Title: The Small Things
Author: LetTheWordsFlow/AkaYuki2106
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Sweden/Finland
Summary: And I know your face like the back of my hand.
Warnings: Fluff, genswap, kissing.
Soundtrack: 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster the People, 'February Air' by Lights.
Info: Happy birthday Finn, have some fluffy gakuen genswap things

Sunlight filters through the drawn shutters, the fading day illuminating the dusty room, empty save for two figures, a female one hunched over a painting, a male one concentrated on an essay. Each on one side of the room, separating themselves for concentration's sake. In the middle of the room sits an ancient radio, songs sounding tinny as they filter through the old speakers. An announcement and Katariina sits up, the tinny music winding its way through the air. She stands up, painting forgotten as she walks over to Berwald, one aim in mind. She wraps her arm around his chest, leaning over his shoulder. "Be…" she mutters.

"Hmm?"

"Dance?"

He looks up at her in surprise, or as close as his limited expressions can manage, making her laugh a little. "I d'n't…"

"Please?"

She sits down on the desk in front of him, pushing books out of the way. "For my birthday?" The little pout on her face, and he has no choice, conceding with a blush and taking her hand. "J'st once," he mutters. She doesn't reply, just smiles and pulls him up to dance with her, dragging him to the middle of the room, and wrapping her arms around him, moving to the beat of the song slowly. Berwald is perfectly right when he says he doesn't dance, but she does, and she likes it when he awkwardly follows her, wrapping his arms around her and swaying softly, burying his head in her hair from shyness, and she likes that he sacrifices his shame for her, doing what she wants even if he hates it. She pulls back, twirling them around and laughing as his blush recedes and is replaced with a smile, small at first but growing wider as he grows more comfortable. The school is nearly empty, most students taking advantage of the half day to go home and sleep. They would be doing the same, but she really is falling behind on her work, and she knows that Berwald prefers to get his work done before he relaxes, so a trip to the art room so that she can work is duly made.

The song ends, and with one last twirl she stops moving, smiling as he presses her back lightly against the desks pushed together in the centre of the room, kissing her softly. He breaks away entirely too soon and pouting she pulls him back for a proper kiss, tangling her fingers in his hair and thrilling in the way his arms wrap around her waist, rubbing circles into her hips. Breathless she leans back as he presses soft kisses to her cheek and neck. She slides up onto the desk so he can continue kissing her neck without having to bend down so much, and buries her head in his air, inhaling his scent, soft and smelling of her home, mixed with pinewood from his earlier crafting class, and a particular Berwald-smell she has never been able to identify. She smiles as he breathes against her skin, tickling her, her smile fading as he leans back suddenly, spooked by the sound of students rushing past. As if remembering where they are he gently pulls her arms from around him and stands up, pushing his hair out of his face. Looking over to the work still on the table, he sighs softly, clearly wishing he could go back to kissing her. She'd be quite happy with that as well, pouting again as he begins to walk back to his desk, and catching his hand.

"Work," he says.

"Screw work," she replies, trying to pull him back to her.

"S'due tomorr'w," he mutters, inclining his head towards his work. "And d'nt you have t'get finished w'yours?"

Unwillingly she concedes that yes, she does have to finish at least this one off, though she's not getting very far, and watches sadly as her boyfriend crosses to his chair and sits down heavily, twisting his pen around in his hand. Finally he turns back to her and says. "I'll try n finish th's soon. Th'n w' can go."

She's okay with that.

The sun is properly fading by the time they leave, barely half an hour later, and Katariina shivers, prompting Berwald to wrap his coat around her, ignoring her rebuffs of how cold he would be, only conceding when she says that if he doesn't put his coat back on she'll make him wear hers. He considers the small, girly coat for a few seconds before silently shrugging his own back on. She wraps one of her hands in his massive ones and the two leave the school premises, watching the smaller children run around laughing.

"Do you think it'll snow?" she asks suddenly.

"Hm…s'cold enough but I d'n't know if s'wet enough. Needs ta be a l'ttle damper."

She nods silently and pushes a bit closer to him, snuggling into his warmth. They reach her home and after she puts her bag down, she starts to take off her coat. She feels a hand on her shoulder and looks back at him in surprise as he shakes his head. "G't somethin' to sh'w ya."

"The coffee shop?" she asks in surprise. It's a fancier one than they normally go to, well outside their daily budget, and she hasn't been in there in, ooh, years. The cakes are to die for.

He doesn't reply, just pulls her in. The waitress takes one look at them, and brings them over to a secluded table in the corner, sitting them down with an "Anything to drink?" and then nods at Berwald, muttering "It'll be ready in 5". Katariina decides to pretend she hasn't heard and looks at Berwald in confirmation. "Anythin' ya want," he says, "S'on me." She feels a bit bad, but then it is her birthday and Berwald probably would have treated her anyway and…she does love the specialty hot chocolate….Without thinking she orders a tall glass of the drink, and is considering ordering herself something to eat, when she glances down at the menu, and promptly reverses her decision. Prices have definitely gone up since she was last here. Berwald orders some simple coffee and looks at her. "Ya d'n't mind d'ya? I know ya l'ke this pl'ce so…"

"It's fine," she says firmly, taking his hand. "I know you've got something planned, and I don't mind any of it."

Okay so maybe that's a little lie. The fact remains that she really doesn't like people making a fuss of her birthday, and would rather people ignored it. I mean, it's nice when people said 'happy birthday' to her and she doesn't mind the presents, but she isn't big on special treatment just because of the day. She's just getting a year older; it's hardly a big thing to celebrate, especially when you consider the year. Seventeen isn't all that special. The waitress quietly serves the drinks, mouthing something at Berwald that Katariina doesn't bother to make out, preferring to get straight into the drink. She leans back, savouring the taste, and looks at Berwald as he sips his drink slowly.

It's the small things, she thinks, that are why she loves him. The small things like how he's always there when she needs him, how he always knows just how far to push before she wants to take things at her own pace, how he finds the balance between keeping her happy and keeping her going. How he always knows exactly what she wants but never tells her what it is, how he keeps her happy with little surprises, how he's always kind to her but never cold. How he tolerates and loves her. The little things like how his hand feels in hers, callouses contrasting with her smooth skin, how his body is so safe and warm, comforting her if she's scared or upset, how his eyes captivate her and keep her locked in their depths. How the soft blush dusts itself on his face when she does something unexpected. How he still flirts with her even though they've been going out for so long. How he makes her presents rather than buying them, knowing that she's always preferred homemade gifts. How he doesn't care how expensive something is if it makes her happy. The little things like how he leans into her hand when she caresses his face, how he smiles against her lips, how his breath tickles her skin and transports her away from wherever they are to somewhere brighter and happier. How she could pick out his face and his hand and his lips in the dark. All the small things that make her love him.

Her musings are interrupted as the waitress comes bearing two plates, laden with cake, one considerably more than the other. She waits with bated breath as the one with the greater amount is deposited in front of her and mutters a barely remembered thank you, as she stares at it, unable to believe it. She'd swear she'd never told on, about the cake that she had had once, a long time ago, a treat from her parents that no-one had ever been able to topple ever since, the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. Slowly, reverently, she sinks the fork into cake, trying it and…yes. It was it. The nicest food she had ever tried. She looks over at Berwald, who looks back hesitantly, waiting to see what her reaction is. She breaks out into a massive smile, not quite able to believe it. There had been a reason that she'd only had it once. "Where did you…?" she murmurs slowly. Seeing her smile he begins to give one back, and with a sense of dread she half expects there to be a massive cry of 'surprise!', all her friends and family rushing out to say happy birthday, and the empty cake shop to become filled with people she knows.

But there is no sudden noise, no explosion of people. Just him, taking her hand and smiling at her and saying "Happy birthday Katariina."

And she can't help but smile back.

She thinks after the surprise, he can't possibly have more in store, but he does. Leaving the coffee shop he takes her hand and pulls her down the road, where the local Christmas light festival is in full swing. But he doesn't stop, pulling her past the stalls and down the road to the park, filled with overspill from the festival, teenagers and young adults mainly, drink and food in hand, who have gone there to escape the children and dogs that run around in the main road. But he doesn't stop even then, taking her to a more secluded area. She has no idea what he's doing, and she allows herself to stop wondering and simply enjoy the feeling of being alone with her boyfriend, hand wrapped tightly in his as her breath ghosts in front of her face. There's a sudden lull in the sound from the festival, and checking his watch he stops, pulling her around to face him. He pulls her tight into his arms, kissing her lightly on the cheek. She can hear the voices chanting a countdown, "twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen…" and he moves his head, whispering quietly "Let it snow."

She can hear happy gasps all around her, people sighing in awe and surprise but she doesn't look up, captivated by her boyfriend's eyes and his lips, which have never looked more kissable. She only looks away when he does, leaning her head back to follow his line of sight and realising, with a silly amount of joy….
"Snow! You made it snow for me! On my birthday! Oh Be, I love you…"

And yes it's clichéd and yes it's silly but as the countdown ends and the fireworks go off and the lights switch on all the way down the road she kisses him properly, making sure he knows that nothing will get in the way of her saying thank you.

Happy birthday Finland. Katariina is my name for fem!Finland, it means 'pure', which I think suits him/her. I've seen a lot of fics with fem!Sve and Finn, but few with fem!Finn and Sve, I guess part of the backlash against the 'weak, effeminate wife Finland' that went around (/is going around?) for a bit. Anyway, this was meant to be yaoi but I felt that Finn's part suited a girl more than a boy so here she is. I know it's pretty crappy, it's been a while since I've written any fanfiction and this was written in a hurry today.

Anyway thank you for reading, and if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or critiques please leave a review!