I dag...

"Tillykke med fødselsdagen! Late birthday, that is..." Denmark laughed guiltily. He usually got late birthday presents for everyone, because he forgot until the last minute. He always made sure his presents were awesome, though! But he wasn't expecting this drastic a change. Still, Norway deserved a present no matter how old he was.

"Your brain is turning to slush," Norway commented on the unfamiliar words, thinking his brother was just messing with him today. Normally he'd be extra annoying on the actual day of his birthday and say he forgot what day it was; whichever day he picked to celebrate a belated birthday was the one where he was... sweeter and more tolerable. "So, uh... how old are you? Now?"

"Could you quit talking like that? I can't understand you."

"Like what? Oh, right." Denmark had to make a conscious effort to switch back to Old Norse, like he used to when they lived together with Finland and Sweden. The first few hours Norway was here, he had to constantly remind the Dane to speak so they could understand each other. Granted, his Norwegian was a bit rusty because he hadn't spoken it for so long. It made the smaller nation feel out of place, as if there was a barrier in between them. Norway took the gift from his hand. He could feel the anticipation building up inside him as he looked at the colorful paper and crisp edges. The present didn't look... real. The way the bow shined in the light completed the unnatural effect. "Iceland helped me wrap it, I hope you don't mind." Norway turned the box over and over, removing any piece of tape he could find so it would be easier to take off the paper without ripping it. "Come on, Nor, it's... only...paper," Denmark said between breaths. The anticipation was killing him! Rip it rip it rip it come on! See what it is! Norway finally tugged the bow off and uncovered a mysterious rectangular object. "What's this?" Norway asked, pressing random buttons on the small keyboard.

"It's a... holder. For all your books, in case you want to take them somewhere." The shorter nation's eyes lit up. This mysterious item had piqued his interest.

"How?"

"What do you mean, how? Digitally. You can read stories on it. After you download them." Norway just stared at him, puzzled. "Digitally-you know, electronically? Like, not really but really? " The younger smiled.

"Den? We didn't have anything this advanced a long time ago."

Denmark remembered those times. Lighting fires every night to keep warm and huddling together. Waking up to his younger brother huddled in his coat reading by lantern light. Actually, he could also remember (accidentally) extinguishing said lantern with a snowball while trying to catch his brother's attention after a bad dream. At the time, his bad aim just made Norway upset because he couldn't read anymore and plunged them both into more darkness.

Norway thought his new age, with all its conveniences, was the complete opposite from how things were back then. Although it did still have licorice. He had found it while exploring this strange new place England brought him to after he passed out. The house looked nice and homey, with dark, firm wooden walls contrasting with the snow. He could also see through a sliding glass door a fire burning brightly. Norway figured that the reason he passed out was because of the cold ("But I'm wearing a scarf, Nii-chan!" "If you're going out skiing you need more than that- wait!"). It looked slightly different from his own, but seeing Denmark and a lack of his huge battle-ax made him feel secure. Leaving the British nation to try to explain, he hurried in the kitchen and didn't. See. Finland. Weird. No fishy smell either. Looking around and opening lots of cabinets, he found a huge stash of licorice and put some in his pocket for later. Oh man, licorice was so good! He never really let his brothers know how much he liked it, though…

"Nor, think of it like this. Technology (he held up the reader as an example) is... pretty much all the new stuff around here. Computers, cell phones, televisions..." Norway still didn't seem to get it. "You know what? Robots. Think robots. Once I got this movie from England that he said he borrowed from America with robots. Maybe if I show it to you, you'll understand?"

Norway nodded, uncertain. What was a movie?

"We need more people. It's a shame no one comes up north to have a party with us!"

"Shh!" Norway said from the floor in front of the couch, an old storybook wedged between his fingers. Reading could keep him occupied for hours. He had first plopped down on the couch, but every so often he would flip or roll over to get the blood flowing again. When that happened Norway would end up on the floor rubbing a sore tailbone. Eventually he had stopped sitting on the couch after the third time. Thus, the floor.

Denmark would have kept chattering, but he thought of a way to annoy two guests at once (Iceland was almost like a guest, since he was really quiet and the times he really talked he was like a whole separate person. Then again, everyone was quiet compared to him).

"Put me down!" The blows on Denmark's back weren't that painful, so he found it easy to keep carrying Iceland down the stairs. Easy until his puffin joined the struggle. The black bird circled Denmark's head, nipping and pulling at the messy hair.

"Come on, just watch a movie with us." Before Iceland could finish protesting he added, "It's for Nor's good."

"I fail to see how any of your movies could help...Norway? What happened?" He momentarily forgot about escaping Denmark's grasp and stared at the scene of Norway from his past. In his shock, he slipped back into his old language, the one they used to share.

"Er det bare meg, eller har du fått yngre?" Denmark had the good sense to put him down at that point. As soon as his feet hit the floor Iceland took a seat next to the small blond boy. After about five minutes of Iceland's inconspicuous glances aimed at Norway, he finally greeted him.

"Uh, yeah. Congrats."

That didn't sound like a happy birthday. It would have been nice to get one from Iceland, but maybe it wasn't wise to ask. Everything was different and it was slightly intimidating. But the new arrival thought it was nice to feel his brother's warmth again; he had been slowly scooting closer to Iceland after he sat down. It felt different, though as he had gotten taller and maybe even a little more muscular. Denmark had always been strong, but as Norway looked at him now, he could just barely see that he had also gotten older. There was a little more seriousness in his eyes than he remembered, still mixed in among the playfulness. Mr. Puffin was the only one who hadn't changed, so Norway reached down to stroke his feathers, but he pulled away and threatened to bite him. Same as ever.

Iceland pulled away, too. He glared at Denmark when Iceland knocked his book out of his hands. The youngest nation started explaining (glad people were speaking his own language again) and telling what had happened.

Apparently he just passed out and ended up in the United Kingdom, nothing weird about that. Iceland stayed silent. "At least I've moved up one notch on the Nordic height totem pole," he thought.

The tallest opened a glass cabinet and put a disc into a strange machine. Iceland slowly got up and walked to the kitchen with a puffin chattering the whole way. There was the sound of a cupboard banging open, a soft "ow" and lots of wrappers crinkling. "I could have sworn I bought more of these," mused a confused Iceland. The violet-eyed platinum blond soon returned with a black stick of licorice hanging out of his mouth. He had another bowl full of licorice in his arm so he could eat them throughout the movie. He and Norway, if he liked them. When he was older he liked them but was not crazy for them. Iceland took a seat next to Norway on the floor and set the bowl between them.

"This," Denmark tapped the top of the television, "is a tv. It shows movies, which are real life stories that people act out and are recorded for the audience's viewing pleasure. And you are about to become enlightened in the ways of technology!" Iceland rolled his eyes.

He picked up the DVD case and flipped it over. "Transformers? I thought you returned this weeks ago. Are you sure-" Denmark flipped the lights off and the movie started. Iceland's eyes glazed over from habit. Don't get him wrong, he could enjoy action movies once in a while, but after sitting through Den's 10-hour movie marathon last week he could care less.

The three Nordic countries watched the screen and an assortment of regular everyday objects, like radios or televisions or fire trucks unfold and become massive figures with glowing eyes and sharp, rotating edges. The metal characters on the screen were supposed to be looking for a cube, or something, to get back to their planet or whatever.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Iceland until they were a good bit of the way through the movie and he caught a glimpse of his brother's face next to him. It was no longer pale, but white and he was chewing nervously on a strand of licorice. Iceland grabbed the remote from the couch and pressed the read button that cut off the metal robots in mid-battle.

Denmark scowled, but softened when he saw Norway's scared face. "I thought you said this was for his own good," Iceland said quietly.

"I tried to explain the concept of technology to him, so I thought an example would help."

"Seriously? It would have been better if you called Germany, even though he would have explained it from a workaholic's perspective. He works with it so much; he would know how to explain it without scaring him. You sheep!" Denmark started laughing at his pathetic insult when Norway spoke up.

"So how long until my present turns into... a...a..."

"Calm down Nor, they're not real."

"But Den said that movies were real life stories acted out and recorded." Another sigh. Iceland put his arm around Norway's shoulder, hoping it would help.

"Oops," Denmark said sheepishly. "Well, if they were real, I could always fight them off with my trusty companion!" He grabbed an ax that had been leaning against the wall behind the couch. The blade glinted in the light as soon as he picked it up. (Norway wondered how he did not notice this.)

"So if they're not real and technology isn't that-" he shuddered "scary, then why did you show it to me?" Denmark looked down uneasily, realizing his mistake. But hey, cool robots were the cool side of technology. Seeing how Denmark felt bad about his mistake, he tried to change the subject (to something he was familiar with; he didn't want to be 'enlightened' and scared again). "So, where are Finland and Sweden?"

Translations:

I dag (Norwegian—I used this because translators don't have Old Norse): In the present

Völva-Norwegian oracle

Freyja- Norwegian goddess of love, war, and beauty

(Norwegian) Lære meg i drømmer. Berike livet mitt-Teach me in dreams. Enrich my life (This is part of a prayer I found online).

(Danish) Tillykke med fødselsdagen! - Happy birthday!

(Norwegian) Er det bare meg, eller har du fått yngre? - Is it just me, or did you get younger?