When he was finally able to totter himself up the stairs from Ivan's apartment, wobbly from both mild intoxication and severe butterflies, Arthur was displeased to find Alfred still awake. The man was sitting on his ass a foot away from the television still playing video games when every other one of God's creatures had long since gone to bed. Arthur arranged his face into what he hoped sobriety looked like and set about and demurely untying his shoes, immediately losing his balance and slamming his face against the wall, finally alerting Alfred to his presence. Alfred paused his game and fixed Arthur with another obnoxious smile.

"Hahahaha! You're shitfaced Art! Lucky night?" Arthur groaned and peeled his face off the wall. Alfred flopped down onto the couch violently and began to howl with laughter.

"Shhh-sh-sh-sh-sh," Arthur begged, pressing his finger to his lips, only for his mind to flood with thoughts of Ivan and he busied himself with his shoes once again, "Other people live in this building you know." Alfred clapped a hand over his mouth to try and stifle his laughter but kept on giggling as Arthur slunk into his empty bedroom feeling not so drunk as tired, and passed out on his bed fully-clothed.

"Wake up Art! It's our one-month-aversary!" Alfred yelled, and Arthur was nearly bounced out of bed when his cousin dropped something heavy at the foot of his mattress.

"Woah!" Arthur sat up like a shot and tried to brace himself against the wall. He focused his eyes on Alfred, who was beaming over him and looking a little expectantly at the mass on his bed.

"What in the world?" Arthur rubbed his eyes blearily and looked at the clock. 9 am. That was pretty early for Alfred on a Sunday. Light was peaking through his new curtains and tinged a dreamy green by his thick tapestry of plants that Arthur had begun collecting shortly after his arrival. Just to make the space feel less hopeless.

"Our one-month-aversary of being roommates, bud!" Alfred was bouncing on the ball of his feet a little, still casting side-eyes not-so-subtly at the package Arthur could now tell was a misshapen lump wrapped crudely in gift wrap.

"Oh… uh," Arthur couldn't figure out what the appropriate response was. He hadn't known about this at all.

"Don't tell me you forgot!" Alfred said, smiling a little too widely for Arthur to be convinced that Alfred wasn't just a little disappointed. He supposed it had been four weeks since he'd arrived. Four weeks since he had begun his fruitless job search. Three weeks since his tour with Feliciano and Ludwig and dinner with Ivan. Wow, time was passing faster than Arthur was entirely comfortable with.

"Er, sorry Alfred, I must not have checked the calendar," Arthur scratched his nose awkwardly, trying not to make eye contact with the man only three feet away from him.

"Don't worry about it. I still got you a present! Open it!" Alfred yipped.

Arthur wiggled around in his bed a little to get his hands on the blob. In trying to lift it over to himself he had found it must have weighed 10 kilograms. What the hell…? He untaped the corners and unwrapped the gift to find a humongous bag of dirt lying on his bed.

"Oh! Uh, thank you, Alfred!" Arthur put on his gift-receiving voice.

"I was thinking about how much you like to garden and I thought maybe it might come in handy! The guy at the store said this kind of soil was good for indoor plants. Extra nutrients or somethin'. I dunno anything about gardening." Alfred was looking at Arthur's face hopefully, trying to gauge if he liked the gift or not. Arthur felt kind of awkward and smiled sheepishly.

"It's lovely, very thoughtful but… all my plants are already potted…" Alfred's face immediately fell into a disappointed pout, "But, uh, h-how about we get you started with a garden? I'll teach you. How does that sound?"Arthur blurted. Ugh. That was dumb. No way Alfred would want to something as domestic as gardening -

"REALLY?!" Alfred squealed, jumping a full foot into the air, "You'd do that? No one's ever- Wow! You're the best Artie!" Suddenly Alfred had engulfed Arthur into an oversized hug. It was earnest and unselfconscious in that way that children (and childlike adults) often are. Arthur let the moment hang before gently patting Alfred's back and clearing his throat gruffly.

"Hm, yes, well. We can't start until we get you some seeds and pots so I suggest you get off me so I can get dressed." Alfred scrambled off him immediately and beamed at him, his eyes practically starry with excitement.

"What kinda things are we gonna plant?" He asked.

"Oh, whatever you like I suppose, herbs, cacti, a vegetable or two for practical use…"

"I'm gonna grow some flowers for my friends!" Alfred whispered almost imperceptibly to himself and ran out of the room excitedly to put his shoes on. Arthur winced. That was probably the most saccharine display he'd ever witnessed. It made his teeth hurt.

Arthur sighed and rolled stiffly out of bed. He was eternally grateful for how easy-to-please Alfred was, but he was a little less grateful for the fact that he would now have to keep up with Alfred's plants too. He had little faith in Alfred's attention span. Getting dressed quickly, he met Alfred at the door where he was practically vibrating with excitement.

"I just called Feliciano for breakfast and he mentioned a family-owned flower shop I can get a discount at!" he said, trying to keep his excited voice down to an indoor level as Arthur rubbed his eyes blearily, and with that, they rushed down the stairs into Alfred's convertible and out into the city.

The pair stopped by Feliciano's to pick up their breakfast (some very milky coffee for Alfred and an Earl Grey for Arthur, as well as some sweet rolls and a hard-boiled egg each. Alfred made Arthur eat his yolk.)

"Why did you buy it if you don't like it?" Arthur asked, the pleasant breeze blowing through his sandy hair having woken him up, but not improved his mood.

"I like eggs! I just don't like the yolk."

"That's half the egg!" Arthur waved his arms in frustration, "What do you do when I'm not here to eat it for you? Throw it out?"

"Yeah. Or I give it to Feliciano." Alfred shrugs and flicks his turning signal on just in time to make a sharp right turn. Arthur sighs heavily.

"Such a child."

"Ok, dad," Alfred groans as he pulls quickly but expertly into a parking spot in front of a cute little flower shop with wide windows stuffed with elaborate arrangements of exotic and native flowers.

The sign above the door said 'Festive Florals: The Freshest Flowers Year-Round' in a script font with little flowers painted around it. Arthur was reminded of the small touristy shops in Dunwich. A little bell rang when they entered the shop. The young man sitting behind the counter looked up from his book and quickly flashed a smile and stood up. From the cover, Arthur could tell it was a well-loved harlequin romance.

"Welcome to Festive Florals, guys! Can I help you today?" he chirped, his name tag said Eduard.

"Yes please, we're looking for a beginner flower to grow indoors, do you-"

"I want these ones!" Alfred yelled from the shop window, where he had selected an array of wildly different plants, ranging from the flashy to the humble. The young man smiled again and ran his hand awkwardly through his shaggy blond hair.

"A lot of those aren't really beginner plants per se. If this is your first time growing plants indoors, Maybe you'd like to start out growing something easier, like…" the young man moved quickly over to a stand with much more common plants on it and picked up a powder blue daisy in a pot, "this!" Alfred and Arthur moved over to look at it. Alfred's face lit up.

" I'll take one of those too! Arthur here is gonna teach me all about gardening! He's basically already an expert, right Arthur?" Alfred reached out to take the daisy from the man and added it to his already precarious armful of flowers, smiling excitedly. Arthur grimaced. He was an ok gardener at best, and really had only really grown succulents and herbs before. The only flower he'd ever tried was lavender for his tea, but he couldn't stand to dash Alfred's hopes like that.

"Ok, today we've got, a lily, an iris, a red carnation, a cornflower, bunchberry, a red rose, a small plum tree and… a daisy." The man cast a sceptical smile at Arthur, looking for reassurance that these plants would be well taken care of. All Arthur could do was grimace at him noncommittally. There was no guarantee that these plants would live to see old age. The man sighed and rang them through.

"With all the pots and" the man reached into one of the pots curiously and pulled out a little garden gnome wearing a football helmet instead of a hat, "this, your total comes to $65.96. How would you like to pay?"

Arthur began to fidget a little. This was a lot more expensive than he had thought it would be. He should try to talk Alfred out of the more exotic plants.

"Oh! That reminds me," Alfred exclaimed, not reaching for his wallet but instead leaning forward onto the counter, "I'm a good friend of the Vargases. They gave me your recommendation."

The teller's smile wavered momentarily then became strained.

"Oh, I see, um… will the flowers be all for today, sirs?" His eyes were darting between Alfred and Arthur, seemingly trying to watch both at once.

"Yeah, but I was hoping to get a family and friends discount, if you don't mind," Alfred flashed his teeth.

"H-how does... 40% off sound?" Eduard asked, his hand hovering shakily over the buttons of the register. Arthur felt suddenly, deeply uncomfortable.

"Make it 75 and you got a deal!" Alfred pushed himself up off the counter, beaming. Arthur gasped and elbowed Alfred in the ribs.

"Alfred! Don't be rude! This young man has got to make a living. 40% is very generous." Eduard looked between the two, seeming confused. There was silence, then Alfred laughed loudly.

"You're lucky that my friend here is so damn nice! So I'll cut out the hagglin' as long as you throw in the gnome free of charge." Eduard nodded. Alfred tossed the cash onto the counter and walked straight out the door, leaving Arthur alone with the florist.

"Would you like to wait in the car while I package these and get some care manuals from the back? My brothers will bring them out to the car."

"...Thank you, I think that would be lovely." Arthur said politely and turned awkwardly to follow his cousin.

As soon as he was seated in the car, Arthur could tell something was wrong. Alfred was gripping the steering wheel like a vice, white-knuckled.

"Oh, don't tell me you're angry, Alfred. You were taking advantage of the boy-"

"DON'T EVER! Contradict me in front of… just..." Alfred took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly through his nose. Alfred did not turn to look at Arthur.

"I'm sorry. It was was only a few dollars but I understand it's not my money to-"

"It's not about the money Arthur!" Alfred growled, finally fixing Arthur with his piercing blue eyes, looking suddenly older. "I shouldn't expect…" Alfred trailed off with a contemplative huff. Then he visibly pepped himself up, smiling cheerfully and releasing the wheel. "I just hate arguing Artie. Maybe just let me handle all the business stuff ok? I'm a little better at it than you are, bud."

Arthur was stunned into silence. For some reason, something in Alfred's eyes had reminded him of Ivan. He had only seen it for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

Suddenly, a knocking on the trunk caused Arthur to jump in his seat. If there had been a roof, he would have knocked himself silly.

"Could you open the trunk please, sir?" Two men, a little older than Eduard, were standing behind the car. One man with long brown hair pushing a cart of plastic-wrapped plants and the other with neat blonde hair and glasses holding the pots and the gnome. They looked just as scared as their brother had been.

"toss 'em in guys!" He called excitedly, popping the trunk, "We're ready to get this show on the road!"

As soon as the two men were done, Alfred shifted gears and peeled out of the parking lot, surely toppling the plants in the trunk. Soon they were on the open road.

"Sorry 'bout yellin' Artie. I hope you're not mad at me." Alfred said quietly, fixing Arthur with puppy eyes. Arthur could honestly say that he wasn't mad, but he couldn't say the same about being scared. Alfred had never even hinted at this side of himself.

"I'm not mad," Arthur said, "I just don't know what I did to make you so angry." Alfred let out a held breath and leaned back in his seat.

"Nuthin', nuthin'. Let's forget it ever happened, huh?" Alfred cranked the radio and drove the pair home in classic-rock infused silence.

Arthur and Alfred spent the rest of the day going through the care manuals, transplanting flowers and arguing over the best place for the ceramic gnome. Arthur had voted for the trash bin but Alfred insisted that it was to be the centrepiece of the entire operation.

"I can't let my new babies get lonely when I'm not here! Plus look how cool he is!" He made the gnome to a little dance among the flowerpots.

"Whimsical," Arthur deadpanned, grimacing at the grotesque display.

"Right?!"

It seemed as though they were back to status quo, but Arthur couldn't shake the memory of Alfred's outburst. What line had he overstepped so badly that Alfred lost his temper when he had remained so sombre when Arthur had accidentally brought up Matthew? Though Arthur recalled the fork bending in Alfred's grasp and shuddered.

He didn't know why, but he felt suddenly like the world was a lot bigger than it used to be.