If I counted on my fingers the times he managed to get himself choked, I'd be a centipede. Well... Metaphorically, of course. Mathias had a tendency for upsetting Lukas, which never had ended well for either of the two, and whoever else happened to be in the room at the time.

Today was no exception to such, judging by the way he was loosening the tie from around his neck as he lay on the ground and the loud thud I had heard moments before walking into the dining room. It appeared to be happening more frequently in recent times, that I've realised. Possibly Mathias had found yet another aspect torment my brother with. From memory, I believe the first aspect had been his personality… or the floating curl. I don't quite remember honestly, it's far too long. The Dane has been around ever since I could remember, so he may have gotten bored of whatever his original reason had been. I'm quite surprised actually to how he puts up with such treatment, but more so stunned how he never ceases to say something else stupid towards Lukas a matter of hours later.

"Mathias… What were you saying this time?"

I looked down at him as he heaved heavy breaths, a pained smile forming on his lips as he caught sight of me. "Hey, Icey… W-Whatcha up to?" Alright, not the answer I was looking for, but at least his vocal chords hadn't damaged too badly. Lukas acknowledged his words with a soft grunt, not glancing away from the coffee in front of him. When living with such a person for some time, you'd eventually grow accustomed to their small gestures and the ability to read them. Hence why Tino never appeared to have a problem with Berwald's speech, they had lived together long enough. After all, he even learnt Swedish at some point.

"Planning to have some toast, if Lukas was leaving any butter this morning. There wasn't being too much left yesterday."

At the mention of his name, I felt a familiar set of eyes set on me, answering with looking back at Lukas as he nodded softly. "There is some if you are wanting it, little brother." I rolled my eyes lightly at the last two words of his sentence, he's been insistent on the two of us acting the part of the 'happy family', although naturally that had yet to happen. Despite that, Mathias seemed taken with the idea. On the odd occasion, he asks me to call him 'big bro' or 'Uncle Mathias' and similar variants of that. Thankfully though, he isn't too pushy with that.

"Thank you, I'll be back in a moment."

With that, I left the two once more, making my way towards the kitchen. For such a trivial thing, I was actually quite relieved that there had been at least a little butter left in the house. Toast always seemed to taste better when actual butter was used, not whatever alternative Berwald had sent over. Olive oil spread or something of the sort, judging by the taste, it seemed no surprise that it hadn't been touched ever since Mathias tried hiding the fact that he had used it instead of the actual spread when he offered to make us breakfast once. Yet another incident of the Dane choked with his tie. Apparently having insulted Lukas' intelligence or something of the sort, for trying to pass it off as butter. Honestly, I think he overreacts to such small things.

In fact, I felt almost sorry for Mathias at times. Well, until the point where I realise that he brings it upon himself and refuses to learn from his mistakes. Lukas is a stubborn man, not always in the best of ways. He was a difficult person to be around at times, but he isn't a bad person, he just shows compassion in odd ways. It is too bad that he's never had a partner though, that must be why Mathias' small teasing comments gets to him. I suppose I could help him find a girlfriend. It might him a little more bearable to live with. Possibly one of Ivan's sisters, they seem nice enough…

The 'pop' of the toaster distracted me from the thoughts, making my way over towards the fridge to gather the rest of the things to finish off making my breakfast. Ivan's sisters… Honestly, I could see Lukas with the younger one more so than the other. To be fair, I have not spoken all too much with Natalya, but she seems similar enough to him from what I've seen. I'll discuss it with him after breakfast. Taking my plate, I made my way back into the dining room.

"L-Lukas..?"

The sound of the plate falling was almost inaudible to me, but apparently not to Lukas and Mathias. The look of mortification couldn't have been present for more than a matter of seconds, but it certainly drew on much longer to the three of us. Before the distraction, I swear the two were… Kissing? It couldn't be, Lukas hated Mathias. Only five minutes ago he had been choking him, now he was… "Uhh... Hey, Icey." It was Mathias who broke the silence first, then again as I watched as Lukas' swift hand reached up and grasped the other's tie, causing him to loose with breath once more.