Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Pale morning light filtering in through the curtains slowly roused Matthew from his sleep. He groggily opened his eyes, yawning, lack of sleep urging him to just roll over and wake back up in the afternoon. He should have known better than to try and wait for Alfred to return... Apparently they had smoothed things over. Matthew groped along the nightstand for his glasses, and fumbled them onto his face.

At least Alfred's bed was occupied now. Burning curiosity won out over sleepiness, and Matthew forced himself out of bed, shivering once he left the comfort of his blankets behind. Unsurprisingly, Alfred had not changed before flopping into bed. Matthew shook his head at his brother's rumpled appearance.

"Are you staring at me?" Alfred mumbled, not opening his eyes. "M'tired."

"So am I," Matthew said. "So tell me everything, and we can go back to sleep. The horses won't mind if you're a little late."

With a groan, Alfred sat up, rubbing at his eyes. "He decided to start over."

Matthew tilted his head. "Start over?"

"That's what someone told him to do about me. So we introduced ourselves. It was silly." Alfred chuckled, though it didn't hold his usual humor. "And he asked me if it was my first time, and I didn't want to pretend it was, but we didn't do that anyway. He sucked my dick and let me do him, so it really was my first time."

Matthew's jaw dropped. "He what?" He was too surprised to be creeped out by his brother's frank description.

"You were right, Mattie. He said that he's liked me for a while, but didn't know what to do about it, and assumed I would always hate him, so he just kept things up because it kept me with him at least..."

"I was right..." Matthew repeated. It was one thing to be certain there must be more to Arthur's treatment of Alfred. Quite another to have it confirmed.

"Enjoy it, I'm not gonna admit that a lot." Alfred rolled over. "Anyway, my head hurts from thinking about it..."

"I think I need to go for a walk..." Matthew tugged out a dresser drawer.

Alfred mumbled a question, which only someone who had lived with him his entire life could translate. "I'm not sleepy anymore," Matthew answered. He quickly pulled some clothes on, including the red shirt he was especially fond of despite the overwhelming blue of the Spades palace and its citizens. Even if it hadn't been his favorite color, it made him think of his childhood in Hearts, where red was the favored hue.

After running a comb through his hair, Matthew slipped out of the room, leaving his snoring brother behind. He decided to make the kitchen his first stop, and picked up a scone and some jam. Normally he would head for the courtyard with the fountain he particularly liked as a place to sit with his thoughts, but it was much too cold for that, so the atrium became is destination instead.

He didn't get very far beyond the kitchen, though.

Oh, not again... Matthew thought about running for it when he recognized the regal figure striding down the hallway. He looked around for the nearest escape, a brief battle waging between the part of him that wanted nothing to do with the Queen, and the part that wanted to sit him down and have a good long Protective Brother Chat.

The decision was made for him when it became apparent that he was already spotted. With a sigh, Matthew held his ground as the other approached.

"I was hoping to find you," Arthur said. He was tightly gripping something against his chest.

"I'm Matthew," he said quickly, not wanting a repeat of the other day.

Arthur smiled slightly. "I know... It was you I was looking for."

Matthew couldn't be sure if he was serious, or lying to save face. "What for?"

"Um..." He shoved the object in his hands toward Matthew. It was a book. "You like reading, right? I... um..." He mumbled something.

"What?"

"I wanted to say... sorry. For, um, touching you. Inappropriately."

Matthew blinked in surprise, reaching out to accept the book. It looked quite old, and detailed the history between Spades and Hearts. "Oh." He looked up at the awkward, embarrassed Queen, feeling a little shocked. "Um, thank you." But it still wasn't right, and he shook his head. "That isn't what you should be apologizing to me for."

Arthur gave him a baffled look.

"You used me as bait to make my brother your whore."

Arthur flinched and averted his gaze. "Right... I'm sorry about that, too."

A peacock blue couch was available in a nearby nook. Matthew walked over to it, and Arthur took the hint and followed.

"I hope you don't mind me speaking frankly, Your Majesty," Matthew said. "But you have an odd way of showing you care about people."

"I didn't know that would happen!" Arthur said. "I mean, I saw him one day, and wanted to have him, because he had such a handsome face and nice build and gorgeous arse, and... er. Well, I guess you know that – I mean, you have all that, too, and... that did not come out right."

Matthew just stared at him. That man really was inept at simply talking to people.

"But over time that changed..."

"And you thought you had no chance, so may as well keep him on as your toy?"

"I didn't know what else to do!"

Matthew sighed, running a finger over the book's leather spine. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know..."

With a flicker of shock, Matthew realized Arthur was looking at him... hopefully. "You want my advice?"

Arthur looked away again, slowly nodding.

"Well... to start with, I guess you could make the sex better. He might be more receptive if he isn't feeling so used."

"Did you just call me a poor lover?" Arthur said, turning back with narrowed eyes.

Matthew was not cowed by an impending royal tantrum. "Poor, no. Selfish, yes."

"Did he not tell you about last night?"

"Well keep it up. Make it about him. Making him feel as good as possible should be your top priority." When the Queen opened his mouth – presumably to protest – Matthew interrupted him. "He'll return the favor, so you don't have to worry about yourself. You'll be taken care of, too. So focus on pleasing him, finding out what drives him wild."

Arthur cleared his throat. "No offense, but what makes you an expert on sex? Surely you aren't that experienced."

Matthew shrugged. "No. But my lover is, he could make a rock orgasm if he wanted to."

"Ah..."

"And I've read a lot... Anyway." Matthew coughed. "Yeah. Just... be nice to him? Maybe try some of the traditional courting methods? Flowers, gifts, I don't know if you're allowed to go on dates..." He looked down at the book again. "You have it in you. You remembered that I like to read, and brought me a book about our kingdoms you thought would mean something to me. It's the little things like that..."

"So I'm not a total loss?" A smile tugged at the Queen's lips.

"Not total."

"All right." Arthur stood.

"Just don't overdo it," Matthew warned.

"Overdo what?"

"The various courting things. They should be spontaneous surprises. If you overdo it and overwhelm him with gifts, that won't be good, either. Then it'll seem like you're trying to buy his affection or something."

Arthur's slender shoulders sagged. "This is all very complicated..."

Matthew watched him go, but called out to him just as the Queen reached a doorway. Arthur paused in the middle of gripping the handle. "I'm sure you don't want to hear this," Matthew said, "but there's an old saying. If you love something, set it free-"

"I'm familiar with that saying," Arthur said, yanking the door open and hurrying inside.

"Hey," Alfred said, disrobing as he headed for the bed. "So are we doing something new, or just the usual? Is there anything we haven't done?"

"Maybe just the usual..." Arthur said. He was on the bed already, as he normally was, though he was still wearing undershorts.

"Right." Alfred crawled onto the bed on hands and knees. Was Arthur going to act like last night had never happened? Alfred honestly wasn't sure if he would prefer it that way or not.

"Um..." A hand touched his back. "Flip over."

"Oh!" Alfred rolled onto his back.

"There. Okay." Looking nervous – as if they hadn't had sex a million times already – Arthur slipped his shorts off and reached for the oil.

Alfred had never thought it could be so good to bottom. Arthur was slow and gentle, running his hands over Alfred's body, lingering on spots that were discovered to be sensitive. The very fact that they were moving together, face-to-face, added a new erotic thrill. They had faced each other the previous night, but Alfred had been too preoccupied by the excitement of topping to really concentrate on their positions. Arthur brought him slowly to the brink of orgasm, then pushed him over the edge with a few quicker thrusts and strokes of his erection. A couple more thrusts, and Arthur joined him with a cry.

It took a few moments of sticky, panting recovery for Alfred to realize that he had come first while bottoming that time. Would wonders never cease...

"It could have been like that," Arthur murmured some time later, when they sat near each other on the bed, the closest they had come to snuggling after sex. "Even back when I... when I just wanted your body. If I'd known it was your first time, I'd have-"

"Can we please just drop that?" Alfred said, exasperated. "It's over and done with, it was my own fault, just forget about it."

"Oh..."

Nothing was said for a long stretch of time. Unable to stand it, Alfred said, "Your first time was okay, right?"

"Ha."

Alfred blinked. "No? Was your husband bad at it? Cruel?"

Arthur stared down at the bedding, fiddling with a loose thread. "Not bad, so much as... ignorant." He smirked. "Our instructors didn't think sex was something they should teach noble kids about. I was only fourteen when we married, he wasn't much older, and neither of us had ever..."

Alfred sat fully upright. "Oh." A laugh escaped before he could stop it. The thought of two virgins fumbling together with only the vaguest idea of what they were supposed to do... He laughed again, longer.

Arthur scowled at him. "I'm glad that amuses you."

"I'm sorry!" Alfred just laughed harder. "Did he try putting it in your ear?"

"Belt up!"

"I bet you're gonna make noble kids be taught about sex now!"

"I have already changed that." Arthur finally stood, wandering over to look at one of his paintings, not bothering to dress. "Well... um... you know it's almost the Festival of Swords, right? Spades' holiday that-"

"I know what it is," Alfred said. "We've lived here since we were ten. Just because I spent the day begging for change from the celebrators doesn't mean I wasn't aware of it."

"All right..."

Alfred shrugged. "What about it?" It had been so long since a holiday had meant anything to him besides more people to beg from and extra discarded food lying around, he hadn't even thought about the fact that one was coming up.

Every kingdom had its own festival, celebrating some even in its history – originally, anyway; in modern times they were simply traditions and excuses to have fun. Spades' was a wintertime celebration of some major battle or other from long ago. There were feasts, formal dances, and a parade that long ago was entirely of soldiers but now was dancers and jesters and many other entertainers, led by soldiers. What soldiers could be spared during the never ending wartime, anyway.

"Were you planning on participating in the festivities?" It sounded like Arthur was forcing the words out.

"I hadn't really thought about it." Alfred scratched his head, then let his hand drop with a grin. "Yeah! I'm all for having a good time." There was yet another thing to appreciate about their new life. They could go out and enjoy themselves during holidays! Alfred couldn't remember the last time he joined a celebration for fun. His parents had still been around, he was sure.

"Maybe... er..." Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, there's a dance here in the palace. Every year I go with someone different, and usually they're quite boring, or spend the whole time kissing my arse, or act like an idiot. So I thought it might be nice... I don't know... I suppose you could go with me."

Alfred stared at his back, taken by surprise. "I..." It was so hard to get used to the idea of a halfway decent Queen. Well, if he was going to play nice, no reason to not return the favor. "Sure."

"Really?" Arthur turned, eyes wide.

"Really. Don't act so surprised." Alfred smiled. "It'll be good to see you outside the bedroom, in a different light."

"O-oh." Arthur quickly turned back. "Well. I'll send a message to the tailor, you'll need something nice."

Alfred sagged. "The tailor. Right..."