The sunlight began seeping through the shades in Sweden's room. He was one of the few lucky people who had their own dorm. At least, his own dorm until school actually started. Most of the students weren't at the academy yet. The only ones who were there was because of band camp or sports. Once school actually started, Sweden might not have his own room. But he didn't mind. He started to wake up, when the announcements came on.
-"Report time for band camp will be delayed two hours today due to weather"-
'Th't's n'ce… I c'n sle'p m're,' He thought as he drifted off to sleep.
"To the ready!" The drum major shouted at the band. Due to thunderstorms, band camp had been delayed, but quickly started up at ten in the morning. They were in the first set of the last song, in resting position, waiting for the command. It happened to be that Denmark and Norway were standing next to each other during this set.
"Hey… Norway," Denmark whispered a bit too loudly for it to really be considered a whisper.
Norway sighed, then looked over at Denmark. He had to give him a chance. It just wouldn't be fair if he didn't. "Yeah?" He whispered back. At least Norway could actually whisper.
"I want to apologize… for being annoying. And loud," He hesitated. "And for calling you Norge. I'll only call you Norway, if you want me to."
He sulked at the mentioning of the nickname Norge. The way it became his nickname was, unfortunately, a memory he'd never forget. Maybe he shouldn't punch people in the face anymore. Then they wouldn't come up with stupid names on accident. "I never said… that I didn't want you to call me Norge. I just said I didn't like it."
Denmark grinned from ear to ear. Norway had talked to him, and it wasn't actually that bad of a comment. "You got it, Norge!"
"Now stop talking to me. We're supposed to be to the ready. Not talking." Norway turned and faced towards the drum major. There were advantages to not being in the very front of the band.
The day went on, and Norway and Denmark kept talking about pointless things, nothing really important to either of them. But it made Denmark happy. Currently, he was standing a fair distant from Norway, but he couldn't stop thinking about him. 'I wonder how he's doing… Is he tired, too? I hope he doesn't get sun burnt…' They just kept running through his head. 'Why… why am I thinking about you so much? Why do I want to be your friend? Why do I want to hug you… even though I don't even like hugs.' He continued to ponder, looking over at Norway constantly. Norway turned to the side, talking to someone and even smiling. 'He looks so cute when he actually smiles…' Denmark sat there for a bit.
"Wha-What the hell?" He shouted out loud. A lot of people turned to look at him, and he just blushed. "My bad… that wasn't supposed to be out loud." He glanced over at Norway again. Apparently he didn't hear it, because he continued to look at whoever he was talking to. 'Do I… like him?' Denmark asked himself, in complete disbelief. 'I mean… I thought I was straight… but I guess stuff like this happens. So I'll just accept it. Wait. No. There's no way I like him. I can't. Everything will be so messed up if I did. I'll just end up finding a really hot girl and liking her instead. Yeah. I don't like Norway.' He kept arguing to himself. Then the drum majors went over to the low brass and worked on their formation, calling a sitting break for the trumpets. Norway walked over.
"I've gotten the impression that you want to be friends. And I really want to… uhh… I mean... I kind of want to join your group of friends." Norway told Denmark as he walked over. Denmark gave a shocked look at what he just told him. Quickly, Norway interjected with "But… it's just because Iceland thinks you guys are awesome. That's all."
Denmark looked slightly hurt, but quickly brightened up. "Norge, I knew you'd come to your senses!" Inside, he was absolutely freaking out. 'There's no way he'd like me. Especially since he just wants to join of group of friends because of his brother, Iceland. That's the only reason.' He continued to talk to Norway. 'Wait. I. Don't. Like. Him.'
"You look stupid at this moment. Are you okay?" Norway said as-a-matter-of-factly. He wasn't too kind when it came to the truth. He always just said it.
"Hunh? Yeah I'm fine. I'm just… tired," Denmark replied. Just then, the band director announced lunch break. Everyone began making their way back to the band room, and Norway quickly walked away to Iceland. 'There goes my chance to talk to him more…' Soon afterwards, Finland and Sweden caught up to Denmark.
"Hey, Denmark. Where do you want to eat?" Finland asked.
"Uhhh…." He continued watching Norway as he was walking away, completely forgetting to answer the question in the first place.
"D'nmark?" Sweden tried to get his attention, but finally decided to just walk right in front of him. "Wh't w're ya l'oking at?"
Denmark snapped out of it. "N-nothing. I'm just tired, that's all. We should… follow Norge and Aisu and see where they're eating. Norway said he wanted to join our group, so we might as well ask."
"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Finland replied. He ran to catch up to Norway and Iceland. "Hey! Norway! Iceland!" They turned around and waited for him to get to where they were. "Where are you guys going to eat? We decided we'd join you…"
"W-we were going to eat out… in the lobby… B-but you guys can join us if you want," Iceland replied, his shy exterior was back after his anger outbreak the day before.
"Sure, that's fine. Too bad it's not air conditioned, though…" Denmark answered.
"Well…. We could always eat across the street again," Tino suggested. With that, the newly formed grouped headed out of school. Not too much discussion had occurred, other than Denmark trying to break the silence. It would take a while for the group to be less awkward.
"Hey Denmark, what're you doing?" Tino asked as he was shoving a burger into his mouth. They were all really hungry from working so hard in band camp.
"Uhhhh… just thinking," He replied. Denmark had been spacing out again, pondering about what he should do with his situation of liking Norway.
"Wh't ya th'nkin' 'bout?" Berwald questioned Denmark.
'I can't tell them the truth yet… but maybe I can impress Norway. What am I good at?' Denmark looked at the pack of cards sitting in the middle of the table. Iceland had brought them there in case the group became bored. "Only about my latest card trick!" He grinned. "Wanna see it?"
"You're tell me that you can actually perform a card trick?" Norway retorted, crossing his arms in disbelief.
"Yes, in fact I can. I'll prove it to you. But first, let me show you my trick shuffles!" He exclaimed as he picked up the pack of cards. "Firstly, the Air Shuffle." Denmark shuffled the cards in the air, not even touching the table.
"And this is supposed to impress us?" Norway continued. He had a very bored expression lingering on his face.
"Nope. That's just my warm-up. How about… the Behind the Back Shuffle." Denmark put his hands behind his back and shuffled without even looking. Norway gained interest at this point. "Behind the Head Shuffle," He did the same exact thing, except behind his back. "And lastly… the one that seems to impress people the most, Under the Leg Shuffle." Denmark stood up on one leg and lifted his other. Then, putting his hands under his leg and stretching out, he shuffled.
Tino whistled. "Now that takes some serious skill."
"You sh'uld p'rform that f'r t'h t'lent sh'w…" Berwald suggested.
"Y-yeah, that was great, Denmark!" Iceland exclaimed. "What'd you think about that, Norway?"
"Hmph. Nothing too impressive," He replied nonchalantly.
"Well at least give me a chance to show you the trick," Denmark said.
Norway looked at him, scowling. "Fine. But don't be surprised if I already know how it works."
Denmark grinned as he gripped the deck in anticipation. 'I hope I don't mess this up.' He started flipping cards, face up, on the table. Sweden and Iceland had looked away, apparently not interested and started their own conversation. Denmark looked at the third card that was placed down inconspicuously. 'Five of hearts,' He said to himself. "Okay, tell me when you want me to stop."
"Stop," Norway replied after the 27th card. Denmark put the cards into a pile, not changing their positions. Then he let the bottom third of the pile sit on the table, went to the left of that and created a second pile, and placed the third pile in the middle of the two.
He took the top two cards off the middle pile, and put each of them on either the right or left pile. "Pick up this card," Denmark said while pointing to the top card on the middle pile. "And look at it. You can show Finland, but make sure I don't see it. Also, remember the card."
Norway showed Finland. He nodded. "We got it."
"Now I'm going to put these cards together into one deck again and shuffle. If you wish to, you can shuffle them." He offered the deck to Norway, but Norway shook his head.
"I figure that if you're offering it, then shuffling it wouldn't do anything to stop the trick from working," He replied.
Denmark grinned. 'He's really smart… And that look he gave me was just amazing.' He sighed, then started flipping over the cards again, this time not saying anything, and made sure every single card could be seen. After a while, the five of hearts showed up, but he continued flipping over cards. When he got close to the bottom of the deck, Denmark said "The next card I will flip over will be your card. Would you like to bet and say it isn't? I have a dollar." Everyone shook their heads. "You guys are boring…" He laughed. Then, looking at the five of hearts already down, Denmark flipped it over, face down. "The five of hearts. Was that the card?"
Norway looked completely shocked. "Yes… that was the card. How did you do that?"
"Ahhh… but a magician never tells his secret," Denmark teased. If Norway hadn't figured it out, then it must've been a good trick after all.
"Please, Denmark?" Tino pleaded.
"Awww… you guys make me feel guilty. Fine. I knew your card before you did. When I first was flipping over the cards, I looked at the third one. That happened to be the five of hearts. Then I continued to flip over the cards until you told me to stop. The way I placed the three decks was crucial," Denmark revealed. He showed them this in demonstration, and had already put the cards back into a single deck. "Make sure the top cards show up in the middle deck. Then, put the top two cards on the left and right piles. That will make the card that you pick up to be the third card I flipped over in the first place. After that, you know how it goes."
"I have to admit… that's good even for you, Danmark," Norway complimented.
"Norge… you called me Danmark? What's that all about?" He asked, surprised.
"I figure, if you call me Norge, I have to have a nickname for you that's equally as annoying."
Denmark smirked. Norge gave him a nickname. "Then, I shall answer to that new name."
The rest of the day went by without too many events. Once in a while, Denmark and Norway would talk to each other about little things.
"All right, everyone. It's time for the third day of band camp to end. Great job! We're making quite the headway on our field show. Be sure to get a lot of rest tonight," The band director announced at the end of the day. Denmark and Norway walked towards the rest of their group together, not saying too much due to their tiredness. Tino was walking with Berwald, and Finland wasn't too far behind them, trying to catch up.
"Hey guys. Party at my place after the last day of band camp. You up for that?" Denmark announced.
"You know, your place is also Tino's place. Did you even talk to him about this yet?" Norway scolded him.
"Nope, I haven't. Are you fine with it, Tino?" He asked.
"There isn't any better way to end our first year of band camp," Finland answered, sincerely smiling.
"All right, then it's on! We'll buy stuff tomorrow," Denmark said as he opened the door to his dorm. He ran in with as much energy as he could gather for the short amount of time, jumped on his bed, and instantly went to sleep. Tino followed him in, and with turning out the lights, called it a night.
AN: All right, sorry for this taking forever. I kinda ran into a writer's block. Not that I don't have the whole story planned out… I just didn't know how to get from point A to point B. But here it is. Yes, that's a completely real card trick, and it does impress people. ;) But I haven't made money off of it yet… Anyways, I'll be going on vacation for a bit. Don't worry, though. Once I get back I'll have chapter 5 done and up.
