(Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Hetalia: Axis Powers in any way.)
Arthur was roused from his sleep in the morning by his brother tutting rather loudly in the doorway. It was really too early to be dealing with his family. He needed it to be afternoon - and preferably after a few drinks - at least to deal with them. Angus was grimacing at the sight of the room. Why was he even still in the castle?
Arthur dug at his eyes with the heel of his hand before throwing the sheets off of himself. He remade his bed with care, choosing to ignore Angus for as long as he could manage. No, he had not slept with Alfred, no they had not consumated their marriage, no he did not plan to do so any time soon. Yes, he had chosen to have one of the guest bedrooms fashioned into a room for himself. No, he did not care what Angus thought of him. Much.
"What does the Queen have on her schedule for today?" Angus mocked. A cigarette hung loosely from his lips though it wasn't lit. Both of the redhead's hands were braced, one on either side, of the doorway. He was probably still hungover from the night before and needed the wall as support.
Arthur chose to use an air of disinterest to deal with his brother at the current time. "Why don't you bugger off, Angus? Don't you have a pub to pass out in rather than my floor? I would hate to send the maids in to clean you off the floors later. They're so nicely kept." He didn't allow his voice to become a bite, less Angus become more bothersome than he already was.
"I came for your husband," Angus growled. "I couldn't help but come in to check on my baby brother while I was here though." A sneer had appeared over Angus' lips. The both of them had effectively destroyed any possible way for a pleasant meeting. Not that Arthur cared if they had a pleasant meeting or not. They were Kirkland's - or at least, they had been - pleasant meetings did not run in the family.
Arthur eyed his brother suspiciously. "What do you need with the King?"
"That's between me and the King."
A displeased scowl came to Arthur's lips. It wasn't that he should care that Angus had business with the King. It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrance. He was both family to the King now and was the heir to a rather influencial royal family. Arthur was bothered by it only because this was Angus he was speaking too.
"Afraid I'm going to tell your new husband your little secret are you?" Angus snorted at the furious glare that was thrown at him. "I won't. I'd hate to see my little brother beheaded or anything." Angus gave a derisive snort before thundering away in search of Alfred. Arthur was close behind him, not even bothering to change. He tightened his nightgown around himself and scurried after the taller man with his stronger stride.
They quickly arrived at the council chamber doors. Before Arthur could wedge his way in, he found the door slammed in his face. He heard the lock slid into place behind him as well. Angus' doing no doubt. Arthur glowered at the door as if the very look would will the door to open at his command.
Unfortunately he was unsuccessful. Arthur was forced to pace the hall in his bright purple nightgown until Angus appeared from the hall. Arthur deeply contemplated leaving in the promise of returning with a knief. He finally decided that he'd better not in case he were to miss his brother. A couple choice hits to the face would be better than nothing.
When the door did finally open, Arthur froze in his tracks with a furious glare at the man exiting the door. It quickly melted away when Alfred was the first out the door. He was talking rather loudly, his laugh boisterous, resonating off the stone walls of the castle. His head was turned to speak with the Ace of Spades, who followed him from the hall.
Angus finally followed out behind the two.
Damn. Too many witnesses.
"Artie! Wanna take my cloak for me?" Alfred was already unfastening the bloody thing to dump it into Arthur's unprepared hands. It as heavy, that was for sure. The thick cloth drapped nearly to the floor and the fur lining the top tickled Arthur's nose. It also smelled particularly of Alfred. The Queen resisted the urge to sneeze. "Thanks! The three of us are going down to the fields for some training!"
"Yes, the King and Ace have been so kind as to invite me." While Argus' smirk said that he was more than happy to go along with the two, Arthur knew otherwise. Argus hated royalty, training, and other people. He was just more than happy to be able to rub the invitation in Arthur's face. If there was one thing that Argus did enjoy it was gaining an upper hand over his little brother.
"What were the three of you discussing?" Arthur asked. He tried to level his voice but knew that the question had come out hositly. Argus smirked, Matthew looked surprised, and Alfred was completely oblivious.
Alfred just laughed at the question. "Just royalty stuff, don't worry about it, Artie!" Arthur resisted the urge to growl at the answer. He was the Queen. He was more royalty than two of the three others standing with him, and yet he wasn't allowed to hear what had been said? Something was wrong with that image.
Before Arthur could manage a retort, Alfred had led his little group away from him. Arthur let out a frustrated - and furious - growl, before storming back to his room. He changed quickly - depositing Alfred's cloak in the King's Chambers - before going on with his day. He knew that if he threw himself into his new duties of maintaining the castle than he would be able to forget about Argus and Alfred, at least for a little while.
That plan worked quite successfully too. He was able to organize shifts for the clean-up of the reception the night before, arrange for an open court for Alfred and his subjects, as well as set the King's affairs for the next day in order. The plan worked successfully until he was summonded by the King that was.
It was rather late by that point - Arthur had chosen to skip dinner with Alfred as to avoid the King further. Arthur was still deep into setting the palace in running order and hadn't even begun to consider sleep yet. He couldn't exactly turn down a summoning by the King however.
Forced from his room he made his way to the throne room to meet Alfred. He newly wedded was sitting uneasily on the stairs leading up to his throne looking somewhat downtrodden. At the sound of the large oak doors close behind Arthur, Alfred's head shot up instantly. "Artie!" he exclaimed. However downtrodden the lad looking, he certainly didn't look it now as he positively beamed across the room.
"What is it you need, Alfred?" Just a slight stumble; Arthur was becoming better at this.
Alfred rubbed the back of his neck. After the night before, Arthur took this as a nervous gesture. "You weren't at dinner," Alfred stated. That clearly wasn't what was on the other's mind, but Arthur let that pass.
His air of coolness never wavered. "You are correct. I was busy with work and thought it best to continue and waylay my dinner for that. I will eat later," he added when he noticed the slightly worried look on Alfred's face. It was as if the King actually cared whether or not he was eating. Had he been anyone from a Royal Family he would have understood. Skipping meals in the name of work was not exactly uncommon. "What is it you asked me here for, Alfred? Certainly it wasn't to question my eating habits."
"No, I - uh. So - uh - I was talking to Yao earlier, you know, the Jack?" He looked up to Arthur as if he wouldn't understand who Yao was. Honestly. Arthur merely humoured him and nodded. "So, yeah, I was talking to him and stuff, and I told him I needed help with something, and he told me that you were the person to ask so, yeah."
Arthur watched Alfred for a long moment as if prompting him to continue. When the younger blond didn't, Arthur allowed himself a small sigh of aggitation. "And what exactly do you need help with, Alfred?"
"I don't know how to dance."
Arthur almost didn't hear Alfred and his small voice. It was an occurance that had not happened since the two had met. Alfred was always loud, annoying, and terribly confident. Now he was the exactly opposite of that. Arthur allowed himself an amused chuckle.
Well, that certainly explained a lot.
Arthur actually found a small hint of relief at the knowledge that Alfred couldn't dance. All the failed dances and the somewhat hurt feeling of being left on the dancefloor by his husband the night before were dashed. Alfred hadn't stay to dance because he didn't know how.
A smile gently graced Arthur's lips. "You have come to the right person, Alfred."
/Author's Note: Short chapter is short. Sorry./
