Tino exhales and stretches his arms over his head, then after a moment to wake himself up, he heaves himself off the old red leather arm chair, followed by a poof of dust.

Stupid, do you want to lose your job on the first day? Tino thinks to himself. Sighing, he returns an old, faded book to one of the shelves in a library he had stumbled upon when he had finished his day's paperwork. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to stay awake long enough to pick up anything from the book.

For the past week the Finn had been finishing his paperwork before lunch time, and he had usually found enough time to wander the mansion, which had actually proven to be more interesting than one would expect.

Slowly, Tino ambles through the maze of shelves in the library, attempting to figure out something to do with the rest of his day, when he hears two people talking in an open space dedicated to reading in between the rows of shelves that he was just about to enter. He stops immediately and presses his back against the nearest bookshelf, trying to be as invisible as possible.

I thought no one knew about this place! Except for… Tino's thoughts are cut off when a quiet, deep voice that could only belong to one person; Berwald. "Ah'm s'rry."

"Sorry isn't going to help you, Berwald!" a loud, exasperated voice yells in a British accent. "Why haven't you talked to him at all in the past week?"

"Ah just… he's… w'll, he d'sn't w'nt to t'lk to me," the Swede stutters, sounding nervous.

Aw, how cute! Tino thinks to himself, resisting the urge to giggle. He had no idea that behind Berwald's intimidating demeanor, he actually experienced the same emotions as everyone else. Suddenly, the Finnish man is horrified that he thought of his boss as someone with no human emotions, but he doesn't have enough time to wallow in this feeling because the conversation is already continuing.

"Yes, he does! Berwald, I'm not going to help you if you're not going to do anything!"

Sighing, Berwald pauses for a long moment, then offers, "Ah th'nk… Ah'll go t'lk to him now."

"Good! Finally, you're taking some action!"

"Ah guess ah sh'ld go f'nd 'im," the Swedish man replies, a nervousness lacing his deep voice.

"Why don't you start by turning that corner?" the British voice suggests in a tone that makes Tino sure that he knows that he's been here all along. And Tino has no doubt that said corner is the shelf he's hiding behind.

Berwald, sounding puzzled by this idea just says blankly, "M'ybe he's eatin' l'nch."

"Yes, maybe," the voice responds, sounding amused.

Tino hears footsteps leading away from the library, and after waiting a good ten minutes, he decides the coast is clear, so he hurries toward the door of the library. Remembering that Berwald was going to see if he was eating lunch, he decides to do just that.

Now, where do I go from here? Tino asks himself once he's out in the carpeted hallway. Eventually he just decides to wing it and take a left. Surprisingly, he ends up arriving at the kitchen after blindly deciding between lefts and rights.

"Tino!" a loud voice calls from the kitchen. "Want some lunch?" asks none other than Mathias.

"Sure!" he responds, smiling warmly at the Dane.

"Alright, here you go," Mathias announces, walking toward Tino with a plate in his hand, and hitting his head on one of the brass pots hanging from the ceiling by the handle. "Ow!"

Lukas snickers from the other entrance to the kitchen, having arrived just in time to witness Mathias's little stunt. He takes the plate from the Danish man and hands it to Tino while Mathias rubs his head. "Remind me again why I picked you of all people," Lukas says to his lover over his shoulder.

"Because you love me?"

"Doubtful."

Tino laughs to himself as he leaves the kitchen, still hearing them bicker behind him. He is still listening to their argument when suddenly it stops, and he starts to hear sounds that can only belong to two people kissing each other… and liking it a lot.

I-I probably shouldn't stay to hear this, he thinks. Blushing in embarrassment, he walks more quickly from the kitchen, but doesn't run in fear of dropping all of his food and having to go back there and ask for more.

He quickly settles on opening a door to his left, as the noises from the kitchen have become a bit more erotic, making Tino's face turn a light red color. When the thick, wooden door closes behind him, the sounds from inside are silenced, but that's not all Tino notices. In front of him is a beautiful garden that nearly takes his breath away. Tall, gnarled trees create a canopy of leaves over hundreds of different kinds of flowers, and an old stone path winds its way through them, and stops at a large stone labyrinth.

The only word that comes to his mind is 'wow', and almost in a daze, the Finn feels his feet slowly taking him into the old, slightly crumbling stone maze. The sounds of leaves rustling and little birds chirping suddenly stop as he enters the labyrinth, which just adds to the overall peaceful feeling. When he reaches the center, a simple stone bench sits in the middle, which Tino decides to sit down on.

In a flash, he snaps out of his daze and remembers his lunch, which he begins to slowly eat. But little does he know that he did not enter the labyrinth alone.

Berwald stands behind the last wall, hiding himself from Tino's view. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, he steps out into the clearing, already regretting it as soon as he does.

Tino looks up at him in surprise, and says happily, "Hello… Berwald!" He struggles with saying Berwald, as he finds it a bit awkward to call his boss by a personal name, but he forces himself to do it nonetheless.

"Hej," Berwald replies quietly, his face contorting into an expression that only to Berwald himself is embarrassed, but looks terrifying to anyone else. The only way it could be differed from a truly angry face is the light pink dusting his cheeks.

"Would you like to eat lunch with me?" Tino asks, gesturing to the plate in his employer's hand. He tries to ignore the expression on his face, but in all honesty it's kind of scaring him. He mentally slaps himself for thinking that about

"Ja," he replies quietly, the expression on his face intensifying. He gently sits down next to Tino, creating the biggest gap he can between the two of them.

Tino takes note of this, and decides to shift his body over a bit so that their arms are just barely touching. He isn't positive what compelled him to do it, but this position feels much less awkward somehow.

The Swede also seems to notice how much more natural this feels, and he relaxes a bit, even though he's still just as embarrassed about sitting this close to his object of affection.

"S-so Berwald, did your family build all this?" Tino asks, looking up at the trees that are gently swaying over the stone maze.

"Ja, ma gr'ndf'ther did," he tells Tino, his voice making him sound much more sure of himself than a few minutes ago.

"It's beautiful," Tino sighs. "I really like it here; this house is so nice. Although I'd like to get out some times, maybe go down to the market" he tells Berwald without thinking. He closes his mouth suddenly, embarrassed at telling his boss that.

"Would ya l'ke t' go th're t'day?" Berwald asks, not taking the comment as offence, but taking it as a chance to get to know the smaller Finnish man better.

Tino's eyes light up at the idea, and he nods childishly. Slightly ashamed at his behavior, he tries to appear less excited, but his eyes still gleam in anticipation.

"We'll go t'day th'n," he offers. He notices that Tino is done with his lunch, so he takes his empty plate and stacks it on top of his own. The Swede silently stands up and offers his hand to Tino.

Tino takes his boss's hand and pulls himself up with it. He smiles at Berwald, and the two of them walk back toward the house, never having released each other's hands.

~~oOo~~

Tino lets out a small gasp as he takes in the intricate tapestries hanging from wooden dowels. "They're so beautiful!" he exclaims quietly.

"Ja, th'y are," Berwald responds in his quiet, deep voice from behind Tino, who is not observing the cloth for sale, but is discreetly observing the Finnish man standing in front of him.

The shop owner smiles at Tino, then gasps in recognition at the sight of Berwald, who owns the entire fishing industry of the village. "A-Ah, h-hello Mr. Oxenstierna!" the man stutters, bowing slightly to him.

"Hej," he responds in his native language, nodding his head to the shop owner.

Tino doesn't notice this exchange as his eye has been caught by a beautiful piece of fabric. It's made of many different shades of blue and purple, and it depicts an ocean at sunset.

"Wh'ch one would ya l'ke?" Berwald asks Tino quietly, leaning down to say it in his ear.

Tino blushes and replies, "Y-You don't have to buy me anything!" Berwald, however, pays no heed to this response and walks over to the shop owner and purchases the long blue and purple tapestry for Tino.

"T-Thank you so much!" he exclaims, admiring the fabric which he has folded over his arm.

"No pr'blem," Berwald answers quietly, his lips twitching into a slight smile, which for the Swedish man, is a full-on grin.

Suddenly, the wind starts to pick up, and upon looking into the sky, dark clouds are quickly moving toward them. Oh no, Tino thinks. The shop owners have already started to clear away their items and are moving them into the stores.

The first drops of water start to fall, and in the distance, Tino hears thunder. Shaking nervously, he looks around wildly for shelter.

Berwald notices the Finn's urgency, so he grabs his hand and runs with him. He leads Tino down a worn dirt road, picking up the pace as the rain starts to become heavier. He finally leads him to an old church that he used to visit as a hideout when he was younger as the raindrops start to pour down on their heads. Once under the shelter, Berwald's shoulders slump in relief as the storm rages outside them. However, Tino just seems to be more on edge.

Berwald, unsure of what to do, sits down on the ground and pulls Tino down next to him, not sure if this is going to help at all.

A loud burst of thunder claps outside, and Tino jumps into Berwald's lap, shaking like a leaf. He wraps his arms around the Swede's torso and buries his face into the crook of his neck, his shaking slowly subsiding. The thunder keeps rumbling on, and Tino's mind is so laced with fear that he doesn't even realize the position he and his boss are in.

Berwald blushes bright red, and is suddenly thankful for the darkness, which is doing an excellent job at concealing his mortified facial expression. After a few minutes of this, he finally hesitantly wraps his arms around the shaking Finn, who seems to relax a bit under his touch. Berwald hopes that Tino can't hear his heart, which is pounding faster than he ever thought it could.

Finally, the thunder ceases, and Tino's mind flutters back to reality. He pushes himself off Berwald, and his eyes widen in shock and embarrassment. He pulls away so that he and Berwald's noses are almost touching, and both are looking at each other with equally as red, blushing faces.

"A-Ah! S-Sorry!" Tino squeaks, scrambling to try and get off of his employer, positive that he's going to lose his job now.

"S'okej," the taller blonde whispers, pulling Tino back down into an embrace. Not even thinking of what he's doing, Berwald's lips brush over the Finn's forehead so lightly it could even be taken as a mistake, and then buries his face in Tino's blonde hair.

Blushing even brighter now, Tino hugs Berwald back and relaxes into the embrace. Slowly, he falls asleep in his employer's arms, feeling safer than he has in a while.

Berwald lets Tino sleep on him for a while as he waits for the storm to pass, and when the coast is all clear, he separates the two of them and lifts Tino up bridal style.

Berwald blushes in embarrassment when Tino automatically clasps his hands around the Swede's neck and nuzzles his face into his chest. Berwald's heartbeat picks up, and he pushes open the church doors with his back so as not to disturb Tino, and steps out into the surprisingly peaceful night air. He slowly makes his way back toward his mansion, pausing to look down often, just to make sure that it's not a dream, and that Tino is still there.

Finally he reaches his large house and carries a sleeping Tino up into his bedroom. Berwald is about to place Tino on his bed and go back to his own room, but he can't bring himself to do it, so he brings them both to his room.

Berwald pulls back the covers and gently rests Tino on his bed, then climbs in with him. He's nervous about touching Tino, so he carefully inches away from him, only to have Tino latch onto him and cuddle with the Swede. Blushing, the tall blonde hugs the smaller man back, and gradually falls asleep with his face buried in Tino's hair.

~~oOo~~

Tino yawns and opens his eyes lazily, only to be greeted by the sight of a sleeping Berwald with his arms around him. He is genuinely baffled for a moment, but then the events of last night come back to him, and he smiles at how sweet Berwald was last night, and continues to snuggle with him. He closes his eyes again, awake, but relaxing in the Swede's arms.

Eventually Berwald wakes up to Tino still in his arms and he sighs gratefully, glad that it wasn't just a dream, which is something he had been worrying about all night, only to open his eyes and find Tino still there.

Tino opens his eyes when he notices that Berwald is up, and smiles tiredly at him. "G'morning, Berwald,"

"M'rnin'" Berwald replies, feeling happier than he had in ages.

"Want to go get breakfast with me?" Tino asks happily. He sits up and stretches his arms, and Berwald follows suit.

"Ja," he replies, getting out of bed, and offering his hand to Tino to help him do the same.

The two walk down the hallway to the kitchen in a comfortable silence, the sleeves of their shirts brushing against each other with every step they take.

When they enter the kitchen, Mathias looks at the two of them, wearing the same clothes from yesterday with bedhead, and smirks. "Hey, Lukas! I told you these two were going to do it!"

Tino looks confused for a moment, before he realizes what the Dane is referring to. Waving his hands around pathetically, he stutters, "Wh-what? N-No! We didn't! I-It's not what it looks like!"

Berwald just shrugs helplessly, and though he'd never admit it to anyone, he wouldn't mind if they had done what Mathias suggested.

"Well, I'm guessing you two want some breakfast?" Lukas asks, smirking at Tino to embarrass him anymore. Tino opens his mouth to protest, but Lukas stops him, "Yeah, I know you didn't do anything. Don't worry." He walks over to the two of them and hands them both a plate.

"Oh, Berwald!" The Norwegian calls out as Tino and Berwald walk toward the dining hall. "I finally found my little brother Emil! Would you mind hiring him to work on cleaning the house with me?" he asks hopefully. "Come on out Emil!" he calls behind his shoulder.

A grumpy, tired looking boy with silver hair and purple eyes enters the kitchen from the back door. "Hi," he says simply.

Berwald's eyes scan over him, and finally he agrees, "Ja."

Tino looks up at the Swede in admiration as they leave the kitchen. "That was so nice, Berwald!"

"…Th'nks," he mutters, embarrassed at Tino's reaction. Behind them, they can hear Lukas giving Emil the usual tour around the mansion. "W'll… I h've s'me p'perw'rk to do… so Ah'll see ya l'ter," he announces, regretting having to leave Tino after all the progress he's made.

"Oh! That's okay!" Tino replies, hiding his disappointment. He himself can't figure out why this upsets him, but he shrugs it off and goes off to eat alone in the dining hall while Berwald walks up to his office.

~~oOo~~

Berwald sighs and sits down in his office chair, mentally and physically exhausted.

"You did much better than I thought you would," a familiar voice comments in a British accent.

"Ah did?" Berwald asks, dumbfounded.

"Yes. Something tells me Tino is starting to like being around you," Arthur mentions, his tone of voice stating that he clearly knows something Berwald doesn't.

Wh't do ya mean?" the Swede asks, clearly baffled.

"Let's just say… why don't you hurry back down stairs and finish off your breakfast with Mr. Vainamoinen?" Arthur says in an amused tone of voice.

"Ah… Ah already t'ld 'im th't Ah h'd w'rk to do," Berwald reminds Arthur, positive that he already knew this tidbit of information.

"Sure you did… but I think he'd be pleasantly surprised if you did."

"But…"

"Bloody hell, Berwald! Just hurry down there or you're going to miss it!" And with that, Berwald grabs his plate and hurried down the hallway to his precious Tino.

~~oOo~~

A/N: Crappy second chapter is crappy…

Sorry about this fail DX Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I'm having so much fun writing SuFin, I just love this couple X3

Anyway, I haven't officially moved yet because the damn mortgage company postponed it 2 days, but the people we bought the house from said we could unload our furniture and stuff into the house, because they've already moved out, so yay!
Okie dokie,

Have a lovely week my little pygmy puffs!

-Alison