Finland took a seat down at the halo-shaped counter and Åland sat Next to him. Sweden took a seat by Finland's left side. In that instant Finland rotated his chair to face Sweden. He pulled a notebook from his pocket and ripped an already filled page, then handed it to Sweden.
Sweden looked at him with interest and grabbed the note. The note said: / Hey, next to your foot. / Sweden crouched to look under his chair instantly and spotted a tiny flask. He grabbed it keeping it low so no one else would notice, and turned back to Finland who was writing. Sweden was soon offered another note, and he took it. / I had an idea this conference was gonna turn out mind-numbingly boring judging from the fact that this is a theme conference without an announced theme. So, I thought you might appreciate a little stimulation. / Sweden looked at Finland skeptically after reading the note, and Finland smirked in return. That visibly provoked Sweden. He placed the flask under his thigh and reached out to Finland, motioning to hand him the notebook for more silent exchange of words. Finland gave him the notebook and the pen and Sweden began writing. / Ok, what's the catch? Why the hell would drinking during a serious meeting and getting caught and shamed be a good thing? / Sweden shoved the notebook with the pen into Finland's hands who kept smiling at him confidently. It creeped the hell out of Sweden. Just as Finland raised his pen to write, a hand touched his shoulder.
" Whatcha doing there, keeping secrets from me with my boyfriend? " Åland said jokingly leaning over Finland's shoulder. Finland shut the notebook and scowled at him. " Oh, you are? What's this about? " Åland asked and glanced over at his boyfriend. " Don't worry about it, I'll tell you on our way home, " Sweden insisted. Åland decided to take his word for it and retreated, shrugging it off. Finland's eyes followed him in irritation as he got off his shoulder.
The nerve of that guy, Finland thought and reopened his notebook. " Forget it, you can't convince me to join you in your shenanigans, " Sweden claimed but still accepted the note offered. / The thing is, there's no catch, and you don't. - Your move. / Sweden squinted at the note, then at Finland who was playing with his hat's laces and smirking at him. Finland pointed at the flap of his hat and poked it a couple times. It made a quiet chime. Sweden stared at him confused. Sweden's eyes followed as Finland moved his hand back to the lace and popped the tuft off to his other palm. He then put the lace in his mouth. Then Sweden realized, he had a flask in his hat?! Sweden didn't want to admit it at first, but this made an impression on him. He never would've guessed. Sweden snickered at Finland and turned away dismissively. He wasn't going join him for that though. Finland drank for a few seconds and then inserted the tuft back on the end all completely unnoticed. He began writing again. Sweden sighed and accepted the note again. / You don't have anything to discuss with them, otherwise you'd be drifting across the room with your chair by now. Try and sit this one out without taking a sip, I dare you. /
Sweden lifted his look from the note to Finland's eyes. Whenever Finland talked or made efforts to communicate, he felt that something wasn't quite right. But what scared Sweden, was how Finland had spent all those years of being silent on observing others, which made him good at reading people. Sweden was left speechless for a moment, then he said " As if I'd give in to such impulses. Forget it. I'm going to talk with Åland - " Sweden didn't get to finish his sentence as Finland clicked his elbow against the table and leaned against his wrist, revealing Åland's empty seat behind him. Sweden stared at it for a moment. " Did you know…? " He asked, but Finland seemed confused at his reaction and turned around to see Åland's empty seat. Åland was chattering with other autonomous regions across the table. Finland gave an amused shrug as he glanced back at Sweden. Sweden's eyebrows knitted together from irritation.
" Fine, I'll sit this through and show you how it's done. Watch me, " Sweden declared and turned towards the hollow center of the roundtable. He stared intensely at his boyfriend who was talking to Greenland, hoping he would turn his head and notice. He received no response, however.