"See? What did I tell you? I'm always right!" Mathias laughed into the receiver. "Uh huh. Alright then, bye!" He hung up the phone and turned around. "Tino just called to tell me that Sweden finally opened up to him. They played all night last night." He grinned, feeling superior.

Norway looked up at him for a second before going back to licking the top of Iceland's head. The kitten had a sour look on his face and tried to pull away, but Norway had his paw on his tail preventing escape. Mathias couldn't help but laugh at them.

Mathias had found Norway when he was a kitten, laying under a park bench. He had his tail wrapped around his body, pulling himself into a tight ball. His fur was covered in filth, but it didn't seem like he had the strength to clean himself. When Mathias had picked him up he uncurled the kitten and saw he was nothing but skin and bones. The poor thing had its ribs showing.

Mathias, feeling sorry for him, took him to his home. He fed him some human food-not having any cat food or anything cat related-and a bowl of warm milk. At first Norway seemed hesitant to eat anything, probably not trusting it, but the hungry in his stomach made him forget his worry.

Mathias watched as he ate and drunk until everything was gone. After that he had given him a bath. Norway didn't like it and started to scratch him, but Mathias ignored the pain and continued to bath him until he was clean. The routine continued everyday until Norway had a normal weight and enough strength to bath himself-though Mathias continued to give him baths every once an awhile, and surprisingly Norway stopped scratching him and expected the baths.

A bond had been created between the two, though it wasn't obvious to everyone else. Mathias had wrapped a Norwegian flag around Norway's neck and named him Norway, Nor for short.

Norway had developed a deadpan expression and a personality to match it. He even seemed annoyed by Mathias cheery personality and loud voice, but Mathias didn't pay attention. For years they lived like that, just them together and no one else, until one day Norway walked through his cat door with a kitten in his mouth.

The kitten had the same white fur as Norway, but had a brown ring around his eye. He didn't have the same long hair as Norway, but it did seem fluffy and perhaps as he grew older he would get long hair as well. Mathias could swear that they were brothers, but he highly doubted it. It was just a continence.

Mathias had been curious when Norway first brought the kitten in, but he hadn't been curious about why they looked almost alike, or where Norway had found him, but rather why was Norway caring for him? In the past Mathias had tried to introduce Norway to other cats, but he would hiss at them then ignore them. If the cat tried to be friendly, Norway would scratch. Sometimes the cats fled and left him alone, other times they would fight.

Mathias often had to break up the fights. Norway could handle himself in any fight, and Mathias wasn't worried about him losing or getting hurt, but rather he was afraid Norway would hurt the other cat and have an angry owner chew him out for an hour while Norway laid in his lap, looking stoic as ever. Eventually Mathias learned to keep Norway from other cats (and certain humans).

He had to admit it was cute seeing Norway care for the kitten: He bathed it, shared his food (which was even a bigger surprise to Mathias), and curl up with it. Mathias allowed Norway to keep the kitten. He was sure its owner (if it had one) probably wouldn't notice or care the kitten missing. They probably thought it was one less mouth to feed.

He expected the kitten to be hyper and carefree, or deadpanned as Norway, but when Mathias picked him up the kitten glared at him! It didn't hiss or try to escape his grip. It just glared at him. Despite the kitten being adorable and practically a ball of fur, the glare sent shivers down his spine. He never felt such a feeling from a cat (nor would he ever admit that such a thing happened in a million years), but it gave him the perfect name.

"Iceland!" He had shouted. "Your name is Iceland. Welcome to the family little guy!"

He had borrowed an Iceland flag ribbon from Finland and tied it around the kitten's neck, making his name-and the fact he was owned-clear.

He was brought out of his reminiscing when he heard a whine followed by a hiss. He looked down at the cats. Iceland was still trying to get away from Norway. He pushed his paw against Norway's face to make him stop, but the older cat easily overpowered it and continued his cleaning. Iceland hissed, but he ignored him. He tried running again, but still couldn't escape from under Norway's paw.

Mathias decided to help out before it turned into a fight (at least on Iceland's part). He gently picked up Norway, holding him so that he was facing him. "I think that's enough bathing for today, don't you?"

Norway stared at him. He gave a small growl to show his displeasure, but once Mathias put him down, lay down on the floor and closed his eyes. Mathias smiled at Norway. Sometimes the cat listened to him, but it was very rare, so whenever he did Mathias chalked it up as a win. So far the score was two for Mathias and five hundred for Norway. He was slowly, slowly, checking up.

"I think I should get a reward." He said to Iceland. "So? What are you going to do for me?"

The small kitten slowly walked up to him and sat down by his foot. He stood still, waiting for his reward. He figured Iceland would rub against his leg, or lick his foot. Something to show he was grateful. But instead Iceland hunched his face over his shoe.

His head moved forward an inch before moving back, then repeating. His shoulders were hunched close to his neck. He made a small noise, but Mathias wasn't sure what it was. It looked like Iceland was choking or-

"Ew! Iceland!" He screamed. He stared down at the wet hair ball on his shoe, his face scrunched up in horror and sickness.

He looked at Iceland and swore the cat was smirking at him.