[Fic] Time Off
Title: Time Off
Pairings/Characters: USUK, Thailand (Kiet), Netherlands (Lars), Rome (Romulus), Germania (Helmut), Austria, Italy, China. Mentions of Germany/Japan, France.
Word Count: 1,882
Rating/Warnings: PG, some kisses, Cardverse AU
Summary: The King and the Queen have been working very hard lately, so the King is planning a surprise.
The kitchens had to be up and running by five so breakfast could be on the table by seven. Kiet, head chef, was always down there a little after four to make sure everything went off without a hitch, lest there be a repeat of the time breakfast was late and the Queen tried to make it himself.
What he didn’t expect to find was the King nervously pacing around the kitchen at four in the morning, considering that he usually liked to sleep in late and never had much of a need to enter the kitchens; if he wanted food, someone would bring it to him.
“Your Majesty?” he asked, halting the King’s pacing, “What are you doing down here? Do you need something?”
He smiled that nervous, I’ve-got-a-plan-but-I’m-not-sure-if-the-Queen-will-like-it smile and began rubbing his hands together.
“Yeah Kiet, I need a favor…”
+
Lars liked to be on the grounds by six. Technically he had a staff that he could delegate for these kinds of things, but Spades Palace was known for having the most elaborate and beautiful gardens the world over, and Lars took pride in doing his work himself.
When he was making his rounds on the rose garden he was surprised to see the King wandering around by himself, staring at the red and white roses the Queen favored with intense concentration.
“I’d advise you not to pick those Sire,” Lars said, shocking him out of whatever thought he’d been on, “They’ll cut up your hand and I’ve just got them looking the way I wanted.”
“Ah no,” he held up his hands defensively, “I wouldn’t…I was just looking and thinking and planning. I know better than to take a flower out of your gardens without asking, considering what happened last time.”
During the first year of his marriage, the King had tried to sneak a lovely tulip out of the main garden for his Queen. Lars had caught him though, and made absolutely and painfully sure he knew that no one, monarch or not, messed with Lars’s gardens.
“Well why are you here?” Lars glanced around the garden only to find they were truly alone, “You’re usually not out this far unless the Queen dragged you.”
“Yes well,” the King glanced around before leaning in to say, “I kinda need to ask you something…”
+
Romulus and Helmut were at the stables by eight. They had new recruits coming in and were already late.
“This is your fault for sleeping in,” Helmut sighed as he saddled his horse, “Why were you out so late last night?”
“My cute little grandson is in town!” Romulus said as he mounted his horse, “Of course I needed to spend as much time with him as I could before he was whisked back to Hearts.”
“I don’t think taking him out to taverns and picking up girls with him constitutes actual bonding time with your grandson,” Helmut mounted his horse as well.
“I think someone is just jealous that their grandson wouldn’t get laid if he wasn’t King of Hearts.”
Helmut’s heated response was cut short by the sudden appearance of their King just outside the stables.
“Sir Alfred,” both men bowed their heads but stayed on their horses.
“Is everything alright?” Romulus asked.
“Oh, yeah, everything’s great,” he smiled as he walked to the front of their horses, “You two are running a bit late aren’t you?”
“Someone was out with the Jack of Hearts until the wee hours of the morning,” Helmut shot an accusing glare at his companion.
“That’s great,” the King said distractedly, “So, it’s really good I met you here.”
The two knights spared a look at each other before Romulus addressed their King, “Do you need us for anything Sir?”
He took a deep breath and let it out, “Actually, I kinda do…”
+
It wasn’t that Roderich didn’t like the Spades Kingdom. It was charming in its own right, quaint even. It was certainly richer than Hearts and more industrialized than Diamonds, but he did miss being away from Clubs for so long. As the Jack however, he had to push through for the sake of diplomacy.
He wasn’t the only Jack here either. The Jack of Hearts, an energetic boy named Feliciano that he had practically raised, who was in Spades to discuss current policy decisions with the King and Queen, not that either of them had seen them much, spending most of their visit talking to Yao about an appropriate time to meet with the King and Queen. Really, how unprofessional. He had scheduled his visit with Yao days ago; they should have been expecting him and arranged their schedules around his visit at once.
He and Feliciano had agreed to their early lunch at ten however, so there was at least that to look forward to.
It was pleasant as far as meals with Feliciano went. He was a tad overenthusiastic, but at this point in their relationship Roderich was used to it.
Partway through their meal, the door burst open in a very rude manor. Roderich was about to tell the servant who was disturbing them off only to see that it was the King of Spades who had intruded on their private meal.
“Your Highness,” Roderich placed his tea cup down on the table so he could stand and bow properly, “I wasn’t expecting you today. Yao was telling me-”
“Alfred!” Feliciano leaped up from his chair before he could stop him and caught the King in a hug, “I’ve been here for days and I haven’t seen you! Yao keeps saying you’re busy and that’s what Grandpa was saying too! Is it true Alfred? Are you busy? If you’re working so hard you really should take a break you know!”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” the King quickly returned Feliciano’s hug, “There’ve been a lot of problems out in the country, and between the economy and the famine in Diamond’s making relations difficult Arthur and I have been a bit swamped.”
“Completely understandable,” Roderich gestured at the table, “If you have the time, would you care to join us?”
“I’d love to, but I’ve still got some things to take care of for this afternoon,” he scratched the back of his neck, “Actually, I was wondering if you could help with something Roderich.”
He certainly wasn’t expecting that, “If you require my services, I will be more than happy to help in any way that I can.”
“Oh! Is it a surprise for Arthur?” Feliciano asked, bubbling over with excitement, “It is isn’t it?”
“Yeah, well, I was thinking-”
“Oh, that’s so romantic!” Feliciano’s smile grew if such a thing was possible, “Please let me help to! I love romantic things! Just last week Ludwig was planning something for Kiku and he let me help with the-”
“Yeah, you can help Feli. I’d appreciate that,” the King laughed before he focused his attention back to Roderich, “but there’s something specific I need from you…”
+
Arthur leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He’s been up since four working on these documents, more plans for the economy and issues pertaining to the countryside, and he was tired. His eyes hurt, his back was sore, but it was only noon. He still had several more hours of pouring over documents, and then he had counsels to meet with and armies to inspect with Alfred.
Speaking of his husband, he’d been surprisingly absent all day. Not that Arthur cared, he could read bloody documents by himself without the King to hold his hand, but maybe, perhaps, he missed the idiot’s company, just a little.
The knock on the door drove Arthur out of these thoughts. “Come in,” he groaned.
It was Yao, his Jack, and he gave a quick bow before saying, “My apologies Arthur, but the King requests your presence.”
“Does he now?” Arthur smirked, “Well you can tell him where to find me then. I’ve still got about a hundred of these to read.”
“I will be taking care of those for you,” he approached the desk and pulled Arthur out of his seat, “The King has requested your presence, and he has asked me to use whatever force necessary to get it there.”
“Alright, I’m going,” Arthur sighed and brushed off his coat as he headed for the door, “Just where am I supposed to find the idiot anyhow?”
“Simply follow the rose petals,” Yao waved him off as he settled himself in Arthur’s seat and pulled the top document off the still obscenely large pile.
Arthur was about to ask him what he meant until he stepped into the hallway and saw for himself. A path of red and white rose petals was scattered across the blue carpets. As he followed it, he discovered that it led out of the palace, through the grounds, and into one of the Royal’s private gardens, where he found his husband sprawled out on picnic blanket holding a glass of wine, elaborate lunch set up around him.
“Hey Artie,” Alfred took a sip of wine, “glad you could join me.”
Arthur crossed his arms as he tried and failed to hold back his smile, “Well you had Yao all but force me to come.”
“For good reason,” he patted the empty spot besides him until Arthur sat down in it. He offered him a glass of wine as well, “So what do you think?”
Arthur looked around. They were in his most favorite spot on the grounds, the center of the tea garden. The spread was all of their favorite foods, a request filled by Kiet certainly. The location and the rose petals leading to it spoke of Lars’s involvement. He could hear music playing, and sure enough he could spy several musicians playing for them hiding out of sight in the bushes, Roderich’s doing no doubt, since he was in town.
They really must meet with him and Feliciano soon and there was still so much work to do, Alfred didn’t expect them to spend the whole afternoon out here-
“This is lovely,” he sighed, “but you know we’ll have to go back to work eventually.”
“Relax, I’ve got that covered,” Alfred winked. Arthur merely looked at him in complete disbelief, “Romulus and Helmut agreed to screen all new requests and proposals for us and reschedule the troop inspection, because I know you were dreading that. Yao is doing the rest of your paperwork, and agreed to meet with the counsels or at least get them to come another day, and Feliciano’s currently trying to talk to Francis and see what’s going on there, although he had to do that for Ludwig anyway, but he agreed to let me know if anything came up.”
Arthur swirled his wine glass, “Are you saying we have the afternoon off?”
“Yup, just you and me all afternoon to do whatever you want,” he smiled and kissed the top of his head, “We’ve been working so hard, I figured we could use a break before we both explode.”
Arthur set his wine glass down carefully on the ground and kissed his husband properly on the lips. When they broke away, he whispered, “Thank you, love.”
Alfred kissed his temple, “For you, anything.”
Pairings/Characters: USUK, Thailand (Kiet), Netherlands (Lars), Rome (Romulus), Germania (Helmut), Austria, Italy, China. Mentions of Germany/Japan, France.
Word Count: 1,882
Rating/Warnings: PG, some kisses, Cardverse AU
Summary: The King and the Queen have been working very hard lately, so the King is planning a surprise.
The kitchens had to be up and running by five so breakfast could be on the table by seven. Kiet, head chef, was always down there a little after four to make sure everything went off without a hitch, lest there be a repeat of the time breakfast was late and the Queen tried to make it himself.
What he didn’t expect to find was the King nervously pacing around the kitchen at four in the morning, considering that he usually liked to sleep in late and never had much of a need to enter the kitchens; if he wanted food, someone would bring it to him.
“Your Majesty?” he asked, halting the King’s pacing, “What are you doing down here? Do you need something?”
He smiled that nervous, I’ve-got-a-plan-but-I’m-not-sure-if-the-Queen-will-like-it smile and began rubbing his hands together.
“Yeah Kiet, I need a favor…”
+
Lars liked to be on the grounds by six. Technically he had a staff that he could delegate for these kinds of things, but Spades Palace was known for having the most elaborate and beautiful gardens the world over, and Lars took pride in doing his work himself.
When he was making his rounds on the rose garden he was surprised to see the King wandering around by himself, staring at the red and white roses the Queen favored with intense concentration.
“I’d advise you not to pick those Sire,” Lars said, shocking him out of whatever thought he’d been on, “They’ll cut up your hand and I’ve just got them looking the way I wanted.”
“Ah no,” he held up his hands defensively, “I wouldn’t…I was just looking and thinking and planning. I know better than to take a flower out of your gardens without asking, considering what happened last time.”
During the first year of his marriage, the King had tried to sneak a lovely tulip out of the main garden for his Queen. Lars had caught him though, and made absolutely and painfully sure he knew that no one, monarch or not, messed with Lars’s gardens.
“Well why are you here?” Lars glanced around the garden only to find they were truly alone, “You’re usually not out this far unless the Queen dragged you.”
“Yes well,” the King glanced around before leaning in to say, “I kinda need to ask you something…”
+
Romulus and Helmut were at the stables by eight. They had new recruits coming in and were already late.
“This is your fault for sleeping in,” Helmut sighed as he saddled his horse, “Why were you out so late last night?”
“My cute little grandson is in town!” Romulus said as he mounted his horse, “Of course I needed to spend as much time with him as I could before he was whisked back to Hearts.”
“I don’t think taking him out to taverns and picking up girls with him constitutes actual bonding time with your grandson,” Helmut mounted his horse as well.
“I think someone is just jealous that their grandson wouldn’t get laid if he wasn’t King of Hearts.”
Helmut’s heated response was cut short by the sudden appearance of their King just outside the stables.
“Sir Alfred,” both men bowed their heads but stayed on their horses.
“Is everything alright?” Romulus asked.
“Oh, yeah, everything’s great,” he smiled as he walked to the front of their horses, “You two are running a bit late aren’t you?”
“Someone was out with the Jack of Hearts until the wee hours of the morning,” Helmut shot an accusing glare at his companion.
“That’s great,” the King said distractedly, “So, it’s really good I met you here.”
The two knights spared a look at each other before Romulus addressed their King, “Do you need us for anything Sir?”
He took a deep breath and let it out, “Actually, I kinda do…”
+
It wasn’t that Roderich didn’t like the Spades Kingdom. It was charming in its own right, quaint even. It was certainly richer than Hearts and more industrialized than Diamonds, but he did miss being away from Clubs for so long. As the Jack however, he had to push through for the sake of diplomacy.
He wasn’t the only Jack here either. The Jack of Hearts, an energetic boy named Feliciano that he had practically raised, who was in Spades to discuss current policy decisions with the King and Queen, not that either of them had seen them much, spending most of their visit talking to Yao about an appropriate time to meet with the King and Queen. Really, how unprofessional. He had scheduled his visit with Yao days ago; they should have been expecting him and arranged their schedules around his visit at once.
He and Feliciano had agreed to their early lunch at ten however, so there was at least that to look forward to.
It was pleasant as far as meals with Feliciano went. He was a tad overenthusiastic, but at this point in their relationship Roderich was used to it.
Partway through their meal, the door burst open in a very rude manor. Roderich was about to tell the servant who was disturbing them off only to see that it was the King of Spades who had intruded on their private meal.
“Your Highness,” Roderich placed his tea cup down on the table so he could stand and bow properly, “I wasn’t expecting you today. Yao was telling me-”
“Alfred!” Feliciano leaped up from his chair before he could stop him and caught the King in a hug, “I’ve been here for days and I haven’t seen you! Yao keeps saying you’re busy and that’s what Grandpa was saying too! Is it true Alfred? Are you busy? If you’re working so hard you really should take a break you know!”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” the King quickly returned Feliciano’s hug, “There’ve been a lot of problems out in the country, and between the economy and the famine in Diamond’s making relations difficult Arthur and I have been a bit swamped.”
“Completely understandable,” Roderich gestured at the table, “If you have the time, would you care to join us?”
“I’d love to, but I’ve still got some things to take care of for this afternoon,” he scratched the back of his neck, “Actually, I was wondering if you could help with something Roderich.”
He certainly wasn’t expecting that, “If you require my services, I will be more than happy to help in any way that I can.”
“Oh! Is it a surprise for Arthur?” Feliciano asked, bubbling over with excitement, “It is isn’t it?”
“Yeah, well, I was thinking-”
“Oh, that’s so romantic!” Feliciano’s smile grew if such a thing was possible, “Please let me help to! I love romantic things! Just last week Ludwig was planning something for Kiku and he let me help with the-”
“Yeah, you can help Feli. I’d appreciate that,” the King laughed before he focused his attention back to Roderich, “but there’s something specific I need from you…”
+
Arthur leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He’s been up since four working on these documents, more plans for the economy and issues pertaining to the countryside, and he was tired. His eyes hurt, his back was sore, but it was only noon. He still had several more hours of pouring over documents, and then he had counsels to meet with and armies to inspect with Alfred.
Speaking of his husband, he’d been surprisingly absent all day. Not that Arthur cared, he could read bloody documents by himself without the King to hold his hand, but maybe, perhaps, he missed the idiot’s company, just a little.
The knock on the door drove Arthur out of these thoughts. “Come in,” he groaned.
It was Yao, his Jack, and he gave a quick bow before saying, “My apologies Arthur, but the King requests your presence.”
“Does he now?” Arthur smirked, “Well you can tell him where to find me then. I’ve still got about a hundred of these to read.”
“I will be taking care of those for you,” he approached the desk and pulled Arthur out of his seat, “The King has requested your presence, and he has asked me to use whatever force necessary to get it there.”
“Alright, I’m going,” Arthur sighed and brushed off his coat as he headed for the door, “Just where am I supposed to find the idiot anyhow?”
“Simply follow the rose petals,” Yao waved him off as he settled himself in Arthur’s seat and pulled the top document off the still obscenely large pile.
Arthur was about to ask him what he meant until he stepped into the hallway and saw for himself. A path of red and white rose petals was scattered across the blue carpets. As he followed it, he discovered that it led out of the palace, through the grounds, and into one of the Royal’s private gardens, where he found his husband sprawled out on picnic blanket holding a glass of wine, elaborate lunch set up around him.
“Hey Artie,” Alfred took a sip of wine, “glad you could join me.”
Arthur crossed his arms as he tried and failed to hold back his smile, “Well you had Yao all but force me to come.”
“For good reason,” he patted the empty spot besides him until Arthur sat down in it. He offered him a glass of wine as well, “So what do you think?”
Arthur looked around. They were in his most favorite spot on the grounds, the center of the tea garden. The spread was all of their favorite foods, a request filled by Kiet certainly. The location and the rose petals leading to it spoke of Lars’s involvement. He could hear music playing, and sure enough he could spy several musicians playing for them hiding out of sight in the bushes, Roderich’s doing no doubt, since he was in town.
They really must meet with him and Feliciano soon and there was still so much work to do, Alfred didn’t expect them to spend the whole afternoon out here-
“This is lovely,” he sighed, “but you know we’ll have to go back to work eventually.”
“Relax, I’ve got that covered,” Alfred winked. Arthur merely looked at him in complete disbelief, “Romulus and Helmut agreed to screen all new requests and proposals for us and reschedule the troop inspection, because I know you were dreading that. Yao is doing the rest of your paperwork, and agreed to meet with the counsels or at least get them to come another day, and Feliciano’s currently trying to talk to Francis and see what’s going on there, although he had to do that for Ludwig anyway, but he agreed to let me know if anything came up.”
Arthur swirled his wine glass, “Are you saying we have the afternoon off?”
“Yup, just you and me all afternoon to do whatever you want,” he smiled and kissed the top of his head, “We’ve been working so hard, I figured we could use a break before we both explode.”
Arthur set his wine glass down carefully on the ground and kissed his husband properly on the lips. When they broke away, he whispered, “Thank you, love.”
Alfred kissed his temple, “For you, anything.”