The Little Things

🌹Two🌹

     Arthur didn't know how long he had been sleeping before he woke to the sound of crying. He glanced over at the couch to see Francis, with his legs pulled up to his chest, balling his eyes out. Sighing loudly, Arthur rolled his eyes and folded his arms against his chest. "What's up with you, you big drama queen?"

     Their eyes met and Arthur could immediately tell that something wasn't right.

     Francis blubbered incoherently as he rubbed at his eyes with his hands. Francis soon shoved his fingers into his mouth and started sucking on them.

     Arthur's eyes widened with worry, he quickly hid it with a scowl. "Francis...? What are you doing?" He moved to sit next to Francis on the couch. "Are you alright...?"

     The crying Frenchman immediately scooted as far away from Arthur as he could, eyeing him fearfully.

     "H- hey... It's okay, Francis." Arthur's scowl disappeared. "I'm not going to hurt you...." Before he knew what he was doing, he had slowly reached out towards Francis.

     The terror-filled Frenchman leaned away from Arthur's hand, whimpering softly. He pulled his fingers out of his mouth. "Wan' grandpa! Grandpa! Rome! Rome! Rome! Grandpa Rome!" His accent was extremely thick, thicker than it normally was.

     Arthur's mouth opened slightly with shock as he pulled his hand away from Francis. "Rome...." It had been a very, very, long time since Francis had ever referred to Rome as 'grandpa'. Arthur shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He slowly offered his hand out again and Francis cowered away, covering his head with his arms. "Come here." Narrowing his eyes at Francis, he cleared his throat before saying it again, more forcefully. "Come here."

     The Frenchman looked up. "Don' know you..." he mumbled.

     "Come on Francis... come here... please...?" Arthur tilted his head, eyes filling with concern. "Please?"