~~oOo~~
Tino sits gingerly on the sofa in Berwald's study, a flickering happily next to him. He's most definitely grateful for the warmth, but he still can't help but feel like he's imposing on his boss, despite the day's previous events.
He wistfully reminds himself that Berwald is indeed his boss, and not to think of him on any personal level, no matter how much he would like to. As he thinks this, his body lets out an involuntary shiver, despite the dry clothes and fire crackling next to him.
This prompts him to remember just a few hours back, to when he and the aforementioned boss were walking along a cute little path along the ocean, coming back from a disastrous encounter with Tino's closest friend… or maybe not. Tino, being totally foolish had totally forgotten that the winds were picking up, and it would have been much more convenient to walk on the main road back to Berwald's estate, but he wanted to see the ocean. Maybe it wasn't so foolish after all; he didn't get to leave the large castle-like house much, with it being so far from the main town, and not easy to locate, but still, he most assuredly regretted that decision now.
The pair were walking along the path, Tino rambling on about something that most likely had nothing to with the situation at hand; Tino is very good at this kind of thing. Suddenly the wind picked up, but Tino had been flustered at the fact that Berwald was holding his hand in his much larger one. Tino blushes even at the memory of it, not quite sure why his boss was acting like this. Never mind that though, he refuses to think of Berwald as anything other than his employer… or at least he was going to try.
Long story short, the two were drenched by the time they reached Berwald's house, having been graced by the presence of another freak storm for the second time they had gone out of the house together.
Tino smiles at the way his shoulders still feel as though they're bearing weight from the memory of Berwald's arm around him, attempting to protect him from the downpour. Sighing almost inaudibly, he scoots backwards, snuggling into the corner of the back of the sofa and its arm as he waits for Berwald to return from whatever he was doing.
As if on cue, Tino looks up to see Berwald entering the room with a blanket folded over his arm and a steaming mug of something that made Tino's mouth water, despite not knowing what it was. He can already almost feel the warmth on his insides from the hot drink, which upon Berwald bringing it closer, is hot chocolate.
"Ah… Ah brought ya s'me h't ch'col'te," Berwald informs him somewhat shyly, presenting the mug to him hopefully. Tino smiles warmly at him so as to reassure him, inwardly 'Aw'-ing at Berwald's nervous manner. He somehow found the large man being shy and hopeful extremely cute, just because of how out of place it looked on his tall and muscular stature.
"Thank you~" Tino replies, taking the mug from him with both of his hands, the hot ceramic warming his freezing hands. This seems to satisfy Berwald, and he relaxes his previously tensed muscles. He looks as though he is about to leave, but then he remembers the fuzzy blanket draped over his arm.
"Oh… Ah 'lso brought ya th's…" he adds, a familiar, almost undetectable undertone of uncertainty tainting his voice. Tino sighs, not sure when Berwald will finally accept that Tino will not just shove him away. He would never do that… right?
Tino grins and assists Berwald in covering the blanket over himself, sighing lowly at the immediate warmth it provides. Berwald nods quickly and seeming to think he's out of place in this situation, he starts to leave.
His eyebrows furrowing in frustration at Berwald's shyness, Tino grabs his wrist as forcefully as a near-frozen, five-foot-seven Finn can, which compared to the Swede's strength, is not very much. Feeling confident in his grasp on Berwald's arm, he tugs him back toward the corner of the couch, and continues to tug his arm until Berwald is finally seated next to him on the couch.
Surprised, the Swede looks down into Tino's blue eyes, his own eyes silently asking why. Tino answers simply, smiling at Berwald happily, "Stay."
Tino could swear that a pink blush was now seeping into Berwald's cheeks, but it was so unnoticeable, that he couldn't be sure. The Swedish man pauses, analyzing Tino's face, or rather, memorizing each feature of it, and finally nods. The Finn's heart skips a beat at his cold, piercing blue eyes steadily taking him in, almost making him feel as though Berwald could see everything about him.
He finally tears his own eyes away from Berwald's face, and notices that the Swede is gingerly sitting on the edge of the sofa, keeping his distance from Tino himself. The Finn frowns at this, and places his right hand on Berwald's back, just under the muscle connecting his shoulder to his neck. Tino has to hold back the urge to gasp at how well-built he is. Unconsciously, he begins to rub Berwald's back, his cheeks flushing red at the unexpected movement from his hand. Even more to his surprise, Berwald lets out a low groan of content.
Despite being mortified, Tino realizes that the Swede's muscles are in fact, extremely tense. Sucking in a breath to steady himself, he shifts his right hand over to Berwald's other shoulder, and replaces its previous spot with his left. Habit taking over, he begins to rub the Swede's tensed muscles, gradually loosening them with skilled hands from lots of practice. Whenever Eduard would come home from work and was exhausted, Tino would always do this for him.
No, he wasn't going to think about Eduard now, especially after what he had done to Tino and his boss. He didn't feel like being upset right now, especially when he was trying to concentrate on giving Berwald a massage.
Wow, that was awkward sounding, he thinks to himself, suppressing the urge to giggle at the way he phrased that. Forcing his mind away from awkward thoughts, he concentrates on relieving the tension in Berwald's shoulders, which causes Berwald to let out a low sigh of content, feeling him relax almost instantaneously. He laughs silently and says, "You're pretty tense…"
"Mm…" Berwald agrees, his shoulders now slumped over in relaxation. "Y-yer.. good a' th's…" he tells Tino as he feels the Finn's hands move from his shoulders to the center of his back.
"Thank you," Tino replies happily, pressing lightly into his back with the heel of his palm. "I've had practice." He feels Berwald tense up again, though this time not from built-up stress, but from emotion. Tino felt himself subconsciously wishing it was jealousy, which immediately made his own face contort in confusion. Why would he want Berwald to be jealous? Tino shakes it off and continues to rub his back, working the returned tension out slowly. "I used to do this for Eduard when he came home from work and was stressed…" Tino explains, hoping this will quell whatever emotion Berwald was feeling.
Berwald nods quickly as though to say it was no big deal, but the way his muscles immediately release suggests that it was much more. Tino however, decides to say nothing. In attempt to make conversation, Tino asks cautiously, "So… how's business?" referring to Berwald's position as head of the major fishing industry in this small town.
Laughing almost inaudibly, he says, "T'no, ya do my f'nancing…"
"Right! I meant… well, you know… never mind," Tino sighs, giving up. Berwald however, doesn't seem put off by this.
"T'no… Ah… Well, th're's a p'rty Ah h've ta go to… ya kn'w, for w'rk… and ah…"
Tino automatically sees where this is going, and saves Berwald further difficulty in spitting it out. "Yes, I'll go with you," he says, leaning over Berwald's shoulder to give him a warm smile, which earns him the tiniest one back in response. Leaning back on the couch again, he asks curiously, trying not to sound too eager, "When is it?"
"Ah… T'morrow."
"Oh, I see… someone else cancelled, so I was a last resort?" Tino teases him, slowly kneading Berwald's back, just under his shoulder blades.
Berwald surprises him by exclaiming "No! 'F c'rse n't!"
Tino laughs out loud, taking his hands away from his back. "I'm kidding. Don't worry about it, you silly goose," Tino tells him playfully, lightly poking Berwald's face.
Berwald's lips twitch slightly, hinting at a smile. Berwald turns to face Tino, and says quietly, "Ah'll go 'n g't yer d'nner…"
"Thank you!" Tino exclaims, smiling in appreciation, and then quickly diverts his attention to the fraying fleece blanket, attempting to appear busy, and to hide the slight flush coating his cheeks. Why do I keep feeling like this when he does something nice for me? Tino asks himself. He shakes his head ever so slightly, as if to physically shake the thoughts out of his head. He couldn't possibly feel anything for him, could he? He looks up from the sofa to Berwald, to prove this theory, but to his surprise, Berwald has already left.
~~oOo~~
Berwald slowly ambles down the hallway, determined on wasting as much time as he possibly can. Not to say that he doesn't want to spend as much time with Tino as he possibly can… he just doesn't want to keep saying and doing awkward things around him.
Especially since the only thing he can think of doing around Tino is kissing him. Of course, the thought of doing much more than that with him as crossed his mind, but for now, resisting the urge just to brush his lips against the Finn's takes up too much of his mental capacity to even begin to think about that. He lets out an audible sigh as he ever so slowly puts his right foot in front of his left, and then repeats the process.
Why did Tino have to be so cute? So cute, that Berwald had loved him ever since that day in the market. Berwald himself couldn't have been more than fifteen. In fact, that was probably around the time when his aunt had begun to introduce him to girls. He had been totally oblivious to the fact that she had been introducing him to possible suitors. She had known about his curse, and was determined to end it as quickly as possible. Little did she know that each of those girls would become terrified after one look at Berwald, and that around that time, Berwald found that none of these girls interested him at all.
He didn't give this any thought though, no matter how much it seemed to bother his aunt. Until, of course, he saw Tino. His aunt had dragged him out shopping to 'greet the commoners' as she put it. She had always seemed to look down on everyone who didn't own a major corporation like she had inherited from her late husband, and now shared with her new spouse. And Berwald was expected to act the same, seeing as he would inherit it when she decided she was too old; of course, needless to say that she would still be receiving a considerable amount of retirement money from Berwald each month.
Anyway, that say in the market, he had seen a certain twelve year old Finn walking with whom he guessed was his father, and was holding his hand, despite his age. Berwald couldn't tear his eyes away from him. He didn't look at all manly like some twelve year olds will start to; in fact, he looked young and innocent, and ever so slightly feminine with his blonde hair that curled at the ends, and sparkly blue eyes, filled with childish excitement. Just watching him made his heart pound feverishly. That's when he knew, that he would probably never find any female, or maybe even male, that interested him as much as Tino.
Berwald sighs, figuring that he'd better pick up the pace so that Tino doesn't start to wonder where he is. He finally makes his way down to the kitchen, where he finds both of their dinners waiting for them, Mathias and Lukas nowhere to be found. Berwald shudders, as he can only guess why the two of them have gone off to bed this early. Shaking his head to clear the unnecessarily disturbing thoughts out of his head, he heads back up to his office, trying not to think too much about Tino, get distracted, and drop the dinner. Not that he would mind wasting another ten to fifteen minutes, but it really isn't fair to keep him waiting just because Berwald himself is too nervous about screwing things up and kissing him.
Taking a deep breath, the Swede cautiously steps inside the fire-lit room, to find Tino patiently waiting, making his heart start to pound erratically inside his chest. His stomach pangs with guilt from making him wait so long, so he quickly formulates an excuse in his head. "Ah… Ah h'd ta wait fer th'm to f'nish m'king it…"
"That's fine!" Tino replies, quickly accepting his story. Berwald releases a quiet whoosh of air in relief, and goes to hand Tino his dinner. However, when he reaches the couch, he hands him the plate, but isn't sure if he should leave a considerable amount of space between the two of them, and his eyes begin to look from Tino to the other end of the couch nervously.
This earns him an empathetic smile from Tino, and he reaches his arm up to grab Berwald's own much larger hand, and pulls him down on the cough right next to him. Berwald's heart starts to beat even faster. So fast, that Berwald is almost nervous that Tino can hear his heart beating from where he's sitting.
Don't look at his lips, Berwald reminds himself as he gradually sinks into the couch, relaxing a bit. Tino seems happy that Berwald is relaxing, and starts to eat his dinner contentedly. The Swede observes this from the corner of his eye, and finally decides to begin eating himself, not even realizing how hungry he is until he tastes the food. For two people that go at each other like rabbits, Lukas and Mathias certainly know how to cook. Well, at least Lukas does.
The two eat in an oddly comfortable silence, Berwald trying the entire time not to just reach over and kiss him so hard, he wouldn't know what hit him. Don't think that kind of thing! He commands himself. After Tino finishes his dinner, Berwald also puts down his half-finished one, and turns to Tino.
Just tell him how you feel! Berwald thinks to himself as the cute boy leans against Berwald and snuggles into his arm. The Swede can feel his face heat up considerably, and looks down to Tino, his mouth open, preparing just to tell the boy that he loves him. However, Tino's eyes are closed with his mouth slightly open, looking peaceful in his sleep.
Berwald just smiles ever so slightly and carries Tino bridal-style back to his own bedroom.
~~oOo~~
"Tino! Tino god damnit, if you don't get up right now, I will throw this chair at you!" he hears a voice yelling at him.
Slowly, he peels one eye open, to see Lukas standing over him, and true to his threat, holding a chair. "What?! What time is it?!" he asks nervously, looking out the window to see that the sun
"You slept in until five!" Lukas exclaims, still waving the chair around menacingly.
"What do you mean I slept in 'til five?" Tino asks, not sure why Lukas would be waking him up at five in the morning. How did that constitute as sleeping in? He rubs his eyes with his knuckles childishly, and stifles a yawn.
Lukas places a hand on his hip and sets the chair down next to the bed. "Tino, it's not five in the morning."
"I slept in until five?" Tino asks incredulously, too stunned to even process how out of character that is for him. He silently mouthed the word 'wow', and blinks his eyes a few times to clear his vision. Suddenly, he remembers something and sits up quickly, slamming his brain against his skull. He moans in pain for a second, rubbing his forehead as if to sooth it. "What time is Berwald's party?"
"Six."
Tino lets out a little yelp and hops out of bed as fast as he possibly can, which taking into account his physical stature and abilities, is not very fast. "What do I wear?" he cries, looking around the room frantically.
"Relax, I picked out something of mine for you," Lukas says, smirking at Tino's panicked actions. He holds up a black tuxedo with white pinstripes, and a satiny red dress shirt with a black tie.
Tino gapes at it for a while. He's never even touched, let alone owned anything that nice. "Can I really…?" is all he can manage to spit out, still in awe over the beautiful outfit.
"Just put it on. Berwald's waiting downstairs."
Tino blushes at this, imagining Berwald in a tux, and finding the image very appealing. "Umm, is the party here?" he asks, trying to find some way to inadvertently talk about Berwald with Lukas. He mentally smacks himself for thinking that about his boss, but he still feigns genuine curiosity anyway.
Lukas walks over to the door and stops to look at Tino. "Yes. And I'm sure Berwald will love you in that."
Tino's face heats up, and he starts sputtering, "Ah… b-bu… no, I mean…" Lukas just smirks and leaves the room, his face alight with mischief. "Wait!" Tino calls after him, "I don't like him!" He doesn't get a response, which leaves Tino sitting on his bed in complete mortification, and a bit of confusion too.
~~oOo~~
A/N: ASKLALKFJSLKFJSKLFFAKJLFAKLJ FAKLFJAKLFJAKLFKL…. JFDGKJALJF. LSHKF. GKJ;L. TLKF. GLK. LK. D.
THIS IS SO LATE. And my writing style changed. A lot. Did you notice? I didn't mean for it to happen… it just did. If you guys don't like it, I can try to revert back to writing like I used to!
AHhh this seems like such a filler! There was supposed to be action, or at least plot, and it will happen next chapter! I just didn't realize how long this one was getting o.o So sorry for this epic chapter of fail… it's so bad .
I'm gonna stop boldfacing the author's note… I kinda feel like it makes it intimidating to read or something o.o
Thanks so much for 50 followers! I love you guys for putting up with this crap ^w^
Reviews are love
~Alison