Something was off. Norway could feel it.
It was not anything specific in the beginning. Denmark would be helpful, a little too helpful. Whenever Norway wanted something done, the Dane would do it in record time. If Norway went to take a shower, there would be a neatly-folded towel outside his bathroom door. Whenever Norway woke up and went down to make himself coffee as usual, Denmark would already prepare breakfast for him.
It was unnatural. Denmark was nice, but this…this was abnormal.
Then, things took a very sharp turn.
Denmark would start cutting off from Norway, pretending not to hear him when he asked questions. The useful favors still continued, but Denmark would never make an attempt to communicate with him, instead focusing on the little things; turning on the table lamp when Norway spent too much time reading, preparing Norway's coffee before he woke up and getting the groceries religiously.
Norway found it suspicious.
What made the matter so much worse was the unbearable silence that enveloped the house during his stay there. He couldn't ever remembering feeling such intense pressure, not even during the days of the Kalmar Union. Those days had been…horrible, in a word, but this was entirely different. Denmark was now completely ignoring him, cutting Norway off and it caused this strange feeling for the shorter nation.
He was suddenly extremely glad that Sweden and Finland promised to join them that day, but the twist was: they were bringing Sealand along. And if that wasn't what was driving Denmark so crazy, then Norway would never insist on calling the Dane 'Mikkel Densen' ever again.
Sweden, apparently, felt that it was a good idea if Sealand was put in the loop by more practical means, namely seeing that Denmark really could not speak. Finland, well, did not agree, but really had no choice. He had no better ideas.
They were set to arrive that night, and Denmark's attitude was beginning to unnerve the Norwegian.
"Denmark!" He finally snapped at him, as he watched the Dane scurry around, from his armchair. "You can only tidy the bookshelf so much! Sit down!"
He watched with mild surprise as the man's back stiffened almost dramatically, and Denmark immediately took a seat on the sofa that lay beside the one Norway was occupying.
"Well, that's a first." Norway pointed out coolly, watching carefully as Denmark's face turned ashen. "You normally never listen."
Denmark just shrugged noncommittally, as though he was not about to suffer from a nervous breakdown.
'It happens.' He signed in boredom.
"As if," Norway sighed, "You know-"
He was cut off by the annoying chime of the doorbell that resembled a dying cuckoo. Not that Norway was exactly sure how that sounded, but it seemed quite close. He imagined it was similar.
Giving the door a look of complete happiness, Denmark literally jumped up and ran to yank it open. Only, he faltered when he opened it and, as Norway approached, he could see his eyes turn hooded.
Deciding to save him from another mishap, Norway quickly barged in, nodding at Sweden and Norway and giving the third figure a strange smile, like a grimace.
"Sealand," He spoke in a tone he usually reserved for children, "How are you?"
"Great, Uncle Norway!" The boy beamed. Norway could faintly make out his rosy cheeks under the flickering porch light. "I'm beat though! Hey, where'd Uncle Denmark go?"
"What?"
Norway looked to his side where Denmark stood…where Denmark had stood. His eyebrow furrowed and he said nothing; simply stood aside and gestured at them to enter.
After showing the little family where they were to stay, since Denmark was MIA, Norway retired to the couch in front of the fireplace to get some piece of mind. His body relaxed into the couch, all the tension easing out of it.
Norway frowned; he really wished for some tea, perhaps an Earl Grey. His frequent meetings with Britain seemed to have influenced him, he concluded.
Staring into the fire sprung up thoughts that Norway had been trying to avoid. Really, during his flight to Denmark (the land mass), he had occupied himself with back-to-back movies just to stop thinking about things.
Denmark's problem was half the reason. Not that Norway could blame him, because honestly, it was Norway's fault, not Denmark's. No matter how hard he tried to forget it, it seemed impossible; Norway was the reason that Denmark was facing these kinds of problems.
The nations had not reacted well to their disappearance. That was not to say that all the nations had a problem with it; just a select few did, but rest assured, the countries in question were very powerful.
Luckily, Greece was having one of his economic problems again, so Norway was given some room to breathe. Not that the fact that Greece suffering was a good thing; from the few encounters that Norway had had with him, the sleepy nation seemed to be one of the few tolerable nations.
So far, Norway had absolutely no idea how to fix the problem. He had to convince the international community of Denmark's competence…but how?
He startled when a hot cup filled with a brown liquid was pushed into his hands, making them burn.
"Ouch!" He hissed quietly, before looking up in anger, only for it to melt away. "Where were you?"
'My room,' Denmark answered with a quiet presence. Norway could see something in his eyes; he was not sure what to think of it. 'What're you thinking about?'
'I wish I could tell you,' Norway thought darkly, before shaking his head.
"Nothing much," He shrugged, the words feeling heavy on his tongue, "Just wondering how to feed so many mouths tomorrow."
Denmark raised an eyebrow. It was actually extremely unnerving to see that expression on the Dane's face: it did not suit him.
'Bull.' He signed, grinning, 'I'm the one who cooks, Norge.'
"Yes, well," Norway shot back immediately, feeling a burning in his chest, "I'm the one who usually has to think about the important things, Denmark."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Norway wanted to die. He would rather have sat in Hell than seen that expression on the Dane's face again; it was similar to the look he had when Norway had found him after his isolation. A broken, gaunt look that was so closed off and distant…
"Denmark," He grabbed his wrist, "I-I apologize. I'm just really wound up right now-"
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because the muscles in Denmark's arm tensed up, and he wrenched it out of Norway's grasp.
Norway was understandably wide-eyed, because Denmark had not acted so violently since…well, a long time. It was an alien move.
Before he could say anything more, the Dane had left him alone, with only a cooling cup of tea in his hands.
The next morning, Norway woke with a headache. There was no way he could fall asleep easily, not after seeing that look…
In fact, it was that look that had Norway staring at the ceiling for hours on end, unable to catch the faintest wink of sleep. No amount of caffeine could help him this morning.
Sighing, Norway swung his legs over the bed, before heading toward the bathroom to brush. His fingers absentmindedly rubbed at his throbbing temples, trying to ease the ache.
It was like a mild hangover, and Norway absolutely loathed hangovers.
"Norway!" He winced when Finland burst into the room. "Hurry and get dressed!"
"Why?" He covered a yawn, "What's the point?"
"The point," The Finnish man crossed his arms, "Is that we need to tell Sealand today."
At that, an image of Denmark flashed before Norway's eyes. He sighed because, what choice did he have?
"Alright," He closed his eyes at a searing pain in his head, "I'm going to come downstairs in a while. Be prepared."
Finland seemed to understand the hidden message- brief Sealand and be prepared for tears- because his eyes darkened and he nodded, before leaving the room.
Norway stared sadly at himself in the mirror; his skin was pale and clammy, his eyes bloodshot and his hair mussed. He would need to fix himself up, needed to look presentable.
Opening the doors of his wardrobe, Norway tried to ignore the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach…
When Norway descended the stairs, he was hit by the overwhelming smell of coffee and, despite his current predicament, his mouth began to water. Tea was good later during the day, but before that, coffee was life.
Denmark was in the kitchen, long hands reaching for the sugar in the cupboard above as a kettle of what was likely tea hummed away. Finland liked tea, Norway realized with a start, and Denmark actually remembered. That, in itself, was shocking.
"G'd m'rning." Sweden called from the table, where he was reading the Danish newspaper. All the Nordics knew the others' language to some extent, though most of them were not very fluent. Norway himself was excellent in the Danish and Icelandic languages.
Norway nodded curtly at the tall, imposing male then asked for Finland.
The Swede's face tightened and he pointed towards his room.
"Denmark, let's go." Norway commanded, once again trying to quash the weird feeling in his gut. "We need to tell Sealand."
He saw the Dane's hands still and tremble faintly but ignored it as the man hurriedly wiped his hands and turned off the stove. Denmark brushed past him, eyes on the floor, although Norway tried to meet his gaze. The dismissal made his heart stutter to a stop, because Denmark never did that.
He forced his feet to start moving in the right direction, fighting the sickness that began to rise up in his throat.
When he entered the room, he saw Sealand blabbering mindlessly at Denmark. Finland was nowhere to be seen. Denmark's face was pale and his hair uncontrollably messy.
"Sealand, where is Finland?"
The blond boy pondered before lighting up, "In the bath!"
"I'm here." Finland stepped out of the bathroom, Norway's view foggy because of the steam flowing out.
"We have something to tell you." Norway exhaled harshly through his nose."It is of utmost importance."
At this, the child perked up, chest puffing out.
"You can tell me anything," He boasted, "I'm a grown nation!"
Denmark's eyes were closed.
Finland placed himself next to Sealand, leaving Norway the only one standing.
"Peter," He used the boy's human name, "It's about your Uncle Denmark."
"What's wrong?" Norway could see Sealand's eyes widen as he faced Denmark.
"He…" Finland sighed miserably, so Norway told him straight on.
"Denmark can no longer speak."
As the words jumped off his tongue, Norway closed his eyes so that he would not see the heart-broken expression on his nephew's face. After a few moments of silence, however, Sealand giggled.
Startled, Norway glanced at Denmark and Finland, who seemed equally as lost as he was.
"Is that all?" He lofted an eyebrow, before smiling at their gobsmacked faces. "I already knew that."
"What?!" Finland cried in surprise, as Denmark could only gape widely at the boy.
And Norway? Norway could only stare.
"How did you find out?!"
"I have friends, you know!" Sealand said indignantly, "Seychelles told me that France told her that Uncle Norway and you told him at the World Meeting!"
Well. Well then.
Norway blinked as he struggled to regain his bearings. So, Sealand already knew. So, news traveled fast. So, half the world knew. So, Norway freaked out for absolutely nothing.
"Uncle Denmark!" Sealand glomped the thin nation, "I don't care whether you speak or not; you're still the same person aren't you?"
Norway saw the Dane nod frantically and, after exchanging a look with Finland, left the room to give them some semblance of privacy. Denmark deserved that much, at least, after all of his worrying.
He sighed as he took a seat next to Sweden, who didn't even look up from his newspaper, though there seemed to be a hint of a smirk on his face.
Well, at least that was one worry down.
Okay, I have no excuse really. I know I updated really late, and I'm really sorry. I finished an early draft, before deciding to add some extra parts to this chapter (namely the end). I can assure you that there's no way I'm going to abandon this fic, because honestly, it means a lot to me.
Anyways, I recently started 11th grade and have found it to be ABSOLUTELY TORTUROUS. I'm doing IB, so I guess that explains it :)
The worst part is, we're not even a month into it yet, so imagine how it's gonna be in the future! It hurts to think about it!
Thank you to all my followers, favoriters and reviewers for showing your support for this fic! May the Nordics smile upon you!
~beingawesome