The house was consumed in total darkness, as it was around twelve in the morning. Most of the cohabitants of the house were asleep, yet a certain blond-haired, violet-eyed, mysterious man was kept up due to some noises going on. No, it wasn't the soft pitter-patter of the rain going on outside the house. He could sleep through the rain, as there was no thunder or lightning to keep him up. It was the obnoxious Dane's snoring that kept him up. It was irritating beyond belief, especially since Norway and his brother had only moved in about a week ago. Norway shared a room with his little brother, yet the silver-white-haired boy was somehow sleeping through the obnoxiously loud snoring.
'Damn, Denmark is as loud asleep as he is awake. What a pity,' the annoyed Norwegian male thought before getting up and making his way silently down the stairs. Luckily, Sweden had been extra tired that night, so there was no worry of waking him up and facing him while angry. He was quite the grouchy riser, yet didn't get violent when arose early in the mornings or anything. Norway made his way gracefully to his study, preparing to read a book. It was the least he could do to keep him occupied, if he could even read through the extremely loud snoring. Was Denmark drunk or something?
He entered his study and silently closed the door, shaking his head as he grabbed a book from the bookshelf and sat at his book. He opened it and began to read, letting out a soft sigh as he did so. There was no way in hell that he'd be able to get used to the snoring. He was actually quite glad that his brother didn't sleep that loudly. It was a huge relief. Well, used to be. However, he could no longer say that, considering him and Iceland lived with someone who snored loudly. As he read, he heard a grunt from right behind him and glanced back slightly. He let out a soft chuckle when he saw the familiar giant troll behind him, just staring intently over his shoulder, apparently reading along.
"Svalbard. Are you enjoying the book, as well?" he just raised an eyebrow at the giant troll, whose gaze snapped from the book and rested on its companion.
"Ja, it is actually quite a nice read you have there. Couldn't sleep again?" the troll replied with its deep, husky voice. It wasn't too often that Svalbard came around to check on him, yet it was nice to receive visits from his loyal friend.
"Of course. What else do you expect when I'm surrounded by so much noise?" Norway set the book down, holding his hands just over his ears and shaking them, as if to say that the snoring hurt his ears.
"Well, you will need to get used to it at some point in your life, or you're going to die of sleep deprivation." Svalbard moved to hover next to Norway, crossing its arms slightly and giving a slight shrug of its large shoulders.
"I know that, but I'm not used to it now. At this point, I'm going to be late for work because I can't sleep."
"You need to try harder. Ignore it. Think of what your mother used to sing to you."
"I never had a mother, Svalbard."
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Then think of some lullaby that you really like, one that soothes you."
"That's actually a good idea." Norway nodded slightly, closing his violet eyes. "Besides, if Island has a nightmare again, then I'll need to be up there in order to comfort him, ja?"
"Exactly. Now go upstairs and try to go to sleep. You'll need it for work tomorrow."
The blond nodded, closed his book, put it away, and exited the room after turning off the light. Jeez, would this be how he fell asleep every night? He sighed and shook his head as he walked up the stairs, silently going into his room again, closing the door, and laying down. He stared at the ceiling for a long, long time before finally closing his eyes and thinking of a tune that really soothed him. Within minutes, he had practically blacked out.
By the time his eyes had flown open, it was already half an hour past the time he should be at work. Great, what the hell was that nightmare all about? Well, Norway didn't have any time to try to recall it. He needed to get ready right now! He stood up and ran to the bathroom, quickly taking a shower, combing his hair and brushing his teeth at the same time, then getting dressed. He pinned the left side of his hair back with his special cross hair pin and ran out of the bathroom, making his way downstairs. He was dressed in his usual: a belted, navy blue sailor top with a light blue collar, tie, and cuffs, with matching pants and a sailor hat. He put on his black work shoes and suitcase right before he ran out of the house. Damn it, he didn't even get to eat anything. Guess he would have to buy something cheap for lunch, then.
When he got to work, he went to his office and sat down, heaving a sigh. He knew that any moment, his boss would be in the office and asking him why he was late. 'I couldn't sleep last night' certainly wasn't going to cut it. Right after these thoughts crossed his mind, his boss walked in, looking like he was all that, as usual. Yet, he didn't seem angry with Norway.
"Lukas. You came in late. Why is that?" his boss asked, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, though it wasn't even touched. The man hadn't drunk from it.
"I woke up late. I apologize for the inconvenience, sir," came Norway's reply. He was able to be rude, blunt, snarky, and sarcastic at home, but at work was a completely different story. If he was as rude at work as he was at home, then he'd most likely be fired from his job. It was a good-paying job, too.
"Right. Well, you're one of my best workers, so I guess I could let it slide for now. However, you must keep in mind that this is the only time that I will be so lenient with you, Mr. Bondevik. Next time will not be so easy." He glanced at the coffee and then let out a soft chuckle. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. I brought you some coffee."
Norway raised an eyebrow slightly, confusion plastering all over his delicate facial features. "Coffee… for me? Why?"
"I just wanted to bring you a little treat. Plus, I know that you love coffee. Here." His boss held the cup out to him, smiling slightly.
"Ah.. Thank you." Norway took the coffee and gave a slight bow of his head to show his gratitude.
"Good. Now get to work, alright?" With that, his boss was gone, having left in such a graceful rush that it was barely noticed.
Norway gave a small nod and began to work, typing away at his computer.
When work was done, the violet eyed male let out a sigh of relief and left the work. Today was the day that he did not want to run into that "tough guy" who enjoyed giving him a hard time. The guy's name was Tim, and sure he was strong, he was fast enough to fight Norway efficiently. He always ended up getting his ass beaten into the ground, yet always came back for more. Yeah, Tim did always leave a few bruises or cuts on Norway, but they were nothing compared to the many gunshot wounds and stab wounds that the blond had received in battle. He rushed to get home, and he had gone quickly enough to arrive safely without being notice by Tim.
He unlocked and opened the front door, shouting out an "I'm home" loud enough for everyone to hear. With that, Denmark ran up to greet him, attempting to glomp him. This only resulted in Norway punching Denmark in the stomach extremely hard in the means of defending himself. He gave a quiet chuckle when Denmark fell to the ground, coughing and holding his stomach whilst whining about how much that hurt. Today was going to be his day away from the Dane. There was no way in hell that he was going to stick around with such loud company.
"I'm going upstairs," Norway said simply, taking his shoes off and placing them on the shoe rack before silently making his way up the stairs. It was only two hours until dinner time, yet Norway felt like he was going to pass out from extreme hunger.
He walked into his room and tossed his suit case onto the floor at the foot of his bed before flopping down on the soft, comfy mattress to think. He had a horrid headache, his stomach growled viciously, and he felt like falling asleep right there. Of course, he couldn't do such a thing. He had responsibilities and sleeping wasn't one of them. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by something falling loudly to the floor in the closet of his shared room. This, in turn, caused him to jolt upright and step off of his bed quietly, making his way to the closet. He paused by the slightly ajar door of the closet to think briefly before grabbing the doorknob and nearly ripping the door from its hinges. Well, no reason to be frightened. It was just his little brother having dropped a pair of shoes on accident.
"Island, what are you doing in here?" Norway asked, raising one eyebrow as his emotionless mask came back into play.
"I was just putting my unused shoes away after looking at them, Norway. Why were you so shocked? You knew that I was home," Iceland replied bluntly, his eyebrows raised slightly.
"I was shocked because I've had a rough day." Norway swore that his brother learned from him so much. It was amusing to see Iceland nearly mimicking his every facial expression and tone of voice.
"You had a long day how?"
"I was late to work, my boss questioned me, I haven't eaten all day, I walked home having to worry about Tim, and Denmark was the first one to greet me when I walked in."
"Yeah, that Dane is pretty annoying, isn't he?" Iceland already knew who Tim was, so there was no point in asking.
"Damn right he is. Actually, I think I want to work on the yard. You want to help?"
Iceland gave a small nod and they both put on their shoes and went outside with gardening gloves on. They had brought watering tools for watering the many flowers in the yard and even the trees and grass. The gardening gloves were for pulling weeds. After about an hour of doing work, Norway let out a groan and walked to the wall of the house, leaning heavily on it. Dear lord, he felt like he was going to pass out. This wasn't even an exaggeration anymore…
"Hey! Norway, are you okay?" Iceland asked, rushing to his brother's side.
"Ja, I'll be fine. I just need a bit of a break from working…" No, he wasn't going to be fine. His balance wavered slightly and he tilted to the side.
Within seconds, all he could see was a darkness ensuing him and he could hear shouting from around him. Shit, he really had passed out, hadn't he? Soon enough, he couldn't feel anything except for the emptiness all around him.
When Norway finally came to, he was in his bed with a cool, moist rag on his forehead. He'd been left alone again, possibly due to dinner. Crap! Dinner! The thought made his stomach growl loudly, yet his head practically screamed at him when he began to stand. He nearly vomited where he was standing. Was he sick? Was this from the lack of sleep? He stumbled to the bathroom and closed the door, managing to lock it, even in the haze of his mind. He was really not feeling well at all… He staggered over to the toilet and crouched over it, puking almost instantly when he was in front of the toilet. Once finished with the disgusting business of his, he stood up and began to brush his teeth.
When he was walking down the stairs, he had to pause to lean on the wall heavily. It was only just then that he realized that he was in his pajamas. Who the hell changed him while he was asleep? Oh well, not like it mattered anyway. At least he was changed, right? He staggered the rest of the way down the stairs, teetering when he reached the bottom. He was about to fall when strong hands grasped his shoulders.
"What are you doing up?" Denmark's voice asked.
Norway looked up at him, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. "What the hell do you mean, Danmark?"
"You're running a freaking fever, Norge! You should be upstairs resting! Why did you even wake up so fast, anyway?"
Despite the fact that the stupid Dane wasn't even yelling, Norway's head and ears screamed in protest, not wanting to hear Denmark's voice any longer.
"Stop yelling at me, jeez. I woke up because I woke up. Simple as that."
"No, you are not staying awake. Go back to sleep or I'm carrying you."
By now, the others had gathered around. Sweden had his usual glare on his face and Iceland and Finland had nearly identical looks of concern on their faces.
"I'm hungry." That was all that Norway could manage under the pressure of the stares from the others. By jeebus, he hated receiving stares from all of them at once. It just made things that much more intense.
"Y' cn't eat 'til yer better," Sweden spoke up, patting Norway's cheek lightly. Damn, Finland was right. Even with that glare and the totally stoic personality, Sweden was a pretty gentle person at heart. It seemed that he didn't even know that he was glaring when it happened. The glare didn't frighten the other Nordics as much as it did Finland, though. Weird.
When Norway didn't move, Denmark heaved a sigh and lifted him up bridal style. This caused his stomach to lurch again. He gasped in shock and slapped Denmark weakly.
"Put me down or I'm going to puke," Norway's threat was groggy, but it certainly wasn't meaningless.
"Well, you can't seem to walk well on your own, so why not carry you?" Denmark retorted, beginning to walk up the stairs.
"Don't carry me."
Despite my protests, Denmark just ignored them and continued walking up the stairs until he laid Norway down in his bed gently.
"I'm not a fucking princess, so don't treat me like one."
"I'm not treating you like a princess! You're sick, so it's only necessary to be gentle with you. You could end up puking all over your bed if I'm not."
"Whatever." Norway let out a slight snort before he rolled over and closed his eyes. It took a while due to his throbbing migraine, but sleep did soon engulf him.