Cheer Up, Ice!
A/N: I came up with this little idea a few nights ago, whilst I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep. My guinea pig was keeping me up with her eating and moving around. Anyway, I thought about it, and I was like "We talk to our pets when we're sad and have no one else to talk to, right?" That's right, I guarantee that every single person who has ever owned an animal has talked to it at least once when they were upset. So, that's what inspired this little idea. I hope you enjoy~
Summary: Iceland comes home after a bad day, and Mr. Puffin wants to know what's wrong.
He got off the bus, and made his way down the sidewalk towards his home after an awful day, feet crunching on the frosty ground, breath visible in the crisp air. The weather was grim and dreary, and reflected the light-haired teen's mood perfectly. The sky was an overcast grey, and it was biting cold. He figured the chance of heavy snow later was quite likely.
He was in no mood to do anything but go home, crawl under his covers with cocoa and licorice and ignore the world.
He stuck the key in his lock, and opened his front door. He slammed and locked it shut, before shedding off his outer wear. He hung up his coat and scarf, as well as his earmuffs on one of the pegs next to the door. He started towards the main part of the house, completely ignoring Mr. Puffin.
"Hey Ice!" the puffin has said with his gruff voice, "You're home! How was your day, huh!?" The teen waved the bird away, before stomping up the stairs.
Mr. Puffin landed on his perch, and cocked his head, watching the Icelander. Someone's PMSing. He thought to himself. Then, without a second thought, he flapped his wings and got of the perch, following the teen up the stairs.
-xXx-
Iceland reached his room, and dove onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow and burying himself in the covers, pouting. He laid there miserably in the silence, angrily and sadly reflecting upon how horrible of a day he had had.
After a few moments of tense silence, the sound of wings flapping caught the male's attention. He ignored it, turning his back towards the wall and burying further beneath the blankets. The last thing he wanted to deal with right now was that obnoxious pet bird of his.
"Go away," he said from underneath the blankets, "I'm not in the mood."
The puffin perched on Iceland's back. He was not going to give so easily.
"Hey tough guy! Come on! Stop poutin'! Get up! Let's do somethin'!" He pecked him, still pestering the teen.
"Get off. You're annoying, go away!" Iceland growled, moving and nudging the black and white bird off of him.
"Come on!" Puffin flew in his owner's face, using his beak to pull the covers off, one black eye boring into Iceland's violet ones, "Did ya have a bad day or somethin'? Come on! Get off yer a**, Ice!" Iceland only gripped the covers firmly and pulled them back up.
"No." Iceland replied, "I said I'm not in the mood, now leave me alone."
"Ice-yyy!" The puffin whined, "You're being mean!"
The light-haired Icelander proceeded to ignore him.
Mr. Puffin let out an irritated "Urrg!"
He hopped back onto his owner's back and shoulder, and continued to peck and tug at his blankets and hair, hoping to pester him enough to get him to respond. Iceland continued to ignore him, only keeping a tight grip on his covers, curling up farther, and continuing to face the wall.
Puffin got frustrated, and hopped up as close to Iceland's ear as he could and let out a loud, shrill "GAAAAAAWK!"
"Shut up and go away!" Iceland snapped, he swung his hand, batting the bird off of him. Mr. Puffin jumped in the air, slightly startled by the sudden move. Iceland glared at him with his piercing violet eyes and turned back to the wall, pulling the blankets back up over his face.
Eventually, the puffin gave up and flew up to perch on the bed frame. He stayed there for several moments, black, button eyes studying the heap that was his owner. He could clearly sense that the teen was upset, it was blantantly obvious to him. He quite honestly felt bad for pestering him, for he had only succeeded in upsetting him more. He tried to think of ways to make it up to him.
He remembered then what could cheer the teen up, no matter what had happened, no matter how upset he was: licorice and cocoa. So the bird flapped his black wings and flew out the door, down the stairs and into the kitchen.
-xXx-
He flew onto the slick, granite counter, and hopped across to the coffee maker. He picked Iceland's favorite mug from the the next to the sink, and then used his beak to turn the water on to fill it. He knew the sink water wasn't the best for the coffee maker, as his owner had scolded him several times over that fact, but he didn't really care. Additionally, he was a bird, so he was physically incapable of using the water dispenser to get it from the fridge. He filled the mug, turned off the faucet, and then, picking it up by the rim, he painstakingly flew it over to the coffee maker and set it on the counter beside it. Then, he used his beak to open the lid of the container where the water was supposed to go. He lifted the cup again, spilling water out as he poured it in. He nearly dropped and broke the mug as he tried to set it back on the counter. He let out a sigh of relief once the cup was safely upright. If he would have broken the mug, his owner would figuratively kill him.
After catching his breath, the puffin nudged the mug across the countertop. Then, he carefully lifted it just enough to slide it under the appliance.
Once he finished the tedious task of getting the water in and the mug underneath, he replaced the coffee pod with a hot cocoa one. Then, he pushed the handle down and pecked the "Brew" button.
Whilst he waited for the cocoa, he firmly latched his beak on the handle of the pantry cupboard, and then pulled it open. He spent the time he had waiting for the cocoa to brew rummaging the pantry for Iceland's secret stash of red licorice. He found one of the bags, gripped it with his beak, and dragged it out of the pantry, before closing the door again.
The sound of the brewing cocoa drew his attention back to the coffee maker. Satisfied that it would be ready once he returned, he picked up the licorice bag, and flew up the stairway again with the package in his beak.
He reached Iceland's room at the end of the hall, and then flew in through the door. The adolescent was in the same place he had left him. Mr. Puffin flew over and dropped the back on Iceland's head. It hit him and slid down onto the mattress.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "What was that abou-oh." he noticed the licorice bag. Before he could mutter a thank you, Puffin was already out the door again.
Iceland peered over his shoulder, watching and listening to the bird's fading flapping. Then, he sat up and pulled open the bag, and began to eat the chewy sweets.
~xXx~
As he was eating the licorice and looking out the window at the snow-covered outdoors, he once again heard the flapping of wings. However, it was much slower, and he heard struggling grunts that could have only come from his feathered pet. His gaze turned to the door, and caught the struggling puffin. He was trying to carry a full mug of something in his beak, and the liquid was splashing out of it.
"Mr. Puffin, you're going to drop it!" Ice jumped up, and took the mug from the bird before he could spill anymore, "Now I'm going to have to go through the house and clean up after you!"
"I didn't spill that much out!" Puffin defended, "I was tryin' to make ya cocoa to cheer ya up! Geez!"
"Huh?" Oh. Iceland was slightly taken aback.
He looked down at the cup and examined the contents. It was indeed cocoa. Just plain cocoa, with no marshmallows or whip cream. Just the way he liked it.
"Thanks..." Iceland blushed, before making his way back to his bed and sitting back down on it, covering himself up with the blanket once more. The cup warmed his hands as he slowly lifted it to his face. He put the porcelain rim of the cup against his lips, tilted it and took a small sip of the thick, warm, chocolate-y liquid.
He took a couple more sips, before setting it on the coaster on his night stand beside his bed.
"That's just what I needed." Iceland said. His voice was melancholy, and his face was downcast. He sighed.
The Puffin perched himself on Iceland's lap, took a piece of licorice out of the bag, and cocked his head, studying him with his blinking button eyes.
"So what's wrong, huh?" Mr. Puffin asked, "Wanna talk about it?"
"Not really."
"Oh come on!" the black and white bird persisted, "You can tell me, y'know!"
"I really don't want to talk about it."
"Icey!" Puffin whined, "How am I s'posed to help ya feel better if ya won't tell me!?" The bird continued to pester him.
Eventually, Iceland grew tired of this and gave in.
"Fine." he sipped the cocoa and took another piece of licorice, "I guess I'll tell you. Only so you'll shut up."
He took a deep breath and then began.
"To put it simply, my day sucked. I was nearly late getting to school today, first of all. So, my day didn't start off very good. I went to fifth period, which was the period I was to get the test back I took a week ago. I studied very hard for it, I was up late doing so, and I thought I did pretty well, only to find out that I essentially FAILED it! Like what the h**l! I tried to brush it off, striving to do better next time, willing and determining myself to prove to my teacher I know the material he's teaching us. I knew I had to improve my mood, because today was the day I decided I finally had the courage to ask out that girl I've been talking about. I had been putting it off for months, and today I finally felt ready."
"You like someone? Wow, I didn't expect that."
"What do you mean you- uggh. Of course you don't listen to over half of what I say, I wouldn't expect you to know. I've mentioned her a few times!"
"You mean the chic that came over to work on that one history project you had, her?"
"Yes, idiot. Anyway, I went up to her and I asked her..."
"What did she say, huh?"
"She rejected me."
"Aww! You were friend-zoned! That SUCKS!"
"You don't need to emphasize that, thanks."
"Well, ye know, there's other birds in the sky."
"I think you mean "there's other fish in the sea"." Iceland said dryly, "That's what they all say!"
"Whatever. Tomatoe, tomato. Well, don't get too upset over it. If ye ask me, she ain't that attractive anyway. If I were ye, I'd look for someone else, like that one bouncy kid at the world meetings, the one with the brown hair and light brown eyes and thick eyebrows."
"Hong Kong?"
"Yeah."
Iceland's face flushed bright red, "I don't know what you're talking about, Puff."
"Pfft. Bull sh*t."
"Whatever!" Iceland snapped, "Anyway! As if it couldn't get any worse, I continued to embarass myself throughout the rest of the school day! I slipped on frost on the grass during lunch, and ended up on my a**, and a bunch of other students started laughing at me. I also got called on and answered wrong in almost all of my other classes too! And, I nearly fell asleep in history class, and the teacher called me out! Oh, and on top of that, I had a Nordic meeting after school!"
"Lemme guess, they were pesterin' ye again?"
"Yes! I don't understand! They're all so immature! They won't leave me alone about the whole "Big Brother" thing! Especially Norway! Gaaah! He's so annoying!"
"Yeah, yeah I get it. Move on."
"It's embarrassing, I don't like when they tease me! Just because I'm the youngest they think it's okay to gang up on me! I don't like it! It always makes me feel like the odd one out." he frowned, and took another drink of hot cocoa.
"We've already been through this several times, Ice." Puffin said, "Ye know they tease ya 'cause they love ya."
"That's not the point! Anyway, that was my sucky day. And I still have to go back to school again tomorrow. Can I just sleep the entire day instead?"
"Calm down, Ice. It doesn't sound that bad. It coulda been worse ya know. Ya coulda like, died or somethin'."
"Wow, you are phenomenal with your advice."
"I know, right!?"
"I was being sarcastic."
"Oh...anyway! Bottom line, it coulda been worse. You may have had a sucky day, but still. Everythin'll be fine, ye know. Tomorrow'll be better, huh."
"God, I'm such a loser. I'm talking to a d**n bird about my problems." Emil said dryly, "I really need a better social life."
"Hey, who made ya cocoa and brought yer licorice to cheer you up, huh? I did. Point is, I may be a bird, but I'm always here for ye, ya know." he blinked his dark eyes again and continued, "Even if I don't fully understand what's wrong, I'll try to help in any way I can." The puffin flew up onto Emil's shoulder and nuzzled his face and beak against the Icelander's cheek. The teen reached a hand up and up stroked the bird, closing his eyes and forming a small, soft smile.
"Takk." the teen said.
A/N: So there you have it, a bit of fluff-y, friendship-y stuff for you. Let me know what you think!
Now, before any of you harp on me about logic, I know that Mr. Puffin probably wouldn't be able to make cocoa if he were in the real world as a real bird. However, this is fanfiction based off of a quirky little anime. So, forget the fact that it isn't entirely logical. Also, keep in mind, the fact that Mr. Puffin-who is a bird...an animal, can talk. That isn't logical either. Animals can't talk like humans do. Well, except parrots, but that's a whole different thing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little one shot a whipped up.
And here's your question: Do you have a pet? If so, what is it? As I said already, I have a sweet little female guinea pig named Pippin. I love her to pieces.