The inspiration for this story came from "Tuu Mun Vaimoksein" by Olavi Uusivirta. Basically the singer asks the girl he loves to marry him and though he can't promise her much, he'll do his best for her. I heard it in a SuFin video on YouTube, so obviously I equate it with this pairing but the idea of Sweden actually proposing just hit me a few days ago. Then it morphed into what if Finland beat him to it? And this story just sort of sprouted up on its own from there. Since I love these two and I thought the concept fun, I figured, why not share it. Besides, I want some practice with one shots, though I ended up splitting this, so technically it's a two shot. Oh well! It's still enjoyable either way (hopefully).
This is my first time writing this pair and honestly, any Hetalia story, so I apologize if there's terrible out of characterness.
I also do not own Hetalia, but that's pretty much a given.
Diamonds sparkled and glittered like drops of rain under the display lights. The gold rings glinted and gave off sparkles that practically danced, calling out to prospective buyers from their spots within the glass cases. A tall blonde man loomed over the cases, considering his options. All the saleswomen had long ago given up on helping him and taken to observing him from the other side of the store. They were attempting to decide what they thought of the man. So far there were two votes for "extremely attractive", one for "he's gay" and three for "if his marriage doesn't work, I want to be first in line". Despite these various views, all the ladies were in agreement over one thing; the man was absolutely terrifying from up close. For this reason none of them had dared to approach the man, no matter how attractive he was from afar. The final saleswoman was about to cast her vote for "potential mass murderer" when their boss appeared. "How long has that man been standing there?"
The women cast questioning glances at one another, unsure of how long he had truly been standing in their store. "Half an hour?" one of them ventured.
"And you all are huddled over here why then?" he asked, eyebrows rising at the women's antics.
Again the women exchanged conspiratorial glances, debating the best answer to avoid getting in trouble. Finally a petite brunette spoke up. "Perhaps you ought to help him? We feel that he might be in need of…uh, a male perspective".
The other women all nodded vigorously, obviously proud of their colleague's lie. Their boss frowned. "What exactly does that mean?"
"He terrifies us!" another saleswoman finally exploded. Her eyes grew wide and she slapped a hand over her mouth, as if surprised by her own outburst. Her fellow saleswomen quickly "oh yeahed" and "uh huhed" their agreement. Their boss stared in awe, unsure how to respond.
"Okay… we'll discuss your obligation to serve customers despite personal feelings of discomfort later. I'll help him for now".
All the women let out a collective sigh of relief and watched as their boss approached the stranger. "Is there something I can help you with over here, sir?"
The blonde raised his head from the glass case and set his sharp gaze on the store's manager. "Yeah, I wan' ta buy th' perfect rin' ta pr'pose".
The manager blinked, "um, sorry?"
"A ring. Fur m' wife".
The manager let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, right. What sort of ring would she prefer?"
With the same glare on his face the man replied, "He'd pr'fer somethin' plain an' g'ld".
"Oh. Right. Well, let's start out over here". The manager gave another nervous laugh and led the man to another glass case. Taunts of "I told you so" began to echo from a rather gleeful saleswoman in the store's corner.
Finland let out a sigh. He had been pondering how best to propose to Sweden all morning and was still unsure how to do it. He contemplated calling someone for an outsider's perspective, perhaps add some ideas to his own but the realization that he had no one to call dawned on him about half way through that thought process. Who could he call? Norway would shrug (how he made it work through the phone, Finland didn't know but he managed it) and say what does it matter how you do it, just ask. Denmark would suggest that he do something over the top and preferably in public but Finland didn't want to propose in front of others. He was nervous enough about it, why bring in other people. Iceland would certainly be no help and that left Finland with people outside his family. Estonia would probably say he ought to do something that incorporated technology in some way. Finland failed to see how his friend could manage to be so adept with things such as computers. No way would he solicit Russia's help and Latvia would probably faint at the idea of being married to Sweden and therefore pass out before actually being of any help. He had briefly entertained asking Lithuania and Poland their thoughts, when he realized that any genuine advice Lithuania could give would be overshadowed by suggestions of pink things and ponies from Poland. Finland shuddered. Never would he allow pink things to enter into his proposal to Sweden, never. He had been tempted to seek out Hungary but thought better of it when the thought of her lurking with a camera in the shadows, seeking every opportunity to take a picture every possible second drove him away from her. He quickly decided he would stop wondering who to ask and just come up with something on his own. His eyes glanced around the kitchen, hoping to gather inspiration from the room.
It was incredibly clean, both of messes and creative ideas. Finland sighed and opened the pantry. His eyes landed on a box of cake mix and he felt a light go off in his head. He could bake a cake and write his proposal out in icing on it! Better yet he could leave that off and bake the ring into the cake! What a surprise it would be to serve a beautiful cake and when Sweden bit into it and found his ring-oh how exciting! 'But what if he broke a tooth? Or worse, swallowed it?' Finland considered the cons of his idea. How terrible if he ended up hurting Sweden. 'I want to propose, not send him to the ER.' Finland scrapped the cake idea and let his eyes wonder over the food some more. A bottle of champagne caught his eye. 'I could serve champagne at dinner and put the ring in his glass! There's no way he could choke on it because he'd be able to see it! I could propose a toast to our future together then when his raises his glass, he'll see the ring and when he looks back at me I'll be on one knee!' Finland became so giddy with his idea that he wanted to test it out immediately. Just how would the ring look in a glass of champagne?
He grabbed a bottle out, knowing there were other, better varieties he could pull out for later, and popped it open. He practically danced to the cupboard where the glasses were kept and pulled one out. He filled it with champagne and took the box from his pocket. He opened it, removing the ring with an air of reverence, eyes never leaving it as he dropped it in the glass. It sank through the bubbles settling on the bottom like a lost treasure in the sea. Finland smiled proudly and placed the glass on the counter to view it from a distance. The gold of the ring melded into the pale gold color of the champagne but was still noticeable. Just as he went to congratulate himself on the perfect proposal idea, a large book came from nowhere, slamming on the countertop, knocking the glass over and sending its contents into the sink. Finland gasped and his eyes went wide as he watched the champagne run down the drain, taking the ring with it. "No!" He screamed, throwing himself at the sink and thrusting his arm down the drain. He felt his fingers manage to wrap around the cold metal of Sweden's wedding ring and a feeling of relief flooded him. He turned to look up at the source of the book's appearance.
"Hey mama Fin! What are you yellin' about?"
Finland struggled not to lose his temper but it was oh so hard when he had nearly lost his ring. He pushed down the scream that was welling up in his throat but it escaped through a twitch in his left eye. He surveyed the micronation in front of him. "Sealand, aren't you supposed to be packing for your visit to England?"
The boy hopped up onto one of the stools that sat under the opposite side of the counter. "I was but I needed your help! How many pairs of underwear should I pack?"
Finland's eye gave another twitch. He loved the boy, he really did. He did not mind all that much being seen as a motherly figure, though that did not mean he had to be referred to as such. The thought of helping the boy though was not a major concern of his right now. That was why Finland had arranged for him to spend the weekend with England. He could not have Sealand mucking up his plans for proposal, oh no. And here Finland was, his arm jammed up to his elbow in the kitchen sink, clasping a wedding ring. It appeared Sealand was already ruining his proposal plans. He sighed, "Alright, I'll came up and help you pack. Just give me a few minutes here. And stop calling me your mama!"
Sealand let out a giggle and thanked Finland before running back upstairs while Finland began the process of unsticking his arm by applying liberal amounts of dishwashing soap. It was shaping up to be a long day.
Sweden left the store feeling more than confident in his choice of ring. Finland would absolutely love it, he was sure of it. He clenched the box tightly in his hand, afraid it might disappear if he placed it in his pocket. All that was left was to figure out how to propose. He had spent several days churning over all sorts of plans in his head, from the overly romantic to the dramatic to over the top performances, nothing seemed right. He finally settled on something simple and sweet. He had always been very simple in his approach towards expressing love for Finland and felt this moment should be no different from previous ones. He worried that Finland might prefer something more exciting, more romantic, but in the end Sweden decided to stay true to himself. He would buy a bouquet of flowers and while Finland was admiring them he would get down on one knee and when Finland's eyes met his he would ask the question he had longed to put into words for so long. He would then pull out the ring and Finland would say yes and they would hug and kiss and enjoy a wonderful dinner together and perhaps a warm bath and move on to more adult things (though of course it didn't need to be in that exact order). He wanted nothing more than to have Finland in his life and therefore he would not fill his proposal with unnecessary things. All they needed was each other to live a happy life.
Whoa, I didn't realize but in a way I could end it there. I'm definitely not though. Part two will be up soon!