At 8AM, everything was utterly silent — very different from some hours ago, when Lukas was trying to sleep, but his roommate wouldn't shut up at all. Even after complaining and receiving sincere apologies from Mathias, he had to bear another loud scream only some minutes later, along with a "Sorry!".
The day before, Mathias was rewatching a football match between Denmark and Sweden from 28th May, remembering the thrill he had felt when his loved nation ended up winning with a score of 1-0; though it was only a friendly match, it was enough to make him call Berwald and laugh at him on the phone for almost five seconds before the Swede lost his patience and hung up. He had watched the whole thing again, feeling the same strong emotions. When the recorded match ended, the adrenaline that was sustaining his lively late-night behavior lost all of its effects. Suddenly extremely sleepy, his fatigue made him faint on the couch.
Entering a university was a quite hard path for Lukas. He had been living on a small hilly town in Norway all his life; there, friends at the age of three would always see each other repeatedly during all their lives; if he randomly gazed at a group of random people, he could tell the name of them all.
The scenery was blatantly always the same. Neither a building nor a park would ever emerge out. Even if Lukas had his eyes closed, wondering around the whole town wouldn't be actually difficult. Every line the mountains drew on the skies, every corner of the chilly lakes, every color of every roof on his neighborhood… He knew everything. Nothing would happen, no matter the day. There were no murders, tecnogeniuses, huge parties. Knowing exactly what would happen on the following day was a skill every inhabitant of that one town had accidentally craved deep within their brains.
Because of this, moving out had brought a lot of experiences Lukas had never known. Most of them, painful ones.
He had always liked the ocean. He didn't exactly know why, but only the sight of the immense waters would make his mind blank. It was so vast and beautiful that, at times, he couldn't even properly hide his excitement. When he was almost an adolescent, he went to beyond the border of a beach for the first time, heading to an island, in a school trip.
He felt like there was where his heart belonged. The still movement of the water, its dark color, the pure sounds it would create. He imagined himself as a powerful Viking, conquering lands and bringing wealth to his people. Dominating the northern ocean, proclaiming himself as its absolute king.
It was an embarrassing idea that he had kept only for himself. Although, eventually, he would catch himself thinking the same things again and again.
He chose Oceanology as his college course, and decided it wasn't a bad thing to know other places for a change.
It was a huge shock waking up and not knowing where he was, needing some seconds to realize he wasn't in his little hometown anymore. His classes were the least difficult problem, and he really found them extremely interesting. However, it felt wrong. Everything was completely out of place, and he started to want come back as soon as possible. He didn't know anyone, he didn't know any place, the Danish language was a foreigner element he couldn't naturalize himself to.
Lukas had just woken up, feeling an irritating headache. He stretched considerably, trying to free his body of any feeling of unrest. Lukas changed his pajamas to casual clothes, the most comfortable he could find — an old shirt and sweatpants — and washed his teeth. His headache wouldn't seem to go away, a tiring memo of the pain the other day was, but he tried to ignore about it. Today was a special day, and he didn't have any choice but to forgive his stupid roommate.
When Lukas went down to the first floor, Mathias was still messily sleeping on the brown couch that seemed just too small for him; a leg was falling to the floor, and one of his arms as well. He wasn't wearing anything more than underwear and socks; the sheets that once were covering his body were now tossed aside on the carpet, potentially repelled by his unstoppable movements. The room was illuminated by the sunbeams coming from the three windows, two of them almost half mantled by the curtains; a Danish flag was resting on the top of the couch.
A shadow of a smile appeared on Lukas' mouth, and he found himself drowned to that image. Walking slowly while bracing himself — a habit he had acquired on the days he lived in the freezing Norwegian countryside —, the young man sat on the carpet and couldn't help staring passionately to Mathias. It was an embarrassing thing to do, but he let himself be an idiot for a short while.
He looked like an angel. The most adorable, the most peaceful, the most pure. As beautiful as the ocean.
Unthinkingly, hypnotized by Mathias' handsomeness, Lukas hand slowly put a hand to his roommate's hair. He didn't know what he had on his mind, but it just felt right on that time.
The soft texture was incredibly comforting. It made shivers run down his spine, float on his veins. For years, he had known this texture, this length, this color. It felt like home.
Mathias Køler was the one who ended up assigned to the same room as him. Right from the start, Lukas had the impression he seemed to be one of those dumb cheering people who wanted to be friends with everyone. And so he was.
Even when the Norse pushed him away, not even trying to hide his anger, Mathias kept on being the kindest and stupidest person on his college life — though it was possible to say that Lukas didn't have anyone else there. The more Mathias was rejected, the more he wanted to talk to Lukas. As if it was a challenge. He had put it in his mind, and breaking the Norse's impenetrable walls of solitude was a challenge that never seemed as though it would rip away from his mind.
Denmark's eyes suddenly opened, in a most lazy way. Norway's heart tripped on its own path, and he immediately took his hand off.
He cursed his weakness. It wasn't like him to surrender to stupid desires.
"Good morning", he said in a typically serious tone, but now trying to hide his embarrassment. "Come back to sleep. You still have a lot of time".
He quickly lifted himself up, giving his all not to blush at that time, but he felt a pressure on his left arm that deterred his runaway. Turning his eyes to where they were seconds before, he caught Mathias' glee and careful gaze.
"Stay here", he asked with a hoarse voice that sent electricity to Norway's whole body, and pulled the other one's hand invitingly.
"The two of us won't fit there", Lukas said after thinking about it for a second. It sounded like a fair excuse, seeing as the couch wouldn't even take in Mathias' size perfectly.
The Dane, however, easily pulling an unprepared Lukas to the top of his body, wrapping him around his arms like a bear. "How about this?", he asked in a humorous and sweet tone.
Lukas was about to complain and his wrist was prepared to punch Mathias, but, looking at that joyful eyes, he refrained himself. At college, these same eyes, blue like the Danish sea, ended up slowly conquering his trust.
He grinned lightly, and instantly felt Mathias' heartbeats rise up underneath him. "Don't get used".
"I'll try not to", Mathias laughed lazily. Having Lukas so close made him feel completely safe and carefree.
The man's pinetree-like smell entered his breath, and his stillness rose. It was as if he could live that way forever, never needing to worry about anything, only feeling Lukas' heat.
The Norse felt Mathias' hands starting to stroke his hair softly, just like he was doing to him some minutes ago. Lukas wouldn't admit it, but being cuddled by the taller one was one of the greatest things he had ever felt.
"And... congratulations", Lukas added, giving him a calm kiss.
"Thank you", Mathias murmured happily on his ears.