The stereos on the TV played soft music from the top 100 hundred songs from Germany thanks to the Spotify application he had downloaded on his laptop. With a small table placed next to the TV screen, Gilbert was able to hook up the laptop through an HDMI cable to play his favourite music instead of the rather America-centric music that normally played on the radio. Matthew seemed to enjoy a few songs, having trilled along, making Gilbert wonder just where Matthew had heard them on his travels. Regardless, having the lively Matthew around had done wonders to the usual drab apartment Gilbert came home to. Sadly though, the cleaning was slower than usual for Gilbert because of said lively bird.

"Vögelchen, you need to find a different place sit instead of on my head. I can't bend down to pick something up if you make a fuss every time." Gilbert screwed his eyes shut as Matthew pulled slightly at his hair when Gilbert bent down to pick up a pair of pants.

Before Matthew had graced him with his human presence, Gilbert had slowly lost his usual urge to keep the place tidy. Instead, he threw clothes down wherever he pleased, or let the dishes piled up. Now he had a reason to keep everything in its place once more. He knew Matthew had no intention of being a hindrance or hurting him, but if the apartment was to be cleaned before Francis arrived with dinner, Matthew needed another place to perch. Gilbert could feel a huff in his hair before the small Warbler flitted to the couch where a small gathering of pillows and a sweatshirt served as his nest of sorts.

"Danke. My hair appreciates it." Gilbert ran a hand through his white hair, finding a few feathers dislodged but only shook his head. Did birds shed their feathers like cats and dogs shed their fur? He would have look up a little more information about birds sometime considering for the time being Matthew would be a bird for most of the day until he was stronger in shifting. "By the way, Francis should be here in about twenty minutes. You might want to start thinking about changing your form soon."

Matthew glanced at the clock, ruffling his feathers for a moment before taking flight once more this time to the second bedroom. Gilbert had placed Matthew's clothes in there for the time being, but the room was still used as a sort of office space. He would have to go out and buy a few pieces of furniture for the poor thing later. In the meantime though, Matthew could use Gilbert's bed. At least the couch was comfortable enough to sleep on he mused. As Gilbert continued to clean the living room, he caught the glimpse of a flustered human face belonging to Matthew before the door to the room promptly shut.

"For someone who changes from a bird to a human, he sure is self-conscious. I wonder if it's because feathers act like clothing." Gilbert shrugged his shoulders as he shifted the recliner chair over a few inches till it was straight again before he dusted off his hands. "There, that should just about do it. I'll need to get the plates out and some other things."

Whistling merrily, he opened up the cabinet in the kitchen to pull out plates. Just as he was setting everything on the table, a knock came from the door. Gilbert checked the clock to see Francis still had another ten minutes before he was supposed arrive, and the Frenchman never arrived on time to anything. It was then Matthew poked his head out of the bedroom door, purple eyes wide. He frantically shook his head at Gilbert, who paused in his trek to the door. Raising an eyebrow, Gilbert waited for Matthew to explain. Matthew stayed quiet, fear clearly written on his face.

"Vögel—"

The knock on the door came again this time a little more aggressive than before.

"I'm coming!" Gilbert frowned at the door before turning to find Matthew had come out of the room, edging his way closer to Gilbert. "What's wrong? Is it the guy from early?"

Matthew shook his head. "I-it's my brother."

Gilbert blinked for a moment. Another pounding came at his door, but he ignored it in favour of Matthew wringing his hands together. He had to think fast. Gilbert knew what it meant to be a big brother and if Ludwig would have been staying at some stranger's house, he would probably be banging on their door too. Still, from what Gilbert could gather, Matthew's brother made a lot decisions for the two of them. Taking Matthew's hand in a very slow and deliberate manner so as to not frighten the poor bird, he gave it a pat. He wore his usual grin.

"I won't let him take you away if that's not what you want. Remember, you have a home here now too." Gilbert watched Matthew's eye grow once again as tears started to prick his eyes. "Hey now, no crying. If he sees you with tears it will be harder to convince him to let you stay."

Matthew nodded, wiping away the tears. "Kay."

The two walked the small distance to the door, Matthew hiding behind Gilbert, which was rather comically since Gilbert was shorter than Matthew. Just as Gilbert was about to open the door, the person on the other side pounded once more and called out Matthew's name. Cursing, Gilbert opened the door.

"Verdammt, I said I was coming. Geez, what the hell do you want?" Gilbert's German accent thickened a little with his irritation.

"Yo, I know you have my brother. Hand him over before I totally kick your ass. I told him humans were no good." A young American stood in front of his door, both hands raised as if ready to throw a punch.

"Woah, calm down. Matthew is right here and unharmed." Gilbert leaned against the door a little to reveal Matthew. "See. If you wanted to see him, all you had to do was ask nicely."

"A-Al-Alfred!" Matthew squeaked when he was revealed a bit more before burying his face into Gilbert's back.

"Mattie! Thank god, I thought you were going to be turned into an experiment or something. What did I tell you about going with humans?" Alfred barrelled his way through the doorway, completely ignoring Gilbert, who glared at him, mouth slightly agape.

"What the hell? You need permission to enter someone's—"

"Can it German. You can't hold Mattie against his will and you aren't taking him to get experimented on!" Alfred grabbed at Matthew's arm as Gilbert stood there shocked. Shaking his head, he cleared it to see Matthew trying to get out of Alfred's grip.

"Stop that!" Gilbert stepped in the way once more, glaring the boy down. "Like I've been trying to tell you, I'm not going to send him anywhere. He's a guest in my home. Now if you don't calm down and actually listen I'll have to use some force."

"Gil." Matthew bunched up Gilbert's shirt where he held on.

"I won't hurt him." Gilbert glared at Alfred, who glared back with a pair cerulean eyes.

"Ha, as if you could hurt me. I'm a hero for saving Mattie and you're obviously the bad guy." Alfred puffed out his chest a little with pride.

The two stood on guard, Gilbert taking in the American. He wore torn up jeans, a white t-shirt, and the usual converse shoes Gilbert saw most of the young adult population wearing. What caught Gilbert off guard was the jacket he wore; a bomber jacket from World War II belonging to an aviator. It was strange to see someone so young in the possession of such a jacket. The jacket certainly contrasted the loose button-up shirt Gilbert wore and the rather nice dress pants since he had not changed out of work clothes.

"Mon dieu Gilbert. You didn't mention someone else would be coming for dinner." Francis stood in the doorway, bags in his hands filled with food if the smell was anything to go by. Alfred glanced back, fear obvious in his cerulean eyes, yet the large growl coming from his stomach claimed he was hungry.

"Go ahead and set up Franny. The plates are mostly set up." Gilbert glanced at Matthew to gesture with his eyes for Matthew to help Francis. He happily rushed towards Francis to help with the many bags as Gilbert and Alfred continued to stare. "Care to do this the civilised way?"

"And have you send me off to some lab? I know what you Germans do to people who are different. I don't know why you're on their side when you're one of us." Alfred's voice was low, probably because of the appearance of Francis.

"What are you talking about? Everything that you've said so far hasn't made any sense." Gilbert sighed at having to deal with such a nuisance when all he wanted was dinner. The smell of roasted meat filled the apartment, making Gilbert's mouth water.

"I've seen it on TV. You experiment on people who are different than you. You can't fool me and you're not going to fool Mattie either." Alfred kept glancing between Gilbert and the table being set up with food when suddenly a very large growl came from the shifter.

"I don't know what you've been watching on TV, but most of that stuff is garbage anyway. Look, if you're hungry just sit at the table. You can then see for yourself I don't want to do anything to Matthew except make sure he's comfortable here. So truce over food." Gilbert didn't even bother to wait for a response as he closed the door to his apartment and headed to grab another plate. "Matthew, could you grab the chair from the other room?"

When Gilbert glanced back, he saw Alfred still standing there as if he was unsure of what to do next. Gilbert rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. A smirk graced his lips as he nudged Francis.

"Who is that?" Francis asked, taking the lid off another dish.

"Apparently Matthew's brother. Go bring him to the table, I'll get drinks. Do you want beer or wine?"

"Beer is fine if that's what you're having." Francis stated as he ran a hand through his blonde locks, pouring on as much charm as he could. "Mon cher, you should come sit at the table. There's plenty of food."

Gilbert could hear the weak protests as he opened the fridge to grab two beers and two bottles of water for the shifters. The atmosphere was alive in the apartment like it never had been before. For the longest time it had only been him and the silence when he came home from work. Now, the air was filled with conversation and a lively feeling. It was almost as if he was back at home among friends and his family. Perhaps having Matthew around was the best thing that ever happened to him. Determined now more than ever, Gilbert was going to make sure whoever this shifter hunter was would never get his hands on Matthew.

"Gil?" Matthew's head poked into the kitchen, startling him. "Francis says he's waiting."

"Coming." Gilbert put on an easy smile as he passed out the drinks and sat down. Matthew sat close to him, Francis and Alfred across from them.

The tense air could be cut with a knife. No one spoke, only staring at the food on the table. Matthew fidgeted in his seat. Francis, glanced between Alfred and Gilbert. Alfred continued to glare at Gilbert, who promptly ignored him since there was just no use trying to get through Alfred's head with words. Gilbert would just have to show him how Matthew was comfortable and considered this place a home.

"So, Matthew's brother, my name is Francis Bonnefoy. I met your brother earlier today, but I'm old friends with Gilbert over here. Helped him get the proper attire for working at a business." Francis said he started cutting the meat, the aroma filling the room.

"Nice to meet ya," Alfred said, cautious as Francis handled the knife.

Gilbert sighed, wondering when the American would let go of his fear. It only served to make Matthew more nervous than he already was, and Francis felt the tension, only trying to break with some small talk. He wanted to just tell Francis to ignore Alfred, but that would have been rude and would not help him win over Alfred. Although why he wanted to win over Matthew's brother gave him pause in his actions of holding out his plate for Francis to put food on it.

"Since Alfred is here and you said you were going to explain to me what happened, why not tell both of us the story? Perhaps then Alfred will see you are not such a monster." Francis suggested as he helped Matthew put a few items on the plate, containing mostly vegetables and other vegetarian like foods.

"Nothing is going to change my mind. Matthew belongs with his own kind who aren't going to hurt—"

"Al, he's not a shifter! I thought so too, b-but it turned out I was wrong." Matthew's voice grew softer from the initial interruption, as he slowly shrunk back in his seat.

Alfred sat still in his chair, blinking at Matthew for a moment before springing up and knocking over his chair. "What do you mean he's not one of us? He has strange hair and his eyes? Dude, if he's not one of us then-then I'll—"

"I'm not," Gilbert said, not even batting an eyelash as he sipped the beer. "Matthew thought so too."

"Gil, why not start from the beginning mon cher."

"Ja, alright. So I homesick and wanted to get fresh air. I took my lunch and sat on a bench at the park every day. Matthew at the time would just stay at a distance, but as I saw him every day, I just started talking to him. I told him all sorts of stories, from my brother back home, or even some about work. Then one day he just wasn't there and I thought I had lost my one friend."

Francis looked a little hurt as he scoffed at Gilbert, who only waved his hand, dismissing the Frenchman to continue his story.

"But when I thought I was alone, he showed up as a human, took the food I normally feed him as a bird and told me how he was a shifter. He thought I was too because of my hair and eyes, but as I explained to him, I'm what you call an albino. I've always had this colour hair and eyes. I felt bad that he thought I was one of you and so I let him stay at my place."

Gilbert shrugged, leaving out a few of the details, seeing no need for Alfred to know about the few adventures the two of them had. Francis nodded, looking between the two as Matthew kept his focus on the plate in front of him, pushing a piece of corn with his fork, around the table. A blush forming across his cheeks. Alfred on the other hand sat with brows knitted in deep thought.

"S-So...So you're not one of us, but you didn't turn in Mattie?" Alfred seemed sceptical about the whole ordeal.

"Oui, he did not. In fact, just today he saved your brother from some horrible man who was hu-"

"Francis!' Matthew's amethyst eyes were wide as he shook his head wildly. "Please, don't."

Francis nodded, reaching for his beer to keep himself busy.

"Save you from who Mattie?" Alfred asked, eyes narrowed at his brother, putting Gilbert on edge.

"From someone he didn't want close to him." Gilbert provided the half lie with ease, hoping Matthew would let it slide for the time being.

"Who? I'll kick their ass for messing with you Mattie." Alfred cracked his knuckles, earning a bit of disgusted look from Francis.

"Mon cher, please do not do that at the table. You are a guest and it's rather rude." Francis watched as Alfred just stared at him, taken aback for being reprimanded. Matthew gave a small giggle, a smile returning on his face since Alfred had shown up. "Now, mon petit, I do have a question for you. What are you going to do while Gil is away doing his job?"

"He's not staying." Alfred folded his arms in protest, but was promptly ignored.

"I-um...I'm not sure."

"Fantastique! You can come and help me at my shop. What do you say?" Francis clapped his hands in delight as Gilbert sputtered out the beer.

"Now hold on. What do you mean help at your shop? He can barely stay human for more than a few hours." Gilbert was not liking how this dinner was turning out. First Alfred showed up unannounced, which had already bothered the Prussian, and now Francis was attempting to get Matthew a job?

"A job?" Matthew's interest was piqued, making Gilbert curse under his breath. Of course the French bastard would suddenly put an idea such as a job in his head.

"Franny, he's just a kid. He shouldn't be working, but rather enjoying the world." Gilbert said, watching Alfred just gape at Francis for a moment.

"No way! He's not working like some slave for you. I don't know what you do, but-"

"Alfred, he sells clothes. He helped me pick out a lot of what I...own now."

Gilbert felt pride swell in his chest as he heard Matthew claim the clothes for himself. Of course they were his, but to have Matthew state it as well reassured Gilbert Mathew wanted to be here. Giving Alfred a smug smile, Gilbert added another a point on his side of the scores he kept in his head. At this rate Gilbert was going to win without actually having to do anything but be himself.

"What you own? Dude, they're turning you into a house pet. How do you know they won't just keep you when you want to leave?" Alfred asked, his cerulean eyes pleading with Matthew.

"Al, they are nothing like the guy you befriended. They...They saved me when he showed up. You know, the one Kuma warned us about." Matthew whispered the last bit as Alfred stood up from his chair, shaking.

"No. How the hell did he find you?"

"I don't know." Matthew shrunk lower in his seat as Alfred's anger grew. Gilbert was not going to let Alfred belittle Matthew like that.

"That's enough. You are his brother, you shouldn't shout at him. If anything you should be hugging him and making sure he's okay." Gilbert glared at Alfred, who stared at Matthew, who had Francis comfort him by patting his arm and soothing him. "It wasn't his fault this guy showed up. Francis and I kept him safe, so I don't even think this guy even knows what Matthew looks like. So calm down."

"What do you know about this? You're not one of us! He doesn't need to know what we look like or who we are. He just knows and then goes after us one by one. No one who's seen this hunter has actually come back." Alfred's breathing grew more laboured with every word. He took a moment to compose himself. "Matthew I don't want to fight. He's right, we are brothers. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Al, as long as you can accept that some humans are different. Some actually don't care what you are, but rather just care about you." Matthew looked tired, his eyes shone with unshed tears. Gilbert wanted to hug the shifter and never him go, but knew what Matthew needed at the moment was to toughen up just a tad. If they were going to face this 'hunter' life was going to get a little tougher.

"I still don't trust them, but I'll give 'em a chance. One chance only." Matthew brightened up at the prospect, Gilbert smiled softly until Alfredo continued. "So I'll be staying with you until I can make certain nothing is going to happen to you."

"Was? Oh nein. I already have Matthew staying here and I'm on the couch. I'm not having another shifter here only to kick me off my couch too." Gilbert turned to Francis who started laughing at the curious predicament they were all in.

"I can solve that. Alfred, stay with me. I have a guest bed that a college friend of mine uses when he gets drunk. He's not in the area so you can have it for the time being." Francis sat back in his chair, sipping the beer. The food had mostly gone unnoticed through the altercation.

"Gut. Ja, stay with Franny" Gilbert grinned, feeling a victory on his side.

"And let you potentially corrupt my brother? No way." Alfred crossed his arms. "I'm staying where Matthew is."

Gilbert groaned. Why was Matthew's brother so stubborn? "Look, kid. I don't have the room for three people. Not until I fix up the room I've been using as an office and turn it into a bedroom. Stay with Franny until I have the room ready."

Of course the room was going to be for Matthew so Gilbert would get his back. If Alfred decided he wanted to stay, he would get the couch then. He knew Alfred probably wouldn't like that arrangement either but Gilbert didn't really mind. Yet the smug smile on Gilbert's face turned into a frown slowly when he glanced at Matthew. The poor shifter was torn between choosing family or Gilbert. Sighing and rubbing his hair, Gilbert nodded his head.

"Why don't you and Matthew share the bed? I'll stay on the couch until I can get the second bedroom set up again." All three looked at Gilbert. What could he say? He couldn't bear to see Matthew so torn on what to do and as a guest Gilbert had the duty to make sure Matthew was taken care of, even if it meant he had to deal with Alfred. It was his Prussian pride on the honour of being a good host.

"Are you sure about this Gil?" Francis asked as Matthew sat there, mouth gaping shock.

"Ja. I can see this whole arguing is bad for Vögelchen and I want him to be happy here. If Alfred stays here maybe he can see we're not going to hurt him."

Gilbert leaned back in his chair, his usual grin on his face. He would just have to show Alfred there was nothing he was not willing to do for Matthew. Maybe then Alfred would leave Matthew alone and go back to whoever he had been with originally. Alfred sat with a stunned look on his face, making Gilbert's victory that much sweeter. He knew how brothers worked, he was one. All it took was a little compromise.

"One thing. If you stay, you need to help around here. I don't care if that means you get a part-time job like Matthew just did, or you just do the chores around the house. I can't have two shifters here and buying food for the three of us without some sort of help." Gilbert pointed as Alfred quickly nodded, the shock still imminent considering he had to actually speak.

"Gil, you don't have to-"

"It's okay Matthew. I can see having Alfred around is important to you, even if he did leave you to be on your own. But if you're going to get a part-time job with Franny, I think it only fair that Alfred helps out too."

"I've got a job lined up, I just wanted to make sure that Matthew was okay first. And what are you talking about? I didn't leave him on his own. I said we should start looking into settling down with our own nests, but then he doesn't even follow migration." Alfred shook his head as Matthew's shoulder rose in response, as if he was about to sprout feathers and ruffle them up in frustration.

"You left me for some chick Alfred. You didn't even make sure that I was ready to leave or anything. So I stayed with Kuma when you didn't come back after a while. He taught me all sorts of things from shifting to blending in with the humans. He even said maybe the humans have changed enough to where we could live among them again. So when you didn't come back I decided to go out on my own and that's when I saw Gilbert. I thought maybe if he showed me the ropes of blending into society I would be okay. He's still doing that even though he's not one of us."

Matthew crossed his arms, the one curl bouncing as he spoke passionately about Alfred's abandonment. Gilbert couldn't blame him. If he had ever left Ludwig, he would kick himself after he let Ludwig do it. Brothers were meant to look after each other. Alfred seemed to shrink as Matthew continued on his lecture, physically cringing at certain parts. There was truth to what Matthew had to say, not that Gilbert doubted him, but it was nice to see that Alfred understood his position in Matthew's new situation. Francis placed a hand on Matthew's shoulder, a fond smile on his lips.

"Why don't we eat before dinner gets too cold?" Francis, ever the truce maker. Gilbert shook his head, a playful grin on his face before digging into the food on his plate once more, not feeling as angry or slighted about Alfred suddenly showing up.

"Okay." Matthew looked down at his plate. Gilbert could see the gleam of triumph in the shifter's amethyst eyes.

The rest of dinner was fairly quiet, Alfred resigned himself to only speaking when someone asked him a question. At first it didn't bother Gilbert, but slowly as he recalled bits of the conversation, he had to wonder. Was there another side of the story that Alfred wasn't telling? It seemed strange that Alfred, who was overprotective of Matthew, would act the way Matthew had said, and yet, Alfred did not deny the words. Was there some other story that he was not telling? The thought stuck to Gilbert as he made pleasantries with Francis, who suggested the two go out drinking with Antonio sometime. Gilbert only nodded, not sure if he really wanted to grab drinks with the two. He chalked it up to being just nervous about going out and having some fun after a long time. Whatever was leftover, Francis told the three they could keep for the next night. Gilbert was thankful considering that both Matthew and Alfred had eaten rather large portions. If this kept up it was going to be hell to keep them both fed. Gilbert managed to eat the plate in front of him, otherwise he just nursed his beer and ate a piece of the cake Francis had brought for dessert.

"Who knew you would bring a full course meal Franny." Gilbert said as the Frenchman cut the cat into pieces.

"Well, my mother was a baker and so I learned all my cooking tips from her. She was quite talented. Alas, her poor shop did not make here in America. Too many Americans want to rush around and never sit down long enough to actually enjoy their coffee and pastry." Francis shrugged as he passed around the plates for each.

"...Thanks. For the meal and for letting me stay." Alfred spoke softly, almost as if he was afraid to speak the words, to let his heroic facade down among the humans.

"You're welcome. I promise you won't get as great a dinner anywhere else," Francis said proudly. Gilbert wanted to laugh. The kid was buttering Francis up, why he had no idea, but it was rather interesting to see this side. When Gilbert glanced at Matthew, a small smile was on his face. Ah, so this was the Alfred Matthew knew. Not that macho nothing but muscle to back up his words.

"Not so hard right? I would have been more inclined to let you stay the first time around if you had actually listened to us in the first place." Gilbert decided he would make sure to teach both of them how to live among the humans, not just Matthew. "You can't go around accusing people of sending others for experimentations. Although, I do have to wonder, where the hell did you learn about all that?"

"From a television. Where we lived up north, there was this old guy who had his television set up so that we could see it through the window. Most of the shows were black and white, but somewhere in colour. I learned all about the war and how the Germans experimented on others."

Gilbert burst out laughing. Alfred had learned about the world through old war shows. No wonder he wore the jacket and acted as if being from Germany was a sure sign of being evil. Francis gave Alfred and apologetic look as Matthew looked rather confused along with Alfred.

"What's so funny?" Alfred finally asked, after Gilbert clutched his sides from laughing too much.

"Kid, with what you know, you could live in the 40s. But in today's world, that war isn't happening anymore. It ended over fifty years ago. Look, yes Germany and the Axis did some awful things to people, and we're now trying to redeem ourselves. It's illegal to experiment on people today and we don't go around hauling people off to camps either. Trust me, not everyone during the war was on the bandwagon with Hitler." Gilbert sighed, running his hand through his hair. "My grandfather, he helped hide a few people during that time. Some officials found out and left him paralyzed from the waist down. His lover, well thankfully they hadn't found out he was homosexual too, otherwise I don't think he would be alive. So I understand, one of the guys we saved was a friend of mine. He's happily married and still alive you know. I used to go to his concerts as a kid."

"So… I don't have to worry about you trying to do something awful to Mattie?" Alfred turned to watch Matthew, who sat there, enraptured with the small background story.

"If I wanted to do something to him, I would have already done it." Gilbert shrugged, figuring it was enough of an answer as any.

"I'm sorry. I thought- No, never mind. Thanks again, I guess I have a lot to learn too and stop calling me kid. I'm almost twenty!"

Gilbert laughed once more, happy to see the misunderstanding cleared up. The four cleared away the dishes and bade Francis a good night. As he turned to his guests, he noticed Matthew yawned, shaking his body as if he were fluffing out his feathers, ready for bed. Alfred followed suit with the yawn, but was more adept at his human to know better than to shake it. Gilbert smiled fondly at Matthew.

"Alright, time for Vögelchen to change and get some sleep. I'll grab the extra duvet for Alfred." Gilbert patted Matthew's head as the shifter nodded and trudged off to the room, Alfred in tow. "Well, I suppose I got what I asked for. Friends and a not so boring apartment."

When he entered the room, he found Matthew and Alfred fast asleep, curled up next to each other on the pillows or rather Alfred encompassing Matthew with his much larger body, wings drawn around Matthew as if trying to offer him protection. Gilbert wondered how often the two of them slept like that, Alfred as protector. Matthew the yellow warbler, and Alfred a rather large bald eagle. Although he did question how the hell a warbler and a bald eagle were related. He shook his head, slowly shifting Alfred's wings as the shifter stirred, confusion apparent in his beady eyes, until he saw the duvet in his hands. Cooing at Gilbert, he shuffled a little, mindful of Matthew so Gilbert could comfortably place the duvet around the two birds.

"You have your own side to the story. I want to hear it when you're ready to say it." Gilbert made sure the two were comfortable before heading out to the couch to curl up and sleep himself. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.