[F] Painting ((Alfred))

[Arthur Kirkland]

Frowning at the teasing, Arthur still had no intentions of eating much. Alfred would have to manage. Besides, Alfred's idea of a ton was no doubt far too much. Suddenly remembering something that he needed, when Alfred returned, Arthur briefly touched his arm and gave his wallet. "Hang on a moment, pay if I'm not back in time." He said, before darting off.

It took him a moment to find what he wanted, but he trotted back just in time to put the lock on the conveyor belt and take his wallet back from Alfred, deciding to use his card rather than cash in the end. "I told you I'd get you a lock for the door." He said, giving Alfred a smile while he waited for the card to go through. He then returned the card to his wallet and moved to take a couple of bags, hoping Alfred was all right with the weight of what was left. Arthur took a little more than was really comfortable to try and even out the weights that they were carrying.

"It'd be easier if I already had everything over at the house, but... We might as well at least get the white washing and the sketching done, then go home and pick up groceries on the way." He said, unknowingly echoing Alfred's thoughts as he led the way away from the shop and towards the tram stop to get a tram back to the new house. "Is that all right? We still have a week until I have to be out of the flat, so we don't have to rush."

[Alfred Jones]

The frown of course amused the younger man, and he rocked on his heels before blinking when he was given the wallet. "Uh...Okay." Blinking, he watched as Arthur slipped off before moving up so he could pay if needed. He didnt even open the wallet, just holding on it with both hands like he was afraid someone was going to snatch it from him. When the smaller man returned he was a bit obviously relieved, returning the wallet.

The sight of the lock did make him smile though, and he nodded. He'd need to borrow some power tools, but that should probably be the easiest thing to do for the new house not counting moving stuff into it. When Arthur took the bags though, he almost frowned. He could carry much more than Arthur, and he was already worried about him...Still, he just took the bags, rather easily carrying them in one hand while he carried the ladder in the other arm.

"Mmnn...Okay, I guess that sounds fine. I'll need to take care of the crack first though, so if you start on one room while I do that by the time we finish getting it done we should be able to go over the other in a bit." Following Arthur, Alfred of course nodded, giving him a bright smile. "Mhm! And you dont have to worry about rushing on the painting and stuff. If I stay the night there I'll just sleep somewhere else...Besides, other than the mattress, the bed frame will have to be set up, so we can just hold off on that so you have as much time as you need to work on it."

The tram ride over was mostly uneventful, Alfred of course a bit excited to see Arthurs new home. It was amusing, like a child or a dog expecting to explore new territory. The younger man didn't have any issues carrying the stuff over, and he of course offered to take the bags from Arthur because he could still carry more seeing as the ladder wasn't heavy at all to him. Once they reached the house, he first was curiously looking at the outside, and bounced on his heels faintly with a big grin.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur was satisfied to see Alfred smile when he saw the lock. He’d known that’d be a good idea. Even if it meant he really was handing the room over to Alfred, he didn’t mind too much. The room could be Alfred’s. Maybe it’d encourage him to stay off the streets so Arthur wouldn’t have to worry about him. He accepted Alfred’s suggestions for the best way to organise things and nodded lightly. He trusted Alfred’s opinion on this. “There’s no where to sleep there at the moment. If you don’t want to have to walk over, we can bring bedding over tomorrow?” He suggested.

The bags that he’d taken really were too much but he tried not to show it to Alfred. He still refused to let Alfred take any, even when they left the tram and walked towards the house. Fortunately, it was just round the corner from the stop, though Arthur was looking a little shaky when they reached the door. It was a nice little house, detached, and surrounded by slightly unkempt grass. Arthur put down his bags on the doorstep and rummaged in his pockets for the keys. Opening the door, he let them inside. It was empty, of course, though there was a fridge, cooker and washing machine in the kitchen at least. Arthur brought the bags into the sitting room, then stretched.

“You can go and have a look round if you want.” He said, leaning against the window sill, trying to recover a bit. “I’ll start moving everything upstairs in a moment.” His legs were shaking a bit, but he locked them. He didn’t want to faint again. He was sick of it. Arthur closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before making a noise. “I should have brought the kettle over. I could do with a cup of tea right now.”

[Alfred Jones]

Well Alfred was already noting on it, and he decided he'd leave it unlocked for when he wasnt home at least. That way Arthur could use it as a storage space..it'd help make him feel less bad about agreeing into taking something like this. Still, the idea made him look up thoughtfully. "Hmn...Sleeping bags on the floor of a new house. Sounds fun, hmn?" He asked, grinning teasingly.

Unfortunately, Alfred could kind of see that Arthur had taken too much, and he doubled his efforts into letting him take some of them. The house at least distracted him when they arrived though, eyes looking over the front with a smile. It was a really nice place...Heading inside with his own bags, he set them down next to Arthurs before he nodded and then paused. "I saw a store a ways back, I can go grab you something from it..."

And he didnt look like he was going to take no for an answer, especially when Arthur looked like that. "And don't lock your legs, it makes you pass out faster." He mumbled, heading over and tugging on the others shirt. It was faintly amusing how he was trying to go about this. He knew that Arthur didnt like being worried after, and so he was trying to avoid that--But now it was obvious to him that there was something wrong with Arthur now.

However, what completed the somewhat amusing attempt was that he was looking down, kind of like a child would when he knew something and had to tell an adult or he'd get in trouble. It was determined, that much was obvious, and he lightly remained holding onto his sleeve. That, of course, alone was a sign of how worried he was for him now.

[Arthur Kirkland]

"No, it's fine. I just want a drink. I'll get some water in a moment." Arthur said, frowning a little. His cheeks darkened as Alfred told him not to lock his legs, and he put his hand over Alfred's. He was a little clammy, but he hoped Alfred wouldn't notice. "I'm fine. Really." It was kind of cute, Arthur noticed absent-mindedly, the way that Alfred looked so childish and sweet. It made him feel a little guilty about lying, but at the same time he didn't want to worry Alfred. He was fine! This was ridiculous. He'd already eaten to try and stop this.

"I'm not going to fain--" Ironically, his body decided that it'd had enough, and as he spoke, Arthur's legs finally gave way beneath him and his eyes rolled back. His body slumped against Alfred's, his pulse racing and his breath shuddering. He'd pushed himself too far. And with his weight against Alfred it was easy to feel why. His loose clothes revealed that he had lost weight, but not how much. He'd dipped below 100lb in the last few weeks.

[Alfred Jones]

Unfortunately for Arthur, Alfred did notice, and that immediately made him look more worried. Opening his mouth to argue, Alfred was about to actually yell at the other, to attempt to knock some sense into him--But then Arthur fainted. Quickly he caught him around the waist, a reflex he had developed by now, and he frowned heavily at this.

"Arthur...?" He had seen that Arthur was bad, but bad enough to faint?...Swallowing, he touched Arthurs sides, frowning heavily when he got to feel how thin this man was. Damnit Arthur! The scrawny man couldn't escape him now, he wasn't going to let him kill himself this way. Huffing, he looked around, and with nothing else to lay him on managed to at least get a tarp over to lay him down on, using another folded up as a pillow. Once finished with that, he tugged his hoodie off and rest that ontop of the other, not wanting him to get cold.

Sighing, he finally sat down near the other, feeling his forehead for a moment before he slumped. Damnit, he would have been more forceful, Arthur really was all skin and bones...Sighing, he then stood and took one of the tarps with him to fix the crack in teh wall first, but first off he opened the window where Arthur lay, so he'd have fresh air. Doing that to a few more places in the house just so the smell of chemicals and paint wouldn't linger, he then got started.

Alfred moved fast--He fixed the crack in under five minutes, and then after returning to get more tarps, he managed to paint the opposite room white all himself. The crack had to have a few more coats for it to be as strong and nice looking as before, but he'd go back and forth, and he'd managed to fix the crack and finish white washing the room. Only then did he go on back to see how Arthur was doing and--at finding the older man still out, he sighed...Well...Settling down, he searched his pockets and found the key for the house, and with that he locked hte house up before jogging down the street.

He got an apple and a sandwich with meat as well as a cookie, and a bottle of iced tea and a water before paying and returning, almost hoping that Arthur would be awake so he could scold him...And if he had to play this back up card, he would.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur woke feeling groggy and disorientated, and he curled up a little, drawing what he assumed was his blanket closer around him. When he felt the plastic of the tarpaulin he hesitated, and opened one eye. He quickly regretted that, feeling dizzy and nauseous. It wouldn't be the first time it'd happened, but he still didn't like it. It was uncomfortable on the floor though, and the tarpaulin didn't offer a lot of protection from the open windows.

Carefully sitting up, Arthur managed to get into a sitting position, folding his legs up against his chest and curling in. He noticed Alfred's jumper over the tarpaulin and hesitated, before picking it up. He hugged it in against himself for a moment, trying to stay warm that way, then glanced around, and finally slipped into it. It wasn't surprising that it swamped him, but it was kind of nice, and he hid his face in the soft material, pretending that he wasn't enjoying Alfred's scent.

He kind of spaced out for a while, curled up small. That had been happening a lot recently too. Time just seemed to pass without him realising it. He jumped when he heard someone at the door and tensed, before realising it must be Alfred. Standing, he tried to ignore how light headed he was as he used the wall as a prop and silently moved over to double check, a sigh of relief giving him away as he saw the familiar form in the doorway. A frown quickly followed as he saw the bag, though, not sure what was in it. "Alfred?" Arthur paused, licking his lips a little nervously. "How long was I out for?" He'd forgotten that he was still wearing Alfred's jumper, leaning against the doorframe for support.

[Alfred Jones]

Once he had gotten the keys out and gotten in, he blinked when he saw that Arthur was awake. Well then, the battle begins. "Um.." Pausing, he checked his phone. "Around two hours it looks like...You really shouldn't be standing though." He frowned, and after closing the door behind him he headed over and touched his forehead...Still clammy.

He was amused the other had put on his hoodie, but, well, he didnt mind. It was so big on him it went to his thighs anyway. " Come on, we're going to have a little talk." He stated then, and led him into the room where he had repaired the crack, closing the window before he took a seat on the carpet, waiting for Arthur to join him. First off he set the ice tea down next to him though, knowing that he'd be even thirstier after passing out like that.

Opening his own bottled water and taking a sip, he attempted to figure out how to start this. "Arthur...Um...Not to sound like some after school special, but...When you look in the mirror at yourself, what do you see?" He asked softly, looking at him. Alfred had known that Arthur had been sick, but..Well, this kind of surpassed that entirely, and while Alfred knew better than to selfdiagnose, it was pretty obvious that something was up with Arthurs body image. The reactions he had stated enough in that direction.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur was surprised that he'd been out for so long, but was even more surprised when Alfred crossed over and touched him like that of his own accord. Alfred's hand felt cool and it was hard not to lean in. "I'm all right." He murmured, trying to be reassuring. Perhaps he should have been worried that he was out for so long, but he couldn't find the energy to worry too much.

Obediently he padded after Alfred, up the stairs. He could smell the paint, and he glanced into the main bedroom as they passed. "You painted already?" He felt bad, that he'd left Alfred to do all the work, and he noticed that the crack had been fixed as he sat down too. Well... he'd make it up to him somehow. Tucking his legs up again, he curled up into the too big hoodie, eyeing the bottle that Alfred passed over. He would have much preferred water. He knew how much sugar they put into iced tea. But his mouth was dry, so after a moment he did reach over and undo it, taking small sips to try and abate his thirst.

Keeping his eyes on the floor as Alfred spoke, Arthur frowned at the question and tucked himself in closer. "What do you mean? I see myself." He said, not entirely sure what Alfred was getting on at. His hand tightened around his thigh, and he swallowed, thinking about what he saw. The disgusting fat on his arms and stomach and thighs, the weak lines of muscle where he'd rather see something more like Alfred's form... actually, on the whole, he was pretty jealous of Alfred's body. From what he'd seen there was not an ounce of fat on him, and yet he was still strong and muscled. Unlike Arthur, who saw himself as fat and weak.

[Alfred Jones]

"Ah...Just the one room, and the crack. I figured even with you out we shouldn't let the time go to waste." Giving a faint smile, Alfred noted how Arthur was kind of eyeing his water and set it down as well incase he wanted some." Feel free to have a little if you want."

However, he frowned a little at what he said. The faint reactions were also speaking levels to what he was thinking. Well, time to fish a bit. "...Do you see yourself...Chubby? Fat? Incredibly obese?" He asked then, arching a brow. It was more blunt than he'd probably ever been with Arthur, but he was very worried for the other. If this was what he was thinking the issue might be, well...

Shifting, he searched the bag and then brought out the apple, offering it out to him. At least apples were healthy, but it'd also help his blood sugar, if just a little. he took half of the cookie himself to softly nibble on.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur did eye the water, considering swapping their drinks over, but didn't know what Alfred would think about sharing bottles. And he probably needed a drink after doing all that work. "You didn't have to." He frowned a little. "But thank you." He paused, playing with his trousers. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you with the work." Well, obviously, he hadn't intended to faint at all, but that wasn't the point.

"I am fat." Arthur responded, frowning a little. "I don't just see it in the mirror." Shifting his hand, he moved to pinch his arm to show Alfred, but then realised between the layers of Alfred's jumper and his own he could only grab fabric. Instead he pushed them up, exposing a taunt stomach, and he pinched the skin. "See?" He said, distaste written all over his face as he looked down at himself. He hadn't wanted to show Alfred that, but he wanted to prove his point to Alfred and stop him worrying, unwittingly showing Alfred exactly what the problem was and how bad it had gotten. Quickly he covered himself up again, ignoring the apple. He did take another sip of the tea though. "And before you say anything, I am eating. I ate this morning." Well, that was the first thing he'd eaten in... probably a day or so, but Alfred didn't need to know that.

[Alfred Jones]

Arthur doing that obviously didn't have the effect that he wanted. Alfreds eyes were wide with faint horror at what he saw, this was incredibly serious. "Arthur. You are quite literally skin and bones. I'd be surprised if your stomache hadn't already ingested itself! If I had known you were this thin I would have stepped in sooner...Gods, Arthur.."

Pausing just to rub his face, he then narrowed his eyes a little as he looked forward, before returning his gaze to Arthur. "Arthur. You're anorexic, aren't you. That's the bottom line, the symptoms are all pointing to that." His voice was softer now, worried and just afraid for how long Arthur had been like this. "You're going to get put in the hospital with a tube implanted in your throat just so you'll eat something if you keep going like this..."

[Arthur Kirkland]

Pausing when he saw Alfred's reaction, Arthur withdrew further, curling up more. Was he really that disgusting to look at? To be fair, it had been months since anyone except for Arthur had seen him, aside from the doctor, and Arthur certainly didn't trust his opinion, since he'd told him to eat more. Then again, Alfred was just going to do the same, but for some reason... Alfred's opinion mattered.

"I'm not that thin." He muttered into his legs. "And I'm certainly not anorexic! I eat plenty." He paused, not looking up at Alfred. "I just want to lose a little more weight." He admitted. "Just so that fat goes away and I can look... normal." Arthur licked his lips, tucking himself up closer. He wasn't going to end up in the hospital because, well, he knew he wasn't that bad, and he was sure that Alfred wouldn't try and put him in.

Uncurling a bit, Arthur replaced the lid on his drink, then stood up. "If that's all, we should get on with painting." He said, obviously wanting to move the conversation on. He wasn't comfortable with this at all. He was trusting that Alfred was too timid to try and push it back, which was a bit mean, but he just didn't want to deal with it right now. "Will that crack be dry enough to paint over, do you think?"

[Alfred Jones]

That Arthur wasn't taking this seriously bothered him, and Alfred tugged his legs up against himself. "You don't need to lose weight, you need to gain some or your muscles might start breaking down just in an attempt for your body to keep you running..." he murmured softly, staring at his feet. Why didn't Arthur believe him...?

Shoulders slumped a bit at the attempt not working, but Arthur was right, Alfred wasn't strong enough to try and force him more now. Faintly nodding at the question, eyes remained on the floor, like a child that was about to be beaten for even saying something wrong. Really, it honestly looked like that kind of horrible situation. For now though his thoughts were straying. Was he not allowed to worry about people if he was in a friendship with someone..? He was pretty sure that friends didnt work that way...

Well for the rest of the time painting, Alfred barely said anything, looking a bit out of it as he would work. Despite that, the room still got take care of semi-quickly, and he flopped down on the floor when it was done, his legs going indian style. Well at least everything looked fine...

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur was taking it seriously, he just couldn't see what the problem was. He just wanted to lose a little more weight! It wasn't like there wasn't plenty to lose. Self consciously he curled up more in Alfred's jumper, hiding his body shape by hunching his shoulders so the jumper fell more loosely over him. Unfortunately for Alfred it was going to take more than that to make Arthur realise what he was doing to himself. At the moment he just felt guilty for making Alfred worry over nothing.

The afternoon was a little uncomfortable, but at least they got some work done. When Alfred flopped down, Arthur finished painting the area he was working on, then set the roller down and came to sit next to him. "Alfred..." Arthur started, before pausing. He chewed on his lip, tucking himself up again, before realising that he was still wearing the other's jumper. At least he hadn't got any paint on it! "Do you want this back?" He asked, tugging at the fabric, before starting to strip out of it, handing it over to Alfred. "Sorry, I forgot I was wearing it."

Relaxing a little, now, Arthur thought things through. Maybe if he could just try and eat a little while Alfred was around Alfred would stop worrying and he'd... make up for it somehow when he was gone. Or maybe he could get enough privacy to purge, though that wasn't something he'd tried before. "Do you still want to make that seafood spaghetti thing for dinner?" He asked, cautiously. "It's going to take a while for this to dry so we could leave it for today?"

[Alfred Jones]

To be honest, Alfred barely was looking at Arthur at all during the entire process, more interested in just finishing the walls. Rolling his hands to make his wrists pop a bit to loosen them from the repetitive motion, the younger man lightly sighed to himsef, ignoring as Arthur sat near him. "You can keep it." he finally said softly, standing once again to make sure the spot he was focusing on wasn't messed up like he thought.

Luckily it seemed fine, and so he checked on the area that had had the crack, pleased a bit that he couldnt even tell that it had been there. But unfortunately for Arthur, Alfred wasn't trusting him about that anymore. He may have not been friends with them, but there had been people he'd known that had been anorexics, not to mention he'd read enough to see these symptoms and kind of get in the persons mind, knowing what they'd end up doing.

"...I'm just going to get my shit and go. I don't want to bother you anymore, Arthur..." Alfred finally said softly, eyes closing as he headed towards the door. He felt disgusting, and selfish, because Arthur was willing to change so much about himself but he couldn't stop asking for more..Even if this was important, and because he was worried for him. But no, he figured it'd just be easier if he didn't take Arthur up on the room, and he just..Didn't bother with the other changing himself for him. Or him at all.

It was making him sick feeling about himself already...Well at least Arthur would have the spare room for company...never mind that the company Arthur would most likely have over would be from clubs when Alfred was gone. Quickly he lifted a hand to cover his mouth at the thought, swallowing anything that might come up. No, no, this was fine. It was okay to be alone again.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Unsure what had made that change in Alfred, Arthur quickly stood and reached out for him, cautiously catching him by the hand, as he hoped it'd make him feel less trapped than the shoulder. "Alfred, wait!" He paused, and carefully pulled Alfred back to face him. "You don't bother me. I've told you that before. Even if..." He paused, and licked his lips. "Even if I am right about my weight, you're still allowed to be concerned. That's what friends do, right?" He offered him a small smile, nervous about phrasing it so it sounded like he was wrong rather than Alfred.

Besides, without Alfred, the room probably would go empty. Arthur couldn't imagine going back down to the clubs, not looking like this, and his sex drive had been low recently anyway. And it wasn't like he had any other friends, which wasn't good, as without someone to yell at him, the likelihood was that Arthur wouldn't be around to yell at after another year or so of this.

"Please, love." Arthur gave Alfred a light tug. "Don't go?" He felt bad for ruining the good mood of the day. Alfred had been so enthusiastic when they'd arrived! And he'd thought that he'd been getting somewhere when he'd finally opened up and helped Arthur to pick a design for the room.

[Alfred Jones]

The sudden grasp on his hand did make him flinch slightly, but it was at least a very faint one compared to if somewhere else had been grabbed. Even if he was turned, his gaze moved to the floor though, still feeling sick with himself. The nickname also faintly made him tense, unsure how to feel about it, but it just kind of went over his head after a moment.

Alfred was worried about though, and worried that if he did this to himself much longer he really would be in a bad position health wise...Finally he turned a bit again though. "...Kay..." Was mumbled barely loud enough to hear. "..I don't like feeling like I'm not being heard.." Was added on though, funnily enough sounding somewhat like a kid who had just discovered that. But it did bother him, that Arthur didn't even give a thought to the things that Alfred was pointing out.

Actually, that he didnt had him kind of looking a bit watery eyed. Even if he was worried about the older man, he doubted that he would listen judging on what had happened today. Not to mention it was kind of going back to past memories...

[Arthur Kirkland]

"I am listening to you!" Arthur tried to reassure him, quickly. He was! He just... couldn't believe Alfred. It'd take more than just words to prove to him that there was an issue. That shouldn't have been too surprising, given that Arthur had fainted and was still lying to himself. He didn't say that he didn't believe Alfred, though. He wasn't that stupid. "I am." He added, a little quieter.

Arthur gave Alfred's hand a light squeeze before releasing him, still half worried he was going to dart off and disappear for months again. "Come on, let's leave this for today." He suggested again. "We can grab stuff for dinner on the way home, and maybe a movie too?" He just wanted to leave everything that had been said today behind and forget about it. He'd deal with the consequences of eating later. "We can get ice cream if you want?" He offered, a little cautiously, before he gave a little laugh. "And I'll eat some too."

[Alfred Jones]

Shaking his head a bit, both to get the thoughts out and because he didn't believe Arthur was, not really. Once his hand was released it disappeared into his pants pocket though, as if hiding it from Arthur incase he grabbed it again. Faintly he nodded though, breathing out, since he didn't believe Arthur would eat much anyway...

Well, perhaps he'd just mirror Arthur to make him see how much of an idiot he was. That sounded like a rather good plan, even if he would be hungry. He could deal with it...The sound of ice cream did at least make him hum out faintly. He'd start mirroring him after the ice cream. "I'll make something you like though.." The younger decided then, and with that he moved around the room, putting the tops on teh cans to make sure nothing would dry out while they were gone, and after that he headed out into the house, closing the windows he'd opened.

Once finished, he tossed the sandwich and apple into the fridge when they passed near it, so it'd at least be there tomorrow, and then both of his hands hid in his pockets again. Apparently he had meant what he said about Arthur keeping it though, as he didnt seem bothered by the cool night air when they stepped out of the house.