Author's Note: This was originally requested on the Hetalia Kink Meme. This chapter is sort of cut into pieces, as the initial posting of the story was in three parts. And hey- Gilbert makes an appearance!

Warnings: Omegaverse, mention of yaoi and possessive urges.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of its characters.

"Bloody hell, Alfred! Do you realise how close he was?!" Taking off his dancing robes, Arthur huffed at his mate and went to fetch their sleeping attire from their wardrobe. The room that the Spade royals had been assigned was a rather large one- not as large as the Clover royals' room, oh heavens no, and not as large as the one back home- and it was decorated in all sorts of greens, creams, and silvers to match the national colors. Practically everything had Clovers on it,

and Arthur hated it.

The bed was placed up on a small platform with a tiny stair set of two steps separating it from the main floor. Green drapes lined the bed poles, giving the king-sized bed's occupants privacy when lowered. There were gold trimmings here and there on various furniture, but the prominent piece was the bed, and second to the bed was the door. Other than that, were was a closet, a wardrobe, a desk, and some lounge chairs, but no matter how grand the room was, it wasn't anything more than a glorified hotel room. The only thing even proving that the Spades were staying there was a small blue and purple banner outside the door and the suitcases that had been brought in by the servants.

"It's not like he could do anything!" Alfred whined, sitting on the edge of the bed and letting Yao undo his shoelaces. It wasn't that Alfred didn't know how to do it, it was just that Yao both tied them nicely at the perfect pressure and untied them smoothly as to not stretch the shoe. Sure- that was why. Alfred had been pampered like such since the Spade started showing on his neck. "We are bonded, remember? Just because Ivan doesn't have a bond doesn't mean he'll ruin ours."

"Don't underestimate him." Yao interjected, sliding Alfred's shoes off his feet and setting them aside.

Arthur tossed a towel onto the bed next to Alfred, frowning slightly at the mint color. Anything vaguely reminding him of Ivan's scent- whether it be the same word or not- was disgusting to him. Just as Ivan hated Arthur's scent, Arthur hated Ivan's. No wonder Ivan was alone- alcohol-soaked mint cookies and fried piroshky was a repulsive scent. Perhaps it was because they butted heads that Arthur's view on Ivan's scent was so twisted. Perhaps it was jealousy, or maybe possessiveness.

"Wash up. Get his scent off you." Arthur insisted, going toward the bathroom and even starting the bath for Alfred. He couldn't have his mate smelling even the faintest lick like Ivan.

Alfred groaned, taking the towel and going into the bathroom with a huff. "I better get something as payment for unnecessary bathing!" He grumbled back at Arthur, closing the door to the bathroom so he could undress. Mate or not, privacy was something Alfred was adamant about. Yao always said it was unbecoming of a King to strip so openly with others in the room.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Arthur put his forehead in his hands and let out a sigh. Things could've gone really badly, really fast. "Thank you, Yao, for getting me." He picked his face up and looked over to the Jack, who had taken to putting things away. Yao wasn't necessarily the one that was supposed to clean up after the royals, but he often found himself doing so in an almost motherly way. Without Yao, Alfred would be a wild second-grader that discovered the sugar bomb of an energy drink.

"He was practically forced to agree to Ivan." Yao recalled, hanging up Alfred's coat. "If he rejected... I think you and I both know what would have happened." He tidied up the general appearance of where Alfred had been and then sat down on one of the chairs. It wouldn't be proper for him to sit on the bed. Alfred and Arthur probably wouldn't want to have Yao's broken scent on their sheets. Yao could sit on his own bed in his own room.

"Ivan is a threat." Arthur growled softly. "Alfred isn't allowed around him alone. Be around him whenever I cant be- make sure Alfred's scent is strong enough that Ivan will be reminded that Alfred is mated." Standing up, Arthur ran a hand through his hair and started to undress, Yao handing him his night robes. While the King was unfit for stripping in a room with others, the Queen was supposed to be prepped by the Jack. While the relationship between Queen and Jack was stressed in Spade, the most recent monarchy seemed to focus more on King and Jack instead. Arthur did most of the work himself, but allowed Yao to help when he insisted. Arthur smiled softly as Yao parted his hair in a slightly neater way. "Alfred can be careless."

Nodding, Yao then set out Alfred's clothes. He took a few steps back as Arthur buttoned up his shirt, and Yao looked to the ground. "...I want to go back to Spades." He hated meetings in Clover. They were too painful- everything brought back memories. Everything always seemed to smell like Ivan. It was cold, the light left the sky all too fast, and it all just made Yao feel out of place. Clover was no place for a Spade. "P-Permission to retire to my room?" Yao asked, wrapping his arms around his midsection.

"Of course." Arthur smiled warmly, dismissing Yao. "Get some rest, you look pale."

Ivan didn't return to the ball. Balls were for dancing, mingling, eating and drinking. He had no dancing partner other than Elisabeth, and he was sure she was off with Roderich somewhere. He had too much on his mind to mingle. Eating wasn't attractive at the moment, and surprisingly few of the drinks they were serving were alcoholic, so there wasn't a point to return and drink.

Instead, he stayed on his little stone bench and reached over to one of the sunflowers that was growing in a plot next to the bench, bringing it over to him. Why couldn't he smell like sunflowers? Sunflowers were perfect- well, not as perfect as Alfred, but still pretty amazing. Sunflowers were so versatile... They were strong and stocky but delicate and fragile... not to mention useful in absorbing nuclear fallout. They reminded him of Alfred. Somehow.

"Geez, man, flowers again? Too unawesome for me."

Turning toward the source of the voice, Ivan found that he'd been joined by the Red Joker albino, Gilbert. Two little red horns and a tail adorned the leather-clad Beta, his scent that of a strongly-brewed beer from Hearts. Gilbert was sitting cross-legged on top of a hedge, watching Ivan. Because he didn't have any Mother Suit to be bound to- as there was no Mother Joker- Gilbert practically had free reign to do whatever he wanted. It was like he was a glitch, a cheat, in the Mother Suits' chess game. An oversight, a troublemaker, and to some, a myth. To Clover? Gilbert was all three.

"Not just any flower." Ivan insisted, placing the sunflower back where it belonged. "Perfect flower." He smirked, resting his hands behind his back. "Why did you come back? I thought you were going to try to dance. Try to."

"Elisabeth is real possessive, you know?" Gilbert frowned a tad, but his frown didn't stay for long as he broke out into a smile. "I figured since Roderich liked Betas, he'd be willing to try out the awesome me, but Elisabeth wouldn't let me near. You know, I wouldn't mind joining both of them, but, eh, it's not worth the trouble~" Gilbert shrugged, scratching the back of his neck.

Glancing back at the castle and trying to find the couple through the window, Ivan brushed it off. Gilbert was always trying to sneak into the castle and into the Jack's room. He was successful most of the time, but as soon as Roderich woke up, the fun usually ended there. Even when Roderich locked the door, Gilbert somehow, through some method, ended up waiting for him to merely turn around. The issue was brought up to the guards multiple times, but there was really no way of doing anything about the devilish trickster. Gilbert fully embraced his 'loophole' status and did as he pleased.

"Gilbert- you know my castle inside and out, right?"

"Yeah, duh." Gilbert scoffed, "I know every inch of this place."

"Then I need a favor. Of course, to make up for all the trouble you've caused us in the past."

Getting in was the easy part- no sweat.

Not only was it late at night, but there was the ball underway! People were drunk and giddy and focused on each other- not on the Joker riding the shadows and slipping through the halls. Further down the hallways, it was even easier due to less and less lighting as to help ease the royals into sleep. It was like an amusement park! Gilbert could slide down the banisters, run down the halls, and practically run up the walls. There were so many shadows that hid him like blind spots. Who wouldn't have fun like this?

The Spades' room was on third of the fourth staircases, below the Diamonds and above the Hearts. The Jacks' rooms were next to the Royals' rooms, slightly tucked out of the way and with much smaller banners outside of them. Silly Jacks, did they think they could have rooms as fancy as the King and Queen?

Since he couldn't really slide up a banister, Gilbert had to find a different way to travel. Stairs were lame. Banisters, however, were fun. Just in a downward direction, not an upward one.

Doesn't mean he couldn't fix that.

Gilbert smirked, jumping up onto the banister and kicking a foot back against it, as he would if he were sliding down it. With a snap of his thin, wicked tail, it was as if the entire world had rotated around his very being. The staircase was now leading down, as well as the banister, and he proceeded to skid down it, not even pretending to try to balance. Why would he need to balance if he could switch to his own existential plane and manipulate the world around him without harming anyone else's perception of the world? There was a reason the guards couldn't keep him from sneaking into the Jack of Clover's bedroom.

When he reached the bottom/top/end of the staircase, Gilbert merely flicked his tail a second time and straightened everything out. Now that he was at the top and didn't waste any of his awesome energy climbing lame stairs, he could get to the Spades' bedroom. It was such an odd request of Ivan's... Really? He wanted Gilbert to do exactly what he'd been scolded for doing? There had to be a double standard here somewhere. Whatever Ivan's intentions were, it was still a weird favor to ask.

After playing with the Spadian banner a bit, Gilbert slipped into the room. On his way back to Ivan, perhaps he could stop by the bedroom for the Jack of Clover. This silly little fetch quest was getting boring fast.

"I still don't understand why you wanted the jacket."

"That's not for you to understand."

"I still get my end of the deal, yeah?"

"Of course- you know the place."

"Heh heh, smell you later!"

Ivan forced a laugh, though it was pitiful more than anything. He watched the Joker deviously slip back into the castle, intent on harassing Roderich and Elisabeth. The King of Clovers practically cradled the mass of fabric in his hands, taking note to how it was ever so carefully folded. It was Alfred's jacket- he needed to take the utmost care of it. Things wouldn't go over so nicely if he messed with it too much, now would he?

Author's Note: This was my first attempt at writing Gilbert, so I hope it didn't turn out too bad! And thank you, everyone who has commented on/favorited/followed this story! It means a lot to me~