It's Complicated

Prologue

It was a cold autumn night.

The Nordics were spending their time together in the warmth and comfort of Iceland's villa in the mountains. Truth to be told, Iceland didn't want to share the location of his villa, but Norway (and the others, by extension) found out about it using his psychic ability. Even though Iceland could also see mythical creatures, he wasn't very friendly with them and ignored them as much as possible. Norway, on the other hand, welcomed and interacted with them on a daily basis. The mythical creatures (even the ones in Iceland) loved his brother that they do whatever his brother asked of them. They let him borrow their abilities (i.e. control over certain elements like fire) and/or do his bidding.

One of the things Norway orders them to do was to get any information related to Iceland, whether it's about Icelandic politics, economy or bits of his little brother's private life. Iceland knew that it was Norway's (strange and overbearing) way of showing his brotherly love towards him but at the same time, Iceland wanted to get back at his brother even if it's just for a little while.

Even though he recently discovered that they were related, Iceland somehow knew his brother inside and out. However, there were some things that Iceland was never sure of. And one of those was the specifics of Norway's relationship with Denmark. Both Norway and Denmark had known each other ever since they were young Vikings and were almost inseparable…until Norway eventually broke free from Denmark's control, sided with Sweden and subsequently declare his independence from any nation. Denmark and Norway's relationship soured and they broke ties with each other. They didn't interact with each other for a significant amount of time and yet they have seemed to patch things with each other.

Or at least that's how things appeared.

The rest of the Nordics never questioned how they became civil towards each other. The Nordics' shared past was a difficult one and no one wanted to delve on the negative memories it brought. But tonight was an exemption. Everyone but him was drunk, thanks to the insistence of Finland and Denmark that they (with the exception of Iceland, who was considered to be a minor) relax and drink merrily all night. Iceland figured that he could raise the topic while everyone wasn't in the right state of mind to object. He just had to wait for an opportunity to ask that question.

With that plan in mind, Iceland decided to join the drunken Nordic Five members in the living room. He bought a fresh bottle of whiskey and drinkable yogurt (courtesy of Norway, who brought a box of Yoggi [1] for him to consume) and sat among them. The drunk Nordics were in the middle of playing truth or dare with Finland and Sweden currently up against each other. The end of the bottle was pointed at Sweden and the mouth towards Finland. Iceland sat beside Norway, who was absentmindedly tugging Denmark's hair.

Finland gave Sweden a cocky smile. "Truth or Dare? Hic!"

"Dare." Sweden replied without skipping a beat.

"I dare you to…" Finland paused, scanning his surroundings. His violet eyes lingered on the bottle of whiskey Iceland had just brought and then he continued, "…drink that bottle of Teerenpeli Kaski [2] in one go!"

"…That's overkill, Fin." Norway interjected, slurring his words a bit.

Denmark let out a boisterous chuckle. "Now that's a dare!"

Sweden reached out for the said bottle of liquor and opened it. As soon as the cork was out of the way, Sweden brought the bottle to his mouth and began chugging down the contents of the said Finnish whiskey. Finland and Denmark cheered while Norway silently shook his head in disapproval.

The stoic Nordic soon completed his dare, but soon retreated to the nearest comfort room to expel the excessive alcohol from his system. Unfazed, the three remaining Nordics continued the game as Iceland watched on. After an hour or two, Finland passed on the couch with an empty bottle of wine in his arms and the only participants in the game were Denmark and Norway. Iceland was trying to keep himself awake by playing a couple of video games on his laptop.

"Hey Norge. How about we add a little spice to this game?" Denmark asked.

Norway rolled his eyes but didn't object to the idea. "It doesn't matter what you add. I'll win this game with or without that spice you're talking about."

"Okay, this is a crazy idea but. Hic! Buuuut, we should do a joint truth or dare for those who gets pointed at by whichever side of the bottle."

"We're the only ones who's playing here. Ice's the only one who can give out the truth or dare." Norway pointed out.

"Oh yeah…"

Both Denmark and Norway looked at Iceland, who pretended to be annoyed at the convenient turn of events. "Truth or dare?" both Nordics asked.

"Truth." Iceland immediately answered, a hint of excitement creeping out of his normally calm voice.

"Boriiiiiing-ackkk?!"

"Shut up. Let Ice talk."

Iceland gave his brother a grateful nod and finally asked, "I've always wanted to ask this to both of you but…are you two really friends? What exactly are you two to each other?"

For a moment, a look of seriousness came across both the faces of both drunk men. They both faced Iceland and said in unison, "It's complicated."

End of Chapter

NOTES:

[1] Yoggi is a drinkable yogurt manufactured by Arla, a company based in Denmark.

[2] Tereenpeli Kaski is a Finnish single malt whiskey. It contains 43% alcohol.