Characters: Denmark (Henrik), Norway (Halvard)
Pairings: DenNor
Genre: Fluffy-ish drabble, requested by tokyoradio
Rating: G
Summary: The two of them meet up and discuss how they will change.
Halvard wakes up one morning and it dawns on him that he has been an idiot all this time, and he doesn't think about anything besides his own foolishness as he gets dressed for the day, takes a bus down to the docks, and crosses the Skagerrak strait from Norway to Denmark.
Henrik is there waiting for him, and they kiss briefly before Halvard tugs on his hand and asks if they can walk along the shoreline alone. Henrik laughs and nods vigorously, adding that he's always happy to do anything together, and it doesn't matter to him really what they do.
And Halvard only nods in agreement.
Eventually, they find a piece of dry land to sit on, surrounded by small stones, and they skip stones across the surface of the ocean.
skip skip skip skip
"I've been an idiot."
skip skip skip thunk.
"What?"
Halvard picks up another rock and shines it on the cuff of his jacket. "That is what I have been thinking about all morning. I'm the one who is foolish, not you." He throws the small stone into the water and listens to it drop without a single skip.
And when Henrik looks at him with a confused expression, Halvard explains that although he is the elder, even though he has been in the world longer, even though he has bounced between extreme joy and extreme sorrow, he is weighted down, he is hardly enlightened, and his wisdom gets in the way of letting himself behave the way he wants to.
Halvard explains that he's terrified of being perceived as foolish. But it dawned on him, that's something he shouldn't be afraid of. Henrik is his essence in opposite—his other half—someone who identifies with foolishness and isn't afraid of making mistakes. And as haunted as he is by his errors, he has the ability to easily start over and try again.
"And that is something that is hard for me," Halvard adds, "To admit my wrongs."
skip skip skip skip skip
"You need to teach me how to let go of that pride."
skip skip
"Only if you can teach me something in return."
skip thunk.
"And what would that be?"
"How to grow up." Henrik smiles, "Just a little."
"You might be beyond help, dear," Halvard chuckles to himself, but he smiles back and promises that he'll do his best.