Of Kings and Queens

6~ Blue Boxes

Chapter 6

Arthur paced about the set in a loose grey sweater and tight black skinny jeans; his white boots were polished and shined to perfection. Today was the actors' day off, and Arthur intended to enjoy it. But first things had to be done for tomorrow to be a masterpiece.

Arthur had planned to move a few things around, this was his set and he planned to do things his way. First off, those dreary green drapes? Those had to go. They were neither pretty or sexy, all they did was sour the atmosphere. And an atmosphere was exactly what Arthur needed to create.

In a movie red and dark purples lit a room to make things appear saucy, as it was a psychological trick to the human eye to accoste colors with feelings therefore creating a mood. Arthur fully intended to make cliche moves on Alfred, he was the Queen of Scenes after all, and boy would be make a scene.

An englishmen should never spill his tea, ever, but of course that rule could be broken just once should he bend over to pick it up in front of a certain American.

Everything was now perfect. Maybe fighting with Alfred was childish, and manipulating each other was immoral, but all was fair in love and war. Although Arthur was certain he didn't love Alfred, he knew that they were definitely fighting. Packing up the dreary drapes, Arthur grabbed his packet of lines and marched towards the empty stage.

The day whirled by as Arthur strutted across the scenes acting as the joyful Oliver. His lines were fairly simple, always bubbly, a tad bit dark but he could overlook these things. He was here to be other people's entertainment after all. Practice always made perfect. Even on his day off, Arthur worked at least until noon.

But alas this was boring. Alfred hadn't come by on his day off, of course, and Arthur decided to call it quits for today. So he picked up his things and headed outside where the sunlight was almost too bright for Arthur to properly focus on his next move.

As a boy Arthur had always dreamed of being famous. In childhood his brothers always claimed the spotlight. Always got things first and always had their mothers love. So Arthur always made his own, was his own man. His brothers had their own reality tv shows about fishing for monsters, and hunting for ghosts and fairies. The Kirkland bunch. It seemed to Arthur that their branch of TV was petty and honestly wasn't worth their paychecks.

So Arthur worked, and worked and worked, trying ever so hard to gain approval. Always competing, trying to prove he was worth something and goddammit he was! Alfred was wrong, his mother was wrong, his brothers, his deadbeat father his cousins, they were all wrong. Arthur never climbed the ladder to fame, he grabbed the damn thing and threw it across the room, riding the elevator himself.

Arthur opened his car door and slammed it shut, reaching for the pair of sunglasses on the dashboard. Those stupid sunglasses brought up good memories, but now held a bitter sadness. Arthur closed his hand and grabbed the steering wheel instead. He had just planned to cruise along the coast of LA, maybe picnic at a vantage point and read a copy of Romeo and Juliet for the seventy seventh time, when his phone's ringtone went off.

Leon: Hey I'm staying at Emil's, Lukas said I could as long as I bring a sleeping bag for the couch.

Arthur sighed, these days his 'Kids' seemed to never be in the house. Peter was going to be shipped off to school in a few weeks seeing as his boarding school was in England. He knew Peter resented him for sending him so far away but he was getting a good education away from all the drama and politics here. The plane tickets were already pre-purchased for Peter's departure. It was sad to see the lad go but Arthur feared of the future the boy might have here.

Not to say LA was dangerous, per say, but it definitely could be. Arthur used to get into a lot of trouble trying to get attention from his mother.

And then Alfred came along. But enough about that.

Arthur had a few older brothers to visit in Santa Monica.

********

Alfred bounced excitedly as he waited for Matthew to return from his shopping trip. Matthew had just flown back from Canada with his personal assistant Gilbert (who Alfred was pretty sure was in some sort of relationship with Mattie) and said he would be staying at Alfred's flat while he was here.

Alfred actually lived in New York City most of the year but usually stayed at reverse summer homes for work. But New York was, and always would be, his heart his home, his city. Well he supposed DC was his heart, that's where he was born, but he had to leave it behind to pursue his career.

Like so many other things.

But he did have his own private plane, owned several houses and an overwhelming fanbase.

So all was good.

"Alfred? Are you home--"

"MATTIE!" Alfred practically strangled his brother as he smothered him in a tight bear hug. "I missed you so much dude? So how was Canadia?"

"It's Canada."

"Whatever? Are you hungry? I can grill up some lit burgers for you."

"No thank you Al, I'm fine."

"Um okay dude."

Alfred led Matthew to the kitchen sitting on the counter, a habit of his, and crossed his legs.

"So when's the big game?"

"Next week, T-mobile, Las Vegas."

"Oh, so sounds like a family road trip huh?"

"Um well..."

"I can totally fly us."

"About that--"

"WASSUP BroHAS?!" Gilbert burst into the room. "The Awesome Gilbert is here, with all of his paperwork done."

"Thank you Gil." Matthew sighed and relaxed a bit, making Alfred realize he was tensing.

"Are you guys sure you're not hungry after the flight."

"Yes we're sure Alfred, we ate at an Olive Garden before coming here."

"Oh."

Alfred looked down, biting his lip. He hardly ever got to see his twin these days, and it honestly really hurt that he didn't come straight to Alfred's. He would have picked them up at the airport but Mattie didn't even tell him he was coming until last night and Alfred had to see his manager.

Alfred cleared his throat. "So you two went out on a date in LA huh?"

Matthew turned as red as his hockey jersey. "N-no it's not like that, I- we- it was late and we we're jetlagged and it was next to the airport..."

"Matthew is a great kisser."

"gILBERT!"

"What?! If we're going to be staying here we might as well let him know, that way we don't have to hide anything."

"Gilbert, what exactly would we need to hide?"

"..."

"Anyway," Alfred interjected. "We should totally hit the shops in LA. Buy you guys some new threads. I also have a gift for you!"

Alfred patted a small blue wrapped box on the counter by his side.

"Maybe tomorrow Al. I'm kinda tired."

"Oh! Yes, right! I'll show you where your room is--"

"No it's fine. I remember."

"Oh, then goodnight?"

"Night Alfred."

Alfred watched as Matthew walked down the hall with Gilbert in tow. The lights seemed to be just a bit dimmer, the walls a little too close. Alfred sighed and grabbed the small box from off the counter. He would just give this to Mattie later. He was tired, Alfred assured himself. Mattie surely was happy to be here right? Of course he was, why wouldn't he be?

Alfred got up and flipped off the light switch, walking to his bedroom in silent darkness, hearing the fading echo of laughter a few doors down.