#dennor oneshot

[nordickies]

Nordictalia Fanfiction Masterpost

Hello, hello! I recently asked people to send me their Nordic 5-centric fanfiction recommendations, and I ended up getting so many good suggestions that I figured I'd compile them all into a single master post! Thank you so much to everyone who participated; this is exactly what I was looking for <3

All linked fanfictions are recommended by people in my inbox, I haven't read them all (yet). I'm willing to update this list if more recommendations come my way!

I decided to share this list because I have seen other people on the desperate lookout for new fics to read. Hopefully, this list will serve you well, too!

─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Oneshots (<10K)

Sticky notes by MilyV wc: 732 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin || completed Soulmates AU summary: AU. If you had the chance, would you communicate with your soulmate through sticky notes? Tino wasn't really sure about it but he decided to try it anyway. Fishermen & drowning sailors prompt by @saltcove wc: ~800 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: DenNor || completed Fantasy AU summary: pairing: denmark/norway / theme: fishermen & drowning sailors SuNor oneshot by @norgetalia wc: ~900 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: SuNor || completed Nationverse summary: Inspired by this post by nordickies! I love writing SuNor… mmmm stoic old men exes who are secretly in love >:) Linger by islande wc: 1,207 || rating: T || pairings: NorEst || completed Paranormal AU summary: Estonia sees ghosts from his past. They linger in the corner of his eyes, always watching. People who cared for him, people he cared for in return. Even strangers—men, women, and children whom he had never seen while they lived—appear before him. But Norway cares for him now, and Estonia is glad to care for him for as long as he will accept it. Beowulf by @balladofthewhitehorse wc: ~1,400 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: Eng & Swe || completed Nationverse summary: One of the earliest mentions of Sweden in old English literature comes in the form of the epic poem of Beowulf ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Coffee and Piano Keys by @scarlettlillies wc: 1,545 || rating: G || pairings: DenEst || completed Human AU summary: Christian is a busy construction worker who's a social butterfly, Eduard is a pianist who's tickets aren't selling. Everything started with just a cup of coffee. Knight's Ghost by RosieTheRo wc: 1,550 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin || completed Paranormal AU summary: Musician Tino Väinämöinen is interviewed for a television show, and has a strange story to tell. Inspired by the show "Celebrity Ghost Stories." Slight SuFin. First-person monologue. // cw: Major Character Death Make Me Laugh by bwinkbear wc: 1,594 || rating: G || pairings: DenFin || completed Nationverse summary: Valentine's Day in the States isn't quite what Tino is used to, but at least his delivery driver likes dogs. The Librarian Aide's Tale by Fintastica wc: 2,142 || rating: G || pairings: Ame & Liet, Den & Nor || completed Harry Potter AU summary: Lukas Bondevik, or, the struggles of dealing with people Kärringkånk - Or Not by Kono10 wc: 2,521 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin, DenNor || completed Nationverse summary: Finland and Estonia compete in the "Wife-Carrying" competition every year which makes Sweden very jealous. So, after a few drinks, he marches all the way across the Baltic to get his lover back, but he ends up going the wrong way to Denmark's front door instead. Will his friends comfort him in his time of emotional need? Highly unlikely.. Fireflies by @darcymariaphoster wc: 2,534 || rating: T || pairings: SuNor || completed Human AU summary: It started and ended on a summer night, before Berwald goes off to college. But apparently neither forgot, and a more or less chance meeting at a cafe some 20 years later reignites a spark they almost let disappear. [Late Night Vibes/High School prompts for SuNorWeek2022 on tumblr] the shore by phyripo wc: 3,000 || rating: G || pairings: Nyo!DenEst || completed Fantasy AU, Mermaid AU summary: Helle has always loved the sea, loves living this close to it, despite the dangers that come with the situation. The air is always sharper here than inland, carrying with it cold from the east, the smell of salt or faraway forests. The sea brings stories that no one would ever hear otherwise. And sometimes, the sea brings wandering mermaids. My Caoineag by @darcymariaphoster wc: 4,148 || rating: T || pairings: ScotNor || completed Fantasy AU summary: The waves should have taken him, but fate had other ideas. Sigurd instead found himself entangled with a creature who could not know kindness, and yet only showed kindness to him. [loosely ScotNor] ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Alternative Universes (AUs)

With Flowers by orphan_account wc: 2,170 || rating: G || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Flower Shop AU summary: What was not normal was the blonde man shoving the door open, panting and red faced. Lukas stood up abruptly, before the man looked up, eyes locking on him. "How do you say 'screw you' with flowers?" Reverie Of The North by @eveistdiepommes wc: ~4,000 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: SuFin || work in progress Fantasy AU summary: ROTN: We Were Tasked With Slaying the Demon Prince takes place in a medieval/fairytale/fantasy setting. Magic is ever present, beasts and creatures roam the forests, and while peace is happily maintained in the northern kingdoms, a new threat looms over the horizon. Word has spread of ferocious, terrifying armies of dark beings attacking kingdoms and leaving civilians fleeing their homes. The only kingdoms with enough time and resources to assemble a plan are the ones high up, the ones who haven’t been affected… yet. The Kingdoms of Frost, Shadows, Mystery, Isolation, and Life must band together and find the root of the issue. Good thing the princes from each kingdom are childhood best friends! Your Guardian Ghosts by @darcymariaphoster wc: 7,253 || rating: T || pairings: NorFin || completed Paranormal AU summary: Emil has always seen things -- ghosts and the like. The problem is, they're never nice things, and so he's refused to admit that he sees anything at all. But as his life changes, he may have to admit defeat. [A story of spooks and hauntings and healing for tumblr's 2022 Hetaween event.] // cw: major character death ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Espresso Kiss by @darcymariaphoster wc: 10,094 || rating: T || pairings: NorFin || completed Human AU summary: Lukas has run this cat cafe for the past three years and he's never had any problems. Until now -- two weeks before Christmas, his friends all show up for a big get-together and he's supposed to get an inspection right before the holiday hits. Maybe he'd be able to handle it, if his ex wasn't also going to be there, and if he hadn't just brought in a new batch of kittens, one of which seems absolutely hellbent on escaping. Or, maybe not so much escaping as pushing people together… Diamond Glints on Snow by Ludwiggle73 wc: 11,574 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Fantasy AU summary: Mikkel sets off on a quest to save an old friend and ends up finding a new perspective as well. // cw: Major Character Death Not With Haste by @snark-sniper wc: 12,109 || rating: G || pairings: DenNor || completed Nobility AU summary: In a world where literacy is restricted to the upperclass, Mathias finds his soulmate's first words to him written on his forearm. Lukas doesn't. ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

folly of men by @brokskar wc: 15,689 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU summary: Losing his job is not something that Mathias is particularly happy about. But it leads him back to Lukas, an old friend he lost touch with years ago. A lot has changed throughout the years, and as Mathias learns more about Lukas, he realizes there's more to learn about himself, too. The Best Bakery In The City by Peanutsfan1 wc: 33,439 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SUFin, HongIce || completed Human AU, Crime AU summary: Mathias Køhler was feeling quite confident. The week started with his Captain approaching him with the best case, an undercover mission to investigate the crime organisation run by the Bondevik family. Turns out this case isn't as simple as Mathias thought. As he keeps running into obstacles, he has to deal with the ever-present fear that he will be found out. Can he take down this criminal organisation without being discovered? And is Lukas Bondevik as terrifying as he let's on? Read My Lips by Terra Saltt wc: 36,782 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin || completed Superpower AU summary: Tino enjoys the comfort of a quiet library and dreaming minds when he picks up on the charming thoughts of a perfect stranger. Has Berwald found someone that can fully understand him, even when he is silent? MindReader!Tino x Deaf!Berwald AU ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Nationverse

Words and Broken Tables by Liradawn wc: 475 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: "I thought I would love you forever. But forever is a long time to be wrong." SuFin angst, written for the kink meme. Reviews will always be much loved! The Birch tree by @caffinatedstory wc: ~800 II rating: Not Rated II pairings: none II completed Nationverse summary: It’s not a pretty sight that greets his eyes. His uniform is ripped and worn. Pale and washed out from far too much exposure to the outdoors. Scars are visible all over his chest. Deep grooves and soft lines of pink mar his pale skin. But scars are nothing new. Scars do not cause him pain. // cw: gore Two Oceans by @caffinatedstory wc: 934 || rating: G || pairings: Nor & Ice || completed Nationverse summary: "What's love?" Iceland enquires with a curious gaze up at his brother. The question seems to take Norway by surprise. The previous 30-50 questions Iceland had asked today had been more about why grass was green and the sky blue. Norway wasn't prepared for this sort of stuff. He'd gotten away with blaming the gods for a lot of stuff too, but he didn't think that would work now. Selfoss by @scarlettlillies wc: 1,346 || rating: G || pairings: Swe & Ice || completed Nationverse summary: During a trip to see the northern lights near the Icelandic town of Selfoss, Sweden couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched. Yesterday by @scarlettlillies wc: 1,450 || rating: G || pairings: Nyo!DenEst || completed Nationverse summary: It was the final day of their brief holiday in Hiiumaa. Even though Estonia assures her that they will be back again soon, it's not enough. Denmark was tired of going home alone. Change by @ifindus wc: 2,515 || rating: G || pairings: SuNor || completed Nationverse summary: Norway is not happy with being traded around like a piece of property and he is certainly not happy with his new "boss" ; Sweden. Over the years, his opinion does not change, but their personal relationship just might. Brushstrokes by yuuago wc: ~3,100 || rating: G || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: When Sweden had commissioned the portraits, he had meant it only as a token of affection; he hadn't thought there would be a time when he'd see Finland's portrait more often than Finland himself. ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Ástin mín by @i-am-a--lionheart wc: 3,941 II rating: M II pairing: SuNor II completed Nationverse summary: At the End of Kalmar, nothing keeps Sweden around but Norway. As he asks him to leave the union, the words between them stay soft and gentle, but hearts are torn apart anyways. // cw: Graphic Depictions Of Violence. Major Character Death Siblings and Quibblings by @95jezzica wc: 4,587 || rating: G (K) || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: Multiple fics dedicated to sibling idiocy. xD - [Ch1, Punchline: Norway goes to the market and leaves Sweden with the task of keeping Denmark out of trouble. In hindsight that was a stupid idea.] - [Ch5, Parenting is Warranting: There was no rush, and so Sweden could afford to let Sealand n Ladonia finish thinking what was on their minds. In hindsight, this had been a mistake.] xD Those Easy Days by kosame wc: 5,409 || rating: M || pairings: DenNor || completed Nationverse summary: He may not have his memories, but he has a good, simple life, until two strangers come to town and destroy his quiet equilibrium. The Butterfly I Keep in the Pocket of my Shirt by @randomw07 wc: 5,501 || rating: G || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: In Norway, he doesn't so much question his sexuality as realise it has a name. Snippets of Love by @95jezzica wc: 8,499 || rating: G (K+) || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: Multiple snippets of various genres and SuFin's love for each other. [Ch1: Not Leaving. -Sweden has to be insane if he thinks Finland is about to leave him wounded and alone in the middle of a blizzard.] - [Ch10: Just Trust - Free Falling. - "Trust is a must in relationships, but sometimes Finland takes trust falls a little TOO literally for Sweden's and Estonia's liking."] xD ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Waiting for Sunshine in Tallinn by A_Virtuous_Pyromaniac wc: 10,207 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: The year is 1974. From fraternal obligation, Finland takes a ferry across the Iron Curtain to pay Estonia a Christmas visit. Soviet Estonia might seem closed-off and static, but change is rippling beneath the surface. A mostly-serious historical fic about Estonian/Finnish relations during the Soviet occupation Five Loves for Berwald Oxenstierna by coeurgie wc: 17k+ || rating: M || pairings: DenSu, SuNor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: From Björn of the ætt Steirnung to Lord Berwald Oxenstierna to Papa, one thing has stayed the same: Sweden loves. / Sweden/OFC, Sweden/Denmark, Sweden/Finland, Sweden/Norway, Papa!Sweden Sealand. Historically accurate. Author's note inside with more. Ystävänpäivä by orphan_account wc: 17,410 || rating: M || pairings: SuFin, RusFin, NorFin || completed Nationverse summary: It's February 14th, and in honor of Friendship day, Finland has sent out cards to every nation he has an embassy in. It's just too bad that most countries do not view this particular day as a day to celebrate friendship. Why Iceland Can Speak Arabic by Klokkenspel wc: 23,429 || rating: T || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: He didn't think this visit would be different from the others, as his people were doing quite well, after all. He probably should have paid more attention to those ships on the horizon, but there was little room for regret when your hands are tied and you're taken aboard on a voyage to who-knows-where. Iceland is kidnapped by Barbary pirates. Norway comes to the rescue. Based off the Turkish Abductions of 1627. // cw: kidnapping Once a Family by Simana wc: 28,638 || rating: G || pairings: none || completed Nationverse summary: Once a family, always a family. Nordic story, Denmark-centric. Five times Denmark was there for his family, and one time his family was there for him. No slash. Originally posted on FF.net. Lif & Lifthrasir by @snark-sniper wc: 39,387 || rating: T || pairings: HongIce || completed Nationverse summary: On May 10, 1940, Iceland is occupied by England; per tradition, the personification of Iceland is brought to London to live in England's household. An Asian colony greets him at the door. (A story of coming of age in quarantine.) // cw: WW2 Healing by messe_jesse wc: 40,680 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: Dennor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: It's the end of World War II. The Nordics, after not being together for six years, are living together again under the same roof. It's tough, and all they want to do is go back to normal. But how do you go back to normal after seeing nothing but death, destruction and fear for six years? The chapters after the prologue are the same events but in different point of views so there's some repetition, but it's to show how everybody is processing events differently. The prologue is a bit heavy with the history and there's no dialogue, but the rest of the story has a lot more going on! Also, I apologize if any of my history is incorrect!! I did my best with research. // cw: WW2, PTSD ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Multichapters (+50K)

Apartment 43 by @lumassen wc: 56,867 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU summary: Sigurd is a single parent to Emil, and they've just moved in to a new apartment complex for a fresh start. Mads, their neighbour below them in Apartment 33 becomes friends with them over time, and he realises that he can help Sigurd in more ways than one. While he figures out what he wants to do with his life, Mads not only forms a friendship with Sigurd, but with little Emil too. Under the North Star by Embrose wc: 66,327 || rating: T || pairings: SuFin, DenNor || completed Human AU summary: Tino Väinämöinen lives in the farthest reaches of Lapland, scraping together a living and keeping himself sane through painting. He ran away from his past, but cast himself into loneliness and darkness. But his quiet living is interrupted, when a Swedish giant Berwald Oxenstierna comes into his life and gradually pulls Tino back into the light. But eventually Tino's past catches up to him… Sendlingur og Sandlóa by @pyrrhocorax wc: 74,037 || rating: T || pairings: SuNor, EstFin, (queerplatonic) DenNor and SuFin (romantic) || completed Nationverse summary: During an average summer in modern day, the Nordics meet up in the countryside for a long vacation to relax together. However, with hundreds of years of history between them, old memories get dredged up, both bad and good. Sendlingur og Sandlóa is a story about perspective, of loss and longing, the temperamental nature of both life and human relationships, and family. (Aromantic asexual Iceland, queerplatonic SuNor and EstFin, romantic DenNor and SuFin. Centered around DenNorIce as a family unit but includes other relationships as well. And honestly, even though this is my intent, you can freely interpret the relationships however you see fit and I actively encourage you to do so if you'd like.) Top Secret by VyraFinn wc: 76,001 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: Iceland thought that his life would return to normal once he finished the studies in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, he wasn’t right about that, and a bet made with Norway gives him whole new set of problems. Can he survive the Norwegian military training and find the spy before it is too late? There is also something strange going on with Denmark and Norway, but Iceland is not even sure if he wants to know more about that. Sequel to Higher Education. Mise en Scène by @brokskar wc: 77,013 || rating: M || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU summary: As a screenwriter, Lukas wants to tell the truth about the world; that it's messy, unkind, and complicated. He's also desperate for a way out of the home situation he's stuck in. As a director, Mathias is trying to take back control of the life he lost sight of two years ago. He's looking for an escape from the messy, unkind, and complicated world that Lukas is so adamant on recreating. As members of the same film group, they both have their own ideas and ambitions when it comes to making their new movie, and neither one of them are particularly interested in letting the other get in their way. Stories Through the Years by Ikikuka wc: 79,541 || rating: M || pairings: SuFin || work in progress Nationverse summary: Short, and sometimes a little bit longer, stories from the North. Finland's and Sweden's journey from the past to this day from their respective perspectives. Gutters by glassamilk wc: 98,149 || rating: M || pairings: Den & Sea || completed Apocalypse AU summary: 'The Calamity' has left the world stripped and dying. Alone in a civilian bunker in Munich, Sealand will be reunited with the last known living member of his surrogate family and together, they will set out across Europe to find those they have lost. // cw: Major Character Death ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Higher Education by VyraFinn wc: 99,845 || rating: T || pairings: DenNor, SuFin || completed Nationverse summary: After a brief argument with his boss Iceland finds himself to be enrolled in to a master program in University of Copenhagen. Not only he is a nation but now he should somehow survive the student life and keep it all secret from his family. Good thing Denmark never notices anything, right? A Kingdom to Fall by @darcymariaphoster wc: 150,275 || rating: M || pairings: Nordic polycule || work in progress Fantasy AU summary: The Väinämöinen family is dead. That's the news that sparks the building of a new and vast kingdom, one that promises to rival even the most powerful kingdoms in Europe. It's not the way Sigurd had imagined meeting any of his soul partners, under political terms and conditions. But here he is -- with three other men, conspiracy, and more personal challenges than he'd ever thought one could handle. All he'd wanted was to be King. // cw: Graphic Depictions Of Violence. Major Character Death Take a Chance on Me by Hetart wc: 183,443 || rating: Not Rated || pairings: DenNor || completed Human AU, High School AU summary: When Lukas moved in with his grandparents next door, Mathias immediately knew they would be the best of friends. For the most part, this prediction was correct. But as the years pass and the two grow older, Mathias learns that life is rarely as simple as it seems when you are six years old and with a heart full of stars. Or. A story of two boys who, against all odds, will find each other every time. Once in 19th century by VyraFinn wc: 203,195 II rating: M II pairings: DenNor, SuFin II work in progress Nationverse summary: Denmark has fallen, Norway has been taken away, and Iceland… Iceland is all alone. Thrown into a life of great changes and discoveries, he has to figure out what it really means to grow up. Independent, stand-alone part of the Icelandic Studies, and prequel of sort to Higher Education and Top Secret. ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

Explicit [18+]

Head Over Feet by Sara Generis (kanadka) wc: 2,128 || rating: E || pairings: NedDen || completed Nationverse summary: It all starts out perfectly innocent: well-travelled routes brought a Viking Dane through to Dorestad where he met a young Lowland enterpreneur selling wares. And when they grew up it was natural enough to consider each other for a spot of casual fun. Just innocent fun, filthy sex, but nothing so messy as romance. //cw: smut Stuffed by uncagingwardens wc: 3,275 || rating: E || pairings: DenNor || completed Nationverse summary: Aleksander makes a promise, and Mathias holds him to it. // cw: smut, OC Decades by wickedlupin wc: 3,477 || rating: E || pairings: DenNor || work in progress Nationverse summary: separation. n. 1. the action or state of being moved apart. 2. the division of something into constituent or distinct elements. independence. n. 1. free from outside control. 2. not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence. “Sve will be pissed if he finds out I have you like this.” “That’s all the more reason for you to do it, then, isn’t it?” // cw: smut Under Your Breath by Ludwiggle73 wc: 5,007 || rating: E || pairings: SuFin || completed Human AU summary: Berwald is a chiropractor. Tino gets his back blown out. // cw: smut, omega verse Rags To Dance In by bunnyfication wc: 9,690 || rating: E || pairings: NedDen || completed Nationverse summary: In which blood is thicker than water, but even that might not be enough, and Netherlands is a (mostly) neutral spectator helping bros with trouble with other bros. // cw: smut, medical trauma Dragon's Heart by Domina_Ecca wc: 10,359 || rating: E || pairing: DenSu || completed Fantasy AU summary: Hetalia Fantasy AU: A beast of legend has attacked a defenseless village at the base of a dark mountain. Only one warrior is brave enough to seek it out. But no creature is more determined at getting what it wants than a dragon… Rated for cursing, adult content, and some violence. [warrior!Sweden x dragonshifter!Denmark] // cw: smut ─•~❉᯽❉~•─

[floralcrematorium]

About the rarepair week, do you have a specific list of ships in mind and you're looking for prompts, or are you looking for ship suggestions? If you're taking ship suggestions, would you do something with DenSu? Just don't make them hateful and violent towards each other. Please.

Thanks for the ask! Rare pair week is a week long event dedicated to rare or uncommon ships! There are different prompts for each day and there's a list of banned ships (like FrUk, DenNor, SuFin, you get it) to keep the focus on pairs who don't get a lot of attention. You can find the account with all of the information @hetalia-rarepairweek

I haven't been able to get nearly as much progress on the two fics I had planned done as I wanted to since I've been getting used to my new work schedule, but I'm open to trying to write for DenSu if I have time! DenSu is one of those ships that I've seen but never really interacted with so it'd be interesting to figure out what to do with them for the remaining prompts! I'll have to think about it a bit since when I intend to write something small, it turns into a several thousand word ramble (example A: this very post). I hadn't initially set out to do all 7 seven days, but as of now I have:

September 24; Day 1 | Cottage | CanUkr, oneshot On a nostalgic visit to an old family home in the mountains, Kateryna is out hunting for winter provisions. Instead of a deer, she catches Matthew. September 25; Day 2 | Comfort | Framano, 2 parts Dedicated to my RP partner and our artist & muse plotline. It doesn't have a description yet, but I think I've got more words on the page for both parts of this fic than my CanUkr one shot. Both Francis and Lovino get one chapter from their POV that encompasses their unique struggles in this AU and what drew them together. If I have to quickly sum up the background it's that both Francis and Lovino carry a lot of baggage and are oddly equipped to help one another.

Both fics are meant to be slice of life and in human/modern AUs since I don't have all the time in the world to research more than surface level because of work right now. I would love love love if I had the time to draw something for both fics, especially the Framano one since I have a month's worth of RP writing to pull scenes to draw from. One day, but not yet.

If I can get to it, I'd love to dedicate the DenSu one to you!

[someone-you-do-not-know]

💌📚 for the ask game! (Also seemed appropriate to be asked together)

:o Yes, those are definitely appropriate to ask together (I could recommend fanfiction of my OTP for days).

💌 Essential ships:

Spain and Romano, ofc. The only reason they wouldn't be together is because they haven't gotten around to confessing yet. I love them together so much, to the point that I can't see either of them not have any sort of relationship (romantic or otherwise) with the other.

Other ones are GerIta and FrUK. GerIta is just too right to not be there, and FrUK is one of those eternal frenemies who also have sex. Any other ship I can accept being there or not being there – formerly, DenNor was also essential, but I'm no longer that person, I can see them with other people now.

📚 Fanfics, fanfics, fanfics!

Just one? D:

Hear me out, I'll give you two, both Spamano! One oneshot and one longer story (and they won't be my own stories, because that's not a recommendation, just a cry for attention).

This one: Room for Three by lorenzodelcielo A oneshot where Antonio writes a letter to Lorenzo (as Romano is called in it) about the first time he met Lorenzo's brothers. Includes a character with a disability, and whenever I look for it, it takes forever because it hasn't been tagged as such. It's really sweet, even if Lorenzo's brothers are over the top, at least according to him.

And this one: A Trip to Spain Could Only End In by ForeverTwin611 This is a classic multichapter story, and I haven't read it in a while, but just trust me, when I first found it (let's not talk about how long ago that was), you could not get me to stop reading even if you paid me. Lovino Vargas is an exchange student in Spain, and manages to have a romance as wild as any chickflick.

And I think it's only fair that one story is AO3 exclusive, and the other is FF.net exclusive, because so much of this fandom happened on FF.net back in the day, but nowadays, it's being continued on AO3.

[justtokeepscrolling]

I missed you

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15155825

Lukas sighs as he makes his coffee. Two more days, well, one and a few hours actually, and he’d get to see Mathias again.

His boyfriend is a marine, and he had been away for months on service. Luckily this was his last one, after this he’d get to stay home. Lukas wouldn’t have to sleep alone again, wondering of Mathias would actually make it home at all.

Deeply sunken in his thoughts he doesn’t notice the front door opening, the soft thud of bag being set down, and arms wrapping around his waist.

“I’m home.”

Lukas jolts and whips around. “Don’t scare me like that you i-”

It takes a couple seconds for his brain to fully process Mathias’ grinning face. That stupid crooked smile he’s missed so much. He’s back.

“I thought you weren’t coming back until a few days,” Lukas cups Mathias’ face, stroking his cheek with his thumb.

“Originally, but they let me go early, something about not taking all vacation days.”

“You should have called, I’d have picked you up.”

“But I wanted to surprise you,” Mathias kisses Lukas’ forehead, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, even though you stench of sweat.”

Mathias pouts, “I’m finally home again and you insult me.”

“Did you expect anything else?”

“No, not really, and it’s nice to know you never change.”

“Your idiocy never changes either,” Lukas flicks Mathias’ nose, “go take a shower, I’ll make you something to eat.”

“Lukas I’m not that hu-”

“When i say make I really mean warm up leftover chinese food.”

“Thanks, I’m starving.”

Lukas rolls his eyes, “just go shower, idiot.”

“Not until I’ve had my kiss.”

“Seriously?”

Mathias nods with a smile, Lukas rolls his eyes again and quickly kisses him.

“You didn’t give me time to kiss you back.”

“We can do anything you want after you’ve finished your shower, now go!”

“Yes sir!” Mathias salutes him and walks to the bathroom. Lukas can’t fight the smile off his face as he reheats the chinese food and makes some more coffee.

Ten minutes later they’re cuddling on the couch with two steaming mugs of coffee, and the lego movie playing in the background.

“You better not leave me alone again now.”

Mathias chuckles, “don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, not unless I have you with me,” Mathias intertwines their fingers.

“Good.”

“Even when you want me gone, I’m staying right here by your side.”

“Like I could manage without you,” Lukas leans in and kisses Mathias’ cheek, “I wouldn’t have anyone to open my jars for me.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Yes.”

“Not my awesome body?”

“That might be a little bit of the reason, but mostly the jar thing.”

Mathias chuckles, “so mean,” he traces his finger down the other’s spine, “didn’t you say you missed me?”

“I did.”

“Well you’re not showing it,” Mathias boops Lukas’ nose.

“I don’t need to show it to mean it.”

“It would be nice if you showed it some more.”

Lukas softly flicks Mathias’ forehead, “we both know that that will never happen.”

“I know, but I can always hope for more kisses.”

“If you want a kiss then just kiss me, idiot.”

“You know what? Maybe I will, that’s a good idea.”

Lukas rolls his eyes, “of course it’s a good idea, I came up wi-”

He gets silenced by Mathias smashing their lips together, but he doesn’t really mind, because finally, he’ll stay home.

[thinking-about-sw33ts]

нσρєfυℓℓу уσυ ℓιкє∂ тнιѕ! ιf тнєяє αяє αиу ѕρєℓℓιиg мιѕтαкєѕ/єяяσяѕ, ρℓєαѕє тєℓℓ мє, αи∂ ι ωιℓℓ вє мσяє тнαи ωιℓℓιиg тσ fιχ тнєм! тнιѕ ωαѕ αℓѕσ яєqυєѕтє∂ ву @Romelynersosub σи ωαттρα∂! тнαик уσυ fσя тнє яєqυєѕт/ѕυggєѕтισи @Romelynersosub!~★

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

⭐️That One⭐️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anime:

🌏Hetalia🌍

Ship(s):

Main Ship:

🇩🇰Denmark🇩🇰 X 🇳🇴Norway🇳🇴

Supporting Ship(s):

🇫🇮Finland🇫🇮 X 🇸🇪Sweden🇸🇪

🇭🇰HongKong🇭🇰 X 🇮🇸Iceland🇮🇸

🇨🇳China🇨🇳 X 🇷🇺Russia🇷🇺

Type:

🌸Fluff🌸

🌶Spicy🌶

AU(Alternative Universe):

🌏Normal🌍

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🇳🇴Norway’s P.O.V🇳🇴(Point of View):

“Watch the house while I'm gone, little brother." "For the fifth time Lucas, I’m not going to call you Big brother!” “You just did.” I commented, only to get a tired groan from inside the house.

I gently closed the door, before locking it. I soon started to walk to a nearby Cafe, where Finland decided we were going to meet up at.

Once I get inside the Cafe, I quickly see Finland sitting in one of the booths. He soon spots me, and waves over for me to sit with him. Which I do after a while. Once I have sat down across from him, he passes me a cup of coffee. Which I softly smile at.

“It has butter just how you like it!” He informs, happily. I nod at him, understanding. We soon started to catch up with each other, talking about how we were for the past few months, as well as what we have started doing.

With Finland taking care of Sealand and Ladonia, as well as Hanatamago he had grown quite busy for the last few months. Sweden on the other hand had been helping out on various construction sites, and Ikea stores.

“So have you found someone yet, Nor?” Finland suddenly asked, making me almost choke on my Coffee. Once I pull myself together, and look back at him I see that he had a mischievous look on his face. In response to his question. I just shake my head.

“You know, you can meet various people on dating apps!” Finland informs me. “Is that right?” I comment, swirling my cup of coffee in my mug, wondering.

After a few more minutes of talking and having fun, we soon part our ways. ‘Dating apps huh?’ I thought to myself, walking back home while looking up at the sky in wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

✨Timeskip✨

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🇳🇴Norway’s P.O.V🇳🇴(Point of View):

After giving it some thought, I have decided that I was going to find someone through various dating apps. I quickly walk down the stairs trying to find Iceland, so that he can help me with it.

After I had found him, and explained to him my situation he had helped me get acquainted with the app. The app being Grindr. “So what kind of type do you like?” Iceland asked me, setting up my profile to get me started.

“I have very high standards. I only fall in love with graceful-” I explained to him, but was soon cut off by a certain Dane stumbling down the stairs. While sitting in a white basket, and landing flat on their face.

“I want that one.” I told him, while pointing at Denmark. I walk towards him only to see a couple of bruises on his face, as well as bumps. I pull him by his necktie quickly, making him lose his air supply, and drag him to my room to bandage him up.

Once we got to my room I made him sit down on my bed, so that I could grab the first-aid box from my bathroom. Once I get back, I start to bandage him up.

After I finished bandaging him up, he pulled me by my wrist making me fall on his bed. I grew suspicious, only to calm down once I realized he was just cuddling me.

“So he’s the right one huh.” I wondered out loud to myself. Once he heard me say this he cuddled more on to me. “Thanks for picking me Nor~!” He cheered, petting my head in a way to make me more comfortable.

“You’re too loud.” I commented, him just chuckling in response. I cuddle back to him, closing my eyes before going to take a nap. Him just cradling me, protectively.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

✨Bonus✨

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🇮🇸Iceland’s P.O.V🇮🇸(Point of View):

I quickly explained to HongKong what had happened, him just gasping in surprise each time I told him more. “I can’t believe they finally got together! They’re like cute and-” Just then his voice was cut off by various moans and groans.

“Ah~! Go harder Aru!”

“What was that Leon!” I ask him, my fair skin tainted with red blush.

“Oh yeah I forgot to tell you Yao has been like seeing this russian guy at his work. I mean they’re like cute but an odd pair. Seems like they finally got together.” HongKong explained, me just trying to desperately calm my raging blush down. ‘I have to tell him soon too.’ I thought to myself, blushing once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[doon-writes]

Not Dark Yet

here’s my thing for day 3 of @hetaween! it’s the end of the world with nyo dennor (well mostly just den.) trigger warnings are in the tags ✌️

Mari - Denmark

Sigrid - Norway

Eira - Iceland

im back at it with the dennor angs

-

She’d never tasted a bitterness so strong before this moment. It still lingered in her mouth, but the sight of her lover sleeping soundly on her lap made everything a little bit okay again.

Red light bled in through the church's shattered stained glass windows. Knowing any light left would soon fade to black, Mari took the remaining time she had to stare at Sigrid.

It was hard to tell if she looked pale due to the crimson colour engulfing everything in sight that wasn't already taken by darkness, but Mari assumed she was. They'd both been so malnourished, and so tired at the end. That's part of what made the sight of Sigrid fast asleep so satisfying. The scratches and newly earned scars could be ignored thanks to the relaxed state of her face.

God, she was beautiful. So beautiful.

Mari was glad she wouldn't be awake to watch the rest of the event. If Sigrid saw all of this blood red light, she'd deny the reality of it all, keep resisting, then cry when she realized it was over. The thought of Sigrid crying alone felt like a needle or fifty to the chest.

Mari began to think she'd been lucky. Her sister had to watch her lover die a painful death, and she carried that with her until her own death. Eira had been separated from her lover since the beginning, and she never got to see her again before she died.

The thoughts of the ones they'd lost rang the ache of a sob through the damaged halls of Mari's heart. But she wouldn't cry. She promised she wouldn't.

And after all, she was here with Sigrid. The love of her life up until now, and the little time she had after this moment. She would say forever, but the idea that her soul would be saved from this damned earth no longer seemed likely.

The red dulled. From a vibrant shade, to blood, to maroon. Mari took the time to lay down beside her love, ignoring the bits of glass on the floor entirely.

It was the end of the world. What more harm could a few shards of glass do?

Not much, it turned out, though they did sting. Mari took one more glimpse at Sigrid before pulling her in for a hug. She tried to remember a time where no one was hurt, when the horrors of the apocalypse had been unknown to them. The elusive memories of a family movie night, or a date with Sigrid. First times, lasts, love. A memory to rival the growing cold of the darkening atmosphere.

Yes, the air may have been cold, but her tears were hot. She pressed a shaky kiss to Sigrid's forehead; one of regret, apology, and the forlorn sensation of a lifetime of love lost.

She couldn't even keep a promise. How did she ever think she could save the world?

Her body refused to stop shaking. Mari let her cries fill the hollowed church, deciding restraint wasn't something she needed now anyway. She didn't feel she deserved it, but she buried her face into Sigrid, moving one of Sigrid's limp arms over her.

This time, Sigrid would not hold her until she'd cried herself out, nor would she stroke Mari's hair while whispering the sweetest of human comforts into her ear. But Mari wished she would, with every broken bit of hope lodged inside the newly formed lump in her throat.

It was a selfish wish. In a little while now, darkness would conquer every bit of light the world had left in it, and after that, the air would leave the planet. If she were in her right mind, there was no way Mari would want Sigrid to be alive to suffer through this. Asphyxiation sounded like a painful way to die, and she wouldn't ever want Sigrid to experience the particular distraught failing to prevent the apocalypse brought.

On the other hand, going through this alone was nearly unbearable. Mari felt like the last breathing being alive in the world. If she was smart, she would've ended it before the lack of oxygen could, but a part of her, no matter how scared, wanted to exist in the exact moment when the world stopped turning. Living was out of the question at this point anyway, and the end of the world was something Mari never thought she'd see in her lifetime. Might as well enjoy the finale.

She opened her eyes up to pitch blackness. It was good, in part; it meant the last lighted image Mari saw was Sigrid. But, it also meant death was approaching a little sooner. That was not necessarily a bad thing either, but the thought of her life being snuffed out of her was at least a little terrifying at any given moment. There would be relief in leaving behind all of the horrors that had happened on this soon to be lifeless earth, but the mere thought of experiencing nothing, being nothing, was enough to make Mari consider pleading with the blackening sky to be blessed with the grace of forgiveness, for the possession of an untainted soul, and for ascendance to a place where she might be able to find Sigrid again.

It already felt as though it was getting harder to breathe, though she wasn’t certain if it was because of the crying or if air had begun to leave this doomed piece of rock. Regardless, she pressed her face into Sigrid's stomach further, as if she'd wake up in their bedroom from the worst nightmare of her life in any moment now. It wouldn't have been the first time Sigrid had heard Mari's sobs of a dream too cruel to handle, but it would be the first time Mari experienced a full fledged miracle.

If only miracles were real. If only she wasn't alone. If only she’d had a little more time.

She barely noticed as the cocktail of gases begin to waltz out of the atmosphere. Undetected, they stole one breath after another, faster and faster. Molecules and elements flowing out of the ozone layer into the realm of the stars.

No longer did it matter. Breath had been stolen from her even before she'd reached this point. Every strike of grief, every needless evil, everything she'd failed to fix up until now seemed to steal miles off of Mari's life force. She wondered for a moment if that's why things ended up here, but ultimately considered it a bit egotistical to blame the end of the world on herself.

Mari was simply unlucky to be here, that's all.

The disguise of gratefulness left her as she realised how rotten her fate had been. Surely, it was the worst fate to stay alive until the end. Watching everyone she cared about die before her and living to see what was perhaps the most common of humanity's fears.

In spite of her bitterness, she'd stopped crying. Best not to waste air by gasping for it in between sobs, she figured. However, Mari had no idea how to prepare herself for suffocation. Should she breathe as much air as she could before it went away? Or hold her breath to get herself accustomed to the feeling?

She'd be terrified either way. So she settled on breathing normally for the time being, pulling Sigrid a bit closer, and shutting her eyes as if she intended to sleep through her own death.

Unfortunately, that's not what was in store for her. The lack of oxygen soon made itself known, and she told herself only to stay calm; a thing that was nearly impossible in such a situation. Nevertheless, she tried, tried to soothe herself by stroking Sigrid's deathly cold skin, tried to breathe just barely to make her supply last. Even so, it was only a matter of seconds before she was gasping for air, stuck in a horrific cycle of attempting to inhale and getting nothing from it.

Only in this moment, as she desperately searched for the air that had been present in the sky for every other moment of her life, did her hope finally fade. She was dying, and it would only be a matter of seconds until she was unconscious. After that, the void of death was minutes away. There was no one to save her, and even if there was, would she really want to live when everyone else she loved was already permanently gone?

The answer was no, and it always would be. Despite realising this, she couldn't help but wish that this pain would stop, somehow, in any way. The physical pain primarily, seeing as it dominated nearly every nook and cranny of Mari's mind, but a heavy feeling also lingered in the corners of her brain. A feeling of the rug being pulled out beneath you only to realise there was no floor to begin with; a descent of hopelessness.

The pain peaked. She grasped at iridescent memories that began to flash before her eyes, desperate.

Mari now laid on the floor, limp. She could've been as dead as Sigrid by now, but there was no one around to tell if she was. It was a little lonely to die without those to mourn your loss, but it was fitting for the end of all things.

It was cold. It was dark. It was over. And the world ended with the ones who were supposed to save it dying last. Sigrid holding Mari like any other Sunday morning they'd spent sleeping in, until they decomposed into bones, and from bones, to nothing more.

[glitzywisps]

Never Trade it for The World

Dennor week, day 3: Anko family

Human au

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19760836

You want to hold him?”

“Yes…”

“Are you sure? You’re not going to drop him, are you?”

“I’m not going to drop him!” Emil pouted and held his little hands out to the toad Mathias held.

“Alright, alright,” he placed the toad in his hands, “Be gentle.”

Emil gasped holding it up to get a better look and cooing softly, “Awwe!” Mathias chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair, turning his attention over to where Lukas had put his book away to start setting out the food. It was about an hour ago while he and Lukas were thinking of what to do for lunch when Lukas suggested taking Emil down to the pond. The sun was out along with a few clouds though it wasn’t quite hot enough for them to be uncomfortable, especially with the occasional breeze.

Mathias and Lukas had made some plain ham and cheese sandwiches with a few cut peppers and celery on the side; food that the latter was now placing out on the blanket Mathias laid down. Once he had finished, Lukas got up and walked the few meters to where Emil was searching for more amphibians to go with the one in his hands and Mathas was helping (though mostly just making sure the boy didn't fall into the water). 

“Careful, Em. If a toad pees on you, you’ll get warts,” Lukas said stifled a snicker as the boy gave a disgusted look, hurrying to put the toad down and sighing in relief as it quickly hopped away into the bushes. Then the boy turned to Mathias with an accusatory look, his chubby cheeks red as he huffed, “You tried to give me warts!”

“What!?”

“You are-” Emil thought for a bit, trying to accumulate something from his small vocabulary, “A butt!”

“That’s mean, I’m not trying to give you warts!” The Dane chuckled.

“Emil, watch your mouth,” Lukas scolded, scooping the boy into his arms and pressing a kiss to his cheek, “I was joking, little one. Toads don’t give you warts. Now apologize to Mathias.” Though Lukas had a small, amused smile as well. Emil pouted but mumbled an apology and reached to be carried by the other.

“Awe, it’s okay, I forgive you!” Mathias cooed and took the boy into his own arms, giving his cheek a raspberry that had him giggling again. 

“Come on you two, better wipe and sanitize your hands before eating.” Lukas had already gone back to the blanket, watching his family fondly.

“Yes, sir!” Mathias called to his husband, making their way over there. After he had sat Emil down, he grabbed the baby wipes and scrubbed their hands off, then added hand sanitizer for good measure and telling the boy, “So we don’t get sick.”

Emil patiently let him clean them up before eagerly reaching for his food from Lukas. Handing him half of a sandwich, Lukas said, “Now, you better eat some vegetables too or we’re going back inside for the rest of the day.” 

Whining, Emil nodded reluctantly and picked at his celery too. As they ate, Lukas sat between Mathias’ legs, his back pressed against his chest and the other’s free arm wrapped around him. Mathias soon enough had his chin resting on his shoulder, every now and then he would press a kiss to his cheek or temple and nuzzle his neck. Lukas hummed, tracing the love’s freckles and beauty marks on his forearm, though he also kept his attention on Emil as he finished his food and ran off once more.

“I love you…” Mathias kissed under his ear.

“I know… I love you too.”

“And I want you to know that I don’t mind one bit that we’re raising Emil now. I love him very much and our odd little family…”

“I do know that too, Mathias.” He pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “You supported me through the whole custody process and have been nothing but supportive of our situation. Thank you for being a great husband… You’re becoming a wonderful father too..”

It wasn’t often that Lukas was so open and kind about what was on his mind. Preferring to keep things simple and sweet or to just assume that the other knows his true feelings. But in rare moments like this where he was completely relaxed and safe, he could speak without any fear of embarrassing himself or being too sappy. These moments were what taught Mathias to stop pushing topics and questions, learning that Lukas would come to him and open up on his own time and on his own terms. And now that they had Emil around, Lukas was working on being more open and expressive about his feelings. Wanting to raise him in the best environment possible, too worried that the boy might grow up the way he did.

“No, thank you, Lukas… You’re too sweet. I think I’m tearing up,” he teased and tried to lighten any dreariness that might have filled the mood. The Norwegian appreciated it, smiling softly and giving his arm a squeeze. They were then pulled from their talk by Emil calling to them.

“Lukas! Matt! Look-” the boy held something in his hands, rushing over to them as Lukas jumped up.

“Emil put that snake down!” The boy complied with his guardian’s orders and put the black little grass snake down, watching it slither away.

“Ew, Emil it musked on you,” Mathias sighed, grabbing the boy to take him inside to clean up. Lukas sighed in relief, “You’re lucky it was harmless. We’re going to have a long talk on how you need to stop picking wild animals.”

“Sorry…” Emil mumbled and curled into Mathias. “I stink…”

“Don’t worry, you’re getting a bath stinky boy,” he tickled his side a bit, making him giggle while Lukas gathered the blankets and plates.

Neither Mathias nor Lukas were really ready to become parents when they got Emil. Lukas truly did adore his brother, but with parents, as he had, Lukas knew he needed to step in and do something. Mathias even canceled their honeymoon, using the money to set up everything Emil would need when he moved in. That was about a year ago and Emil didn’t really understand but wasn’t upset with the changes. Being parents was difficult and caused ups and downs, and everything was so unpredictable. Of course, as Mathias watched Lukas read to his- their, little one that night; he knows without a single doubt in his mind or heart that he would not change or trade a single thing. Even if kids do things like pick up wild snakes and animals giving their parents or guardians heart attacks.

[drowning-in-dennor]

Celebration

 A one-shot I wrote for Norway’s birthday. Dennor, Sufin, an exhausted writer who did a lot of research.

Disclaimer: There is no guarantee that this fanfic will be good, or that you will like it. 

 He almost forgets his birthday. What makes him remember is a rude awakening, in the middle of the night.

 Norway’s phone screams for his attention the moment his clock reads 12:00 a.m., blaring its shrill tune and startling him off his bed.

 Cursing himself for forgetting to mute his phone before sleeping, Norway accepts the call and, trying to hide the sleepiness in his voice, says, “Hello?”

 “Happy birthday!”

 He drops his phone, ears ringing. Denmark’s voice is echoing again, again, again in his head, and he’s confused. Norway picks up his phone, and, yawning, asks, “What?”

 “Oh, how did you forget? It’s your birthday today, Nor, and I called to celebrate!”

 Wondering how Denmark can sound so energetic in the middle of the damn night, Norway turns on his lamp and glances at the calendar on his desk. Oh, it’s the seventeenth of May. His constitution day. And his birthday. “Thank you, but why the hell are you calling now?”

 “So we can celebrate the moment you become independent, and stuff!”

 “So you decide to call when I’m asleep, scaring the crap out of me instead of visiting or calling at a reasonable hour, like a normal human being?”

 “Exactly!”

 Norway sighs, stifling another yawn. “I’m going back to sleep. Don’t call or visit again until it’s at least 8 o’clock in the morning, or I’ll take your axe and behead you with it. Now good night.”

 He hangs up before Denmark can reply.

…

 Iceland calls at nine in the morning, while Norway is preparing for a speech he’ll give later at borgertog, the citizens’ parade. One hand holding his cell phone, the other scribbling notes on cue cards, the nation answers the phone. “Hello, Ice.”

 “Happy birthday.”

 “I didn’t think you’d call today. Denmark woke me up at midnight reminding me about it. I would’ve forgotten if not for that.”

 Silence on the other end.

 “...Ice?”

 He hears squawks, the beating of wings and Iceland shouting. “For heaven’s sake, Mr. Puffin, get off! No, that’s mine! Get — argh!”

 On the other side, something drops to the ground with a thump and Iceland starts talking again. “Sorry, Norway. Mr. Puffin was trying to eat my bag. Oh, and by the way, I’m flying over this afternoon to join the parade.”

 “Really?” Norway’s mouth twitches with the threat of a smile. “Thank you, Ice. I’ll get you some liquorice when you arrive. Until then?”

 “Yeah. See you.”

 Iceland hangs up, and Norway turns back to his cue cards, humming a tune.

…

 He watches the childrens’ parade from his bedroom window, laughing softly at the kindergarteners and elementary schoolers flooding the streets of Oslo with their loud rendition of his anthem. Middle schoolers lead the way, some waving their school’s banner and others waving his flag.

 One cluster of students is the loudest, jumping up and down and cheering. The oldest of the group seem to be barely twelve, dressed in red and blue and white and shouting in joy. Squinting at them tells Norway that the two young boys look rather familiar — one with bright blue eyes and golden hair, the other one a green-eyed redhead.

 Sealand and Ladonia?

 As though on cue, his phone rings again. He picks it up. It’s Finland.

 “Hei, Nor! Happy national day! We’re walking through Oslo right now, almost at your house! How are things?”

 “I think the kids snuck into the childrens’ parade.”

 “What?”

 “I think I saw Sealand and Ladonia with a group of students in the childrens’ parade.”

  Finland’s voice goes muffled for a while as he yells for his husband. “Ber?” Norway hears. “Ber, where are Peter and Niklas? Wait, they’re not with you? Oh, sh—” His voice grows loud again. “Sorry, Nor, I need to go. We’ll be at your house by lunch!”

 The family shows up at eleven o’clock, as Norway is stirring a pot of brun lapskaus on his stove. Sealand and Ladonia are still dressed in their parade clothes, walking into the dining room with shameless grins and holding little Norwegian flags. “Happy birthday!” They chorus, rushing towards Norway and tackling him in a hug.

 Sweden pries the boys off when they appear to be crushing Norway, handing him a small box. “Happy birthday.”

 The box reveals a battered bronze locket, engraved with filigree. Inside is a drawing of him, Denmark and Iceland, all of them a good few centuries older. It’s drawn in ink, on yellowing parchment that’s fraying around the edges.

 “Found it in the attic,” Sweden says. “You left it here long ago.”

 “Thank you, Sweden. I don’t even remember having this, but it’s nice to get it back.” Norway fastens the locket’s chain around his neck and feels the cold metal rest against his heart.

 Ladonia and Sealand each hand him a card, written in messy words with brightly-coloured drawings and Gratulerer med dagen scrawled sloppily on top. The childish gifts remind Norway of Iceland.

 A cloud of steam rising from the pot brings Norway back to his lapskaus, and he turns the stove off. Bringing out bowls from his cupboard, he turns to his guests with a rare smile.

 “Let’s have lunch.”

…

 His doorbell rings halfway through lunch and Iceland is standing in the doorway, bag in one hand and puffin in the other. Norway starts smiling again, and he gets up to hug his younger brother.

 For once, Iceland doesn’t protest and hugs him back, mumbling “happy birthday” under his breath. He pushes a wrinkled package into Norway’s arms with a smile he tries to hide.

 Norway tears the package open and finds a leather-bound book, the pages coming close to falling apart and turning ivory with age. Opening it curiously, his eyes scan over the ink-blotched words and starts to read.

 The stars are bright. The moon is in the sky. Norway showed me the pictures in the sky. They are made of stars.

~

 Today, Denmark fell off a horse. His arm was broken, like glass. Norway fixed his arm. He called him an idiot. What is an idiot?

~

 Denmark and Sweden were fighting today. I heard glass break, and Finland was shouting. It was very loud. Norway stayed with me. He said things will be fine.

 It takes a few moments before Norway realises that it’s a diary — Iceland’s diary, to be exact, one he’s been writing since he was barely even a nation. On and on these entries go, and Norway reads on wistfully as the writing and subjects both grow more mature.

 Sweden and Denmark fought again, like they did so many times before. Norway told me to stay in my room the entire time, but I could hear them. Denmark lost, and I heard him yelling, begging Sweden not to do something. I thought it’d be like the wars the two of them fought before, but apparently not. Denmark came into my room at night, and he said Norway wouldn’t be coming home.

 He didn’t say it, but I think Sweden took Norway with him when he won.

~

 I couldn’t sleep last night. I guess I’m used to Norway and Denmark reading bedtime stories before I go to bed. Denmark didn’t read me any bedtime stories. I heard him crying in his room, when he thought I was asleep. I wanted to go over and tell him it was all okay, but his door was locked.

 He shouted at me when I tried to talk to him, then locked himself in his room. Denmark refused to eat, too, and I can’t get my food down. I’m too used to the three of us sitting at the dining table, talking and laughing. I’m too used to Norway being around.

 I miss him.

 Norway doesn’t realise he’s getting misty-eyed until Iceland hands him a tissue paper, looking slightly sheepish. “So… do you like it?”

 He crushes Iceland in another hug.

…

 The sun is just starting to set when Norway takes his place on the podium at the end of borgertog, cue cards in hand. He clears his throat, looks at the crowd waving flags, and begins to speak.

 The words flow from his mouth almost effortlessly, draft completely forgotten. He talks about the days he conquered and slaughtered with Sweden and Denmark, the years when all of northern Europe was under Denmark’s rule, the times when he and Denmark were in a union. His mind keeps drifting back to him, the nation he’s been with as long as he can remember.

 And to think he couldn’t make it here today…

 Norway’s speech is drawing to a close when he sees a figure make their way towards the front of the crowd, where Sweden, Finland, Iceland and the micronations are standing. Said figure is in a red shirt with a blue-and-white tie, practically bouncing on their feet and with a bright smile Norway knows all too well.

 When he bows and starts to walk away from the podium, Denmark’s cheers rise above everyone else’s.

…

 Denmark takes it upon himself to make dinner, somehow whipping up a batch of sosekjøtt in less than two hours. The five Nordics finish dinner in next to no time, clinking glasses and laughing, waxing nostalgia about the old times. But Norway notices that nobody talks about Kalmar, and certainly not about the treaty in 1814.

 They don’t have cake, instead choosing to share stories. Sweden indulges his sons with stories of their Viking shenanigans, snapping Norway’s spellbooks shut when he tries to show them his magic. Denmark, out of nowhere, bring out his beloved axe, convincing Norway to fish out his ancient mace from a thousand years ago. Denmark shows drawings of his Protest Pig, Norway drawings of his troll. Slowly, gradually, everyone else seems to fade away.

 Sweden and Finland whisk the children away when it’s almost midnight, leaving the house with cheery farewells. Denmark jumps from his seat at that with a grin, hopefully reaching for Norway’s hand. The latter glances at Iceland for a moment, and he stares back. “What? Go spend some alone time with Denmark. The worst that could happen to me out here is if I see your bills and faint out of shock.”

 Norway takes Denmark’s hand and leads him upstairs.

 The two of them shut the door to Norway’s bedroom and sit, side by side, on his bed. Denmark speaks first, his normally loud voice now soft and gentle. “Happy birthday, Norge.”

 Shyly, Norway inches closer until there is no space between him and Denmark. He rests his head on the taller’s shoulder, eyelids drooping in exhaustion. “It’s been two hundred and two years,” he murmurs.

 “Hmm?”

 “Two hundred and two years, since my Constitution was signed.” His eyes close in contentment when Denmark wraps one arm around his waist. “It feels like such a long time ago.”

 “Time really does fly, doesn’t it?” Denmark laughs. “It seems like ages ago when I called you at midnight.”

 “Oh, that. Well, I’m tired again.”

 “Don’t go to sleep yet. I haven’t given you my present yet.”

 Norway straightens up a little, staring into Denmark’s bright blue eyes. “Oh?”

 Before he realises what’s happening, gentle fingers curl under his chin and lift his face up, and Denmark seals their lips in a kiss.

 “I love you,” he whispers against Norway’s lips.

 “I love you too,” Norway whispers back.

A/N: The ending is stupid and cliche, but I’m currently really tired and I need some cheesy Dennor fluff to keep me awake so there you go.

[every-hetalia-at-once]

Anon, I like the way you think. I’m a sucker for angst in all forms! Anyway, hope you like my mess of words! I’m so sorry.

Enjoy!

~Mod Quince

---

“You can’t die. Please don’t die.”

A heave of coughing escaped Norway’s, his lips stained with his blood. No, Norway couldn’t die. He couldn’t leave Denmark. They had always stuck together, fought side-by-side, been through so much. They swore that they were going to stay alive, yet here they were. Norway in Denmark’s strong and warm arms, just about to die and leave Denmark alone for what might be forever.

“Why did you take all those hits? Why did you let yourself get hurt?”, Denmark sobbed, tears welling up in those bright sky-blue eyes of his. “Why did you let yourself suffer?”. 

“I let myself suffer for you.”, Norway murmured softly, a small smile forming on his face. “You know very well how much I care about you and the others, Denmark.”. The bleeding Nordic stretched out a hand, reaching for Denmark’s face. Denmark let Norway’s fingertips brush his cheek, clasping Norway’s hand in his, pressing it as close as he could. That could be the last time Norway will ever touch him.

This couldn’t be happening. Nations don’t die. Do they? Denmark had never heard of such a thing. All he knew was that nations often disappeared or still remained alive, even if they weren’t actual countries anymore. Would Norway maybe end up the same? Denmark sure hoped so, otherwise, he would be damaged forever.

“Mathias.”, Norway rasped out, his voice croaking and hoarse, not deep and soft like Denmark loved it to be. Denmark hadn’t heard Norway refer to him by his true name for ages. For some reason, it always filled Denmark to the brim with warmth and joy. Most times, Norway would simply refer to Denmark as Denmark, but when they were alone together, Norway always called him “Mathias”. Denmark couldn’t help but smile. Ah... he loved it when Norway said his name. It sounded beautiful when it came from Norway. It was obvious he wasn’t going to let go of this easily. “Mathias.”, Norway croaked again, more stern this time. “Lukas...”, Denmark murmured softly, his tears rolling down his cheeks and onto the cold, hard ground beneath them. “Promise me something.”, Norway whispered. “Anything.”, Denmark whimpered again, his voice breaking. Norway was losing his voice. He was going to leave him forever, and that very soon. Norway looked up at Denmark with those brilliant violet eyes, now more dull and clear. His eyes were so beautiful. They had implanted themselves into Denmark’s mind so that he could never forget them no matter how hard he tried. 

“Promise me that you’ll take care of Iceland for me.”

Of course. Iceland was Norway’s younger brother; they were related by blood. Norway was the one who made sure Iceland was safe and sound. He cared about him and put up with him for all this time. He loved Iceland. Norway was asking Denmark to take care of the person he loved the most. Denmark would still have a sense of Norway’s presence in Iceland. “I promise I will.”, Denmark sobbed, wrapping his arms around Norway’s limp body and embracing him one last time. 

“Hey, Lukas? Promise me something?”

“Of course.”

“Promise me that you won’t leave me.”

At that, Norway let out a small huff of laughter. It was weak, but it was filled with mirth. “I will always be with you. Maybe I won’t be with you in-person, but I will stay with you in-spirit. I promise I won’t leave you.”, Norway sighed contentedly, pressing himself closer to Denmark and his warmth. “How can I leave you when I love you?”. Denmark’s cheeks flushed a bright-pink, his eyes brightening a bit. “I love you too.”, Denmark chirped softly, placing a kiss on Norway’s forehead. “I’ll miss you.”, Denmark murmured.

And with that, Norway’s body went cold, his eyes closed with a soft smile.

He was gone.

---

Okay, that could’ve honestly been better, but I tried. 

Anyway, in the beginning, I imagined that Norway dies in a battle of some sort while fighting with the Nordics against someone (I don’t know. Use your imagination.) And Norway got wounded pretty bad, and yea.

Well, at least I finished it!

Hope you enjoyed it, Anon!

~Mod Quince

[brokskar]

after when it rains, it pours is completed, which one of my wips should i direct my attention to next?

1. filmmaking dennor: classic enemies to lovers, working through creative differences, learning to look at things through different perspectives

2. middle-aged dennor (oneshot): rekindling an old friendship, catching up, rediscovering love

3. i don’t know what to call this dennor: confident, tattooed, bar gig-playing lukas and enamored mathias, young love in the summer, learning to accept loss and move on (but not in the way you’re thinking). my oldest wip; hit writer’s block hard in early august but would love to finish

i want to publish all of these at some point, but i’m curious as to what my audience is most intrigued by! reblog or comment to let me know!! or send me asks about any of them! thanks love you!

[bookworm555]

Fanfic Masterlist (Part 2)

A continuation of this post! (See that original post for notes on what I usually write, little character info bits/how I portray certain characters, etc.)

*Note: if a country is named in the summary, I will put the little dots/spaces in the name, so that it won’t show up in the countries’ tags. Obviously they are not written like this on Ao3, XD

The Broken Chain Rating: M (*Note: Like the original fic, this one will also be very dark.) Ships: IceLat, SuFin, DenEst, AmeLiet, Velvet Pair (C.zech.ia x S.lo.vakia) (other ships will be a surprise) Summary:  -Sequel to 'The Weakest Link'- One year after L.at.via, E.st.onia, I.ce.land, and S.ea.land were rescued from the research facility--and its sadistic scientists--that repeatedly broke their bodies and minds, all four Nations are coping with their trauma, in both good and bad ways. I.ce.land and S.ea.land lash out at others, while E.st.onia and L.at.via lash out at themselves. Everyone tries to at least attempt to return their lives to some sort of normalcy. But it just isn't meant to be...Another group of scientists finds the notes left by Joseph Fletcher and his subordinates, and decides that they just weren't adequate. So they decide to try again...but this time with five new victims... You might like this: if you like darkfics, sequels, fics dealing with scientific experimentation, characters discussing their trauma, angst, hurt/comfort, etc. *Note: this fic is ongoing! (And it is my newest fic, as of this post!)

Things You Said When You Were Crying Rating: T Ships: None  Summary:  E.sto.nia notices that L.at.via is injured, and learns something disturbing. But what worries him more is the way his friend downplays his own pain. -S.oviet Era- -Ficlet- (Originally posted on Tumblr in 2015) You might like this: if you like hurt/comfort, angst, and a close platonic bond between Eduard and Raivis. 

A Light in the Darkness Rating: T Ships: IceLat Summary: I.ce.land accidentally discovers one of L.at.via's triggers. Meanwhile, L.at.via thinks he's not good enough to be Iceland's partner. -IceLat- -Set in modern day- You might like this: if you like IceLat, angst, Ice and Raivis being awkward with romance, and Raivis discussing some of his trauma. 

Hetalia Ficlet Collection Rating: T Ships: EstIce, LatLiech, IceLat, AmeLiet, SuFin, FinEst, LietPol (Also platonic S.pai.n and Romano, but that chapter isn’t supposed to be shippy. In fact, it implies that Romano has a crush on P.r.ussia, if anything.)  Summary:  Just what it says on the tin. A collection of short ficlets and drabbles that were originally posted on Tumblr over the years. Pairings will very. Mostly B.altics- and N.ordics-centric, though other ships might appear. You might like this: if you like various pairings (mostly rarepairs), light angst, and short chapters.  *Note: each chapter is a oneshot.

The Number Three Rating: T Ships: established SuFin, PruHun, and DenNor, past LietPol, eventual LietLiech Summary: When a young boy is murdered, Vash and the rest of his crime scene investigation team have to untangle a web of violence and deceit in order to find the killer. -Human names used; Human AU- Warning: multiple character deaths You might like this: if you like human AUs, murder mysteries, dark themes, angst, and character death (though it has a happy ending).  *Note: This is actually my first Hetalia fic. It was written in the summer of 2011. After making some small edits (though the epilogue was expanded on, so the later part of that last chapter is all new content!), I figured I’d post it on Ao3.

[vasel-inesocks-blog]

Norway’s Curl

Dedicated to @francis-the-fuckface

It was one of those days. A day where time felt like it was moving five times slower than it usually did. Why was that, exactly? Well, there’s a simple answer: today was the day of the World Meeting. It was boring and the same as always, nothing getting done or resolved. Everyone who wasn’t involved in a fight or wasn’t speaking was bored to death. On the table that seemed unreasonably far away from the actual business sat the small community of Nordics. Had everyone been allowed to pick their own seats, they probably would be scattered off in pairs, far from each other- Sweden and Finland closer to Estonia, Iceland and his small puffin trying to sit near friends (or more specifically, one Asian teenager), Norway trying to follow his younger brother with Denmark close behind. And yet here they were, all rather bored and wondering what the point of coming even was.

Denmark leaned over on the table, chin resting on his arms. Being the eccentric and bubbly ball of energy he was, it was difficult to sit still and pay attention to no one in particular for so long. His leg bounced up and down under the table as he simultaneously drummed his hand on the table. He would rather die than be stuck in this meeting, a common thought that came to nearly everyone's’ mind. With nothing to do, he scanned the room for entertainment, his eyes finally landing on the slouching personification next to him.

Iceland wasn’t paying attention to the meeting at all. Instead, he was texting under the table. Discretely, Denmark looked down to see the conversation. He assumed it was the specific Asian teenager from the contact name, “Rice for Brains” and from the conversation. It was the two ironically sending graphic pictures of hentai with captions like, “uhhh uhh uh I’m so hard right now,” or “fuck yeah I’m so turned on.” He made a mental note to ask Iceland if he was gay later.

After getting bored of the strange texting conversation, he looked around the large room again for some source of fun; his line of sight eventually drifting down to the other nation next to him- Norway. He thought about poking him, but didn’t feel like receiving a kick from under the table. Instead, he stared at it. The curl. That goddamn curl. The weird little hair that floated next to his head. He had always wanted to touch it, why may you ask? Well, for a simple reason: Norway always threatened to set the entirety of Scandinavia ablaze if any of the other four ever even slightly touched it. With a threat like that, how could you not be tempted?

He noticed that Norway was almost falling asleep as he rested his cheek on his palm. Nobody could blame him. Denmark slowly reached his hand out, gaining the attention from Iceland. The teenager tilted his head in confusion, but didn’t stop him. He was curious too. As carefully as he could, Denmark gently wrapped his hand around it. Norway was suddenly wide awake but didn’t have enough time to punch him before Denmark yanked on the hair.

The next few moments felt like an eternity in a total of about five seconds. As Norway’s face got tinted a pink, it flew out of his mouth before he could hold it back. Everybody shut up, turning around to see what happened. After all, a moan loud enough to shut everyone up was quite an attention-snatcher. Poor Norway turned from pink to a scarlet red as he shot up from the table and stormed out as quickly as possible, Iceland crying from silent laughter. Now that he was gone, everyone’s gaze turned to Denmark, who still had his hand in the grabbing position it was in before Norway had left. He wasn’t very embarrassed though, in fact, he was quite proud. After all, he had been the one to discover Norway’s erogenous zone.

[basedkiku]

Hetalia’s Back! So I’m posting links to all of my fics~

Hi everyone! My pen name is mikkimikka and I love Kiku/Japan~ Here's a list of the fics I've written over the years~

HEED THE RATINGS!

[incomplete] Title: You, Me and Horse Rating: T Pairings: USUK, Rochu Summary: Fresh out of high school Alfred goes to work on his grandmother's horse farm. He didn't realize that it's also been converted into an all-male dormitory! FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/11449703/1/You-Me-and-Horse… AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5826088/chapters/13427053

[oneshot] Title: Our Nation's Youth Rating: G Characters: Latvia, Estonia Summary: Latvia was told by his boss to go undercover as a student in their school system. There is rumored to be a ghost in the school so he naturally investigates. FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/12628936/1/Our-Nation-s-Youth… Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11910996

[oneshot compilation] Title: The Beautiful Me Rating: EXPLICIT Pairings: Prussia x Spain, Romano, France, Russia etc... Summary: Oneshot series of Prussia under the effect of a spell that gave him a female body. Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6806794/chapters/15542674

[multi chapter, complete] Title: Simplicity Rating: T Pairings: DenPru past RusPrus, DenNor Summary: For reasons unknown to Denmark, Prussia suggests that the two of them date. It seems simple enough. FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/11435112/1/Simplicity… Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5898904/chapters/13598590

[chat fic] Title: A Simple Chat Log Pairings: DenPru, SuFin, EstNor, AmeIce Summary: chat fic companion to "Simplicity" Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9635522/chapters/21767228

[multi chapter, complete] Title: The Fault Rating: T Pairing: Japan x Taiwan Summary: After a massive earthquake hits Central Japan, Honda Kiku is compelled by a mysterious compulsion to check out the newly formed fault line. FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/12961048/1/The-Fault… Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14866332/chapters/34420773

[oneshot] Title: Blooming Rating: G Pairing: nyo!prupan Summary: Sakura drops her handkerchief while walking to school. Little did she know this was the beginning of a reluctant first love as she falls so fast for the mysterious beauty. FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/13080592/1/Blooming… Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16152461

[oneshot] Title: Teen Age. Rating: G Pairing: one sided America x Seychelles Summary: Poor Seychelles finds herself roped into a date she never actually wanted to be on. Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16585121 FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/13118043/1/Teen-Age

[oneshot] Title: Mentor Rating: G Summary: Drabble. America has a crush on Iceland and has a rather outlandish idea as to the best way to confess it. He goes to England for advice. AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16655527 FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/13123767/1/Mentor

[oneshot]  Title: City Pop Rating: T Pairing: AmeIce, EstKor Summary: A night on the town in Tokyo has Estonia thinking about his place as a teen nation in the 21st century. AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19119265 FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/13306599/1/City-Pop

[oneshot] Title: Something New Rating: G Summary: Austria's never felt particularly close to Kugelmugel. Austria decides to remedy the state of awkwardness and together they bake a cake. FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/13309015/1/Something-New… AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17778899

[oneshot] Title: Wager Rating: G Summary: AU. Yao Wang is upset to find out that he's been watering a fake ficus for four months and nobody in the office thought to tell him. FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/13342721/1/Wager… AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19891663

[oneshot] Title: Do Not Disturb Rating: Explicit/Mature Pairing: Japan x China Summary: Japan isn't the cute kid China used to know. FFnet: https://fanfiction.net/s/13562623/1/Do-Not-Disturb… AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23799973

[justtokeepscrolling]

All these broken pieces

Ao3 link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13374996

Summary: Leon is in love, but it’s his best friend, who is already in a relationship with someone else. Someone that does not treat him the way he deserves.

(Hongice with mention of dennor)

WARNING this fic contains domestic abuse that does NOT take place between the ships and isn’t talked about in great detail but it is there so if this is triggering for you please take caution.

Imagine meeting the boy of your dreams, He acts cold at first, but really he is a giant dork. His face is adorable, all of him is really. And he is just perfect, and everytime you see him you want to hug him and kiss him and confess your undying love to him.

But you can’t. Because he is your best friend, and what makes it even worse is that he’s in a relationship with a jealous asshole. Does that sound like hell? Because it is. My own personal hell. It might have be a little easier if he has a boyfriend that isn’t a giant dick.

“Hey Em what do you want to watch?”

Emil shrugs, “I don’t really care, you choose,”

“I’ve chosen what we watched for the past few hours, come on choose something too.”

“You do realise we’ll be watching puffin documentaries, right?”

I laugh, “like we’ve never done that before, and I made you sit through that ‘say yes to the dress’ marathon’.”

“Don’t complain half way through though,” Emil smiles softly.

“Never.” I zap the channel to a puffin documentary, just when we get into a comfortable silence again  Emil’s phone rings. He tenses up at the sound.

“You okay?”

“Fine… I just need to take this.” He answers the call.

I’ll give you one guess who it is.

“Hi winston…”

I can’t hear what his boyfriend says, just a faint voice.

“I told you I’d hang out with Leon today.”

He yells this time, but I still can’t make out what he’s saying.

“No, I’m not cheating on you.”

Because Emil is totally the type that would cheat. Jesus. This dude has like at least four people on the side on a regular basis. And I’m not even counting the the one night stands. SAdly I have no proof, and Emil swears Winston loves him.

“Okay… I’ll come home.”

The urge to punch Winston increases yet again.

“yes, I love you too…” He hangs up the phone.

I groan, “do you have to leave now?”

“Kinda……”

“That asshole is a control freak.”

“He just wants to spend time with me.”

“Funny how he never wants to do that whenever you’re having a bad day.”

“Leon stop.”

“Sorry, he just gets on my nerves. Do I need to take you home?”

“No I can manage.” Emil stands up, and I hate that he has to leave, why couldn’t I confess to him when I still had a chance? That dick doesn’t deserve him.

I also stand up, “I’ll walk you out.”

“Thank you.”

We both walk to the door of my apartment, he puts his coat on over his oversized sweater and zips it. “I’ll text you,” he moves to open the door.

“Don’t I get a goodbye hug?”

Emil hugs me softly and I hug him back. I wish we could stay like this forever, but I need to let him go.

“You know I’ll always be there for you right?”

He nods, “I know, I’ll see you later Leon.”

“Bye,” I wave after him as he walks out of the door.

I swear, that asshole did something to him, he’s more closed up then he used to be.

“Aren’t you hot in that? It’s like 30 degrees.” I ask Emil while I scoop frozen yoghurt into my mouth.

“It’s fine,” he says, but I can obviously see him tug at the collar of his sweater between licks from his ice cream cone.

“Is something wrong?”

Emil hesitates.

“No, why would it be?”

“You seem a little distant.”

“I just have a lot on my mind.”

Why won’t he talk to me? Aren’t we best friends? Does he not trust me anymore?”

“Like what?”

“Nothing important.”

Did I do something wrong?

“Oh… Okay”

I look around the park where we are currently on a bench eating our frozen treats. A group of guys close to us are loudly playing a game of football. Kicking and screaming, trying to get the ball in the goal.

Emil flinches slightly everytime they get a little too close or yell a little bit too loudly.

Seriously, what’s wrong, why can’t he tell me?

Emil finishes his ice cream cone and starts picking at his jeans, “can we go somewhere else?”

“Sure, where do you want to go?”

“Your place?”

“Alright,” I throw away my empty frozen yoghurt cup and stand up, “let’s go.”

We walk to the way my apartement, Emil sticks close to me, not touching me, but almost. Then I spot someone I do not want to see.

Winston.

I can’t get Emil away before he spots us, his face neutral but his eyes carry hate when they look at me. He walks to us. Emil’s face is unreadable.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Winston possessively wraps an around Emil’s waist and kisses his neck.

I feel sick.

“So what were you two doing?”

“Just getting ice cream…” Emil avoids both our eyes, leaning slightly away from Winston.

You couldn’t have gotten ice cream with me?” Winston says half jokingly but he must have tightened his grip on Emil’s waist because I can see my best friend flinch.

“Can’t a guy hang out with his best friend?” I ask Winston with a smile, he only glares back.

“I don’t see why he needs you when he has me.”

“Are your that insecure about your relationship that you get jealous of Emil spending time with me?”

Winston growls and tightens his grip on Emil’s waist so much that Emil squeaks.

Fuck.

“Please like he’d ever go for someone like you.”

Ouch, that hurts, I know Emil doesn’t like me that way, but does he need to rub it in?

“Winston…”

“What? Are you saying you would?” He looks at Emil coldly.”

“I… Um…”

Winston grabs Emil’s chin roughly and pulls him into a bruising kiss, “you belong to me,” he growls.

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.

“let’s just leave…” Emil starts pulling Winston away, he doesn’t even say goodbye.

“Are you wearing makeup?” I ask Emil when I really get a chance to look at his face while we wait for our orders in our favourite cafe. His face has uneven splotches of skin that look just a little darker than normal. He absentmindedly wipes at his cheek with his thumb.

“A little.”

“Why? I thought you didn’t like makeup, didn’t you tell me it was too much work and too expensive?”

“I decided to change it up a little.”

“You’re wearing the wrong shade of concealer, it’s too dark.”

“Oh.”

“Want to go to a store after thus so I can help you pick the right shade?”

“please.”

I study his face again, he looks a little different, fragile, or maybe that is just because I haven’t seen him for the last two weeks. Anytime I invited him he’d decline. He said he was sick, but he wouldn’t let me visit.

“So did you do anything interesting lately?”

“Not really, you?”

“I went to some parties, they were cool, but they would have been more fun with you.”

“I hate parties.” “I know you do, but the times you do go with me are always more fun.”

“This is more fun.” I smile at Emil, “It is, I get to spend one on one time with you.”

He blushes slightly, and if I wasn’t in love already I would fall for him right there.

“We should have a sleep over sometime.”

He fidgets with his sleeve, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Winston is kinda going through a though time right now, he doesn’t want me away too long.”

Is this guy even going to steal him away as my friend? Is he that selfish? How much does he want to take?

The waitress walks to our table and sets down our drinks with a smile, she winks at me and slides me a napkin with hera number on it, it must be hers, she walks away again.

“I think she likes you,” Emil stirs his coffee.

“Looks like it, I’m not really looking for anything right now tough.”

“Not even a one night stand?” he teases.

How can I possibly do that when I’m too hung up on you.

“Do I really act like the type?”

He shrugs, “you used to have them a lot.” Ah yes, my one night stand fase, back when I thought sleeping with as many people as possible would help me get over my crush. Only to realise after regretful mornings and always having Emil’s face in the back of my head, something that made me feel very guilty, that it wasn’t a crush, it was love.

And it still is.

“I’m kind of over that, it’s a little annoying to wake up and not know where your pants are.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

No, instead you are dating an ass that doesn’t treat you right.

“Be happy you don’t, it’s not much fun.”

We change the subject and finish our drinks.

Emil hasn’t contacted me in a month. He doesn’t answer my texts or pick up his phone. I haven’t seen his face for so long and I’m worried out of my mind.

I even went by his place a couple times, no one answered no matter how many times I rang the bell or knocked. The curtains were closed everytime and I don’t have a spare key.

My phone rings, and to my utter surprise the caller ID says it’s Lukas, Emil’s brother.

Why would he call me?

“Hello, this is Leon.” “Hi Leon, I’m sorry for calling you, but have you heard anything from Emil lately?”

My heart sinks, “no, I haven’t, you?”

“Not a word.”

“I’m worried.” I can hear Lukas sigh through the phone, “me too, is there anything we can do?”

“He won’t even answer the door,” I bite my lip.

“Call me when you know anything.”

“I will, please do the same.” “I promise,” Lukas ends the call.

What the hell is going on? Emil what happened to you?

I have a hangover, I thought clubbing would take my mind off of Emil, but this headache is not worth it. At least I didn’t need to look for my pants when I woke up, I don’t know how but somehow I got home last night.

I take an advil for my headache and open my fridge in search of something to eat.

Just my luck to only have a half full bottle of soda and a sandwich that has probably been there for the last couple weeks. Time to go grocery shopping I guess.

I look in the mirror and after fixing my hair a little I deem my appearance acceptable to go outside. With wallet and keys in my coat pocket I open the door. In my hungover state I almost don’t see the person sleeping against the wall across from my door, but I do.

Because how could I ever mis Emil?

He’s sound asleep, his bangs falling partly over his eyes, the right one is bruised. He looks so small and broken.

I crouch in front of him and softly pike his shoulder, trying not to scare or hurt him. But despite my care he still snaps his eyes open, fear clearly evident in them. Once he realises its me the fear disappears mostly, but I can still see tenseness in his shoulders.

“Hey Leon…”

I pull Emil into a tight hug, but pull back immediately when I hear him hiss in pain.”

“I missed  you.” I want to ask him so many questions, but he probably won’t want to answer them right now, they can wait.

“I missed you too.”

“Do you want to come inside? I don’t really have much to eat but I can make you coffee.” “Coffee sounds amazing right now,” he stands up, his legs tremble a little.

I pick up the suitcase sitting next to him and take it inside, “just make yourself comfortable on the couch, if you need anything you probably know where it is.”

“Thank you,” Emil sits down on the couch, he fumbles with his sweater sleeve.

I want to strangle Winston, no one else could have done this to Emil, but I need to be there for him, right now he needs a friend, not someone punching that asshole.

I turn on the kettle and set down two mugs, instant coffee in one, a teabag in the other. once the water finished boiling I pour it into the mugs, and take them to the couch, where I sit next to Emil.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He tugs his knees to his chest, curling into a little ball, “I guess.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I think I kind of owe you an explanation.”

“You don’t, but if you want to talk then I’m here for you.”

“Thank you,” Emil brings his cup to his mouth to take a sip of coffee, it’s still too warm and he burns his tongue.

“Hot,” he quickly takes the drink away from his mouth.

“Careful, you’re so impatient.”

“I’m thirsty.”

“Do you want some water? Or something cold for your eye? I might have some frozen peas in the freezer.”

“painkillers?” “Yeah sure,” I stand up and get Emil an advil and a glass of water. He thanks me and eagerly gulps down the water after taking the tablet.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I treated you horribly, yet you’re still helping me.”

“You never treated me horribly.”

“I didn’t talk to you in over a month.”

“I think you had your reasons.”

“Kinda…”

“Do you want to talk about those reasons?”

Emil takes a deep breath.

“Winston is abusive.” “I thought so…”

“I tried to leave him, but every time…”

“It would get worse?”

He nods, I can see tears starting to form in his eyes.

“Do you want a hug?”

He nods again and leans into my chest, I carefully drape my arms over him and rub his back. The tears start flowing and he sobs.

“Ssh, it’s okay Em, I’m not going to let him hurt you again, you’re safe.”

He cries for a long time, I just hold him close, helpless. Forced to watch someone so dear to me broken apart. Emil never deserved this.

“He said he loved me,” Emil cries out between the sobs.

“If he truly loved you he wouldn’t have hurt you this way, that’s not love.”

“I know, but then why does it hurt so much?”

“I wish I knew Emil, I wish I knew.”

We sit in silence for a while, then I remember Lukas must still be worried out of his mind.

“Did you contact your brother yet?”

Emil shakes his head, “Winston took my phone.”

I hand him my phone opened on Lukas’s contact information, “use mine.” He thanks me and presses call. I can  faintly hear a couple beeps before Lukas answers the call.

“Leon? Have you heard anything from Emil?” He sounds so tired and heartbroken.

“Hi brother…”

“Emil?! Oh my god I’m so happy to hear your voice! Where the hell have you been?”

“I don’t really want to talk about that now…” “Where are you right now? Are you safe?” “I’m at Leon’s place.”

“Do I need to pick you up?”

Emil bites his lip.

“You can stay as long as you like,” I tell him.

He covers the speaker on the phone, “are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden.”

I sigh, “Emil, you’ll never be a burden to me, do you want to stay?”

“I don’t want my brother to see me like this, but I don’t want to be alone…”

“Then stay.”

He nods and places the phone back to his ear, “no, I’m staying here.”

“…Okay, call me if you need me, I’ll come by sometime soon.”

“I will.”

“I love you Emil.” “I love you too Lukas.”

Emil ends the call and places the phone on the table.

“Are you okay?”

“As okay as I can be.”

“Sorry, stupid question.” “It’s fine, shows that you care.” I was going to reply but Emil’s stomach cuts me off with a loud growl.

“Hungry?”

Then my stomach growls loudly too.

“Looks like you’re hungry too.”

“Want me to get some groceries?”

“Can we go together?”

“Of course we can.”

“Just let me put some stuff on this first,” he motions to his eye. Emil gets off the couch and takes a tube of very pale concealer out of his bag, in front of the mirror he applies it using his fingers so that the bruise is mostly hidden.

Would he still need to do that if I had noticed and done something? Maybe if I had confessed we’d be preparing for a date now. Or maybe I would have lost him entirely, maybe if I had he wouldn’t be here now.

I need to stop thinking in these maybes. What’s important is that he’s here now. Out of Winston’s clutches, away from harm.

Emil turns to me, “is it still noticeable?”

“You look great, don’t worry.”

He scoffs, “great?”

“Okay not great, but have you seen my hair? No one will like at you when I have this embarrassment on my head.”

Emil smiles softly, a sight I have missed so much, “don’t be such a drama queen.”

“Are you sure you’ll let me sleep in your bed? I can take the couch instead.”

“Don’t be silly, take the bed.”

“If you keep on being this nice to me I might stay forever.”

“Be my guest, I’d love to have you here for forever.”

“I might consider it then.”

I smile at him, “you should, good night Emil.” I try to get comfy under the thin blanket on the couch.

“Good night…” I watch Emil walk into my bedroom, his puffin pajamas a couple sizes too big on him, he claims it’s comfortable.

I still can’t believe he’s back. I hope it’s not a dream, that would be the cruelest dream ever.

After a couple minutes I can hear the soft patter of feet, when I open my eyes I can see Emil’s face peeking out of my bedroom.

“I, um, don’t really want to be alone.”

“Do you want me to stay with you until we fall asleep?”

“Can we just sleep together? It’s not like we haven’t done it before and it would make me feel more comfortable.”

I smile softly, “of course we can.”

I get out from under the covers and walk the short distance to the doorway, Emil sends me a smile. We both get under the covers of my bed, he shifts closer to me and I lightly hug him to my chest. His head is laying on my shoulder so that I can feel his breathing.” “comfortable?”

Emil nods, tracing circles on my chest with his index finger. “I hated not being able to see you.”

“Probably not as much as I did.”

“I doubt it,”his face turns a little sad again.

I hug him a little bit tighter, “let’s just say we hated it the same amount.”

“Deal.” Emil closes his eyes and lets out a satisfied sigh, “I haven’t felt like this in months.”

“Like what?”

“Save, warm, happy.”

“I can’t tell if that’s sweet or sad.”

“Both?”

“Both,” I agree, and we both drift off to sleep.

We sit at the table eating cereal, it’s 1 pm. Emil had slept long, a lot longer then I had. I hadn’t wanted to wake him by moving, so I had just observed him as he slept in my arms. The bruises clear as day where his shirt rode up on his pale skin. I felt sick.

This isn’t the same Emil I once knew, not entirely, he doesn’t tease me as much, he has a wall up, but it’s not his usual coldness, this wall is crumbling with every breath he takes. His once unblemished skin is scattered with bruises and cuts and scars, some old, some newer.

He also hasn’t changed a bit, his manners are still the same, that secret soft smile I missed so much.

He’s different but the same, And I still love everything about him.

I must have been staring because Emil looks at me funnily.

“Is something wrong? You’re kind of spacing out.”

“I’m just happy to have you back.”

Emil tries to hide his blush by drinking from his coffee, but I can see that the tips of his ears are red, “I’m happy to be back.”

“Good, is there anything you want to do today?”

“Stay inside and watch shitty movies?”

“Heck yeah, I’ll order pizza for dinner.” He smiles that perfect soft smile again, “sounds perfect.”

In the middle of our third movie someone knocks on my door, it must be the pizza. I pause the movie and grab my wallet before I open the door.

Bad news, it’s not the pizza guy.

Even worse news, it’s Winston.

Please Emil, be as sociable as you always are and stay on that couch.

“Hello Wiston, how ya doing?” I want to punch him, but he’s two heads taller than me, so that might not be the best idea.

“Where is Emil? That bitch must be here, he’s cheating on me with you.”

I grit my teeth, don’t punch him Leon, he’ll break your nose, and you promised you brother you would honour kung fu and only use it for self defence.

“I don’t know, I haven’t heard from him in a while.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me.”

“he’s not here, now go away before I call the police.” I slam the door in his face and look through the peephole to make sure he leaves, he must have given up because he does.

“Was that Winston?” Emil squeaks from his spot on the couch, he’s even paler than normal and shaking.

“Yeah, but he’s gone now,” I sit back down and hug Emil, “he won’t hurt you, I won’t let him.”

Emil takes a few shaky breaths but calms down.

“Can I ask why you didn’t press charges?” “That way it’d just be easier for him t find me, and once whatever thing that keeps him away no longer applies he’ll be back and very angry.”

“That makes sense.” “And people wouldn’t really believe me.”

“What?! Why wouldn’t they?”

Emil shrugs, “abuse victims often get blamed for what happened to them.” “But you’re literally covered in evidence.”

Emil self consciously tugs his shirt down a little more, “so you saw them…”

Crap I shouldn’t have said that.

“Your shirt rode up in your sleep, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to look.”

“I hate the way my body looks now, it’s all a constant reminder of choosing the wrong guy.”

“You can’t really choose who you fall in love with.”

“It wasn’t love, not really, we just pretended. At least I did.”

“Why did you pretend?”

Emil studies his nails, “maybe we both needed a substitute.” “For what?” “Unrequited love?”

“You’re in love with someone else?”

“Kinda.” “And you didn’t tell me who,” I pout, “I feel so betrayed.”

Why can’t it be me for once?

“It’s not that important.” “I think it is.”

Emil shrugs again.

“Wait but if you didn’t love him then why did you stay?”

“I kinda got sucked into the illusion, and I was scared.”

“Understandable.”

He hides his face in my chest, “Why is love so difficult?”

“Because life is difficult?”

Emil chuckles softly, “that’s such a stupid answer.”

“I know, but I don’t really have a better one.” “Well if you ever figure it out then you need to tell me.”

I chuckle and stroke his hair, “I will.”

This time when someone knocks on the door I look through the peephole before answering it, thankfully this time it actually is the pizza guy.

“Domestic abuse?” Lukas’s mouth is open in shock. Mathias, his boyfriend, is uncharacteristically quiet. Emil keeps his eyes fix on his lap, I squeeze his hand tighter in reassurance.

Lukas and Mathias came by to check up on Emil, neither was sure what had happened to him, but they’d support him no matter what.

Emil was a little hesitant at first to tell them, afraid of his older brother judging him. But after some coaxing and me holding his hand he told us all the entire story.

I won’t give you the details, trust me, you don’t want them.

My blood is boiling, how could that ass do this to Emil? I want to scream and break stuff and punch someone, but I need to stay calm for Emil.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Lukas asks. Emil shifts a little closer to me and shrugs.

“Do you know how worried we’ve been? We didn’t hear anything for a month!”

Mathias places his hand on Lukas his shoulder, “babe calm down.”

Lukas relaxes, “sorry…”

“I think what Lukas is trying to say is that we’re really happy you’re safe now, and we hope that next time you’ll talk to us before it escalates that much,” Mathias smiles brightly.

“I will.”

I squeeze Emil’s hand even tighter, “I won’t let it come to that.” He smiles at me and mouths ‘thank you’.

“Where does he live again? I’d like to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“Brother no.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll only make it worse, I just want him to leave me alone.”

Lukas groans, “fine, but if he ever tries anything I’m punching him.”

“When we first met you punched me because I got the last cup of coffee before the machine ran out.”

“It was 6am on a Monday, can you blame me?”

Mathias pouts, “I gave you the coffee afterwards.”

Emil giggles softly at his brother and Mathias their banter, I smile at him, because it’s still unbelievable he’s back.

“I still can’t believe you managed to drag me into this,” Emil grumpily crosses his arms, not all too happy that I managed to drag him into a club.

“We need to let loose a little! Clubs are fun.”

“Maybe for you, but I don’t like them. And we could have had fun watching that pingu marathon at home.”

“We’ve seen all episodes at least twenty times now.”

Emil groans and tugs at his shirt collar, “at least there’s alcohol here. You can’t see anything right?”

I had managed to get him into a tight shirt and skinny jeans, we had put some makeup on the fading bruises. I could have died when he got out of the bathroom and asked me how he looked. He looks so good.

“You look amazing, don’t worry, what about me?”

He smirks, “your hair looks stupid.”

I gasp dramatically, “it does not.”

“It does, even dorkier than normal.”

“Your hair is the dorkiest,” I take a shot to mourn my hair being called dorky.

“Do you want to dance?”

Emil scowls, “you know I can’t dance.”

“I’ll teach you!”

“No.”

“Well then do you mind if I go dancing?”

“Go ahead, just don’t hook up with some random dude or chick and leave me hanging.” “I promise, shout my name if you need me.” I walk to the middle of the dance floor and start dancing, sometimes people join me, sometimes they cheer me on. It’s fun, let’s me let loose. I missed this, being careless, but my mind is still on Emil, checking every couple minutes to make sure he’s okay sometimes he sees me watching him and sticks his tongue out, I stick mine back out at him.

“Hey,” a girl flirtatiously says to me as she twirls her hair, “are you here alone?” She places her hand on my shoulder.

“No, I’m here with my friend.” She smirks, “would he care if I stole you away?”

I can‘t answer because all of a sudden my hand is grabbed by Emil as he pulls me away from the girl.

“Sorry, he’s kinda busy with me right now, go find some horny dude to fuck.”

The girl storms off annoyed.

I laugh, “what was that all about?”

“I decided to dance.”

“Alright,” I wrap my arms around his waist and he snakes his arms around my neck, we sway out of beat to the music, more like a slow dance then a club dance. I don’t care though, and neither does Emil. The club lights give colour his face, he looks breathtaking. It takes all my self restraint to not kiss him until we are both out of breath. I can’t do that to him, he’s my best friend, he trusts me.

And he’s in love with someone else.

Man, that’s still a bitter thing.

“This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” “If you thought it would be bad then why did you decide to dance?”

“That girl was looking at you like you were a piece of meat.”

“Aww Em, were you jealous?”

Emil scowls, but I can just make out the tiny blush creeping onto his cheeks, “why would I be?”

“Because you don’t want your glorious best friend stolen away?”

“More like protect your stupid ass from her groping hands.”

“I have an amazing ass.”

We dance more, at one point a slower song comes on and our swaying starts to actually match the beat. I’m just marveling at the fact that I’m dancing with Emil when something happens I never expected.

Lips.

Emil’s lips.

Emil is kissing me.

My eyes are wide open, his are closed.

Before I can even try to kiss back he pulls away and opens his eyes again.

“I… Um… That was a mistake.” He runs out of the club.

My brain short cuts for a couple second and I touch my lips with my fingertips.

He kissed me?

I turn into a run, out of the club, through the streets, in the distance I can see Emil going into our apartment building and I start sprinting.

When I finally enter our appartement I’m just in time to hear Emil lock the bathroom door.

Why did he kiss me? And why did he run? Am I a substitute?

I swallow my fear and knock on the bathroom door, “Emil?”

“I’m sorry,” his voice is soft, trembling.

“Can you open the door please?”

He opens the door a tiny bit, I lean against the wall so I can look him in the eye.

“Can I ask why you kissed me?”

He avoids my gaze.

“Emil?”

“I’m sorry.” I sigh and drag my hand over my face, “Emil please answer the question instead of apologising.”

“Because I wanted to…”

“Am I a substitute?” I hate to ask this, but I have too. I know he’d never use me like that, but there’s still that fear in the back of my mind.

“No! Why would you think that?”

“Winston was.”

Emil closes his eyes, “I can’t really talk myself out of this without making myself look bad, huh,” he sighs, “I might as well tell you the truth.”

“What truth?”

“That I’m in love with you, and have been for a long time. I started dating Winston because I thought you’d never like me back, it was nice at first, but I once he started to realise I had more eyes for you than him he started to get abusive.”

Does that make it my fault?

“And then I got away, and you were the only one I could think of running too, and you let me stay here, cared for me. Meanwhile I keep hoping that something might happen between us, that you’ll care for me like I care for you.” He’s in love with me?

“I know it’s hopeless, and I kind of took advantage of you.”

With me? Emil? In love with me?

“I guess that girl made me jealous and I couldn’t help myself and stuff happened.”

He’s in love with me.

Tears start to roll of Emil’s cheeks, he looks me in the eye, “please say something.”

“You love me?”

He nods.

“Emil please get out of the bathroom.”

He opens the door fully and steps out.

“I’ll go get my stuff…” He tries to get past me to the bedroom but I pull him into a tight hug before he can.

“Leon?”

“I love you too.”

Emil clings onto my shirt, “you do?”

“I have for a very long time.”

We look at each other.

“So what are we now?” Emil asks.

“What do you want to be.”

“I don’t know…”

I kiss his forehead, “then take your time to figure it out, I’ll wait.”

“You will?”

“I’ve waited a very long time, and I pretty much gave up hope, I can wait as long as you want me to, because now I know that you love me like I love you.”

“You’re a dork.”

“I know, hopefully I can be your dork.”

“Aren’t you already?”

“Do you want me to be?”

“Yes.” “Then yes I am.”

[randomw07]

Ghost (Norbela, Dennor)

I was hoping to post a oneshot today, but it’s not quite finished yet, so have a Halloween drabble instead! 

Prompts: Life and Death, Haunted, Scream, Restless 

Word count: 109 words 

Here she lingers, between life and death. She cannot rest, bitterness and jealousy flowing through her faded form. Frustration tears a howl from her throat, a horrifying scream she prays they can hear.

Them. The child she once considered her own. The man she once called her lover. Once. When the world was brighter and her heart still beat.

Sudden laughter rains down in a shower of warmth that leaves her shivering. What is his name? Mads? 

She clenches a fist and drags her nails down the wallpaper. Eirik wants to forget her. She laughs, shrill and piercing. If she can’t move on, then why should he? 

[glitzywisps]

Lights in the Trees

Dennor week, day 1: Magic

Human au, implied historical au 

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19733899

Mathias usually wasn't one to heed folklore or listen to the warnings old legends told. He believed that it was all hogwash, meant to scare children into having manners and staying out of the woods. That is until he found himself lost in said woods, he had just wanted to take a shortcut from the city back home to his village and now he could no longer truly tell which way was left and which was right. Looking around and constantly second-guessing what those shadows truly were, each distant sound setting off an anxious beat in his chest. Even if it was a normal animal and not something supernatural, he was still just as afraid. It was moments like this that he wished he were home, eating his mother's stew and scaring his younger siblings with stories of trolls and ghosts, anywhere but where he was being chased by his own paranoia.

Speaking of ghosts, Mathias tensed as he saw a hazy blue and green glow deep within the dark and twisted branches around him. He had heard of Wil'O the Wisp before, and how they either lead to your destiny, or to your death. Two varying fates, he supposed, but there weren't many other options when you're lost in a pitch black forest. Mathias stumbled through the trees and undergrowth, trying hard to be quiet but he couldn't even see the moon, let alone his feet. All that he could see was the dark outlines of looming trees and movement in his peripheral vision. He would rather follow a wisp that gave off some form of light than continue wandering aimlessly through this dreadful and dark forest.

As he got closer, he noticed that these were definitely not wisps or ghosts. The colored light appeared to be more of a mist mixed in with clouds of glowing dust, shifting into different animals and such, moving through the air. Mathias followed as it swirled into a small bunny, hopping through the air.

"Oh wow..." He gasped, watching as other creatures appeared in a variety of colors, each moving in the same direction. Following their own trail of lights that almost resembled the Aurora Borealis. Mesmerized, he no longer worried about making any sound instead, just enjoying the lights and mist. He watched in awe as a tiny purple dragon flew around his finger as he held it out to the creature. Each animal had its own unique shape, but all were transparent, smoky and heading in the same direction. Before he realized it, he was stepping into a perfectly circular clearing, surprised to see someone sitting in the center. They were reading from a book, speaking in a soft but deep voice. The mist swirled around them, blowing their hair slightly. Mathias went to step towards the figure, but they must've heard him as they tensed and slammed the book shut.

"What are you doing here?" He stood and turned around, holding the book to his chest.

"I-I was lost, and I saw the lights-" 

"I don't care. You shouldn't be here."

"Are you a witch?" Mathias blurted.                                                                                                

“No, I’m just here playing with lights,” he responded sarcastically. Mathias chuckled a bit and nodded.

“Okay, Okay, I understand… Sorry for interrupting you, but could you at least help me get back to the village?” The other man sighed softly and nodded.

“But it will cost you,” the witch had already started walking to the edge of the clearing, tucking his book into his bag.

“How much?”

“You’ll find out. Now come on.” 

The Dane caught up with the other man, eyeing him curiously before he asked, “What’s your name? I’m Mathias!”

“You can call me Lukas…” Lukas glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. Mathias offered him a soft smile, nodding a bit. Relaxing, the witch slowed his pace and used the next question, “Why were you in the woods at night?”

“I just wanted to get home faster, I thought going this way would at least get me home before dark,” he rubbed the back of his neck, giving an awkward smile, “Must’ve taken a wrong turn. So what was that magic stuff you were doing?” 

“Light illusions. I haven’t been able to quite get regular ones right, so I’ve been practicing with light…”

“They were beautiful…” 

Lukas blushed softly and murmured a thank you, smiling the tiniest bit. An idea struck him and he turned to Mathias, opening his palm and whispering something. A bright and warm orb appeared, casting a purple light upon them as Lukas lifted the orb into the air. With a few more whispered words he flicked his wrist and the orb split into many more forming a long line ahead of them. Mathias watched in amazement, a small laugh leaving him.

“That’s so incredible!” Mathias laughed some more, reaching up to touch one. Blinking in surprise when his hand simply went through it.

“To light our path,” Lukas said with a shrug. They followed the orbs for what felt like a few hours, quietly talking with each other. Mathias was disappointed to see the normal lights of his village in the distance, having enjoyed his walk with Lukas and hearing the other explain confusing things like different magics and studies. The Dane shot Lukas a confused look when he had stopped walking.

“This is where I stop.” He pulled the hood of his cloak up, giving Mathias a nod.

“Will I get to see you again?”

“If you’d like…”

“And what’s my cost for you walking me home?” Mathias asked, slightly nervous for the answer. Lukas thought for a moment then crossed his arms, a sudden burst of subtle confidence filling him.

“A kiss.” 

Mathias flushed, “A kiss? Just that?”

Lukas nodded, his own cheeks dusting with color. Grinning, Mathias stepped closer to him and cupped his face with one hand, carefully drawing their lips closer. The witch was the one who finally pressed them together, kissing him softly. For Mathias, the kiss ended too soon and Lukas was stepping back.

“Meet me here tomorrow at sunset. Don’t be late,” Lukas told him, patting his chest before turning and walking back the way he came. Mathias could only nod quickly, watching him go, his chest feeling warm even as the purple lights disappeared...