Lunch was rather uneventful. Arthur did most of the talking, praising Matthew’s pancakes and cautiously watching Kumathing and declaring the silverware some newfangled type of treasure. After they had finally finished up, Matthew gathered up the plates and glasses and such and brought them over to the sink to begin to wash them. Arthur followed him closely and wrapped an arm around him.
“Don’t clean those,” he said. “That be swabbies’ work.”
“We don’t have any ‘swabbies’ here,” Matthew sighed, running water over a plate and scrubbing the syrup off.
Arthur tsked and pushed Matthew over slightly to make room at the sink. “Let me, then, pet,” he said. “Ye did all the cooking.” He took a glass and placed it under the water for a few seconds, then grabbed a dishtowel and dried it off.
“Aren’t you the captain, though?” Matthew asked, swiping the plate that Arthur had picked up next and washing it. “Captains don’t ever do ‘swabbies’ work’, now do they, eh?” He grinned when Arthur blushed slightly.
“Captains do whatever work they’d like!” he retorted as he grabbed the plate back to dry it. He gave Matthew a slight push. Matthew shoved him lightly in response, and he shoved back again. “Watch it, luv!” he laughed. The Canadian grinned, then flicked water from the faucet at Arthur’s face. “What be this? Mutiny?” asked Arthur incredulously. Then he grinned back and splashed him as well.
“Hoser!” Matthew said, splashing again and laughing. Arthur grinned wider and kept splashing him.
“Yer being quite disrespectful, poppet!” he said. The response he got was a wet wash towel to the face. “Alright, pet, ye asked for it!” He wiped his visible eye with his sleeve, then grinned at his boyfriend again. “Ye know what we do to mutinous rebels, luv?” he asked, grin turning slightly devious. Matthew froze for a second and went slightly red. He took a step back. Then Arthur lunged at him and began to tickle his sides.
Damn, he hated it when Arthur remembered he was really ticklish.
“S-S-STOP!” Matthew managed to stutter out. He wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck, attempting not to fall to the ground from laughing so hard. “You hoser!” he spat. “Hoser hoser hoser!” Arthur just grinned wider and continued to tickle him. Eventually, Matthew lost the ability to talk and just laughed hysterically, attempting unsuccessfully to move away. He felt his legs give out, and just as he began to fall, Arthur stopped and held him up.
The pirate’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Now do ye know better than to rebel against me, pet?” he asked. Matthew looked at him for a second, blushing immensely, then pulled himself closer and buried his head in Arthur’s chest.
“You’re such a hoser.”
“Such disrespect!”
“I love you…”
Arthur hesitated for a moment, then smiled softly and ran a hand through Matthew’s hair. “Love ye, too,” he murmured quietly. They stood there for a while, quiet, simply feeling the other breathe against them, Matthew a bit heavily since he still hadn’t recovered from that tickle fest of death. After a few minutes had gone by, Matthew pulled away slightly.
“Sh-shall we finish those dishes, then?” he asked, still blushing a bit.
Arthur smiled and kissed his nose. “Sure, luv,” he said, beaming.
