A/N: Huge apologies for the lack of updates! I haven't forgotten this story (in fact it's always in my head), just forgotten to write it. So you know, it has been exactly 3 months since I last updated. During those months I was off fighting dragons in Norway, which made it rather hard to write or publish anything. Also I was given permission to tell that blatant lie.

It's late and a combination of written-now and written-months-ago writing, so forgive any errors please! (Perhaps I should find a beta; never had one before).


It was surprisingly easy for Matthias to slip into the brothers' routine. Actually, it wasn't surprising when they thought about it (the Dane had made himself a major part of their schedule from day one), but all parties involved were happy about the convenience of the situation. On Tuesdays, Alex would meet Matthias outside of his maths class before meeting Hrafn outside the school gates and walking home (rarely they drove). Wednesdays would often have the brothers walking home alone if Matthias stayed after school with his "meat-headed" other friends in the gym (which Alex refused to hang around in precisely because of the company).Thursdays were easy as last period was English for both of the couple and Hrafn's class was just across the hall. Finally, Fridays saw Alex and Hrafn's final classes relatively close to one another and Matthias leaving to work without them.

It still mildly surprised Alex, though not in a bad way. It seemed to work out perfectly, and that Matthias living with them would remain as the minor inconvenience his presence always had been.

"Oi, Dan." Gilbert sharply jabbed his friend in the side with the pointed end of his pencil. "Stop ignoring the awesome me!"

"Ow," he flinched, whacking the writing instrument to the floor. "What d'ya want, dick?"

"No one's allowed to doze off in my presence; that's gotta be a sin or something." Matthias snorted, resisting the urge to shove the 'Prussian' off his chair as he leaned down to retrieve the pencil. "You thinking about some sexy Norwegian ass or something?"

"Maybe, but I thought you were straight."

"Of course I am, but any hole's a goal for you right?" He would've grinned if he hadn't been now trying to balance the pencil on his face.

"You've got your priorities all wrong dude," Matthias replied, shaking his head as he flicked the pencil away again.

"You both have your priorities wrong," a posh voice butted in. "Some of us are actually trying to take in and understand glaciations and such."

"Don't be such a tight ass Arthur," Gilbert sneered. "You used to be cool."

"Yeah, and who wants to learn about that anyway. This isn't science, it's just... rocks. And dirt." Matthias complained dismally. Arthur glared at the pair he had been seated with.

"Geology is an important part of science, not that you plonkers would know or care," he commented. The two shrugged noncommittally.

"Anyway, back to the topic at hand, you have screwed up priorities Gil," Matthias repeated, recovering his previous train of thought.

"What does that even mean?"

"Maybe I should say it in a way that big brows here will understand if he wants to get involved." The Dane cleared his throat, putting on a fancy voice. "There are a multitude more things on this earth to experience in the span of our being than bosoms and gluteus maximus."

"And in English?"

"There's more to life than T&A." Gilbert snickered

"I have messed up priorities? You're such a girl Dan, geez. Should I just start calling you Daniella now?"

"Hey, that's the reason I have a boyfriend and you're gonna be alone forever," Matthias shot back, grinning smugly.

"I could have a girlfriend if I wanted to," Gil shot back defensively. "Liz was all over me back when we were together. Shame she had to be such a total bitch, but now I can get any ass I want." The Dane gave a short bark of laughter.

"You were never getting any with Liz," he stated clearly.

"How would you know?"

"Easy; your voice is still low, which means you still have your balls, which means you never tried anything that would provoke Liz into chopping them off."

"Charming," Arthur commented dryly from the sidelines.

"Whatever dick, doesn't mean I'm not getting any at all." The German reclined in his chair, stretching out his arms in a way that pulled his white collar shirt up his pale stomach. "Oh yeah, you wish I was gay so you could have me."

"You wish I was single so you could too," Matthias countered, before whipping out a fake camera in the form of his science calculator. "But while you're posing I might as well enjoy it." Gilbert grinned wider, popping open a button or two to reveal more.

"Aw yeah, damn hotter than you'll ever get," he boasted, stretching his legs over the desk as a footrest.

"Nah, I'm way hotter,"

"Nah uh."

"Yah huh."

"I'll prove it!" Gilbert jumped up from his chair, dashing to the front of the class. Arthur was muttering something probably rude under his breath (the things the boy usually said in their company were usually either profound or profane) that Matthias ignored, watching his friend rummage through trays of delicate scientific equipment without a care. When he returned a long thermometer was rolled across the desk to him.

"What's this?" Matthias asked, fiddling with the instrument.

"A thermometer, duh. For testing how hot something is." The Dane's face lit up in realisation.

"Right!" He picked the object up, twirling it. "We measuring from mouth or heads or what?"

"You know that most animals have their temperature taken from the other end don't you?" Arthur chipped in, making the implications of his statement obvious. The other two boys paused for a moment.

"You're sick mate," Gilbert blurted blankly ("Like you're one to talk Beilschmidt.") "Just grab it in your wanking hand or something." Arthur was finally gifted with a small window of silence as the two sat in their chair, staring intensely at their thermometers with fists clenched. It was at least a minute before one broke the silence.

"Mine's higher!" Denmark proudly declared, checking it against his rival's.

"What? Like hell it is!" The German sat, scrutinizing the readings. "They're the same dammit."

"Nope, mine's half a degree higher. Seeeeee?" he asked obnoxiously, waving the stick in Gilbert's face.

"Hey, it's the other blondie," Matthias looked up immediately, distracted, giving Gilbert the opportunity to rob him of his half-a-degree-hotter thermometer and therefore proof. Alex was indeed leaning on the frame of the door, presumably waiting for Matthias to leave. There was still probably another minute or two of class left but the Dane promptly disregarded that fact and swept his books into his schoolbag. By the time he was done Alex was already walking off.

"What, you're ditching weights?" Gilbert asked, a slight whine in his voice.

"Homework," he replied unenthusiastically. "And I can't be stuffed, not with my screwed up arm anyway." Gilbert "hmph"d at him, folding his arms like a toddler.

"Loser, at least stick around to entertain the awesome me!"

"Nup! Gotta go or he'll drive off without me. Seeya!" Gilbert cracked up laughing as the Dane scrambled to collect his books and bag and raced after Alex.

"You are so whipped dude!" Matthias flashed him his middle finger as he dashed out of the door, leaving Arthur to deal with the German before he too could make his own escape. Matthias caught up with his boyfriend with large steps, slipping their hands together at the first opportunity. Alex flushed and frowned deeper but didn't pull away. At least for a minute or so.


"Dan!" The blonde looked up from the couch to the kitchen door, where the voice had come from.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"Come here." Groaning, the Dane rolled himself off the couch and strolled into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" he repeated upon entering. Alex had his school sleeves rolled up to the elbows, his forearms immersed in a sink-full of warm, soapy water. He pulled them out and dabbed them dry with a tea towel before throwing the cloth at Matthias to catch.

"Dishes, like I promised. You dry today." He turned back to his own task, efficiently scrubbing down a large pot from their dinner. Matthias caught on quickly, assuming his spot next to his boyfriend and picking up a handful of cutlery. "Make sure you dry them properly; I don't want to see any suds left."

"I know how to dry dishes Alex. I took Home Ec for over two years."

"Do you know how to cook?"

"Where you even listening to me?" Matthias whined. "I took Home Ec, and I never got sick because of it."

"But you did." Alex distinctly remembered the days his friend would come to school after a sick day, blaming his own food. Matthias obviously didn't.

"I did not. You lie Nordmand." Alex shot him an unseen glance. 'If I was lying just now, then what about you last year?' Alex ignored the question and handed the Dane another dish.

"Then you can join the cooking schedule; at least two nights a week." Matthias groaned.

"Hn, fine," he agreed without much real complaint. "But you have to buy pastry ingredients. Baking's so much more fun than cooking. You'll love my food, I'm an awesome chef. Much better than Icey," he added in a (not so quiet) whisper, grinning cheekily. Alex nodded tamely, noticing the ever growing pile of plates on the dish rack.

"Dry faster."

"Yes Cap'n!"

"Stop that."


Barely an hour later, Alex stared at the other teen who was half curled up on the couch and completely silent. His eyes were easing shut slowly as the minutes went by, the rest of his face relaxing along with it. It was a calming sight, Alex supposed, to see someone so loud and over-excited (and hurt something whispered) drifting off so peacefully. It was a shame to have to break it.

"Dan, you can't sleep on the couch." The boy made a small noise of acknowledgement but made no effort to move. "Fall asleep and you shall be rudely awakened," Alex warned finally, switching back to filling in that day's newspaper crossword. Across on the other seat Hrafn was bundled up in a blanket, looking quite disgruntled.

"I wish we had a fireplace." Alex didn't need to look up to know the bitter expression of nostalgia that went with that statement.

"You've said so before; many times actually." Hrafn frowned, pulling the blankets closer. Alex would truthfully rather like a fireplace as well, even with the work required to maintain it; he remembered visiting Iceland on occasion to see his mother and brother and how they'd sit around it on the cold nights. His father's house didn't have one, and neither did this rental they lived in to attend their school (though one shouldn't expect that much from a place like this; they had been lucky to get one more bedroom than necessary for the two of them moving in) so Alex didn't feel the extreme desire to have one like his brother did. He had various other "security blankets" to hold on to.

"Because it's still valid," he mumbled. "I wouldn't care about cleaning it or chopping the wood or anything,"

"You're making it sound like a pet, which are not allowed in these rental properties," Alex teased lightly. Hrafn snorted indignantly.

"You got one," he mock-sulked, looking pointedly at the third teen in the room. Alex exhaled in a ghost of a chuckle before turning his attention back to his boyfriend.

"Dan, go to bed," he ordered, reaching out to prod the man awake. "You won't be getting any awards for the strange places you manage to sleep soundly in." Matthias groaned, rolling over and curling up tighter until he gave in to Alex and stood to leave, waving his hand at the other two in farewell. "You can too Ice, so you can dream about the fireplace that once was." Hrafn smiled wryly, rising from his seat to also hobble to his bedroom.

"Ok, mother dearest," he murmured beneath his breath as he went. Alex picked up on it, but ignored it in favour of his interrupted crossword.

It seemed to work out perfectly.


A/N: Again not so pleased with this atm as the majority of this chapter is dialogue/bickering that I wrote 3 months ago and I've just been reading some amazing stories that blow mine away. Orz Hopefully I can be pushed to work on this regularly now. Apologies again!