Mathew buttered the pan and rolled te melted substance around for a bit before pouring in some batter. A sweet aroma started to fill the air.
"Hm." Mathew started, "Maybe you should ask for it so you won't catch me off gaurd in the future." He said, referring to the number. He prodded at the edge of a sizzling cake.
"And I think that most people have 2 to 3. Maybe more."

Gilbert narrowed his eyes. Ask for a number? No, no, he was the master. He didn't ask for them, they were given to him. To beg for a set of digits was... was less awesome than him. The albino strummed his fingers on the tabletop, annoyed.

Oh damn, this kid wasn't going to just hand it over. Somehow he knew it. "Fine. I vill have dat mahny. Ahnd..." He grit his teeth, jaw clenched so tightly it almost hurt. He couldn't be doing this. He couldn't. "Vat... eez... yohr... number?" Good lord he sunk to rock bottom.

He hit his head on the table, beyond humiliated with himself. Ludwig would never let him live it down.

Mathew looked at the humiliated man, who had pressed his forhead to the table to hide his face. He raised an eye-brow and flipped the pancakes.
"I'll write it down." He smiled, "And, sorry if asking makes you embarrassed or something, I just don't give out my number anymore. Only if people ask. I haven't given out my number since... Francis..." He shuddered out the last word.

Shudders went down his spine as he remembered begging the french man, begging for recognition, begging for love, and then begging for satisfaction. It wasn't a name he freely said, and it wasn't a memory he wanted to keep.

"Francis?" Oh yeah, the blonde had been talking to the Frenchman on the phone not that long ago. Yesterday, actually, now that Gilbert thought about it. Jesus, he needed a better memory. "How did yoh meet Francis anyvays?"

*sigh...* How did he meet Francis? Mathew didn't even want to remember, but how could he not? It was just after Mathew had fiured out that he was gay, and come to terms with it. Then, he met him.

When Mathew met Francis, he thought that Francis was so handsome, so rugged, yet so flamboyantly GAY, Mathew couldn't help but watch him. Normally, Mathew could watch someone for hours, and it would be like he wasn't even there, but Francis kept noticing... Mathew fell in love. But that was behind him now.

"He just kept noticing me, and I ended up talking to him sometimes" He smiled feebly at Gilbert. He flipped the Pancakes again.

Gilbert nodded knowingly. "He vas de same vay vid me. Ven my bruder ahnd I cahme here frohm Germany, he vas de first to tahlk to me. Him ahnd Antonio. Dey ahre very nice. Good drinkers too."

Gilbert grinned at the memory of his first meeting with the French and Spanish man. The way Francis had bounded over, steps full of confidence and pride, offering to help carrying whatever it was the German boys had in their truck. Ludwig was more than happy to have assistance, but Gilbert thought the two to be odd.

Of course a pack of German beer later Francis and Antonio were nothing less than angels in his mind.

"yeah, he has that effect on people. But... don't let him suck you in, okay?" Mathew told him.

He didn't even know why. It's not like he was going to end up like Mathew. You would have to be gay, and this man was clearly straight.

"And you're from germany, eh? I... well, I've lived here all my life."

"Dat muhst be bohring," Gilbert replied. He glanced around the kitchen, taking it in for the first time. It wasn't that big, about the same size as the German brother's, but it was... out of the ordinary. Homy. It felt like more than one person used it. Gilbert stared at Matthew's back as the blonde continued cooking. Did this guy have a family? A wife or girlfriend? There was definitely a trace of female touch in the decorations.

Gilbert didn't want to dig too much into the life of a man he had yet to know very well. But if there were other people living in the house where were they? Sleeping? It wasn't that early. "Ahre you living alohne?" He asked finally.

Mathew laughed at the question, "did he live alone?"
"Oh god I wish." He said.
"I live with my parents and brother. You've probably seen my brother around, he's kind of hard to miss. My parents are hippies, and they're asleep right now. Al is too. I should make him some pancakes since he is gonna have a killer hang-over when he wakes up. He doesn't usually like them that much, but he says they make a good hangover cure." He said and he poured the next batch onto the pan, and flipped some pancakes that were done and slid the plate over to Gilbert, and handed him the bottle of syrup.

Good cure to hangover? Gilbert thought that through. Ludwig always said beer was he best curse to a hangover. Maybe the blonde was wrong? Wait, which blonde? Him and Matthew were both the hair colour! No, Matthew's was darker. Golden. Ludwig was just... fair. Like a lemon. Haha, lemon head... Gilbert grinned at the new nickname for his dearly beloved younger brother. Lemon head. Perfect. It fit Luddy's personality too. Sour. Unpleasant. Oval.

Oval? What the hell did that mean? Gilbert shrugged and took the pancakes that were handed to him. He buttered them before dumping nearly the entire bottle of syrup onto their fluffy goodness. "I have nehver seen yohr bruder. Dohes he loohk like yoh?"

"well, yeah I guess. Everyone always confuses us. If you've been to the movie store you've probably seen him. shorter blond hair, Glasses similar to mine. Really loud and insists that everyone watches the hero type movies." Mathew flipped the next couple, and dug into his own pancake, leaning on the counter.
"You said you have a brother, right?" He asked, taking a mouthful, and licking his lips clean.

Gilbert's ruby eyes followed the action of the pink tongue that peaked out to clean those lips. He never noticed how nice and plup they seemed. Not overly like some French women (or men) but... just the right thickness. He tore his gaze away to stab his own pancakes with a fork. "Ja, I have a youhnger bruder. He'z noding like me doh. He vorks aht de grochery store. Vat vas eet cahlled? Extrahs? Someding like dat. He'z ah cashier."

"Oh? So you're the older one? I'm the baby of the family. I work at the IHOP cleaning dishes." He said, taking another bite of his pancakes. They tasted the same as they usually were, but somehow he never grew tired of them. He looked up at Gilbert staring at his lips, causing him to redden. He had been noticing that the german was very attentive to him, and wondered if he was perhaps checking him out?
"Is there something on my face?" He asked timidly, but also with a bit of sass and play in his voice.

Gilbert quirked an eyebrow. Was that aditude he sensed in that accentless voice of Matthew's? The German grinned wickedly. So this kid wasn't all sugar and honey. He had some spices in there too. Good. That's exactly what Gilbert liked.

"Mayhbe," he teased, sticking another chunk of pancakes into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, cleaned his teeth a little with his tongue, then spoke again. "Mayhbe eet's noht yohr face I ahm looking at." Truth. Matthew had a nice backside and Gilbert didn't mind in the least bit watching it wiggle back and forth as the blonde cooked the pancakes.

The albino shifted the conversation quickly, wanting Matthew to crave to know more on that subject. "IHOP yoh say? Vat's dat? A musik store?" He was referring to the fact iPods sounded very similar.

Mathew could tell that Gilbert wanted it to turn into a game, and to lead him away from the topic he wanted to continuously talk about, leading him on. Francis did it to him once, but he wasn't going to let Gilbert trap him again. His chest seized, trying to prevent him from speaking, but he summoned up his courage and said it.

"Hold up. Why change the subject? What are you looking at?"

There, He said it. His heart pounded, and he could feel the regret rising from asking the question. He flipped the pancakes again, and sent them off the grill, and onto a plate where some other finished ones waited.

Gilbert hummed and hawed, pretending to be thinking. Should he tell the blonde? Of course! However, the German was not someone to ignore a game when he saw it. Nor did he ignore an open opportunity to grab a date. He grinned at Matthew and winked responding in a low tone, "I vill ohnly tell yoh eef yoh goh to dinner vid me tonight."

A date? Now that was unexpected. Mathew narrowed his eyes at the man. He was totally gay, wasn't he? They never really clarified the subject.
"I want to know now." He demanded, dropping the spatula and walking over to where the other sat.

Man, was he ever on a roll with the whole bravery thing!

Gilbert stood as Matthew approached him. His snowy eyebrows were raised high on his forehead, but he didn't let the rest of his facial expression betray him. He was shocked that such a small (even though Matthew was his size) kid could turn from meek to standing up for himself. It reminded the German of a certain Italian right now. A mean, puny little brat who stomped his foot and made sure he got whatever he wanted from poor Antonio. Of course, Matthew was much cuter, but right now he had that same Italian stubbornness that made Gilbert want to grin.

"Ahlright," Gilbert spoke slowly, dragging out his words as he moved a little closer to the blonde Canadian. "I'm loohking aht dat nice ass of yohrs and vondering vat it vould feel like eef I touhched it." He quickly raised his hands defensively, bracing himself for some kind of smack or yell or hit or whatever abuse that normally came from such bluntness. "Yoh asked! Remehmber, yoh asked!"

Mathew went rigid.
There he was, standing in front of a man, who just practicly asked if he could touch his ass. His face went beet red, and he turned away, smelling the ancakes start to burn, but he couldn't move. Instinctively, his own hand went to his rump, and gently poked at it. he supposed, it WAS kind of... nice...
"u-uh-um..." He started.

Oh no. he wasn't gonna say it.
"I- I guess..."

No. Stop, mouth. right now.
"... If you want..."

nononononononononono
"You... can... touch it... later..."

f*ck.

Gilbert watched the blonde's hand move down and touch his own butt. He grinned. This kid was so cute. So, so, so damn cute. The next words that uttered out of Matthew's mouth made the German want to jump and punch the air in joy. Instead he stepped forwards, opening his mouth to say 'why not right now?' but thought better of it. Matthew didn't seem the type to move too fast. Maybe he should take it slower... Better yet. Maybe he should tease Matthew a little more.

Gilbert smiled coyly and sat back down in his seat. "My bruder eez gohing to a friends hause tohnight. Ahfter our dinner vi cahn shtay aht my hause ahnd I cahn... 'touch eet lahter'." He added the last part with a mocking tone, grinning ear to ear. He was going to enjoy living in this English country. Especially his neighbourhood.

If it was physically possible for Mathew to go more red, he would've. Why oh why oh why did he have to say that? Why couldn't he have just slapped him across the face, and kick him out? It would've made things so much easier. The pancakes were smoking on the grill something fierce now, and Mathew moved numbly to take them off. Al didn't need pancakes. Screw him.
"I-I never... agreed to go to dinner with you." He said, his voice a lot quieter, and wispy with breath. He was quietly panting, for no reason, and he hoped that he wouldn't start hyperventalating. He shot a look at Gilbert, the very good-looking man was grinning an almost feral grin at him.

"Den dere's noh touching eet lahter." As simple as that. Gilbert bit into his third pancake, but paused at the sound of buzzing. His pelvis was vibrating. Ludwig? No, the blonde was off to work, right? Where had his brother disappeared to anyways? The albino checked his cell. A text message from Ivan, the creepy Russian he worked under.

Can you come in at twelve?

Damn. The albino really didn't want to work. He loved the farm to death Ivan and his two sisters owned and ran together, but... twelve in the morning? It was already nine by now. Gilbert cursed to himself as he replied with a short 'fine' to his boss and stuffed his cell phone back into his pocket. "Unless, of course, yoh vant me to touch eet now." He winked teasingly at Matthew.

Mathew watched as the albino looked at his phone and sighed in distaste. Was something wrong? He scowled at the dishes he was throwing in the sink. Why did it seem that this day was going wrong? It started nice enough, but he did snap at him, and he had been difficult. Maybe he should've just let Gilbert touch his but?
He looked at him again, and frowned as he felt that familiar pit in his chest. Like something was missing. If only he could be brave and bold all the time like Al. Al would go over to him, flirt back, and go on that date, get laid, then keep him coming back. Mathew could smell a "Francis" all over again.

"Yoh never ahnswered me," Gilbert said after a moment of silence. Once he put his cell phone away and looked back up and over at Matthew the blonde wasn't responding. He was just glaring at the dishes, like they were the reasons for all the problems in his life. "Unless yoh ahre ahlready dating somevon...?"

"Oh, no I'm not dating anyone." He said, snapping out of it. "I just... stuff on my mind, you know?"

Mathew looked over to the other man. Was that... Concern? It couldn't be.

"...Maybe you should leave." He said. He needed to think. He wasn't going to rush into anything without a clear mind.