my writing schedule = procrastinate all day then write at 2am
which is why i'm up again fml (also, history paper but that doesn't really count)
as always, i do not own the selection nor hetalia. these belong to kiera cass and himaruya hidekaz respectively.
disclaimer for slight NSFW in the first scene.
"Alfred."
He woke up, his eyes laden down with sleep, but they shot open as soon as he took in his view.
Still in his bedroom, the sky had darkened back to the night, and he could faintly make out stars – that strangely held an almost green tinge towards them.
Was it just because he was asleep, or was this a dream?
The room was permeated with the smell of roses…
"Alfred," the voice came again, sweeter and softer this time. Alfred's head jerked back to the front of the bed where he was currently sitting on.
Arthur, clothed in a sheer blue nightshirt and short pants that exposed pale, creamy legs, was standing on the end of his bed, looking nervous.
"Uh, hey, Arthur," he said, his heart thudding in his chest. "What's up-"
"I can't sleep," he mumbled, and then all of a sudden he was in a heap on Alfred's bed, crawling over to him in a fashion that was much more seductive than he was used to with Arthur. Those hips were…swaying, his eyes were half lidded, and he had a blush on his face as he moved, his arms stopping right where Alfred's knees were hoisted in the blanket.
"W-whaf?" Alfred stuttered, his face practically on fire. For once, he thought that he might be blushing harder than Arthur.
"I've missed you," he whispered, now pressing his lips, feeling as soft as petals, to his hair. "So, so much."
"…" he would have said something in that moment, but he was so tongue tied that he only lurched back. Wasn't this wrong – Arthur like this, like this…
"Alfred," he mewled, a sound that was foreign to his ears but awakened something inside. He felt a flush all over his skin, making him tingle and building a certain pressure, pulling his boxers tight and more and more uncomfortable.
"A...Arthur," he gulped. When Arthur tilted his head just so, the moonlight caught on the lily white of his neck, revealing a sheen of sweat that made his heart threaten to jump out of his chest and do a jig.
Arthur's thin fingers tucked themselves into his onesie, and Alfred felt absolutely mortified. Here Arthur was, kissing him so gently and behaving so sensually, clothed in a thin shirt and smoking hot shorts, and he was wearing some bear onesie? He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, awaiting his next move.
Arthur looked up, jade eyes shining with desire, and started to slowly remove his outfit, raising a thick eyebrow as he realized the outfit was one piece.
"Uh, I'm-" Alfred said, his voice petering out halfway, but Arthur simply smiled and laid his mouth firmly against his, hands tugging at his hair, effectively silencing him.
"Hush, love," he whispered against his lips, shifting so that he was pressing completely into him. "It's more than fine for me."
Brushing away the brown fabric of his nightwear, he unbuttoned Alfred's white undershirt and tantalizingly removed it, laying kisses on his neck and curling his fists against his bare chest.
"Arthur," Alfred breathed, his hands shifting to those luscious hips as he bit his lip and leaned a little higher, catching his earlobe in between his adorably crooked teeth, "A-Arthur…shit, shit, Artie…!"
"Do you like it?" Arthur said, tilting his head in such a way that it looked cute but suggestive at the same time. "I wanted to thank you for all that you've done for me…"
"There's no need for that," he mumbled, but let one of his hands trail up to Arthur's forearm in response. With a tug, he fell onto Alfred's chest, and their eyes met. The atmosphere was searing with unresolved tension, so much that Alfred finally read it and used his other hand to cup Arthur's face, fingers pushing up against the bristly ends and feverishly kissed him.
Arthur parted his mouth, his slightly swollen lips allowing Alfred entrance. After a moment, Alfred found Arthur underneath him rather than on top, his cheeks flushed – now this felt a little more real – and he continued recklessly anyway, pressing Arthur deeper into the softness of his pillows. Arthur let out a soft moan, hands reaching around his neck to bring their bodies closer, and Alfred felt his legs – he was gonna create a law when he was a king to disallow Arthur to wear shorts around anyone except him as they were too gorgeous for their own good - shift around his waist.
"Alfred, please…you, ah!" he gasped against his mouth. Alfred swallowed audibly, the raw sound reverberating around the silent room.
"I gotta thank you, too," he said.
Daring to take a risk, he darted forward and attached his mouth to Arthur's slender neck, drawing forth a cry of his name and feeling his hands gathering up his honey blond hair, feeling Arthur's heartbeat underneath his mouth drawing him into a frenzy that only burned for more…
Someone turned on the lights.
Alfred woke up with a jolt, his cheeks flushed and chest moving faster than it had before he went to sleep and his forehead clammy, his hair sticking to his face. What kind of dream had that been?
The sky outside was still darkened, suggesting that it was very early morning. But with that image in his head, there was almost no chance of falling back asleep again. He couldn't even sit the right way on his really soft bed, thanks to-
"Ugh," he groaned, making sure Matthew's door was completely closed before he flopped his face back into the pillows, feeling the fire on his cheeks burn a little brighter as he realized that he'd have to change his boxers come morning.
Yao had warned him about the horrid effects of puberty, but he'd never seen them manifest in this way. Where images that had been festered from the deepest parts of another side of him, one that brought heated dreams, bright red cheeks and clouded green eyes…
"Agh!" he cried out in frustration, gripping his pillow in frustration as the pressure on his lower regions started to build again. Fates, if Yao found out… He scrunched his legs together, trying his best to push it as low as possible, but noooo. Wet dreams ahoy.
He closed his eyes again, trying to get comfortable.
Big mistake.
"Your Highness, but breakfast is in three minutes!" his maid cried, tapping at the bathroom door urgently. "His Highness Matthew left for the dining room twenty minutes ago…"
"No, no, go f-first," Alfred said hurriedly, harshly wiping off some soap from the band of his pants. "I've got this under control…"
After he hung his underwear from the shower rack, he wrestled a new pair of boxers that his maid had brought that morning, jumped into his pants (literally), hastily buttoned his shirt and out the door with one shoe on.
On his way to the dining room, he nearly ran into a brown haired maid who started apologizing for absolutely no reason, stubbed his untied shoe into a statue of some old fart, and was tying a knot into his tie as he arrived to the dining hall, kicking the door open in a manner that neither Matthew nor Yao would approve of.
The owlish eyes of the Elite were what greeted him – which included Arthur, which would have been great on a normal day, but coming straight on the heels of a messy boner that had ended even messier, it was not doing anything good for him at all.
And, of course, his hair smelled of roses, meaning that he had washed his hair last night. Thoughts of him in the shower, with the water reflecting off his skin…
Feeling his cheeks flame, he avoided Arthur's gaze – and the rest of the Elite, for that matter - as he made his way up to his usual seat. Yao, to his surprise, held a bemused expression, but Matthew was as pissy as usual, prodding him in the ribs. A butler was behind his chair, and he nodded to him before sitting down.
"Come on, waking up so late? Did something happen yesterday?"
"Chill, Matt," Alfred said, shrugging it off as easily has he had done time and time again. "Jus' woke up in the middle of the night, that's all. Don't sweat it – what's for breakfast today?"
"Hash browns are what I'm taking, " Yao said curtly. "Matthew's enjoying waffles with coffee today, I assume?"
"Can I have milk tea instead?" Matthew asked, sounding a little less steamed at the mention of good food. "With some maple sugar instead of the normal stuff."
"Yes, Your Highness," the butler said. "What for the crown prince?"
"Uh, hash browns sound great, and, uh, orange juice?"
It came out more like a question than anything, but thankfully no one noticed as he bowed once and placed a hand over his towel and folded it neatly again, before going off presumably to the kitchens.
"Hey," Alfonso mumbled over a mouthful of food, and Alfred mentally steeled himself with a grin as he looked back to the trio. "Morning, Al!"
"Morning to ya too! Did the three of you have a nice sleep?" Hopefully better than mine…
"Alfonso and I went riding together yesterday," Emma said, placing her fork on an empty plate of what were presumably waffles. "If I was back home, I would have woken up really late!"
"Yeah, it was really fun!" Alfonso said enthusiastically. "Art, I'm sorry I didn't get to bring you along yesterday. I couldn't find you before we left for the stables…"
"Hm? Oh no, that's completely not an issue," Arthur said, and the mere warmth in his tone was enough to soften his thoughts for a while. That's what he usually sounded like, not the phantom in his bed last night… "I was writing a few notes to my family. With Christmas being the day after tomorrow, I couldn't help but think about them…"
"Reminds me," Alfonso said, swallowing audibly*. "Antonio should be on break for Christmas, I should drop a note asking how things are in Hearts. Especially with the Joker rebels…"
"I mean, since the Hearts kingdom have decided to crown their new queen a little after the New Year, it should be safe. Either that or they have significant protection," Yao said, taking a sip of his water. "But I do not think you need to worry, Sir Alfonso."
"Thank you, Jack Yao," came the reply. "I just don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble."
"No, it's no issue. A healthy concern for our allies is always welcomed," he said warmly. "Speaking of which, we must get back to the Diamonds negotiation later, Prince Matthew. Perhaps after breakfast?"
"Y-Yes, Jack Yao," he said. A little surprised at how he was acting in front of the Elite, let alone to them, he stuttered a little at the beginning. "I'll see if King Francis or Jack Vash is available later, apparently Queen Lili is on business in Clubs."
"Duly noted," Yao said, but paused as he saw the twins' confused expressions. Perhaps his behaviour was turning a little too formal as their parents had requested he be a bit less formal in his speech before their death; or it was probably the air of apprehension that cautiously permeated the room this morning. "Right, yes, any plans for today, Pri – er, Alfred?"
"Uh, I don't have nothing," Alfred said, wincing a little at Emma's crestfallen expression. "I'm sorry…there were a few new tweaks to the bills that the advisors were talking about the other night. I'd like to get through those instead…"
"Alfred," Matthew said in a hushed tone so that the others wouldn't hear except Yao. "Are they the ones about forwarding the end of the Deciding process? You did say the New Year…"
"Yes," Alfred said hastily, before turning to face the confused trio. "I know you're disappointed and I really don't wanna have to do this. But maybe tomorrow…since it's Christmas Eve, why don't we stay up and bake something?"
"Cookies, for Santa?" Emma asked, her eyes lighting up.
"I don't believe in Santa," Arthur said cynically, but smiled all the same, making Alfred's heart thump under the looser shirt he wore for mornings. "Baking does sound awfully fun, though."
"Tomorrow night, under the Christmas tree?" Alfonso suggested. "Let's meet there."
And with that, Alfred could avoid embarrassing himself in front of everyone else.
"Your Highness…what do you think of this colour?"
Purple, Alfred thought internally. It's a royal colour, and one of Spades's primary colours…but again, it doesn't match his eyes at all.
He must have made some face, as the jeweler quickly put back the amethyst into the velvet holder.
After the relatively peaceful breakfast that he had had, Alfred had gone down to the small forgery that they had in the right wing of the palace. The blacksmith was a little surprised to see him but nevertheless, took out a large velvet box and revealed that he had been, in fact, working on Alfred's request for the past few days.
"Sir, I'm sorry if I upset you. I was just deep in thought…"
"None taken, Your Highness," the jeweler said cheerfully. "I know that this will be on the finger of our future princess and in turn queen, and that simply gives me inspiration – however, may I ask what made it so distasteful? Perhaps the cutting, or the jewel placement?"
"No, no," Alfred amended hurriedly. "It wasn't at all! You have done stunning work over the years, but it's just the fact that…the Elite I'll be proposing to soon has green eyes, and I felt that purple could potentially clash."
"Ah, I see," he said, but his smile quickly turned mischievous. "That's a wonderful trick question, as all three of them have lovely green eyes. Then, possibly…maybe something red?"
"That could work," Alfred said, trailing off. "I was thinking maybe something red for mine, but. I guess I don't really have the expertise to choose a ring that would work."
"You're a youngster that's going to inherit the crown. I guess there should be more things to fret about than a wedding ring."
"You have a good point, sir," he said, subconsciously twisting around his dog tags. "But I really do want to fit them to a T."
"Well, how about this," the blacksmith said, placing the ring back into the box. "Picture this – think of them wearing it every day. Just imagine them with it all the time, carrying it along to social events and visits. It should reflect their love, in the sense."
Alfred sat there on the small workers' bench for a moment, still in thought. After a few minutes, he removed his heavy suit jacket, wrapped it underneath his arm and sat a little closer to the hearth, where a flat sheet of metal was setting.
"Okay, I guess I've got a picture now – so, uh about the colour, I was thinking of maybe…"
He spent most of the rest of his afternoon discussing the shape and colours of the gem on the ring instead of hidden meanings and zodiac signs that he thought that he'd be looking at instead, and only managed to slog back to his room after the blacksmith started to look a little tired. Feeling confident that he had left the job to capable hands, he allowed himself to start drafting an announcement to the advisors about the end of the Deciding, and promised himself to write a speech for the Broadcast that would certainly come along with the official call.
Quickly taking a bath before his maid could come in for her last check before she stood patrol along with his butler who had prepared a handful of bath salts already, he leapt into bed, hoped for a dreamless sleep without any gorgeous, tantalizing Arthurs that would materialize in his sinful dreams, and (thankfully) found that peaceful sleep that carried him into Christmas Eve.
* i have used this term for other, deeper meaning before, but alfonso just wanted to swallow his breakfast. good man.
replies
pastaaddict - i feel like sooner or later, i'm going to contract diabetes from them :')
vivadragnire - you know, when you mentioned mountain my first thought was that it should definitely be included in the sound of music remastered...
russia says hello - i love that you signed off like normal when your review was all caps lmao
THEHYPEISSOREAL - young lady we're talking over skype about this
AlfredoHater - see above message x
- i wonder if you ran into another celebrating reviewer on a mountain? i hope you didn't have any accidents - the last time i went hiking, screaming meant someone spotting a bee... and also - i think yao might want a smaller role, as my original intention with his arc was to sort of leave it ambiguous. i was planning to leave it for the sequel, which seems like it's going to be happening. and i'm a little unsure as to what you mean by 'national'? and final note - steamy night for this chap as well ;)
reviews, favourites and follows are what will keep me writing, so please go ahead and leave them!