"Hey, Lukas!" The shout was heard from across the office floor, causing many other co-workers to flinch. The blonde's head poked out from his cubicle, shouting again to see if the other had heard him. "Lukas!" He raised his voice louder, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Luk-"

"Everyone heard you the first time, dumbass."

Mathias looked up and grinned, spinning himself around in his chair to face his friend who had managed to arrive at his cubicle without his notice. He reached towards his desk, grabbing a stack of papers before handing them to Lukas. "I need these faxed by today."

Lukas raised a brow and glanced down at the documents. "Can't you do them yourself? The rest of us have work of our own, you know."

"Yeah, but you'd be doing me a huge favor! Please, I have other stuff that's going to be late if I don't finish them today and I already have a full plate. Just this once?" Mathias pleaded, his hands clamped together in a beg.

The other simply stared, his face unreadable as his friend tried to persuade him with pathetic attempts. "You said that the last three times I helped you out with your own work load." Couldn't he just own up to his responsibilities every once and awhile?

Mathias and Lukas had both met in high school a few years prior, since then they had become good friends, though most people saw it as an abusive relationship. Whenever the Dane would do something stupid, Lukas was always there to knock sense into him. Mathias was always there for him so that Lukas' life wasn't as boring anymore. As much as Lukas claimed he despised his presence, he never complained much when he was around.

This was how they ended up working together in the same town, same office building, and same floor. Of course, that was all Lukas could tolerate since he denied the Dane's idea of renting the same apartment. He considered it, but only because the price of bills would seem easier to handle rather than to pay them alone. He'd seen enough of Mathias throughout his life, he didn't need to see him living in the same home as his.

"C'mon, I pulled an all-nighter finishing up the rest of my paperwork and forgot to do those. Help a buddy out, man!" Mathias was now sporting a pout.

"No."

"I'll help split your work so I can do the other half for you!"

"How do I expect for you to do my work if you can't even finish your own?"

He did have a point. "Lunch! I'll treat you to lunch today, does that sound good?"

Lukas looked skeptical, his eyes narrowing in growing suspicion. Free food did sound appealing and it was close to lunch break, anyway. "Hm, fine. But I'm doing your work after we get back from lunch. It better be somewhere decent, I don't want to be stuck in a bar on a work day."

As Lukas began to walk away, Mathias raised his fist up silently in success. "Thanks Lukas! You're the best!"

He ignored him until he got back to his cubicle, straightening out the pile and setting it aside for his own papers. He continued to work quietly, sending an email to his boss and clocking out on his computer. He just managed to log out when a hand latched onto his forearm, dragging him out of his seat and into the aisle. Only when he was in the elevator did Mathias let him out of his grip.

Lukas brushed himself off and gave a sharp look at his kidnapper. "I should knock your teeth in for pulling a stunt like that." He glared at the hand that was now placed on his shoulder, attempting to burn it with his gaze.

"Dude, don't worry about it, no one cares. They're too busy slaving away and staring at their screens to notice anything. Besides," the elevator door opened and they walked into the lobby. "you should be happy that I'm paying for your food."

They walked a couple blocks down from their office building, both deciding to eat at a fair priced restaurant for a quick meal. The diners were all dirty and the buffet places would take too long for their scheduled time. They thought that this was the only decent place around.

Sitting at a table, they both ordered something small to save trouble. Lukas had gotten a salad while Mathias bought a hamburger, ignoring the other's complaints about getting back to work on time. "So? Alfred told me to buy one when I had the chance, anyway. This thing isn't half bad, actually." He stuck his hand out, offering the half-eaten burger to the other. "Wanna try?"

"No. Get that piece of cow out of my face." Lukas had swallowed a bit of his own food, trying not to bring it back up with the sight of the Dane's rather unhealthy eating habit. What was he, American?

"You don't know what you're missing out on." He took another bite of the large meat, chewing loudly and talking with his mouth full. Bits of his food went flying from his mouth and Lukas had to keep himself from grimacing.

"Shut up when you're eating. No one can understand you, anyway. And stop spraying your food everywhere."

"I just said we had about ten more minutes. Hurry and eat your freaking garden bowl so we can leave," he smirked, finishing off his hamburger. He wiped off his hands and paid the bill as the waiter came by with the check.

Soon, they were back in the office lobby, Mathias grinning as he walked ahead of the smaller male. They made their way to the elevator, both quiet and content with their lunch. When they reached their floor, Mathias stayed with the Norge until he got to his cubicle. He would always pass his office space when he went towards the elevator, so it wasn't out of his way.

Before Mathias had the chance to walk away, Lukas grabbed his shirt sleeve. The blond turned, curious. The only physical contact Lukas gave was when he was going to choke him, though it was something that he didn't do during work hours.

"...Hey. Thanks for lunch." Lukas avoided eye contact, deciding his desk was much more exciting to look at. Thanking someone for food was the polite way of going about things, though he was never grateful towards the Dane for anything more than staying out of his way.

He smiled, patting Lukas on the back. "No problem. I'll treat you again some other time if you want. Of course, it has to be a fair trade."

The shorter of the two let him go and he continued back to his desk, his spiky hair poking out over Lukas' cubicle walls before he sat down. He sighed and rested his head in his hands, turning on his computer before returning to Mathias' paperwork.

The rest of the day went by smoothly, the Norge's work had been sent in as well as the other's, in which Mathias was eternally grateful for. Again. Lukas cleaned up his station and headed towards the elevator, pressing the button almost impatiently as he waited.

As expected, his companion came jogging from behind, suitcase in hand as he met up with Lukas and they entered the elevator together.

"Since tomorrow's the weekend and there's no work, wanna go somewhere fun tonight?" Mathias already began undoing his suit, striping himself of his tie before throwing it over his shoulder. He unfastened his cuff-links and spread his collar out.

The Norge remained quiet, staring at the closed door as the elevator moved down to the lobby. Did he really expect him to go out and socialize with people he didn't know? He knew what Mathias was like, always wanting to go to bars and laugh with his buddies. He once dragged him along for a night and he had to watch as he got into a drinking contest with another local. Needless to say, it ended badly and he had to drive the idiot home. He agreed to never go out with him again, lest he take him out to a place that didn't smell like smoke and booze.

Mathias awaited his answer, getting nothing out of the man. The door opened, the two employees stepping out onto the tiled floor. "It's your loss," he remarked, emerging from the building and into the streets of the city, searching for his car and leaving Lukas.

Lukas looked up at the sky, grey clouds threatened over-head. The Norge had heard there was a high percent chance of rain coming and he made sure to bring an umbrella in case it rained on his way home.

"Hey, Lukas!"

Mathias pulled over at the side of the road and drove slow to follow the other on the sidewalk. "Hey man, how about I give you a lift to your place? It's gonna suck if you get stuck out in this weather." Unlike the shorter man, the Dane owned a car and he was always offering Lukas a drive home, despite the constant rejection.

As always, he refused. "I'll be fine. My apartment isn't that far, anyway." It was always the same excuse, even though his complex wasn't for another ten blocks.

Mathias shrugged and closed the window, heading down the road before slowing down just before a police car had turned into his lane.

"One day he's going to get arrested for speeding," he mumbled to himself, continuing down the sidewalk to his home. He managed to make it back to his apartment just before it started to rain, he closed the door with his foot before shedding off his shirt in the living room entrance.

His work clothes were always taken off immediately upon entering his home, mostly because he wanted to relax as soon as he could. Once he got into his bedroom, he changed out of his clothes and dressed into an unbuttoned shirt and a pair of boxers.

Contrary to the Dane's comments of him being stiff and organized all the time, Lukas was actually laid back around his apartment. Though, it was a different story when he was out in public. Of course he kept his place clean, but he wasn't some sort of neat freak like everyone saw him as.

He went towards his fridge, gathering a few containers of left-over from the night before and put them in the microwave to heat up. He really didn't want to cook dinner tonight, luckily he had saved food from yesterday for a quick meal.

Lukas decided to go to bed around ten, wanting to wake up at a decent time so he could get his chores finished before noon tomorrow. He shut off his bedroom light, crawling into his bed before closing his eyes.

Just as he finally managed to relax into bed, he heard a few hard knocks at his door. He sat up abruptly, glaring at his bedroom wall in the dark. Who the hell would be knocking at his door around this time of night?

He threw the sheets off of himself and stalked to the door, his eyes narrowing as he got closer. He yanked to door open in his temper, finding a rather unstable Dane at his doorstep. His clothes were soaked with the rain that poured outside and he looked cold.

"'Sup, Lukas!" The man slurred, a wide smile on his face as he held out his arms in an attempted hug.

"What happened to you?" The other asked, looking over his person. It was obvious that he was drunk, but considering the time of night and the fact that he was still able to stand gave the indication that he wasn't as bad off as he usually would be in Fridays. He could still talk, which was a good thing.

He moved Mathias over to the couch, the blond carefully sitting down as he went to dig through his bathroom for a box of aspirin and something for him to dry off with. Coming back, he set the two pills in Mathias' hand. "Don't take those yet, I'll get you some water," he instructed, afraid the idiot would swallow them without the use of water. He placed a towel around his shoulders and let his hair drip dry.

After Mathias was given minor treatment, Lukas knew it was just a waiting game until the Dane would sober up. He didn't have any ginger ale to help, but water was just going to have to do. He kept track of the time, counting down the hours of sleep he lost due to the drunkard on his couch.

It was half past eleven when Mathias finally returned to his proper senses. Naturally he complained about feeling slightly dizzy and he shivered. The aspirin was enough to settle the oncoming headache.

"Hey, sorry for showing up at your place so late," Mathias apologized, rubbing his head in his hands to clear away the sleep. "Alfred treated me to a few shots and I remember getting drunk in the bar. I knew I wouldn't be able to drive so I guess I ended up walking here by myself."

"You walked here?" He repeated, a worried tone slipping into his words by accident. "Mathias, if you were at the same bar I'm thinking of, you walked a mile across busy streets to get here." He slapped him on the back of the head, ignoring his whine of pain. "You idiot, you could have been hit by a car!"

Mathias looked up in surprise, pausing from nursing his injured head to see what little emotion was in the Norge's expression. He felt somewhat guilty for having him worry, but he was too busy smiling to completely notice. "So you were really worried about me, huh?"

Lukas glared, crossing his arms on the couch. "I just didn't want you dying on me. Who knows just how much trouble you could have gotten in had you not showed up here." He sighed, standing up from his seat and brushing himself off. He'd forgotten that he was dressed in the same shirt and boxers from earlier, he hoped Mathias wouldn't notice the odd change of attire. "You left your car over there, right?" The other nodded. "We'll go pick it up in the morning."

"Wait, I'm sleeping over here?" Mathias asked, confused by his sudden offer and hospitality. It wasn't unknown to the Dane, but it was a rare thing for Lukas to do.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Uh, no, sleeping here is just fine. Thanks man, I appreciate it." Mathias started his way to the bedroom, only to be stopped by a pair of hands that held onto his shoulders.

"You're sleeping on the couch, I don't want you taking up room in my bed. You already cost me almost two hours of sleep and I don't intend on losing anymore because of your snoring." He narrowed his eyes, nodding his head lightly behind him. "Besides, you already got my couch wet, I don't need to clean up another puddle of water in my room."

The other held his hands up in defeat, turning himself around as he went back to the couch. He made himself comfortable, taking up the pillows and using them as headrests. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra blanket around, would you?"

Lukas disappeared into the hall, returning with the comforter from his bed. "It gets too hot in my room, so I don't really use it," he answered before Mathias could ask. He tossed it over to the blond before going back into his room.

The Dane covered himself and laid his head down, staring up at the living room ceiling before carefully turning on his side without falling off the couch. He felt exhausted from everything that had happened, but he still felt a lingering guilt about showing up at his friend's home unannounced. It didn't make matters better that he'd shown up out of his correct state of mind. He was just grateful that his friend didn't kick him out.

Sitting up, he made one last attempt to help Lukas out by shedding his shirt and tossing it over the dry towel on the floor. At least now he wouldn't get the entire couch wet.