Corytha had rushed upstairs quickly, unable to bear being around any of them until she'd managed to calm herself down. While grabbing her clothes and preparing to take a shower while they were all occupied downstairs, she couldn't help but feel like she'd messed up.

The teen wasn't even sure why she felt so spastic right now… it had only escalated during dinner. Things were fine until Denmark had brought up family, and then she'd been forced to lie. Now Norway knew she'd lied, and Finland seemed curious, and even Sweden had probably noticed something was up with her after dinner when she was the only one left at the table. Of all people to be around, she was with the ones who paid attention to detail. Well, maybe aside from Denmark. But that was beside the point.

I should have kept my mouth shut, she scolded herself, stepping into the bathroom and turning the water on cold. She needed to cool off. Why did I have to go and mess things up? So much for good impressions on the first day. Geez, I nearly lost it down there! What's wrong with me?

With Corytha keeping busy upstairs, the Nordics were debating on movies to watch, now that the day was drawing to a close. Denmark kept pulling out random things that no one really wanted to watch, but they let him put one in anyway. Despite this the Dane couldn't help but want to talk about their new house guest, even when it started to play.

"So what do ya guys think?" he prompted, looking at the rest of them with eager eyes. "Think it'll be fun having her around?"

"She's really quiet," Iceland replied, staring blankly at the television.

"Well this is her first day after all," Finland countered with a smile. "I think she'll come around, she just needs to get used to it is all."

"She hasn't been on her own with this many of us before," Norway noted.

"I think it'll be great," Denmark went on. "She was really happy down at the lake today- that's hardly anything compared to what we'll be taking her to see. Though, I do wish she'd speak up more, she's almost as quiet as you, Berwald!"

"...She's nice," Sweden said. "Offered to help me clean up."

"Oh, she's definitely sweet," Finland beamed. Then his smile faltered a bit. "But I do think we should avoid asking her about things back home…"

"Eh? Why?" asked Denmark.

"Well," he began to reply, "I think it makes her a bit sad to think about it right now... she knows there's a good chance of failure with that spell… she must miss her family and all."

"Ah… didn't really think about that before, but you might have a point."

"She seems a bit skittish too," Iceland thought out loud. "It's like she's nervous about us or something…"

Finland rubbed the back of his head and laughed a bit, causing the rest of them to focus on him.

"What's up, Tino?"

"When she was getting her stuff put away last night, she was actually shaking," Finland admitted. "She told me she was scared to mess up."

"Mess up?" Iceland furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "How?"

"I don't even know, any possible way, I guess!" he chuckled. "Right before dinner today she was even asking about table etiquette! I think she just wants to make a good impression."

"Aw, she doesn't have to try so hard," Denmark laughed a bit himself now. "She's fine just being herself!" Suddenly he straightened up and grinned towards the television, a plan forming in the back of his mind. "We should just treat her like one of us while she's here! She'll have to feel better, eventually!"

"We could try," Finland agreed thoughtfully. "She could probably use a few friends right now!"

"It's settled then!" Denmark decided quickly. He didn't need to think on it long to determine that Corytha needed a pick-me-up while she stayed here, especially if she really felt like trying so hard to have them accept her. He would show her she had more friends than she knew.

That night while she was organizing the things in her temporary room and mulling over what she'd done throughout the day, she wondered if they thought her strange after the things she'd done. That was one of her many talents- over analyzing everything she'd said or done in a day. Trying to determine if she'd done anything wrong. She knew she had some things to make up for from today alone.

With her mind wrapped up in her behavior around dinner, she didn't hear as her door opened and someone came inside. She only realized she wasn't alone when another figure appeared in her peripheral vision. When she looked over, Denmark was grinning almost wickedly at her, and she had to tighten her muscles to avoid visibly flinching.

"H-Hello?" she murmured by way of greeting.

"Whatcha up to in here?" he asked, glancing at her piles of clothes on the bed.

"O-Oh," she said, following his gaze, "I was just organizing my clothes again… I clean when I'm thinking."

She laughed slightly but held one of her arms as she usually did when she was unsure of herself, but the Dane only continued to smile.

"Okay! Well I was coming to ask if you'd want to learn about any of my viking stuff tomorrow," he offered. "I've got some things in my storage closet that I haven't even looked at in a long time! It would be a win-win!"

"Th-That would be cool, if you don't mind," Corytha answered with a shy smile.

"Ahaha, yes!" he cheered mostly to himself. She couldn't help but admire his enthusiasm, even though she lacked it herself. "Then it's settled!"
"Guess so…"

For a moment she thought he was going to leave, but he piped up again with a different topic this time.

"So how did you like your first day?"

Of course.

"It was nice," she said honestly. "You've got a really neat place, here…"

"Ah, it's nothing much," Denmark laughed. "But if you enjoyed yourself, I'm glad!"

"Yeah…." Corytha glanced away nervously and sighed a bit. "S-Sorry if I seem a bit… strange, or anything… I-I'm not really-"

"Eh? I didn't notice anything strange," Denmark interrupted before she could try to explain herself. She took it as him just being his usual self, but on the inside, he just didn't want her to worry herself over it. "It's your first day here anyway. It's not like we expect you to be the picture of perfection or anything!"

This got her to pause and look at him finally, and she couldn't help but feel genuinely calmed at the kindness in his eyes. Had she really not been as strange as she thought?

"O-Oh… w-well if that's true, then I'm glad," she smiled softly.

"I guess you'll be going to sleep soon?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest. She couldn't help but suddenly feel a bit smaller standing in front of him. If she remembered correctly, he was one of the tallest characters in the show overall, with Sweden being the tallest. Her face was basically eye-level with his chest.

"Yeah, probably," she replied, resisting the urge to step back. "I'm kind of tired, for some reason…"

He laughed heartily, jarring her for a moment. She kept forgetting how loud he could be.

"I can't blame ya! You'll get used to it though," he said. "Go on and get to bed then. The sooner you go to sleep the sooner I can show ya my awesome stuff!"

She laughed a bit at his words and couldn't help but blush a bit, seeing the cheer written across his entire face. Even his eyes seemed to sparkle in their own way, and it wasn't just the anime speaking. His personality was just too joyous for her not to smile, and he only seemed to smile even more as she did, so finally she started to break..

"W-What are you doing?" she laughed, averting her gaze from his somehow ever-widening grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he replied. But she saw the mischief in his eyes and laughed a bit more, trying desperately to stop herself. She couldn't.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?"

Finally he started laughing too and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a small wink.

"I just haven't seen you smile much," he explained. "You have a nice one, you should use it and relax a bit more, Cor!"

Gradually her laughter slowed down and she held a hand to her chest, shaking her head a bit at his antics. He had a point. Any smiles she'd given thus far were usually shy ones, or ones she forced herself to use since otherwise she would be deep in thought. The one just now alongside the laughter had been purely genuine, and she wouldn't put it past Denmark to realize that.

"Thank you, I guess," she eventually replied.

"There'll be plenty more of that," he teased. "And anyway you're at least five times as cute when you're happy!"

His blunt words made her face turn the color of a tomato, so much so that even Romano would be proud.

"U-Uh-I-Um-" she stuttered quietly like a madwoman, arms hanging limp at her sides.

Apparently not noticing the girl's predicament, Denmark pulled her into a light but firm hug, only making her freeze up on the inside even more than she already had. If there was ever a time for her to freak out for no particular reason, this would be it.

"Well, see ya tomorrow, Cor!" he said, releasing her after a few moments and making his way out of the room before holding a hand up in farewell. He somehow managed to shut the door gracefully behind him, leaving the dazed teen standing there, her hair slightly messed up from where he'd ruffled it with a hand.

Holy crap. That had basically been her first hug here. Most of the time she had received handshakes or a pat on the shoulder, even a few times with an arm around her shoulders, but that was the closest she had gotten to anyone thus far. She was torn between slight fear, shock, and happiness. Mostly the last two, the first only due to her back being sensitive, as she was. But it didn't matter. She'd just been hugged by one of her favorite characters in a fictional show…. And he'd called her cute. Even if he didn't mean it in any significant way, the blonde fumbled for her phone quickly and rapidly pulled up the group chat she had with her friends.

Corytha: "REAGAN. SAM. HOLY HELL PLZ COME ON"

Corytha: "GUYS"

Corytha: "PLEASE THIS IS SERIOUS"

Sam: "What in the hell happened?! Are you okay?! Did anyone do anything to you?! D:"

Reagan: "Calm down there girly! Are you alright? D:"

Corytha: "Yes I'm fine! But I'm freaking out over here!"

Sam: "Gurl calm the hell down and just tell us what happened already!"

Corytha: "ksdbfspkhdfgy I don't know what to do with myself like I can't function normally. Literally. I am not okay."

Reagan: "Corytha, what happened?"

Corytha: "Denmark, that's what happened!"

Sam: "?!"

Reagan: "Oh?"

Corytha: "HE HUGGED ME. LIKE ALMOST A BEAR HUG, HUG."

Corytha: "AND THEN HE CALLED ME CUTE."

Sam: "..."

Reagan: "o.O"

Reagan: "Well that's great! :D So did today go well?"

Corytha: "I mean I guess I went okay but like what am I supposed to do with myself right now HE HUGGED ME AND I'M LIKE FREAKING OUT"

Reagan: "Maybe it's because you still have a crush on him?"

Corytha: "No I thought I was over that now D I mean I still like him and all the Nordics but like… BAH WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME"

Sam: "I AM LAUGHING SO HARD RIGHT NOW! XD"

Corytha: "SAM PLZ THIS IS SERIOUS!"

Sam: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA X'D XDXD"

Corytha: "SAM! D"

~Meanwhile at Germany's House~

In the middle of the movie the redhead was watching with Germany and Prussia, she had received all of the messages from Corytha and from Reagan. At first she had been furious, thinking something had happened to her, but upon realizing the poor girl was just freaking out because of getting hugged and being called cute, she had started trying to hold in her laughter.

Then Corytha had tried to insist something was wrong with her and that she didn't understand what was going on, despite the fact she quite obviously had a thing for the Nordics. Which one she had a true crush on she wasn't sure, but she knew that the girl was basically infatuated with the whole group anyway.

Needless to say, she busted out into laughter during the movie, startling her company but not really giving a damn. The more Corytha texted, the more she laughed, until tears were literally streaking down her face. She was on the floor at one point, trying to picture the blonde's blushing mad face in the Dane's arms.

"Pfft BAHAHA-"

The blonde pouted and texted a final goodnight to her friends, stuffing the device into a drawer and shutting it with slightly more force than necessary. Leave it to them to make a frustrating situation even worse. Sam barely even said a word, probably just laughing about things from a distance.

Why is this so funny?! She wondered, huffing as she got under the covers of her bed. I mean yeah it's kind of great, but it's mostly weird! What even happened just now?!

Eventually she sighed and closed her eyes. She allowed her head to drop onto the pillow.

No point staying up though… I might as well get to sleep. At least day one is over.

Though she tried to convince herself the hug had just been some strange, spur-of-the-moment thing, she couldn't help but remember the feeling she'd had being stuck there, even if it was barely for a minute. It had made her feel a mixture of things that she hadn't in a while, for some reason… how he'd made her feel that way, she wasn't sure, but it made her smile a bit as she was nodding off to sleep.

She'd felt safe.

After the little episode with Denmark on the first night she was there, the following days became progressively easier for Corytha. Though primarily she still talked to Denmark and Finland, the others seemed to not mind hanging around, and every now and then Sweden would talk to her too. He'd even let her help clean up the other day- she offered after every meal, just for good measure. She wanted to at least be able to help if she was going to stay here for so long.

The plan for now was to let about a week go by, and then afterwards they would go out every few days to do something else. There would be plenty of time to do everything on the list. Denmark made sure of that.

Dinner got easier for her to bear, and their conversations seemed much more like they would be in the anime. She had started to laugh more, though she still only spoke when spoken to herself. She still copied Finland's movements at the table, but otherwise she felt a lot less intimidated to try and do everything correctly- no one paid near enough attention to do that. She even started to stay around them a bit longer by nightfall, and though Iceland often retired to his room before anyone else, the rest of them carried on as usual.

The girl still felt a bit strange around Norway. Sweden seemed to be fine with her, perhaps helped in part by the fact Tino liked her a lot as a friend, but Norway was as silent and unreadable as ever. She often couldn't tell what he thought of her- it was nearly hell, especially after what had happened at dinner the first time, when he'd figured out rather quickly that she was lying about her parents. The mysterious Norwegian never brought it up. In fact it was almost as if the exchange hadn't happened, when she'd seen the knowledge in his eyes. He said hello and good morning to her when the time called for it. When he spoke more, it was usually in response to something one of the others had said, but for the most part he seemed much the same to her. She wished she could know what he was thinking. She wasn't even sure why she cared so much.

Despite the minor setback, her anxiety had become easier to handle. She was able to walk around their house without feeling uneasy because of being an outsider, and they were no longer intimidating for her to be around. She'd come to get used to them pretty fast- them and their array of interesting personalities. She could walk downstairs and start drawing in her sketchbook on the couch and not feel like she was intruding on anything, or being a bother in general.

All of these developments were primarily thanks to Denmark. After that first night, starting first thing the next morning he went to great lengths to ensure she was with someone at all times, and that she was never left out of a conversation that day. He had purposely tried to keep her involved and had gotten her to laugh on more than one occasion, which somehow gradually seemed to ease any remaining tension she felt. He basically was trying to incorporate her into their daily life. He wanted things to be normal and not strained. She appreciated it.

On the morning of her seventh day, she finally worked up the courage to get up a bit earlier and catch Iceland before he walked out the door. She usually got up too late and missed him, so she hadn't had the chance to ask ever since Denmark had suggested it. She figured it would be a good way to start the day and get a little bit of exercise in the morning, even if it was just a leisurely stroll.

She half expected him to say no, seeing as he was about as acquainted with her as Norway was, but to her surprise he agreed to it. He was a bit awkward about it, though she supposed she could figure out why, even if it meant it was just in his character to do so.

That's where she found herself now, walking with Iceland in silence around the lake. She strolled ahead of him a little ways, not wanting him to feel like she was there to hinder his routine by any means. She just liked getting a breath of fresh air and seeing nature in the morning. It reminded her of the walks her and her mother would take, alongside Paul on the days he was feeling strong. Those were good memories of summers lost long ago.

The sudden thought was enough for her to stop for a moment, staring absentmindedly out at the lake while clutching the locket at her neck. A deep sorrow seemed to pierce at her heart like an arrow. She could actually feel a distinct painful emptiness in her chest, as though her heart had been removed, though she knew it was still in there.

Why… all of the sudden… she wondered as sadness spread slowly within her. I've been feeling fine, and then just now…

She almost wished she hadn't gone on this walk after all. It had sparked a memory that left her feeling lonely, even though she was surrounded by supportive friends like Reagan and Sam these days. The therapist had told her that she wouldn't heal so quickly from the experiences she'd had or the emotional abuse she'd suffered… but in the midst of her situation she wished it would have waited until she got home.

"Corytha?"

Her head whipped around to find Iceland several yards ahead of her, giving her a confused look. They were almost back at the path that led back to the house. She'd been in the lead the entire time, having stopped only just now in her moment of isolation.

"C-Coming, sorry!" she replied as she walked towards him. She kept her gaze averted almost guiltily.

What's up with her? He wondered before shaking his head and leading the way back to the house.

When they returned, her troubles were soon pushed aside by Denmark, who had prepared a plan for their day tomorrow. They would be going to a viking museum first as an easy way to start taking her around, and afterwards they could grab something to eat and then take a walk through town for a short while, ending with a walk along the docks. She was surprised that he had a plan of any kind- she'd suspected him to be the more spontaneous type instead.

"So what do ya think?"

"I look forward to it," Corytha smiled at him. Really, she was excited. It would be the first day out since she'd come here, and though she enjoyed just hanging around, the rest of them seemed eager to get out for a little bit soon.

"Great! It'll be fun!" he grinned, patting her on the back before looking back at the television. It wasn't on, but she figured he was just trying to occupy himself with looking at something. The man was constantly on the go, or at least he wanted to be- it was hard to get him to sit still for longer than thirty minutes, unless watching a movie or something else.

Moments later, Finland came into the room with his laptop and sat down next to her, giving her a friendly smile.

"Hey, Cori! How was your walk?" he asked.

"It was really nice," she answered. "I think I'll do it every morning, if I can."

"Well you're definitely welcome to!" he smiled. "Anyway, I had something I wanted to ask you."

"Oh?"

Sweden came in with a cup of coffee and sat down in an adjacent chair, fixing both of them with a semi-curious stare.

"Do you know Estonia?"

"Yeah, a little bit," she replied slowly. "Just some small stuff, thanks to the show."

"So then I'm guessing you know he designs websites, right?"

"Yep!"

"Okay, well he's been asking me lately if I know anyone who can design logos, and I remember you mentioning you did commissions with art, so… I wanted to ask if maybe you'd feel like designing a logo for him?" he gave her a hopeful look. "If you don't want to, that's fine. I just thought I'd ask you first."

She gave him a slightly surprised look. The entire time she'd been here, she hadn't expected anyone to request anything from her, or her friends for that matter. As far as she was concerned they were practically invisible to the world- literally.

"Oh! Um… sure, I can design something for him, if he wants me to. I'll need to know a bit more about this website he's making though," she said.

"Cool! I'll let him know!" Finland beamed, beginning to type almost instantly, probably to email Estonia.

Within minutes there was already a response from Estonia, and Finland ended up giving him her number so they could discuss things directly. It didn't take long for her to get a series of text messages giving her details about the website and some ideas that he had for a logo, so she sighed and tried to read through them as quickly as possible. Finland laughed a bit after a few minutes, realizing what she was trying to do.

"You don't have to get back to him right away, he usually sends a lot in one go," he laughed.

"I don't like not replying to things," Corytha absentmindedly replied, scrolling through his most recent message. "I feel like I'll forget later… and besides, I'm here, I might as well respond."

Finland merely shrugged but let her be as she replied to Estonia's messages and effectively ended the conversation for now, until she had a rough draft done by next week. She would work on it in the evenings when they weren't doing anything.

Once that was finished, she got a text from Sam about a facetime group chat and looked at Finland hopefully.

"Would you mind if I took a call from my friends for a little bit?" she asked. "Everyone's free for once."

"Of course! Go ahead!" Finland smiled. She thanked him and beamed, replying to Sam as she hurried her way upstairs and to her bedroom to take the call without disturbing anyone else. As soon as she sat down on her bed, she got the call and answered it, revealing the faces of both her friends in their respective locations.

"Hey guys!"

"I think your plan is working, Mathias!" Finland said. "I haven't even heard her stutter in days!"

"What did I tell ya? I knew she'd come around," Denmark beamed triumphantly. "Just takes a bit of coaxing!"

"She does seem calmer now," Iceland noted.

After the girl had left, gradually everyone except for Norway had settled in the living room for a while. No one knew where the latter had gone, not that it was anything new, so they didn't think much of it.

"How was she on the walk this morning?"

"Fine… she did stop towards the end, though," he recalled, glancing towards the ceiling.

"She stopped?"
"Yeah… she was ahead of me most of the time, but then at the end she suddenly stopped moving… it was kind of weird," he replied.

"Huh… well maybe she saw something?" Finland suggested.

"I don't think so, she was holding her necklace or something and looking up."

"She was probably just thinking, then," Denmark shrugged. It wasn't exactly a secret that Corytha tended to turn her gaze to the sky when she was lost in thought- and it happened often, basically daily.

"About what, I wonder?" Finland mused.

"Ah, it'll be fine! Besides, she's gotta be happy when she sees that museum tomorrow!" the Dane beamed and nodded, his arms folded over his chest. He was eager to overcome any feelings of reservation the girl may have until the time she could leave.

"So yeah, things have been pretty good," Corytha smiled at her friends after recounting the calm days she'd had over the past week.

"Coolio!" Sam grinned. "You'll definitely have a fun time. I don't think Denmark will let you do anything otherwise."

Reagan laughed on her end and nodded. "I second that notion, he'll probably make sure you're always smiling, that's for sure!"
"How are you guys doing?" Corytha asked, folding her hands underneath her chin with a hopeful smile. She was feeling better by the minute, being able to talk to her friends after so long. Something about seeing their faces just made things better, no matter what she was going through.

"Pretty good on this end," Sam replied. "Except somebody is sour that I beat them at a race the other day!"

Somewhere in the background noise, a distressed Prussian countered her remarks. The girls started to laugh then continued with their conversation.

"What's up with you, Reagan?" Sam went on. "How's life with the Brit?"

Reagan rolled her eyes a bit at the second question but smiled nonetheless.

"It's been fine," She said. "He's pretty much the same way he was when we first showed up, but we've had a chance to talk about some others things. At least I think he considers me a friend."

"Psh, girl of course he would! You're like the master of befriending people!" Sam scoffed.

"Hah! Right."

"No, seriously. You can literally befriend like… anyone. I've seen you do it."

"What? When?"

"You've befriended both the weirdest and the most popular kids at school!"

"...I don't see how that has any correlation to your statement, really."

"Stop using big words with me!"

"But… but they're not…"

"NO. NO SHOOSH."

Corytha laughed at her friends' antics, and shook her head.

"I miss you guys," she revealed in a soft voice. "I hope I can see you again soon."

"You will," Reagan reassured her quickly, giving her an honest smile. "Just a few more weeks until the next meeting."

At this, all three of them seemed to stop, suddenly remembering what else they would be there for. It wouldn't just be to see one another, it would be to determine their fate. Whether England's spell was coming along, whether it would even work. Their entire futures depended on it.

"...Has he said anything?" Sam finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Not much," Reagan admitted. "He said he's been able to get the portal to open in an area relatively close to our area, but we'll probably have a bit of walking to do. I told him that was fine."

"Hell yeah, I'd rather walk home than not get home at all," Sam sighed. "Has he been able to send anything over or is he just tampering with it still?"

"He told me he'd try to experiment with small objects first," she replied. "But he won't give me a number, so I think we're still at a 65% failure rate… all he's said is that it's a really tricky process that will be hard to replicate, especially across dimensions."

"Bah," Sam scowled, glaring away from her screen for a moment. "This uncertainty is gonna kill me before we ever even find out!"
"I'm with Sam on this one," Corytha murmured. "I wish he could at least improve our chances or something… I'm okay right now, but I know the anxiety is going to get to me the closer that meeting gets… our entire lives are back home, Reagan. We can't… we can't be stuck here…"
Reagan gave her a sympathetic look, sadness crossing over her features.

"I know, Cori. I feel the same way… I'm sure we all do. All we can do is wait."

"I feel so useless," Sam sighed. "Like all we can do is sit around and pretend we're fine? I'm sorry, but if his spell doesn't come through, I swear-"

"Sam," Reagan intervened sternly. "He's doing the best he can… I've seen him up at 2 AM. He's trying really hard. He's not exactly happy that he brought us here on accident in the first place- he doesn't need any extra pressure right now, okay?"
For a moment the redhead didn't respond.

"Okay?" Reagan repeated.

"Alright," she mumbled.

"Good. We'll figure this out together, you guys… I promise. And we'll all be together when the time comes. It'll be okay. And Cori, if you do start to feel really bad, let us know, okay? You don't have to suffer through this alone, not like you had to before. You could probably even talk to the Nordics if you wanted to."

"Thanks," Corytha smiled softly. "I don't want to cause trouble for them though, so I'll probably just talk to you guys if I need to."

"Well we'll be ready for ya," Sam grinned. The blonde couldn't help but laugh and they began to wrap up their conversation over facetime. Little did they know that their conversation had been overheard by certain individuals.