A/N: Forgot to mention in the first chapter, Hrafn is my fan-name for Iceland. ^^; Pronounced '(H)Rah-vin' (with a light H sound; kinda breathy) which is Norse for 'raven'. I know it's a lot more awkward than Eirik or something but I fell in love with the name. _ Sorry if that's bothersome...

"Urgh, finally, I'm starved." Matthias complained, taking his seat next to Hrafn at the lunch table. Across from him Tino smiled warmly, a stark contrast to the boy sat next to him; Berwald's face was dark and serious as it usually was.

"Moi moi Matthias." Tino chirped cheerily, watching the Dane sit down and immediately begin guzzling his food.

"Hey Finny," he greeted through his bread filled mouth. Berwald gave some sort of snort, drawing the attention to him. "What're ya glowering at now?" Matthias shot back. The Swede shook his head.

"Ya t'ble m'nn'rs are atr'cious," he commented. Matthias poked his tongue out at him, spilling crumbs onto the table as he did.

"Whatever, Frankenstein. Never stopped any from liking me has it?" Hrafn blatantly ignored the two in favour of his own food and thoughts while Tino, who had learnt previously to hold his tongue and save his breath in these situations, tried to do the same to little avail.

"I'll b' gl'd ta b' the f'rst th'n, th'gh I'm pr'b'bly n't." He took another mouthful before commenting again. "'Nd Fr'nk'nst'in was the sc'ent'st, n't the m'nst'r."

"...whatever." Matthias spared him one last glare before returning his top priority to food. Tino let out a small breath he didn't know he was holding and thankfully didn't see Berwald's scary, most likely meant to be apologetic "you know how that Dane is", look sent his way.

It was even more of a relief for them when Alex showed up, a small lunch in hand, and took a seat beside them. "Hej," he greeted shortly. Berwald and Hrafn gave him nods of acknowledgement and Tino repeated his cheerful greeting.

"Alex!" Matthias exclaimed happily, pulling him close by the arm the moment he sat down. "How are ya?"

"Fine." The smaller teen wriggled and pushed away from the grasp he found himself in. "You can let go now."

"I can," he drawled, sounding as if he was contemplating it despite obviously doing nothing of the sort. "Hey Alex, you like me don't cha?" Alexander sighed, beginning to eat his apple.

"You are aware of our relationship aren't you?" he asked dryly.

"Yeah yeah, but I want you to say it!"

"Why?"

"To prove to the Swede that how I eat doesn't stop people from liking me," he replied. Not before shoving another chunk of sandwich in his mouth, accentuating his point. Alex gave him a slight look of disdain, finally managing to remove the hand from his arm.

"It is slightly off putting you know," he commented, shifting away subtly. Matthias frowned slightly but recovered quickly.

"Yeah, but you still like me!" The Norwegian shrugged, calmly nibbling at his apple. The table lapsed into mostly silence, partially broken by the aforementioned eating habits, until Matthias had finished his lunch and couldn't sit there with his mouth shut. Luckily for Alex he chose Tino as his target for conversation. Especially lucky since the topic of discussion somehow turned to over-large food Matthias had read about in the world record book, something the smaller blonde wasn't quite as well read on.

"The thing was so huge! It was hilarious!" Tino laughed at his friend's childish recount and exaggerated arm movements. Alex however eyed him up suspiciously.

"Oi anko." Matthias cut off and looked at him.

"Ja? You haven't called me that in a while."

"What's wrong with your other arm?" he asked, ignoring the second comment. "You were waving your right one around but you've barely moved your left one." The taller blonde paused for a moment before grinning sheepishly.

"So ya noticed. I think I must've pulled a muscle or something 'cause it's been really sore." He rubbed it gingerly as if to emphasize his point. Alex rolled his eyes, going back to his food, muttering something along the lines of "idiot".

"Are you sure it's alright Dan?" Tino asked. "You could always take it to the school nurse and see what she thinks about it."

"Nah, it's fine. I'm tougher than that," he assured, hitting his fist to his chest confidently. Changing the topic, he turned back to the boy beside him. "Anyway Alex, what's up with that nickname again? You haven't used it in so long I've forgotten why you even made it up." Alex made no hurry to answer, taking a long drink before replying.

"I started calling you that because of how uncoordinated you are. You waving around one arm like an idiot just then reminded me of how un-co you are, anko." Matthias snapped his fingers.

"Right! That was it. But I'm not that uncoordinated ya know," he said jovially in his defence.

"You fell off a fence the first day I met you. First impressions aren't always good, but they stick." He took another bite of food before adding "that one was pretty accurate though."

"That was one time," the Dane shot back.

"No, it was three times, then again the next day."

"We were all young once right?"

"You were thirteen; a teenager."

"And now I'm sixteen. I'm better than that."

"It was the same fence you still fall off sometimes when you walk from school to my house. Why do you even have to walk on fences anko?" he muttered as an afterthought. Tino watched their interaction contently from across the table, eyes flicking back and forth between them.

"What's got you so happy?" Hrafn asked, raising an eyebrow at the complacent smile on his friend's face. The Fin looked over to him, wearing the same smile.

"Isn't it good that your brother has someone he can talk so casually with? It's better than him being so silent all the time." The younger teen made a face and shrugged.

"You read too many psychology books Tino."

The last period of the day, and the only class that Matthias and Alex shared, was English. When the bell had rung, the other three had split up and headed off immediately, leaving the pair alone together. Well, as alone as you could get in a school hallway. Matthias was rambling on about something, trying to squeeze in the end of the story before they got to class where he'd be told to be quiet.

"Then he said he was just getting his pen from under my chair, but how lame of an excuse is that? Hey, were you listening? It was such an awesome story!" Alex pushed the boy backwards out of his personal space, sliding into his seat.

"We have class now." Matthias frowned at him but since the teacher was already in front of the board h thought better than staying and arguing. With a quick ruffle of the Norwegian's fringe he dashed off to his own seat, dumping his bag and slouching over his desk. He didn't find English very interesting obviously. Alex enjoyed the reading and the thinking but he personally couldn't sit still long enough to concentrate on that. Most lessons divulged into him and Gilbert playing paper soccer between their adjacent desks. What was the point of paying attention if you wouldn't get it anyway?

Alex still caught him up on this after the bell rang.

"I see you wasted another perfectly good lesson there anko." He commented dryly as they walked. The Dane shrugged, still tossing the balled up paper between his hands.

"No I didn't, I was practising! Next time I'll give that albino what's coming to him!" He grinned, pumping his fist into the air. Alex gave an annoyed glance to the paper as it resumed bouncing side to side.

"If you want to be as good as he is you'd have to devote every class period you have to practice. And no, that is not a suggestion." Quickly he snatched the paper out of his hands and discarded it in a passing rubbish bin. Matthias stared intently at the bin as they walked past.

"Ya know, that was my English sheet," he informed him blandly. Alex raised an eyebrow, noticing the bin getting slowly further away as they continued their pace.

"I'm not getting them." He watched the taller teen shrug. "And I guess you aren't either."

"Why bother? I can always borrow yours." He missed the small 'tch' of disapproval Alex made as they manoeuvred their way out of the school doors and onto the foot path.

"How you act like this and not fail English is beyond me." The snide comment flew right over the Dane's head and he responded with a proud smile.

"I do a lot of things that amaze you don't I? Pass classes, have a part time job, be friends with my ex..."

"That last one's just unnatural," Alex cut in.

"Other people have done the same," Matthias reasoned with a shrug.

"Yes but this is you, and your ex is Elizaveta Héderváry." This had always been a great surprise to the Norwegian, even if he didn't act like it. The two of them, (with their explosive personalities) dated for a while (not so surprising) then broke up (only slightly surprising really), then remained friends like it never happened. And they were friends before he and Matthias got together and became a treasured couple in her 'boy's love' obsession, so that shot down one theory.

"Hey, she's not so bad."

"Notice how she acts around her other ex?" Gilbert had been sporting his usual ice-pack to the head in English earlier which often only meant one thing.

"Gil's an ass though." And you're not? He kept that last thought to himself, not wanting to commit to any kind of conversation at that moment. They were still walking together, which meant Matthias had every intention of crashing at his place that afternoon. "Hey, where's Ice?" he asked suddenly, looking around like he'd find the answer hiding in the bushes.

"He's coming home later." Alex spared another glace up at his boyfriend, stating "I have homework to do tonight." He heard a small, concealed whine and rolled his eyes. "You have homework to do too."

"How do you know?"

"You always do Dan." The Dane pouted, shoving his hands sulkily into his pockets.

"Whatever. You'll help me right?" he asked, looking hopeful. Alex said nothing for a moment; he'd seen that request coming from a mile away.

"Perhaps." He decided. "Will you be quiet when you're doing the things you can do?" Matthias smiled, looking up in mock-thought.

"Perhaps." He mimicked. "Does that make this a deal?" Alex paused again for effect, then replied with the word they were both expecting..

"Perhaps."

Matthias, true to his word, has attempting his homework quietly, after their afternoon snack of course. He'd tried not to bug Alex too much as well, seeing how concentrated he was, but gave in after he got bored of doodling on the questions he had no clue how to answer. His visit stretched on into the early evening, then later evening at nearing on 8 o'clock. Homework had been finished and Matthias politely entertained for the duration of his welcome; it was leaking into the time when annoyance was building between the brothers.

"Hey Alex," Dan pestered. "Wanna play cards or something?"

"No, Dan, I just want to read." The Dane grumbled, staring at the offending book.

"Why would you wanna do that? It's boring and you can't read with two people." Alex flipped the page with a bit too much force, face darkening.

"Some of us actually enjoy intellectual activity, Matthias," he replied, stressing the teen's proper name.

"And others still have some that need to be taken care of," Hrafn mentioned from over at the coffee table, frustration evident in his tone. "So will you kindly shut it for even just a few minutes?" Matthias did quiet down, but barely for a few seconds, let alone the minutes asked of him.

"I'm bored," he complained again. "Can't we do something else?" Alex finally looked up at him pointedly.

"If you're so bored then go home already." The suggestion only made him frown more.

"I'd rather be having fun with you," he sulked.

"It's not our job to entertain you and it's nearly dinner time anyway." Alex argued, exasperated. "You should head home," he suggested in a demanding voice.

"I could stay here for dinner?" he asked hopefully. Hrafn finally threw down his pen and stood up.

"There's no reason for you to be hanging around here like some spoilt child demanding attention and food. This is our house and we've already put up with you for long enough. Just go home already!" He snapped, raising his voice at the other teen. Alex barely blinked at his younger brother, not being a stranger to Hrafn's occasional bursts of emotion. Matthias must have been used to it as well, but he knew how to react. He shrunk back for a moment before taking to his feet.

"I guess you're right," he resigned, picking up his school bag from the floor beside the couch. "I'll go." The younger's harsh face still remained, unaffected as of yet. He began walking out, pausing only for a moment. "No chance of a goodbye kiss then?" he added sheepishly, stood at the door. Alex sent him on final warning glare, overshadowed by his brother's own fuming one. "Fine," he sighed. He darted over to sneak a kiss onto the blonde head anyway before making his real exit. Once the sound of his steps on the gravel driveway had faded away Hrafn's pen returned to the paper, scribbling furiously again.

"Honestly Alex, you need to train him to stop being so clingy," he chided, anger ebbing away to frustration now that the situation was dealt with.

"You make him sound like some sort of stray dog." Alex closed his book, moving to check on dinner.

"Well if the shoe fits," he heard his brother mutter. He ignored it, leaving to the kitchen. Matthias did get clingy and annoying to a horrendous extent, but he was probably more accustomed to it than his brother. Alex would probably get to that level of anger after a week non-stop of his boyfriend, but Hrafn would probably blow his top within a day or two of 24/7 Matthias. Putting the thought out of his mind, he grabbed gloves to check how whatever concoction of said brother's cooking was doing.

I'm glad that there are people who are already beginning to like this. It'll get much more interesting soon though. As with most of you, I'm a student, so I have to be focused on a lot of other things, but hopefully you'll stick with me anyway. R&R please!