Title: Swedish Meatballs
Pairing: Sweden x Finland
Summary: Tino, with nowhere else to go, decides to live inside the local IKEA. However, while he's hiding there, he catches the attention of Berwald, an employee there. Too love stricken with Tino's adorableness, Berwald lets Tino live inside the IKEA and even manages to get him some Swedish meatballs.
Author's Note: So, draw-a-circle-i-am-wholocked said they wanted to read a SuFin fanfic about a homeless Finland living in IKEA and Sweden letting him live there because he's too cute and just gives him Swedish Meatballs. Sorry about the long wait, I may or may not have gotten carried away with this. And at the moment, this is unedited because I really need sleep.
((()))
"See you tomorrow!"
"Goodbye Eduard!"
Tino hopped out of the mall, his only bag slung over his shoulders. Work had been quite chaotic, with ten lost kids and three people attempting to shoplift. Luckily, his coworker, Eduard, had bought him some lunch, so Tino had enough energy to go through the day.
However, the bounce in his step slowly dissipated as he walked farther and farther from his job.
He passed by the city's university, which towered over him with its five story library and the heavy weight of the thought that he had not been good enough to go there. Tino hardly thought about that nowadays, though. He had let it go, deciding that it was alright. Not being able to go to the community college hurt as well, but just like with the university, Tino accepted it.
He walked past apartment buildings, skyscrapers, small shops, and cute cafes.
The farther Tino walked, the more tired he became and soon Tino found himself in the less savory side of the city. He didn't mind the rancid stench of beer and cigarettes. He had grown used to it years ago, which was not a feat he was proud of.
Walking through the crowded streets and crumbling apartments, he finally reached the place he called "home".
It was rundown. Completely in shambles and probably should have been evicted because of multiple violations. It definitely didn't feel like a home, either. People lived within only a foot of one another, sleeping on hard mats on concrete floors. It was not advised to keep personal belongings there for fear that someone would take them.
But the homeless shelter was the only place Tino could go back to. There was no other place that Tino could sleep, besides maybe a park bench or behind a dumpster.
He wouldn't dare ask to stay with Eduard, who was pretty much his only friend. Eduard was only payed a little more than him. If anything, Tino was the one who was better off. He didn't have a sibling to provide for, debt from parents to pay off, and night classes at the community college to deal with.
Tino was perfectly fine with staying at the homeless shelter until he could save up enough money to rent an apartment.
((()))
"Good afternoon, Mariya! I just want to check in!" Tino greeted, smiling at the lady at the desk.
"Tino! Oh, I'm so sorry, but you've been kicked out of the shelter."
"What?!"
"The city has recently made a new rule that you only get a year to be in the shelter before getting kicked out."
"But, don't I get a notice of this?"
"I'm so sorry but with the continuous increase in the homeless, we needed to accommodate some new people and well..."
A tense silence settled between the two.
"C-can I get my stuff?" Tino asked. He was beginning to fear the worse. There was a group of people who always seemed to eye him and his stuff, because Tino was one of the few to have enough things that he had to keep some at the shelter. Some of his savings were usually left there, and now that he thought of it, that hadn't been the best idea.
Mariya looked at him with pity. She shook her head, glancing behind her where the same group of people Tino had just been thinking about where sitting. Their eyes darted to Tino and then returned to talking to one another in hushed voices.
With that, Tino ran out of the shelter.
All of his hopes for finally getting his own apartment were destroyed. Except this time, Tino didn't want to accept it.
((()))
He wasn't sure how long he had been walking. He had walked past the apartments, the skyscrapers, the small shops, and the cute cafes. He walked past the university. He walked past the mall and even the community college.
Tino wasn't familiar with this part of town. It was closer to the suburban neighborhoods of the area and had more family friendly establishments. The only time he had gone here was to visit the park nearby.
It was while Tino was wandering around the outskirts of the park when he came across a large, blue building that surely filled an entire city block. On the top, in bright yellow, was the name, IKEA. He had never seen a building like this before, Tino wasn't even sure if it was real.
"Oh man, dude, you won't believe it! I somehow made it through IKEA, you have no idea!" a man said into a cellphone, walking out of the building.
Tino stopped, glancing at the man.
"Yeah. That place is so big and confusing, you could live there and no one would be able to find you," the man continued. He walked away and into his car, leaving Tino to stand there, stunned into silence.
'You can live there?' Tino thought, turning his attention to the entrance doors. 'And no one would know about it?'
He continued staring at the doors for a few moments, trying to decide on what he should do. It was risky. It was crazy. It was probably illegal, too. Yet, Tino was finding the idea more and more appealing as every second passed.
After a few moments, Tino finally made his decision, and opened up his bag. From it, he took out the nicest and only jacket he owned. He used his hand to comb through his hair. Tino wanted to make sure he looked the nicest as he possibly could, to avoid suspicion.
Taking a deep breath, Tino made his way into the store.
((()))
To say that Tino was overwhelmed would only be an understatement.
Never in his life had Tino seen this many furniture all at once. Adding to the shock was that this was just one part of the store, he could hardly imagine what he would see in the rest of the store.
He walked around, gaping, in awe, at what he saw. Everything was so nice, unlike the things he was used to.
Tino was a little too busy looking around when he bumped into someone.
He squeaked a little, falling to the floor with a thud.
"Ya alrigh'?"
"Oh! Ahaha, I'm fine, I'm fine!" Tino replied, taking the hand that offered to help him up.
Tino looked up to see glaring blue eyes behind dark rimmed glasses.
Berwald had not planned to bump anyone into the ground. And he had certainly not expected to bump into an angel.
"Uh, do ya need help goin' through the store?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.
Oh gosh, he could feel all of the heat rising into his face as he stared into the face of the stranger.
"Oh, oh ya! No, no, I'm fine!" Tino replied, waving his hands around frantically.
Tino was more than afraid. If this guy told the employees about him, he'd get kicked out and then he'd be sleeping on a park bench for the night.
Tino ran off in a random direction. Had he stayed long enough, he would have seen Berwald picking up his name tag, which showed his status as the manager of the store.
((()))
Disappointed, Berwald made his way towards the Bistro.
"Hej! Berwald! Over here, ya Swede!"
"Mathias, ya loud Dane, stop yellin' in m' store!"
Lounging casually atop one of the restaurant's tables was Berwald's neighbor, Mathias. Sitting in a chair with his legs propped up on the table and on Mathias was his other neighbor, Lukas. Scattered across the table and an empty chair were papers. They most likely belonged to Mathias.
Some of the ones on the table, however, were music scores. In Lukas' hands was a clipboard and even more music scores, which were messily stuffed on. The Norwegian scribbled across them furiously.
It was perhaps the strangest sight one could see while in a IKEA, which was saying a lot.
Technically, Mathias wasn't allowed to sit on the table, because it was for eating, not sitting on, but at this point, Berwald had given up with trying to get Mathias to stop sitting on his tables. Some of the other employees still tried. Obviously they didn't succeed.
And then there was Lukas. Oh Lukas. Sometimes customer service would receive complaints about how he looked like a madman as he was composing his music in the middle of the store. Inspiration struck at odd times, is what Lukas said to defend himself. Berwald could relate to that because more than once he came up with a new furniture design or a new recipe while he was walking in the park or helping a customer.
He supposed that Lukas did sometimes look crazy while he muttered to himself and tapped his leg to an invisible beat. He was usually so shy, but the moment Lukas got an idea, Berwald found that there was no way to break him from his trance-like state.
"Berwald! I need ya to look at these chemistry lesson plans I made! They're due tomorrow an' I need someone to look through them for me!" Mathias said as Berwald approached the two men.
"An' wha' makes ya think I'm qualified for revising a chemistry lesson plan?" Berwald replied, arms crossed.
"Well, ya know how to cook."
"Tha' doesn't mean I'm qualified."
"Oh, come on, please?"
"...fine."
Berwald took the papers off the chair and sat in it, crossing his legs. He examined the papers, ignoring the weird comments and doodles that Mathias put all over the plans.
((()))
A long pause followed. It wasn't exactly silence, seeing how there were plenty of people all around, both customers and employees alike.
"Hey, Lukas, I need your advice on something," he said, out of the blue.
Lukas gave no reply.
"There was this customer I saw-"
"Find him in his cottage within the forest an' take him as yer sweetheart," Lukas interrupted. He looked up at Berwald with the most serious expression.
"I don't think there are any forests-"
"Next, ya take him to meet yer father an' let another human drown him so tha' he can revert back into a human," Lukas said.
"Lukas, I am not doin' tha'," Berwald replied.
"Yeah Lukas! That's not how ya seduce a guy!" Mathias joined in. "Ya gotta crawl into a tree and find a dog. Then ya got to kidnap him until his mom finds out, but that's okay cause ya can get the dog ya found to scare the mom away."
They both gave Mathias a glare.
"Thanks for lettin' us invade yer IKEA Berwald!" Mathias said while Berwald locked the front doors.
"Ya can take the car with us," Lukas added, waiting by the car.
"It's fine-"
"We know ya didn't drive here, yer car was still in its parking spot at the apartments," Mathias chimed in.
On a usual day, Berwald would have been annoyed with his neighbors' antics, but he allowed Mathias to gently push him into the back seat of the car. And usually when the two managed to get him in the car, Berwald and Mathias would argue like children. Sometimes the arguing got so out of hand that Lukas would stop the car. He'd force Mathias into the backseat of Berwald with duct tape over both of their mouths and a threat to let his little brother's pet bird loose one them.
However, this time, Berwald made no response to Mathias' weird conversation or Lukas' odd remarks. His mind was too occupied with something, or rather, someone, else.
The person Berwald was thinking of just happened to be in the bedroom section of IKEA, turning on a lamp to light up the small corner.
((()))
"See you tomorrow!"
"Goodbye Eduard!" Tino replied, waving his hand.
He had already changed out of his uniform and was in his normal clothes. The past week had been good to Tino. When he went to the thrift shop, he had managed to find clothes that were actually decent enough for him to be able to walk around IKEA with less fear.
It had been a week. Tino had managed to live in IKEA for a week.
He walked into the store, heading straight for the corner of the bedroom section that he lived in. As soon as Tino walked into his secluded area, he collapsed onto the bed.
((()))
It definitely wasn't weird that Berwald was walking through IKEA after hours. Nope, that was completely normal.
According to Mathias, Lukas and Emil were going to have a brotherly competition. And by competition, he meant that Lukas and Emil were going to have their weekly argument about who would get more mackerel than the other.
He had been wandering through the bedroom section, when Berwald saw a bedside lamp that was left on. When he looked around a fake wall, Berwald was faced with a sight he thought he would never see.
And just when he thought he got that stranger out of his head.
Berwald knew that this stranger wasn't supposed to be sleeping in IKEA, he didn't have to memorize the rules book to know that.
But...Berwald couldn't do it.
It was stupid, he hardly knew him. They had only met once.
Berwald turned off the lamp and left the store.
((()))
"Mr. Oxensternia, why do you want to be in charge of this section of the bedrooms?" a confused employee asked. However, one glare changed his mind and the employee was nodding in false understanding.
With that, Berwald walked off, satisfied with his work. He had told all of the employees of his new order. He was now in charge with locking up the store, only him and no one else.
However he probably should have watched where he was going, because next thing he knew he was on the ground. His glasses had been knocked off his face and were somewhere out of his reach.
"Oh ya! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"
Berwald felt his glasses return to his face.
"Oh! It's you! I'm so sorry for knocking you over again!"
Oh, gosh, it was him.
"I don't know how to make it up to you, oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I don't have much money to repay you-"
So maybe just taking the stranger by the hand and dragging him away was not the best idea, but to be fair, Berwald might have hit his head when he fell.
"Hello Mr. Oxensternia, are you here to-"
The cook didn't have enough time to finish their question. Berwald gave them a nod and they gave him a smile back, handing him an apron and some gloves. He led his guest to a less busy part of the kitchen.
He set him down on a stool and went quick to work on making Swedish meatballs.
((()))
"Berwald! I swear you're always in the kitchen! Well I guess it's your job," Tino said, waving.
Tino was offered a small smile by Berwald who was giving him a plate of food. He had just came out of the kitchen, still wearing his apron and gloves.
"You know that you don't have to feed me every time you see me?" Tino asked.
"It's fine, ya can be m' food crtic," Berwald replied.
Tino blushed, before happily digging into the plate. Berwald watched him, silently, waiting for feedback.
"Wow Mr. Väinämöinen! Aren't you lucky to be able to taste Mr. Oxensternia's new recipes before we put them on the menu!" one of the cooks commented through a little window. Tino and Berwald just happened to be seated at a secluded section of the restaurant that was usually for staff.
Tino laughed.
((()))
When Tino finished washing the plates, which was at his own insistence, he waved goodbye to Berwald.
"Ya sure ya won't get lost?" Berwald asked, putting a hand on Tino's shoulder.
Tino smiled at him. When he had first met Berwald, he had been so scared of him, but then he realized that Berwald wasn't the best communicator and was actually quite sweet and playful.
"I'll be fine!" Tino assured him.
He made his way to the bedroom section, walking as fast as he could. Once he made his way to his corner of the section, Tino slumped onto the bed. He dropped his bag by the bed. He turned on his lamp.
In his hands was a frail photograph. Faded and torn, it was Tino's most prized possession. He was glad he had not left it with the rest of his belongings at the shelter.
"Hyvää yötä (Good night)," Tino said, kissing the face of the young woman in the picture. She looked tired, a coffee stained apron still on and her hair left a mess. In her arms, a skinny toddler with a wide grin. They both shared the same bright blonde hair and strange purple eyes.
It was the only thing Tino had left of his mother.
((()))
Berwald set down his cup of water. It had been two hours since he watched Tino leave, although he knew that he hadn't really left.
He walked into the kitchen, warming up a plate of a special meal he had prepared.
Berwald made his way to a familiar section of the bedroom.
When he got there, Tino was already fast asleep, curled up underneath the old blankets and fluffy comforters. He made a mental note to change the blankets with a new set that looked similar to them.
As always, Tino had left the lamp on. Berwald set the meatballs down on the bedside table. He placed a cover over it, setting a fork on top, as well.
"God natt (Good night)," he whispered.
The lamp light turned off and Berwald left.
((()))
He had never been more afraid in his life. Everyday, Tino had been waking up to a plate of meatballs. Not that he didn't like the meatballs, they were great. However, it also meant that someone knew he was staying here. And they had known about it for a while, since this was the tenth time he had woken up to meatballs.
His entire day had been both saved and ruined by those meatballs. On one hand, Tino got a breakfast and had plenty of energy to last the day. On the other hand, however, his mind couldn't stop thinking about he was probably going to get kicked out of the store and sent to jail.
Tino walked into IKEA, palms sweating with worry.
"Tino!" a voice shouted. Tino squeaked, turning to run, until he realized who it was.
"Berwald!" Tino exclaimed, hugging the man in front of him.
To say that Berwald's face had erupted into flames would be an understatement. His face was redder than the lava that Lukas' brother had artificially created by accident.
"What's wrong? Ya look worried," Berwald said as he, reluctantly, pulled back from their hug.
Tino made no comment. He let Berwald lead him to the Bistro, where he knew he would be comforted with a plate of his famous Swedish meatballs.
((()))
As Tino slipped into his bed, he began to set his plan into action.
He wanted to know who was leaving him Swedish meatballs before he woke up. If he knew who it was, he could at the very least try and convince to let him continue staying in IKEA until he saved enough money for an apartment.
Tino slipped the blanket over the bottom half of his face. He closed his eyes half way, so that it looked like his eyes were closed. It wasn't as if he practiced in front of the mirror to make sure it was perfect. Nope, not at all.
It felt like hours had passed. However, Tino wouldn't allow himself to sleep. He waited and waited and waited.
Until he saw a shadow coming from behind the fake wall that separated his corner of IKEA from everything else.
He felt his breath hitch in his throat. Out of fear, Tino shut his eyes closed.
The sound of the plate being set delicately onto the dresser and the tell tale click of the lamp being turned off echoed in his ears.
Tino flinched when he felt a pair of lips on his forehead.
"God natt, Tino," a familiar voice whispered.
He tensed. When Tino was sure that he had walked away, he opened his eyes. He gasped a little too loudly.
It was Berwald.
He should have known. He should have seen it coming. Who else made such good Swedish meatballs?
Berwald must have heard his gasp, because he turned around. Tino shut his eyes again.
After he heard the roaring engine of a car leave the parking lot, he sat up on the bed, turning the lamp light back on. He would have to come up with a new plan.
Tino did not sleep at all that night.
((()))
Berwald already made up his mind. He was going to confess to Tino and tell him that he loved him. He would also tell him that he knew about him living in IKEA. And then he'd ask Tino to live with him instead of living in IKEA, even if living in IKEA was a great idea.
He came into work, greeting the employees that already opened the store. His plan was to wait for Tino to return.
However, even if Berwald was supposed to go to an interview for a future employee, he could not help himself as he wandered off to the small area that belonged to Tino.
Berwald was not prepared to see that all of Tino's things had disappeared. He checked under the bed and in the drawers, but found nothing. There was no trace that anyone had lived here.
Except for a photograph that had fallen to the floor. It was of a young woman and a little boy. He wasn't worried about whether or not the woman and the child in the picture were Tino's wife and child. The picture was too old for that to be possible.
He picked it up and gently tucked it away.
((()))
Going to work with all of the belongings you owned was not a fun experience. What had made it worse was that Tino could not get his mind off of two things.
The first thought that plagued him was Berwald. Usually when he thought about Berwald, he was more worried about being caught daydreaming. This time, though, he was worried about why Berwald was leaving him Swedish meatballs and letting him stay in IKEA.
The second thought was about the picture of his mom. He couldn't find it in any of his bags or pockets. The idea that he could have lost it forever was not nice.
The only place that he could have left it was IKEA.
"Bye Eduard!" Tino said, rushing out before his coworker could respond.
He ran all the way to IKEA, his backpack and bags making it hard for him.
Tino went straight to his corner of the bedroom section. He looked through all of the drawers. He searched every nook and cranny. He observed the wall and even tried to peer down the small spaces.
But the photograph was nowhere to be found.
He walked out of IKEA, head in his hands.
((()))
Lukas had been kicked out of the apartment by Emil. Apparently he was not helping his little brother's cool look by fretting over him. Not that Lukas couldn't have stopped fretting over Emil if he tried. He was supposed to have a friend over and Lukas was planning on staying and interrogating the friend, but had been promptly pushed out of the apartment.
Unfortunately, Mathias had stolen his car to drive to IKEA by himself, so he had to walk all the way there.
Walking through the entrance, Lukas passed by a strange man. He barely recognized him. The only things Lukas could use to identify him were the descriptions that he got whenever Berwald came over to talk about him.
Phrases like 'the face of an angel' and 'a voice sweeter than hot chocolate' were not helpful at all. But phrases that told him he was Finnish, short, and had rare purple eyes like himself and his brother definitely helped Lukas see that that was most definitely the guy Berwald liked.
Lukas walked to the Bistro. Sure enough, Berwald and Mathias were already there. Mathias was talking about a new project he planned for his students. Berwald sat there, sulking and not listening.
"Berwald, I saw yer sweetheart exitin' the store," Lukas said casually as he took a seat.
Almost immediately, Berwald stood up, giving Lukas a desperate look. He sighed.
"He was headin' towards the park," he answered, watching as his neighbor bolted off right away.
In the distance, he could hear Berwald yell, "Mathias, yer in charge!"
Mathias turned to Lukas, a wide grin on his face. In response, he stared blankly. Mathias then started wiggling his eyebrows, face getting closer and closer to his roommate's until he finally cracked.
"Fine, I'll go get the red and white paint but yer goin' to paint the Norwegian flag first."
((()))
"Tino! Tino!" he shouted, trying to catch up with him. For a short person, Tino walked surprisingly faster than Berwald could.
Just as he was only a couple of steps away from Tino, a sudden parade split them apart. Oddly enough, he could have sworn that the bird on the shoulder of one of the parade girls was his neighbor's little brother's bird, Mr. Puffin. He didn't even know that there was supposed to be a parade at the park today or why he thought he saw Mr. Puffin in the parade. Either way, it was extremely inconvenient and annoying.
Berwald walked faster as soon as the parade passed him. However, he was stopped by a little boy.
"Mister! Mister, my kite got stuck in the tree!" the little boy exclaimed, tugging on his pants. Berwald nodded and hastily took the kite off the tree. He gave it to the child, before going off in a sprint.
And of course, for the third time, he was delayed.
"Berwald! You have to help me, Mr. Puffin flew out through the window and I can't find him anywhere!" Emil yelled, running up to his neighbor. He was followed by another boy who was looking around for the bird.
Berwald let out an exasperated sigh. "I think I saw him in the parade," he informed him, before setting off, leaving the two boys confused.
((()))
Tino had been walking as fast as he could, away from IKEA, when he was suddenly enveloped by a pair of strong arms that held him close and wouldn't let him go.
He tensed up. His clenched fists pounded lightly on Berwald's chest. After some time, however, he went limp.
Slowly, ever so slowly, his arms began to wind around the taller man, returning the hug.
Tino didn't want the hug to end. It was warm, the warmest he had ever been.
They released each other from the hug. Berwald, blushing and refusing to make eye contact, handed Tino a folded paper.
When Tino opened it up, he found his photograph, in the same condition it was in since he last saw it.
"Berwald...thank you," Tino said, looking up at him. He could feel the blush on his face growing redder and redder as each second ticked by.
"It's no problem Tino, it's yer photograph anyway so-"
"I meant, thanks for letting me stay in IKEA and feeding me," Tino interrupted. He broke his stare. Suddenly, his tattered shoes had become interesting.
A heavy silence fell upon the two. Around them, however, so much was going on. They stood in the middle of the pathway, ignoring the annoyed people who had to walk around them. They listened to the festive music from the parade, which was slowly fading out as it marched farther and farther away. Above them, a bright yellow kite danced in the air. A pair of teenagers ran after a bird, shouting at it with curses that weren't appropriate for kids.
"Ya know, ya can live in my IKEA any time ya want," Berwald suddenly added.
Tino gave him a weird look, but burst out laughing. Soon, Berwald joined him, and the entire park was giving them weird looks.
'This is alright,' Tino thought to himself, as he pulled Berwald down into a kiss.
((()))
Author's Note: I wanted this to be so much longer. I seriously enjoyed writing this. Hope you enjoyed! And sorry if I didn't write it the way you expected. I'll probably be revising this later.