Author's Note: This was originally requested on the Hetalia Kink Meme. This part was originally the second chapter and then a third of the third chapter, but I have combined them so the next chapter is not so confusing.
Warnings: Omegaverse, mention of yaoi and possessive urges.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters.
Alfred and Arthur danced decently enough. Enough.
"Heh, having fun, Artie?" Alfred chirped, his hand on Arthur's waist and the other holding his hand. He was leading, as any other King- any other Alpha- would. He glanced down here and there, trying to make sure he made the proper steps. Somehow, he always managed to step on Arthur's feet here and there.
"You-" Arthur snapped at him quietly, readjusting Alfred's had to put it in the proper position. "-hand stays here." He huffed, holding Alfred's hand firmly at his side. "Not on my arse- right here." He looked away, his cheeks tinting a soft pink.
"I'll take that blush as a yes!" Alfred laughed softly, nuzzling his face against Arthur's, washing a fresh new splash of his own scent. There. Arthur was his, if everyone didn't know already. They already smelled so strongly of each other, as all mates did.
Ivan hated that.
Why was Alfred's beautiful scent spoiled by Arthur's? Arthur smelled of the sea, the salt hitting Ivan so hard that he swore he could taste it. His scent had a strong vein of tea leaves soaked in rum, a bad combination to the Clover King. What did Alfred see in it? He must be blinded by it- perhaps Arthur threw the salt in his eyes.
Making his way to the purple and blue-clad couple, Ivan smiled warmly. He needed to be nice if he wanted to get Alfred to himself. He had the decency to wait for the song to end and Arthur to break off to talk to the Hearts. Arthur had long been friends with the Beta Heart Queen Kiku, and it was often that when Arthur wasn't with Alfred, ruining the Spade King's appeal, he was with Kiku. It wasn't all that common for Alfred to be alone, for he usually ended up with the Omega Jack of Spades after that. In fact, now that he thought of it, Alfred was almost never alone from what Ivan could see. Even during meetings when the Kings were supposed to be alone, Spade had made it some sort of exception to bring the Jack along with, even though the Spade's Jack was an Omega. Having an Omega in a room full of Alphas was never a good idea.
After Alfred and his Jack, Wang Yao, were seated at the designated table for Spades, Ivan approached from the side, placing a gentle hand on Alfred's shoulder.
Alfred practically froze. Mother Clover must've blessed Ivan with the gift of ice.
"Comrade- care for a stroll?"
Ivan smiled at Alfred, refusing to let any sort of desire slip through. Not yet. He then glanced to Yao, as if to ask the King's company for permission to take him. It wasn't like Ivan needed permission from a Jack, especially not an Omega Jack. Yao shivered lightly, trying to keep it unnoticeable. Ivan's smile may seem warm to Alfred, but past experiences with the Clover King killed the warmth of the smile to Yao.
"I...erm, I should really ask Arthur." Alfred muttered after a bit.
"Why should an Alpha need permission from his Omega?" Ivan questioned, and after he brought it up, Alfred agreed across the board to join him. The look on Yao's face showed obvious disapproval, begging Alfred to reject, but in the depths of his heart, he knew Alfred couldn't oppose to the offer.
Perfect.
All Ivan had needed was a yes.
Before long, Ivan brought Alfred out into the gardens. Their scents seemed to belong out there in the tulips. Alfred's smoky scent warmed up Ivan's scent of mint and the slightest tint of vodka. It was perfect. Like a delicious dinner with a sundae on the side- they fit together so well, if it weren't for Arthur's scent getting in the way. Figuring out what was so off about Alfred would be a hell of a lot easier without Arthur seemingly constantly hanging around Alfred. Ivan hoped the scent of the tulips would freshen them up enough that Arthur's scent would fade away. He was wrong.
"Do you ever enjoy a walk at night?" Ivan asked softly, leading Alfred around the cobblestone walkways. Even though it was usually cold in Clover, the gardens had been heated so they could have fountains and flowers abundant.
"Not really. Sometimes I walk through our rose garden with Artie- he likes roses a lot." Alfred shrugged, looking around. "Hey, you have any roses? I could get him one! One time Francis gave him a lily from Diamonds, but I think Arthur'd like roses more."
Right away, Alfred had brought up Arthur. Hearing Alfred's words seemed to sting in his chest, growing stronger and stronger with every mention of the Spade Queen. Why did it hurt? Why was the idea of Alfred with another mate getting to Ivan like this? Alfred wasn't supposed to be with Arthur. He...No, it just didn't work. It was wrong. Their bond smelt so sour- did Alfred really think that Arthur's scent was sweet? Alfred's scent was sweet! Sweet and sour may work when it came to cuisine of the eastern Spade region, but not when it came to mates!
"Nyet." Ivan hid as much of a sigh as he could. "We do not have roses here." He needed Alfred's mind off of the sour Omega. "I...have a question, Alfred." He looked off down the path, his hands behind his back as he strode.
"Uh, yeah, bro?" Alfred looked over at him, his vocabulary slowly slipping back into one that was not fit for a King, but rather the adorable young man that Alfred truly was. Nineteen was not the age of a King, but of an innocent young man with all the hope in the world. Why Arthur had practically drilled his more refined way of speaking into Alfred would always be confusing. Why would Arthur try to change his mate? An Alpha should never change to the Omega's preference! Arthur should find himself lucky to be with Alfred, not taking it for granted.
Ivan turned to face Alfred, a seriousness in his eyes that only came with matters close to the heart. It was sincere, as if something had started to melt him from the inside. "Why do you let Arthur control you?"
"What?" Alfred blinked at him a few times, feeling cornered even though Ivan's demeanor had warmed up to be more inviting that anything else. It was his words that were intimidating. "I don't know what you mean- I'm a free man!"
Adorable.
"You are free to do anything." Ivan mumbled, turning back to the path and strolling forward, checking behind him every now and then to make sure Alfred was following. Alfred was slower and more hesitant before, but once he seemingly noticed, he was right back in pace with the taller Alpha. "And yet, you seem so dependent."
"Arthur's the dependent one!" Alfred quickly huffed, his hands on his hips as he puffed his chest out, as if to display his strength. He didn't need to display it- Ivan could see it. He could smell it. Alfred seemed a bit average for an Alpha, as if Mother Spade had shorted him on the natural muscle end of the gene pool, but Alfred took what he had and flew with it like the eagles of his nation's crest. "A-Arthur practically begs to be with me at all times! He's clingy- refuses to be anywhere without me- and he won't let me be my own man- he insists I smell like him at all times and-"
"Should be the other way around."
"Yeah! He should smell like me all the time!" Alfred ranted a bit, and all points he brought up were suitable for ranting. The topic wasn't the issue, it was the tone. The heart. Alfred said those words, but it was almost as if he didn't believe them. They were empty. Meaningless.
"Alfred." Ivan turned to Alfred, studying his face and reactions.
"...Yeah?"
"...Why are you lying to me?"
Alfred grew visibly paler. "I-I'm not lying...! I swear!"
Ivan took a few steps closer, making the Spade King back up against one of the ivy-covered tone walls. Warmth form the heated wall rippled through Alfred's skin, but Ivan's stare send shivers up his spine. He looked Alfred up and down, reaching forward to brush a stray strand of amber hair from the boy's face. Ah, moments like this reminded Ivan of how young the other Alpha was. So childish, so sweet...
And then there was that Spade on Alfred's neck. Proof that he was the Alpha King of Spades. Ivan leaned closer to look at the mark up-close, not even breathing a word. One of his hands ended up at Alfred's hip, holding him gently yet firmly in place. He couldn't have Alfred squirming off, now could he? Alfred's breath caught in his throat, his heart beating fast in his chest. Ivan brought his face to Alfred's neck, not exactly scenting him, but getting a clearer whiff of Alfred's off scent. What was so wrong with it? Ivan was so close, he could just about wrap his hands around it.
"Alfred!" A voice snapped, followed by a flurry of footsteps. Two sets, even. The Spade Queen and the Jack were running through the gardens, following the smoky scent of mint. Why was Alfred always just out of reach? "Get your hands off him!" Arthur snapped, him and his Jack approaching the frustratingly awkward scene. Ivan had been holding Alfred to a wall by the waist with his face buried in the other's shoulder, Alfred trying to squirm away as far as he could. Arthur was having none of this! It was plain across his face that he was aggravated, something so very unbecoming of an Omega Queen. It took a lot to piss off an Omega to this point, and it seemed that Ivan had crossed the line.
Ivan pulled his face away and glared over at Arthur, something almost feral about his eyes, and he held Alfred much more tightly and possessively in his hands, squeezing the poor boy. Hearing Alfred whine softly got Ivan to quickly release him, forcing himself back into a smile and pushing back his animalistic instincts. It wasn't his fault- Mother Clover had made him possessive.
Hurrying over to Alfred's side was Yao, gently tugging him away from Ivan. After all, they both knew it wasn't a good idea to be around when an Alpha was mad. Alphas were especially scary when they were angry. Ivan may have been smiling, but he was also rather good at hiding his true face. It was an old custom in Clover, one that died long ago but Yao was old enough to remember. Sweet and innocent smiles were nothing but fake. Someone that smiles so often obviously had different intentions. Yao didn't need to be reminded.
"A-Artie, it's alright! Come on-" Alfred went over to Arthur and wrapped him up in his arms, rubbing his cheek against the other's face. "See? We're all good. Everyone's safe. Ivan and I were just- just talking. Okay? Nothing to get all hurt over." He hummed and tried to lull his mate into a peace. It was as if Arthur could tell how Alfred had been feeling. The Spades were always a curious sort.
Ivan straightened himself out a bit, standing up a bit more properly. "Mne ochen' zhal'." If it hadn't been for the language classed Alfred was forced to take, he wouldn't know that Ivan was apologizing in Clover. Ivan nodded softly at the three Spadian royals, trying to express his sympathies- he didn't know what came over him. He did, however, figure out what smelled so off about Alfred.
He had smelled heat. Just the faintest licks of it, as if it had ended but two or three days ago. It made sense as of why Arthur must've been so insistent that he scent Alfred- Arthur must not have wanted anyone else to know that the Spade Queen just come out of a heat and wanted to cover up the lingering aura left on Alfred. Charming. How unfitting of a Queen, to have their heat left on their mate. The idea of Alfred fucking Arthur repeatedly was repulsive. If Ivan was able to smell it, then Arthur was truly careless when it came to modesty.
Arthur glared at Ivan, nuzzling up against Alfred- as it would be fitting for a distressed mate to do so- and he nudged Alfred to start leading him back inside. Embarrassment was as plain as day on Arthur's cheeks, his face redder than the Heart's banner.
"Ivan- nice ballet performance." Alfred muttered over his shoulder, "You should lose some weight before getting into spandex again though." He snorted, letting Arthur wrap his hands around his arm and bringing Arthur back into the castle. He needed to convince his partner that everything was alright, no one was hurt, and that the night should be one spent dancing and having fun and not trying to break character. They were all supposed to play happy royals, right? Some's roles were just a bit harder to play. Perhaps Mother Spade had mixed up the casting list.
Yao, who had been following his King and Queen, stopped at the edge of the gardens to look back. Ivan hadn't followed, and instead, had taken to sitting outside on one of the stone benches. Surely someone would notice that the host King wasn't at the ball? Feeling an urge to ask the tall Alpha to come back inside, Yao set his jaw and returned to following the path that lead farther away from Ivan. As soon as Yao was alone in the little hallway connecting the gardens to the ball room, the reassuring scent of tea and barbecue let him know that Alfred and Arthur had retired to their room. At least they were safe.