#aphtrashbin

At first, Arthur had been able to let it slide. Sure, it was annoying—on the first day, he'd nearly had a heart attack—but it wasn't that big of a deal. He could live with it. Of course, it was never pleasant cleaning up after someone else's mess. Arthur could probably drown himself in the amount of empty food wrappers he had thrown away this semester, and he swore his arm muscles were lopsided now from the amount of erasing he had been doing. Cleaning up after someone with a blatant disregard for the trouble they were causing someone else—namely Arthur—was no big deal...

Who was he kidding? Arthur wished so dearly to meet this mysterious TA from the class before his, so that he could kindly wrap his fingers around the person's neck and strangle them. How irresponsible could you get? Leaving strange mathematical gibberish all over the board and turning the room into a pigsty—how had this person become a TA? If Arthur even so much as took a sip of anything that wasn't the purest of filtered waters, his professor would kill him, and not only would he lose his life, but his TA position would be lost along with it. His professor probably would have a heart attack if they saw the state of the room before Arthur had gotten to it. Make no mistake, this mystery TA would pay for their inconsiderate actions.

Arthur was in a particularly smoldering mood during their second to last class of the semester. He had been up all night grading some accursed papers—the terror in the students' eyes when he handed the papers back would hardly make up for the grammatical hell they had put him through—and then he had needed to clean up the room, once again, because apparently Physics students, particularly one idiotic TA, had no understanding of basic human consideration. He was about ready to lose his mind.

"You should take some time to relax tonight," Arthur's friend and roommate, Kiku, gently advised him after silently sitting through a particularly angry rant on the subject from the frustrated Brit.

Arthur sighed heavily and massaged his temples. "A few drinks might do me well..."

"That was not what I was suggesting," Kiku frowned in displeasure. He still had nightmares about the last time Arthur came home drunk.

"It would be a good opportunity to blow off some steam," Arthur continued to reason with himself, seemingly blocking out Kiku's protests. "All right, I'll do it!"

"Please be responsible," Kiku requested quietly, though he knew better than to expect that much.

"Don't worry Kiku, I can handle a few drinks," Arthur reassured his roommate with a smug grin. Kiku nearly cringed.

"Anyways, don't wait up for me," Arthur declared whilst grabbing some of his things, "I probably won't be back until late."

With that, Arthur was gone. It was time to enjoy himself.

Arthur decided to go to his favorite local bar. The drinks were relatively cheap and the music was usually good, but by far the best aspect of the place was the guys. Very rarely did he find such a goldmine of attractive bodies all gathered in one place. And while he usually was not one to take advantage of the plethora of opportunities presented by such a place, he could still appreciate what it had to offer. Tonight, however, was different.

A couple of shots was all it took to seal his fate. The pleasant buzz of alcohol in his system convinced him that tonight was definitely not a night to be a mere bystander. Tonight was a night to enjoy himself, and his favorite bar did not disappoint.

Someone managed to pique his interest after the third shot. They were chatting animatedly with a couple other people, but that did not deter Arthur. This guy was pure gold. Literally. His hair was a vivid golden blond and he had finely sun kissed skin. His eyes were a stunning shade of blue, framed by glasses that managed to add an intellectual air to his otherwise completely athletic build. The way his shirt hugged his chest a little too tightly, or how his pants squeezed his frame in just the right way… Arthur was doomed. All that was left to do was figure out his plan of attack.

The fourth shot solved that rather quickly. The liquid courage had just burned down his throat when he set the glass down heavily and made his way through the crowd of people, to where the golden boy had separated from his group in order to buy another round of drinks. He was waiting by the bar when Arthur slid up next to him. Golden Boy’s attention was directed at the bar, so he did not notice Arthur’s presence right away, but Arthur was sure he would notice soon. Maybe he should say something?

“Hello—”

Golden Boy turned around, drinks in hand, and instantly crashed straight into Arthur. Arthur, who was already a bit unsteady on his feet, lost his balance and fell over. He landed hard on the floor and gasped. Golden Boy’s eyes were wide in surprise, but his face quickly shifted to an expression of worry.

“Oh, dude, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there.”

So he was American, Arthur noted duly. There was a sudden hand being extended towards him, and he took it without much thought. The strength with which he was pulled to his feet surprised him. Was it just him, or did this American guy keep his grip on Arthur’s hand for longer than usual?

“My bad dude,” Golden Boy apologized once again, “are you all right?”

“Fine,” Arthur grumbled under his breath. This was not working out exactly as he had planned…

Golden Boy chuckled. “Well, nice to meet you, Fine. I’m Alfred.”

Arthur blinked. Was this guy for real?

Golden Boy, or Alfred as he was apparently called, smiled brightly at Arthur, as if he was the cleverest person in the room. Arthur was torn between laughing and crying. This guy really was for real. At least he was hot.

“It’s Arthur,” He finally replied, and this seemed to cheer Alfred up exponentially. His drinks were left forgotten on the bar.

They talked for a while after that. Alfred was a very chatty person, Arthur quickly discovered, and so consequently he learned a lot about the guy. To be honest, it was kind of difficult for him to pay attention the whole time, due to a combination of all the alcohol in his system and the blood swiftly traveling down from his brain towards more inconvenient locations. He could not help himself if Alfred was the living reincarnation of Adonis. But, so far, he had been able to remember that Alfred was a graduate student, like himself, who attended the same university. It was a shame they had not run into each other sooner. Alfred was also a TA of some class, but Arthur was completely incapable of following what exactly that class was, or what Alfred studied. His capacity for in-depth conversation was quickly fading. So, of course, when Alfred finally kissed him and whispered an invitation in his ear, Arthur was extremely thankful.

Alfred lived fairly close by, but maybe Arthur’s understanding of time was a bit muddled by his anticipation. Thankfully, Alfred did not make Arthur wait long, and it was most certainly Arthur’s most enjoyable night in a long time. Thoughts of the messy demon torturing him completely slipped his mind, and the students’ suffering countenances satisfied him a little bit less. He was definitely glad he had decided to go out that night. He fell asleep using Alfred as a very comfortable pillow.

Arthur opened one bleary eye some unknown amount of time later. It was completely dark, wherever he was… He was having a hard time remembering some of the events of last night through the haze in his mind. Still, wherever he was, he was sure it was not his own home, and he was also sure that something was missing.

Said something, he worked out a moment later, was his pillow. With a slight scowl, he sat up and looked around. At that same moment, a nearby door opened and unnatural light filtered into the dark bedroom. Arthur squinted in discomfort at the sudden light and noticed that Alfred was standing there, looking at him with a sheepish expression, belt on his pants loose and a piece of toast hanging from his mouth.

“Arthur! Dude I’m so sorry, I need to leave or I’m going to be late for the class I TA in!”

Arthur nodded, still somewhat sleepy and inclined to just go back to sleep despite the fact that he was intruding in someone else’s home.

“Feel free to make yourself breakfast or whatever, but I have to go! Call me some time!”

Alfred was already out the door before Arthur even had the chance to reply. His mouth hung open slightly, on the verge of speaking, but he heard the door slam with an air of finality. It was only after the silence had settled in the apartment once again that Arthur realized that he had his own class to TA today as well. He glanced at the clock resting on the nightstand, noting in the back of his mind that it was pretty messy. Funny. Alfred’s class seemed to be scheduled right before his own. He wondered what it was. He was vaguely aware of Alfred telling him about it last night, but he had been a little too distracted and drunk at the time. What was it, again? Arthur hummed in thought as he rested his head back down on the pillow. It would be a shame if it was something interesting… At any rate, he really should get up and make himself breakfast, so as to get to class a bit early in order to clean up, as he no doubt would have to do.

Hold on.

The pieces all fell into place. Arthur’s eyes snapped open in horror at the realization.

Dear Lord, why did he have to be so hot!?