"Arthur, I don't want any of your tea."

"Stop being so troublesome, Alfred. It's already been shipped, and you know there's no way to return it."

"But--"

"No buts. Besides, I even lowered the tax, just like you wanted me to. You're getting this tea cheaper than you could get it anywhere else."

"But that's not the point!"

"Then what, pray tell, is the point?"

"The point is that I should be able to buy tea from somewhere else if I wanted to! Besides, I know you're just going to raise the price again."

"Don't be such a twat, Alfred," Arthur says, rolling his eyes.

Alfred opens his mouth to say something, closes it, then opens it again. "Fine," he says.

"Fine?"

"Yes, fine. I'll drink your stupid tea."

Arthur pauses, then says, "I'm glad you finally see it my way."

Alfred stomps away, and Arthur feels smug for just a little longer.

*

"Alfred! What are you doing?"

"Oh, hello, Arthur," Alfred says, smirking. "I'm having a tea party. Sorry I didn't invite you."

"What are you-- What in God's name are you wearing?"

"Oh, this?" Alfred gestures to the deerskin. "I know you've been looking for excuses to hang around, so I decided to show you the 'ferocious Indians' that you've been looking for."

Arthur can almost see the quotation marks, and he says through gritted teeth, "Remember what I said earlier about not being a twat?"

"I'm not the one being a twat here!"

Arthur sighs. "Alfred, get back here."

"No."

"No?"

"No." With that, Alfred gives the crate of tea next to him a good shove, and he watches as it drops into the water with a satisfying splash.

"Alfred, I demand that you stop this at once."

"You're not my father."

"No, but I'm the closest thing you've got."

"But you left! You left me by myself, and now you come back, expecting me to listen to you, as though nothing happened?"

"It's not as if you cared before, when I first started taking care of you again. In fact, you were happy to see me!"

"That was before you started taxing me for every last thing! Even my tea, for God's sake."

"It's only to keep you in line," Arthur says curtly.

Alfred snorts and pushes another crate into the shore. For a second, when he sees the look of sheer disapproval on Arthur's face, he regrets it, but then he remembers that he isn't supposed to care what Arthur thinks any longer.

"You ungrateful--" Arthur starts, but Alfred interrupts him.

"I'm not going to listen to you anymore."

And he knows he means it this time, too.

He's had it with Arthur's unfair rules, and he's tired of Arthur hanging over his shoulder all the time. He had actually missed him once, but that was before.

These days, Alfred isn't sure he wants Arthur in his life at all.