A/N: This series of stories was inspired by 'Wolfy Tales' series On Repeat which I absolutely loved and the concept of writing a series of one shots for different AUs instead of writing a chaptered fanfic for one AU appealed to me. I will be interpreting these AUs in my own way and we'll just see how it goes from there.
I'll get my prompts from tumblr but please feel free to give me your own prompts/AUs in reviews/PM/tumblr/etc.!
Everyone thinks they're dating and then they start wondering if they're dating
...
"So, you and Norway, eh?"
Belarus snapped her head up from her notes and she narrowed her eyes at the Blond in front of her. Poland would have looked indifferent, if not for the grin on his face. He inwardly giggled at the fierce expression she had on, oh she made this too easy.
"Excuse me?" Her tone had the same sharp edge that used to draw a harsh shiver down his spine when he was younger.
"Oh come on Belarus, it's easy to see that you and were making bedroom eyes at each other the entire time. Plus, what was that I heard about 'meeting up later' hm? You two have been 'meeting up' for quite some time now."
Poland's face brightened up considerably when her own face had flushed slightly.
"We were not making 'bedroom eyes' at each other!" Belarus shot back, making quotation marks with her fingers to emphasize her point. "We were just empathizing with each other for having to sit through that pointless and loud meeting with two hung over siblings."
He recalled seeing Ukraine and Russia, both slumped onto their younger sister's shoulders, bearing heavy dark circles and bed hair. Denmark and Iceland as well, though Norway wasn't as kind and hadn't offered his shoulders as support.
But instead of dropping it at that he merely shrugged. "And about meeting each other later? Is this a friends with benefits kind of thing? Should I tell Ukraine and Russia that their little sister's innocence is in danger?"
Her face contorted as she pulled her upper lip up into a snarl. "Shut up! He's teaching me magic because he explains much more clearly than Romania or England and I tolerate his existence more. And you can kiss our late night sleepovers goodbye if you even breathe a word of that lie to Ukraine or Russia!"
Poland gasped in true horror. "You wouldn't! You like them just as much as me!"
She turned back to her notes solemnly and began to gather them up after a quick glance at the clock. She was going to be late if she continued to banter on with Poland. "It is a price I'm willing to make."
He narrowed his eyes at her, frown in place and sighed. "Fine, whatever, I won't rat you out. Not like everyone in the room couldn't see how buddy buddy you two have been lately. Just go and play witches and wizards with Norway."
Belarus rolled her eyes in exasperation and pushed past him. "Nothing to rat me out about or to see, now good night."
.
Her heels clacked against the stone pathway noisily and she silently cursed Norway for living in such a recluse area. She just had to have a hermit for a friend didn't she? Trudging through the forest in high heels was not the best idea, but as she couldn't have changed her clothes and been on time after dropping her notes off with her boss she would have to make do.
Once his home came into view she quickened her pace, hoping that she wasn't too late. She knocked on his door three times before shedding off her heels, clicking her tongue at the small blisters on her feet.
Norway opened the door and raised an eyebrow at her bare feet and the heels in her hand. "Though I'm flattered that you dressed up for the occasion, high heels aren't exactly the type of sh-"
"Yeah, I know, stop talking." She muttered and ducked under his arm and into his home.
"Norway may I please come in?" He asked in slightly high pitched voice that she could only assume was him mocking her. "Why of course Belarus, please make yourself at home." He answered himself and she groaned.
"Coffee?" he asked as he dodged the heels she had thrown at him. Norway didn't seem to mind the attack but noted that it was a little more lackluster than usual.
"Whiskey." Her answer muffled as she dropped down face first onto his couch. She inhaled deeply and sighed into the cushion.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Liar, you hate whiskey unless you're annoyed and tired."
"Can we just get onto the lesson?"
"Can't, your aura is all messed up and distressed. You'll lose concentration and accidentally set me on fire…again."
Her head moved up enough so she could glare at him. "That was once."
Norway gave her a pointed stare that made her glare waver slightly. "…twice."
His stare continued. "Okay, three times! I'm not good at magic under pressure." He relented his gaze and motioned for her to sit up.
She complied and he dropped down onto the couch next to her. "So is my favorite student going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to ask Ice?"
Her nose wrinkled slightly at the title he had bestowed her. "Favorite student? I'm your only student."
"Not really, I tried teaching Ice a couple times but he didn't have such a high affinity with magic like you do, plus you are much prettier to look at."
Belarus snorted softly and elbowed him in the ribs, ignoring his slight yelp. "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me."
He shrugged and rubbed his sore ribs. "You should humor me every once and a while, maybe fake a blush or two so I know that my charming nature hasn't blinked out of existence."
She scoffed. "When have you ever been charming? You're just an old man who tells snarky jokes and knits sweaters."
"I've always been charming, ask anyone. You're just bitter because I knit better sweaters than you."
Belarus glared at him and pushed him with her shoulder, rather annoyed when he didn't even budge. He instead looked down at her and smirked. She huffed and pushed his face away. "Yes well, you were never charming to me."
Norway shrugged and took her hand away from his face. "I was, you just never noticed, now stop avoiding my question. What is wrong?"
She couldn't help but notice that he still had a firm grip on her wrist. Belarus shrugged and looked away.
"Natalya," She tensed up at the use of her human alias, the one that Norway rarely ever used. "Will you please just tell me what's wrong so we can get on with the lesson and laugh when you turn my hair blue."
Belarus sighed, she'd rather deal with his cold and blunt tone. His warm and caring one was much too familiar and friendly for her to brush aside. "Poland thinks we're dating and apparently it is so blatant that everyone else who cares thinks so as well."
Norway raised an eyebrow at this and brushed his thumb against the underside of her wrist. "Really? I thought that we were doing rather well with subtlety."
She glared at him, how could he be amused with this? "It doesn't bother you that everyone thinks that we're dating even though we're just friends?" Her eyes dart down to her wrist where he was still smoothing his thumb against the underside of her wrist near her pulse.
He shrugged and dropped her wrist when he noticed where her eyes were looking. "Rumors happen, in a decade or so they may fade. You also have to admit that we can't really blame them."
Belarus crossed her arms and turned herself to face him. "And by that you mean?"
"I mean that you come to my house whenever there are meetings held on my land and even when there aren't meetings being held here you go out of your way to visit me as well-"
"You're my teacher what do you expect?!"
"We often treat each other out or cook for each other at each other's homes, or rather I cook and you order food-"
"Thank you for pointing out my lacking culinary skills,"
"We pass notes during meetings and spend a rather extensive time giving each other stupid looks-"
"Not bedroom eyes."
"Of course not, you just glare at people then look at me in exasperation, far from bedroom eyes." Norway said in agreement and Belarus nodded her approval. "But you also have to admit, that we give each other gifts at random."
She thought about it for a moment, considering the fact that they did actually give each other gifts when there was no special reason to, whether it be knives for her collection, spell books that she had found during her travels, cooking books that he passive-aggressively gave her as a joke and a nudge for her to improve her cooking, or other miscellaneous items that made the them think of other.
'But isn't that what friends do?' Belarus thought to herself and looked up at him for clarification.
"Plus we do touch each other more than most nations do."
"Please tell me you didn't do that innuendo on purpose."
He smirked at her disgusted face and ruffled her hair, laughing when the disgust melted into annoyance. Years ago he wouldn't have dared to touch her and she would never had allowed it, but now the most she would ever give him were bloody lips and black eyes.
"You know what I mean. In others eyes we go through the antics of a couple."
"We're just close friends!" She protested and leaned back so her legs were sprawled over his lap and her head cushioned on one of the numerous pillows that he had. Her fingers raked through her hair and her frown deepened at the mess he made.
"Give it a couple years Belarus." Norway said in an attempt to comfort her and she sighed.
"That didn't make me feel better."
"I know," He gave her shin a pat. "Come on, you're not as distressed and your aura isn't all gross anymore."
.
"I hate you." Belarus growled and tugged at her now pastel green hair. "This was supposed to turn your hair green, you even agreed to it!"
Norway was barely containing the giggles as she paced around the room, tugging at her hair and muttering obscenities. "Sorry, it was a reflex I swear."
He was supposed to take the spell she had casted but out of 'reflex' he had pulled up a barrier that deflected the spell back onto her.
"If it helps you look very nice with green hair?"
Belarus glared at him and paused from her pacing. "I'm going to punch you if you don't fix my hair."
He held his hands up in slight surrender when he noticed her begin to advance towards him. "But green is quite fetching on you Belarus." He caught her fist before it could catch him on the cheek and pulled her towards him.
Norway held her close to him in a firm but not crushing grip, noting that she only stiffened in his arms but didn't struggle. He breathed out a few counter-enchantments and blew on her hair gently, the green fading out to reveal the pale blonde.
"There, no need to punch out my teeth now." He let go of her fist and smoothed down her hair, an action that usually soothed her but now only made her stiffen in his arm. Norway couldn't help but notice that her aura was taking on that distressed state it had earlier.
He let go of her and made a move to step back but the hand she had infront of his chest grabbed the fabric of his shirt to keep him from retreating.
"Norway, we're friends, correct?"
He cocked his head to the side and examined her. Her head was tilted down and her hair shielded her face from view. Uh oh, he didn't like where this was going. "Yes, very close friends."
"Close enough where if I asked a stupid question and you answered honestly we wouldn't allow it to ruin that friendship?"
"You just asked a stupid question, but yes, I always tell the truth anyways."
Norway heard her scoff softly. "Right, like how you didn't lie to me about my many clothing mishaps."
"I didn't lie, you always asked me if you looked fine and I always answered with-"
"You look beautiful, right. Never asking for your opinion ever again."
"Sorry, the view was too good to pass up." He answered honestly and let out a small gasp of pain when she pinched him through his shirt.
"Pervert." The insult was half-hearted and he pulled her hand away from his shirt and lifted her chin with his other hand.
"Your stupid question?" Her skin felt smooth compared to the rough calluses on his hands as he stroked her cheek softly with his thumb. Touches like these were common for them, soft touches, pats on the heads, rough punches and shoves, their physical body language spoke more than they did. Usually these touches were comforting and made them both feel lighter, but now, it just felt intimate, like something a lover would do.
Belarus took a deep breath and refused to lean into his touch as his hand slid from her chin to cup her cheek. "Belarus?"
"Would you, hypothetically speaking of course, ever love me?"
The hand on her cheek twitched slightly. Well, Belarus was never one for beating around the bush.
Norway couldn't say that he wasn't surprised, but at the same time he had somewhat suspected it. They had good chemistry, he cared for her and she cared for him, spent a decent amount of time together, and could communicate with each other with just a few exaggerated (or subtle depending on the circumstance) looks.
Hell, she had even 'confessed' to him a couple times before, but after 12 shots of vodka and a cup or two of whiskey, Belarus loved everybody. Question was, did he love her, hypothetically or whatever she had said to try and save herself from looking too foolish.
She was perfect and flawed in many ways, she made him laugh and warm. Belarus terrified him in ways that no one else could, but at the same time he could feel his best when wrapped in her arms and being fiercely protected by her, no matter how embarrassing he said it was to be protected by someone so tiny.
He knew as much about her as she knew him and it felt nice to have someone outside of his family who knew more about him than just from a text book or the old whispered rumors from when they were all young.
It felt even better when he knew his trust was mutual as she shared her own stories. To a nation, their stories were important and personal, even more so than a mortal's, it was the bane to their identities.
Norway knew about love and comfort and heartache. He felt comfort with Belarus when she'd give him hugs or soft whispers of encouragement, heartache when she cried softly after one of their many late night talks, and a different type of ache when she smiled at him and only him. It felt different from the love he had felt in his past.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when the soft weight in his palm was gone as Belarus had stepped out of reach. "Sorry, that was stupid to ask, even for me." Belarus bowed her head slightly. "Thanks for the lesson Norway, but it's late and I should head back to my hotel before Ukraine and Russia begin to worry."
She turned on her heel and hurried out while Norway stood there like an idiot.
The slam of the front door brought him out of his trance. A look at the clock told him it was already well over 11 o'clock and though he didn't doubt her ability to protect herself, Belarus had a terrible sense of direction when it was dark.
Having his friend (girlfriend?), wander around the woods in the dark in those stupid high heels she had worn did not sound like a good idea at all.
He hurried out after her, grabbing his coat and scarf before heading out into the dark.
.
Norway had found her fairly quickly, using a spell he had often used when he was younger and Iceland had been prone to wandering off. He was surprised to see that she wasn't very far and that she had sat down at the base of a tree.
"Belarus?" He asked cautiously and she sighed.
"I should've kept walking." Norway frowned and knelt down beside her, noticing in the faint light that the heel to one of her shoes had snapped and the fabric of her stockings were ripped. Her left ankle was swelling and bruised a dark purple.
"You were gone for 10 minutes and managed to sprain your ankle." Belarus huffed and brought her right leg up to her chest.
"Go away Norway, I'll be fine." He scoffed and, much to her displeasure, flicked her forehead.
"Right, I'll just leave and let the spirits and other magical creatures take you away and never let me see you." His words dripped with sarcasm and he gave her a hard look. "I'm going to carry you home, no you don't get a choice." He added the last part quickly when she opened her mouth.
She shut her mouth and crossed her arms defiantly. "No."
He rolled his eyes and picked her up easily, keeping her ankle in mind, before turning around and heading for the direction of his home.
They walked in an uncomfortable silence that didn't really bother Norway since he knew that Belarus would break it eventually.
"Why didn't you answer my question?"
Ah, there it is.
Norway kept walking for a while without answering either of her questions just to annoy her. When she hit her head against his collar bone harshly, he choked back an undignified scream of pain and glared down at her. Her own cold violet eyes glared back.
To his surprise they were slightly red-rimmed and he immediately felt a twinge of guilt for his childish actions.
"I was thinking about how to answer and you never had much patience so you left before I could properly think of something appropriate to say. Hypothetically and realistically speaking, I could love you as most people in romantic relationships 'love' each other, but we aren't most people so we'll have to work on that."
She allowed his words to sink in before a small blush made its way up to her face and she turned away from him so he wouldn't notice. "But we aren't-"
"In a romantic relationship? Technically speaking, yes we are."
"But we don't-"
"Have romantic feelings for each other? I'm actually quite fond of you and the many times that you've told me that you loved me when you were drunk does raise a few questions."
Belarus flushed and turned to look at him angrily. "I was drunk!"
Norway shrugged and paused slightly to hold her in a better position in his arms. "Isn't there a saying about drunks and how they tell the truth or something like that?"
She could detect the small bits of amusement in his voice and huffed. "You're impossible."
"Mm-hm, but you adore me." He smirked at the flushes of color on her face and considered teasing her about it but decided that if he did he would soon be sporting a broken nose.
Instead of giving him a broken nose, she settled with elbowing him in the sternum and laying her head comfortably in the crook of his neck. "Adoration will only get you so far."
Now it was he who had turned a pretty shade of pink, his ears stained with the color as well. If Belarus had looked up she would have laughed and teased him for days for being so flustered over such a small statement.
It was her first (sober) direct statement about how she felt about him and it stirred a bit of pride and happiness in him that made him feel like a school girl. Not at all like the emotionally inept old man that everyone always teased him to be.
"…Oh." Norway said quietly as they reached his home. "So, are we, as you youngsters say, an item?"
Belarus rolled her eyes and opened the door before settling back in his arms. "You have yet to properly woo me old timer, ask in a year."
He settled her down on the couch and went about taking care of her ankle in silence, noting that it was no longer uncomfortable and heavy.
.
Norway finished giving her ankle the traditional treatment it needed and took a step back to examine his work. Not too shabby if he didn't say so himself.
Belarus didn't seem to notice, her focus on the thick, weathered spell book that she had given him years ago. She honestly thought that his fussing over her sprained ankle was quite unnecessary as it would probably be healed in the morning after some ice, but it was kind of nice being taken care of.
"I give it a month." He said finally, breaking the silence that they had kept throughout the process of healing her ankle.
"Hm?" She grunted without even looking up from the yellowed pages.
"To properly woo you, I'll only need a month." Belarus looked up with a raised eyebrow. He didn't look smug or overconfident or anything like that. Hell, he was still looking at her ankle as if he hadn't just said something really cocky.
"Well aren't you confident." She said dryly and went back to reading her book.
"Not really, it was just an observation. We've been dating for about 10 or so years so it shouldn't take too long."
"Over confidence will be your downfall." Belarus then patted the space next to her for him to sit down. "And we weren't dating."
Norway complied obediently and leaned his head onto hers, scanning over the pages with her. "Are we dating now?"
"Hn." She grunted quietly and pressed her upper arm against his.
He took this as a yes.
.