APH// What's in the Box? //USUK
Title: What’s in the Box?
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance/Humour
Characters/Pairings: America/England, brief mentions of France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Hungary
Summary: Christmas AU with Bodyguard!Alfred and CEO!Arthur: Just what exactly are they doing alone, locked together in the office on Christmas eve?
Notes: I was originally supposed to combine two of your prompts but I fail and couldn’t get it together in time so no smut for you D: There will probably be a prequel and sequel to this…eventually. LAME TITLE IS LAME, thanks to my lovely cousin, please give me a better one.
Written for the usxuk 2009 secret santa exchange
It was the annual Christmas party at the ‘Red Dawn Corporation’, a fairly large and successful weapons manufacturing company that was founded and led by the famous Arthur Kirkland. The entrance hall to the main corporate building had been decorated and transformed from its usual plain, practical state, to a cheerful festive hall. Tables laden with food and drink were strategically placed around the foyer and almost all the employees were in attendance, mingling and relaxing. All in all, it was quite a lively party and under normal circumstances, it would have been the ideal environment for Alfred F. Jones, personal bodyguard to the CEO himself, to flourish in as he was quite the social butterfly. Under normal circumstances, he would not have been sulking at the fact that his boss/employer/lover/CEO had rejected his awesome idea of spending Christmas Eve alone together. Preferably naked. Still, a hero would never give up that easily!
If only he could extract himself from the conversation that Francis seemed intent on having with him. Francis Bonnefoy, the perverted French Human Resources Manager how-the-hell-did-he-manage-to-keep -his-job, had managed to corner him into a one-sided conversation thus preventing him from carrying out his search to find the currently elusive Arthur Kirkland.
He made vague noncommittal noises of agreement once every while as Francis prattled on about one thing or another, mostly his accounts of his raunchy encounters or an anecdote of some similar kind, as he not-so-casually searched the crowd for his boss/employer/lover/CEO. Finally, his efforts paid off and he spotted the sandy blond man with rather prominent eyebrows. He frowned slightly as he saw that Arthur was conversing to Ludwig, one of his legal advisors.
He knew that Ludwig wasn’t compet- a threat to Arthur as he already had a boyf- self-discipline and was rather loyal to the company. Still, best to keep an eye on him just in case. It’s not as though he was looking for an excuse to stare. Of course not. Eventually, they finished talking about whatever and his eyes followed Arthur as the other moved on to talk to Kiku, one of the weapon designers. It didn’t take long for him to conclude that the threat level there was nil as Kiku was like Arthur’s…old man buddy? He snorted slightly at that description.
Again, Arthur moved to talk to…who was that? He was slightly creeped out to notice that the guy looked as though he could be his twin or something. The only thing missing was the confidence and aura of awesomeness.
Francis, noting where Alfred’s attention had been drawn, began to casually talk about some guy named Matthew who was good at hockey. It took a few more moments of staring for it to click. That guy Arthur was talking to was Matthew! Alfred swore that he was a g-g-ghost with the way he managed to disappear and reappear without warning. It was also seriously weird that he kept forgetting who the guy was. Perhaps that was why he was in charge of intelligence.
He was fairly certain that Matthew was no threat to Arthur, even if he could barely recall any facts about him. Hockey was such a lame sport, seriously. There were way better things like American football! Alfred briefly wondered what they were talking about that was making the normally anti-social Arthur look so lively but he concluded that it was just the eggnog. He ignored the brief pang of what he refused to acknowledge as jealousy because there was no need for such petty emotions! Plus, Arthur had absolutely no interest in hockey, of that he was sure though for some reason, a suspicious voice in the back of his head decided to bring up the words tonsil hockey which was completely irrelevant to what was happening right now. Except that he knew that Arthur liked tonsil hockey and was rather good at it too and what if that Matthew guy wasn’t just talking about normal hockey. A look of horror passed across Alfred’s face because oh god, that guy who he couldn't remember the name of was trying to seduce the CEO! It was his job, no his duty to protect the helpless Arthur! (Never mind the fact that Arthur once threw Alfred out a window for being so annoying but come on, everyone knows fairies didn’t exist!) Matthew was clearly a threat to Arthur’s wellbeing. From what he recalled about hockey, it was a dangerous sport where the players were prone to fits of rage and therefore, it wasn’t safe for Arthur to be hanging around potentially explosive people. It all made logical sense, really.
Ignoring everything else, he quickly made his way through the crowd, over to Arthur and the not-invisible person. They both appeared startled as he quickly cut in the middle, interrupting their conversation. Grinning, he announced brazenly, "The hero has arrived!” and before anyone could get a word in, he effortlessly picked up Arthur, swung him over his shoulder and began to exit the room, ignoring all protests.
Everyone in the room merely gave the pair a cursory glance before going back to what they were doing. This was one of the strangely frequent and ordinary sights you learnt to ignore when you worked at Red Dawn corp. Only Kiku and Elizabeta were taking photos of the leaving duo.
---
"Alfred F. Jones, put me down right now you sodding git or else I'll fire your arse!" the irate Englishman spat out heatedly from his embarrassing position. He struggled half-heartedly though he was certain he wouldn’t be able to break free anytime soon. Well, without killing the bastard at any rate, damn his freakishly inhuman strength.
Alfred, long since used to such threats, replied easily, "No you won't." It would’ve been pointless for Arthur to argue since they both knew that it was true, though Arthur would never admit that, and simply chose to pretend he didn’t hear the statement.
"Must you manhandle me? I can walk just fine on my own," he grumbled instead, scowling at his Alfred’s back. Too bad that from his position, he was unable see the Cheshire grin spread across his bodyguard's face, "Oh?"
The tone of voice put Arthur on guard and he ceased to struggle momentarily. "What is it?" he asked warily.
"Would you prefer me to womanhandle you?" Alfred asked cheerfully before switching Arthur’s position from draped across his shoulders to in his arms.
The sudden change in vertigo caused Arthur to let out an undignified grunt-not-yelp-so-shut-up-right-now and before he knew it, he was being carried bridal style. His struggles restarted with a vengeance as an embarrassed flush spread across his cheeks in what Alfred though was quite an adorable manner. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"If you agreed to come with me in the first place, we wouldn't be doing this my way," he replied cheekily as he tightened his grip on Arthur, easily restraining the other.
"Do what?" Arthur asked in a(n adorably) bewildered manner.
"Spending time with me of course! Anyone would be thrilled to spend time with the hero,” stated Alfred in a manner-of-fact tone.
“Hero?” Arthur made a show of looking around for someone, “I don’t see a ‘hero’ anywhere.”
Alfred made a mock-hurt face in retaliation. “Me, of course!”
Arthur rolled his eyes at the taller man before sighing in resignation. It was strange, how at ease he felt with a person he had known for barely a year. Still, he would rather die than admit that he didn't mind too much being held like this. No, it was simply because Alfred was a stubborn force of nature whose mind couldn't be budged after he had made a decision. It had nothing to do with the fact that he found his will to be rather weak when confronted with these sparkling blue eyes, that sunny disposition, that charming smile...
"I know I'm hot but there's no need for you keep staring."
Alfred’s voice snapped him out of his daze and he blushed as he realised that he had been caught staring. He quickly looked away and retorted, "D-Don't get so full of yourself you prat, I was merely trying to figure out why I keep your worthless arse around."
"Because you love my 'arse', duh."
"Shut the fuck up if you know what's good for you," he snapped back though with no real bite.
"Someone has a potty mouth tonight." Of course the git had to have the last word.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they continued to make their way to the CEO’s office? Arthur looked questioningly up at Alfred but only received a self-satisfied grin in return. Somehow, Arthur got the feeling that Alfred was cackling maniacally on the inside though hopefully, it was just his overactive imagination.
---
The door shut with an ominous click and the lock turning only seemed to serve as a metaphorical death sentence. Or maybe the door and lock made a perfectly normal sound and Arthur was just being melodramatic as usual. After all, too much Shakespeare was bad for the soul, unlike hamburgers and chicken soup. Mmm, hamburgers.
"What, pray tell, are we doing locked in my office?" asked the scowling CEO.
Turning around, Alfred just beamed at him before gesturing upwards. "Look up, Arthur."
Arthur glanced up only to note that he was conveniently situated under a clump of mistletoe. So that’s what this was all about? He was interrupted before he could voice his question.
"Oh no,” Alfred cried dramatically, complete with unnecessary flamboyant gestures, “Now you're stuck under the mistletoe until you receive a kiss from your hero."
"My hero,” Arthur deadpanned, seemingly unimpressed at the display though he was secretly amused. Upon seeing the pout that he was given, he merely sighed before asking dryly, “Since when did you need an excuse to kiss me?"
“Don’t ruin the mood.” He stepped forward and grabbed the other by the chin, smashing their lips together roughly. It had been something like twenty-two hours and forty minutes since the last time he had kissed Arthur so you couldn’t really blame him for his eagerness though it seemed that he wasn’t the only one as Arthur quickly dominated the kiss. Apparently, he had just been as needy as Alfred, possibly more since he was so repressed. An intense round of tonsil hockey ensued. Oh yeah, take that Mar- Mat- hockey guy!
Finally separating after what seemed like ages, they gazed into each other’s eyes, both breathless. It was silent, save for the sound of harsh breathing before Alfred leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on Arthur’s foreheads. "Merry Christmas, Arthur."
Just then, somewhere in the distance, a clock chimed signalling that it was midnight. “Kissing under the mistletoe at midnight? How sappy of you,” Arthur stated mockingly though his expression was soft, “Happy Christmas to you too, stupid git.”
Alfred rolled his eyes exasperatedly. “You really need to give me a better pet name.”
He watched as a flustered Arthur tried to form an appropriate response. “Wha-You-How is that a pet name? It’s an insult or can’t that fact penetrate your thick skull? Wait, don’t answer that.”
The insult bounced off him easily as always. He knew that Arthur had a sharp tongue and didn’t really mean what he said. Well, most of the time. “Anyway, I have a present for you!”
“…you do?” Arthur’s eyes widened in a half-surprised, half touched manner.
Slightly offended at the surprised part of his expression, Alfred replied indignantly, “Of course! What kind of boyfriend would I be otherwise?”
That sent Arthur into another round of spluttering in embarrassment before asking what Alfred deemed, an extremely stupid question, “And whose boyfriend are you?”
This warranted Alfred the use of Arthur’s trademark ‘are-you-daft’ look though it was left effective. Must’ve been the lack of eyebrows. “Yours, obviously.”
“I am no one’s boyfriend!” This amount of denial has got to be unhealthy.
“So you sleep with people you don’t date? I didn’t think you were like that.”
“I’m not!” came the instinctive defensive reply.
“Exactly, so you’re my boyfriend.” Without waiting for Arthur’s replied, he whipped out his gift to Arthur seemingly out of nowhere, before shoving it unceremoniously into his arms, making the other fumble for a moment. Alfred watched with barely restrained excitement as eyebrows furrowed curiously while he examining the box. It was of medium size and poorly wrapped in festive-not-garish-so-stop-complaining-already wrapping paper. "Well, open it already!" he urged.
Carefully undoing the tape, deliberately took his time, if only to torment the other a bit more. Alfred’s childlike enthusiasm never ceased to be a source of entertainment for him as he found the trait quite endearing, another thing he would never admit out loud. Placing the wrapping paper neatly on his desk, he carefully opened the box to peek inside, only to slam the lid back on. He gave Alfred a glare, though its effect was somewhat destroyed by the furious blush on his cheeks. At any rate, his glare was no match for Alfred’s shit-eating grin.
“You like it.”
“No!” he denied vehemently, although he obviously felt otherwise if the unsuccessfully concealed smile or the way he was hugging the box to his chest was any indication.
Afred had gifted him with a lime green unicorn plushie that he had seen Arthur stare at a few weeks back. Well, stare at in Arthur terms. To the average person, it would have looked like nothing more than a quick glance but Alfred prided himself in being able to understand the little nuances of Arthur that others couldn’t. Looking at his reaction now, it had definitely been a good choice. Arthur was making it almost too easy to tease him so he decided to let it slide, just for today. “So,” he asked casually, “Where’s my present?”
Recovering quickly, Arthur shot back, “What makes you think I got you something?”
“Because you’re Arthur,” he stated as though it was obvious.
“How presumptuous of you,” he sneered, “To go and assume something like that. Why on earth would I bother to get you anything for Christmas? Really, I have far more important things to do than such trivial…” he trailed off as he took in goofy grin on Alfred’s face, obviously not buying a single word that he was saying. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Really, he caved in too easily these days, “…it’s in the bottom drawer but don’t misunderstand! I only got it for you because you would have whined about it like a child and given me a migraine,” he added on sharply though his explanation was predictably ignored.
By the time he had finished his mini-rant, Alfed had already reached the desk and pulled out the neatly wrapped gift. His grin faltered slightly as he felt it. It definitely wasn’t that video game he had been dying for. “It’s soft.”
“Well yes, home knitted sweaters are normally soft,” Arthur informed him with a completely straight face.
Alfred tried - and failed - to fully hide his grimace. He loved Arthur, really he did, but sometimes he acted like such an old man.
“I’m not serious,” Arthur chuckled. “Just open it.”
Almost warily, Alfred ripped off the wrapping paper. He was startled to find a familiar pattern staring back. Freeing it completely, he found that it indeed was an American flag and he was slightly baffled to find loose silk strips of cloth falling out of the packaging as well.
Baffled, he turned to question his lover only to have all words die on his tongue as he recognised the hungry look in his lover’s eyes. It was the look that promised all sorts of wicked things and one thing was certain, neither of them would be getting much sleep tonight.
Reaching forward, Arthur pried the flag from Alfred’s now slack fingers before draping the item loosely over his own shoulders. Now, Alfred wasn't an extremely patriotic man or anything but he never realised exactly what an enticing picture his lover made, wrapped up in his country's flag. It was something out of his deepest fantasies. His thought process was starting to slow down as the bloodflow in his body was directed to a more southern direction. Briefly, he wondered how Arthur had discovered his kink. And those silk pieces of cloths...
“Yes, I know about that,” Arthur replied as though he could read his mind. Before Alfred could freak out about it, he added on, “You do talk quite a bit when you’re drunk.”
Oh.
Well then, he really needed to get drunk more often then if it resulted in situations like this.
While he had been distracted, Arthur had wrapped his arms around his neck and pulling him down so that he was breathing softly on Alfred's ear. “Your present is me,” Arthur purred huskily, coaxing a groan from him, “So do what you will.”
Alfred pounced.
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance/Humour
Characters/Pairings: America/England, brief mentions of France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Hungary
Summary: Christmas AU with Bodyguard!Alfred and CEO!Arthur: Just what exactly are they doing alone, locked together in the office on Christmas eve?
Notes: I was originally supposed to combine two of your prompts but I fail and couldn’t get it together in time so no smut for you D: There will probably be a prequel and sequel to this…eventually. LAME TITLE IS LAME, thanks to my lovely cousin, please give me a better one.
Written for the usxuk 2009 secret santa exchange
It was the annual Christmas party at the ‘Red Dawn Corporation’, a fairly large and successful weapons manufacturing company that was founded and led by the famous Arthur Kirkland. The entrance hall to the main corporate building had been decorated and transformed from its usual plain, practical state, to a cheerful festive hall. Tables laden with food and drink were strategically placed around the foyer and almost all the employees were in attendance, mingling and relaxing. All in all, it was quite a lively party and under normal circumstances, it would have been the ideal environment for Alfred F. Jones, personal bodyguard to the CEO himself, to flourish in as he was quite the social butterfly. Under normal circumstances, he would not have been sulking at the fact that his boss/employer/lover/CEO had rejected his awesome idea of spending Christmas Eve alone together. Preferably naked. Still, a hero would never give up that easily!
If only he could extract himself from the conversation that Francis seemed intent on having with him. Francis Bonnefoy, the perverted French Human Resources Manager how-the-hell-did-he-manage-to-keep -his-job, had managed to corner him into a one-sided conversation thus preventing him from carrying out his search to find the currently elusive Arthur Kirkland.
He made vague noncommittal noises of agreement once every while as Francis prattled on about one thing or another, mostly his accounts of his raunchy encounters or an anecdote of some similar kind, as he not-so-casually searched the crowd for his boss/employer/lover/CEO. Finally, his efforts paid off and he spotted the sandy blond man with rather prominent eyebrows. He frowned slightly as he saw that Arthur was conversing to Ludwig, one of his legal advisors.
He knew that Ludwig wasn’t compet- a threat to Arthur as he already had a boyf- self-discipline and was rather loyal to the company. Still, best to keep an eye on him just in case. It’s not as though he was looking for an excuse to stare. Of course not. Eventually, they finished talking about whatever and his eyes followed Arthur as the other moved on to talk to Kiku, one of the weapon designers. It didn’t take long for him to conclude that the threat level there was nil as Kiku was like Arthur’s…old man buddy? He snorted slightly at that description.
Again, Arthur moved to talk to…who was that? He was slightly creeped out to notice that the guy looked as though he could be his twin or something. The only thing missing was the confidence and aura of awesomeness.
Francis, noting where Alfred’s attention had been drawn, began to casually talk about some guy named Matthew who was good at hockey. It took a few more moments of staring for it to click. That guy Arthur was talking to was Matthew! Alfred swore that he was a g-g-ghost with the way he managed to disappear and reappear without warning. It was also seriously weird that he kept forgetting who the guy was. Perhaps that was why he was in charge of intelligence.
He was fairly certain that Matthew was no threat to Arthur, even if he could barely recall any facts about him. Hockey was such a lame sport, seriously. There were way better things like American football! Alfred briefly wondered what they were talking about that was making the normally anti-social Arthur look so lively but he concluded that it was just the eggnog. He ignored the brief pang of what he refused to acknowledge as jealousy because there was no need for such petty emotions! Plus, Arthur had absolutely no interest in hockey, of that he was sure though for some reason, a suspicious voice in the back of his head decided to bring up the words tonsil hockey which was completely irrelevant to what was happening right now. Except that he knew that Arthur liked tonsil hockey and was rather good at it too and what if that Matthew guy wasn’t just talking about normal hockey. A look of horror passed across Alfred’s face because oh god, that guy who he couldn't remember the name of was trying to seduce the CEO! It was his job, no his duty to protect the helpless Arthur! (Never mind the fact that Arthur once threw Alfred out a window for being so annoying but come on, everyone knows fairies didn’t exist!) Matthew was clearly a threat to Arthur’s wellbeing. From what he recalled about hockey, it was a dangerous sport where the players were prone to fits of rage and therefore, it wasn’t safe for Arthur to be hanging around potentially explosive people. It all made logical sense, really.
Ignoring everything else, he quickly made his way through the crowd, over to Arthur and the not-invisible person. They both appeared startled as he quickly cut in the middle, interrupting their conversation. Grinning, he announced brazenly, "The hero has arrived!” and before anyone could get a word in, he effortlessly picked up Arthur, swung him over his shoulder and began to exit the room, ignoring all protests.
Everyone in the room merely gave the pair a cursory glance before going back to what they were doing. This was one of the strangely frequent and ordinary sights you learnt to ignore when you worked at Red Dawn corp. Only Kiku and Elizabeta were taking photos of the leaving duo.
---
"Alfred F. Jones, put me down right now you sodding git or else I'll fire your arse!" the irate Englishman spat out heatedly from his embarrassing position. He struggled half-heartedly though he was certain he wouldn’t be able to break free anytime soon. Well, without killing the bastard at any rate, damn his freakishly inhuman strength.
Alfred, long since used to such threats, replied easily, "No you won't." It would’ve been pointless for Arthur to argue since they both knew that it was true, though Arthur would never admit that, and simply chose to pretend he didn’t hear the statement.
"Must you manhandle me? I can walk just fine on my own," he grumbled instead, scowling at his Alfred’s back. Too bad that from his position, he was unable see the Cheshire grin spread across his bodyguard's face, "Oh?"
The tone of voice put Arthur on guard and he ceased to struggle momentarily. "What is it?" he asked warily.
"Would you prefer me to womanhandle you?" Alfred asked cheerfully before switching Arthur’s position from draped across his shoulders to in his arms.
The sudden change in vertigo caused Arthur to let out an undignified grunt-not-yelp-so-shut-up-right-now and before he knew it, he was being carried bridal style. His struggles restarted with a vengeance as an embarrassed flush spread across his cheeks in what Alfred though was quite an adorable manner. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"If you agreed to come with me in the first place, we wouldn't be doing this my way," he replied cheekily as he tightened his grip on Arthur, easily restraining the other.
"Do what?" Arthur asked in a(n adorably) bewildered manner.
"Spending time with me of course! Anyone would be thrilled to spend time with the hero,” stated Alfred in a manner-of-fact tone.
“Hero?” Arthur made a show of looking around for someone, “I don’t see a ‘hero’ anywhere.”
Alfred made a mock-hurt face in retaliation. “Me, of course!”
Arthur rolled his eyes at the taller man before sighing in resignation. It was strange, how at ease he felt with a person he had known for barely a year. Still, he would rather die than admit that he didn't mind too much being held like this. No, it was simply because Alfred was a stubborn force of nature whose mind couldn't be budged after he had made a decision. It had nothing to do with the fact that he found his will to be rather weak when confronted with these sparkling blue eyes, that sunny disposition, that charming smile...
"I know I'm hot but there's no need for you keep staring."
Alfred’s voice snapped him out of his daze and he blushed as he realised that he had been caught staring. He quickly looked away and retorted, "D-Don't get so full of yourself you prat, I was merely trying to figure out why I keep your worthless arse around."
"Because you love my 'arse', duh."
"Shut the fuck up if you know what's good for you," he snapped back though with no real bite.
"Someone has a potty mouth tonight." Of course the git had to have the last word.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they continued to make their way to the CEO’s office? Arthur looked questioningly up at Alfred but only received a self-satisfied grin in return. Somehow, Arthur got the feeling that Alfred was cackling maniacally on the inside though hopefully, it was just his overactive imagination.
---
The door shut with an ominous click and the lock turning only seemed to serve as a metaphorical death sentence. Or maybe the door and lock made a perfectly normal sound and Arthur was just being melodramatic as usual. After all, too much Shakespeare was bad for the soul, unlike hamburgers and chicken soup. Mmm, hamburgers.
"What, pray tell, are we doing locked in my office?" asked the scowling CEO.
Turning around, Alfred just beamed at him before gesturing upwards. "Look up, Arthur."
Arthur glanced up only to note that he was conveniently situated under a clump of mistletoe. So that’s what this was all about? He was interrupted before he could voice his question.
"Oh no,” Alfred cried dramatically, complete with unnecessary flamboyant gestures, “Now you're stuck under the mistletoe until you receive a kiss from your hero."
"My hero,” Arthur deadpanned, seemingly unimpressed at the display though he was secretly amused. Upon seeing the pout that he was given, he merely sighed before asking dryly, “Since when did you need an excuse to kiss me?"
“Don’t ruin the mood.” He stepped forward and grabbed the other by the chin, smashing their lips together roughly. It had been something like twenty-two hours and forty minutes since the last time he had kissed Arthur so you couldn’t really blame him for his eagerness though it seemed that he wasn’t the only one as Arthur quickly dominated the kiss. Apparently, he had just been as needy as Alfred, possibly more since he was so repressed. An intense round of tonsil hockey ensued. Oh yeah, take that Mar- Mat- hockey guy!
Finally separating after what seemed like ages, they gazed into each other’s eyes, both breathless. It was silent, save for the sound of harsh breathing before Alfred leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on Arthur’s foreheads. "Merry Christmas, Arthur."
Just then, somewhere in the distance, a clock chimed signalling that it was midnight. “Kissing under the mistletoe at midnight? How sappy of you,” Arthur stated mockingly though his expression was soft, “Happy Christmas to you too, stupid git.”
Alfred rolled his eyes exasperatedly. “You really need to give me a better pet name.”
He watched as a flustered Arthur tried to form an appropriate response. “Wha-You-How is that a pet name? It’s an insult or can’t that fact penetrate your thick skull? Wait, don’t answer that.”
The insult bounced off him easily as always. He knew that Arthur had a sharp tongue and didn’t really mean what he said. Well, most of the time. “Anyway, I have a present for you!”
“…you do?” Arthur’s eyes widened in a half-surprised, half touched manner.
Slightly offended at the surprised part of his expression, Alfred replied indignantly, “Of course! What kind of boyfriend would I be otherwise?”
That sent Arthur into another round of spluttering in embarrassment before asking what Alfred deemed, an extremely stupid question, “And whose boyfriend are you?”
This warranted Alfred the use of Arthur’s trademark ‘are-you-daft’ look though it was left effective. Must’ve been the lack of eyebrows. “Yours, obviously.”
“I am no one’s boyfriend!” This amount of denial has got to be unhealthy.
“So you sleep with people you don’t date? I didn’t think you were like that.”
“I’m not!” came the instinctive defensive reply.
“Exactly, so you’re my boyfriend.” Without waiting for Arthur’s replied, he whipped out his gift to Arthur seemingly out of nowhere, before shoving it unceremoniously into his arms, making the other fumble for a moment. Alfred watched with barely restrained excitement as eyebrows furrowed curiously while he examining the box. It was of medium size and poorly wrapped in festive-not-garish-so-stop-complaining-already wrapping paper. "Well, open it already!" he urged.
Carefully undoing the tape, deliberately took his time, if only to torment the other a bit more. Alfred’s childlike enthusiasm never ceased to be a source of entertainment for him as he found the trait quite endearing, another thing he would never admit out loud. Placing the wrapping paper neatly on his desk, he carefully opened the box to peek inside, only to slam the lid back on. He gave Alfred a glare, though its effect was somewhat destroyed by the furious blush on his cheeks. At any rate, his glare was no match for Alfred’s shit-eating grin.
“You like it.”
“No!” he denied vehemently, although he obviously felt otherwise if the unsuccessfully concealed smile or the way he was hugging the box to his chest was any indication.
Afred had gifted him with a lime green unicorn plushie that he had seen Arthur stare at a few weeks back. Well, stare at in Arthur terms. To the average person, it would have looked like nothing more than a quick glance but Alfred prided himself in being able to understand the little nuances of Arthur that others couldn’t. Looking at his reaction now, it had definitely been a good choice. Arthur was making it almost too easy to tease him so he decided to let it slide, just for today. “So,” he asked casually, “Where’s my present?”
Recovering quickly, Arthur shot back, “What makes you think I got you something?”
“Because you’re Arthur,” he stated as though it was obvious.
“How presumptuous of you,” he sneered, “To go and assume something like that. Why on earth would I bother to get you anything for Christmas? Really, I have far more important things to do than such trivial…” he trailed off as he took in goofy grin on Alfred’s face, obviously not buying a single word that he was saying. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Really, he caved in too easily these days, “…it’s in the bottom drawer but don’t misunderstand! I only got it for you because you would have whined about it like a child and given me a migraine,” he added on sharply though his explanation was predictably ignored.
By the time he had finished his mini-rant, Alfed had already reached the desk and pulled out the neatly wrapped gift. His grin faltered slightly as he felt it. It definitely wasn’t that video game he had been dying for. “It’s soft.”
“Well yes, home knitted sweaters are normally soft,” Arthur informed him with a completely straight face.
Alfred tried - and failed - to fully hide his grimace. He loved Arthur, really he did, but sometimes he acted like such an old man.
“I’m not serious,” Arthur chuckled. “Just open it.”
Almost warily, Alfred ripped off the wrapping paper. He was startled to find a familiar pattern staring back. Freeing it completely, he found that it indeed was an American flag and he was slightly baffled to find loose silk strips of cloth falling out of the packaging as well.
Baffled, he turned to question his lover only to have all words die on his tongue as he recognised the hungry look in his lover’s eyes. It was the look that promised all sorts of wicked things and one thing was certain, neither of them would be getting much sleep tonight.
Reaching forward, Arthur pried the flag from Alfred’s now slack fingers before draping the item loosely over his own shoulders. Now, Alfred wasn't an extremely patriotic man or anything but he never realised exactly what an enticing picture his lover made, wrapped up in his country's flag. It was something out of his deepest fantasies. His thought process was starting to slow down as the bloodflow in his body was directed to a more southern direction. Briefly, he wondered how Arthur had discovered his kink. And those silk pieces of cloths...
“Yes, I know about that,” Arthur replied as though he could read his mind. Before Alfred could freak out about it, he added on, “You do talk quite a bit when you’re drunk.”
Oh.
Well then, he really needed to get drunk more often then if it resulted in situations like this.
While he had been distracted, Arthur had wrapped his arms around his neck and pulling him down so that he was breathing softly on Alfred's ear. “Your present is me,” Arthur purred huskily, coaxing a groan from him, “So do what you will.”
Alfred pounced.