Thank you all!
Quizicalcoatl: It's never enough :p
Y.M: That's so nice to hear :) I just try to write things I would like to read too.
Guest: He studied everything.
Okay guys I have great news. I got an amazing idea and it's way too good to pass so this is gonna have few chapters more. I believe nobody will be sad about that...? I think it's fine because I have this very weird rule that a fic is good when its amount of reviews is doubble of the amount of chapters, which means you guys have earned already 12 and half chapters anyway.
Eight chapter: Higher confusion
"Morning", Iceland muttered when he stepped out of his room and found his Norwegian and Danish "flatmates" standing in the kitchen. They had been talking with low voices but when they saw the Icelander, they dropped the topic and focused on him.
"Going to the class?" Norway asked casually and sipped his coffee.
"Yeah", Iceland replied, "we have a quest lecture today. Can't miss that."
"Cool", Denmark said with a way too bright smile for such early morning. Iceland grunted and took an apple form the basket before going to fridge to get his lunch bag. For his surprise he saw two brown paper bags instead of the usual one. The older nations saw him stopping in mid-move and they guessed easily what had made him so confused.
"The one with a smiley face is for you", Norway said, "Dan thinks you need something positive for your school day."
"Ah", Iceland replied and grabbed the right bag, "whose this another one is? It has a heart… Oh, never mind. I can guess."
"Yes, it's mine", Norway said. Denmark smile widened a bit, though that should have been impossible. Iceland glanced at them and noted the way how Norway slightly leaned on the Dane and Denmark was giving the man a soft look.
"So you too have fallen under the care of the great Danish nation?" the Icelander asked and Norway snorted.
"Well, he makes good sandwiches", the man said and Denmark nodded.
"I love you too", he said.
"Thank you for informing me about that", Norway replied and Denmark laughed softly. He leaned to kiss the Norwegian and that was the moment when Iceland decided that the situation was getting too much and it was time for him to leave.
"Bye!" he yelled from the door and was gone. Norway chuckled at his brother's quick escape and glanced at the Dane.
"Should we get to work too?" he asked. Since he wasn't going to his own land every day, Denmark had more than happily gave the Norwegian a permission to use his office. But still the Dane wasn't hurrying to start his day. Instead he hugged the man and rubbed his cheek against soft hair.
"I prefer to be just here", he said.
"Dan, the future of our people is literally our responsibility", Norway said, but didn't move away, "we have to go."
"Well, at least I can have a work place romance with you", the Dane said and grinned.
"You are hopeless", Norway muttered, but he had a small smirk on his lips and he didn't push the man away.
Despite of being worried about it, Iceland found out that Norway didn't make his life any worse. Actually the man even kept his word and when the exam weeks started again, the only thing Iceland needed to do was to hint his brother that he had to study. Just few words and the whole apartment was empty and quiet for him. Iceland wouldn't even see Denmark and Norway until next morning. Norway rarely was the one to suggest the dates and he often let the Dane to take care about that. Still he liked to spend time with the man and Iceland's studies gave him a perfect excuse to ask Denmark out without really asking him out. At the end Iceland only needed to open his month and Norway was already leaving with the Dane. Iceland found that amusing, especially because Denmark didn't seem to make the connection between Iceland's studies and Norway's sudden interest on date evenings. Or maybe the man just pretended he didn't know. Iceland had learnt lately that the Dane was surprising good with pretending he didn't know about things.
His studies were also going well, just as his country was surviving without him being constantly watching over the business. The exam weeks were coming again and this time his boss had promised completely free from the work during that time. Iceland was happy about it because he feared what Norway and Denmark would do if they saw him too exhausted. They were ex-Vikings after all.
Just when Iceland was making his way to the class, he heard hurrying steps behind him. First he didn't really note it because it was rare anybody was seeking contact with him, if his three classmates were not counted. That was also the reason why he startled when a hand suddenly touched his shoulder.
"Sorry", Carl said right away after noticing the nation's surprised look, "I just want to speak with you about…um. Something."
"Something?" Iceland asked.
"Yeah, well", Carl said and looked extremely uncomfortable, "do you have a moment?" Iceland didn't have any idea what he wanted from him, but it was still half an hour until the class would start. It didn't hurt to hear the guy out.
"Sure", he murmured and followed his classmate on the side where they would not be blocking the way from other students going to where ever students were going. Iceland patiently waited that Carl got over of whatever embarrassment he was feeling. It took a few minutes.
"Erik, you know", he said and tried to find the right words, "I just wanted to ask some advice from you."
"From me?" Iceland asked and raised his brown, "which kind of?"
"You know… Julia…"
"Yeah, I know her", Iceland replied and observed the frustrated young man. He didn't really understand how but there was something very familiar in the way how he was acting. It was familiar but strange at the same time.
"I was wondering if she had ever mentioned anything about", Carl mumbled with barely hearable voice, "having a boyfriend or… stuff." Suddenly it all made sense and Iceland stared at the man.
"Are you asking dating advice?" he asked with a slightly shocked voice, "from me?" Carl blinked few times and nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
"Isn't Tomas better with this kind of stuff?"
"He would not keep it to himself", Carl said, "you know, he says out loud everything what is in his mind. I would like to ask Julia out by myself, not to have Tomas blurting it out during the lecture or something."
"Yeah, that's true", Iceland said and stroked his hair, "well, I'm not really expert with this but I haven't heard about her dating anybody." Actually Iceland didn't know much about her at all. Even her nationality was still a mystery for him.
"Okay, that's good", Carl said and sounded relieved, "do you happen to know anything about, you know, how to ask girls out?"
"No", Iceland said with a serious voice, "not really."
"You sure?" the human asked with a surprised voice, "you have so many brothers. Haven't any of them…?"
"They are all gays."
"What?"
"They like males", Iceland said calmly, "I thought that is a common term for that."
"No, I mean", Carl said and sounded clearly confused, "all of them?"
"Yep", Iceland nodded.
"So", the human said slowly, "it runs in the family then?"
"We are adopted, remember?" Iceland said, "and that kind of stuff is not inheritable."
"Yeah true", Carl said and sounded a bit ashamed, "but hey, you said one of your brothers is married!"
"Berwald married Tino, yeah", Iceland admitted. After all, he had to take care he stayed with his cover story. He had already told those two everything and, though they had been worried too, they took it much better than Norway. Finland even found the whole situation amusing and Sweden seemed to be more and less secretly approving the fact that Iceland had claimed Denmark and Norway being brothers.
"So, how they ended up together?" Carl asked hopefully. Iceland didn't reply right away because he didn't really know what to say. He has been very young when Finland and Sweden had ended up living in same house and he hasn't really seen how their relationship grew because most of time he had been in completely another place. He of course knew the story. Finland had told him once.
"They met one day long time ago", Iceland said because he felt like he should help the human a bit, "Tino didn't like Berwald first. He was a bit bossy and hard to understand. But because of some misunderstanding, they ended up sharing a house. I wasn't hanging out there much during that time but apparently they became friends after a while and that turned to love later."
"Sounds nice", Carl murmured. He seemed to be still unsure and Iceland felt bad for him. The nation wasn't sure if he should call him a friend. Being friends with humans was always risky as they died so much sooner than the nations and there were so many secrets. But even if Iceland wanted to keep the distance, it didn't hurt to help just a bit more.
"You know", he said and gave the human a smile, "I think you should just go and ask her out. Waiting is not gonna help at all and life is too short for that. Trust me, I know." Carl thought about it for a while, but then his nervous look changed something a bit more determined and he nodded.
"You are right", he said, "I'll ask her out. Thank you, Erik. Wish me luck!"
"Good luck", Iceland said and Carl laughed. They walked in the class together and quietly the nation wondered how it would feel to be a human. Their time was so limited when comparing to his and still it seemed like they were sometime almost afraid to live. Iceland shook his head and decided to ask about it from Denmark later. The Dane was much better when it came to understand humans.
Despite of his deep thoughts, Iceland forgot to ask Denmark about human behaviour because suddenly the exams were there and only thing he could think about was the materials and cases he had been working with. Norway and Denmark were very understanding and they kept away, only leaving food and snacks for the Icelander. They were a bit worried too because Iceland had got very sick after last exams, and that was why they sometime sneaked in his room when he was sleeping to just check that he wasn't getting fever or sleeping restless. Iceland heard their lowered, murmuring voices few times but he didn't bother to wake up to ask what they think they were doing.
It was in the last day of exams when Tomas suddenly ran to him and almost collapsed down because of his excitement.
"Have you heard?" he asked and proceeded to shook the poor and confused Icelander.
"Heard what?" Iceland asked back without understanding why the human suddenly wanted to manhandle him like this.
"They are together!" Tomas declared without really answering to the question, "this is cutest thing ever!"
"I don't understand", Iceland admitted, "can you stop shaking me? I'm getting dizzy."
"Oh, sorry", Tomas said and took his hands off from the nation, "Julia and Carl. They are going to date tomorrow."
"That's great", the nation replied.
"Great? Great!" Tomas said and pretended to be shocked, "this is awesome! I knew they gonna get together. My wife owns me now ten euros, hah!"
"You are married?" Iceland asked and raised his brown. He wasn't sure in which age humans usually married but he thought it would have been a bit later. Tomas couldn't be more than 26 years old. Iceland wondered if he should really take a closer look on modern human habits because it sounded like he was missing something.
"Yeah", Tomas said and grinned, "happily married for second year row now. Her name is Anneke."
"Congrats", Iceland mumbled and wondered if he should have been a bit more active with small talk. He still didn't know where Julia and Carl came from and Tomas' nationality had been revealed only by an accident.
"Well, that reminds me that I should call her and tell the news", Tomas said with cheerful tone, "see you later, Erik!"
"See you", Iceland replied but the Dutch guy was already gone. The nation didn't have time to look after him because he still had one exam to do. It was from the course where none of his three international classmates were in so Iceland expected to be left alone. He was right until the exam was over and he stepped out of the building. After few meters two persons appeared on his sides like extra shadows following his every movement.
"Good afternoon, Ísland", the woman said with fluent Icelandic and the nation recognized her voice.
"Hey, Kristfríður", he said and glanced at the man on his left side, "and you are?"
"Jöfur Loðmundurson" the man replied, "it's an honour to meet you, my nation." When he heard the name, he remembered Denmark saying that another agent was called that. The man was clearly an Icelander, just like his colleague, and they both were wearing similar black clothes and sunglasses. If that already didn't say clearly enough that they were agents, the way how they looked around and walked with trained movements definitely told everything. Even Kristfríður, who had been so nervous when Iceland saw her first time, was now acting with determination. Following Denmark around had definitely been good training for her.
"You are welcome", Iceland muttered, "you wanted something?"
"Yes", the woman replied, "we have been ordered to pick you up for a meeting." Iceland glanced around and, though he was still walking by his own, it weirdly felt like the agents were leading him. He knew they were his people but the situation wasn't the most comfortable.
"I wasn't aware I'm having a meeting?" he said with similar way that Norway used when he was getting disappointed, "this feels more like kidnapping."
"We will not kidnap our own nation", Jöfur declared, "this is simply a meeting you didn't know about beforehand. If you don't want to come now, you can simply walk away and we will not stop you."
"Oh", Iceland said, "that sounds much better. Nore does awful things for people who kidnap me." The agents flinched a bit and Iceland wondered if his boss had told them any scary stories about the Norwegian nation. Because of the years of terror, or as Norway called it "taking care of Iceland", there were some rumours and stories going around Icelandic parliament and some of them seemed to think that the Norwegian nation was a troll who enjoyed scaring people and probably ate kittens for breakfast. Iceland thought they were right and he was sure Norway would find all those stories highly amusing.
"So, are you willing to come for the meeting?" the woman asked.
"Sure, I have nothing better to do", Iceland said, "just let me call Dan that he knows I'm not coming home right now. Who am I going to meet anyway?"
"Agent Puffin", Jöfur said, "he wishes to speak with you."
"Perfect", Iceland muttered. He had a few things to tell that bird too.
I'm starting to like these cliff hangers. Icelandic Secret Service is back to business.
I think I forgot to mention after last chapter that Finns do, in fact, see some types of studying as a hobby. For example I take Danish classes but when ever I speak about it for my Finnish friends and family, they refer to it as "a hobby". Most often hobby-studying is different kind of handcrafts, music or other types of art but for some reason language studies are also seen as a hobby when the classes are taken somewhere else than in normal school. I didn't know it might be weird until I told people that the main reason for my Danish studies is that "I think it's fun" and they didn't understand.
