"You need to learn how to be more proper."

Alfred looked up with a mouthful of chicken, the chosen food for dinner that night. (Don't worry; Arthur didn't make it). "What do you mean?"

Arthur cringed. "That is what I mean. It is very improper to talk with your mouth full. You are a king; you should know this." He watched as Alfred shrank back into his seat with a pout. Arthur averted his eyes (why was that look so cute?)

Alfred swallowed before saying in a high-pitched, whiny voice, "I don't like being proper. It's boring."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I do not think you realize how nasty it is to see your mushed-up food every time you open your mouth."

"Oh c'mon Arti-" Alfred caught himself, shot an apologetic look, and corrected himself. "C'mon Arthur, I don't need to be proper. You like me just how I am, right?" The smile he sent Arthur's way made his heart jump. He forced a scowl onto his face.

"I'd most likely enjoy your presence more if you weren't so erroneous," he stated haughtily, turning his face away from the radiant king.

The brightness almost physically hurt his eyes.

Arthur grabbed his plate and got up to put it in a sink, with Alfred following suit, cheeks puffed out as he stuffed the last few bites of food into his pallet. He started to open his mouth to talk, but Arthur shot him a deadly glare, so he waited until he had completely swallowed to speak.

"I can have manners when I want to, like at balls and stuff. I just don't do it around here because it seems kind of unnecessary to do…" he trailed off, looking sheepish, and Arthur couldn't help but feel a small pang of sympathy for the young king.

Arthur sighed, than perked up slightly as an idea ran across his mind. "You want me to be the Queen of Spades, do you not?" Alfred nodded quickly. "Then I will tell you right now that I will not become a queen if my own king does not know how to portray simple table manners." The king opened his mouth again, this time food-free, but Arthur held up a hand, and Alfred managed to swallow his comment (although the new shine to his eyes was still ever-prominent). "I will teach you proper etiquette starting tomorrow, whether you want to be taught or not."

Alfred's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"What is with that look?"

It seemed difficult for the king to form words, but when he did, what came out was: "Holy shit."

Arthur was starting to feel anxious about his offer (more like demands), but he refused to back down. He stared into Alfred's eyes relentlessly, waiting for the king to deny his request (I think 'order' is a better word). "Really, what is the matter?"

Alfred worked his jaw for a moment, gathering words, before he finally blurted, "Do that again."

"For goodness sake Alfred, do what ag-"

"Order me around."

Now Arthur's jaw fell open, and he stared at the king in utter disbelief. He started sputtering, something he does when he's flustered, and his eyes flickered everywhere but to the king's face.

"W-what in the world are you t-talking about?!" Arthur exclaimed, turning his head parallel to the ground as he stared at his feet, shoulders hunched, self-conscious of his stuttering. He wished he were anywhere but in front of the attractive king right now. Even out in the stable scooping horse shit into a compost pile was better than this. He had just been talking about how improper Alfred was, and now here he was, blushing and tripping over his words like a grade school girl around her crush.

How embarrassing.

When the Spades king hesitated to answer, Arthur flicked his eyes upwards, only to see the younger boy staring back with a strange look on his face and…were those red cheeks?

This could not be any worse.

Arthur had to get out of this situation, which was quickly turning awkward.

"So just…meet me in my room tomorrow at nine o'clock and we will have the lesson on my balcony. I expect you to be on time. Goodnight." He scurried away, not stopping even as the king protested behind him ("Arthur? Hey, wai-!")

Once back in his room, he flopped onto the bed and hugged a pillow close, face still on fire and an army still marching through his chest.

What is with this reaction? Sure, Alfred is attractive (extremely so) but that doesn't explain Arthur's heated cheeks and slightly shaking hands. He tightened them around the poor, squished pillow as he thought about the king, his smile, his eyes, the way he can captivate (and annoy) Arthur with a single word of his crisp voice…what did this mean?

"It means nothing," Arthur grumbled to himself, voice muffled by the pillow. "I just haven't had very much attention directed towards me in a long time, so I'm overwhelmed. Yes, that must be it. It has to be." He nodded to no one, then stretched the covers up over his body and fell asleep soon after.

Arthur was up at seven the next morning, and poked his head out his door to see a maid cleaning around a potted plant further down the hall. He waved her over, and asked for breakfast to be brought to his room somewhere between eight-thirty and nine. She nodded hurriedly, than rushed off to deliver the orders to the chefs.

Now Arthur stood with a shoulder against the sliding glass door that lead out to the balcony, watching the steam that wafted up from the bacon slowly dissipate.

The food was getting cold.

It was nine thirty-eight, and Alfred was nowhere in sight.

Arthur crossed his arms and tapped a finger against his bicep, biting the inside of his bottom lip. At first he had been frustrated (he still was, just not as much), but now he was worried.

Maybe the king forgot?

Perhaps he didn't want to see Arthur?

What if he actually couldn't stand being around Arthur?

What if he ha-

The door suddenly turned blue before slamming back against the wall, startling Arthur out of his thoughts. There was a long pause before the King of Spades rushed into the room. The door closed with a whoosh, and the blue coloring faded away.

Alfred hadn't touched the door once.

"Was using magic to do a task as simple as opening a door really necessary?" Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated.

"Well, since I'm late, I decided to make a cool, dramatic entrance instead of coming in and immediately being yelled at!" Alfred replied enthusiastically, skipping over to Arthur. "Ooh, food!" The king yanked the sliding door aside and bounced out onto the balcony, almost knocking the table over in his haste to sit down and dig in. He picked up his fork, licked his lips, and was just about to impale one of the delicious looking eggs when-

"Oi!"

Alfred jerked his head back at the loud exclamation, and stared as Arthur crossed his arms and glared down at him.

"Do you not remember what you are here for?"

The King of Spades put his fork down on his plate. "Yeah, yeah, I remember. The food just looked so good, and I'm really, really hungry."

Arthur sighed, (he sure seems to do that a lot huh?) than pulled out the chair on the opposite side of the table and gracefully sat down.

"Watch me, and repeat what I do." Arthur grabbed a napkin with the index and thumb fingers of both hands and shook it out of its folds, then placed it gently on his lap. He smoothed it for a moment before lifting his eyes to meet Alfred's, who was staring intently. (Hey, Arthur did tell him to watch, and who would resist an offer like that?) "Go on."

"Oh! Oh yeah, okay." Alfred took his own napkin and tried to hold it just as Arthur had, but unfortunately, their fingers are a bit different. While Arthur's are slim and nimble, Alfred's are short and chubby, leading to the napkin crumpling slightly in his grip.

"No, you imbecile. You messed it all up and there is not an extra. Just…make sure to do it correctly next time." Arthur glanced sadly at the rumpled cloth before making his posture look even more regal than it already did. "You have a horrible slouching habit. Straighten out your back and lift your chin." Alfred did as he was told, and Arthur felt a strange satisfaction at having the king follow his orders.

Alfred started to bring his arms up, but Arthur stopped him with a "What are you doing?" The king put his hands back in his lap and stared at the older boy blankly. Arthur shook his head. "Absolutely do not put your elbows on the table."

"Oh." Alfred moved his arms around for a moment before setting his forearm against the side of the table and picking up his fork in his fist. Arthur told him to stop again, and showed him how to properly hold the utensil.

Once the king was finished eating, he immediately slouched back in his seat and sighed, loudly and dramatically. Arthur had to hold back a smile, and instead scowled at the young king as he relaxed in his chair and grinned.

"What is with that look?" Arthur asked. He would have thought Alfred would be pouty after they were finished.

"I'm just happy I got to spend this time with you, even though you were teaching me stuff I don't really care about. I'm glad you're the teacher though! You're not very nice, but it's still fun when it's you! Kind of. It's a little boring but I like listening to your voice, even when you're yelling at me."

Arthur felt his face turn hot. He wasn't sure whether to be frustrated with the king for insulting his teaching, or to be overjoyed that he complimented him and wanted to spend time with him.

Arthur would never admit to it, but he was glad as well.

"W-well, you had better get used to this, because we will be doing this every morning from now on until you know how to use proper table manners." Arthur abruptly stood up. "I will go call for a servant." He walked back into his room with the sound of the king pushing back his chair and following reaching his ears.

"Hey Arthur?"

Arthur stopped halfway to the door and looked over his shoulder. "Yes, Alfred?"

"Would you maybe want to go to the marketplace with me today?" The king smiled widely, but it looked a little…shy?

The shorter man's eyes widened, and he quickly turned back around to avoid Alfred's eyes. He took a deep breath. All the king asked was to go to the marketplace, so why was Arthur reacting like this? The thought of walking around with Alfred, looking at stalls with him, seeing his face light up as he saw something he liked…

He closed his eyes and willed his heart to calm down.

"I would love to go."