Merry Christmas, Tori! I hope that you really like this and that you have a very lovely day and a very merry Christmas! I hope that I wrote this AU out well as I've never written any AU even remotely like it! (It ended up becoming the longest giftfic that I've ever written too, so I really hope that the length makes it an even better Christmas gift for you!) I really hope that it brings a smile to your face and makes your day. I am very excited to gift this to you! I really do hope that I managed to write something that you'll really enjoy. Time tends to go by so fast lately, and it nearly is Christmas! Have a very merry Christmas! (I can't believe it's going on two years since we met!) I hope that this is a lovely gift that hopefully is very well written for you.
Lukas was a quieter sort of person as he continued living life his kind of way; the fact that he studied local birds and spent most of his time out in nature with them was just a part of his nature.
If you knew him like Emil did however, you'd know that he was very passionate about these animals; Emil had known since they were little kids that just a mention of the feathery kind could get Lukas talking rather animatedly just like whenever he got to talking highly of his little brother, Lukas.
The two had moved out to Texas quite a while ago after Lukas had gotten his job there and Emil went along.
He'd never admit it, but he actually really does love his brother back just as much and so when he found that his older brother was moving to Texas for a job studying birds that were native to Southern Texas, Emil had eagerly begged their parents to let him head there too.
That had been years ago, now Emil was an adult, living on his own rather than an excited, young teenager.
Lukas as was rather normal for himself was outside, crouched low as he watched the birds flitter about freely in the air, some more hidden than others.
His eyes just barely caught the sight of a Green Jay flittering through a tree just a little distance off as he slowly move to angle his camera at a much better angle to take a picture of the beautiful bird.
Lukas smiled slightly as he looked at his camera to see the picture register just as clearly as he hoped for as he eyed the bird before him.
"What do you see?" The voice was as eager as could be and not at all quiet despite what Lukas was doing.
"I was watching a Green Jay which are harder to spot at this particular part before you so rudely cut in." Lukas's voice had a very bitter edge to it as he glared at the blond haired man that had crouched beside him rather than the quick flutter of the leaving Green Jay.
"Sorry, will you ever forgive if I perhaps buy you a cup of coffee?" The blue eyed man grinned at him as he shifted his bag around and noticeably a camera as well.
"Why are you here anyway?" Lukas added on as he stood up fully and stared at the noticeably taller man beside him and the camera placed almost carelessly with the other man's hyperactivity around his neck.
"I was going to watch our feathered friends too!" The man spoke up as if he assumed that the birds would be willing to get near him with all of the ruckus the man evidently caused.
"Could you please be quiet?" Lukas was not altogether fond of trying to calm down the other man this way, but he couldn't just let him yammer on and on beside him when the man had rudely interupted Lukas from what he loved the most.
"I can. Can I buy you a cup of coffee as an apology?" The man never seemed to give up, it seemed, though a cup of coffee despite itself sounded rather amazing to Lukas.
"You can. Just try to be quiet if you're supposed to be a bird watcher as well." Lukas sighed as he moved to follow the Dane to wherever he'd buy him coffee from.
"I'm Mathias!" The way too happy man grinned as he pointed his thumb at himself as if he hadn't made that very clear.
"Lukas." Why not appeal to this man's curiosity when they'd have to be spending the next fifteen minutes or so together anyway?
"So Lukas, you go bird watching too?" Mathias grinned as he watched the almost stony look in Lukas's eyes.
"I do." It was a simple statement though perhaps Mathias wasn't wrong when he detected a hint of pride and joy in that simple two word response.
"That's awesome!" Mathias grinned as he thought about the fact that this clearly attractive man also found peace and tranquilty or perhaps passion was the right word whenever he got close to one of the feathery animals and saw them.
Lukas shook his head though the simple joy that was heard well into the Dane's words was enough of an admission to send the briefest of a smile to Lukas's face.
Mathias grinned as he watched the man beside him, eager to make him even happier, as his joy and his smile were already starting to make Mathias crave more.
"So how long have you lived here?" Mathias wasn't all that great at small talk, not really, though he'd easily deduced that the man walking beside him now had probably lived here for a little while at least.
"About five years." Lukas shrugged though it was sad for Mathias to see that the man that he was talking to did not look as happy as he had a moment before.
"It seems like a great place to live." Mathias continued on, "I'm staying at a hotel nearby for a few weeks."
Lukas didn't ultimately decide to respond to that as he watched the Dane beside him who seemed to easily excitable already.
"I like Green Jays. I've never gotten to see one in person. Could you show me where they live later?" Mathias asked as he stopped at a cafe to hold open the door for Lukas.
Lukas responded to Mathias's action with a quiet, "Thank you," before he finally went on to say, "Only if you're quiet."
"I can be plenty quiet!" Mathias told him almost too pridefully which in turn received an eye roll.
"I have yet to see that." Lukas muttered drily as he watched the man beside him eagerly get into line to order something probably too sweet to be real.
The fact that the Dane had managed to order two black coffees after asking Lukas what he wanted was interesting to say the least.
Mathias grinned, "When I was younger, I used to drink a lot of sweetened coffees before I tried black a little while ago and found that I liked it!" Mathias had explained upon seeing the hint of confusion or curiosity in the other man's eyes.
"Alright." It was a simple answer only because Mathias looked as if he really wanted to hear an answer.
Mathias cheerfully told him about growing up with a bizarre relationship with his cousin that was friendly yet not at all friendly and the mutual crush on the boy that eventually became his cousin's boyfriend.
He cheerfully told the tale as if the pain had long since faded and even went on afterwards to talk about the two's engagement much to Mathias's disbelief and talked quite eagerly as well about when he was first introduced to coffee by his mother, a woman who sounded much too similar to Mathias.
Mathias didn't seem to mind that he was the only one really talking as he rambled on about his past, stretching what could have been a fifteen minute coffee break into a forty five minute one.
Lukas left that cafe, feeling as if he knew Mathias far too well for having just met him and unbelievably nervous about how he'd be when they were back at the park.
When Lukas crouched down due to just the slightest flutter of birds in the trees, Mathias had followed just as silently.
The Norwegian man grew surprised at how quiet Mathias could be from where he was crouched beside him.
There was something almost too distracting about how close Mathias was and about how silent he'd suddenly become though Lukas refused to give into that curiosity as they waited for the fluttering to reveal itself.
The time that took however stretched on to Lukas as he felt Mathias by his side with how distractingly quiet and close the taller man was to his side.
Finally though, their patience paid off when a Green Jay flew from the tree much to Mathias's shock and joy as he tried to take a picture of it quickly around the same time that Lukas moved.
They weren't extensive movements though they weren't loud either and seeing a large grin on Mathias's face shouldn't have sent Lukas's heart racing, but it did.
Knowing that Mathias truly did enjoy bird watching, was intensely distracting in its own way as it left Lukas's heart aflutter for way too long, and he began to wonder why this attractive and annoying man had to be so distracting and tempting for Lukas who rarely ever had any resemblance of a crush.
Lukas did find it infuriating that even when he slept after having met the Danish bird watcher that his dreams were full of the Dane, happy and sometimes talkative, but mostly quiet and just there, by his side, close enough to reach out for and almost cuddle up to.
He knew better, but the Dane still tempted him in such a way, and it may have not been life threatening with its persistence, but it was still annoying.
The Norwegian never crushed on anyone since he was a young teenager and never had he wanted to fall so hard for a Dane that often seemed far too happy and energetic and yet when it counted could usually be quiet and patient.
Lukas had never been attracted to arrogance either though the Dane was plenty arrogant in many moments.
He stared blearily at his alarm clock that had ended another dream about the Dane; he was nearly disappointed in the fact that his dream had ended though he also felt frustrated to have another dream about the Dane.
Lukas pushed himself out of bed despite the exhaustion clear on his features as he began to get ready and drink enough coffee this morning to allow himself to fully wake up as he savored the tasty drink and eagerly looked forward to spending another day at that park, looking for rarer birds and trying not to get too caught up, hoping for the Dane's appearance.
The day passed disappointingly uneventfully as he didn't even spot a Green Jay or any other birds that were harder to find in this particular park and the Dane had not made an appearance so far today either.
The best part of his morning however was when Emil shown up to invite him to lunch at a cozy, little diner as they talked about quite a few different things since he hadn't seen his younger brother in quite a few days.
He smiled at just hearing how happy the Icelander was though talk of the new friend he had, made Lukas nervous that his younger brother may start dating soon.
Lukas however was eager to show the pictures off that he'd taken recently and naturally talk about the birds he'd seen lately though Emil was quick to bring up that he'd heard that a bird watcher from a different country was visiting and observing what kinds of birds lived throughout Texas and was spending some quality time here where they lived.
The Norwegian hated himself for looking just too hopeful at that news as Emil was quick to latch on to any emotion that even flickered in his brother's eyes for just a moment.
"Have you met him yet?" The mischievous look in his brother's eyes was just enough to warn the Norwegian about why his brother was so curious about this man that he'd probably never met since he hadn't been here all that long.
"Are you sure he'd show up where I work?" Lukas asked though work was a term that fit, joy was also found there.
"He wants to see all of the birds that he can that Texas has including the ones here at the tip and so he'd show up at the park that you 'work' at eventually." Emil spoke up as he watched his brother's expression carefully.
The smallest hint of a dusting of pink tipped Emil off to why Lukas was so silent about this man which both had him nervous and had him excited for his brother though he chose not to show either emotion.
"He'd shown up a few days ago or so." Lukas answered rather reluctantly as he tried not to give away his still developing feelings.
"How long do you think he'll stay in this part of Texas?" Emil asked, more to his own self as he thought on what this could mean.
It wasn't supposed to happen; Lukas argued to himself.
Emil's friend, Leon, who just happened to be an immigrant from Hong Kong that originally headed over to attend schooling here, had just so happened to run into Mathias.
They'd just so happened to have ran into each other on the day that Emil and Lukas had set aside for a little family meal at Lukas's house when Emil had insisted that Lukas meet Leon, and so Mathias had shown up.
That was not really the worst of it as it went fairly well regardless as Mathias was both kind and polite though he was far chattier than Leon or Emil were, making it feel as if Mathias had been the one invited over instead.
It was fine at first and nothing was really amiss other than the extensive chatter as they carried on with their meal until Mathias invited Lukas out to go bird watching in a park about an hour's drive from where Lukas lived.
Lukas couldn't bring himself to refuse as he'd never really been to that park, let alone saw a few of the birds there.
He'd been intending to say no regardless and yet the shared excitement had only encouraged him to actually agree to come along.
Leon chose then to ask if they were dating which Lukas insisted that they weren't though Mathias had muttered far too low for Lukas to catch that he wished they were.
Emil refused to look at the Dane the rest of the meal at just hearing that.
The meal continued on fairly normal regardless despite the question that Mathias had asked earlier.
The next morning, Lukas woke up, both excited for the day and dreading it as he thought back to what he'd promised the Dane.
He got ready and prepared himself for this day.
The Dane was there bright and early as to be expected, and they'd managed to arrive at the park they were heading to while the sun was still rising and so they spent that time finding the best spot to keep their eye out for any bird that happened to arrive as he felt Mathias far too close to him while the sun rose to think of much else.
Mathias was quiet as he tended to be when he was watching for birds despite how much he'd chatted Lukas's ear off on the way here.
Lukas listened to the steady beat of the Dane's heart that accidentally warmed his ear up as he watched the tree line near the two of them.
Mathias had decided to treat Lukas to lunch hours later after such an interesting and productive day with all of the birds they'd spotted together.
Lukas ignored the tingly feeling from where Mathias's hand had rested on his back as they had went forward to enter the little restaurant and tried to ignore the way that they may have looked due to Mathias's tendency to treat Lukas as one would a date.
It didn't seem to be too bad of a day with the Dane though he tried to ignore the way it seemed that Mathias was staring at him as sometimes he could almost see a longing to lean over and steal a kiss in the Dane's eyes though Mathias didn't act on that feeling.
Lukas wondered though as they left the diner whether Mathias did feel that way or whether he'd been seeing things.
The Norwegian didn't dare bring it up as they walked side by side, too close for Lukas to not feel that tingly sensation.
Mathias wasn't really shy though sometimes he almost felt like it.
He spoke up in a gentle way after having decided to give Lukas a tour of the little town they were at as he finally brought himself to ask a simple question, "May I?"
He felt almost silly for asking or for thinking he'd had a chance, but he really really hoped that Lukas would let him.
The soft whisper of, "You may," meant more than anything to Mathias as he slowly closed that distance and held his crush close as they shared a kiss that was very much innocent though also tempting in its own way.
He could barely breathe as he connected their mouths and kissed him for all that he was worth; Mathias could barely believe that Lukas returned his feelings.
The difficulty of whenever he'd have to head back to Denmark and how this would all work itself out would come later; Mathias chose not to focus on it now as truly he wanted to live in this beautiful moment for as long as possible.
Mathias's most important question from that starting point would come just moments later, "Do you want to go out?" It was a simple enough question, but yet one that meant the world and a 'yes,' following that question meant more than anyone probably could have guessed.
He knew that they could work out the temporary distance before he could move to Texas as soon as possible, because he'd rather be closer to the Norwegian than far apart.
They'd find a way to make it work as Mathias really wanted it to work out, and Lukas would work hard to make it work as well as he really wanted it to as well.