"Is your end working?" Finland asked, obviously trying not to sound too excited. "I think my end's up. I can see myself moving and the quality's good, is the lighting okay? I'm sitting next to a new lamp. It should be bright enough."
"I don't know, I'm not on yet." Norway, on the other end, tried not to rush through the motions, because they weren't difficult motions and if he got too excited he would probably break his laptop again. He was pretty sure he remembered the program; he just had to turn on the camera on his laptop…
That was in settings, right?
Tino was still chattering over the phone. He was excited, which was adorable and made something in Lukas's chest flutter a little bit. Norway shifted a bit, laptop in his lap and cell phone balanced on his knee. Tino's soft accent carried well through Lukas's apartment.
So now the camera was on, but for some reason Lukas couldn't see himself in his little window.
"You're on!" Tino cheered. "I can't see you, though."
"I don't know-"
"Have you taken the band-aid off your camera?"
Lukas blinked. "Oh."
When he removed the offending band-aid, he finally felt justified in letting himself sit back and take a good, long look at Tino.
The months of separation had been good to Tino, if his smile was anything to go by. His blonde hair was a little messy, but looked about as feathery as Lukas remembered. His violet eyes hadn't lost any of their softness.
"Tino," said Lukas warmly, "I missed you." A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Tino's eyes widened. "I missed you too!" he exclaimed. "I still miss you right now! How much longer until we can meet up again? In person?"
"I've been saving up. No more than three months, I think, and I'll be able to take a train."
Tino cheered and Lukas watched the screen pixels keeping up with an enthusiastic Finn. It couldn't be easy.
When Tino's celebration was done, Lukas asked about Tino's roommate.
"Well," Tino said slowly, "he's from Sweden. His name is Berwald. And he's a nice guy, I think. He's very tall. Wears glasses. He doesn't have a lot to say, though, and sometimes he can be a little scary." He frowned. "I don't think he tries to be, though."
Oh? Lukas raised an eyebrow. "That's, well, nice, I suppose. My roommate's still a pain in the neck. I appreciate patriotism, but he's hung the flag of Denmark on every door and window in the dorm."
Tino laughed. "Sounds like a perfect roommate for you!" Lukas stifled a snarky protest.
"I am not a pain in the neck!" screamed the roommate in question from outside Lukas's door.
Lukas waited until he heard footsteps stomping away from his door. "Idiot."
"Aw, maybe you should draw him something." Tino was… bemused?
Lukas grimaced. "He'll probably forget it in two hours. That's not necessary."
"But you draw the best trolls! He's missing out."
This was when Lukas changed the topic of conversation. He was wise - he had learned. Any more on this subject and he'd be drawing tiny trolls for everybody in his apartment complex, including his friendly roommate. "If we weren't splitting the rent then he wouldn't be here."
"I know." Did Tino know how much his eyes smiled on their own? Did he know how much he illuminated the room?
Lukas almost told him, right then and there, almost poured out his heart over a webcam in a dark room. But he could feel himself turning red, and there was a stutter making itself at home on the tip of his tongue.
So, instead, he repeated old words: "I miss you."
Tino paused, and those eyes looked at Lukas with such strength that they made him weak. "I know," he said, each word heavy with weight. "I miss you too."
They let the silence sit, for a while, and thought about togetherness and separation and air.
Then an ungodly, earth-shattering metal riff exploded from Tino's end and nearly made Lukas fall off of his bed.
"Sorry!" said Tino with a laugh on his face as he held up his cell phone. Lukas could read the screen from his end. BERWALD OX was flashing on the screen. "I should probably take this! Love you, though. Let's do this again Thursday?"
"Yeah," said Lukas, recovering from the shock. "Love you too. Thursday."
Tino smiled, answered his phone (which made his heavy metal ringtone shut up), and ended the call.
Lukas leaned back. For a long moment, he stared at his ceiling. Then he laughed a little, closed his eyes, and straightened up so he could see whether it cost any less to order train tickets early.
Thank you so much for reading! Comments are appreciated. This is also posted on AO3, username Larthrain.
