Halcyon [Mister + Assi] - R-18

Arthur was quiet at first.

But he soon started laughing, unable to control himself as he near enough giggled about it. “They-they… hah!” he flashed Alfred a shrewd grin. “Well, I bet that was a sight,” he soon returned to kissing the other, not quite willing to admit that it was arousing to think about Alfred touching himself. Who was he thinking of? What was he thinking about doing?

It got to him more than he’d like to admit.

“Well, I’m sure that I could arrange to do something like that,” he smirked down at the other. “With some help, of course,” he nipped at Alfred’s lips, joking.

Alfred was still terribly red and it was obvious that he was extremely embarrassed about it.

"Shut up! It's not funny!" He cried out though he kissed Arthur back once, twice, and one more time. He had always been curious about his body and though he never experimented too much, it was still terribly embarrassing to be caught by his own servants.

"Don't you dare!" He retorted before huffing and nipping his top lip back. "You have to find a different way to get rid of them."

“Hmm, well, you’ll go blind if you aren’t careful,” Arthur continued to tease, returning every kiss. “But I’m sure it’s worth it, eh?” he chuckled into Alfred’s ear.

He was surprised by how much Alfred seemed against the idea, not that he was being serious about it. His smirk only grew in size.

“Why ever not? You aren’t jealous are you?” he once again flickered his tongue across Alfred’s lips. “Worried they’ll see it before you do?” Again, joking.

Alfred simply rolled his eyes and soon tried to catch Arthur's tongue between his teeth lightly, simply letting it graze before reddening and stiffening.

"Of course I'm not jealous! I mean, it's not like I want to do that with you or...or anything," He muttered.

What a terrible lie.

But he was definitely far from ready though and maybe he would have been a bit jealous if someone else in the castle saw it. Not that he cared or anything.

God...Madeline would have to see it one day...wouldn't she...? Yet at the same time, Alfred couldn't bring himself to stop what he was doing. Not when he was this far with Arthur already. He didn't want to let Arthur out of his room.

Arthur gasped lightly, taken by surprise, but at least it felt sort of strangely nice.

He raised his eyebrows, giving Alfred a sort of ‘oh really?’ look before shrugging. “Your loss,” he teased.

He chose different tactics and moved to nibble Alfred’s earlobe, being sure to blow cool air on to the shell of his ear. “I bet you that they liked it,” he continued, not quite willing to let it drop. “I bet that you liked it, you saucy bastard,” he grinned, looking horribly amused by all of this.

“Although,” he reasoned, voice quieter, “I’m pretty miffed that it wasn’t me who got to see it first.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but he definitely would have liked to see Alfred nude one day. He could imagine the other was muscular. Perhaps he should suggest that they went swimming just so that he could take a look?

Alfred shivered when Arthur blew cold air into his ear though he couldn't help but lean against Arthur's lips. Now this was definitely not something that he was used to. He never knew that his ear was so sensitive and it only made him more curious about what other parts of his body were sensitive.

"I'm not a pervert unlike you," He scoffed, rolling his eyes a bit though grinning slightly.

Alfred just reddened and he huffed.

"You'll have to do a lot more than just kiss me for me to reveal myself to you." It was extremely embarrassing talking about this but he still couldn't help but grin up at the other.

Arthur grinned, nipping his ear before pulling away, looking down at Alfred for a minute or so in silence before he pecked his lips slowly, one last time.

“Likewise, my prince. I am no whore.” He brushed Alfred’s hair form his face, being sure to be delicate with him. “However, I do believe that bathing is perfectly acceptable.” The idea of bathing with Alfred was quite a nice one. If not for the show, then for the fun they could have playing in the water. Shallow water, though. Arthur was still a little scarred from nearly drowning as a child. He didn’t really want to go anywhere that he couldn’t touch the bottom.

He pulled away and shifted to the edge of the bed. “I should go.”

Alfred closed his eyes and relaxed when Arthur kissed him one last time before looking back up at the prince.

Arthur's prince...

"Nay, I am no whore either," He mumbled, sighing and leaning against Arthur's hands. He couldn't help but smile a bit. "Only because you want to see more than you should."

Maybe if he gazed at Arthur's body, then maybe he would be turned off by a man's body. Just because he was a good kisser didn't mean that he should necessarily be attracted to him as a man. Maybe if he did see him, then he would realise his sins and do what they both needed.

"...Must you...?"

Arthur looked back over at Alfred and nodded a little.

“I must. Those pervert servants will be desperate to strip me, and I am tired. I need to rest. We have two months, my prince. There is plenty of time for kissing another day,” he explained. He stood and adjusted his clothes to decrease the rumbles in them.

“I shall see you tomorrow. Good night,” he allowed himself to gaze at Alfred a little longer than he necessarily wanted to.

Alfred just watched as Arthur stood up and he continued on frowning though he nodded in understanding. He had to remind himself that they were only like this because they were bored and there really was no one else to kiss. At least this way, they were both forced to keep quiet and Arthur's lips still felt very nice. They were only doing this for a distraction until the marriage.

It wasn't as if they were actually betraying Madeline. There were no feelings in these kisses...just all for the sake of distraction and it felt good.

And with that in mind, Alfred concluded that he really wasn't doing anything bad.

"Good night," He murmured, giving him a small smile before falling back on his bed and closing his eyes so he could slowly fall asleep. Yet despite his efforts, his mind was still swirling around the warmth of his lips.

Arthur lingered for a few moments, watching as Alfred tucked himself into bed. He turned and unlocked the door, closing it softly behind him as he left. His knees felt weak. He was starting not to crave Alfred’s lips as much as he craved being in his presence and being near him, pressed up close. It probably had something to do with Alfred’s inexperience, he reasoned. It wasn’t like Arthur wanted to be held. Not at all.

The next week consisted of Alfred and Arthur returning to one another’s bedrooms in the late evenings to acquaint themselves with the taste of each other’s mouths. Arthur never let them do it for more than twenty minutes, as to not arouse suspicions. But Arthur wanted to be able to get out and be together where they didn’t have to worry about anything.

Then it hit him. The forest. Although they were attacked there (Arthur still bore the scar) and Alfred had tried to kill him (which he was ever so slowly starting to forgive), Arthur wasn’t afraid to be alone with Alfred. More than anything, he just wanted it to be the two of them.

He searched for the other prince one fresh, cool morning, eventually resulting to have to go to the other’s room. He wasn’t even sure if Alfred was awake or not.

Arthur knocked on the door, waited and then let himself in, not really caring if Alfred was ready for him or not. He felt increasingly more comfortable with the other, and they were both boys so it wasn’t as though there were things Arthur hadn’t seen.

“Alfred?”

Alfred really was enjoying himself with Arthur and he really did start to appreciate Arthur's presence. He wished that he could spend more time with the other prince but he knew that others would become more suspicious if that was the case. Alfred really did enjoy Arthur's lips and he was really becoming well acquainted with it.

He knew that it was wrong but in the end, he always convinced himself that they both wanted it and that there was nothing wrong with that. Only after marriage were they not allowed to do it. It wasn't as if Arthur really wanted this marriage anyways.

When Arthur had knocked at the door, Alfred was in the middle of changing but what he wasn't expecting was the other prince to walk in.

"W-Wait! Don't come in! I'm changing!" He called out, cheeks red as he quickly tried to pull on the rest of his clothes before Arthur saw anything.

Arthur just smirked and leaned back against the door.

“Forgive me,” he couldn’t keep the amused tone from his voice. He allowed his gaze to flicker across the other’s body, taking it in despite its fleetingness. It wasn’t as though Arthur was gawking, however. He was just curious.

Also the prospect of seeing Alfred in the nude one day was exciting, that didn’t mean that he was desperate to see him naked. He was well-acquainted with the male form and felt no real desire towards it.

“You’re still quite young, aren’t you, Alfred?” he had to sneer. From the brief look at Alfred, it didn’t appear as though puberty had taken its full effect yet, unlike Arthur. Besides, who didn’t enjoy a good penis joke every once in a while?

Alfred quickly changed into his clothes, cheeks still red as he finally straightened his outfit out. He couldn't help but glance over at the closed door, swallowing thickly.

"...Uh, I guess," He mumbled, embarrassed about it. He knew that Arthur was probably more grown than himself and he felt as if Arthur was making fun of him because puberty hadn't quite hit yet.

In fact, that was actually probably the case.

Soon enough he popped his head out of the room, looking over at Arthur.

"Why are you over here this early in the morning anyways?"

Arthur smiled at the other as he poked his head around the door, knowing that he must have been confused to have such an expression on his face. He probably had not understood Arthur’s jibe. He wasn’t about to explain it to him.

He straightened up.

“So the servants don’t assist you in the mornings, either? I must confess that I am envious.” He wondered what the expressions of the servants had been like when they discovered him.

He cleared his throat.

“Actually, I was wondering if you would like to spend the day together outside of the castle?”

Alfred just gave him a small smile and he shrugged.

"Yeah, you're right. They really don't but I'm fine with it. I prefer dressing myself anyways. I'm usually too fussy for it anyways."

Soon he stretched out and finally stepped out of his room fully, looking at Arthur curiously.

"Outside the castle? Yeah, sure. It would be nice to stretch out my legs a bit and all."

In fact, the idea sounded a bit exciting. It had been a while since he was outside the castle. Maybe they could give their horses a ride and sit around and laze about and all the like.

“We shall take the horses,” Arthur declared and patted Alfred’s upper arm, before realising that it was probably a bit of an odd action. He just gave a smile and gestured for Alfred to accompany him.

“Might I guess that you haven’t eaten yet?” he looked the other up and down, slowly walking down the corridor. “Perhaps you should have breakfast and I’ll get you once the horses are ready?”

Alfred thought about it for a moment and he simply smiled at Arthur, nodding.

"Yeah, of course! I'll be quick with my breakfast though so don't worry!"

Glancing around both ways to make sure that no one was around, he quickly leant forward to kiss Arthur's cheek before hurrying off to eat breakfast.

When he got to the dining hall, he found Madeline at the table and he gave her a hesitant smile. He was still a bit nervous around her. Especially because of the fact that well...she had absolutely no idea of what he was doing.

Arthur blushed and watched the other gormlessly. In a simple second, he realised that their relationship was much more complicated than either of them wanted it to be. It was no longer about physical pleasure and killing time. A kiss on the cheek was extremely intimate. Chaste in its nature but it meant a lot. It meant that they were not so much friends as they were, dare he say it, lovers.

It made Arthur feel terrified yet warm and light.

He bypassed the dining hall lest he spent too much time looking at Alfred and headed straight for the stables. After chatting with the stable boy (with whom he was making friends), he returned to the dining hall where he had been an hour before. He crossed over to where Alfred was sat, noticing that Madeline was with him. He felt guilty. He hadn’t tried to kiss her or touch her since they had been in the corridor together. He still spoke to her and spent time with her, but significantly less than before. Most of his time was spent with Alfred nowadays.

“Good morning,” he greeted her, smiling pleasantly. “The horses are ready,” he said to Alfred.

Alfred had began noticing that Arthur was spending a lot more time with him than Madeline though it didn't really ever seem as if his sister was bringing up much about it. Probably she just thought that they were bonding rather close as friends, finally hitting off their friendship.

If only she really knew.

"Oh, are you two going out of the castle?" Madeline asked, blinking her curious somewhat off-blue eyes. Alfred looked over back at her sister and he gave her a warm smile.

"Yeah, Prince Arthur wants me to take him around outside the castle. It does get a bit stuffy inside!" He laughed and Madeline just chuckled, smiling.

"I understand. Have fun you two. Make sure you come back before dark this time though, yes?"

Alfred hesitated before nodding and standing.

"Of course! Come on, let's go," He murmured as he passed by Arthur and hurried towards the stables so they could go to the horses.

Arthur bowed slightly for Madeline before scurrying after Alfred. He followed the boy outside to the stables, understanding that being around Madeline probably made Alfred feel more awkward than it made Arthur feel. He was quick to mount his horse, strangely relieved to be reunited with Nahrin. He gathered his reigns and waited for Alfred.

“Lead the way,” he didn’t know the area well enough to even begin to entertain the idea of leading them anywhere.

Arthur had made sure to bring his sword with him, just in case they were attacked again.

Alfred definitely felt a lot more awkward around Madeline than Arthur if only because well...they were both kind of kissing the same boy. Though at the same time, Arthur seemed to want to kiss him more than Madeline.

Though he really didn't know. Maybe he liked kissing his sister also. He really didn't want to think about it though.

The prince was more than glad to lead the way though and his horse seemed more than happy to lead as well and finally stretch out her legs. He really didn't blame her though. This time around though, Alfred was a lot more wary of what was around them.

After all, he didn't want Arthur to get hurt again. The trip was rather pleasant though and Alfred found himself enjoying the outside more than he had ever thought.

Arthur kept up with Alfred, also keeping a watchful eye. He felt much more obliged to keep Alfred safe now and ensure that he didn’t get hurt. Admittedly, he didn’t want to get hurt either, but Alfred was a priority. Arthur knew that for the most part he could hold his own but Alfred was young and more likely to make impulsive and foolish decisions in combat. He would not allow Alfred’s blood to be on his hands. Not when he had become so fond of him.

“Where are we going?” he asked, loudly so that Alfred would hear him above the thundering hooves.

It was nice to finally be alone with Alfred, enjoying the fresh air.

Alfred glanced back over at Arthur, wondering about it. He really didn't know actually. He hadn't really thought about that. He just started to go to a random direction and never really brought too much thought about where exactly they were going.

"Where do you want to go?" He called out loudly, hoping Arthur could hear him.

"You were the one who wanted to go outside!"

Did Arthur want to go to the city or to the river or somewhere else?

Anywhere I can be with you, was what Arthur thought of saying but decided against it.

“I’d prefer us to be alone.” He thought about the weight of those words. He wanted to be somewhere that he would not have to worry about holding Alfred’s hand or touching him too much or kissing. He wanted a day of tranquillity. “We can stop in the city on the way back, in the evening.” And potentially a drink or two later on.

He tried to ride at Alfred’s side so that the other prince would be able to hear him.

“Does this sound like a good idea to you, my prince?”