Hello readers! First of all, I just want to say a massive thanks for taking the time to read this, I sincerely hope you like it; it's not my first Hetalia fic, but it is my first time writing for the Nordics, so any constructive criticism is very welcome! As you can probably tell from the summary, this story is focusing on one of my favourite Hetalia characters, Denmark, and each chapter will be exploring the relationship between him and the rest of his family. Wow, that sounded professional; it's basically a story full of fluff! As least I hope it is... Ok, moving on! This first chapter is obviously entered around Iceland, and I was inspired by the popular theory that Iceland suffers from asthma due to the large amount of volcanic activity associated with his country. Please, please, be kind and leave a review, just to let me know how successful this was! Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Hetalia... :'( OK, now read and enjoy!
Iceland sat on the sofa, with the back of his head resting against his crossed arms, as he stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. He wasn't thinking of anything in particular, just idly musing over the current state of world affairs, and wondering how much liquorice he had left at home. Denmark was hollering about something unimportant in the background, but Iceland had grown so used to that by now that he blanked most of it out. It was just the two of them at Denmark's house for the moment; all the Nordics had agreed to gather there for the next meeting, but somehow Iceland had managed to confuse his timings, and had arrived a couple of days early. Rather than going all the way back to his country for such a short space of time, Denmark had insisted that Iceland stay with him until the meeting, calling it, "a good chance for you to catch up with your favourite big brother," words which Iceland had fiercely protested against, although once again Denmark seemed to remain perfectly oblivious to his meaning.
Now, Iceland found himself stuck inside a house with nothing to do for two days except twiddle his thumbs, and with nothing but a noisy Dane for company. Sighing, Iceland closed his eyes and shifted around, tying to make himself as comfortable as possible on the sofa, which wasn't easy, seeing as every five minutes he found more random Lego pieces poking him in areas that should never have to come into contact with Lego pieces.
Iceland opened his eyes again when Denmark poked his head around the corner, and asked loudly, "What do you want for dinner, Icey? I've got some fish if you want it. Mackerel I think. Your favourite."
Iceland stretched out his stiff back, and replied, "Sure, whatever, I don't care." Giving the other nation a wide grin, Denmark said, "No problem! I'll get it started!" before ducking back, and returning to the kitchen, where he proceeded to produce a sound almost like that of an orchestra of clanging pots as he dug through his cupboards, trying to find whatever it was he needed.
Iceland soon gave up on the idea of drifting off to sleep, and stood up to search for something to do. He scoured Denmark's book shelf, and after rifling through it a bit, selected a novel that looked vaguely interesting, and went back to the sofa to have a read. As he settled himself, once again plucking another Lego figure out from under him (this one resembling an elderly man that was staring grumpily up at him), Iceland sneezed a couple of times; these books didn't look like they'd be touched in years, and they were covered in dust. Rubbing his tickling nose with his hand, Iceland opened up the book and began to scan half-heartedly through the pages.
He didn't notice it much at first, but even when he did, Iceland ignored it, thinking it wouldn't come to much, and would die down after a couple of minutes. However, the symptoms gradually kept getting worse. Iceland felt his chest tighten up, and each breath became increasingly difficult to take; the nation could hear himself start to wheeze, and he coughed dryly a couple of times. Trying not to panic, Iceland closed the book, and lent forward, resting one elbow on his knee, as the other hand clutched his chest. Iceland hadn't had an attack like this since he was a little kid, and was desperately trying to remember what to do. Relax, he told himself. That's what Norge always said. Iceland's lungs were aching, and he strained to suck in some air, but it was getting harder and harder.
Somewhere in the distance, a loud Danish voice was shouting something about vegetables. Danish voice. Denmark. Call Denmark, a small, sensible voice in the back of Iceland's mind suggested. He can help. Iceland lifted his head, and tried to shout for Denmark, but no sound came out. The corners of Iceland's consciousness were starting to turn dark. He couldn't think; he couldn't breathe. In desperation, he tried again. "Denmark," he wheezed painfully. "Dan."
"Hey Icey, did you hear me?" Footsteps were approaching. Please help me, Iceland silently begged. "Was it peas or- Iceland!" There was a flurry of movement on the periphery of Iceland's vision, and suddenly he was staring into a pair of wide blue eyes, filled with worry. "Icey, what's wrong?" Denmark asked urgently, crouching down in front of him. "Help," Iceland gasped. "Can't-" he stopped when Denmark ran off almost as quickly as he had appeared. No, Iceland thought, trying to call him back, but nothing more than dry coughs came out, racking his body. Dark spots started to dance in front of his eyes.
However, a few seconds later, Iceland felt an arm wrap itself around his shoulders, heard a rattling noise, and felt something being pressed against his mouth. "Breathe out first," said Denmark; the Icelandic nation didn't bother to question him, and tried his best to comply. "Okay, now open wide, and breathe in." As he did so, Iceland felt something being squirted into his mouth, a fine mist that settled cooly at the back of his throat. The effect was immediate, if subtle at first. Iceland's chest began to loosen, the awful tightness gradually dissipating, and his breathing started to even out, the ragged breaths becoming smoother. "Good, Icey," Denmark said encouragingly. "Now take another."
Once again, Denmark squirted the spray into his fellow nation's mouth, the relief spreading deeper and deeper intoIceland's lungs, and eventually he reached up to hold the inhaler himself, although Denmark kept his arm around his narrow shoulders. Iceland was too shaken by the ordeal to push him off, and, though he would never admit it, he found the presence of the normally annoying-as-hell Dane very comforting. It reminded Iceland of his childhood, when he'd never hesitate to turn to one of his big brothers for reassurance, and it felt good to have Denmark beside him, protecting him as if he were still a little boy.
Once Iceland's breathing returned completely to normal, he lowered the inhaler, and tried his best to regain some of his composure. "Thanks," he mumbled, watching Denmark from out of the corner of his eye, not quite willing to meet his gaze. When the Dane asked if he felt better, Iceland nodded in response, turning the inhaler over in his hands.
"Where did you get this?" he asked, suddenly realising that there was no obvious reason why his fellow Nordic should have one so close at hand. Denmark cracked a grin, and playfully ruffled Iceland's hair.
"I know you've had asthma before," he explained, finally releasing the teenager's shoulders, and sitting back with one leg folded casually over the other. "I've just kept one of those in my kitchen draw, for, I dunno, ages, in case you were here and you needed it."
"Thanks," Iceland said again, finally turning his head to look at Denmark, who seemed surprisingly chilled out and relaxed for someone who'd just had to deal with a medical emergency. The other Nordic waved his hand, insisting that he had just done what any brother would've done.
"You better keep that inhaler with you though, in case you get another attack," Denmark continued. "Can't have you fainting on us during the meeting, can we?"
"Oh, dammit," Iceland said, rubbing his forehead with the tips of fingers. "I forgot about that. Any chance of you not mentioning this to Norway? He'd flip if he found out."
"Oh, Norge isn't that bad," Denmark said, laughing. "But if you really don't want to say anything to him or the others, I won't tell. As long as your asthma doesn't get any worse, that is."
Iceland gave the Dane a small smile of gratitude, before his stomach gurgled loudly. The Icelandic nation wrapped his arms around his middle in embarrassment, trying to keep it quiet, but Denmark just laughed again, and got back to his feet.
"I'll get dinner finished," he said, heading out. "We can watch a movie or something afterwards if you like." He stopped then, and looked back at Iceland, a surprisingly serious expression on his normally cheerful face. "You do like mackerel, right?"
Iceland nodded enthusiastically, bringing the smile back to the Dane's lips. However, just as he was about to disappear around the corner, Iceland called out to Denmark again, who turned around with an eyebrow raised in question. The Icelandic teenager hesitated for a few moments, awkwardly gaping his mouth like a fish, before sighing, and speaking. "Thank you, Denmark," he said. "For helping me, and just, you know, being a brother."
The Dane's grin widened even more, and he cupped a hand around his ear, tilting his head towards Iceland. "I'm sorry, I don't think I quite caught that, thank you for being a what?"
Scowling, Iceland crossed his arms and looked away. "You heard me, stupid Dane," he said. "I'm not saying it again."
Chuckling, Denmark left, and Iceland reclined back on the sofa. Gazing out of the window, the young nation realised it had started to snow lightly, the flakes settling on the ground, only to melt and dissipate into the frozen earth almost as soon as they touched the surface. A sharp poking sensation in the small of his back broke the nation out of his reverie, and Iceland rummaged around beneath himself, until he removed the offending object. "Damn Lego gets everywhere," he muttered, flicking the little yellow figure across the room.
So, what do you think? Good, bad, average? Did I get the characterisations right? Leave a review to let me know (please review, it'll make me very happy) and fave/follow so you can be notified as soon as the next chapter is ready. While I'm on that, I cannot promise that this story will be updated very quickly; I start university in less than two weeks, and I'm also in the middle of writing another story, which is likely to take precedence over this one. I will try and update as quickly as I can, but it will be a case of "it's ready when it's ready". Anyway, thank you so much for reading this, I hope you liked it, and I'll see you around! :)
