FACE Mertalia

The Russian Wants to Play

It had been almost half a year since Arthur came home to find Alfred in his kitchen. Both the kitchen and living room had been put back in order since Alfred tore through them. In that time the cave had been rearranged to fit the four of them and Kumijirou. Arthur now slept in Francis' room and the twins slept in Arthur's old bedroom. The two merman came to a silent agreement that they would take care of the boys when it became clear they had no where else to go. That morning, Arthur woke up to Alfred bouncing on him excitably and shaking his bed.

"Arthur, wake up! Pleeeaaassseee! I want something to eat!" the merling cried as he shook the merman's shoulder.

"Why did you have to wake me?" Arthur grumbled into his pillow, "You hate my cooking anyway. Go wake Francis." He lazily pointed to the other side of the room where the Frenchman lay snoring in his own bed.

"Yeah, but Francis gets mad when I wake him up early and I don't want to get yelled at." The merling replied gravely.

Arthur sighed heavily before rubbing his eyes and looking closely at the boy now sitting on his chest. One thing Arthur had learned early on was that Alfred always seemed to be hungry and that the boy never stopped eating.

"Alright, I'll see what I can get for you." Arthur rolled so the boy fell off of him and flopped onto the far side of the bed.

"Yah! Thanks, Arthur!" Alfred cheered as Arthur threw back the covers and stood.

"Come on and quiet down, you're going to wake Francis." Arthur shushed as he threw a pillow at the boy bouncing around his bed again. Alfred squealed as the pillow hit him in the head and the two laughed as they headed to the kitchen together.

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"That was really good Arthur, thanks!" Alfred said as he pushed away his empty breakfast plate. Alfred was seating on a stool at the kitchen island while Arthur made pancakes on the stove.

"Well," Arthur said, starting a pot of tea, "I suppose we should save some for Francis and Matthew, hm?"

"I didn't eat it all!" Alfred cried.

Arthur merely chuckled, "I know. Do you have any plans today, Alfred?"

Alfred seemed to think about it for a moment but said he didn't.

"Then why don't you play outside with Matthew today? I think you have been watching too much TV lately and should spend some time outside."

Alfred shrugged, "I guess we can."

"Good, fresh air is does wonders on a growing boy like you." Arthur said with a smile. "Where is your brother, anyway? Is he still sleeping?"

"Yeah, he and Kumotiro."

"That's odd," Arthur mused as he leaned against the counter, "normally he's up and about around nine. What time is it?" Arthur glanced at the clock above the kitchen sink before he slowly turned to Alfred. "Alfred, why did you wake me up at six in the morning, and on a weekend?" Alfred thought he saw Arthur's eye twitch, and he didn't like the look on the Brit's face when he asked that.

"Um, ... because I couldn't sleep? And I was maybe, really hungry and craving pancakes?" Alfred said uncertainly.

Arthur only sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, well, ... next time don't wake me up until eight. " He shook his head as Alfred raced out of the kitchen.

"Alright, Arthur! I'm gonna go watch cartoons, okay?"

"Alright." The Brit replied as he turned back to his tea.

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It was almost ten o'clock before Matthew woke up, and Alfred was tried of watching the Saturday morning cartoons. He was flopped across the couch, reading a comic book upside down, when Matthew walked in.

Matthew blinked and cocked his head at his brother. "What are you doing?"

"Dude! Takes you long enough to wake up!" Throwing aside his comic, Alfred rolled off the couch onto the floor. "I've been up for ages! Arthur told me to spend more time outside, but then said I couldn't leave the cave until you were with me. Weird, huh? So you wanna go with me?"

"Uh, I guess... , but I haven't had breakfast and I'm hungry. Can we go out after I eat something?"

"Urgh, alright. Oh, Mattie, Arthur made me pancakes this morning and we saved some for you!"

Matthew's blue-violet eyes widened, "Really, pancakes?! Do we still have maple syrup? You didn't eat it all?"

Alfred shook his head as he quickly swam to the kitchen, "No, Arthur made sure I didn't eat it all."

Matthew took off after him, "Sweet, then the last one there is a rotten fish egg!"

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"Stay where you can see the house, no further!" Arthur called after the twins from the cave entrance as they raced outside, full of energy and pancakes. Kumijirou followed the twins more slowly. The boys swam around each other in circles, snarling and wrestling as they made their way into the backyard.

After a while, the boys collapsed in the grass, out of breath for the moment. As they lay in a heap, chatting, a tall, slim figure moved around the house and approached the boys and seal. His shadow fell across the boys, and they looked up, startled, as his voice floated to their ears.

"You having fun, da?" he said with an almost childish smile. The boys scrabbled to their feet and faced their visitor. He wore a long, silk scarf, artfully draped around his neck, the same white hue as his hair. His purple eyes seemed to glitter like ice on a lake, pretty, but hiding a coldness in their depths.

"Who are you?" Kumijirou said in his small voice. The twins glanced at each other nervously.

"I'm Ivan Braginski. I play a game with you?"