfred drew in a harsh breath. There was no risk of him getting pregnant from his job so he couldn't understand, but he knew that it was Mei's worst fear. There were only three options when you were pregnant and none of them were suitable when you were living or working on the streets.
"Shit." Alfred said the only thing that he could say and hurried his walking.
"Exactly. Get here soon Alfred," Arthur said and Alfred almost thought he heard a note of pleading in Arthur's voice. The next moment the call had been cut and Alfred shook off his imagination. He had more important things to do.
---
Sometimes Arthur wished that he had never thought of the stupid idea for his next book. What possessed him to think that writing a book about the life of all the drug addicts, prostitutes and criminals that lined the streets of London would be a good idea?
He threw his notebook down on the hotel bed before flopping down next to it. He had made notes on everything he had done today and he needed to transfer the notes from paper to his laptop. He didn't move. So much had happened that day that Arthur needed to process it.
The first thing had been Yong Soo being worried for some reason. He kept glancing around at everyone and had been very jumpy when anyone had spoken to him. Arthur knew that it could be anything, a disgruntled customer, another prostitute who was angry at Yong Soo for stealing their 'turf' or even he didn't sleep well the night before. Arthur suspected it had something to do with his past, why he became a prostitute. Yong Soo was extremely open about everything apart from where he and Mei had come from.
Next thing on the list was Mei's pregnancy, now confirmed. She was obviously terrified, the poor girl, and Arthur could understand why. She could carry it to term but that carried all sorts of risks and she would not be able to earn any money during her pregnancy. It wasn't like prostitution got maternity pay. But abortions on the NHS were difficult to get and backstreet abortions were more dangerous than labour itself.
The one that was gnawing at Arthur's mind was Alfred. It always was Alfred. Bright, lovely Alfred with a heart of gold. Alfred who had made Arthur laugh, who had reminded him why he was doing the book in the first place, so people like him could be understood and offered the chance to get out of that lifestyle if they wanted to take it. Alfred who had come in reeking of another man's sweat and cologne.
At this sour thought, Arthur groaned and rolled off the bed. Time to stop thinking and call Peter. He should still be up, Tino didn't put him to bed until seven thirty. Listening to Peter's chatter about his day would take his mind off unrequited love.
Loving the comments I'm getting so far from all you guys, I will answer them soon. I shall stop starting new AUs soon, I promise and will actually start adding parts to the already existing ones. This was going to be a continuation of my Victorian AU but that's going to be something different.