Author's note: I have changed Varyn's eye colour from teal to grey as I believe it fits better

"Mr. Manuel! You have a package here!"

Chile got up from his chair in his living room to address his maid. "What is it?"

"I don't know, it's small and says it's from… Huh, that's odd."

"What?" he asked again, his curiosity rising as he approached her.

The old woman looked at him with confusion as she handed a small box to him. "It says it's from Reikland. Do you have friends there?"

"No. None at all." He bluntly said, taking the package from her.

He opened it a bit too quickly though as a piece of paper fell to the ground, as he reached to pick it up he saw what was written.

'Hey Manuel, it's pretty chilly where you live at this time of year isn't it?'

His gaze then turned back towards the opened package to see a box of ready-make chili.

"Son of a bit-"

Chapter 29

-A New Antics-

January, 2016

The level of Julia's disappointment was insurmountable as she walked through the front door.

Can't leave this house for two seconds...

"VARYN!"

From where she stood a loud bang was heard upstairs followed by a disgruntled Nordic rushing down the staircase, his appearance sloppy with his hair even more messy than usual.

Despite this his smile was as stunning as ever as his face shined with joy at the sight of her. "Julia! You didn't tell me when you were coming in, I would've cleaned up a bit if I knew when you'd be here!" He walked up to the albino and hugged her, "Oh well, welcome back älsk." Again in spite of his unpolished look he surprisingly smelled nice and fresh, annoyingly like always.

The Prussian was caught off guard at his sudden embracement, but as she regained the thought that had just escaped her mind she pushed him away. She was happy at his reaction towards seeing her, rather comparable to an ecstatic puppy seeing its master, but she couldn't put aside and ignore the elephant in the room. "Varyn it's great to see you too, but what have you done to the house?! It's a complete pigsty! It'll take hours to clean this all!"

His face transferred from one of hurt from being pushed away, to confusion as he slowly looked around him. "Uhhh… what do you mean?"

She scoffed at his painful naïveté. "What do I mean? The curtains are wrinkled, the couch pillows are not straightened out, there are exactly one too many pairs of shoes in the mudroom," she paused for a second to walk into the kitchen, "there are dishes still left out-" she suddenly gasped as she saw what the dishes laid on. "Varyn, the countertops have dust on them for God's sake! Dust Varyn, dust!" She then opened the fridge. "Why am I not surprised, there's hardly any food in here! And is that a stain on the rug?!"

"Um, yeah we ran out of cleaner so I went to get some last night, I was going to get to it today."

"You should have done it as soon as you got home!"

"Julia… it was two a.m."

"So?!"

"Sooo… I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of it all. Sure it might be a little messy, I was busy doing somethings while you were gone, but don't you think you're over exaggerating just a bit?"

"Over exaggerating? Over exaggerating?! I think not! I'm gone for barely three weeks and I come back to this! Varyn we are living in an awesome house, not running a circus!"

The Celt suddenly smirked. "Ah, and might I remind you whose house this is?"

His attempt to abruptly halt the Prussian's rant failed as she walked forward and got into his face. "And who has helped you maintain and keep it orderly for twenty five years?!"

Varyn hung his head low from defeat from her counterattack. "You have…"

He felt a finger lift his chin up to see Julia grinning at him sadistically. "Right, now you're going to clean up this horrible mess while I get situated unpacking."

He nodded solemnly. "Okay…"

The albino's domineering presence however dissipated at that moment as she smiled genuinely and kissed his cheek. "I'm only slightly kidding Var, I'll help you as soon as I'm done."

"Um, thanks? But it shouldn't take that long."

Her cruel look returned. "Oh I'll make it take that long. Damn it's great to be back."

His grey eyes seemed to swirl in excitement as life at home had returned to normal. He then felt yet another touch at his face as she traced his cheek. "Your beard is growing in by the way." She remarked.

He put his hand over hers to feel it too. "Yup, thought I might grow one since I don't remember what I looked like with one, but I'm not sure about it; I mean no one else really has one besides Francis, and I'm not sure how much I want to be compared with him. Does it look bad?"

"No, no at all. It'll be better once it's fuller, but it's fine right now. I remember what you look like with one and let me tell you, it was great. It's a shame you stopped, you didn't want to look weird in the past few centuries when beards were not too well received socially. But it's not that I dislike you clean shaven it's just cool to change things up every now and then."

He smiled at her praise. "Hmm, looks like I'll keep it then."

"You'd better." She then twirled away from him to take her bags upstairs. "Don't slack off on cleaning while I'm not looking though, have to have it spotless."

"Are we expecting someone?"

"Nope."

"Then why does it have to be perfect?"

"Because I said so." And thus she ran up the staircase, not letting him get another word out.

"Wait! How was your business trip?!" He called after her.

"It was awesome!" She shouted back, a door banging behind her, ending the conversation.

Reikland sighed, what else did he expect?

Three hours later

Varyn knocked on the door to his own house with his forehead.

"Owww…"

As he waited for the albino to open the door he noticed the pain of his arms noticeably intensifying.

Come on Julia…

A moment later he sighed in relief as he was accepted back into his own house and out of the cold. He dropped the many bags of groceries on the floor, much to the Prussian's alarm.

"Why did you take so many bags at once?!"

"Only cowardly weaklings take more than one trip." He muttered, massaging his strained arm muscles.

Julia only rolled her eyes. "Show off. But thanks anyways for getting everything."

The two helped each other carry the numerous bags into the kitchen as Värjö joined them, beckoned by the smell of food. He prodded the closest bag with his nose, sniffing it and wagging his tail.

Varyn grinned as he crouched down to pet the wolf's head. "Not yet bud, gotta put stuff away first. And I already feed you twice today."

This did nothing to alleviate the large canine's hunger as he whimpered. The man chuckled and looked over to see Prussia inspecting the bags.

"You didn't forget anything did you?"

"I don't think so…" he mumbled, standing up and scanning the bags quickly, "it's just that… why do we need two liters of pineapple juice?"

"Oh… that…" Julia clasped her hands awkwardly, "I heard a fun little fact about drinking pineapple juice for men a bit ago… which I'll tell you later."

"Uh, okay…" he trailed off, carrying the newly bought milk to the fridge.

He then heard a shriek, startling him and making him drop the milk to the floor. Varyn rushed to turn around and saw Julia staring at the box of yellow peeps he got.

"The fuck is this?!" She seethed.

"Oh uh," he began, his hand instinctively reaching for the back of his neck, "I saw them and thought it would be funny… is it not?"

"Most certainly not! Varyn this household is strictly yellow peep free! I will never eat anything in resemblance to Jilbird!"

Jilbird, who had been resting on the albino's head the whole time stared at the Celt disapprovingly, while Julia crossed her arms. "We're both extremely disappointed in you Varyn."

The man's head slumped as he regretted his purchase. "I'm sorry… I guess I'll throw them out then." He walked over to take the box from her hands but she pulled them out of his reach.

"Wait no! That would be wasting money! We could return it!"

"Julia it was like three euros, and I threw the receipt out by accident when I left the store."

Julia stroked her chin as she thought. "Shit… what could we use them for then?" Her face then lift up as a light went off in her head. "Oh wait! I know! Let's blow them up in the microwave instead!"

Jilbird screeched atop her head in distress.

"Isn't that even more insulting?!" Varyn asked in concern of their feathered friend.

"Oh shoot you're right. Uh… what if we used them as target practice for the hunting rifle you own?"

"That's nearly as bad! And since when do I have a hunting rifle?"

"You got it a while ago," she answered aimlessly, "but crap... there's not much to do with them…"

"So who cares?" He then took the box form her and placed it back in the bag. "We can ask if anyone wants them the next time we have people over, we can save them for now… besides, look what I just bought!" He said, lifting his new toy out of a different bag.

The albino was not impressed. "A fucking nerf gun? What are you, a nine year old?"

"I'll have you know missy, that it says for ages eight and up!" Varyn then opened the packaging and loaded a dart into the chamber. "See it's cool! Watch!" He pointed the gun at a painting on the wall and shot it.

The dart hit right where he was aiming for, but then proceeded to bounce off and hit Julia directly in the face.

Fear overtook the Celt as the dart stuck to her forehead, a blank expression on her face; the suction for some reason failed to stick on the painting, but succeeded with her skin.

He rushed to all fours in submission to beg for forgiveness. "Julia I'm sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen! I was just playing around!"

His dread only increased as there was no response from the Prussian, and he looked up to instead see her grinning widely, her face beaming. "That was awesome! We should get more and shoot each other!"

As he got to his feet he sighed deeply. "You know, this is why I love you."

"Thanks liebe, but did you get any weird looks at the store for buying a nerf gun as a grown man?"

"Ah, no, I actually thought about that before hand. I bought a children's birthday card with it."

Julia stood silent.

"What?"

"That's actually a good idea."

"I know right?"

"I didn't think you were capable of such great thinking Varyn."

"Well fuck you too dart face."

In an instant he was on the floor being strangled.

A few hours later

"NOOOOOO!"

Prussia jolted up from her position lying across the couch from the Nordic. When she saw that he was only reading his book, she was confused. "Varyn? What is it?!"

"Rob Stark died! The king in the north is dead! Those fucking Freys! How dare they?!"

She gave him a dead stare. "That's what you screamed about? You woke me from my awesome beauty sleep."

"You were drooling." He quickly remarked before addressing his book, "And yes I screamed about it, any devoted Game of Thrones fan would!"

Julia embarrassingly wiped her mouth. "Didn't you already read those books?"

"Yeah but I forgot everything about them for some reason, can't say that I mind it though, I get to experience this masterpiece all over again!" A thought then came across his mind, "Say, do we watch the show together?"

"Uh yeah, season six is starting in April."

Reikland's face lit up. "Really? Awesome! I've got to finish rereading the series by then!"

This irritated the Prussian as she poked his side with her foot. "Varyynnn… you focus so much on that stuff… love meeeeee…"

"But you said I ruined your 'beauty' sleep."

"But I'm awake now… so I want attention…" she continued to prod him.

"Alright," he said, putting his book down and taking off his glasses, "I was going to show this to you later but I guess it doesn't really matter when I do. Do you remember how I said I was working on something while you were gone?"

"Uh yeah…" Julia began, her intrigue rising.

He smiled. "Want to know what it was?"

"Uh sure, what is it?"

"Do you really want to know?" The man teased.

Julia rolled her eyes. "Yes I want to fucking know, you brought it up."

His smile widened. "Well you'll have to wait until tonight, we're going out to eat."

This seemed to get her attention as she sat up. "Really? Where?"

"You know that popular German family owned pub downtown?"

Her violet eyes widened. "Der Berliner?"

"Yup, I remembered that you loved to go there and that we knew the owners so I decided to set up a reservation for tonight."

The albino wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him close. "That's great! That place is awesome! Thanks Var!"

Reikland then remembered something that worried him. "Wait you're not too tired to go out later are you? I imagine you must have not had a lot of time to rest on your business trip right?"

"Well you're right, I didn't, but I'll be fine for tonight. Thanks for worrying about me. But…" she trailed off, looking down at herself, "that means I'll have to get changed, can't go looking like this."

Her attire had consisted of only underwear and a loose tank top since she got home.

"I mean hey, I wouldn't mind." He smirked.

"Neither would I, but I have a history of being thrown out of bars that I would not like to continue."

"Ah, alcoholism is quite a pain to deal with I see."

She punched his arm. "Hey I'm not an alcoholic! I drink modestly most of the time!"

The Celt groaned at the pain in his arm. "I'm really going to get a broken bone one of these days. Why does everyone hit the same exact spot?"

She punched him again, but lighter this time. "Pussy. It's because the stupid author can't think of anything unique."

Reikland nodded. "Ah, what a pain in the ass he must be."

Julia crossed her arms. "I know, do you know how whiny and out of character he makes me sometimes?! It's annoying honestly."

He grinned as he leaned back down onto the couch. "Good thing I'm not based off a character, anything goes."

"Well at least I'm not in the show… so I guess I could be different from Gilbert… can you believe that they didn't make me a part of the show?! I'm too awesome to be left out, what the hell?! Gilbert's a punk." She complained, sitting on his lap now.

"Hah, could you imagine if you were him in this story?"

Julia smirked. "Oh, would you like that? Being in a relationship with a guy?"

Varyn shook his head nonchalantly in denial. "Nah älsk, the dick life ain't for me."

"We'll see about that…" she said, stroking her chin slowly.

He looked up at her in fear. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her sadistic grin revealed itself once more. "Oh you'll see…"

At the pub

"Hey Jules? I had a question for you." Varyn asked, sitting across from the silver haired woman who was eating a dish of schnitzel and potatoes rather sloppily.

"What?"

"Well, the first-" He began.

"No, what did you just call me?" She interrupted.

"Uh, Jules?"

"You remember calling me that?"

"Yeah, just recently I had a memory where I used it."

Julia smiled at the reconnected history between them. "Oh, great! Now what did you want to ask me?"

"Well, as I was saying, the first time I met Turkey… or Sadik, I felt an immediate disliking to him and I still do, but I don't know why. Can you think of any reason why I wouldn't like him?"

Prussia took a moment to think about this before answering. "Well nothing happened recently in modern times, I mean we were all allied together in World War One. But you did resent him for the longest time after he killed Byzantium, I guess that must be why."

Varyn then felt guilty again for not remembering someone. "Byzantium? Was I close with them? I don't even know if they were a man or woman."

Prussia sighed as she had to explain yet another thing to the Nordic man. Then again, it was her fault that this happened, so she shouldn't be complaining. "Zoë was a woman, and you were good friends with her because of both of your relations with Rome, she was his daughter after all. She was, I believe from what you told me a long time ago, the last nation from your earlier times to die. You seemed extremely upset and disturbed when she was killed."

Reikland then had a faint distant memory of some event. "Wait, were you with me when I found out about her death?" He asked.

The red-eyed nation immediately perked up as he seemed to regain some of his past. "Yes! We were! We were in Königsberg! You were helping me out militarily when we heard the news!" She quickly said, trying her best to aid in his recovery.

Images flashed before the Celt's eyes, dizzying him slightly. "Königsberg…" he said to himself.

"Yes!" Julia exclaimed excitedly. "Do you remember?"

More visions appeared before him, his head swirling. "I think so…" he said. He tried to retain his grip on reality, but he was already slipping.

Königsberg

June, 1453

Varyn was collapsed in a chair, Julchen next to him, just having received news of the death of his oldest friend.

"She's… she's really gone…" the man softly spoke, almost in a whisper.

"Varyn, are you going to be okay?" The albino girl asked, eyeing him worriedly.

"I don't know Julchen… I don't know…" he muttered, covering his mouth with his hand. "I knew this was going to happen eventually, it was inevitable… and yet I did nothing…"

"Varyn you can't blame yourself for this, like you said, it was inevitable; how could you have saved her?"

"It's not the matter of saving her Julchen, it's the matter of letting her know that people still remembered her, cared about her, thought she was relevant… no, she probably died feeling abandoned and forgotten by the world… I could have at least saved her from that."

He then looked the albino in the eyes. "Julchen… I'm not trying to insult you, but please don't… don't do anything rash okay?"

The German was confused by this. "What? What do you mean?"

Reikland narrowed his eyes and took her hand into his, gripping it tightly. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it; the Teutonic Order is not in the most… stable position right now and you know it, you've been in a precarious state ever since what happened forty years ago. So please, please be cautious in the years to come for at least my sake. You are one of my dearest friends right now, I hope you know that, and I couldn't stand to see any harm come to you."

The albino blushed slightly, but her thoughts soon turned bitter.

Is friendship the only thing between us?

However, as she thought this, she mentally reprimanded herself and shrugged it off.

"Julchen?"

Her attention came back to Reikland as she realized that she had spaced out. "Oh uh, yeah I promise," she smiled, "but have a little faith in me okay? I'm not going away anytime soon."

Varyn's grim expression faded as he returned the grin. "I should hope so, you're much too young to end your time in this beautiful world."

"Yeah whatever gramps, I'll make sure to get as old as you before I go." She then laughed, "Ha, guess I'll have a while then."

The Celt did not appreciate the jest at his age. "Yes I know I'm a senile old man."

"I'm kidding!" She chuckled again, "but anyways…" Julchen paused, her face turning more somber, "may I ask for a little insight? What exactly did you have with Zoë? If you're comfortable answering that is."

The man was silent for several moments as he gathered his thoughts, more than a thousand years of memories flowing through mind. Finally he sat up straight and ran his hand through his hair. "Zoë was… perhaps not my best friend, but she was the one I could relate to the most, the one I could confide in more than anyone. She was a small child when I first met her eleven hundred years ago, timid at first with seemingly bottomless shoes to fill from her father, Romulus. At first our only connection was our mutual relation to Rome, but over the centuries as the nations we were familiar and grew up with began to pass, we both became closer as old friends living in a very new and changed world."

He paused for a second to think before he next spoke.

"However after the Fourth Crusade and the death of her lover, the Kievan Rus, she… she never recovered. Both of us knew that her time on earth was running short and I tried to help her, but the distance between our lands never allowed me to make much of a difference. I'm actually surprised she lasted this long…"

Varyn stopped short as realization seemed to hit him.

"But she's… she's really gone now. She was the only other one… I'm all that's left…" he took a sharp intake of breath and sorrowfully laughed, his face sinking into his hands. "God I feel so alone…"

Julchen stood motionless before him, not knowing what to say, so instead chose to remain silent. A minute passed before Varyn exhaled a deep sigh and raised his head. "I guess time really is man's worst enemy."

He then noticed that she had not moved the whole time he had talked and began to apologize. "Sorry Julchen, I'm sure you don't want to hear my sob story. If you want we can-"

"Varyn may I ask you something?" She interrupted.

The Celt was a bit taken aback but quickly nodded. "Uh, yes, certainly, what is it?"

"Why do you support me?" The albino asked emotionlessly.

He looked even more surprised by her question. "Come again?"

"I want to know why have always supported me in nearly everything I've done ever since you met me. And don't give me any crap about you being the reason I was sent here, I've known that for a while now but it doesn't make any sense to me, you have no obligation to help me in any way. I've only been a hindrance to you and your own advancements… so why?"

Varyn smiled almost nervously, "Julchen, you should know that you are one of the greatest friends that I have, I would-"

"And also don't say it's because we're 'friends', even mere friends don't go through such lengths." She interrupted once more.

Varyn looked at her seriously now before reclining into his chair. "You really want to know?"

She nodded in response. "I do."

He sighed once more. "The reason I have aided you throughout the years is because you remind me of someone from my past. They had an… unfortunate end that I wasn't able to save them from… so I've tried to assist you to the best of my abilities." He then smiled weakly at her, "Can you forgive me for trying to protect those I hold dear? Helping you helps me relieve some of the… guilt from the mistakes I've made." The Nordic now stared into her eyes, "Julchen, what we have is precious to me, I don't want anything to change it."

She again nodded, this time in understanding, but her face continued to hold no emotion. "Varyn… what am I to you?"

Reikland leaned forwards closer to her. "My closest and most cherished friend; better than I could have ever asked for."

The German smiled almost painfully as she began to leave the room, turning back only to say one last thing, "Then that is what I will be…" she opened the door and let out a whisper, barely audible but just loud enough for him to hear, "and nothing more."

Back to present

Varyn came back to Julche-, no, Julia staring at him expectantly.

"So? Do you remember it?"

"Yeah… but I'm not sure I want to." He said, rubbing the back of his neck instinctively. "Is it a bit hot in here?" He asked while unraveling the scarf around his neck.

Varyn felt the fretful gaze of the Prussian as she stared at him with concern. "Are you alright? We can go outside or something if you need some fresh air." She said this all while ordering another drink.

The Nordic didn't want to spoil their night out so he rejected the idea and instead tried to liven the mood. "No, I'll be alright. I'm more worried about you though Julia, please don't get drunk, or alcohol poisoning, this is your seventeenth beer after all."

"Me? Alcohol poisoning?" She cackled, chugging down the beer as soon as it arrived, "Who do you think I am? You? Amy Winehouse?"

"Ouch." He said, grasping his heart in mock agony. "Too far älsk. Too far."

Julia giggled into her drink. "Whatever. So what was this about you working on something?"

"Ah yes, almost forgot about that. I brought it with me, it's for you."

This finally managed to bring the albino's attention away from her alcohol. "Really? What is it?"

"Take a guess." He teased, taking the object out of his pocket.

Julia's mind raced for a moment before giving up. "I have no idea, something awesome?"

"That's for you to decide." Varyn smiled, revealing an ornate silver bracelet to her.

The Prussian let out a gasp of excitement as he put the jewelry onto her wrist, "Oh my god! Varyn this is beautiful! Did you make it yourself?"

"Yup, it has your initials engraved into it if you look closely." He said, pointing out the small 'J. B.' inscription in the metal.

Julia frowned and grunted, ordering another beer as she finished her last one. "Ugh, you just reminded me that mine are the same as Justin Bieber's."

"Oh," Varyn's face fell, "do you not like that? I could grind it down a bit if you want."

"Oh no it's fine! It's perfectly fine Var, I love it!" The albino exclaimed, pulling him closer to her. "Just like I love you."

Her expression sank though as she remembered something. "Wait, so that means I yelled at you for the house being messy when it was because you were working on this?"

The Celt smiled nervously, "Uh… kinda?"

"Well now I feel shitty." Her gaze then slowly fell over him with annoyance. "This is your fault, you should have told me."

"I was trying to surprise you!"

She crossed her arms sloppily in frustration. "Well I don't like surprises."

"But you love surprises! Are you sure the alcohol isn't getting to your head?"

The Prussian scoffed as she drank more of her beer, her face flushed red. "Whaaaat? Noooo…"

Varyn was not amused and scooped her up. "Alright, I think you've had enough, it's time to get you home älsk."

"What?! No!" She yelled, squirming in his grip. "Lass mich runter! Ich bin nicht erledigt!"

"Oh yes you are! C'mon, we're going home and putting you to bed!"

Julia sighed in defeat, clinging to him. "Ugh… fine… be gentle." She whispered.

"What? No that's not what I-" He stopped as he saw her giggling.

"Let's just go." He said, taking them both outside and leaving their favorite pub.

Translations:

Lass mich runter! Ich bin nicht erledigt!: German for 'Let me go! I'm not done!"