By The Pricking Of My Thumbs
Title: By The Pricking Of My Thumbs
Genre: Romance/Drama
Pairing(s): USUK
Word Count: 1,351
Rating/Warnings: 12, swearing
Summary: Charmed!AU. Arthur and his cousins, Lovino and Feliciano, fight demons and save innocences as part of their inheritance. It's too bad that it clashes with their life outside of magic so much. Done for the ' worlds beyond' prompt of Sweethearts week.
Arthur hummed to himself as he straightened the forks and knives compulsively. He was just waiting for Alfred to show up now, even though he was always late. Arthur did not know why he kept showing up early or on time, but something in rebelled at being late when he always teased Alfred about being late.
"Hi, hi, I'm sorry I'm late," Alfred said as he weaved his way through the tables. He gave Arthur a quick kiss before sitting down and flicking open the menu. "Work was hectic and there was so much paperwork to be done that it was ridiculous. I swear, the world goes round on bureaucracy."
"Are you expecting me to disagree? Even when I worked as a chef, I still had piles of paperwork to do." Arthur tried to catch the eye of the waiter to see if they could order some wine now that Alfred was finally here.
"Ah yes, fond memories. Your cooking, my spoiled stomach and Francis' complaints about the food driving me to meet you." Arthur scowled but Alfred's dreamy tone showed that he was being sincere as remembering that as a fond memory. And, although Arthur was glad that he had met Alfred, he had wished that it hadn't been when Alfred was complaining about Arthur's cooking. Maybe when he was saving his life from an angry demon or something. That would have had the added benefit of Alfred knowing about the whole 'magical heritage and magic being real and Arthur being a witch' issue and then Arthur wouldn't have panicked over telling him for months on end.
"Oh, shush. I know you secretly like my food." Arthur tried to catch the eye of at least one of the waiters but they seemed to be steadily ignoring him.
"Nope, try again," Alfred shot back with a grin.
"Fine, I know you secretly like my fish and chips." Here Arthur knew he was right. Alfred could not resist scoffing the meal whenever Arthur made it. It was one of the (few) meals that Arthur knew how to do well.
"Close but still not quite." Arthur, now completely confused, turned to stare at Alfred, ignoring trying to get a waiter's attention now. "I like you. Your fish and chips come a close second and your food comes way down there at the bottom." Arthur wanted to scowl but that was actually a very sweet statement. Of course, this was the moment that the waiter decided would be good to interrupt.
"Would you gentlemen like anything to drink?" He asked with a polite smile and Arthur turned to look at him in annoyance.
"Really, now?" Alfred overrode him before Arthur could say anything he would regret later.
"He's just cranky because I said he's a bad cook and he's being a grumpy pants today." Alfred smiled and the waiter seemed to not know whether to laugh or excuse himself.
"A grumpy pants?" Arthur asked in indignation but Alfred ignored him to order a bottle of wine and two glasses. The waiter seemed glad for the escape even though Arthur could see his shoulders shaking as he walked away. He glared at his back. See if he got a tip.
"Don't be mean, Arthur. He's still getting a tip," Alfred said, now looking through the menu. "Do you think that I can order two main meals?"
"How do you do that? And no, your stomach is already huge, it doesn't need expanding anymore. And I thought you were on a diet." Arthur was getting better at keeping up with Alfred's rapid changes of subject but they still made him confused.
"Read your mind? You have very expressive eyes. Pretty too. And I'm not going to go on a diet now because I'm on a date with you. Being on a diet when I'm on a date with you would suck some of the enjoyment out of the date cause I don't want to have to worry about calories and the gym when I'm with you." Arthur's cheeks burned as Alfred reached across the table to hold his hand. "What are you getting?"
Arthur tried to pull himself together. "I - I think the spaghetti and meatballs." It was very hard to think of food when Alfred was slowly rubbing his thumb over Arthur's hand like that.
"Sounds good. Maybe I could get a pizza as well. Oh, here comes the waiter, let's order now and we can get our food really fast." Alfred was more of a type to relax after the meal and chat, before the meal, he was just impatient to eat. Arthur was about to reply to this when he felt his phone start to vibrate in his pocket. He was tempted to ignore it but knew that he couldn't do that.
"Can you order for me? I'm getting a phone call." Arthur hated when Alfred's face fell like it just had, he knew what the phone call meant just as much as Arthur did. Arthur kissed his hand as way of an apology before slipping out of his chair so he could answer his phone outside the restaurant. The air was freezing which just increased Arthur's temper.
"What?" He answered shortly. It was his cousin, Lovino, which meant that it was going to be a family emergency. Lovino and Feliciano had been told about this date and knew not to call unless it was an emergency.
"Don't talk to me like that, you bastard. Duck, you idiot. Demon that we've been hunting has a friend. A large, nasty looking friend that needs the Power of Three to get rid of it. Feli, you moron, run! Don't try and talk to it, it's demonic! I don't care whether it's a duck or not, it's demonic!"
"Alright, I'm coming. Where are you?"
"Look at it's glowing red eyes, no, that's a bad idea. At the house, where do you think? Oh, there's goes Mama's crystal. That was an heirloom, you bastard! Get here as fast as you can." The phone was disconnected before Arthur could say anything in retaliation. He sighed and hung up the phone himself. This, as Alfred would put it, sucked. Being hunted by demons sucked. Saving the whole ungrateful world from these demons sucked.
"And just once, I would like to go to dinner without being attacked by demons," Arthur muttered to himself, even though he wanted to shout it to the world. It was unfair, but it wasn't like he could quit. Also, apart from the attacking demons, he loved being a witch. But telling Alfred their date was off was not one of the parts he loved.
At their table, Alfred was watching Arthur with a worried look.
"Did you order?" Arthur asked, trying to delay the inevitable moment. Alfred shook his head.
"I wanted to see what you would say." Sighing, Arthur leaned in so their faces were inches away from each other. No need for other nosy diners to hear what they were saying
"I can't, I'm sorry," Arthur said with a grimace and Alfred nodded, his expression showing no surprise. "Demon attack at the house and needs Power of Three to stop it. It can't wait."
"You wouldn't be saying this to me if it could," Alfred pointed out and Arthur nodded. "Do you want to finish then?" Arthur thought quickly.
"Give me half an hour to sort it out. If it's not done by then, give me a text about what you're up to and maybe we could continue this somewhere else." Arthur tried to smirk but it seemed to come out as more sad than anything because Alfred now had a fierce look on his face.
"I love you," he whispered and Arthur kissed him, unable to help himself.
"I love you too," Arthur replied. Knowing that he had to move fast, Arthur tore himself away from Alfred and started to move quickly out the door. The sooner he got back and dealt with the demon, the sooner he could get back to Alfred. He just hoped it wouldn't be too long.
Genre: Romance/Drama
Pairing(s): USUK
Word Count: 1,351
Rating/Warnings: 12, swearing
Summary: Charmed!AU. Arthur and his cousins, Lovino and Feliciano, fight demons and save innocences as part of their inheritance. It's too bad that it clashes with their life outside of magic so much. Done for the ' worlds beyond' prompt of Sweethearts week.
Arthur hummed to himself as he straightened the forks and knives compulsively. He was just waiting for Alfred to show up now, even though he was always late. Arthur did not know why he kept showing up early or on time, but something in rebelled at being late when he always teased Alfred about being late.
"Hi, hi, I'm sorry I'm late," Alfred said as he weaved his way through the tables. He gave Arthur a quick kiss before sitting down and flicking open the menu. "Work was hectic and there was so much paperwork to be done that it was ridiculous. I swear, the world goes round on bureaucracy."
"Are you expecting me to disagree? Even when I worked as a chef, I still had piles of paperwork to do." Arthur tried to catch the eye of the waiter to see if they could order some wine now that Alfred was finally here.
"Ah yes, fond memories. Your cooking, my spoiled stomach and Francis' complaints about the food driving me to meet you." Arthur scowled but Alfred's dreamy tone showed that he was being sincere as remembering that as a fond memory. And, although Arthur was glad that he had met Alfred, he had wished that it hadn't been when Alfred was complaining about Arthur's cooking. Maybe when he was saving his life from an angry demon or something. That would have had the added benefit of Alfred knowing about the whole 'magical heritage and magic being real and Arthur being a witch' issue and then Arthur wouldn't have panicked over telling him for months on end.
"Oh, shush. I know you secretly like my food." Arthur tried to catch the eye of at least one of the waiters but they seemed to be steadily ignoring him.
"Nope, try again," Alfred shot back with a grin.
"Fine, I know you secretly like my fish and chips." Here Arthur knew he was right. Alfred could not resist scoffing the meal whenever Arthur made it. It was one of the (few) meals that Arthur knew how to do well.
"Close but still not quite." Arthur, now completely confused, turned to stare at Alfred, ignoring trying to get a waiter's attention now. "I like you. Your fish and chips come a close second and your food comes way down there at the bottom." Arthur wanted to scowl but that was actually a very sweet statement. Of course, this was the moment that the waiter decided would be good to interrupt.
"Would you gentlemen like anything to drink?" He asked with a polite smile and Arthur turned to look at him in annoyance.
"Really, now?" Alfred overrode him before Arthur could say anything he would regret later.
"He's just cranky because I said he's a bad cook and he's being a grumpy pants today." Alfred smiled and the waiter seemed to not know whether to laugh or excuse himself.
"A grumpy pants?" Arthur asked in indignation but Alfred ignored him to order a bottle of wine and two glasses. The waiter seemed glad for the escape even though Arthur could see his shoulders shaking as he walked away. He glared at his back. See if he got a tip.
"Don't be mean, Arthur. He's still getting a tip," Alfred said, now looking through the menu. "Do you think that I can order two main meals?"
"How do you do that? And no, your stomach is already huge, it doesn't need expanding anymore. And I thought you were on a diet." Arthur was getting better at keeping up with Alfred's rapid changes of subject but they still made him confused.
"Read your mind? You have very expressive eyes. Pretty too. And I'm not going to go on a diet now because I'm on a date with you. Being on a diet when I'm on a date with you would suck some of the enjoyment out of the date cause I don't want to have to worry about calories and the gym when I'm with you." Arthur's cheeks burned as Alfred reached across the table to hold his hand. "What are you getting?"
Arthur tried to pull himself together. "I - I think the spaghetti and meatballs." It was very hard to think of food when Alfred was slowly rubbing his thumb over Arthur's hand like that.
"Sounds good. Maybe I could get a pizza as well. Oh, here comes the waiter, let's order now and we can get our food really fast." Alfred was more of a type to relax after the meal and chat, before the meal, he was just impatient to eat. Arthur was about to reply to this when he felt his phone start to vibrate in his pocket. He was tempted to ignore it but knew that he couldn't do that.
"Can you order for me? I'm getting a phone call." Arthur hated when Alfred's face fell like it just had, he knew what the phone call meant just as much as Arthur did. Arthur kissed his hand as way of an apology before slipping out of his chair so he could answer his phone outside the restaurant. The air was freezing which just increased Arthur's temper.
"What?" He answered shortly. It was his cousin, Lovino, which meant that it was going to be a family emergency. Lovino and Feliciano had been told about this date and knew not to call unless it was an emergency.
"Don't talk to me like that, you bastard. Duck, you idiot. Demon that we've been hunting has a friend. A large, nasty looking friend that needs the Power of Three to get rid of it. Feli, you moron, run! Don't try and talk to it, it's demonic! I don't care whether it's a duck or not, it's demonic!"
"Alright, I'm coming. Where are you?"
"Look at it's glowing red eyes, no, that's a bad idea. At the house, where do you think? Oh, there's goes Mama's crystal. That was an heirloom, you bastard! Get here as fast as you can." The phone was disconnected before Arthur could say anything in retaliation. He sighed and hung up the phone himself. This, as Alfred would put it, sucked. Being hunted by demons sucked. Saving the whole ungrateful world from these demons sucked.
"And just once, I would like to go to dinner without being attacked by demons," Arthur muttered to himself, even though he wanted to shout it to the world. It was unfair, but it wasn't like he could quit. Also, apart from the attacking demons, he loved being a witch. But telling Alfred their date was off was not one of the parts he loved.
At their table, Alfred was watching Arthur with a worried look.
"Did you order?" Arthur asked, trying to delay the inevitable moment. Alfred shook his head.
"I wanted to see what you would say." Sighing, Arthur leaned in so their faces were inches away from each other. No need for other nosy diners to hear what they were saying
"I can't, I'm sorry," Arthur said with a grimace and Alfred nodded, his expression showing no surprise. "Demon attack at the house and needs Power of Three to stop it. It can't wait."
"You wouldn't be saying this to me if it could," Alfred pointed out and Arthur nodded. "Do you want to finish then?" Arthur thought quickly.
"Give me half an hour to sort it out. If it's not done by then, give me a text about what you're up to and maybe we could continue this somewhere else." Arthur tried to smirk but it seemed to come out as more sad than anything because Alfred now had a fierce look on his face.
"I love you," he whispered and Arthur kissed him, unable to help himself.
"I love you too," Arthur replied. Knowing that he had to move fast, Arthur tore himself away from Alfred and started to move quickly out the door. The sooner he got back and dealt with the demon, the sooner he could get back to Alfred. He just hoped it wouldn't be too long.