I've got bollocks of tea! Share 'em round. [Arthur + Alfred + Matthew]

After embracing Alfred for a long time and making sure the other wasn't a sobbing wreck anymore, Arthur began to feel restless. He mumbled something about needing to make tea before getting up off the couch and heading into the kitchen. Raiding the cabinets, Arthur searched desperately for some decent tea. Finding some (regrettably) half-decent tea, Arthur quickly got to work. He took care to make sure Alfred was okay and not trying to vomit his recent meal. Thus the older model hoped that Alfred's brother would arrive quickly so they could get this issue settled quickly.

"Bollocks..." Arthur grumbled under his breath.

After all, finding out that the other model had an eating disorder stressed Arthur out. Not to mention the fact that he happened to be the only one besides Alfred who knew and thus the only one responsible enough to take care of him. Arthur felt like he was getting a headache. Certainly he must have terrible luck. Was it because of some faerie mischief? Arthur was quite superstitious, and wouldn't put it past the little buggers. Too bad they were near impossible to see or to find.

Arthur was glad that Alfred's brother finally arrived. Then, he could finally get things settled and be able to rest easier, probably. Arthur felt bad for startling the other, reminded of how he had startled Alfred as well. Which in turn made Arthur feel like ajerk or an idiot, probably both.

"Kirkland. I'm Arthur Kirkland. It's nice to meet you. I'm assuming you're Alfred's brother, correct?" Arthur quickly tried to introduce himself, but Matthew was already out of the kitchen and fussing over Alfred. Instead of standing there awkwardly, Arthur decided to go back to making tea. After all, he wasn't going to interfere just yet.

Arthur felt as if he was at fault for causing them so much distress. He almost regretted finding out about this all and interfering. Yet, the alternative was much more horrifying. Arthur didn't want to imagine Alfred continuing to stare himself while nobody had any idea what was going on. Thus, Arthur decided to hide in the kitchen until he was included in the conversation. After all, Arthur told himself it was best for him to not get too involved, lest horrible things happen.

Alfred had started to doze off when he heard his brother enter the apartment. He turned in the direction of his twin’s voice, though he kept the blanket over his head. If Matthew say that he had been crying… His brother was extremely overprotective of him, so if he knew that something had upset Alfred, who knew how much he would fuss?

Suddenly, he found himself in his brother’s arms and he sat there stiffly for a moment before wrapping his arms around Matthew and clinging to him. “N-Not hurt,” he mumbled, burying his face in his brother’s shoulder, scared to tell him the truth. What if Matthew got mad at him…?

He wished that Arthur would just tell Matthew what had happened, so he wouldn’t have to tell his brother. Taking a shaky breath, Alfred tried to compose himself enough so his voice wouldn’t shake.

“M-Mattie… Arthur and I r-ran into each other at the mall…”

Arthur sighed and ran his fingers through his own hair. So it was up to him to explain things to Matthew, not that Arthur was very surprised. Though he had been given time to think over how he was going to put things, Arthur still had no idea how he was going to approach this delicate subject without sending either of the twins into even more hysterics. It also didn't help that tact was never one of Arthur's strong suits, in fact, he preferred being blunt. However, the situation just so happened to demand tact.

"I... I don't suppose you've noticed anything... odd... about your brother's eating habits, correct?" Arthur found himself fidgeting nervously. He wasn't happy about how he was starting off, and would be infinitely grateful if he didn't have to go through this. Alas, Providence was not that lenient, and Arthur had to continue.

"When I bumped into Alfred at the mall, well... I..." Arthur shook his head and couldn't really continue the story. Just remembering seeing Alfred leaning over that bag made Arthur's stomach twist with nausea. Arthur took a deep breath in order to collect his thoughts and fight away his good friend, stress.

"Rather than go through the whole story, I'll just state that I think it would be best for Alfred to visit the hospital in order to get help.

Alfred pressed closer to his twin, sniffling and rubbing his eyes. He hated scaring his brother, really hated it. But it was so hard not to be scared in a situation like this. He didn’t want to go to the hospital, but if Arthur did enough convincing, Matthew might agree to it… And then both their jobs would be put on hold and they wouldn’t make money and he didn’t want to rely on Arthur.

“I-I… A-Arthur f-found out something b-bad…”

Looking down at the floor, he rubbed his eyes, trying not to stay crying again. “M-Mattie, I d-don’t wanna go to the hospital! I d-don’t w-wanna go! I’ll g-get better! J-Just don’t m-make me go!” He broke down into tears again, clinging to his twin.

Despite his efforts, Arthur realized he had not avoided panicking the poor twins. 'Damn, I've really bollocksed this up,' Arthur thought with an inward groan. Now, he just had to figure out a way to describe Alfred's problem without causing too much of a ruckus. Unfortunately, this wish was looking more and more impossible by the minute. Arthur decided that he really couldn't dawdle and postpone this issue any more. After all, if he didn't tell Matthew, Alfred probably wouldn't say anything either, and therefore Alfred would end up essentially starving himself from nutrients.

"I have excellent reason to believe that... Alfred... he throws up... after meals... After eating a cookie, I saw him with a bag and I..." Arthur clamped his mouth shut, not wanting to go into further details. He shuddered a bit and shook his head. "L-listen... I-if he continues to be like this, he'll get malnourished, and die. I... I don't want that to happen. I've already promised Alfred that I will help as much as I can. A-after all, doing nothing would be despicable and disgusting," Arthur tried to explain, hoping that he wouldn't cause the twins any more grief. After all, Arthur wasn't a complete jerk, and contrary to popular belief, he did not get his jollies off of devastating others.

"I... I'm terribly sorry."

“M-Mattie, don’t f-feel bad! I tried s-so hard to hide it from y-you… Y-You’re the best brother ever!” When Matthew pulled away from him, Alfred’s eyes widened and he stared at his twin in shock. “I’m still y-your twin, Mattie! P-Please don’t be angry!” He reached out and grabbed Matthew’s hand, sniffling and breaking down into tears once more.

Hearing Arthur try and describe his condition was terrifying. Was he really like that? He had never thought about it much but… he supposed that yes, he was really that bad. Especially if he felt the need to throw up after just having a simple cookie. How pathetic was he?

He let go of Matthew’s hand and curled up, crying into the blanket he had been using earlier. “I’m s-s-sorry Mattie!”

(It's fine! I've been quite busy as well. )

"That is what I was thinking. I told him he should go to the hospital, but he was quite hesitant to do so... After all, your jobs depend on him. I... I can help you monetarily, if you wish. A-after all, I have a good sized amount of disposable income and not much to spend it on," Arthur felt himself stammer a bit. He had never been good or particularly experienced with dealing with situations. Arthur had done his best to force down his emotions and try to show as little vulnerability as possible. Arthur had done his best to wall his heart up, though it always seemed to escape through some forgotten passage and cause trouble for him.

"I'm terribly sorry for causing all this trouble," Arthur mumbled. He wasn't sure what to do. Arthur definitely knew that he didn't want to join in on the hug, but just standing there and watching the two sob was quite awkward. Arthur fidgeted nervously. He felt like a fool, like he was a buffoon that somehow missed some key etiquette that told him how to properly handle the situation.

Arthur wondered if he'd completely botched this up. He decided that it was very likely. Arthur's mind offered up only one possible solution. "Um... Should I leave? You seem as though you need a bit of time to yourselves..." Arthur felt like a bit of a coward for wanting to flee, but neither did he want to stay and make the situation worse. Frankly, the Brit had no idea what he was doing.

He had made Matthew so sad… How could he do this to his own brother? God, he was a terrible brother. He wouldn’t be surprised if Matthew decided to go home or something. But when he was pulled into a hug, he sobbed and clung to his twin, not wanting to let go. “M-Mattie, I’m scared,” he whispered. Hospitals were a pretty scary place and he would have to go through lots of therapy to get his body back to normal…

When his brother called him beautiful, Alfred only cried harder, wrapping his arms even tighter around his brother. Without Matthew, he didn’t know if he would have been able to handle this… He glanced over at Arthur, teary eyed. He didn’t want the man to feel like he had to help them, even though it was a nice gesture.

“S-Sorry I’m such a hassle…”

Arthur hadn't done very much in his opinion, and now they were thanking him? He wasn't sure how to handle this. Perhaps they were being polite, and knew very well that Arthur was being a bother. Then again, they might honestly think that Arthur had actually done something. He wasn't sure at all. So Arthur resorted to his default reaction, denial.

"N-no. I really haven't done anything other than be the bearer of bad news," Arthur paused, "Alfred still has... his problem to deal with, a-and you two have to worry about how you're going to get money. If anything, I've only increased your problems. You really shouldn't be thanking me."

Though he wanted to flee from the room and this uncomfortable situation, Arthur was struck by the points he had brought up. Could the twins handle this on their own? He doubted it. Was he being too presumptuous in his assumption that he could actually be of help to them? Arthur was sure of that, but he didn't know of anyone else that could help them. He sighed, all this stress was giving him a bit of a headache.

"H-how can I help you two...?" Arthur asked, trying to hide just how nervous and worried he really was. He didn't like letting people see his soft side, but he still had his gentleman's pride to uphold.