Week 7: Alfred/Matthew

So, they were on one of those brother bonding trips again, where they were challenging their raw survival instincts and abilities. And that without much help of any electronic devices. Though both of them were cheating anyway and they would always turn away from each other to secretly pull out their cell phones. No way Alfred would leave a chance where he could chat with his best internet buddy TheNakedFlyingSaucer69. That guy had even less brain cells than himself, and Alfred liked that, it gave him a certain sense of superiority.

Yeah, sucks that there was no signal today. Matthew and Alfred were now sitting outside of their far too flashy tent in a forest that suspiciously looked like the woods from Twilight.

"Matthew Williams, we're lost forever, isolated from civilisation, the only survivors from the great alien invasion. And now we only have each other," he said with deep seriousness in his voice and the campfire was reflected in his sky blue eyes.

Alfred loved playing these games, he always annoyed his brother with those. The only movie turn off was the fact that he wasn't the last humans together with a hot chick. Otherwise his sentence would have been, "...And now we only have each other. It is now our mission to reproduce and create mankind anew."

Usually Matthew would roll his eyes and do his best to ignore whatever kind of scenario his brother came up with off of the top of his head. Maybe it was because of how seriously he said it, or maybe how dramatic the fire made him look. Hell, maybe he was just that technology-deprived without cell phone service. Not that he checked or anything. But for whatever reason, it made Matthew crack up.

“How can you say that with such a straight face?” he asked once his laughter had subsided. He always wondered how Alfred could talk about such weird things that any normal person, save for professional actors, would at least crack a smile after saying.

“And you’re getting rusty,” he added, nudging Alfred’s shoulder, “It was aliens the last time, too.” Alright, so maybe the last time was about zombies. So then the time before that. Probably. Oh well, they were all practically the same, anyway.

Alfred frowned and shot his brother a nasty glare, how dare he make fun of his moment of magnum opus. He tackled Matthew and started wrestling with the other, made sure that his brother's lovely shirt would be thoroughly covered with earth and dust. "They were hollywood worthy!"

"And also, why can't you just grow boobs already, the movie would have a sexy and romantic turn that way!" Joking around with his brother was so much fun, he enjoyed every bit of their shared time. Not that he would ever admit that.

Uh-oh. Matthew knew that look, alright, and unfortunately for him and his shirt, he had little time to get out of the way. “Oh no no no no Al, augh!” Well, now that his clothes were ruined, he might as well try to return the favor.

“Of course, and then you’ll win five Oscars, eh?” Matthew said, finding it difficult to wrestle with an eccentric brother and be sarcastic at the same time. “But hey, why do I have to be the girl?! If anyone’s growing boobs, it should be you!”

Sometimes, when he stopped to think about it, he’d reflect on how strange it was that he only acted this way around Alfred. Now wasn’t one of those times, though.

Never had he heard such an insult before. "Why should I be the woman?!"
Then it dawned on him, he finally realised that it was quite an awkward topic. You shouldn't tell your brother to grow boobs so that he would become...well...doable. It was probably better to just wave it off with a laugh, after all it was just a joke, but he couldn't help being bothered by that.

Alfred pushed Matthew off from him, with his ridiculous strength of course, and displayed his flashiest victory smile. He just wanted to open his mouth to tease his brother even further, but was abruptly interrupted by some rustling in the close-by distance. He jerked his head to look around. It might have been just the wind or a small animal.

In hindsight, perhaps that comeback had been more than just a little weird. But honestly, and he had to go with sibling logic on this one, Al started it. And who knew what went on in that strange mind?

Just then, Matthew thought he heard something unusual and was distracted for just long enough for Alfred to push him away. Though by the way the other was looking around, he could tell that he’d noticed the same thing. Matthew looked around himself, nearly jumping out of his skin once he noticed that the sounds were gradually getting louder, the source of it obviously bigger than a squirrel or even a raccoon.

“Um, Al?” he laughed nervously, “Do you see anything?”

"Whatever it is, it's coming nearer..." Alfred said and stepped in front of Matthew on reflex. He noted with alarm that it was gaining speed. He settled himself on position, ready to defend the both of them. This was the part where he could be a hero to his brother. "Watch me Mattie, watch me becoming your hero," he said with a daring smile, eyes fixed on the direction where the noise was coming from.

And his eyes widened in shock as a huge bear jumped out of the bushes, it was a smooth motion like flying and the blond saw the claws and sharp teeth flare up in the sunlight.

Matthew stared at the bear, surprised and then worried, both for his safety and doubly for Alfred’s, who would surely get attacked first if the bear decided to attack. For although Matthew would very much prefer being alive, he’d rather not do it at the expense of using his older brother as some sort of meat shield.

As the growling bear approached them, Matthew took a step back, tugging on Alfred’s shirt with the intention of bringing him back with him. Though he knew nothing of the speed of grizzlies, Matthew doubted they’d be able to outrun the animal. Maybe they’d have a chance if they ran like hell and scrambled up a tall tree, though.

Matthew also wondered what on earth had provoked the bear, or, what he feared, that the bear was just bored and decided to bother two random campers for the hell of it.

(lol bored bear)

The plan was to spectacularly fight the bear with bare hands and overthrow it, but Alfred knew it wasn't going to happen. That grizzly was monstrous and he just knew that their only chance to survive was...in the end...

"RUN!" He grabbed Matthew's hand, spun around and dashed for his life. The roaring beast was close behind them and they had to increase their speed. And Alfred eventually felt his strength leaving him the more he moved his legs and the bear was closing their distance.

Matthew was glad that Alfred didn’t try to play hero and get himself hurt, or worse. And he was more than willing to try his brother’s alternate plan of action. Not like they had much of a choice; the bear would have been advancing towards them no matter what they did.

The downside was that after some distance, their pace became gradually slower while the bear continued to pursue them at a constant speed. Unless they did something, they’d be dead, pretty much. With his free hand, Matthew pointed to an easily climbable tree he had spotted.

“There! Tree!” was all he managed to say in his panicked run, hoping that Alfred would understand what he meant.

Alfred nodded. He jumped up to grasp a thick branch and he used it to haul himself up until he was semi-safely seated on it. He then grabbed Matthew and pulled him up with his not-so-human strength. He held his brother steady, so that he wouldn't fall. Alfred sighed.

The bear however was a stubborn one. It glared up and showed them its glorious hostility that even Alfred had to wince. That beast started to furiously scrape the tree bark. "H-hey Mattie...," he couldn't help the trembling voice, "Can Grizzlies climb on trees?"

“Why is that bear so intent on trying to kill us?!” Matthew asked incredulously, before he even processed Alfred’s question. And once he did, it wasn’t long before he remembered the answer, which was, sad to say, not the one the other would want to hear.

“…I’m pretty sure some of them can,” he responded in a hushed tone. This solution was proving itself to be only temporary, but still better than the alternative of being outrun by the bear. To buy them some time, Matthew hoisted himself up to a higher branch, holding out a hand to Alfred to help him do the same.

Matthew held his breath, waiting to see what the bear did and could only hope that it turned out to be a bad climber, or too heavy for the branch to hold up.

The bad news made him whimper and he faced his brother, squeezing his hands. "At least we'll die together," he said. Matthew was climbing again, which was a good enough idea. Alfred wanted to follow his brother, reached out for the other's hand, but the roaring sounded more violent and more importantly closer now. He dared a glance to check for the angry grizzly and was horrified to see that it was digging its claws into the hard bark, and it was beginning to climb, eyes set on the two blonds. Seriously, what was up with that creature?

And Alfred made a decision. He let go of Matthew's hand. He spotted another thick branch, damaged by last night's storm and halfway loose from the trunk. So, he grabbed it with both hands and pulled at it with all what he got. It was tough and he could practically feel the vibration of the bear's growl beneath his feet.

Cold sweat ran down his cheek and over his jawline.

Finally the branch snapped. He raised his head to meet his brother's eyes and he saluted with a grin. It was time for playing hero then. The heavy tree branch was held in a secure grip between his fingers. His eyes fixated the attacking beast.

Then he jumped. Alfred met the grizzly bear halfway and wrenched it down with him, using the whole weight of his body.

At first, Matthew thought that Alfred had let go of his hand by accident. Though when he saw him reach for a half-broken branch, it didn’t take long for Matthew figure out what his brother was going to try to do. His eyes grew wide once the other had managed to break the branch from the tree, looking like he was getting ready to jump.

“He wouldn’t.” he thought. But Alfred did, before Matthew got a chance to tell him what a stupidly dangerous idea it was. Immediately, he looked down to see that as stupidly dangerous as it was, it had worked. Well, for getting it off of the tree at least. And from the growling sounds coming from below him, it didn’t sound like the bear was too pleased.

Which is why when he made the decision to climb back down, he surprised himself. Though he couldn’t see what had happened after the fall, he knew better than to assume that the bear would just leave them alone after that. It’s what he hoped for, but he doubted it.

And, most importantly, Matthew knew that he’d feel incredibly guilty if Alfred got seriously injured or even killed while he kept his distance, cowering in a tree.

Bear and man landed with a loud crash on the grass and the bear landed on its back. Alfred jumped off and created a small distance between them, but unfortunately the animal was as quick as himself. And it was soon standing steady again.

"Come on, bring it on!" He said in stupid provocation.

And it was stupider to think that he was actually able to fight a bear with a lousy stick. But realisation struck him late, because the brown bear was already leaping to grab him and dig its claws into his flesh.

But Alfred wouldn't be Alfred, if he were to lose a fight without resistance. The bear had already closed the distance and the claws were dangerously close to his face. Alfred was taking the closeness to his own advantage and right within that moment, the thick branch was tossed against the bear's neck and head.
He thought he'd won, only one more hitting...

Then he caught sight of Matthew, who was climbing down the tree. And he didn't know why that distracted him. He really didn't know. But it was enough to give the bear an opening to attack him, and its sharp claws grazed his chest, ripping off the fabric of his beloved shirt.
Alfred cried out in pain.

Though the sight of Alfred in danger almost made him nervous enough to fall, Matthew kept his eye on his brother and the bear as he climbed down, almost as if he feared that if he looked away, Alfred would surely die. It was an irrational thought, but people who climbed down trees to approach angry bears weren’t exactly thinking clearly to begin with.

When he saw the bear take a swipe at Al and heard him cry out, Matthew finally lost the grip on the branch he was holding and ungracefully fell the last few feet. Noticing the bear was getting ready to attack again, Matthew started yelling at it, but to no avail; it was ignoring him now (though that really shouldn’t have come as a surprise).

His second attempt at getting the bear’s attention was a split-second decision to pick up a reasonably sized rock and fling it at the creature. It hit its target, though that may not have the best thing. For him, at least. He took several steps backward when the growling bear turned first its head, then its entire body around. And man, if looks could kill…

"Mattie you fucking idiot!" Alfred yelled. The curses did not affect the bear, not at all, because it was now turning its attention to his brother. His foolish, adorable, fucking foolish brother.

All anger left him at the sight of a bear gaining speed to attack Matthew. His brain was rapidly trying to think, it was hard with a mind that was in utter fear for his brother. Alfred then realised that he had no time to think. So he didn't think. He ran off, racing with the furious grizzly bear, hoping that his unhuman physical ability would win against the hairy beast. He just...had to reach out for Matthew.

Matthew really couldn’t disagree with what Alfred had called out. Really, what had he been thinking? Unlike Alfred, he had nothing to defend himself with. Trying to throw something else at it would be pointless; by the time he found something and picked it up, the bear would have closed in on him.

So all he could do was distance himself away from the bear as much as possible, which, at the moment meant running. He seemed to be able to stay away for now, but he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep it up.

Daring to steal a look behind him, he saw his brother running as well, which gave him some sort of relief. Though it wasn’t much, considering that there was still a bear pursuing him.

It was hard to keep the pace, since the grass was still wet from last night's rain, mixed with mud that was making it dangerous to run. Even more dangerous as the road was becoming more and more narrow, to the right side it went straight down as a vertical cliff.

Alfred's breath came out as loud gasps and his lung was protesting, demanding him to slow down and take a rest. He couldn't stop of course. Not when Matthew was in such a danger. Glancing down to his right side, Alfred made a decision. It wouldn't count as a crime against endangered species right? It would be an act of self defence.

So, he halfway circled the still running bear so that he was now running to its left side, making the animal run on the brink instead of him. And Alfred gathered all his strength, tensed his muscles to strike. He then rushed sideways, pounced the surprised bear using the whole weight of his body. Alfred felt his clavicle crack from the impact of his body against the animal's. The bear roared but wasn't able to find footing and fell backwards with helpless flailings.

He stood there. His eyes were wet from several things. The whole fear for their and especially Matthew's life, the pain of his collarbone, the fact that he had just killed a bear. He was still breathing hard.

"M-Mattie? Are you alright?" He finally turned to run to his brother's direction.

The adrenaline rush that came with being pursued by a bear had faded, and Matthew was just beginning to wonder how much longer he could evade it when he heard a roaring sound. Fearing the worst, he stopped in his tracks and turned around. The sight was definitely not one that he had expected.

A few yards away, he saw his brother and the bear, the latter stumbling off of the cliff and the former looking like he was in pain. Matthew stared for a moment, stunned. He really shouldn’t have been; he knew about Alfred’s strength after all. But it must have been something that was easy for him to forget about for it never ceased to surprise him.

He ran towards the other, meeting him halfway. The only thing that stopped him from throwing his arms around Alfred was the reminder that he was hurt and Matthew wasn’t sure where, not wanting to hurt him further.

“I’m fine, Al,” he said, though his voice shook from the admittedly terrifying experience. He frowned worriedly. “But what about you? Where…where does it hurt?” he asked, looking for any visible injuries and wincing when he saw where the bear had taken a swipe at him earlier.

Alfred glanced at Matthew suspiciously, as if not quite believing that his brother was uninjured. Though he really looked okay, without serious wounds, and Alfred sighed relieved. "Hell, what was that? Did we do something to provoke him?"

He winced at the pain on his chest, where the bear had left an unpleasant memento; he had managed to ignore the burning on his skin when he was busy with the animal, but it wasn't that easy to ignore now. "I'll manage," he said with a hiss. "Let's go back and take care of it real quick."

Alfred was about to walk back but he stopped in his track; instead he shot a smile towards Matthew, extended his arm to tousle the longer blond locks of his brother. "Some adventure it was, don't you think? Make sure to write about my heroic and selfless actions!" He said, knowing well that he wasn't very good with creative writing - or writing in generad; sad thing.

Hand in hand they walked back.

The entire way back to their campsite, Matthew couldn’t help but steal worried glances at Alfred and his injuries from time to time. And was it just him, or was the area around his collar bone a bit…off?

So when they made it back, the first thing he did was head straight for the first aid kit he had brought with him. Unfortunately, much of it proved to be of no use with dealing with the aftermath of a bear attack and anything he didn’t need (which was most of it) was thrown haphazardly to the side without a second thought.

Matthew frowned when he realized that he had reached the point where there most of the contents were outside the box than in. He turned to face his brother, his expression changing to that of a soft smile. “You can rest while I figure this out, alright, Al?”

It was bad enough that Alfred had gotten injured during the incident; he didn’t need to do anything that would hurt himself even more.

(augh, long time, I suck)

"Eh, but I'm fine. How about you help me bandage up these cuts and the...holy shit - claw wound. Daaamn, it looks like I'm a Jurassic Park victim - right across my heroic chest!" He tried to touch his 'heroic wound' and hissed, his face contorted in pain. The burning was worse than the cracked bone. "Okay, yeah...definitely bandage up this baby. Anything there for disinfection?"

As heroic as it looked like with the torn shirt of his, the damp fabric was uncomfortably sticking against his skin, and it reeked of a mix of grass, mud and sweat. So he carefully peeled it off, discarded it to a random corner without much care. Alfred looked for a fresh shirt that he could wear once he was properly bandaged.

“Well, there’s some peroxide er…somewhere…” Matthew scoured the ground where he undoubtedly threw it along with many other items from the kit. He made a mental note to put everything back later. “But wherever it is, I think it would do more harm than good, with a cut that size.”

Just as he was getting ready to help bandage the wound, it occurred to him that he could probably use water for disinfectant; at least it was something. A container of water was a much easier find than the peroxide had been and he was about to use it when he figured that he should give Alfred some sort of warning.

“I’m…I’m sorry if this hurts, Al.”

Alfred shrugged, water shouldn't be too painf- he screamed. He was barely able to muffle the loud cry as he felt the substance touch the still fresh wound. First it was only poured upon his skin, but to make sure that no dirt would be left behind Matthew had to lightly dab a wet cloth against the exposed flesh. Alfred groaned with eyes squeezed shut. It didn't help that the water was slightly warm; they always kept it warm for their convenience.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck-" was the incoherent train of bad words coming from his mouth. "Mattie you sonuvabiiiitch~"