Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2015 23:00:57 GMT -5
It was an odd tradition between the two North American twins to unexpectedly show up by their brother's side at random times of day. It had started out, of course, as way to irritate each other (in a loving manner, of course). Matthew couldn't actually remember which of the two of them had decided to randomly show up at the other's house at some ridiculous hour in the morning first, but it had started something that had ended mostly when Matthew, deciding that it was far too early to deal with this, had just sort of pointed Kuma at Alfred to give him a bit of a scare. Or had it been the incident when Matthew was suddenly reminded that his brother slept with a gun in easy reach? He wasn't quite sure about that bit, either, though if it was ever brought up, Matthew would argue that Alfred had started it and Matthew had finished it, regardless of the actual facts.
At any rate, though, this somehow caused the two of them to start visiting each other at random, and it soon became apparent that this was a very good way to get the other twin's actual current state of wellbeing, as opposed to the state that was presented to the rest of the world. After all, if they weren't expecting visitors, why would they bother trying to hide anything? And once they saw it was their brother, there was no point in trying to hide anymore, anyway- Matthew could always see right through Alfred, and vis versa.
Matthew had reason to be worrying a little about Alfred right now, anyway, so he had decided to use that tradition to check up on him. Alfred had lately been trying to take the entire weight of the war on his shoulders. He was practically expected to lead the entire United Allegiance, for one thing. Matthew was well aware that this was a lot of stress on Alfred's shoulders, even if he was very good at smiling it off. The war had picked up lately, too, so Alfred had been run around significantly more than he had been in a while.
That wasn't the only reason Matthew was worried, though. Recently, Japan had been attacked by China. It had infuriated Alfred, especially since Yao had apparently shot Kiku in the back after some sort of attempt at a peace talk. Honestly, Matthew could understand the anger there, because that seemed like a bit of a low blow. Alfred was significantly more upset about it, though, because Alfred was significantly closer to Kiku than Matthew was. Matthew was worried, as a brother, that his twin might not be in a nice mental state at the moment as a result. (He was not remotely worried, however, that Alfred would do something ridiculously rash as a result- he had significantly more faith in his brother than that.)
So here was the plan: find out when Alfred would leave his house and be back again. This was easy enough, as they both had a decent understanding of each other's schedules and, if he wanted to, Matthew could probably get the information by means of either having everyone forget he was there or by means of purposefully getting them to mistake him for Alfred. After he'd done that, Matthew went ahead and showed up at Alfred's house about a day before Alfred was supposed to be back. He had a key. Alfred had a key to Matthew's house, too. Once again, it was sort of a habit between them to mostly show up unannounced, uninvited, but totally appreciated anyway.
After that, Matthew had made sure Kuma wasn't going to get in another fight with Tony (it had only happened once but when it had it was spectacular) and then proceeded to clean the place up a bit. Before Alfred got back, he cooked pancakes. By the time Alfred had gotten home, Matthew had already made more than enough for the two of them- a difficult feat, because Matthew could eat quite a few pancakes, as could Alfred. When Alfred walked through the door, Matthew was already there, waiting.
"Hey, Al," Matthew said, smiling. "I made pancakes." I'm also ready to talk whenever you are, just so you know- and that will be happening. He didn't say this last part out loud. He really didn't need to. Not between the two of them.
At any rate, though, this somehow caused the two of them to start visiting each other at random, and it soon became apparent that this was a very good way to get the other twin's actual current state of wellbeing, as opposed to the state that was presented to the rest of the world. After all, if they weren't expecting visitors, why would they bother trying to hide anything? And once they saw it was their brother, there was no point in trying to hide anymore, anyway- Matthew could always see right through Alfred, and vis versa.
Matthew had reason to be worrying a little about Alfred right now, anyway, so he had decided to use that tradition to check up on him. Alfred had lately been trying to take the entire weight of the war on his shoulders. He was practically expected to lead the entire United Allegiance, for one thing. Matthew was well aware that this was a lot of stress on Alfred's shoulders, even if he was very good at smiling it off. The war had picked up lately, too, so Alfred had been run around significantly more than he had been in a while.
That wasn't the only reason Matthew was worried, though. Recently, Japan had been attacked by China. It had infuriated Alfred, especially since Yao had apparently shot Kiku in the back after some sort of attempt at a peace talk. Honestly, Matthew could understand the anger there, because that seemed like a bit of a low blow. Alfred was significantly more upset about it, though, because Alfred was significantly closer to Kiku than Matthew was. Matthew was worried, as a brother, that his twin might not be in a nice mental state at the moment as a result. (He was not remotely worried, however, that Alfred would do something ridiculously rash as a result- he had significantly more faith in his brother than that.)
So here was the plan: find out when Alfred would leave his house and be back again. This was easy enough, as they both had a decent understanding of each other's schedules and, if he wanted to, Matthew could probably get the information by means of either having everyone forget he was there or by means of purposefully getting them to mistake him for Alfred. After he'd done that, Matthew went ahead and showed up at Alfred's house about a day before Alfred was supposed to be back. He had a key. Alfred had a key to Matthew's house, too. Once again, it was sort of a habit between them to mostly show up unannounced, uninvited, but totally appreciated anyway.
After that, Matthew had made sure Kuma wasn't going to get in another fight with Tony (it had only happened once but when it had it was spectacular) and then proceeded to clean the place up a bit. Before Alfred got back, he cooked pancakes. By the time Alfred had gotten home, Matthew had already made more than enough for the two of them- a difficult feat, because Matthew could eat quite a few pancakes, as could Alfred. When Alfred walked through the door, Matthew was already there, waiting.
"Hey, Al," Matthew said, smiling. "I made pancakes." I'm also ready to talk whenever you are, just so you know- and that will be happening. He didn't say this last part out loud. He really didn't need to. Not between the two of them.