Re: Same Job, Different Time and Place [R-18] - Part 3

[Mr. Kirkland]

Arthur sighed heavily and had been about to turn and confirm to Alfred that yes, yes it was bad. But then it got worse. At the sight of his younger brother, Arthur stiffened immediately.

“Find out for yerself, you lazy dick!” could be heard from somewhere in the house.

“Good grief,” Arthur sighed exasperatedly. “What do you want, maggot?” he glared at the boy. He felt angry that he hadn’t even been able to take their belongings to their room yet.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred was horribly confused now though when he looked down at the younger boy, he could see more of a resemblance between him and Arthur than between Andrew and Arthur. Fuck...it was horribly confusing. How many brothers did Arthur have again? He really couldn't even remember anymore.

Peter just crossed his arms, his impressive eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not a maggot! And I didn't do anything!" He argued back but he soon caught sight of Alfred. Now he looked curious.

"Who's this?" He asked Arthur though he grinned, obviously looking to impress now. He hurried over to Alfred and held out his hand, trying to step on Arthur's foot along the way as pay back for the maggot comment. "Hi there! My name's Peter Kirkland! Nice to meet you!" Alfred blinked in surprise and shook Peter's hand back, smiling. "Uh, Alfred Jones. Nice to meet you too, sport."

Peter took a few steps back now.

[Mr. Kirkland]

Arthur winced as Peter achieved his goal, stepping on his foot. “You little…” he decided it wasn’t worth it.

He was fed up, pissed off with everything. Even Alfred for being so bloody nice to everyone. Arthur just stomped past grabbed Alfred’s suitcase from him and then his own before going upstairs, not caring about how much noise he made as he did so. He headed down the large corridor, heading for one of the guest bedrooms.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred watched as Arthur stomped past him and even grabbed his suitcase before going upstairs. A bit confused, he just looked down at Peter and gave an apologetic smile. "I'll talk to you later!" He quickly said, waving him off before hurrying up the stairs behind Arthur.

He looked over at his lover, a bit concerned as he found the guest bedroom that Arthur went into. It was nice...actually rather nice compared to what he was used to.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked gently. "We should get some sleep soon. It's been a long day."

[Mr. Kirkland]

The guestroom that Arthur had chosen was quite large (but then again, it was quite a large house). The walls were decorated with green Victorian wallpaper and littered with various formal and informal photographs of the family (including Arthur’s extended family). There were one or two pictures with Arthur in, sitting with his back straight in a posed photograph with his ‘cousins’ but there was an informal one that stood out from the others. It was a photograph of Arthur at about eight with his arm in a sling; he was watery eyed and had one of his trouser legs rolled up to show his scuffed knee. The way he was pouting probably made him look ‘cute’, he supposed.

“I can’t sleep while they’re here. I don’t know who else I could bump into. Perhaps even my uncle is here,” Arthur ground out, pacing up and down the room. “I can’t believe that they’re here. Particularly fucking Andrew.” He was just praying that his other ‘cousins’ would know better than to just turn up. “I bet that my mother did this! She’s a she-devil, a sea serpent! I wouldn’t be surprised if she caused the bad weather to leave us stranded here!”

The only reason he didn’t like his ‘cousins’ was because they were more fortunate than he was. Despite being illegitimate children, they’d been spoilt, as had their families so that they would keep quiet. They’d all attended the finest schools and gotten the best out of life. Whereas Arthur, out of his parents’ spite for one another, was sent to regular school and had to work extremely hard to pass entrance exams to get into mediocre schools. Until his parents had decided that he should go to a boarding school, of course. What a nice decision that had been.

“I want to know who’s here so I can plan how to avoid them.” Arthur turned on his heel and began to march towards the door before he paused. “Ah… you should probably come with me, so that they don’t think you’re a burglar.” He took Alfred’s wrist in his hand and tugged gently, trying to lead him out of the room.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred couldn't help but smile a bit fondly when he saw the picture of Arthur as a young child, watery eyed. He was a really cute kid, he had to admit. And it was a bit too enjoyable for him to see Arthur nearly crying in the picture if only because he found it much too cute. "Cute," He murmured fondly before finally pulling away.

He raised an eyebrow when he heard Arthur go on about his mum.

"Arthur...darling. I don't think that your ma could control the forces of nature," He pointed out with a small smile. "Even if she does hate me it seems with a passion." If that wasn't the truth, then he had no idea what was.

Though he soon sighed and let himself be dragged by Arthur, looking around curiously at the house as the other dragged him through it. He tried acquaint himself with the interior though it was hard with how he was being pulled around every which way.

[Mr. Kirkland]

“She hates me, too. If that’s any consolation,” Arthur muttered as he took him back downstairs.

He went straight into the living room, finding the Irish twins. Arthur let go of Alfred almost immediately as he glowered at the red-head closest to them, Patrick. He and Patrick had hated each other since they were kids. Patrick had broken one of Arthur’s favourite toys when they were little, and Arthur had never forgotten and as a consequence, made Patrick’s life hell when ever he could as a pre-teen. He and Patrick had physically fought with each other plenty of times and unless they were careful, they probably would again.

“What ‘re you doin’ here, ya’ cunt?” Patrick spat out. “Who’s yer boyfriend?”

“A pleasure as always, Patrick… hello Liam,” Arthur greeted the other twin fleetingly.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred just nodded, instead going downstairs with Arthur though he couldn't help but stand there awkwardly when he met the Irish twins. It was hard for him to discern the accents and tell...just...what ethnicity they were but at the same time, he knew that it was definitely not English. He had to admit that Arthur had the easiest accent to listen to. It was nice. Alfred had to strain a bit just to understand them but at least it wasn't as bad as the French.

Liam rolled his eyes at Patrick. They always got into petty arguments though the rest of the time, Liam was more of a well mannered man (to an extent) unless it came to Patrick. He got well along with the others and he wasn't terribly against Arthur or the others.

"Bout ye," He greeted back, glancing over at Alfred for a moment. Alfred jumped a bit at the stare, swallowing.

"Uh...Alfred...!"

[Mr. Kirkland]

Arthur continued to glare at Patrick, both of them were visibly shooting daggers at one another with their eyes.

“Our flight was cancelled. We were going back to New York but because that’s not possible, we’re staying here. Do you have a problem with that?” Arthur directed the question at Patrick, not so phased by Liam, whom he knew was alright beneath the frosty exterior.

“I will if ya’ start smackin’ the headboards aboot upstairs. Ye’re not havin’ sex whilst yer here.” Patrick rolled his eyes but looked across at Alfred, “Ye’re American.”

[Assistant Jones]

Liam's expression clearly conveyed the message of 'obviously' at Patrick's American comment. Obviously Alfred was American. If they already couldn't tell by his perfectly straight, white teeth and the way he held himself as well as the fact that he exuded the golden American boy, then it was through his voice and his clear Midwestern accent.

Though other than that, he didn't seem to care too much, instead laying back to watch the TV as he left Patrick and the other two to their own issues.

Alfred's cheeks were horribly red, obviously embarrassed but he nodded.

"Yeah, from New York," He gave a sheepish smile though he shifted around slightly.

[Mr. Kirkland]

“Ye don’t have a New York accent.”

“Patrick, is this really relevant?” Arthur scowled, taking a small step in front of Alfred, as though in a protective manner.

“I’m entitled to know who my brother is feckin’. He isn’t much of a talker, eh?”

“Fuck off or I’ll shave off your eyebrows whilst you’re asleep,” Arthur hissed threateningly, turning away to try and shepherd Alfred out of the room.

“N’ I’ll kick you in the balls and we’ll see who’s laughin’ then,” Patrick seemed to be trying to control his temper and was visibly failing.

Arthur just headed for the kitchen, where Andrew had gone to. The said Scotsman was typing away at a laptop, reading glasses on.

“Is Bevan here, too?” he asked, trying to sound calm. The Scotsman nodded.

“Ay. He’s upstairs, I think.”

“Bugger,” Arthur huffed.

[Assistant Jones]

Normally Alfred was easily able to talk but he was worried that he would leave a bad impression on Arthur's brothers and that would only give them more reason to bully the other. From what it seemed, Arthur didn't get along with any of his brothers.

Maybe the exception was Liam but he had no idea. He really didn't even want to know. They all seemed like a rowdy bunch.

Yet soon he followed Arthur to the kitchen, smiling and waving at both Liam and Patrick. "See you two!"

Instead he patted at Arthur's back gently though he couldn't help but wonder if that was all of Arthur's brothers.

There was a lot more people in here than he thought there were.

[Mr. Kirkland]

Arthur turned back to face Alfred, resting his hands on his upper arms. “I’m sorry, Alfred… I didn’t know that there would be anyone else here.” He looked up at him, lips pursed. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable here or anything like that.”

He gazed at Alfred for a few moments, grateful that he was there and that he had him in his life. Forgetting about where they were for a few moments, he reached up and pecked Alfred on the lips.

Andrew cleared his throat, “I’m trying to work here.”

Arthur blushed. “Right. Yep. Sorry.” He took Alfred’s hand in his and gave it a pull, “Let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted.”

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred just smiled gently down at Arthur, wanting to be reassuring to the other. "Don't worry about it, Arthur. I won't be uncomfortable," He reassured gently.

He forgot about just where he was also and so he leant down to press a gentle kiss to his lips before pulling away. Though his cheeks reddened horribly when he heard Andrew. He also saw from the corner of his eyes Peter, who looked disgusted.

"That's so gross, jerkwad!" Peter called out, sticking his tongue out at Arthur before scampering away from the kitchen.

Alfred just sighed, shaking his head before leading Arthur upstairs to bed. Bed sounded really nice.

[Mr. Kirkland]

“You should be in bed!” Arthur snapped at Peter as he ran off. He followed Alfred.

“Night lads,” Andrew called from the kitchen, not sounding all that interested.

Arthur held Alfred’s hand tightly as they climbed the stairs. But it was soon apparent that the door to their room had been shut. That wasn’t a good sign. It meant that either Peter was in there, or someone else was. Unless Alfred had closed the door after him, but he doubted it. He let go of Alfred’s hand and cautiously opened the door, taking a peak inside.

With a yelp, he slammed the door shut again.

“Bevan,” Arthur frowned, “Why are your in our bed?” he felt a little stupid talking at the door.

“You know, I can’t really hear you,” there was a clear, Welsh voice that could be heard through the door.

“Put some bloody clothes on and come to the door.”

“Bludy ‘ell, alright, alright. Keep your knickers on.” There were rustling sounds and Arthur looked up exasperatedly at Alfred before the door opened to reveal a smaller, stocky man in nothing but his boxers, showing off the slight roundness to his stomach. “How can I help you?” he eyed Alfred briefly but seemed to shrug off the fact that he was standing in front of a stranger in just his underwear.

“That’s our room,” Arthur stated curtly.

“Your room?” Bevan raised an eyebrow, looking between the two of them before his gaze settled upon Alfred. He beamed up at him. “You must be Arthur’s new boyfriend? Lovely to meet you, uh, my name is Bevan.”

“More like cretin,” Arthur cut in nastily.

“Now, I don’t know why you’re upset. I’ve been staying in this room for the past few nights,” his voice was slow and deliberate, as if he had to think about everything he was saying.

“Our bags are in there. Did you just realise that –”

“Didn’t you see my clothes?”

“What?”

“The maid only made the bed, she didn’t bothur with the rest of it.” He gave a small shrug. “Your room is free though. No one could stand the smell,” Bevan chuckled, good-naturedly, obviously joking. But Arthur just bristled.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred raised his eyebrow when he heard Arthur yelp and immediately close the door. What could be so horrible in there? Though when he heard the mention of clothes, Alfred shifted around a bit uncomfortably. He really didn't even want to think about it. Not in the slightest bit.

Did Bevan actually sleep on their bed naked? That was an image he wouldn't be able to get out of his head when he slept in that bed tonight.

Though he soon looked down at Bevan, smiling kindly. "Nice to meet ya', Bevan!" He felt encouraged by the other's seemingly brighter attitude in comparison to everyone else's in the house. With the exception of Peter.

"It's Alfred," He added in.

Did everyone just assumed that he was Arthur's boyfriend without really even knowing or did Arthur's mother say something about it?

[Mr. Kirkland]

“Good name, that,” Bevan was indeed much more cheerful than his siblings.

“What, so you’re throwing us out of there?”

“Well, I was here first,” the Welshman scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck.

“I was born first.”

“That’s not really relevant, is it?” Bevan’s good mood seemed to be fading a little bit. “Your old bedroom has plenty of room. It’ll fit both of you in there easily. I’ll help you take your things.”

Arthur sighed as if he was really being put upon. Bevan turned and picked up Alfred’s bag and Arthur his own. They headed down the corridor towards the other room.

“I’ve ‘urd that you’re from New York, Alfred? That’s quite… exotic.” Bevan seemed to be keen on making a good impression, letting his friendly demeanour shine through.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred was actually a bit flustered with all the attention that he was getting from Arthur's siblings though he really did quite enjoy talking with Bevan. He seemed like a good enough man.

Though Arthur seemed to think the opposite.

He never really thought that Arthur would play the 'I'm older' card on his siblings. He never really struck him as the type but the more he learnt...

He just smiled. "It's fine. Thanks, Bevan."

He soon turned to follow Arthur along the corridor though he soon turned around again when he heard Arthur's brother talk. He laughed.

"You're very kind...but they're a bunch of upright bastards over there. Though I'm from Virginia actually, but I've been living in New York City for a while now." With that, he headed back towards Arthur's bedroom.

[Mr. Kirkland]

Bevan relinquished the bag without a fuss, giving a small wave. “See you in the mornin’,” and he returned to his room, smile rapidly fading as he went back into the guest bedroom.

Arthur hated his old bedroom. It was full of bad memories of hiding under the bed and ghost-watching at night. He’d been relieved to leave this house behind. The single bed that had previously been in there had thankfully been replaced by a double, else they would have had problems sleeping. In this room, there were some old band posters rolled up in the corner, covered in dust, children’s books, toys of dragons and unicorns and various pictures of Arthur as he was growing up.

Arthur took of his shoes at last and collapsed back on to the bed, closing his eyes, brow furrowed. He hated this house.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred curiously looked around the room with some interest, hoping that Arthur wouldn't mind him taking a glance around. It was weird...being in Arthur's childhood room like this. Really weird in fact. But in a way, he was glad to get a small taste of what it was like.

Considering that the other didn't come here at first though when they were putting away their stuff, Alfred could only assume that this room didn't necessarily hold the fondest memories for Arthur.

So he decided not to say anything about it, even if he was a bit curious. Maybe later when Arthur's mood improved. If it improved while they were over here.

Observing just how he acted with his brothers, Alfred had a feeling that Arthur wouldn't really be in a good mood the whole entire time.

Well hopefully they would still be able to have some alone time and ignore Arthur's siblings. He was sure that would make Arthur happier than being stuck with all the other boys.

Instead he took his jacket off, sighing softly before climbing on the bed with Arthur, smiling over at him as he pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Well, let's sleep in late tomorrow morning and catch up on much needed sleep. Okay?" He offered gently, running his hand through his lover's hair.

[Mr. Kirkland]

Arthur looked across at him silently, returning the kiss as it was given. He relaxed into Alfred’s touch and his hand. He sighed softly and nodded. He was so relieved not to be alone in this room, not to be alone in the house with all of the people he disliked the most in the world. Alfred was there with him and he wasn’t going to be in danger from a hand, a cane, a ghoul or anything that could do him any harm. He rolled on to his side and kissed Alfred for a long moment, hoping to show that he was grateful for his company.

He then lazily began to strip himself of his clothes, leaving them in a pile by the bed. He couldn’t be bothered to find pyjamas to wear, he felt too tired.

Arthur climbed beneath the covers and invited for Alfred to do the same. "Love you Alfred," He whispered softly. "Night."

[Assistant Jones]

Despite Arthur not saying anything, Alfred knew that he quietly consented to what he said and that they at least would (hopefully) be able to have a long night's worth of sleep. That would be nice. It sounded like a wonderful thing. Hopefully no one would be too loud. Though considering that they lived in New York City of all places, Alfred wasn't easily woken up considering all the noise that was constantly there.

Even if their flat was up higher away from the city streets.

He wanted to be there for Arthur though, as much as he could. He wanted to be able to support him, in the face of his family and even Arthur himself.

Alfred was quick to strip off his own clothes, needing the clothes off of his body (unless he wanted to move around all night uncomfortably). After stripping them off, he climbed under the covers with Arthur and he pulled him close to his body.

With that, he simply relaxed, enjoying Arthur's heat.

[Mr. Kirkland]

Arthur curled himself around Alfred, feeling warm, comfortable and safe. Alfred always made him feel so much better, wanted and loved. But it’s a shame that, that feeling didn’t last.

In the morning, Arthur was jolted awake by the sound of a vuvuzela being blown, in his ear. Arthur bolted upright, looking around frantically to see what was happening only to find Patrick sneering at him, face to face. He instantly felt livid.

“Mornin’, cunt,” the Irishman guffawed before sprinting out of the room, dropping his instrument of destruction as he ran.

“Bastard!” Arthur shouted after a few moments, still trying to clear the haze from his mind.

Quickly enough, he leapt out of bed and proceeded to chase Patrick down the stairs and out into the garden. Arthur wasn’t as fit as Patrick, whom was able to just keep on running (and laughing, no less). Arthur resorted to different tactics and rugby tackled his older sibling to the ground. He didn’t even care that he was just in his boxers (although he was glad that he wasn’t just wearing his y-fronts, that would have been mortifying).

Arthur shook his brother by the shoulders, swearing like crazy. “You cock-faced, dog-eyed, ungrateful, stupid little shit!” And so on.

The two wrestled on the ground, ignorant of how muddy it was from the rain the previous night. They were too busy cussing at each other to care.

Patrick managed to roll them over and elbow Arthur in the ribs, but Arthur went for his neck, trying to throttle him to get him off. It worked to an extent. It gave Arthur the chance to get in a couple of punches. Luckily, his half-brother was almost as scrawny as he was so it wasn’t as if his blows weren’t having any effect, but Patrick was doing a pretty good job of hurting him, too.

Patrick soon worked out that he wasn’t able to avoid Arthur’s hits as well as he would have liked, so he resorted to different tactics. He forced Arthur on to the ground with one push and in one swift movement, he’d pulled off Arthur’s boxers. Patrick leapt to his feet and started to run off again, shrieking with laughter.

“Arthur has a small penis!” he was yelling as he ran off, waving Arthur’s underwear triumphantly as though it was a flag.

“So does your dad!” Arthur retorted. He had turned a deep shade of red, trying to cover himself up from the small crowd of people that had gathered to watch from the house.

“It’s like a baby penis!”

“No, it’s fucking not!” The Englishman felt a bit helpless on the ground, naked. He wasn’t really sure what to do. He could always continue fighting, but he had a feeling that, that might be a little bit weird.

[Assistant Jones]

Alfred really was comfortable with Arthur cuddled up right next to him and he felt like he could stay there forever. Though the very moment that he heard the vuvuzela being blown (oh he remembered that noise very well from the FIFA games), he jumped up in surprise, eyes wide and looking around frantically. Arthur seemed to react quicker than him and soon he watched as his lover sprinted out of the room. With a sigh, Alfred quickly put on some trousers and a shirt before grabbing his jacket.

He really didn't want to run out of the room without too many clothes on. That would be too embarrassing.

Though the moment that he got downstairs, he couldn't help but frown. His mind was still hazed with exhaustion and he really, really just wanted to go back to sleep.

By the time he got downstairs, he could see that Patrick was waving Arthur's boxers as if it was a flag and he felt bad for his lover. He couldn't just let Arthur go naked though in front of everyone. So he jogged towards Arthur, taking off his jacket and putting it over him.

"It's not much but here," He murmured, not caring if it got a bit muddied from the mud.

Alfred used to play pranks on Matthew but never to this extreme. "Shit," He hissed under his breath. "Come on, let's get back into the house."

[Mr. Kirkland]

Andrew and Bevan were watching from the door to the garden, they looked quite amused by the whole situation.

Arthur felt humiliated by the time Alfred reached him. He was glad that at least he cared enough to stop the situation and help him, despite how much of an idiot he knew that he must have looked, curled up in the grass. He pulled on Alfred’s jacket, grateful for the few sizes bigger Alfred was; it was just about long enough to cover his dignity. He clambered to his feet ungracefully and continued to try and cover himself up, pink in the cheeks.

“Ye're no fun,” Patrick snickered.

“Better than being a twat,” Arthur bit out before he could help himself.

“Oh, oh, well, well done there. That was insightful, eh? Thank you fer that,” Patrick was still grinning as he carelessly dropped the clothing on to the ground. Arthur didn’t dare go to try and retrieve it. He just stayed close to Alfred’s side, scuttling back to the house.

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