Denmark shielded his eyes from the bright light of dawn. It was a perfect day with a perfect clear blue sky, and it would stay perfect all the way until midnight. He had prepared it carefully for him and the others to go fishing, and messing with meteorological stuff was always a hassles. That was why he frowned a little as he jumped down to his boat and started getting ready to set sail on his own. No sense wasting his efforts just because the others weren't coming.
He told himself that it was his own fault anyway. He had wanted it to be a surprise and proposed the idea very last minute. He should have known they would already have plans of their own. The thought that he could just arrange for another day of fishing took the edge off the loneliness a little, and as he worked on getting to a nice spot, the feeling of missing the others fadd t the back of his mind. He still had a fridge full of beer and food all to himself anyway, and Finland said he would drop by tomorrow with the kids, so he had to make sure he caught something nice to show off when he and Sweden and the tiny ones arrived. He also made a mental note to pass by te bakery to get a nice cake for the kids.
Te daylight stretched off across the waters and he fished a little, settling himself on the deck with a bucket of bait and a bucket of beers, and as he looked over the horizon, he could almost hear the beat of the drums as clear as the day he first set sail to battle and conquer. What a strange image of himself he felt that to be, and he wondered if this was the same way humans felt when looking at old pictures of themselves.
His line caught something, and he snapped out of his memories to reel it in, grinning at the thought of catching something big.
But suddenly, he fell backwards, and there was nothing in his line.
"You little bastard," he muttered, glaring at his empty hook.
He put more bait on it, and threw it again.
The sway of the boat made him doze off a little, until the line tensed again and he reeled it back.
"Aw, this is just not my day," he said, getting up and stretching.
He needed more beer and more food, since it seemed the only ones having a meal were the fish.
He rummaged around for some bread and cheese, and came across a bottle of aquavit probably left over from the last time they all went fishing together and Finland and him had played a drinking game with it. He took a deep breath. It had been a long time ago, and he missed them all a lot. He missed them so much.
He took a long swig of the bottle to drown out the loneliness. Of course they still visited each other on occasion but it wasn't the same as being all together like a family. The way they used to be.
There was a knock from the deck that made him jolt to attention.
"I swear if something broke, I'm just…," he mumbled, waving the bottle of aquavit around as he went on to inspect the deck.
He was ready to fight something. Anything. The ocean. He was ready to fight the fucking ocean.
But as he looked at the deck, he found nothing out of place. Everything stood just as he had left it.
"Uh, how weird," he said to himself, and was suddenly all too aware of his absolute loneliness in the ocean.
A cool breeze blew, and the sun shone as bright as he had planned over his sky, but he still felt uneasy. Maybe he should have just stayed home, or gone to a bar. All this loneliness was affecting him. He took another deep swallow of the aquavit and went back inside to get his food. If Norway was there, he would tell him he was being ridiculous. There was no reason to feel like that just because the others hadn't been able to hand out with him today, so he should stop with this whiney nonsense of being all nostalgic and shit.
Another knocking.
The boat tilted.
Denmark blinked and held on to the nearest counter.
Had the boat really tilted or was he just drunk? He walked back outside, but everything was the same. Even the ocean itself seemed calmer than usual with only slight ripples shining under the sun.
He sat back down on his chair and finished the bottle of aquavit. Nonsense. It was his sour mood that was ruining some quality time with himself. Quality time that he could be using to catch tomorrow's dinner. What would Sweden say if they showed up at Denmark's house and he didn't have anything to show? He would mock him no doubt, with that almost unnoticeable sneer where he lifted an eyebrow at him and pursed his lips. Oh, he knew him too well.
A knocking.
A scratching.
Denmark jumped out of his chair. He looked all around and felt himself tilting as he walked. Of course, he had been drinking since the morning, and on an empty stomach on top of everything. No wonder he was imagining things.
Still, he looked around the boat, because the instincts of a warrior and a hunter never left him. And so he inspected every inch of his tiny boat.
"Fuck everything," he said, sinking down on his chair again. He grabbed his fishing rod again, and threw the line once more.
He was going to fight something, and he was determined that it would be a fish.
"Stupid fish," he mumbled, feeling himself being lulled to sleep by the soft waves. He fell into a deep sleep. A deep dark sleep. A dreamless sleep where he stared at an absolute darkness all around him. Until he felt something pull at his line.
He jerked awake, blinded by the sun for a moment, until he saw something in front of him. Something that pulled at his fishing line. A familiar figure.
He stood up and rubbed at his eyes. "Norway?" he asked, already a smile pulling at his lips.
"Oh, my God! Nor I can't believe you came!" he said, dropping the fishing rod.
Norway was on the other side of the edge of the deck, holding on to the edge with one hand and holding the fishing line with the other. He lifted an elegant eyebrow at him and threw the hook into the boat.
"You were the one playing tricks on me! I can't believe it!" said Denmark.
Norway gave a self satisfied smirk, and without a single word, pushed himself backwards, falling down to the ocean.
"Wait no! What are you doing?" asked Denmark, looking over the edge of the boat to find him, but he had vanished. "Seriously Nor, we said no more pranks after the whole trolls under the bridge thing!" he yelled, still with a silly grin in his face.
Then a blonde face rose from the waters. He was also naked, and Denmark started getting some interesting ideas.
"So you were just playing with me. Come on, get up here," said Denmark. Norway frowned and shook his head. "You're not coming here?"
Norway shook his head once more, and lifted his arms at him, beckoning him to follow.
Aw man, Norway wanted to go swimming? They hadn't gone swimming in at least fifty years!
"Ok, fine, just let me get changed," said Denmark, but Norway pouted and reached for him once more. "Come on, I have a bathing suit right here," he said, reaching down to hold Norway's hands. They were cold. Very cold.
Norway pulled him with a strength that surprised Denmark so much, he slipped on the deck and fell over to the water, losing a shoe in the process. He splashed a bit, trying to keep afloat.
"Nor, what the hell? Hahaha, aw dude, stop messing with me!" said Denmark.
Norway grabbed both his hands and pulled him down under the water. Denmark held his breath for a few moments, wondering what Norway had in mind. It all seemed very strange, but they had gone through stranger things so he just went along with him. Denmark reached out to touch the side of Norway's face, and found it just as freezing cold as his hands. Was there something wrong with him? He started getting worried and signaled for them to return above water, but Norway just pulled him deeper and deeper. Denmark tried to pull him up but Norway was surprisingly strong, the way he was when he was angry about something. And the pressure of wanting to breathe was getting to be too much. Denmark trashed a bit, signaling that he wanted to breathe, but Norway just stared at him with a blank face.
Finally Denmark couldn't hold his breath anymore, and he opened his mouth, his body trying to breathe instinctually, and his lungs filled with water.
It burned.
It burned his throat and froze him to his core.
His body went into shock and he could only stare at the emptiness of the ocean all around him. There were no fish, no light. Nothing but an expanse of dark water, just like in his sleep.
And Norway.
What was wrong with Norway? He blinked, feeling the shock of death passing and his body getting used to the lack of normal living functions.
He reached to embrace Norway, all the more worried about his coldness, his silence. Denmark stared at him, trying to ask without words what was happening to him, and when he found himself unable to explain it all, he pulled him against his chest and kissed his cold lips.
Norway went stiff for a moment, and let go of him, but Denmark pulled him closer, tangling a hand his hair and pulling him closer with the other. Closer. Refusing to let go until Norway could understand his feelings through his body. Until he could break through his silence.
Norway slowly moved his arms to embrace Denmark once more, holding on to him instead of just pulling him, and his fingertips left freezing trails on Denmark's back.
Someone pulled Denmark away from Norway, and before Denmark could react, bright sparks burned between them, forcing Noway away from him. That made Denmark react and he trashed against the hands holding him from behind, but he was held in an iron grip while a dark figure kept attacking Norway. He pushed and kicked, and managed to elbow the person behind him, making him let go enough for him to swim towards the figure that attacked Norway and grab him, ready to punch him away, when the figure turned and Denmark noticed the blonde hair and the worried look in those dark blue eyes that stopped him in his tracks.
It was Norway.
Still wearing a black coat that Denmark had given him for Christmas a couple years ago, and lifting a hand from which electric sparks set the waters around them alight.
And suddenly, nothing made sense. Because Norway had been right there in his arms, and now he was there staring at him with a fear quickly turning into terror. But Norway wasn't even supposed to be there, wasn't he? No one was supposed to be there.
Someone grabbed him from behind, pulling him up to the surface.
#
Norway looked at Sweden as he pulled Denmark up to the surface and breathed in relief. Then promptly got his lungs filled with saltwater. "Fuck everything," he thought.
There were more uncomfortable ways of dying (and he had experienced his share of them), but drowning was no joke either. He relaxed a little to let his body get used to it, and suddenly felt a cold hand wrap around his neck.
He raised a hand to push the mermaid away, but she pulled at his hair and swam past him, heading straight for Denmark. Norway reached out and grabbed at her fishtail, pulling her back with all his strength.
He could hear her screams through the water, and barely dodged a clawed hand going right to his face.
"Why won't you die?!" she screeched.
"I don't know," Nor told her through his magic. "But he won't die either, so you won't be able to eat him. Go away now."
She glared at him with completely black eyes, and bared all her sharp teeth. "I want him!"
Norway realized the mermaid was interested in more than just an easy meal. And of course, he couldn't have that. It looked like he would have to bare his own fangs.
He lifted his hands and bright red sparks jumped from his fingers towards her.
"He's mine," he said, and summoned a whirlpool to pull her deeper down the ocean.
There were many humans that she could eat or observe or fall in love with.
But Denmark was his. His and his alone.
#
As soon as they broke through to the surface, Denmark's body reacted, throwing up all the water it could and jolting him into a painful hyperawareness.
"Is he alright?" asked a voice that sounded strange to Denmark's ears, but that he immediately knew was Iceland's
The person pulling him up held him with one arm around Denmark's chest and swam towards the boat, where he passed him on to Iceland's arms.
"Ugh, he's so heavy!" cried Iceland.
Denmark wanted to move, or at least say something, but he felt cold. Too cold to move. Too cold to breathe.
He blacked out then, and when he opened his eyes again he was lying on the deck of his boat, staring up at four very concerned faces.
"He's awake," said Norway, and pushed the others back. "Give him space to breathe."
"Uhggh…whvat?" mumbled Denmark.
"You got seduced by a mermaid dumbass, said Norway, glaring at him.
"Ngh-Nooo…"
Iceland put a small pillow under Denmark's head. "I can't tell if he has brain damage, or he's just being himself," he said, patting some of Denmark's hair away from his face.
"I think he's fine. He seemed fine enough to elbow me in the face," said Sweden, and Denmark noticed he had a black eye.
"We should bring him inside and warm him a little," said Finland, who carried a blanket. "But we should take those wet clothes off him first."
Denmark blinked a couple times, and his body decided the best idea in the world right now, was to go to sleep.
#
Denmark woke up the next day, in his bed, wearing his cozy 'I 3 LEGOS' pajamas. Outside his window, an almost black sky rained silently.
"You're awake," said a voice from the door, and Denmark looked up to find Norway holding a cup of coffee.
"Y-yeah, I…what happened?" asked Denmark, his voice raspy. Talking felt painful and harsh on his throat.
"You really don't remember it?" asked Norway, sitting down on the bed next to Denmark.
"Oh I remember a lot, but none of it makes sense," said Denmark, rubbing his temple. He had the strangest headache. "One moment I was fishing, and the other you were there, and something was attacking us, and…I don't even know. For real, what the hell happened?"
Norway shook his head and left his coffee cup on the bedside table. "You were seduced by a mermaid," he said.
Denmark laughed. "Whaaat? No, seriously, what happened?"
Norway raised his eyebrows at him. "I'm telling you. You were out fishing on your own, and a mermaid started stalking your boat. One of my fairies saw it and alerted me to it. When the others and I arrived, you were drowning and making out with her. I had to force her away from you, and when Sweden tried to pull you away, you hit him in the face and then tried to attack me."
"No I didn't!" said Demark, horrified that he had even tried to attack Norway.
Suddenly all the memories in his head started falling into place. The drowning, the coldness of Norway's body, and the exact moment when he had pulled the true Norway's arm, ready to hurt him.
"You did," said Norway, getting up from the bed. "You should have known better than to fall into her trap. Maybe if you hadn't been so reckless and getting drunk off your ass like that, you would have had better judgment. And now that I see you're fine, if you'll excuse me I have things to do."
Denmark grabbed him by the wrist. "No, wait! I…I fucked up," he said.
"You sure did," said Norway, and Denmark noticed the way he avoided looking straight at him while biting his lower lip. The way he always tried to stop himself from laughing.
"I knew something was wrong, but I still followed her."
"Like an idiot," scoffed Norway. Still, he held Denmark's hand and entwined their fingers.
"But! That was because I didn't know she was a mermaid!" said Denmark.
"You thought a sexy woman had suddenly appeared before you in the middle of the ocean and somehow she wasn't a mermaid?"
"She wasn't even a woman! She was you Nor. I thought she was you and she looked exactly like you, but I didn't care about how weird it was because I really wanted to believe that you were there."
Norway froze for a moment, and Denmark worried that he wouldn't believe him and leave. But then Norway shook his head and sat back down on the bed. Closer. Close enough to lean against him and hide his face against Denmark's neck.
"You're so dumb," he said softly, his breath sending shivers over Denmark's sensitive skin. "But I'm sorry. For not being there when you needed me."
Denmark smiled. "Everything's alright now," said Denmark, not wanting Norway to blame himself for this.
"It's not. You kissed her and I'm angry," said Norway, hugging Denmark. "I'm gonna tell everyone you hooked up with a fish."
"What?! Nooo!"
Norway smiled against Denmark's skin. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't. Denmark had a lot to make up for.
He kissed the tip of Denmark's nose.
"Convince me."
A/N: Thank you for reading this fic, and if you enjoyed this story, please consider faving it, or leaving a comment. It would mean a lot to me.