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Arthur was in a state of panic. No, the world wasn't ending the following day. His coffee didn't spill on his manuscripts again. And Vic was definitely not ignoring him for an unknown reason.
No, it was something much worse.
His girlfriend hasn't said "I love you" to him for months. 3 months and 11 days actually. It wasn't like they were the lovey-dovey couple who would be affectionate at all time but three months was a bit too much for him. They were the teasing couple type, sure, but Arthur still wanted some of those praises and lovey-dovey stuff. His ears were just dying to hear those three words from her.
But Arthur wasn't just gonna ask for it. He wasn't that desperate or clingy. He was fine. He had a plan.
It was morning. She had pretty much stopped sleeping in the room le Comte gave her and opted to sleep in his. It was the prime time for an "I love you" from her. She used to start off the morning with those.
The morning sunlight pierced through his windows. He'd been awake for a few minutes. He just needed her to wake up as well. Though by the looks of it, she was still in dreamland. She looked so comfortable buried within his sheets that it would be a crime to wake her.
So, he waited.
He waited until she shifted. Then her hand searched for Arthur's body under their shared blanket. She snuggled into his chest once finding her target.
"It's time to wake up, love," he whispered.
She only hummed drowsily against his chest. Well, at least she was awake enough to understand him.
"You're so clingy during mornings," he teased lightly.
"Shush, don't act like you don't hug me every chance you get," she retorted.
"But you love it when I do," he said.
"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled.
It was not turning out how he planned it. He was confident that would've done the trick. Time for his next plan.
"Just admit you love me already," he teased yet again. He hoped his intentions weren't glaringly obvious to his very sleepy girlfriend.
There was no answer. It was silent for a good minute. Arthur was almost scared that he was being too clingy and creeped her out.
Until she yelped, "Breakfast!"
She shot up with her hair disheveled. She grabbed her hair brush from the nightstand and began brushing the knots out. Her hands frantically styled her hair to its normal shape. She ran out of his room but not before giving him a kiss on his very confused head.
What just happened?
So, plan A was a bust. Time for plan B, which coincidentally was during breakfast.
He walked through the relatively empty hallway of the mansion after fixing himself up. He heard Theo's teasing and Isaac's flustered exclaims from behind the big door of the dining room. Typical breakfast for the mansion's early risers.
He pushed open the door and walked calmly towards his designated seat. She was quick to notice his presence and served up his breakfast with his usual cup of coffee and rogue.
"I'd say the breakfast is looking splendid, dear," Arthur winked. He was definitely not talking about the food.
"Eat your pancakes before Theo pounces on them," she chuckled.
"What's with the cold demeanor?" he huffed and pouted. Well if he was going this far for an I love you, might as well go all out.
"What cold demeanor? Aren't I always like this?" she questioned.
She was. Arthur knew that very well. Better than anyone, actually.
"Oh yeah, you're always such a tsundere," he mused, followed by a quiet, "if that's the right usage of the word."
"Theo's really eyeing your pancakes, y’know," she rolled her eyes but her smile said otherwise.
She turned towards the kitchen, presumably to help Sebas with the dishes. Arthur almost slumped in his seat before remembering that there were four other people in the room. Specifically: Isaac, Theo, Vincent, and Dazai. Knowing them, Dazai definitely picked up on what's going through his head.
"Looks like little Arty got rejected," Theo smirked.
"I didn't know you were interested in anything but pancakes and your brother during mornings," Arthur retorted.
"It was kinda hard not seeing the comedy act happening in front of me," Theo chuckled.
"Theo, stop teasing Arthur. He looks really troubled," Vincent scolded his little brother, who immediately looked like a puppy with his ears down.
"Did something happen between you and her?" Vincent asked innocently.
Truly, nothing did happen. It was just something that stopped happening.
"Everything's fine between us!" he said in his most laid back tone.
"Doesn't seem that way when looking at you," Dazai mused.
"Didn't you say something about writers knowing the heart well?" Isaac said between his munches on his sandwich.
"Maybe she's getting bored of him," Theo cackled at his own joke.
Arthur flinched. It hit way too close to home. That was one hypothesis he didn't want to bet on. In fact, he hated that it was one of his hypotheses in the first place.
Theo took notice. They all did. It was silent for a good second or so. It was a second too long considering how many people were awake at that time.
"You really believe hondje is getting bored of you?" Theo laughed, breaking the unbearable silence.
"Why would you think that of Toshiko?" Dazai wondered.
"Wouldn't a man think so after not hearing his love declare her love to him for so long?" Arthur chuckled dryly.
"So? Just ask her. You're making this too complicated," Isaac grumbled.
"My! Since when did Newt become such a romantic!" Arthur saw the opportunity and took the chance to tease Isaac just a little bit.
"Shut up," Isaac grumbled into his sandwich.
"If it helps, I do remember her telling me that it wasn't common to hear those in her old home," Vincent piped up.
"Is that so? It seems I still have a lot to learn about her culture," Arthur said to himself.
"How blind do you have to be to not see her tail wagging whenever you enter the room?" Theo teased him before downing a glass of juice.
At some point, Arthur tuned out their conversation. He was finished with his breakfast anyways so he was free to do some thinking. He wanted to write that one scene he'd been mulling over for the past few days. His hand was already itching to put his thoughts onto paper. Besides, she was busy and the last thing he wanted was to bother her too much.
So, he cleaned up his plate and walked back to his room. On the way, he encountered a very tired Mozart in need of coffee. A sleep deprived lesser vampire in need of some caffeine wasn't something out of the usual.
He arrived back at his room and went straight to his desk. The same words he'd left a few days ago stared at him. His fountain pen, which was generously given to him by her for his birthday, sat alone on the wooden surface. He picked it up and let his mind do the talking.
The only sound he could register was the scratching of the pen's tip against the paper. It wasn't at all surprising that he didn't notice the cup of coffee right next to him with a plate of chocolates on the side. He did, however, instinctively reach out for it. He bit into the slightly bitter chocolate while his head was still trying to find the right word to describe his thoughts.
After finishing the plate of chocolates, he went back to writing. After the small snack break, he felt energized enough to finish that wretched scene and move on into the next. He transitioned into the next with the opening and closing of the door leading out into the streets of Baker Street. Holmes walked proudly and with a destination set in stone. Holmes walked into an alleyway and then…
Holmes stood there for a good half an hour. He was out of it again. He found no words that could continue the action and the thrill of the mystery. Arthur cracked his tired knuckles and stretched his arms upwards. He swore he heard a few pops in his joints.
Arthur looked around and saw another plate had been placed on his desk. This time, it was apple slices. Each slice of apple had little carvings in it that resembled bunny ears. It was almost too adorable for him to eat. Alas, apples oxidize quickly after being sliced. He didn't know if it was Sebas or her who left it but he was grateful nonetheless.
He tried again. He gave Holmes a dead-end clue that set him back. Holmes didn't panic as he jumped to the next clue he wanted to investigate.
Arthur looked around again and came face to face with a plate of sandwiches. Presumably placed there because he missed lunch and dinner in his excitement to finish the chapter. He was glad that he got the writing bugs out of his system. At least, enough to let him fall asleep instead of thinking about his story the entire night.
He looked outside and found that France had met the night sky once more. The sun's light no longer illuminated his room. Strangely enough, the candles in his room were lit. Definitely not by him.
It was all definitely her. He would've noticed Sebastian going in and out of his room. She had become such an integral part of his everyday life that he didn't bat an eye every time she came into view. Because it felt natural for her to be there. Maybe it would've felt weirder if she wasn't there.
"Productive day?" her voice snapped him out of his post writing daze.
"Mhm, I'd say this one will be ready in a week's time," he grinned.
"That's great," she smiled.
There it was. It wasn't "I love you" but it held a similar effect. It was the affirmation he needed to fully relax.
"Join me!" She whined, burying herself in his blanket.
"Coming, love," he chuckled.
He unbuttoned the ones on top of his shirt before making himself comfortable on the bed. He hugged her from behind, just like how he knew she liked it.
"Tiring day?" Arthur asked.
"Remind me to never offer my help to Theo again," she laughed.
"He worked you pretty hard, eh?" He hugged her tighter.
"He had me help organize the storage which was alright but then we met Isaac and Napoleon so I got dragged into going with them into town," she said.
"Sounds like it was a rough day," he whispered, kissing the back of her neck.
"Yeah but I had fun," she muttered.
Arthur could tell there was a smile on that face.
"Hey, love?" he called out. Might as well end the one-sided game of tag himself.
"How come you don't say it back anymore?" he asked.
She turned to face him. She was confused, that much Arthur deduced.
"Say what?" She asked.
"That you love me," Arthur, who flirted with her that morning, couldn't look her in the eyes.
"Oh! Well, you see…" her cheeks reddened as she tried to gather the right words.
"It's kinda awkward and… I don't know, I just never got used to it," her voice was quiet.
"Never got used to it?" Arthur questioned.
"I'm so used to my parents giving me those apple slices whenever I was studying. It was never verbal but I knew they loved me because of those little things. So I never…" she trailed off, getting more embarrassed by the minute.
Arthur was shocked to say the least. All this time he was feeling insecure, she was giving her the love he was looking for. He wanted to beat himself up for being oblivious. But he refrained as he had other things to worry about.
"You're too much for me," Arthur yawned.
"You're tired, I'm tired. Let's just sleep it off, alright?" she whispered, her eyes already half closed.
"Thank you for everything, not just today. I love you," he whispered before the weight on his eyelids became too much.
Arthur closed his eyes and was ready to let the drowsiness take over. He was ready to experience whatever dream awaited him.
"I love you too."