Once Iceland got home, he set the dog down on the floor and set down a glass of water in the spot where the dog slept last. He also laid down the same (now clean) blanket where the dog last slept, folded up nicely to give him a good cushion to lay on. Seeing him walk was as pathetic as you might imagine, but he managed to get around on his own just fine.

After setting up the dog's temporary sleeping and eating arrangements, he proceeded to design and make posters to put up around Reykjavík. While he worked on the posters, the dog laid down on its blanket and napped for most of the day. It was still trembling. God, will the trembling ever end! But Iceland didn't pay any mind to the dog. Or to his cell phone beeping on the coffee table. I flew over the table and checked the message.

It was from Finland.

Hey Icey, I know you must still be angry at us for teasing, but Nor is getting really worried…

It's been a week!

He thinks something bad's happened to you and he's coming over to make sure you're okay…

Ice?

The screen went black. I couldn't see whatever messages came before that, but I knew that Iceland would want to know about this little nugget. "Hey, kid!"

The dog perked up at my yelling. I guess I startled him. Iceland was still on the computer, typing something up. I waited to see if he was going to respond before flapping over.

He must have been really fucking focused, because I could have sworn he didn't hear me.

"Hey kid! Norway is coming to visit."

Iceland spun around. That caught his attention.

"How would you know he's coming?"

"You got a text from Finland saying he's coming."

Now I really got his attention. He finally got up from his chair and practically ran up to the coffee table and picked up his cell. For the first time in a week, he checked his messages. There were more than he thought. Most of them were from Norway, but a decent chunk were from Denmark too. Some were from Sweden or Finland.

The more recent ones were downright angry sounding, and he still wasn't in a mood to deal with them. But it's not like he had much of a choice anymore, because Norway's more recent texts were announcing his plans to travel, and judging from the last text sent from the airport in Oslo, he was going to be arriving in Reykjavík in about an hour.

There was a shitstorm coming his way, and he had no way to prepare for it.

At this moment, the dog got up and started wobbling towards us. (So pathetic…) Iceland picked it up and started petting it and cooing at it. Yeah. Cooing.

"It'll be all right… He's probably not that angry, right? … I can just talk to him… calmly… yeah…"

Okay, well maybe he was just talking to himself. It's a thing Nations do sometimes where they're alone for too long. He knew he would have to face his brother eventually. He just thought he'd be able to do it on his terms.

He only had an hour until his brother arrived.

So for the duration of that hour, he put off making posters in favour of cleaning up the house to distract himself. While he bustled around the house, the dog followed him, getting a bearing for his surroundings, learning the layout of the house. You know. The thing dogs do when they're introduced to a new home. Not that he was staying here. Why would Iceland need a dog when he's already got me?

Unfortunately, Iceland isn't particularly messy to begin with, so cleaning the house didn't take very long. When he finished, he plopped himself down on the couch in his living room. A look of dread had stamped itself on his face.

"You shouldn't have ignored him like that," I said.

"Yeah, I can see that, thanks."

He leaned his head back and sighed. A whimper came from the dog at his feet, so he picked him up and set it down next to him on the couch. He started absently running his hand over the dog's head. I'm beginning to think this thing should have a name.

His phone buzzed.

And this time, he jumped for it. Almost knocked me off the coffee table, too. I watched and waited patiently while he unlocked the phone and read the text. It was from Norway, obviously. The plane had just landed. He'll be here in half an hour.

Iceland groans. "Oh my Gods, what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say to him when he gets here?!"

"Chill."

"Seriously, Puffin. What do I do?"

I'm just a puffin. All my siblings died years ago. How the fuck should I know?

"Just explain to him you've been busy saving a stray dog. That will soften him." Not really. Norway mostly had a soft spot for cute things, and this thing was far from cute right now. I was just fishing for ideas here.

But Iceland was actually considering it. His brow furrowed in thought, and he leaned forward on his knees. He hadn't been sitting like this very long until he got back up and started pacing. He was intently focused on his own thoughts, and I just watched helplessly, my head bobbing with his movements. I wasn't the only one. Apparently the dog started doing the same. He even had his tongue flapping out of his mouth as he sat there watching Mr. Iceland slowly lose his mind.

Then Iceland piped up with a statement I've only heard in my dreams.

"You're right Mr. Puffin."

As true as that was, I was still surprised to hear it from him. "Come again?"

He stopped pacing and was facing the dog and me, with his hand propped up on his hip. A true sign of a true drama queen.

"I've ignored them for over a week, and the only thing I have to show for it is a dog. I don't have anything else I can use."

Seriously? After the countless brilliant ideas I've had over the years, this is the one he's holding on to.

"Alternatively, it's not like Norway hasn't given Denmark or Sweden the cold shoulder before. You can tell him 'This is all your fault! You made me this way!', 'cause you know… Leading by example?"

"I'm not putting the blame on him. It's my fault for ignoring them. I should have at least acknowledged their messages." He mumbled that last part, but he said it loud enough for me to hear.

"Yeah, 'cause the rest of the world has done such a great job acknowledging you. Do you still keep that collection of maps you're not on? Let's go find them."

"No! I don't want to be looking at stupid old maps! I'll handle this."

He started pacing again, but at least he's not panicking anymore. Just waiting. That's just the magic talking to a bird has on people. Birds are great… especially puffins.

Families truly do have a way of making people anxious, huh.

There wasn't long to wait though because this is when the doorbell rang and the dog started barking.

Author's Notes: Last chapter coming next week!