Title: We're Not Friends

Pairing: Hong Kong/Iceland

Word Count: 2,430

Iceland: Dagfinnur

Hong Kong: Li Xiao

Norway: Håkon

Håkon hadn't liked it when Dagfinnur told him he was moving to Hong Kong. He had clicked his tongue, narrowed his eyes at him, lips pressed in a tight line that had Dagfinnur looking more at his toes than anything else. And if he were honest with himself, he didn't like the idea of moving so far away either. It was work, and he couldn't tell his boss no when the offer was so good. The amount of money he'd be making would have him set for a long time, and he couldn't pass it up no matter how many times his brother snapped at him. He sighed, deciding his best choice was to go to his room and begin packing.

It wasn't that there was much wrong with Hong Kong. Where he was working, they all spoke English, and he was happy to know there wouldn't be much of a language barrier. The main problem? The nation is incredibly crowded, and people just are not Dagfinnur's forte. Again, the offer made it worth it, and he supposed seven months wasn't going to kill him. He could do this.

He couldn't do this.

The airport was crowded when he arrived, and it had taken him twenty minutes to find the baggage claim to get his suitcases. To top it off, he couldn't find his driver, and there was absolutely no way he'd be able to ask anyone where he needed to go. It was awful, and he began to wish he had told his boss no to begin with. He breathed out slowly, telling himself getting worked up would do him absolutely no good before continuing on, taking every turn and route he could until he found someone holding a sign with his name on it. The tension left his body, and he followed the guy to the car, happy to get away from the crowd.

It took him a short time to get to his hotel. He supposed he could have walked from the airport if he really wanted to, but he didn't know how safe of a place Hong Kong was and if he risked being mugged walking the kilometer or so. He checked in, found his room, and immediately unpacked his bags.

The room was nice, much nicer than the apartment his boss had thought of putting him in for the seven months. The walls were a rich red, a nice contrast from the cream carpet and gold curtains. Blackout curtains, he had found, rubbing his fingers on the material. He'd be able to sleep fantastically on his days off. The comforter matched the gold, the fabric a lovely satin, soft and silky to the touch. He wondered if all the hotel rooms in Hong Kong were this nice. He pushed his hand into the mattress, mentally thanking the owner for buying such a plush bed for his guests to sleep in. His back was also thanking him.

He decided to take a shower, grabbing a change of clothes and his toiletries and stepping into the bathroom. He didn't feel tired yet, but he knew seven was going to come sooner than he would like and a shower was going to do some good to at least make him feel sleepy. He turned on the hot water, followed it up with a bit of cold, stepped out of his clothes, and stepped into the shower, sighing. He reminded himself to call Håkon when he got out so the other didn't make a trip to Hong Kong just to make sure he was okay.

When he got out and checked his phone, he already had four messages from his brother asking if he had made it safely. He rubbed a hand over his face and clicked the little phone button in the upper right corner. His brother immediately answered, asking if the plane ride was okay and if the hotel was nice enough for him. Dagfinnur didn't know if he should be annoyed or amused. He let out a breath and cleared his throat.

"It was fine. Long. You know, it's really late here."

"Ja, but you promised to call me as soon as you got off the plane." Dagfinnur groaned.

"Håkon, I was lost in the airport. I called you as soon as I got to the hotel."

"Bullshit. You've been there an hour."

"You tracked my phone?" He sputtered, brows knitting together in frustration. Håkon chuckled, obviously pleased with himself.

"You didn't call, and your flight had already landed. I was making sure you were safe."

"Well, i'm fine. I'm not a child." The line went quiet for a long moment, and Dagfinnur said hello to make sure his brother was still there.

"I'm here. Just thinking. You're not a child, no, but I can still worry about you. Don't you worry about me?"

"No," he said, trying to sound as bored as he possibly could.

"Liar. All right. If everything is sound, i'll let you get some sleep. Wouldn't want ya to be tired your first day, right?" Dagfinnur made a noise of confirmation. His brother told him he loved him before the line went dead. He went to the mattress, pulled back the comforter, and slipped into bed, turning once or twice before getting comfortable and falling asleep.

The alarm startled Dagfinnur awake, and he sat up abruptly, shutting it off and getting out of bed. He dressed quickly before he enjoyed the breakfast one of the hotel staff brought up for him. Once finished, he headed down to the lobby, getting in the car waiting for him to make his way to the new office.

The office was much larger than the one in Norway, and he was surprised by how lavish the place truly was. All of the technology was the newest model, completely up-to-date with every system they used. He was a bit awestruck, and he could barely listen to what the man showing him around was droning on about. He listened in at the last bit when he got introduced to another worker, one that went by the name Li Xiao, and was told any further questions and training would go to him. He left the two of them alone, and Dagfinnur tried to offer him as much of a smile as he possibly could.

"Hello, i'm Dag-"

"Dagfinnur, yeah. He said that while you were in a different world." The smile that was on his face had been replaced with a scowl.

"That's kind of rude."

"Yeah, but like, it's worse that you weren't listening, right? Keep up, kid." There was a dull throb in Dagfinnur's temple, and he wondered if getting a headache from being annoyed was a real thing.

"I'm not a kid. I'm probably older than you are." Li Xiao rolled his eyes, leaning back against the desk behind him. Dagfinnur clicked his tongue, crossing his arms over his chest, wondering why in the hell this guy made him feel so immediately defensive. Li Xiao must have picked up on this, because he laughed as if the situation was the most amusing one in the world.

"You might be. You came from Norway, right? Must be a culture shock. Are there a lot of people in Norway? Are they all as cold as you?"

"You're just being cruel now, aren't you? Yes, I came from Norway. Yes, it is way different than Hong Kong. There are plenty of people, and no, just like anywhere in the world, people come with different personalities." There was so much agitation in his tone, and Li Xiao snorted, shrugging his shoulders.

"Relax. I'm teasing you. Picking on the new guy."

"Well don't," he spat back. Li Xiao looked at him, eyes glinting with something Dagfinnur couldn't read.

"Fine. I won't tease you if you're that sensitive." Dagfinnur sputtered, eyes narrowed in a glare.

"I'm not sensitive. You're just being rude."

"I'm just trying to make friends, Dag." Dagfinnur rolled his eyes.

"We're not friends, and you can't call me Dag." Li Xiao smiled at him, a chuckle leaving his throat, and Dagfinnur swore that he was the science to back up the fact that, yes, you could get a migraine from being annoyed.

"Don't tell me what not to do. Chances are, i'm just going to do it anyway."

It was like this everyday Dagfinnur went into work. He'd go in, try his best to get some work done, and get into a verbal fight with his coworker. And everyday, that coworker made sure to take lunch at the same time he did just to cause even more trouble. It was only a matter of time before he was going to completely explode.

"Do you ever back off of people that are obviously not in the mood?" He had asked at lunch, shoving a forkful of whatever he had gotten delivered into his mouth. Li Xiao looked at him, offered a smile, and took a drink from his bottle.

"Why would I do that? I'd have, like, no friends."

"We're not friends."

"You keep reiterating that, Dag, but we are friends. We eat lunch together everyday, I've taken you to your hotel more than a few times, I bought you lunch yesterday-"

"You took my phone!"

"Doesn't matter. Like it or not, we're friends, buddy." Dagfinnur sighed, putting his fork down.

"Okay. Suppose we're friends. Then what?" Li Xiao put the cap back on his bottle and set it down on the table.

"Then we hang out. We both have the day off tomorrow, right? Let's do something."

"Like what?"

"Like," he began, picking through his noodles with his chopstick and shoving a bite of bean sprouts and onion into his mouth, "go strolling through the park and then have lunch." Dagfinnur scoffed.

"That sounds like a date."

"It does, doesn't it?" There was a small smile on his lips, and Dagfinnur felt his cheeks go pink. Li Xiao swallowed his food and then continued.

"Tomorrow, ten-thirty. I'll pick you up."

Dagfinnur was absolutely surprised when Li Xiao showed up at ten-thirty. Honestly, he thought the guy was just teasing him like he always did. Still, he got dressed and ready, and followed him to the park where they walked around and chatted.

"You can't tell me that you think Chopped is better than Cutthroat Kitchen. That is, like, a crime." Dagfinnur raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's way better. They aren't so cruel on Chopped. Can you imagine have to bid money on different auctions to take out your opponent? I mean, if it were me, I wouldn't last the first round."

"Can you even cook anything good? And not fish. I know that's hard being Norwegian."

"I'm from Iceland," Dagfinnur clarified, "and yes, I can cook more than just fish."

"Ooh. Iceland. Even better. Just cook them a meal of rotten shark."

"Don't talk shit on our shark, okay. It's delicious."

"Mhmm, i'm sure it is, fishboy." Dagfinnur began to wonder when he got so comfortable talking to someone like this. At this point it really did feel like two friends poking fun at each other and not two strangers arguing. He smiled despite himself, something that didn't go unnoticed by his counterpart.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?"

"You're smiling." Li Xiao gestured to his face. Dagfinnur made sure to drop the smile.

"I was thinking."

"About how handsome I am? I know. It's a gift."

"Actually, I was thinking about what sasquatch you were modeled after to give you those kinds of eyebrows." Li Xiao scoffed, putting his hand to his heart as if to mock how hurt he was. Dagfinnur felt his lips tug in amusement.

"I cannot believe you gave me such a low blow, grandpa."

"Grandpa?"

"Yeah. You have white hair. You really must be older than me. Trying to rob the cradle, old man?" Dagfinnur almost choked, blubbering out whatever retort he could think of.

"I'm only twenty! It's a mutation!"

"Twenty? Man, i'm nineteen. I thought I had the upperhand here, but I guess I don't. And I was kidding about the hair; I like it. It looks like snow. It's pretty cool actually. Like, it suits you in some weird way." He muttered out a thank you, eyes turning to the fountain that was spitting out water. It was relaxing to watch, and he could see now why Li Xiao had brought him here. Perhaps he was trying to tell him he needed to relax more. Geez, he was sounding more like his brother than the obnoxious coworker he thought he was.

"Wanna get lunch?" Dagfinnur tore his eyes from the fountain and nodded.

"Okay, but this time it's my treat."

Dagfinnur had been surprised with the food Li Xiao had ordered. Honestly, it didn't sound the greatest, and it definitely looked different than what he was used to, but it had all been really delicious. Perhaps he'd have to start letting Li Xiao order food for him more often. That might be the first small thing he could trust him with.

"Thanks for buying lunch even though I, like, picked out everything we ate." Dagfinnur shrugged.

"No problem. It was actually all really good. I was surprised, I must admit." Li Xiao smiled at him, nodding his head.

"Glad to hear. Wanna come over to my place? We can, like, play some video games, watch a movie, whatever." Dagfinnur wondered briefly if he should turn him down.

"Sure, sounds like fun."

Honestly, Dagfinnur believed they were going to Li Xiao's place to watch a movie. He hadn't expected to walk in, shut the door, and have Li Xiao's lips immediately attack his own and pull him into a dance towards the couch where his back hit the cushion faster than he could process that there were hands unbuttoning his shirt and lips pressed to the sensitive skin on his neck. His breathing hitched, and he shoved Li Xiao back just a bit, meeting his eyes.

"I thought you said a movie."

"I thought you weren't oblivious." Dagfinnur chuckled, albeit nervously.

"I guess I am, to an extent."

"Do you not want to do this?" He thought for a moment.

"Maybe not...everything, but I didn't mind the kiss." Li Xiao's eyes lit up, and he pressed his lips to Dagfinnur's again, pulling away after a moment.

"You know that this was a date, right? And that I want to date you?"

"I do now. I told you we weren't friends." Li Xiao grinned at him and kissed him again.