Brother, my brother [Matthew]

Alfred was glad he had a brother. Brothers, unlike friends, couldn't just up and leave you if you freak them out or annoy them with your weirdness because brothers were bound together by blood. Mattie probably had a high tolerance of weirdness anyway, since he had known Alfred all his life, even if one didn't count all those years they were forced to spend apart. Also, Alfred couldn't name anyone he trusted more than his brother. He was sure Mattie would listen to him and try to help him instead of sticking him into an asylum like their father would do.

From what Berwald told him, it was very much possible that all the tenants had superpowers like Alfred and his new weight-lifting buddy. So, if Mattie had the same awesome problem as him, they could help each other out. They wouldn't have to be alone and try to convince themselves that they weren't crazy or dreaming, something Alfred was still having trouble with. It was just too good to be true.

So, here he was, marching into his brother's apartment without knocking, an excited expression lighting up his face. "Mattie, Mattie! Are you here? I gotta talk to you 'bout something!"

Matthew was enjoying his fantastic new video game on his spectacular new gaming system. The controls were easy to use and the game was very fun to play, though challenging. It was lucky, then, that he had hit the 'Save Game' button and was just about to turn it off when Alfred came barging in rudely, otherwise Alfred might have ruined it. All the same, Alfred's unexpected arrival gave Matthew a shock and he bolted up from his seat in surprise before realizing who it was. "Eh..." He stretched out in his seat and put his console down, switching off the TV screen. "Hello, Alfred. Why are you here this time? I hope it's not about how you don't have time to do your homework because you're going to go out partying with friends. Or maybe you want me to cook you a delicious pie? Because I'm not really up for either." He looked up at Alfred and patted the seat next to him, "But still, come sit next to your bro."

The couch was small (practically an arm chair) but so was Matthew, and Alfred wasn't what you would call 'Small', but he wasn't fat either, so they'd be able to squeeze nice and snugly together on it.

Alfred stared at the gaming system in his brother's living room, forgetting his reasons for coming for a second. Mattie had a new game and he didn't tell him...? That was just mean. They could have tons of fun with that thing! And Alfred could own his brother's ass like he always did.

He pouted. "Why didn't you tell me about that?" He pointed at the gaming system. "Blah, homework is so boring, I don't need an excuse not do it! I AM going out with some friends tonight though, how did you know?" He gave him a weird look. Maybe Mattie had this mind-reading power too? Whoa, talk about twin telepathy. And no, he didn't care that he was younger by a year. They were still almost twins. "Noooo, I didn't come for pie, but if you have food, I won't say no to it." Alfred could eat all day if he wanted to and free food was just too good to pass up.

Sauntering over, Alfred plopped down on the couch and, finding it too small, put his legs on his Mathew's lap. He was the one who wanted Alfred to sit with him; he would have to deal with the consequences. "The Hero has arrived~!"

Matthew frowned at Alfred, clutching his game controller protectively. The game had finished saving, so he switched it off and put the controller on the side. "I didn't tell you about my new game because you wouldn't let me have my fun and just steal all the high scores," Matthew huffed, giving Alfred's knee a good whack when his legs flopped on top of Matthew's. He waved away Alfred's rambling, used to it. "You should do your homework, idiot. I mean, you have the capability. And I do have food, but sadly, I'm trapped underneath your legs and am unable to get it. Too bad. Why are you here?" Perhaps Matthew shouldn't demand a reason for Alfred to visit, though. After all, they were brothers. So he wrapped an arm around Alfred's shoulders, "If there is a reason, li'l bro. If not, that's ok. But if there is a reason, I'll give you a cupcake!" Messing with Al was fun.

...Okay, that might have been true. But it wasn't Alfred's fault he was so much better at gaming than Matthew, gosh! And weren't brothers supposed to share stuff? Older brothers at least. The perks of being the younger sibling was that you could be as selfish as you wanted. In theory.

"It's not about being capable of doing it, Mattie; it's about wanting to do it and I totally don't." He grinned. "I'm just resting them in your lap, I'm not even trying to keep you there." He loved the fact that he was stronger than Matthew. It wasn't surprising, really. Even before the powers came, Alfred had been pretty strong, stronger than most of his football buddies back home and definitely stronger than the wimpy English kids.

Oh, right, powers! "I do have a reason, so you owe me a cupcake. It's just, these last few days have been crazy! I woke up on the night of that freaky storm and barely even touched my bedside table and it smashed against the wall and broke! And I lifted a car in the morning, went to the gym and didn't even feel anthing when I lifted big, and when I say big, I mean BIG weights! And then I met this guy who talks all weird and he had superpowers, telekinesis, I think, but that's not what matters, because I totally read his mind! You know, heard his thoughts and shit! And he said there could be others in the complex with powers and I immediately thought of you because you wouldn't think I'm crazy if I asked!" And all that in one breath. Alfred panted slightly, grateful for all those hours spent swimming. Greater lung capacity sure helped with talking.

Matthew listened to Alfred's rant with eyes which grew steadily rounder. He nodded, blinked, and stared at his brother. "Super strength? And mind reading? You have superpowers, right?" That made sense. That made sense! He gasped and gripped Alfred's hands tightly. "You mean, it's not just me-? Well. I suppose... That would make sense, because-" He hesitated. The more he thought about it, the less it made sense! How could 'Dropping out of his own body' be counted as a super power? Sure, once he managed to control it, he could do all sorts of unimaginable things! But then he always had to return to his body, and he couldn't touch anything and no one could hear him. Then his mind wondered to what else he could do. If somebody in another apartment was going at it with their lover... His face promptly went red and he shook his head to rid himself of the bad thoughts.

"Ah, I mean, I have a sort of super power! I sometimes disconnect with my body, like I turn into a ghost and my body sinks into a coma until I return or something? That's the best way for me to describe it. It was actually quite traumatic the first time it happened..." He released Alfred's hands again and stood, knocking Alfred's legs off his own, and begun to pace around the room. "This is interesting. And unlikely. But oh my god, I'm so glad I'm not alone!" He then promptly threw his arms around Alfred's shoulders in a hug. "This is amazing! Well, either it's amazing or horrifying, I can't quite tell. Let me get you that cupcake!" He pulled away and left the room for the kitchen, rummaging around for the box of cupcakes in the fridge, retrieving it and bringing two back. "Tell me more about your powers?"

"Not just you...? You have powers too?!" Alfred gripped his brother's hand back, holding it tighter than he probably should have but he wasn't calm enough to mind his strength right now. "Of course it makes sense! Berwald has them too and he lives here! He said he thinks everyone in the complex has one! Or two. Or three. Or I dunno."

...Mattie turning into a ghost? That was kinda fitting in a weird way. People tended to ignore the quiet Canadian anyway, especially if he was in the presence of his boisterous younger brother. "It totally must have been. I mean, I would think I died or something." And turning into a ghost? Hell to the fucking naw. He would have to be afraid of- I mean, hate himself if that happened. No, he would totally move on after death.

He blinked and stared after his disappearing and reappearing brother. Was Mattie always this jumpy? Oh well. He shrugged it off and focused his attention back to Mattie, eager to tell more about his powers. "Let's see, let's see. I know for sure that I'm super strong, I mean, I already told you about the car and the gym but I can just sorta feel it anyway. Like, I feel like I could lift your couch with one hand or knock down a wall with my pinky without breaking sweat!" He took a bite of his cupcake and continued. "And it's, like, really weird, how smart I suddenly became. I mean, I was pretty damn smart before too, but now I feel like I could tell you the exact square root of pi right now! And I know for a fact that the TV is exactly 4.92125 feet, or 1.5 meters, away from us." Alfred took another bite and waited for Mattie to process the things he told him.

Matthew listened to Alfred’s excited descriptions of his powers. They sounded far more useful than Matthew’s. So far, he could see very little benefit in spontaneously changing into a ghost. He frowned and took a bite of his own cupcake. “You could tell all that by just looking? That’s incredible… I wonder what else I can do,” He mused quietly, flopping comfortably on Alfred’s lap as he spoke (After all, just because he was the older brother, didn’t mean he couldn’t act like a child sometimes). “Can you control your strength? I mean, you live on the top floor of the building. What happens if you fall over and crash through the floor all the way down to the bottom?” A scary thought, if somewhat comical.

As he spoke, he watched Alfred eat his cupcake, regretting the fact that it was his last chocolate chip, and wishing Alfred could have taken one of the plenty of blueberry cupcakes. While he watched, the cupcake did a little wiggle in Alfred’s hand. He blinked, surprised. The cupcake wiggled again, as though trying to get out of Alfred’s grip. The wrapper for the cupcake twisted and re-shaped itself to form sticks- Arms and legs, Matthew realised! The “arms” it made reached up to one of the bites and clutched it, writhing around, its little legs kicking, trying its hardest to get away from Alfred and his mouth. It looked like it was in pain – which was, of course, insane. It was a cupcake, and shouldn’t be feeling pain, not from being eaten, which was its purpose. It was horrifying, though, despite the fact that it was a cake, and Matthew covered his mouth in surprise.

Alfred twitched. "Hey! I'm super strong, not super heavy!" He pouted. "My weight is still the same as it was a month ago." Which wasn't exactly true; he put on some muscle since then. "Though I think I could easily crash this whole house with a single punch." If he could lift a car, he could use the necessary force for that in a punch too. And taking gravity, the lever, and the degree of contraction in his muscles into account...yeah, that was enough power to destroy the house if he punched it in the right place.

...Okay, that was freaky. He really shouldn't be able to calculate the force he used and he definitely shouldn't think about it being enough to destroy the house. To distract himself from his creepy thoughts, Alfred opened his mouth to take another bite of his cupcake but froze when he felt it squirm. Hold on. Rewind. Squirmed?

He looked down at the sweet in his hand and dropped it with a manly shriek. Holy shit, that thing had arms and legs! "HOLY FUCK!" He clung to Mattie. "Th-that...is that cupcake possessed?! By a ghost?! Noooo!" He clutched his brother tighter. "It'll eat us Mattie! He'll avenge his bits and his family we've eaten! And he'll begin with me!"

"Eek!" Matthew squeaked as the cupcake landed on his knee, then he was crushed in Alfred's terrified embrace. "A-Alfred, calm down! I don't think it's a possessed cake." He looked at the cupcake, which was now dancing mockingly at them from the ground. He frowned at it and yelled, "Gosh, stop that, it's creepy!" And the cupcake obeyed. Much to Matthew's surprise. Its twisted arms and legs unraveled, righting themselves and becoming a smooth cupcake wrapper once more. Matthew wasn't sure, but he had an inkling that it was probably him who made the cupcake do that. Somehow. "Alfred..." He rested an arm around Alfred's shoulder, "Al, I think I did that... I dunno... But it stopped when I told it to..."

Tentatively, he leaned over and picked up the cupcake gingerly, between his thumb and forefinger. He let it dangle there for a moment before placing it on the small table. "I don't suppose you still want that..." He hesitated, "Because if not, I do." After all, he had just been thinking about how delicious the chocolate chip cupcake would be if he was eating it and not Al. "Though..." He said, tapping his chin in thought, "I suppose if that is another one of my powers... That makes... What, two each? Or do you have three?" He scratched his cheek in confusion.

"WAAA, IT'S COMING CLOSER!" He buried his face in Matthew's shoulder, not wanting to look at that freaky monster-cupcake. He was never, ever eating cupcakes again! "What the hell did you use to bake this?! Did you get some evil killer's cremated body, made a cupcake mix out of the ashes, bled on it, baked it anyway and then the electricity cut off and then cupcake man was born? And he's here for our blood!" This actually happened in a movie, mind you. There was gingerbread instead of cupcake though, but the concept applied here too.

He whimpered. "You did that...? You really did create an evil cupcake monster?" Gosh darn it, was his brother evil after all? He didn't want to find a new sidekick!

Alfred lifted his had and stared at the creepy thing, lying there all innocently. Oh, it wouldn't fool Alfred now that he knew its secret, no way. Wait, Mattie was right! He had superpowers! Why didn't he think of that before?! He picked up the evil sweet quickly and squeezed with all his might, effectively reducing the poor things into little more than dust. "HA! I defeated the serial killer pastry! You can rest easy now, Mattie!" He flashed his brother a heroic smile, coupled with a thumbs up.

"And to answer your question, I guess?" He shrugged. "I feel like my new ability to calculate stuff and having better memory is somehow connected to reading minds. But I'm not sure."

Matthew watched despairingly as the cupcake was destroyed, squished into who knows how many pieces. "Al... I was going to eat that, you jerk!" The insult didn't have any fire behind it though, Matthew knew that he could always buy a new one. Still, sulking might get him somewhere. "...And wipe your hands. Not on my furniture, though." He reached into his pocket and produced a handkerchief, tossing it at Alfred.

"Well, if making that weird cupcake move is one of my powers, and the random out-of-body experiences is my other power... Then I guess I got the bad end of the deal. I suppose I'll never be able to beat you at video games now, if you could, say, calculate your every move perfectly or something? I dunno, I don't really know the limits of your power. But it's gotta be better than practically turning into a rag doll at random intervals." He sighed and stretched out. "Still, the other power seems interesting. Making things come to life. I should look into that. Maybe I could make... An army of animated objects!" He chuckled at the thought of a plush-toy army marching through the streets of London. "Perhaps we should start practicing our powers, together."

Alfred huffed. "Are you crazy? You don't eat evil cupcakes. That's, like, common sense." He caught the handkerchief, wiping his hands on it sulkily. He just saved his brother and what did he get? A half-assed angry remark. Hmph, ungrateful bear-lover. Deciding that Matthew deserved some punishment, he reached out and smeared some of the cupcake remains on his hand on Matthew's face. There. All was forgiven now.

He shrugged. "You did. My powers are awesome. Except for the digging through other people's head. I could do without that." But Matthew's powers really did suck. Alfred would hate both of them. Fainting randomly and making objects move? No, lifting cars and being super smart was much better than that.

He snorted. "Mattie, you've never been able to beat me at video games anyway. But I don't know the limits of my power either; and I don't know anything about yours." Alfred shuddered at the animated objects part. He so didn't want to see cupcakes with legs or TVs or other stuff marching around. That would be like a bad horror flick. He grinned at his brother. "Yupp, we should! It'll be fun!"

Matthew squealed and wiped at his cheek with his sleeve, childishly. "Gross, Al!" He didn't need dead cupcake on his face, thank you very much. "And you should maybe try letting me win a couple of times during our gaming sessions. Otherwise, you might come home one day to find your favourite console in several places..." He pouted, bitterly. It was an empty threat of course; he would never dismantle Alfred's things... Except for that one time, Al had a new phone... But he'd put it together again, good as new, so Alfred can't complain about that!

"OK, what should we practice first? We could practice my animation- that's a given, I don't think it's possible to practice falling unconscious, and we can, at the same time, practice your strength? Or, your calculations, and see what the limits of our powers are?" He stood, looking around for objects which would be easy to animate, presumably. Small objects, like marbles and pencils would be good. If he could get one to scuttle around, he could get Alfred to chase it. Calculate where it would end up and stop it. Destroy it with his super strength until only powder remained. And, you know, for shits and giggles. "What do you propose? Also, do you know anywhere we can go which would be widely deserted, to be safe?"

"It's not my fault I'm so much better than you at them. And letting you win would be like cheating and heroes don't cheat!" And they don't lose either. Especially not to their side-kicks. "And if you touch my controllers, I'll make a ribbon out of your pans so you won't be able to make pancakes." Hah, Alfred-2 Matthew-0.

Alfred hummed in thought. "Yeah, practicing your animation sounds good if you can make something bigger move. Like, I dunno, a couch or something. I don't think I could really test my strength against a remote control." Or another cupcake. "And, umm, we could try and see if I can try and hear your thoughts when you're out of your...body." Gosh, that sounded so weird. Too...magic-y.

"Widely deserted? ...The basement, I guess? Oh wait, that may not be the safest place to test concrete-crushing strength." But it was surely deserted and it wasn't like Alfred would just randomly start punching walls. And come on, what was he being such a worry-wart for? Being responsible was Mattie's job. "You know what, let's go to the basement!"