Silent Beauty

Chapter 22: Matt and Gil's Adventure

Matthew laughed. "How come you call Ludwig 'West'?"

"He was born in the west part of Germany and I was born in the east, where Prussia existed during the Wall of Berlin. Of course, the awesome me isn't that old to have lived back then, but that's where our Mutter's side of the family is from and our Vater's is from the west." Gilbert explained.

"Oh." Matthew nodded. "I was born in Canada, which is where our mom was born. Alfred was born in America like our dad."

"But you're twins?" Gilbert frowned, confusion wafting in his scent. Like that one scent you smell and you can't really pinpoint where you know it from but you still know what it is.

"We were born on a plane," Matthew explained. "Mom wasn't due for another two weeks but we decided we wanted out early. He had to give birth in the air in an America to Canada flight."

Gilbert gave a low whistle. "That must have sucked for your Mutter."

"It did, but it gave him a card over us. Whenever he's mad at us he always goes off on us telling us he didn't give birth to us on a plane to turn out ungrateful children." Matthew chuckled.

The two sat at a bench and Matthew sighed, remembering the conversation he had earlier with his mom.

"Alfred's been acting weird lately," Matthew told Gilbert with a small huff. "Dad has called and tried to get in touch with him but can't seem to. It's like Alfred's forgetting why we came here in the first place. He's going to get the company after he turns 21, but he acts like it's not a big deal. I'm just worried that all the pressure finally made him snap and he's doing reckless things."

Matthew already told Gilbert his rich background, but the older alpha didn't see why that changed anything about Matthew. That's something Matthew really admired about Gilbert. He makes judgments based on character, he doesn't care for prejudices.

"Maybe that's why he's acting weird." Gil shrugged.

"Huh?"

"The guy only has two more years before he becomes an adult. He probably feels like he needs to get the whole teenage experience before it. I know that as soon as I turned 17 I convinced my Vater to let me get a tattoo, and it was one of the most painful experiences in my life, but I had to do it because when I turned 18, I had to begin searching for an omega."

"So this is just him getting his final moments of being a kid?"

"Ja."

"...That makes sense. Alfred looks really laid back but he's really a very serious guy. He's just letting it out."

Gilbert nodded.

The two went quiet and let a relaxed atmosphere overtake them. Suddenly, Gilbert stood up and held his hand out.

"Let's go on an adventure, Birdie."

Matthew raised an eyebrow but took the alpha's hand anyways. "Birdie?"

"You're chirpy like one. In a good way." Gilbert explained.

"Then I'll call you polar bear because, well, you look like one." Matthew chuckled.

Gilbert scrunched his nose. "Sounds too long. Why not just 'Bear'?" He suggested.

"Hm, yeah okay." Matthew nodded.

---

Gilbert walked Matthew to the forest. Unlike Matthew's school, Gilbert's didn't have a wall that kept the forest out of the school.

"Our school owns some forest land for ASMR and nature therapy for us students," Gilbert explained, sensing that Matthew was confused.

Gilbert kept walking, counting under his breath in German. Matthew looked around, interested in what he saw. Because of the wall, he rarely even looked into the forest between the two schools. Now, he enjoyed everything he could see.