Honey Love (A Scene)
"Let's go out."
Arthur looked up from his laptop at Alfred, who had sat up on the bed and turned off the nonsensical Spanish soap opera. "Okay. Where to?"
Al shrugged. "Find some food, walk around, sit on a bench and stare at the sky - you know. Out." He got off the bed and started digging around for his wallet and their room key. "Just the two of us."
"Well, I am getting rather hungry." Arthur checked his email one last time, closed his laptop, and pushed away from the desk. Alfred already had his shoes on and was ready to go. Arthur smiled at his impatient bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Calm down, Al, I'll be ready in a tic." Al huffed an impatient sigh and flopped down face first on the bed, spread out over as much of their queen as he could cover. Arthur sat on the corner of it to tie his shoes, then stood and looked down at Al's spread eagle form. He bit his lip against a laugh, then gave into temptation and tickled the exposed back of Alfred's knees. Al jerked away with a helpless laugh, leg kicking up reflexively, but Arthur caught it with a smirk.
"You're mean," Al told him as he took his leg back and rolled off the side of the bed and landed in a standing position.
"I know. Now come on, you're buying me dinner." He led the way out of the hotel room, ignoring Al's mumbled retort along the lines of 'I'm buying you everything', since they'd long come to terms with the fact that Alfred was rich and Arthur was broke, so Al would supply the money and Arthur would just have to suck up his pride and deal with it.
They knocked on Toris and Feliks's door and let them know where they were going, although they took the hint when Toris talked through the door instead of opening it that they shouldn't bother with telling them about their return later.
They left the hotel and took a random direction, entering the first place to eat they ran across. They was one of the bigger towns they'd stayed in since leaving Madrid, more of a city, so the chosen restaurant was a nicely decorated, high-class place with a patio overlooking the Mediterranean. They asked for a table outside, even though it was almost too hot for that, and didn't have to wait before they were seated. Al chatted up the waitress when they gave their order, and Arthur kicked him under the table as she laughed and walked away.
"Do you have to do that with every waitress?" Arthur snapped irritably. Al grinned and nudged his shin with his foot, not quite a kick.
"C'mon, it's harmless, and I'm just tryin' to brighten someone's day." Arthur huffed anyway. "You're just jealous you can't join me." Al smirked cheekily. Arthur raised his eyebrows, unimpressed.
"Right, that's exactly it." Al wrinkled his nose at his sarcasm, then rested his cheek on his hand and stared out over the water. Arthur pretended to do the same, but stared a little at Al instead.
"I think I'm getting homesick already."
Arthur tilted his head a little at Alfred's soft statement. "Why do you say that, love?" Al smiled reflexively at the pet name a little, but shrugged loosely.
"Just kinda ready to stop moving, not live out of a hotel and a suitcase for a while. I mean, don't worry, I'm totally happy to be here and stuff, and it's not like I want to bail or anything, it's just..." He trailed off, closing his eyes and sighing. Arthur let himself smile fondly since Al couldn't see.
"I understand, if it makes you feel better." Al opened his eyes slowly and smiled at him with a little sad tinge to it. Arthur looked down at his hands, which were playing with his napkin. "At least you can go home if you want."
"Huh?" Arthur waited for the connection to click in his head. "Oh, right, yeah, I forgot about that. What was that full story, anyway?"
Arthur gaze jerked from his fingers up to Al's curious, friendly, warm blue eyes. He sighed. "Do you really want to know?"
"Only of course! Learning about you's one of my favorites." He winked and grinned, and Arthur flushed.
"If you insist - but first I need my-" Their waitress pushed through the patio doors with their drinks - Arthur a beer, Alfred a Coke - just in time.
"Perfect timing!" Al beamed at the girl as she set them down, and she smiled with crinkled eyes. They ordered with much difficulty on Arthur's part and Alfred's help, then she walked away as Al turned his attention back to Arthur. "Now spill, and no excuses."
Arthur took a gulp of his beer - a Spanish variety he'd found a while ago and stuck with for the rest of the trip - and thought of where to start. "Well, I told you that my parents disowned me when I was sixteen, right?"
"Vaguely, once."
"Well, they did." He took another gulp. "Well, really, it was more like, 'Get out of my house,' and I was only happy to oblige permanently, although I don't think that was their original plan. Judging by the fact that they didn't try to look for me before Aunt Jo rang Mum to switch over custody, though, I don't think they cared very much." A larger gulp. "Anyway, between then and moving in with my aunt, though..." He stared at the bubbles in his beer and swirled them so they floated up in a spiral. "Looking back, it was definitely the low point of my life." He took a sip and went back to swirling. "Couch surfing isn't as glamorous as it sounds, and it cost me a lot of the few friends I had." He smiled sardonically. "Too bad the one friend I wouldn't mind losing is the only one that stayed."
"Who?"
Arthur snorted. "Francis, of course. never liked that kid." Al laughed, and Arthur smiled up at him briefly before looking back into his beer. It was easier to talk to it than Alfred about this, since he'd never wanted to talk about it ever again. Alfred deserved to know, though. "Dunno why he decided to stick around, much less help me out."
"Probably 'cause you'd do the same for him, admit it."
Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but let it go and instead took another sip. "Fine, maybe you're right, but don't tell him that." Al chuckled.
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." They smiled at each other until Al broke the moment by groaning and sprawling back in his chair ungracefully. "Man, I'm hungry."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "You're always hungry."
Al laughed, but corrected him, "No, I'm always ready to eat. I'm not always hungry."
Arthur grinned, and Al felt his heart patter at it. "Only you would differentiate between the two."
"Lies! Matt agrees with me!"
Arthur raised his eyebrows. "How do you know this instantly?"
"Well, taking into account that you don't believe in our twin telepathy-"
"You're not twins, nor are you telepathic-"
"We're twins in everything but name and three days! But anyway, we might've talked about this a few times before."
Arthur shook his head with a smile. "Sometimes I wonder about you two."
"We're awesome as shit, man." They laughed and lapsed into silence. "Man, this place is pretty." He sucked in a breath of sunset air. "I could deal with living here."
"You could do that, you know."
Al waved it off with a shrug. "Nah, I'd miss English and ice in my soda. Nice to think about, though."
"Mmm. I dunno if I'd live here. Too hot."
Al grinned at that. "Rminds me a little of home, actually."
"Remind me not to move to California."
"I'll just have to move to you, then." Arthur stared at him curiously.
"Pardon?"
Alfred beamed. "C'mon, you didn't honestly think we'd just go our separate ways after this and not spend the rest of our lives together."
Arthur blushed furiously and folded his napkin compulsively. "I- I hadn't thought about it too much."
"Well, I think we've proven pretty good that we live well together, and unless something huge happens in the next few months - which I don't think it will - we'll probably be way too dependent on each other to go back to an ocean and a continent away." Arthur tried to rub away the red in his cheeks.
"You're an idiot," he said softly. Al stuck his tongue out and nudged him under the table.
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot." Arthur took a long pull of his beer as Al laughed good-naturedly and found that he could see the bottom before their food had been brought out.
Shit.
````
By the time they finally finished dinner and got their check, Arthur had worked through two beers and a shot of tequila, which put him just past the point where he cared about his actions but not quite to the point where he couldn't walk properly. Still, when they left, Al kept one hand lightly supporting his back, weaving between the tables and waving goodbye to their patient waitress across the room. She giggled, he winked, and Arthur caught the exchange.
"I really wish you wouldn't do that all the time," he mumbled as they walked out into the dusky street.
"Do what?"
"Flirting with other people like that." Al decided to put off the wandering around town part of the evening and guided Arthur in the direction of their hotel. "Y'don't flirt w'me like that."
Al grinned and leaned in to say, "But, Art, I flirt with you all the time."
"Yeah, but..." Arthur paused to think, frowning. "Just shut up and take me home."
"Home's a bit far away, doncha think, honey?" Arthur meant to nudge him in the side and ended up hitting him bodily. Luckily, Alfred was significantly more solid than him, and caught him until he was stable again.
"You know what I mean, and don't call me honey."
The restaurant was only a block over from the hotel, so Al grinned in response to amused, slightly questioning stares as he walked into the lobby with Arthur half leaning on him at eight in the evening. "But honey fits you so well," Alfred responded in a low voice, shaking Arthur's shoulders lightly with the grip he had around them as they waited for an elevator. "You're sweet, and difficult, and a little sticky," he said with a laugh at the last one as he failed to get Arthur to let go completely as they entered the elevator and he pushed the button for the fourth floor. The door closed, Arthur was drunk, and Alfred made a move. "I bet you taste good, too," he hummed, ducking down to lick at the corner of Arthur's jawbone.
Arthur sucked in a breath as Alfred lingered, mouth hovering over his skin, then turned his head abruptly, hitting noses a little, but he grabbed a fistful of Al's hair and yanked him down for a kiss anyway. He stepped in front of Alfred completely, backed him up against the wall, and the door clanked open behind him.
Alfred broke away, panting and grinning, and pulled Arthur out of the elevator just before the doors closed again, pulling him by the wrist down to their hotel room, where he fumbled for the room key while Arthur slid up beside him and started kissing his neck, making Alfred almost drop the key before he flipped it the right way and swiped it open. They almost fell into the room, letting the door swing closed behind them, and Al pushed Arthur up against it, letting his hormones and instinct take over. Arthur anchored him with both hands in his hair, eyes clenched closed and kissing him desperately, not wanting to let this dream out of his arms.
When Arthur slung a leg around Alfred's, though, Alfred broke for breath, rested his forehead on his, beamed down at him. "I forgot that you're good at this," he breathed, petting Arthur's cheek with his thumb while holding their torsos together with the other arm. Arthur grinned, and Al's heart did another flip.
"You need to be more naked," Arthur said, and that was definitely the tequila talking - and the tequila that was trying to strip Al of his t-shirt. Warning bells started to go off in Al's head, that they weren't ready for this, he didn't want the first time to be when Arthur was sloshed - but Arthur had his arms over his head already and was pushing him to stumble and fall back on the bed, lying between his legs and kissing him again, holding his face in his hands. Al gave in with a laugh, wrapping his arms around Arthur's waist, and Arthur shivered against him.
God, Arthur pressed against him just felt so nice, not just that he was meant to be there, but just that he was Arthur and he was there and present in his physical reach. He tilted his head back as Arthur ran a rough hand through his hair, which opened his mouth more and gave Arthur's tongue a whole new angle on life, and if this was what he'd been missing by pushing all those girls off of him over the years, he needed to go back and have a chat with his younger self.
Because Arthur was still drunk, of course, it wasn't long before he adjusted to straddle Alfred's hips and rut into them, running his hands down his bare chest like he couldn't get enough of the feel. It tickled a little, but that was easily overridden by the spike of everything his system was undergoing.
"Christ," he cursed when Arthur pulled away to suck at his collarbone, a change which made him arch up into Arthur. He felt Arthur smirk against his skin, and nails trailed over the sensitive skin just above the button of his shorts.
"We should've done this earlier," Arthur murmured, nuzzling a little into Al's neck as he fumbled with the button blindly. Alfred slid his hands around to hold Arthur's wrists still.
"No- no, I think we're going at just the right speed." Arthur pushed himself up onto his hands to hover over Al and stare at him, unreadable. Al grinned at him sheepishly. "Let's not go too far today, please? I-" He cut himself off and turned his head to the side.
Arthur deflated, but smiled, and he bent down to kiss the hollow of Al's jaw softly. "Of course, love. But I'm going to need a shower." Al laughed nervously, voice cracking a little, and sat up as Arthur pushed himself back to his feet. Before he walked away, though, he caught his hand and wove their fingers together.
"Thanks, honey." He smiled at Arthur, but he just rolled his eyes and jerked his hand from Alfred's.
"Sappy idiot," he grumbled, stomping off to the bathroom. Al flopped back on the bed and closed his eyes.
Arthur looked up from his laptop at Alfred, who had sat up on the bed and turned off the nonsensical Spanish soap opera. "Okay. Where to?"
Al shrugged. "Find some food, walk around, sit on a bench and stare at the sky - you know. Out." He got off the bed and started digging around for his wallet and their room key. "Just the two of us."
"Well, I am getting rather hungry." Arthur checked his email one last time, closed his laptop, and pushed away from the desk. Alfred already had his shoes on and was ready to go. Arthur smiled at his impatient bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Calm down, Al, I'll be ready in a tic." Al huffed an impatient sigh and flopped down face first on the bed, spread out over as much of their queen as he could cover. Arthur sat on the corner of it to tie his shoes, then stood and looked down at Al's spread eagle form. He bit his lip against a laugh, then gave into temptation and tickled the exposed back of Alfred's knees. Al jerked away with a helpless laugh, leg kicking up reflexively, but Arthur caught it with a smirk.
"You're mean," Al told him as he took his leg back and rolled off the side of the bed and landed in a standing position.
"I know. Now come on, you're buying me dinner." He led the way out of the hotel room, ignoring Al's mumbled retort along the lines of 'I'm buying you everything', since they'd long come to terms with the fact that Alfred was rich and Arthur was broke, so Al would supply the money and Arthur would just have to suck up his pride and deal with it.
They knocked on Toris and Feliks's door and let them know where they were going, although they took the hint when Toris talked through the door instead of opening it that they shouldn't bother with telling them about their return later.
They left the hotel and took a random direction, entering the first place to eat they ran across. They was one of the bigger towns they'd stayed in since leaving Madrid, more of a city, so the chosen restaurant was a nicely decorated, high-class place with a patio overlooking the Mediterranean. They asked for a table outside, even though it was almost too hot for that, and didn't have to wait before they were seated. Al chatted up the waitress when they gave their order, and Arthur kicked him under the table as she laughed and walked away.
"Do you have to do that with every waitress?" Arthur snapped irritably. Al grinned and nudged his shin with his foot, not quite a kick.
"C'mon, it's harmless, and I'm just tryin' to brighten someone's day." Arthur huffed anyway. "You're just jealous you can't join me." Al smirked cheekily. Arthur raised his eyebrows, unimpressed.
"Right, that's exactly it." Al wrinkled his nose at his sarcasm, then rested his cheek on his hand and stared out over the water. Arthur pretended to do the same, but stared a little at Al instead.
"I think I'm getting homesick already."
Arthur tilted his head a little at Alfred's soft statement. "Why do you say that, love?" Al smiled reflexively at the pet name a little, but shrugged loosely.
"Just kinda ready to stop moving, not live out of a hotel and a suitcase for a while. I mean, don't worry, I'm totally happy to be here and stuff, and it's not like I want to bail or anything, it's just..." He trailed off, closing his eyes and sighing. Arthur let himself smile fondly since Al couldn't see.
"I understand, if it makes you feel better." Al opened his eyes slowly and smiled at him with a little sad tinge to it. Arthur looked down at his hands, which were playing with his napkin. "At least you can go home if you want."
"Huh?" Arthur waited for the connection to click in his head. "Oh, right, yeah, I forgot about that. What was that full story, anyway?"
Arthur gaze jerked from his fingers up to Al's curious, friendly, warm blue eyes. He sighed. "Do you really want to know?"
"Only of course! Learning about you's one of my favorites." He winked and grinned, and Arthur flushed.
"If you insist - but first I need my-" Their waitress pushed through the patio doors with their drinks - Arthur a beer, Alfred a Coke - just in time.
"Perfect timing!" Al beamed at the girl as she set them down, and she smiled with crinkled eyes. They ordered with much difficulty on Arthur's part and Alfred's help, then she walked away as Al turned his attention back to Arthur. "Now spill, and no excuses."
Arthur took a gulp of his beer - a Spanish variety he'd found a while ago and stuck with for the rest of the trip - and thought of where to start. "Well, I told you that my parents disowned me when I was sixteen, right?"
"Vaguely, once."
"Well, they did." He took another gulp. "Well, really, it was more like, 'Get out of my house,' and I was only happy to oblige permanently, although I don't think that was their original plan. Judging by the fact that they didn't try to look for me before Aunt Jo rang Mum to switch over custody, though, I don't think they cared very much." A larger gulp. "Anyway, between then and moving in with my aunt, though..." He stared at the bubbles in his beer and swirled them so they floated up in a spiral. "Looking back, it was definitely the low point of my life." He took a sip and went back to swirling. "Couch surfing isn't as glamorous as it sounds, and it cost me a lot of the few friends I had." He smiled sardonically. "Too bad the one friend I wouldn't mind losing is the only one that stayed."
"Who?"
Arthur snorted. "Francis, of course. never liked that kid." Al laughed, and Arthur smiled up at him briefly before looking back into his beer. It was easier to talk to it than Alfred about this, since he'd never wanted to talk about it ever again. Alfred deserved to know, though. "Dunno why he decided to stick around, much less help me out."
"Probably 'cause you'd do the same for him, admit it."
Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but let it go and instead took another sip. "Fine, maybe you're right, but don't tell him that." Al chuckled.
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." They smiled at each other until Al broke the moment by groaning and sprawling back in his chair ungracefully. "Man, I'm hungry."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "You're always hungry."
Al laughed, but corrected him, "No, I'm always ready to eat. I'm not always hungry."
Arthur grinned, and Al felt his heart patter at it. "Only you would differentiate between the two."
"Lies! Matt agrees with me!"
Arthur raised his eyebrows. "How do you know this instantly?"
"Well, taking into account that you don't believe in our twin telepathy-"
"You're not twins, nor are you telepathic-"
"We're twins in everything but name and three days! But anyway, we might've talked about this a few times before."
Arthur shook his head with a smile. "Sometimes I wonder about you two."
"We're awesome as shit, man." They laughed and lapsed into silence. "Man, this place is pretty." He sucked in a breath of sunset air. "I could deal with living here."
"You could do that, you know."
Al waved it off with a shrug. "Nah, I'd miss English and ice in my soda. Nice to think about, though."
"Mmm. I dunno if I'd live here. Too hot."
Al grinned at that. "Rminds me a little of home, actually."
"Remind me not to move to California."
"I'll just have to move to you, then." Arthur stared at him curiously.
"Pardon?"
Alfred beamed. "C'mon, you didn't honestly think we'd just go our separate ways after this and not spend the rest of our lives together."
Arthur blushed furiously and folded his napkin compulsively. "I- I hadn't thought about it too much."
"Well, I think we've proven pretty good that we live well together, and unless something huge happens in the next few months - which I don't think it will - we'll probably be way too dependent on each other to go back to an ocean and a continent away." Arthur tried to rub away the red in his cheeks.
"You're an idiot," he said softly. Al stuck his tongue out and nudged him under the table.
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot." Arthur took a long pull of his beer as Al laughed good-naturedly and found that he could see the bottom before their food had been brought out.
Shit.
````
By the time they finally finished dinner and got their check, Arthur had worked through two beers and a shot of tequila, which put him just past the point where he cared about his actions but not quite to the point where he couldn't walk properly. Still, when they left, Al kept one hand lightly supporting his back, weaving between the tables and waving goodbye to their patient waitress across the room. She giggled, he winked, and Arthur caught the exchange.
"I really wish you wouldn't do that all the time," he mumbled as they walked out into the dusky street.
"Do what?"
"Flirting with other people like that." Al decided to put off the wandering around town part of the evening and guided Arthur in the direction of their hotel. "Y'don't flirt w'me like that."
Al grinned and leaned in to say, "But, Art, I flirt with you all the time."
"Yeah, but..." Arthur paused to think, frowning. "Just shut up and take me home."
"Home's a bit far away, doncha think, honey?" Arthur meant to nudge him in the side and ended up hitting him bodily. Luckily, Alfred was significantly more solid than him, and caught him until he was stable again.
"You know what I mean, and don't call me honey."
The restaurant was only a block over from the hotel, so Al grinned in response to amused, slightly questioning stares as he walked into the lobby with Arthur half leaning on him at eight in the evening. "But honey fits you so well," Alfred responded in a low voice, shaking Arthur's shoulders lightly with the grip he had around them as they waited for an elevator. "You're sweet, and difficult, and a little sticky," he said with a laugh at the last one as he failed to get Arthur to let go completely as they entered the elevator and he pushed the button for the fourth floor. The door closed, Arthur was drunk, and Alfred made a move. "I bet you taste good, too," he hummed, ducking down to lick at the corner of Arthur's jawbone.
Arthur sucked in a breath as Alfred lingered, mouth hovering over his skin, then turned his head abruptly, hitting noses a little, but he grabbed a fistful of Al's hair and yanked him down for a kiss anyway. He stepped in front of Alfred completely, backed him up against the wall, and the door clanked open behind him.
Alfred broke away, panting and grinning, and pulled Arthur out of the elevator just before the doors closed again, pulling him by the wrist down to their hotel room, where he fumbled for the room key while Arthur slid up beside him and started kissing his neck, making Alfred almost drop the key before he flipped it the right way and swiped it open. They almost fell into the room, letting the door swing closed behind them, and Al pushed Arthur up against it, letting his hormones and instinct take over. Arthur anchored him with both hands in his hair, eyes clenched closed and kissing him desperately, not wanting to let this dream out of his arms.
When Arthur slung a leg around Alfred's, though, Alfred broke for breath, rested his forehead on his, beamed down at him. "I forgot that you're good at this," he breathed, petting Arthur's cheek with his thumb while holding their torsos together with the other arm. Arthur grinned, and Al's heart did another flip.
"You need to be more naked," Arthur said, and that was definitely the tequila talking - and the tequila that was trying to strip Al of his t-shirt. Warning bells started to go off in Al's head, that they weren't ready for this, he didn't want the first time to be when Arthur was sloshed - but Arthur had his arms over his head already and was pushing him to stumble and fall back on the bed, lying between his legs and kissing him again, holding his face in his hands. Al gave in with a laugh, wrapping his arms around Arthur's waist, and Arthur shivered against him.
God, Arthur pressed against him just felt so nice, not just that he was meant to be there, but just that he was Arthur and he was there and present in his physical reach. He tilted his head back as Arthur ran a rough hand through his hair, which opened his mouth more and gave Arthur's tongue a whole new angle on life, and if this was what he'd been missing by pushing all those girls off of him over the years, he needed to go back and have a chat with his younger self.
Because Arthur was still drunk, of course, it wasn't long before he adjusted to straddle Alfred's hips and rut into them, running his hands down his bare chest like he couldn't get enough of the feel. It tickled a little, but that was easily overridden by the spike of everything his system was undergoing.
"Christ," he cursed when Arthur pulled away to suck at his collarbone, a change which made him arch up into Arthur. He felt Arthur smirk against his skin, and nails trailed over the sensitive skin just above the button of his shorts.
"We should've done this earlier," Arthur murmured, nuzzling a little into Al's neck as he fumbled with the button blindly. Alfred slid his hands around to hold Arthur's wrists still.
"No- no, I think we're going at just the right speed." Arthur pushed himself up onto his hands to hover over Al and stare at him, unreadable. Al grinned at him sheepishly. "Let's not go too far today, please? I-" He cut himself off and turned his head to the side.
Arthur deflated, but smiled, and he bent down to kiss the hollow of Al's jaw softly. "Of course, love. But I'm going to need a shower." Al laughed nervously, voice cracking a little, and sat up as Arthur pushed himself back to his feet. Before he walked away, though, he caught his hand and wove their fingers together.
"Thanks, honey." He smiled at Arthur, but he just rolled his eyes and jerked his hand from Alfred's.
"Sappy idiot," he grumbled, stomping off to the bathroom. Al flopped back on the bed and closed his eyes.