Norway bolted upright, going from nightmare to fully aware in an instant.
What had he been dreaming about? He couldn't remember. Something about a fire, maybe?
He couldn't remember the last time his nightmares had been so bad that they woke him. Maybe during the Black Death…
He shivered. He didn't want to face his dreams again.
He reached for the light switch. He had some reading he could catch up on.
Before the switch was flipped, the door opened.
"What the hell, Danmark!"
"Sorry. I heard you scream. Nightmare?"
Norway nodded. The light from the hallway gave Denmark enough light to see.
"What about?" Denmark asked as he closed the door.
"I don't remember."
Denmark sat on the edge of Norway's bed. "Do you want me to stay?"
"Yes please."
"Okay." He brushed Norway's hair back and kissed his forehead. "I'll keep first watch."
Several hours later, when Norway woke up, Denmark was gone, and a tray containing coffee and waffles sat on the bedside table.
He sipped the coffee slowly, enjoying the taste and the way it seemed to course through his veins, waking him up.
Where was Denmark? The shower in the next room shut off. Ah…
A few minutes later, Denmark came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and toweling his hair dry.
"Is that why your hair is always so…disheveled?"
"Good morning to you, too, Norge. Glad to see you."
"Oh, shut up, Idiot." He took another sip of his coffee. "It's too early for polite conversation." He took a bite of waffles. (Gods, they were practically swimming in butter.) "Did you make these?"
Denmark nodded, folding his towel.
"In what kitchen?" Norway asked curiously.
"The hotel's."
"They let you cook there?"
Denmark winked. "Something I've learned over the years is that if you are tall, blonde, holding an axe, and it is 7 o'clock in the morning, very few people will argue with you if you want to use their kitchen."
Norway sighed and shook his head. "What am I ever going to do with you?"
"Legally, nothing. I'm not your colony anymore."
"Good riddance. It was terribly annoying having people banging around the kitchen at 7 in the morning, wasting perfectly good sleeping time."
Denmark shrugged good-naturedly. "You'll miss my coffee when I leave."
"I won't need it; I'll get to sleep in."
"Oh come now, Norge. You'd need coffee even if you hibernated like a bear."
Norway's best rebuttal to that was to stick out his tongue at the Dane.
"Perhaps you should have some more coffee, Norge. You're about as grumpy as a bear this morning," Denmark laughed.
Norway glared at the Dane until his cup was refilled. He relaxed after taking the first sip. It was perfectly hot and very, very black, just the way he liked it. Norway had to admit that Denmark could make a good cup of coffee.
"Why do you always take such good care of me?"
That caught Denmark by surprise. "What d'ya mean?"
"You always make sure that I'm okay, that I sleep well, and eat, and have enough coffee before you do anything else. Why?"
"I've always felt…responsible for you, I guess. You were very little when I found you, and I guess I'm just used to taking care of you. You were the first person I'd ever seen before, after all. I'd be awfully lonely if something happened to you."
Norway hid a smile. "It won't be long before today's meeting. I should get dressed."