"Are you ready?"

"Are you?"

"For once."

"I'm with you all the way, Arthur."

"You better be."

Before the Palace doors, the King and Queen brought themselves together. Someone lightly cleared their throat. Yao. He smiled as mischief twinkled in his eye, "Don't get into trouble, you two."

Arthur smirked, giving Alfred's hand a firm squeeze. "I could say the same to you, Yao."

"You could, but then it would be unnecessary. Go on, now. The Kings Meet awaits you."

"See you soon," Alfred promised.

The doors opened, and the pair stepped into dusk. A carriage, much more different than the one that carried him through his crowning parade, sat at the bottom of the front steps. It hosted a closed cavity, with strong, thick wood binding the wheels and the body together. The horses whinnied, and even they had coats draped over their bodies for the winter night.

Arthur's hand was cold, but Alfred still took it and they walked to their carriage. A Knight bowed, wishing them farewell as he peeled open the door. They pressed inside, against one another to shun the snow, and to shun the doubt churning in their bellies. The door shut, putting them in darkness, and signaled a long ride down the mountain.

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

"Are we almost there yet?"

"Don't start," Arthur gently whispered through the dark. Up close, Alfred could only make out the shape of his coat, and the cute little hat perched on top of his head. He smiled and leaned to his side, hopefully capturing his cheek.

"Do you think we should have brought a bard so they could blast an epic entrance ballad?"

"No."

"Oh." Alfred jumped as his Queen pressed closer, and his lips were on his own for a too quick of a moment. "Baby, you're cold."

"Yes, it's bloody freezing." Arthur retracted to jam his arms between his knees and let out a big shudder. Perhaps even a cloud of warm breath came from his face, "This thing feels as if it's not even insulated."

A rough bump jostled the carriage's occupants. "Yeah, my crowning cruise was so much more hotter than this! And it even had an open roof."

"Be glad this one doesn't."

"Ha, I am!"

Horses clopped against stone and gravel. The wheels churned below them. They stared into darkness, shakily breathing against the cold.

Alfred spouted, "How much longer do you think we have until we get there?"

"Alfred. I told you-"

"It's a serious question."

Arthur clamped shut, catching his King's breath against his cheek. "Ah, it shouldn't be too far now..."

They came together, pressing their lips and bodies to one another, swaying with the slight bumps of the ride. A happy flush stung Alfred's ears, and his chest automatically fluttered with joy as every time the Queen would bring himself closer.

Parting, Arthur hoarsely whispered, "You're warm. It's not fair."

Alfred grinned, and snaked his hand up his Queen's thigh, only to slip under his coat. Arthur gasped, clutching onto his wrist and trying to yank him away from pinching his stomach, "Alfred, you bastard!"

"What? I thought you said I was warm."

"Not your hands!"

Still squeezing, and with Arthur squirming, "Y'think you want to get them warmed up for us?"

"Idiot, w-we're probably so close to the King's Meet..."

Alfred giggled, wedging the tip of his nose to the crook of Arthur's neck to banish the chill from his face as his hand snaked up, cupping more skin. A shuddering gasp, and his grin melted into something more sinister as he felt an excitable heartbeat against his palm.

Arthur finally said, "Y-you're letting cold air into my coat."

"Sheesh, you're so picky."

"Well, it's fucking freezing outside."

Alfred pursed his lips, debating whether to take back his hand, although it had gotten so toasty under the Queen's clothes, or to hitch a leg over the seat and warm up the rest of his body. Ah, but the Meet could be before the carriage now. Decisions, decisions.

They grunted as the carriage jerked, and the wheels let out a squeaky groan before the whole thing stopped completely.

Arthur grumbled, "Well, that can't be good."

Much more dejectedly than before, "Are we there yet?"

Clamoring. The carriage shuddered. A single pair of footsteps in snow. Alfred cussed and slid away, flopping back to his own personal space as Arthur huffed, and by the sounds of it, yanked his coat back down. "Idiot," he repeated again, a little breathless. "We're going to have to pick right back up where we left off after the meeting. I'm not freezing my arse to the seat the whole ride home."

"Really?" Alfred actually squeaked in excitement. Arthur must have been dully staring at him. Dang it. He swiped a warm palm over his face, and curtly nodded, affixing a cool Kingly tone to his promise, "I'll make sure it doesn't."

The door opened. Their driver bowed, and begrudgingly, the King and Queen stepped out into a snowy landscape. A blend of many different colors posed as their destination; the building seemed to suffer from its architects not knowing what in the world they were doing. Those weird mushroom caps of Clubs, the zen-style of Hearts coming from the sides, and the gaudy spires from Diamonds supporting the whole thing. At least the walls and windows looked sturdy. Alfred liked to think there was a bit of reliable Spadian architecture to shield them from the winter wind.

"Let's go," Arthur pulled through the snow.

It was a short distance to the shelter of the grand front porch, but the snow had piled to their knees, making for a suffering journey...and wet trousers. Alfred remarked once their boots hit stone floors, "What an awful, awful night for a King's Meet."

"Hmph. We're bound to hear more about it from the other sissy Kings." Quickly, "Not that I'm calling you sissy. We Spadians can handle our fair share of cold."

Alfred affixed a grin, and snuck an arm behind his Queen's backside. "Of course! You ready?" The light streaming through the front room enticed them closer, "Just like we rehearsed, right?"

Arthur scoffed, but that hint of a dastardly smile spoiled that he was girding for this moment, too. "Just like we rehearsed."

Oh, the front room was so warm and not too bright, not too dim. Someone must have put a stop to the drunk architects, because the nice bronze, golden undertones to the walls and floors meant business. A welcoming business. It wasn't too big of a building, anyway, so besides some plush couches, a desk (almost as fancy as the Spadian Royal Desk, wow!), and a fireplace to drive away the winter's bite, there was nothing much of note.

Alfred put his eyes on engraved double doors, their dark oak holding one of each symbol corresponding to the Kingdoms down their panels. "Wow..."

Arthur went to work to peel off their overcoats, brushing away the flecks of snow on his get-up, then his King's, making sure his tie was straight, glasses rid of fingerprints, and not a hair out of place...well, almost. If there was something more stubborn than Kingly pride, it was that damn cowlick sprouting from his forehead.

"Good?" Alfred tossed a cheeky wink, but Arthur just stood there, hand on his chin, and scowling. "Babe?"

"You're fine."

"Then why-"

"I don't like the other Kings. I just know that they'll be having a ball with your first time, picking and pulling you apart. Pulling us apart. I presume I'll no longer have a spot at the Big Boy's table."

"Who says?"

"They're Kings, Alfred. Their word is most absolute."

"Even if they're being dickheads?"

"Even if they're being dickheads."

"Well, if that's the case!" Alfred raised a finger in the air, "As King of Spades, I formally declare...I don't give a shit! I'm awesome, I got an amazing husband, and we're going to go in there and kick Royal Ass together! Well, not literally, but you get the point. Right? You get the point?"

Arthur planted his hands on Alfred's lapels, throwing his head back in a hearty laugh, "You're just saying that to get on my good side!"

"I'm already on your good side, baby."

"And you better stay there."

"I want you to be there with me. I'll pull up a chair for you. Or you can sit on my lap."

"You're just getting ridiculous now."

"You sure you wouldn't like that?"

That creeping grin on the Queen's face said yes, yes he would! "Quiet now. We have a grand entrance to perform."

Alfred nodded, and they approached the double-doors hand-in-hand. Deep breath. Arthur let go, and lifted his arms, putting his palms to the wood, before sharply exhaling, and the doors flew open. He stepped, stepped, stepped right in, abruptly stopped, and stuck a hand to his hip. Three men were sitting at a round table, eyes wide and mouths in O's as they stared, and doors swung shut.

Alfred's turn. He let out a "Heh," in anticipation, and threw open the doors with ease. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, striding to his Queen's stance, before pausing so Arthur could latch onto his arm. They continued toward the table with big grins on their faces. Everything was dirt. Everyone else were the ants preening for something scrumptious.

Well, there they were. Alfred kept the smile on his face, and his eyes coolly swept the room. There were four chairs, three of which were occupied. Another table to the side held two women and a petit man, also gawking like fools. An unoccupied chair at that table, too. Alfred snagged it, gave what he assumed was his chair a light nudge with his foot, and plopped Arthur's seat right next to his.

Alfred held out a hand for his Queen, giving his arm a tender squeeze as he matched the delighted grin on his face. Arthur slowly settled in the chair, and Al hustled around to help him scoot closer to the table before finally finding his own. The three men still stared. Dull violet, deep blue, piercing sky blue eyes respectively. These were the Kings.

"Good evening," Alfred started in a low, suave voice.

Arthur hand his hand to his chest, as if he were powerless to the Spadian King's might, and enjoyed every moment of it. He met the other King's stares straight on, slightly narrowing his gaze to challenge them.

While the one clad in a fluffy mint green coat and the other sporting a poufy entourage of orange and gold kept their mouths open, the other in pink cleared his throat and gave a little shake. "Spades has finally arrived," the broad blond man noted in a deep, gruff tone, but not aggressive. He better not have been.

Arthur tittered, "And a good evening to you, King Ludwig."

Ludwig kept his piercing gaze steady on Alfred. "You would happen to be...?"

"Alfred Franklin Kirkland-Jones, sir." A wink. "It's a bit of a mouthful. Just call me Alfred." Alfred turned to the other two, who finally decided their fly-traps looked more attractive closed. "King Ludwig of Hearts. King Francis of Diamonds," he based on the stiches of diamonds lining Francis' cuffs, then to the last man, "and King Ivan of Clubs."

Ivan's lips twitched in a smile, and he gave his head a little shake, disturbing the fluffy ball dangling from his cap, "So you studied."

Francis glanced between the other Kings, before straightening with a little tut, "Ah, well, this is charming and all, coming from..." The gentle smile on his face plummeted as he pivoted towards Arthur.

Alfred and Arthur placed their left hands on the table at the same time, and the former proudly stated, "I'm Arthur's husband."

They all looked to Arthur. Then to the rings on their hands. Then to Arthur again. Ludwig recovered first, again, eyebrows raised and blinking a lot, but he was better at covering up his surprise than the other two. "Your husband, Queen Arthur? I didn't know you were betrothed. You never made a mention of it before..."

Arthur's grin cracked into full-blown wicked. "Oh, what can I say? We just clicked together."

Alfred mushed his lips together to stop anything funny from sneaking on his face.

Francis let out a little laugh, flicking some long blond hair over his shoulder like a presumptuous Diamond he must have been, "A Queen, married just like that?" He turned his wink to Alfred, "Just how much did he pay you to put that together so quickly, dear?"

"The throne."

"Pardon?"

"Arthur gave me the throne."

The room fell quiet, besides a string of whispering from the other table. Must have been their Queens. Alfred met one of their shocked eyes and let a smile creep up his face.

Then the Kings were out of their seats.

"My Gods, does that mean-"

"You're a King?!"

"The new King of Spades?"

"Why didn't you say so?!"

"There are four of us once again!"

"So nice to finally meet you!"

Alfred shook every one of their hands with a big ol' grin. Some gazes flickered to Arthur, as if to wonder when he would get up and leave their prized private moment, but he still stayed as long as his King's hand was over his own.

"The King of Spades," Ludwig muttered to himself as his tush found his seat again. He grabbed a stack of papers from the center of the table and flicked through them for a long moment. Francis and Ivan still stared at Alfred, but much more in awe and wonder than their previous breech of a stranger joining them.

"Here!" Ludwig set a thin pile of papers before Alfred. "These are the notes from our previous three meetings. Usually you would only bring notes from the last, but...well, it's your first." Almost excited, although he kept a cool expression, "All dated, and outlined by Kingdom and what each King had to say on the matter."

Alfred gave the papers a short, uninterested hum.

"Wonderful," Ludwig muttered to himself. He casted a quick glance over his shoulder, and the man sitting at the other table put on a shy smile in return. "Right. So, we left off on a well-to-do ending last time. I suppose for the first part of this Meet, we will go over the sorts of things we do here, and-"

Ivan cut in, "Give a tour. I love tours."

"Of what?" Francis asked. "A snowy bank here, a snow pile there..."

The King of Clubs turned to Alfred, almost cooing like a child despite being a man of his size, "Yes! I would love to see a Spadian in their natural habitat."

Alfred remarked, "I'd love to show you sometime, Ivan."

Ivan grinned like he won the lottery. Francis just scrunched his face.

Ludwig ignored the Clubian's subtle squirming and announced in a louder tone, "Dates of meetings, times, appropriate subjects to bring up." He shot Francis a sharp look. "All right, so, we bring our grievances to the table, go around in a timely manner, one at a time. Do not speak over one another. If you have a say in the matter, ask to interject, or wait until the speaker is finished."

The other Kings' eyes wandered away.

"Last meet, we were discussing the revolutionary idea of horseless vehicles."

Alfred said, "You mean trains?"

"No, smaller."

"Toy trains?"

Ludwig stared. "The underlining issue with this is that while all of us together have the resources to bring these things to life, so to say, but separately, we do not believe we could achieve an as-efficient method of transportation. If we are to make this a reality, for the benefit of every Kingdom, we need to put our heads and resources together."

A piece of paper with lots of loops and numbers pushed in Alfred's direction. "Different materials have different costs. Therefore, we need to sort out who gets what payout."

Alfred gauged the scribbles on the sheet before realizing, "Oh! Did you write this up?"

"Yes...?"

"Your cursive is weird."

Ludwig, again, stared.

"It looks like you guys already have a payout-plan."

"Except, as you can obviously see, besides Spades." Ludwig glanced in Arthur's direction, not exactly at him. "We put this on hold until we could get a proper estimate of your resources and what you can and are willing to give to the cause."

"Hm!" Alfred bobbled his head. "You know what? I'm not entirely sure. Let me ask someone who definitely knows." He turned to his side. "Oh, hey! Arthur! How do our steel and coal reserves look? Think we can shed a few tons of it and be okay for the winter?"

"Our winter preparations are already well-sought through. As long as we maintain enough oil to last through the rest of winter, we should be more than fine. Our coal miners can still work through the cold months, and we practically have enough steel to rebuild half the Kingdom."

"Wow. Thanks!" Alfred looked to the other Kings with a big grin. "So we can like, give a steady supply of-"

Ludwig waved a hand, "Yes, we heard."

Ivan accused with a giggle, "You aren't supposed to interrupt, Ludwig!"

"Right, yes, apologies, Alfred. What were you saying?"

"You should listen to my husband."

Arthur shrugged, giving his King's hand a squeeze. "It's a Queen's place to know these things." He met Ludwig's side-glance, and narrowed his eyes.

Most likely feeling three sets of glares against the back of his head, Ludwig relented, "Yes...as Alfred gets a foothold on these types of things...it would be best for you to...offer your input for now."

"We'll see about that."

Blah, blah, blah, for like, two hours the Kings (and Arthur) poured over these industrial plans. Diamonds would provide the funding, Spades would spare the materials, Clubs would designate the space to bring this invention to life, while Hearts would oversee the creation with their reliable engineers. Ludwig was merciful enough to call a ten minute break in there somewhere, and one of the Queens immediately shot up to run to the restroom.

"Alfred," Francis gestured toward a secluded spot a little ways from the tables. "May I have a moment with you?"

"Sure, you can!" Alfred pushed from the table, and tripped over a chair.

"Careful..." Arthur warned, staying seated...until the Queen of Hearts and the Queen of Diamonds crept over and snatched his attention with a shy approach.

Alfred grinned and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he followed Francis to a candle-lit window reflecting the snow-storm outside. "What's up, Diamonds?"

Francis seemed irritated. "Alfred. I know this is your first Kingly Meet, and I know you Spadians have a habit of...straying from the norm."

"What's that mean?"

"Ah, well...your Jack must have not thoroughly prepared for such things. You poor man. How long have you been a King, Alfred? Not very long, I presume."

"That's right." Alfred's grin was hanging on his face for its dearest life. "Arthur and I just got married a couple of weeks ago."

Francis glimpsed over the ordained hand Alfred held up for a quick moment before stuffing it back in his pocket. He put on a tight-lipped smile and flicked golden hair behind himself, "Why, that's lovely. Arthur is prone to be...rather difficult during our meetings. Clash of different tastes. You know how Queens are. Always fretting, and not doing well with words."

Alfred stared.

"I'm sure you know, the stress of the Meets, it's not good for them. They shouldn't be put under that kind of pressure."

"But we can?"

"Ah, that's our duty, dear Alfred!" Francis put a hand on Alfred's shoulder and squeezed one too many times. Once was enough. "Let them handle the intricacies of the palace. Leave the bigger picture to us. I'm sure Arthur will appreciate the break. Get him a nice cup of tea and leave him at the Queen's table."

"Francis?"

"Yes?"

"Get the fuck off me."

The King of Diamonds blinked before slowly retracting his hand.

Alfred spun on his heel and marched away. Marched right up to the Queen's table, where they were joined by the forth, the Queen of Clubs, who flicked gorgeous brunette hair from her side and smiled. "Hello, King of Spades," she greeted with a dastardly glint in her eye. "To what do we owe the pleasure of one of you to visit our quaint little table?"

The Queen of Diamonds slapped a little hand over her mouth, staring at Alfred with big innocent green eyes. Arthur took a hold of Alfred's wrist and gave him a much more pleasant squeeze than any Diamond King could pay for. "Love?"

"Nothing really, I guess." Alfred glanced around the floor. "Mind if I bunker down with you for a little bit?"

They were surprised. Queen Clubs swished a hand toward the chairs at the other table. "You're more than welcome to!"

"Thanks." Alfred did not bother with it. He lowered himself to one knee and awkwardly set his hands on the table. "Um...I'm King Alfred, of Spades..."

The Queens exchanged amused smiles. Clubs turned and put a hand to her chest, "Elizabeta of Clubs."

The little blonde lady, "Queen Erika of Diamonds."

The remaining Queen bowed his head. "I am King Ludwig's husband. Queen Kiku of Hearts."

Alfred felt his mouth pop open. "Wait, you're married to your King? Isn't that supposed to be like, weird?"

Arthur steadily stared with an odd furrow to his eyebrows.

Kiku smiled and tipped his head. "Is it?"

"Yeah, but then why..." Alfred tossed a glance behind himself. Ludwig was at the table, too busy pouring over the notes and scribbling in his wacky, Heart-cursive. Ivan wandered to Francis, who still lingered by the window, and they nudged one another and pulled their heads close to whisper. "Why is this like this? The tables. They're apart. You guys are apart. Why?"

Erika shrugged, "That's the way it always has been."

"But why?"

Kiku tsked, "Oh, King Alfred, please do not whine. It is unbecoming of my old mentor's prodigy."

Alfred sucked air between his teeth. Ooh, the burn. "Okay. So..."

Elizabeta patted his shoulder, "Alfred, we appreciate it, but really, it's okay. Go back to your Kings and smash your heads together like you always seem to like doing."

"Wha..."

"We're fine." Elizabeta glowered with fierce green eyes, but a grin crept along her pretty face. "We're not damsels in distress. Any free moment to ease ourselves and chat the night away is appreciated."

Arthur kept steadily staring at his King. Alfred had no idea if it was a plea to get him out of here, or a plea to get away. Either way, just sitting there and gabbing the entire time seemed like a waste. "Arthur?"

That sour crinkle to his lips portended disagreement to his words, "It's all right, love. I know you can pick up the slack. Hard work is all you do, isn't it?"

Alfred put on a smile. "How unlike you," he softly grunted and pressed a kiss to his Queen's forehead, right between his glorious eyebrows, tempted to linger at the thought of going back to the King's table alone.

Arthur sent a scowl his way, telling him to keep his mouth shut...until Elizabeta clawed at the air for his attention, "You were saying something about rosebushes?"

"Oh, yes, you would never believe it." Arthur poured his gaze on the Queen of Clubs, smiling, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. "That idiot plucked every damn rose he could get his hands on from my gardens. It was more bare than a cold desert."

Lucky approval, "And those are very bare."

Alfred wandered back to the King's table, knowing they were eying the sour pucker to his face. At least Francis had the audacity to grimace and look like he was apologizing with his eyes, if that made sense. Al pointedly stared at the stack of papers.

"You ready?" Ludwig asked.

"Yeah!" Alfred upped the motivation, "Are you? Ha-ha!"

Ludwig didn't laugh. "Right. Yes. So, were we left off..."

Being in that room for five hours was far worse than being thrown in the Spadian dungeon for three weeks. At least they kind of fed him down there. Nobody brought any snacks for the King's Meet. Looking around the separated tables, the lack of food, Alfred knew he had to put his damn hands all over the place. Things could not go like this any longer, or else he would toss himself back into the dungeon just to experience luxury again.

"I told you they would try to separate us," Arthur grumbled at Alfred's side after Ludwig called the end of the Meet. The Queens departed to mingle with their respective Kings. "Damn idiots. I knew this was going to happen since the beginning."

"Yeah, damn Kings."

Arthur stared.

Alfred giggled, "Wait."

"No, that's fine. You did well." Arthur even lifted a hand to pat Alfred's hair down. "You were trained well. Just remember, you were my husband first."

"And that makes a difference..." Alfred was not sure it was a question. He glanced to the Clubians and Diamonds shaking each other hands, snickering over inside jokes before wishing well on their journeys back home. The Queen of Hearts however, moved to his King with a little bow. Ludwig shook his head, actually smiling, and they laughed at whatever humor that was...before the King snuck a lightning-quick peck to Kiku's cheek.

They glanced around the room. Alfred pretended the ceiling was interesting. Nobody saw that. Right.

"I think it does," Arthur said.

Alfred brought himself back to the Meet, and grinned as courage pooled in his belly. He shot a hand in the air and called, "Hey, everybody!"

Some flinched. Others stared with expressions that cursed, 'Oh, Gods, no.'

"Since this was my first King's Meet and all..." Alfred dragged his words out. "I just wanted to say thaaaaaaaaanks."

"Oh," Ludwig cleared his throat, getting proper, "It was a pleasure to have you, King Alfred."

"You, too. You definitely know what you're doing."

Ivan and Francis stared with blank looks.

"However, there's this...underlining issue I can't help but notice..."

"We know how you feel about-"

"There are no snacks!"

Ludwig raised his eyebrows.

"I'm starving! I could hardly keep my mind straight during the meeting!"

"Well...that's why you should come prepared, including eating before you leave your palace. This is not a fun gathering, Alfred. We're here to do work, not mingle over food."

"Oh, so that means you'll push the tables together? You said no mingling, so I guess it's work, work, work for everybody! Thanks, sounds great!" Alfred snagged Arthur's arm and hustled to the doors. "Let's go, babe! See you guys!"

"Wha...Alfred!" Ludwig called.

The doors shut behind the Spadians.

Alfred and Arthur stumbled into the lobby, clutching onto one another and cackling.

"Did you see their faces?!"

"I did, I did!"

Alfred mimicked an open-mouthed look. "Bleeeeeeh!"

"Ha-ha! Stop it, idiot!" Arthur stuck the back of his hand to his mouth, like that could stop a snort. He smacked Alfred's arm; it was his fault for making him laugh. "Come on, get your coat on. I want to head out. Our carriage should be back by now."

"Overall, I think that was nice," Alfred said, focusing on getting each arm through their sleeves.

"Yes," Arthur finally agreed after making sure he put his own cloak on, fixed the string, and brushed it down. He looked up, meeting his King's eye with a soft smile. "Actually...I'd like to say I think it was one of my best ones yet."

Alfred winked. "Because of me, huh?"

Eye roll. "And there goes the charm."

"Aw, come on." They linked arms. "You know I'm right."

"Be quiet."

"You too, Arthur."

"What?"

Alfred paused in front of the door. "It was nice because you were there. Even if it wasn't for the whole time. It was nice that we didn't have to do it alone. We won't have to do it alone."

"Of course." Arthur quickly glanced away as his ears started to turn pink. And they weren't even outside getting bit up by snow yet. "Now, if we could make the other Kings realize that..." He gave Alfred a near-scowl when he simply stared. Melted into a little chuckle, "Yes, love. This...I don't believe this could have played out any better."

A brilliant smile bloomed on Alfred's face. "Me too," he admitted. He opened the door, and all those happy tingly feelings were abolished as soon as they met icy wind. They immediately hunched into their coats, grumbling as they trudged through the knee-deep snow. "Gods...damn! I hope we manage to get home in this."

Arthur shivered, and simply clung to his arm without saying anything.

The Spadian carriage driver pulled a thick scarf from his face to holler at two approaching figures. "My Queen! Sire! Are you ready to go back to the palace?"

"Yeah!" Alfred tried shouting against constant snow pelting his skin. "I don't want any pit stops either!"

The driver almost seemed offended, "Of course not, sire!"

Arthur slammed his palm against his King's behind. "Enough! Get in the carriage!" Then dropping his voice for only themselves, "and get your trousers off while you're at it."

"What?" Alfred squawked, halfway into the vehicle. "Are you kidding? I don't want to be taking anything off right now-"

Arthur came again. Bam! A solid hit. Alfred yelped, and fled into the comfy, if a bit chilly, confines of their ride. "What did I tell you on the way here? That's a Royal Order!"

"Okay! Just get inside! You're letting all the cold air in!"

The carriage driver sighed to himself, "This one is going to be a long ride, isn't it?"

The best one yet.

The End.

A.N.- (For real.)

Bam, slam, damn! I'm done! I had so much fun writing this one, each of the characters and what they say, what they do. Especially Yao. He's just a grumpy old man that wants to SLEEP. Who doesn't?

Anyway. Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, yadda, yadda.

Peace, suckers.