Sorry for the late updated... Been derping and preparing for the holidays sux...

Chapter 7

A Better Understanding

Despite continually telling himself that he most definitely should not, Tino, none the less, decided to follow his mysterious guest. He did feel bad about tailing him without his permission, but those feelings soon faded when the man looked over his shoulder and smiled at him. He didn't seem to mind the Fin and his pet dog tagging along behind him.

After making their way over a path littered with scrap metal, the taller blond stopped and turned to face Tino- who... hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to where he had been going and rammed right into him. The man caught the Fin loosely in his arms before the boy fell over, causing poor Tino to blush. Slowly, he glanced upward toward the other's face, finding that, after a little getting used to, it wasn't all that scary anymore. But, that didn't stop Tino from being so painfully nervous and shy.

"S-sorry... I know I-I shouldn't have bu-but..." Tino began to stutter.

"It's fine," the man replied, setting Tino back onto his feet and letting him loose, "But I have a question."

"A-a question?"

"Have you have seen any vegetation around?"

Tino blinked. What? He had no idea what this man was talking about. What was 'vegetation'?

"I-I'm sorry but... n-no...?" Tino sighed in defeat, "I-I don't what that is... P-please forgive me..."

"It's alright." The man again smiled, making Tino's insides melt, "Let's press on."

Tino paused for a moment. Did he-

"Y-you don't mind me... following you?" Tino asked, perplexed.

"No." Still smiling, the taller male turned to keep going, Tino trailing after, "It's nice to have company."

The Finnish boy couldn't have said it any better himself. Maybe this wouldn't be all for naught after all; the other blonde didn't like being alone, either. Tino could feel his own smile widening.

"You said you were 'local', ja?" the man asked, snapping Tino out of his musings.

"Y-yes..."

"Maybe you can guide me, since you know the area better than I do."

"I... I can try!"

"Tack."

"Eh... What?"

"It means 'thank you', in Swedish..."

"Oh..."

The next few hours were probably the best in Tino's life; he and his guest traveled around the empty town, searching for 'vegetation.' Tino did his best, despite knowing so little about the man's inquiry, and, eventually, they had managed to wander into an empty supermarket. While the taller blonde searched the rusty check-out counters, Tino watched him from the top of some stairs, his back to a pile of shopping carts, sighing softly.

While in the process of scanning a pinwheel he found, the other, by some odd chance, glanced up at his guide and smiled. Tino felt his heart flutter as he straightened up in an attempt to look more professional in this man's eyes- only to disturb the pile of carts with a slight jerk, the metal contraptions lurching forward in the direction of the Finn. Letting out a small cry, Tino bolted to his feet and ran down the small flight of stairs with an army of shopping karts biting at his heels.

He ran past the man down the long stretch of carpet to the automated doors; that, too, still funtioned as far as he knew- only, as he quickly discovered, they did not particularly wish to operate at that moment and trapped him in with numerous baskets still tailing him. Pressing his back into the door, he looked in fear at the carts coming at him and bent his knees, jumping over the mass of incoming carts as they all colidied with the door. He landed gracefully behind the mass, smirking to himself- at least, until the door opened, releasing the carts out into the open. To this, he scowled, brows furrowed in irritation.

The man, who Tino wasn't paying attention to, flushed a faint pink as he struggled not to laugh at the display in front of him. It was... cute.

Once the fiasco of the carts was over and done with, they moved on to explore the remains of a nuclear power plant and a collapsed water tower. While the taller of the two explored the decayed ruins of the power plant, Tino sat on top of the water tower, whittling his time away by drawing his mysterious guest in a small notebook he had pulled from his bag.

"Your drawings are beautiful."

"Ohyaah!"

Poor Tino jumped out of his skin and started sliding down the steep water tower- he hadn't noticed the other finishing up his work till he had already slipped up behind him, startling the Finn. Unable to find a good grip or any form of traction on the steel dome, Tino felt a panic surge through him- expecting to slip and fall to his imminent death. However, his company must have been blessed with super speed as well for he was at the bottom of the tower in a flash, waiting to catch Tino bridal style before he reached the ground.

Tino, realizing that his back didn't meet hard, unforgiving earth, but, rather, strong and firm support, slowly cracked open his eyes. His gaze met with the most wonderful sight. The man held him close and looked down at the Finnish boy, worry evident in his expression.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"N-no, that's okay..." Tino replied, blushing a bright shade of pink, "I should've known better than to sit on an old water tower..."

The man smiled in relief and gently set Tino back onto both his feet, the soles of his shoes touching down onto the ground. Once steady, Tino turned to face his savior and stood on his tiptoes, placing a small kiss on the man's cheek.

"Thank you for rescuing me..."

And, with that, Tino turned on his heel and dashed off to hide his flaming red face. He had just kissed someone- someone he didn't know the name to. The man, however, raised a hand to the cheek Tino had kissed and smiled. Worth it.

They continued on with their journey in absolute silence, Tino stealing glances at his guest every now and then. As they traveled toward an old seaside port, it was obvious his guest was losing hope. As he searched an old oil-tanker, Tino watched from the anchor of another, startled when the other suddenly rose with the force of an old magnet; he could see the man struggling to escape its power.

Pulling out a small gun and placing it against the magnet, he fired a shot, the force freeing the man away from its clutch and sending it flying off into the distance. Afterward, the man shot the rest of the tanker, causing it to fall sideways, bumping another tanker and so on till the last tanker fell over and blew up. He came to rest next to Tino on the anchor as they watched the ships burn.

"No luck?" Tino asked.

The man shook his head in response, removing his hat to massage his head.

"Can I ask y-you something?" Tino asked, looking at the man nervously.

A nod.

"I-I never got your name, so..." Tino blushed, "S-so can I have your name?"

"Berwald Oxenstierna."

"Hi, Berwald..." Tino smiled, holding out his hand, "My name is Tino Väinämöinen."

"Hello, Tino." Berwald smiled, taking the boy's hand into his own and sharing a handshake. Finally, he had a name for the boy and the boy had his.

Yay! Tino and Berwald fluffy-ness... Don't worry the Yaoi's coming... Sometime later.