A/N: I ship this so hard. Besides that, depending on how well this does is if I'll do another DenNor fiction. Enjoy, poppets~
Matthias tilted his head at the book in front of him. He frowned and tapped the page.
"Stop that," Lukas snapped next to him. He'd been tapping and clicking his pencil for the past twenty minutes.
Matthias looked up and blinked once at the Norwegian. "I'm confused."
"Again?"
The Dane frowned. "I..." He looked down and sighed. "Never mind." He stared at the book again, trying to figure out what the word was that baffled him. The instructor had taken his phone, so Googling was impossible. He had even checked the back of the book to see if he could find the word.
The word looked completely foreign. It was spelled strangely, and had a space in between. He counted it as one word since it seemed to fit together.
Lukas sighed when he watched the Dane stare intensely at the book. "What's the word?"
Matthias dribbled through the pronunciation. "Fox...pass?"
Lukas tilted his head. "Let me see it."
Matthias pitifully slid the textbook over to Lukas.
"Oh. Faux pas," he thought of a simple way to describe the word. "It's a social blunder..." He resisted the urge to call the Dane a faux pas himself.
Matthias raised a brow. "It's spelled weird."
Lukas shrugged and went back to his own book. He'd passed the page Matthias was on over an hour ago.
"So..." He chuckled. "Berwald and Tino don't like people talking about the Finish hockey team?"
"Unless you're praising Tino's team, then no. You don't."
"And Berwarld?"
"Unless you're bashing Tino's team." He looked up from his book. "Did I say too much?"
The Dane grinned. "Probably." He took his reading glasses off and let out a dramatic sigh. "I hate reading this stupid book." He slouched over his desk and groaned.
Lukas watched him and raised a brow. He was tempted to say something mean, but his concuss stopped him. Matthias really didn't understand this class and the textbook was way too complicated for him.
The only reason he was in this class was because he'd cheated on the entrance exams. Now he was stuck truing to understand world cultures. It wouldn't be so hard if he would just pay attention or learn to care. The class was more in depth than other classes and to the Dane's misfortune, he didn't understand 90% of it. The other 10% was about things he already knew from traveling.
Lukas closed his eyes and did a mental coin flip. He was passing this class and then some. He could help Matthias out and keep his perfect grade without an issue, but then there was the problem... Working with Matthias.
The only thing that was in Matthias's favour was that he understood Lukas when he explained things. He held on to his every word, wether he understood it or not, and logged it into his database.
If he didn't know exactly what Lukas was saying, he cared enough to at least try to figure it out.
"Matthias," he began, thinking as he spoke.
"Huh?" He perked up like a dog and listened.
"Do you... need help?"
He blinked. "You mean...?"
"With this class," Lukas said impatiently. He was already regretting this.
Matthias looked at his book. "I just don't get it..."
He never knew the feeling Matthias felt. It was a burning feeling of shame and embarrassment. The Dane wasn't as stupid as he let on, but a lot of things baffled him. He had a hard head. He also knew that other students watched him struggle to answer questions in class and snicker.
"I'll help you," he began.
"Really?" Matthias looked at him like a puppy awaiting a treat.
"Only if you promise not to waste my time," he snapped.
Matthias blinked. "I- of course. I promise," he looked like he'd won the lottery.
"Good. I'll meet you at your place tonight at six, alright? If you have plans to go out drinking with Gilbert and Alfred, you might as well cancel them."
Matthias nodded. "Yeah, okay."
"Good." Lukas turned back to his desk, then suddenly heard the scraping of the desk legs on the floor. The Dane threw his arms around Lukas's neck and said, "Thank you! I owe you one!"
Lukas blushed and shoved him back. "Don't be stupid."