After the dishes were washed and put away, the treasure hunt began again.
“Mattie, Mattie, treasure!” Arthur exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly and holding a small pillow.
Poomfh!
“H…h-heavy…t-treasure, l-luv…” Arthur struggled to carry a heavy dictionary down the stairs and into the living room, dropping it a few times and once on his foot.
Crash!
Arthur found the hockey puck that was under the desk in the living room extremely interesting. “This be some kind of weapon?” he asked Matthew. “Looks quite lethal.”
“Oh no, perfectly safe!” said Matthew with a smile, ignoring the multiple times he’d knocked people’s teeth out with a puck to the face.
Plunk!
The hoard was beginning to look quite impressive…and quite full. “I’m not sure we have room for anything else,” said Matthew, looking at the packed-to-the-brim laundry basket.
“A good run today,” Arthur declared, placing his hands on his hips and looking over the “treasure” as well. Matthew looked to him.
“So, now that the treasure hunt is over, what do we do now?” he asked. Arthur smiled and took his hand.
“I’d like to show ye something, luv,” he said. “Follow me.” Matthew braced himself, then was pulled up the stairs as Arthur dashed excitedly to his room. He opened the door, then turned and motioned for Matthew to wait. The Englishman opened a window, looked out, and then turned back to Matthew and waved him over.
“What is it?” Matthew asked, walking over to Arthur and looking out the window as well.
Arthur only smiled wider. “Keep following,” he said. Then he stepped out the window and onto the roof that (thank God) happened to be just outside. He offered a hand to the Canadian, who paled just a bit.
“Uh, o-okay…” he mumbled, taking Arthur’s hand and stepping outside as well. “Wh-why are we o-on m-my roof?”
“Nabooru’s crow’s nest wasn’t high enough,” said Arthur. He motioned up to the highest part of Matthew’s slanted roof. The slant got steeper at the top. Matthew’s face went white.
“I-I think this is t-t-too high,” he stuttered, clutching Arthur’s arm nervously.
Arthur placed his other hand on Matthew’s. “Nonsense!” he laughed. “It be the perfect height! Come on, we have to hurry before we miss it!”
“M-miss what?!” Matthew asked, but he was ignored and pulled higher up the roof. “A-A-Arthur!” he exclaimed, shutting his eyes.
Is it too hard to figure out that Matthew was kind of very scared of heights?
Finally, Arthur got to the highest point, which was just big enough for two people to sit down. He stopped suddenly, Matthew crashed into him, and the Canadian immediately wrapped his arms around him in a panic. “D-D-Don’t let me f-fall!” he managed to stutter out. Arthur turned around in his arms to wrap his own around Matthew’s waist.
“I promise,” he said softly. “Now come sit.” Matthew shook his head. “I’ll hold ye the whole time, alright?” Arthur said, brushing Matthew’s cheek gently. Matthew shook his head again, blushing this time. “Please?”
“NO.”
“Oh, for Davy Jones’ sake, just sit!” With that, Arthur sat down suddenly and pulled Matthew with him. Matthew had to bite his tongue to keep back a shout of fear. He pulled himself close to Arthur and refused to open his eyes.
“H-h-h-hoser!” he said. He felt Arthur hug him gently and ruffle his hair.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Open yer eyes, luv?” Matthew shook his head again, tearing up slightly. “Yer going to miss what I want ye to see, poppet,” Arthur said softly. He pulled Matthew away a bit and kissed his cheek. “Please, luv? I’ll keep ye safe.” Hesitantly, Matthew blinked his eyes open. He kept them focused on Arthur, not on the fact that they were fairly high up in the air and able to fall off at any second and alright Arthur right that’s who he was focusing on.
The pirate smiled at him and kissed the tears that Matthew hadn’t even realised had been falling away. “I didn’t remember ye’d be so scared, pet. I’m so sorry. Look out there?” He motioned to the direction they were facing. Matthew kept his violet eyes staring into Arthur’s one green one for a moment, then slowly and quietly turned to see what Arthur had motioned to.
Oh. Oh. That was the most beautiful sunset Matthew had ever seen. The sky was full of brilliant red and oranges, streaks of purple and gold and a hint of black at the edges and on the clouds. It looked like something out of a painting. Matthew was speechless. Arthur chuckled softly.
“Not as nice as one at sea,” he said. “But this’ll do. Ye like it, luv?”
“Beautiful,” Matthew whispered, pressing himself closer to Arthur. The Englishman held him tightly, then moved one hand to under Matthew’s chin and turned his head gently to face him.
“Not as beautiful as ye are, my love.” He smiled softly and leaned in to lay a gentle kiss on Matthew’s lips, then pulled away.
Matthew pulled him back. “I love you,” he said, blushing immensely but keeping his gaze steady. Arthur smiled more, then kissed him again. This one was longer, deeper, and for a while Matthew lost himself there. He forgot that they were on top of his roof. He forgot that it was highly dangerous and that he should be scared out of his mind. He even forgot that Arthur had been acting like a pirate the whole day. All that mattered was how much he loved Arthur, and that Arthur was there and holding him. God, that sounded so corny, but that’s how he felt. And when Arthur finally pulled away again, and everything Matthew had forgotten came back to him, somehow they didn’t seem as important.
“I love ye more than anything, poppet,” Arthur said quietly, leaning his forehead against Matthew’s and closing his eyes. He smiled softly again and held himself there for a second. Then he pulled back and cupped a hand around Matthew’s cheek. “Now, luv,” he said, “let’s get ye off this roof, hm?”
