runs off stage and falls flat on my face
hello i hope this is on time lol
as always, i do not own the selection nor hetalia. these belong to kiera cass and himaruya hidekaz respectively.
"Morning, Arthur," was the first dozy noise that made its way to Arthur's ears, and he groaned in protest, hands tangling in the fistful of sheets as he sleepily craned his head up. "Artie? Hey there, sweetheart. Had a nice sleep?"
"Wha…?" Arthur mumbled, hands reaching for the body that was emanating heat – but who was it-
Oh.
Arthur's cheeks turned rouge in record time as he looked up from where his hands were resting on a well defined chest to Alfred's curious eyes, wearing the same soft smile that Arthur had come to adore.
"Morning, princess," Alfred said again in a sing song voice. "How are you?"
"What in the name of the Fates are you doing in my bed?" Arthur blurted, legs kicking back the plush blankets as their eyes met. "And why is it so bloody bright…aren't there supposed to be less windows out here than…"
Oh. Ohh. Again. Did he have a memory lapse?
"Arthur, we're in the queen's suite. Your suite now," Alfred said gently, holding his head against his neck endearingly. "Come on, sugar, you didn't forget what we talked about last night?"
"U…umm…" Arthur said, feeling very self conscious about the lack of distance between the two of them, but still subconsciously enjoying his heat – n-not like he wanted to stay close to him or anything! "Well yes, we met up after we completed our duties and then we talked about con – oh Fates…!"
"Huh? Fates, Artie, your cheeks have gone super red," Alfred murmured, poking one of them with his finger. "Hey, relax. We said that we'd be okay talking about it with each other, right?"
"It's still embarrassing!" Arthur cried, and promptly buried his face in Alfred's light blue dress shirt in mortification.
Alfred's mouth parted to speak, but his eyes softened and he gathered up the rest of the blankets with one of his arms, arranging it around him and Arthur so that he could keep him all warm. Pausing for a moment, he traced the outline of Arthur's jaw with his mouth, reveling in the sensation of the press of his nose and his soft lips against his chest, and pressed a kiss to the top of his head with a smile.
"Alfred…" Arthur complained, a soft whimper working itself out of his system as Alfred leaned down, gently pushing him back onto his pillow, hands cupping his cheeks as the two of them fell back. "Oi…oi…idiot, what are you doing…"
"You said that consummation was gonna be better than kissing, right?" Alfred said, tilting his head to press it in in the pillow between Arthur's head and shoulder, moving it so that only one side of his face was smothered by it. "We haven't…touched each other for a while, you know."
"You just kissed me last night, Alfred." Arthur said, letting himself flop back onto the soft surface.
"Shh!" Alfred yelped. "Artie, I'm trying to be romantic!"
"Pfft, you've done something like this several times and it hasn't worked," Arthur laughed, turning his head over to touch his nose against his.
"Aww, but I got you to fall in love with me," Alfred countered, beaming wildly as he shifted onto his side, body radiating heat as he took Arthur's hand and linked it with his own.
"You got me there," Arthur murmured, blinking slowly at him with an expression that made Alfred redden with how soft it was. "But who would have known that we would have come so far?"
"Fates, when I look at you now I know how I did," Alfred replied, feeling Arthur's slightly cold hands detach from his and cup his warm cheeks. "Someone like you…it would have hurt a lot to lose you."
"Now you understand me?" Arthur huffed dramatically, but a smile grazed his pale features as he inched closer to Alfred. "Finally."
"Right back at you," Alfred beamed, pressing soft kisses over Arthur's freckles. "But I have to say...it still feels kinda weird, you know? I've always wanted to hold you like this...but it's always been a pipe dream until now."
"It does feel too domestic for me sometimes," Arthur admitted, feebly fighting back against Alfred's onslaught of affection (but really, he wasn't trying). "Er...we can't exactly laze around in bed all day, right? We have preparations to do, messages to the other countries to send...you said that you were trying to work something out-"
"Psh, I have you now," Alfred giggled, pulling Arthur deeper into his arms and looking at him adoringly, filling Arthur with a love so strong he was afraid that he'd burst. "The country can take a break for the day."
"Idiot," Arthur said, ruffling his hair. "Surely you don't expect a whole country to be able to rest because of us…"
Alfred gave him a wink as if it would help calm down Arthur's beating heart, and leaned in as if he were going to kiss him again. Arthur's eyelids fluttered shut before he realized that Alfred's weight had left the bed and the loss of warmth was sharp to his skin.
"Crap, the port's going off in my room," Alfred swore, wrapping the blankets around Arthur. "Give me a moment, Arthur."
Arthur watched him closely as he opened the door – still giddy at the thought of having Alfred so close to him – and the harried 'Yeah, Yao, I'm up!' as Alfred stumbled back to the bedroom, mouthing something that Arthur couldn't make out.
"I said, Alfred," Jack Yao's voice came out of the machine, his strong voice reduced to a tinny noise thanks to the device. "We should be ready to send the invitations to the other countries today. We also have a handful of the guests you mentioned and Sir Arthur's family. Is there anyone else we need to invite?"
"Uh, no," Alfred said, exchanging a glance with Arthur. "Sorry I picked up so late."
"Is there a reason why? I'm not angry, I'm just…curious. Have you been busy this morning?" Yao asked, and the two boys exchanged embarrassed looks.
"Uhh…no, not really, heh," Alfred stammered, the tips of his ears blushing. "But uh, if you need to tell Sir Arthur anything, he moved into the queen's suite starting from last night so if…"
"Ah," the Jack said, and Arthur reddened at the Jack's knowing tone. "Well in that case, may you put me on the line to Sir Arthur?"
"I gotcha."
"Good morning, Your Highness," Arthur said, trying not to let his nervousness show in his speech.
"Good morning, Sir Arthur. I've got a message from the seamstress that came in the palace yesterday for the fitting? They said they're ready for you to do a fitting session today at two, if that's all right. Although, I'm a bit surprised you're wearing a dress for the wedding, but it doesn't matter if you want to."
"Oh, um…there seemed to be some sort of mix up there by the person who asked them to come," Arthur said, subconsciously scratching at the side of his face where he had just shaved a few days ago. "It's nothing, really. I don't mind any way. But is it all right if Alfred comes?"
To that, Alfred nodded vigorously and gave a thumbs up in a gesture that was not hard to laugh at.
"…all right," came the reply. "I'll let it go, then. You can bring Alfred if you wish. However, I'll need to see you in my study at around four; we'll have to go through the mannerisms of the coronation and then the wedding."
"Thank you," Arthur said formally. "I'll make sure to be there."
"That's great," Jack Yao said. "Oh right, before I forget – may you fetch Queen Kiku for me at one point if you do see him today? It's concerning the exchange internship we were discussing about."
"It's no issue, I will," Arthur said, nodding even though he knew Jack Yao wouldn't be seeing him agree. "Thank you, Your Highness. See you later."
Click.
"Ah man, now that's done, can we cuddle?" Alfred whined, wrapping his arms around Arthur's waist and pressing teasing kisses against his neck from behind. "Pleeaaaase?"
"Alfred," Arthur said, trying to reprimand him but failing at those stupid puppy dog eyes. "We have to get breakfast…"
"I'll call a maid later or whatever, but I just wanna hold you for now," Alfred admonished, blinking those irresistible deep blues. "Come on, princess, just for ten minutes. We've got a long day ahead of us, and I'm not going to see you for forever."
"You're going to see me later at two," Arthur corrected him, but let himself relent. Who could resist his future husband, anyway? "All right, then. Ten minutes-"
As soon as those words had flown from his mouth Alfred tackled him into the bed and wrapped himself around him like a cuddly boa constrictor, murmuring sweet nothings into his ear that made Arthur both cringe and laugh at simply how silly they were.
Fates, he loved this person.
"Here it is, Your Highness," the same seamstress said, her hair effortlessly pinned into a bun as she held out the dress, covered by a large bag that seemed twice the size of those Anna used to put his clothes in. "Miss Anna, would you give me a hand here?"
"Certainly," Anna - who had come down with the pair - said smoothly, beckoning Arthur to the little changing room, leaving Alfred all by his lonesome.
A smaller detail of that morning had popped into his head as he was getting changed and Arthur was showering, and his was by himself again – why was Arthur wearing a dress? Sure, he had worn it before to dates and things, but he thought that they wanted to wear matching suits, all that stuff, etc. But why had Yao sounded so confused about it?
There seemed to be some sort of mix up there by the people who asked them to come, Arthur had said. Although…if it wasn't Yao or Miss Anna that had arranged it, who did?
"Uh, miss?" he asked to the nearest maid that had a small clipboard in hand; she gave a little squeak and curtsied almost immediately. "Is it OK if I catch your name?"
"It's just Jordan, Your Highness," she blushed, tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear. "What do you need?"
"I was gonna ask, do you know who asked the seamstress to come here for Arthur?"
"Well, they should be written down here somewhere," she muttered half to herself as she rifled through the papers relatively fast that when Alfred blinked, she was at the last page. "Hm. Apparently, she was asked to come by a certain Lady Aileen?"
"..." Alfred's mouth parted to speak, but stilled almost as quickly as the thought had flown into his mind. Aileen. She was an advisor. She-
She's trying to sabotage our wedding, the thought repeated in his mind, and his fists clenched against the pillows of the fancy plush sofa that he was sitting in. She's trying to hurt Arthur in whatever way he can-
"Your Highness!" Miss Jordan said, her face pale. "You're…you're looking awfully angry, is there anything I can do?"
"H-Huh? Oh, oh, no, uh, it's nothing at all, don't worry," Alfred said quickly, relaxing and blinking twice. "It's just some policy, that's all."
"Right, that's fine…" she said, but she looked a little uncertain, a twinge of guilt sinking into Alfred's cognition.
Somehow, they were trying to spoil his wedding day, and Arthur's as well before he kicked their sorry asses out of the palace and into the prisons where they belonged. Getting angry about it would be giving in to them, and he wouldn't let them have their last hurrah.
"Your Highness, Sir Arthur's ready for you to look," the seamstress piped up, cutting through his negative thoughts. "Would you like to come in now?"
"Yeah, definitely," Alfred said giddily, and didn't try to fight the excitement dancing in his voice as he gratefully got off the seat and went to see him.
The room was set practically what Alfred would have imagined some sort of boutique in the Inner Circles would be like – three floor length mirrors cornered a circular pedestal positioned firmly in the middle, and there was a small loveseat at the back, probably for someone to watch the bride or groom pose in their wedding clothes.
So that was where Alfred made his way to as soon as he entered the room.
"Has he chosen something?" he asked, standing up as soon as the seamstress came in the room.
"Oh, you're very enthusiastic, Your Highness," she said, laughing a little. "Please, give him a moment. He's…been a bit indecisive about what he wants to and doesn't want to share with the world at this point."
"Tell him that there's no problem with me," Alfred grinned almost instantly. "I'd love to see him in whatever he's cool with."
"All right, then," she said sagely, and went back inside, leaving Alfred to nervously twiddle with his thumbs as he waited for her to reappear.
What would Arthur choose to wear? He had told Alfred just before they had slept – OK, it was just a sleepy, soft murmur before he had passed out – that it was something blue. Alfred didn't remember what he had said, but it had to be good (Right? Right?) Arthur looked great in blue anyway.
Even if Arthur wore a polyester pair of chafing red pants and got drunk at the reception, he wouldn't care because it was Arthur he got to marry…
But as five, ten, fifteen minutes passed and there was no sign of the seamstress nor his lovely, Alfred's palms started to sweat a little. Oh man, what if Arthur had bailed? He could see it now. Arthur had a secret escape hatchet. Thrown himself in the clothes and the seamstress was playing hide and seek with him then he had made a run for it. Jumped out of the window onto a waiting horse…
Fear started bubbling in his throat, and he started to subconsciously kick his legs, the tip of his pressed shoes catching the dimming light of the afternoon as he waited. After a few more moments of listless waiting, he jumped up to almost bolt into the room when a rather surprised Miss Anna came to greet him instead.
"Oh, Your Highness," she said, curtseying lightly although not as serious as Jordan's. "Sir Arthur's taken quite a long while to get dressed, but he's ready for you now. I suppose he'd prefer you to be sitting in the chair…?"
"UH, yeah, definitely," Alfred said sheepishly, letting his feet guide him back to the chair. "Sorry, I was getting a lil impatient."
"It's worth the wait, I promise," she said as she took a seat next to him. "Although…I must thank you, Your Highness. If I had looked at the Sir Arthur I talked to just moments ago compared to the boy two weeks ago…I wouldn't have thought they were the same people. Thank you for ironing things out."
"Hey, Arthur did as much as I did," Alfred said, tilting his head. "But I really wanted to thank you too, Miss Anna. For giving me the wake up call that I didn't know I needed, but you were compassionate enough to pick up on that for me. I guess I'd say that you knew more than I did. You made Arthur feel so much happier, and you saved me from myself."
"There's no need to go so far," she said, chocolate brown eyes turning back to the floor as she straightened out her dress. "But it's good to know that we've been on the same team since the start. I hope we can work together in the future to make sure Sir Arthur's happy."
"Is he keeping you on the team? I guess he's gonna need more maids in the future." Alfred queried.
"Hm? Right, we discussed this the other day," she replied in tandem. "He offered to make me his lady in waiting."
"It suits you for sure," Alfred commented. "Did you take him up on the job?"
"I'm still thinking about it, Your Highness," she said cordially. "However, as long as I continue to aid him, I'll be happy with my work."
Alfred nodded once, giving her a secure smile as the curtains swished and the seamstress came back out, a breathtaking Arthur trailing behind her.
As their eyes met, shy green to curious blue, Alfred realized that he could barely tear them from his to look at him.
The dress itself was nothing short of exquisite. The top of it was simple, being made out of sturdy light blue cloth with a high scoop neckline and short sleeves, but the top of it was covered with a transparent like cloth, almost like fairy gossamer. It extended out to cover Arthur's arms entirely up to the base of his fingers so he could pull it over his hands like he was doing now in self consciousness.
The rest of the garment dissolved from light blue to a deep one, almost the tint of sapphires as Arthur gently hoisted the tulle of the skirts to stand on top of the pedestal. The back of the gown was carefully closed up with a small zipper – Alfred could have guessed that Arthur didn't like overly fancy backs with a lot of fabric and zippers and interwoven laces and blah Arthur had turned around and Fates I want to cry right now.
A tiny dusting of crystal like gems adorned the waistline of the gown, and with a little tearful smile Alfred could see that they looked like dark blue roses, the ones that they had grown together the first time they had shared their magic. They seemed to almost effortlessly tumble off the side, dissolving into the sides of the dress as the latter half of the dress was covered in the same pale gossamer that had covered his arms.
It was breathless enough without looking at the person wearing it.
"Do it a little spin for me, Sir Arthur," the seamstress coaxed, and with uncertain feet – interestingly enough, he didn't hear the new shoes so that meant Arthur wouldn't be wearing heels, huh… – Arthur turned around once, letting the dress lightly float out underneath his arms as he moved around; and as he turned to face Alfred the way his face lit up with exhilaration told Alfred that above all the worry he had harboured, this was a good thing.
"What do you think?" Arthur asked breathlessly, the glint in his eyes taking away any fears left in Alfred's heart. "It's a bit unique, I know, but the seamstress gave me so many ideas so that we had to combine them. I'm sorry we were late, darling, but we had to perfect the finishing touches…"
"Come here, princess," Alfred said animatedly, carefully placing his calloused hands on Arthur's waist and lifting him off the pedestal and a little over his head. "You look stunning. Fates, I was right to not be worried."
"Psh, you flatter me," Arthur retorted, but didn't fold his arms when he returned to the ground. "T-thank you, though. After I saw this dress…I realized that I can't really stand waiting for the ceremony."
"Me, too," Alfred echoed, and Arthur sighed endearingly at the way he didn't seem to be able to drag his gaze away from Arthur in that moment. "Although, we're super close now. Maybe we shouldn't run away and elope when we have two pretty hot grooms, huh?"
"…I suppose," Arthur replied, subconsciously running two fingers through his gown. "It's something else, isn't it?"
"Fit for a queen," Alfred said, tilting his chin forward – but quickly stopped as he remembered that they weren't alone and the seamstress probably had other things to attend to. Well…at least Miss Jordan and Miss Anna didn't seem to mind…
"Uh, I'm sorry…Arthur loves it, and I love it as well. Could we have this?"
"Most definitely, Your Highness," the seamstress said, bowing a little. "Please, come with me, Sir Arthur…"
"See you tonight," Arthur mouthed deliberately slowly, hoping that Alfred could get the message as he was led away from him again, keen to continue the duties of the day, although that small spell of magic would simmer with him for the rest of the day.
OKOK i'm an angsty author i swear
my readers: BOOO I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO MAKE US CRY. FLUFF? NOT IN MY HOUSE
me:
me: :D
my readers: at this moment we knew...we fucked up
replies
CFAA - 1. ;) 2. yep i am! i have a handful of ideas so i've left some things ambigous so they'll be touched upon in the sequel. 3. we should form the netherlands appreciation club sometime, for the country (aph and real life tbh)
russia says hello - hoh boy, do you go a searching on my YT history? tl;dr i was browsing through marvel post credits (watching black panther on tues and wanted to prep myself) and saw it again and the lightbulb went poof because i love the captain america AU 10/10. and i'm glad it did! OK i have to admit i only watched the film once when i was with my grandparents and they were playing mahjong (#just asian things) and i watched it and fell asleep. i actually picked it and 'you killed my father. prepare to die' from other fanworks lmao
vivadragnire - hmm what about a quadruple agent? and maybe, maybe. also yes, they have that tsundere multiplier and what is that emoticon young lady
hearthorse11 - hey! i'm still really humbled especially since you're not in fandom anymore. also it means a lot to me that so many people have come with me on this journey. hell, this fic could have crumbled if it weren't for everyone's support ;v; that reason alone is strong enough for me to not give up for these people who enjoy this work yep, it was kriss! christ i haven't read that book for give or take a 402,715 years and i still remember lol. and my my ;D thanks for reviewing lovely! x
reviews, favourites and follows are what will keep me writing, so please go ahead and leave them!