Exotic Butters(Hetalia High School AU)

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Francis' signature scent of lilies was the first thing Arthur distinguished as he came to his senses.

The second was the undeniably cosy heat that had enveloped him and tempted him to rest his eyes a little longer. After further inspection, he realised the heat was being supplied by Francis, who was snuggled up close beside him.

He wasn't surprised, they'd been sleeping together every night lately, last night was no exception. Every evening, Francis would suggest eagerly that they sleep together, the Brit obviously bickering with him about it. However, Francis' perseverance wins through in the end and he manages to coax him into agreement. Arthur would never in a million years admit that he actually enjoyed the interaction, but in fact he rather enjoyed their late night squabbles and how warm Francis' embrace was. He wouldn't dare say it to him of course!

Suddenly, yesterday's events hit him like a freight train. Was it all just a bad dream? Hopefully so, because now that he replayed the events in his head he didn't think he could regain the false confidence he had built up yesterday.

His eyes darted towards the wardrobe in front of them, where the source of his nightmares dwelled. All his queries could be answered through that wardrobe. If he opened the door and found no dress, that meant it was all a dream and he could rest in peace. If he found the dress instead...

Arthur glanced over at his sleeping partner, wondering if he was actually asleep or if he was just pretending to be so that he could startle Arthur and comment about him staring at him sleeping, even though he definitely does not do such a thing! It's not like he's anything special to look at!

If he were to conduct his plan, then he had to make sure Francis wasn't going to wake up and embarrass him.

It was pretty early though, as he read on the clock it was eight. Neither of them usually wake at eight in the morning when there's no school. Arthur figured he probably woke up early because his mind was so restless the night before.

He watched as the other male's chest rose and fell slowly and how his eyelids were closed gently instead of clenched tightly, indicating that he was indeed asleep. But he knew better than to trust the conniving Frenchman.

He recalled how when he was younger, he'd often stay up real late to finish a book and when he'd hear some noise outside his door he'd quickly throw the book under his covers and pretend to be asleep before someone caught him. He considered himself really good at faking it too, until Allistor learnt a new trick, that is.

The red head must have been suspicious of him, as every morning young Arthur woke up groggy without a vivid reason, so he made it a ritual to check up on him every night when he came back from work. The first few times he couldn't prove he was awake of course, but then one night he didn't do his usual death glare but took Arthur's hand and lifted it a good thirty centimetres from his face... Then dropped it. Instinct took over the young boy and in order to not facepalm himself he forced his hand to fall to his shoulder instead of it's target. Only afterwards when he got a mouthful from his older brother did he realise how exactly that was incriminating. Ever since, he had never been able to read a book late at night under the same roof as Allistor.

And so that is what he did, he used the knowledge he was kindly given from his brother on Francis. He almost felt bad but when he thought about how the older teen deserved a beating or two when he was conscious, his sympathy for him became history. He lifted up Francis' right hand as it was closest to him, held it a good distance from his face and dropped it instantaneously. Unlike the situation with him, Francis' hand actually fell right onto his face with an unpleasant smack that made Arthur wince. The conclusion he reached from his experiment was that he was indeed asleep, there was no way that didn't hurt and even if Francis was a determined actor, he would have at least flinched from such a smack. He considered himself lucky that Francis didn't wake up from it, actually.