APH - Den/Hun - Unexpected Invitation - Chapter 36
She woke up the next morning, not exactly remembering what had happened last night. Elizaveta knew that she had committed something - somewhat bad, if she could put that very bluntly - and wasn't sure how many times she had did it. She didn't want to know either, but she had opened her eyes to the sight of Mathias lying nude in her bed, glowing under the morning sunlight. Her body ached, but didn't ache as much as it would when she lacked sleep.
Elizaveta quickly sat up, noticing that the bedsheet that had somehow been pulled over her slipped off to reveal her own naked body. She flinched in alarm at first, glancing back at Mathias as if she feared that he would witness her, but instead found herself staring at the part of the Dane she had uncovered as she sat up. Her mind had wandered for at least a minute before she kicked herself mentally out of her happy world and wobbled off of the bed, picking up the various articles of clothing lying around on her floor - again catching herself staring at the pattern on Mathias's boxers - before she decided to finally head off to shower, setting the pile of clothes neatly beside the door. Elizaveta glanced back once last time at Mathias, but then noticed how...vulnerable he seemed.
...I can't miss this.
She ran back to her desk in her room, grabbed her camera, returned to her bed, and knelt down against the bed with her device up to her eyes, quickly snapping a photo before putting it back down next to her laptop with satisfaction and locking herself in her bathroom.
The distant sound of water rushing from the shower mixed with the usual morning music of birds and wind causing chimes to sing gently woke the Dane. He slowly blinked his eyes open as they adjusted to the morning sunlight filtering through the curtains. He shifted slightly and was reminded that he was in the Hungarian's home and, not just that, but in her room, on her bed, and in the nude. Mathias inhaled slowly, taking in the mixed scents now present in the room, and slowly got up into a sitting position. He felt certain tingles on his back-scratch marks.
He slid off of the bed, and saw his clothing by the door. He stole a suspicious glance at her camera and laptop, but decided to let them be and instead walked over to pick up his clothes. The Viking couldn't help but allow a smirk to appear on his face. It wasn't hard to remember the night before-after all, for once he wasn't intoxicated, allowing the moments of the night to easily replay in his mind. His body felt sore in several places, and he didn't mind. Just the way I like it. Slipping on his boxers, he ran out to his car to grab some fresh articles of clothing, throwing in the ones he had worn yesterday, and went into the bathroom he had used on his previous visit to Elizaveta's home.
Elizaveta hadn't noticed her own scratches and pierced skin until the water gave her a burning feeling as it soaked her skin. The stinging urged her to exit her shower earlier, making her bathe for a much shorter time than she usually would have; she muttered out a short string of complaints to herself aloud as she quickly dried herself with a towel, looking into the mirror to examine herself. She sighed when she noticed her shoulder oozing out some blood, some stitches that had not yet been removed also misplaced.
No wonder.
The Hungarian stared at her skin for a moment longer before tending to them, doing her best not to strain herself in rebandaging herself. Having forgotten to grab new clothes, Elizaveta decided to come out with only the towel screening her body, allowing the bathroom door to slowly creep open first before coming out. She peeked her head out through the opening, checking to see if Mathias was up and about. Discovering a part of the clothes pile gone and another water source running from a different room, Elizaveta deemed it safe to return to her bedroom and get dressed in something light. After doing so, Elizaveta had her eyes set on her bed, thinking about the night before.
The expression on her face may have suggested that she was indifferent or even regretful about it, but she truly enjoyed it. A smile, possibly a smirk, found its way to her lips before she fixed the bed sheets and headed downstairs.
Cold water washed over the Dane, waking him up and making his body feel refreshed, though his skin tingled for various reasons. He soon enough got out and slowly dried himself off, lost in thought. Looking into the mirror, he examined his body-he couldn't exactly see his back, but marks on his neck were enough to tell him what the rest of his body looked like. Another smirk crept onto his lips before he got into a t-shirt and jeans, reminded of the soreness in his body as he moved. He ran a hand through his wet hair before ruffling up to give it its usual messy style, minus the gel.
Quietly opening the door, Mathias peered around, listening, and heard some movement in the kitchen. He walked as silently as he could towards the smell of a cooking breakfast, and peeking into the kitchen, saw the Hungarian busy at the stove, her back to him. He observed her for a bit before creeping up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. He murmured softly, soon after smelling her damp hair: "Good morning."
Elizaveta's shoulders twitched strangely as she half-restrained herself from overreacting, trying to get used to Mathias's presence. She turned her head to him after getting comfortable in his arms, enjoying his warmth and murmuring a soft "good morning" before pressing her lips against his cheek with a grin. "You picked the right shoulder to set your head on," she added, chuckling. With a spatula, she deftly flipped over a Gundel palacsinta in the making. "Have you finished searching my house yet?"
She wasn't expecting him to say 'yes' - he had gotten up soon after she did and, though she believed that there shouldn't be any other weapons to confiscate, Elizaveta didn't think he could have completed his job in such a short amount of time. After all, they had gotten...carried away. It was strangely both pleasant and unpleasant to think about.
Telling herself to stop pondering about it, Elizaveta added on other foods including walnuts and raisins, and ingredients to the thin pancake, then folded it into a triangle. She transferred it onto a plate, put the finishing touches onto it, and finally held it up to Mathias's face. "Here, eat first. You should try something new."
Mathias smiled as he felt her soft lips on his cheek, in response gently nuzzling hers. His eyes went to what she was making, looking at it with interest, before his attention returned to the Hungarian. He chuckled before replying, his words coated in sarcasm. "Oh, of course-I totally had the time to do that." A smirk flashed on his lips for an instant before he shook his head. His arms slowly slipped off of the Hun as he straightened back up to allow her to move freely as she finished preparing the breakfast item.
"Alright, mor." He teased, taking the plate from her and blinking at the triangular treat, which looked, well, delicious. He took a fork and took a bite, feeling a mix of flavors burst in his mouth, all sweet and sugary. And then. . ."Rum?" He took another bite, chuckling quietly. "This is really good. Quite the sweet tooth, eh?" He flashed her a grin, his eyes glancing down her body. "Hmm, probably explains that butt of yours." Again, teasing, and immediately took a step away as he took another bite to escape getting hit by Elizaveta, laughing with his mouth full.
Elizaveta glanced at the Dane's face to double check his words, making sure he wasn't correct. His smirk told her enough, and she was just about to return to cooking another one until she glared at him for his Danish. Attempting to ignore it, Elizaveta picked up her spatula and murmured, "Just a little rum, before you start dancing around like a mad drunken fool." She laughed as well, but found herself swiftly cutting off her laugh to instinctively toss her spatula at him, which moved at the speed of a well thrown dart. However, she had missed him by a good foot as she tweaked her throw slightly when she realized just in time how much the kitchen tool could hurt him...considering her strength. Despite how far it traveled, it clanked almost deafeningly and inharmoniously to the ground.
"Right, you sexually unsatisfied dog," she countered back, thinking of nothing better to talk back with. Elizaveta lazily slugged off to retrieve the spatula, then returned to the kitchen and washed it before finally cooking another pancake. "But I expect that you like my butt this way, right?" A smirk made way to her face, eying Mathias darkly. "Seeing how many times you groped it last night..."
The Dane's eyes widened when he saw her throw the spatula, nearly stumbling backwards to avoid it, but sighed with relief as she had changed her aim anyway. He winced as it hit the ground, but turned back to the Hun with a dark grin, snickering quietly. "Sexually unsatisfied dog?" He repeated, watching her as she returned to the stove, himself taking another bite of the scrumptious breakfast. The next words halted in his throat at her question, and he swallowed them back down at her remark. His lips mirrored her smirk as his eyes narrowed.
Mathias returned her gaze, setting down the now-clean plate, and came up behind her. "Oh, I never said anything was wrong with this-" His hands traveled down and squeezed her hind. "I am perfectly content with your ass." He snickered again, shifting his head so his lips brushed her ear, and spoke softly. "And don't act like I did all the groping, you untamed feline."
Elizaveta jumped in surprise as she felt a pair of hands grab her hind, eyes temporarily moving out from its narrowed state; she quickly released the spatula onto the counter to lock his wrists with her hands, turning her head to his as his warm breath huffed onto her ear. Her smirk returned and further spread across her lips. "Good," she replied, her voice just as low, then snickered. "Of course, Mathias...though, 'untamed'? You shouldn't be the only one saying that." Her head leaned to the side and shifted slightly, moving her lips closer to his as if about to kiss him, though freed his wrists after pulling them away from her hind to gently push away his face, her other hand taking back the spatula to flip over the now cooked batter. "I hope that small bit of rum didn't get to you."
Noticing the empty plate, Elizaveta blinked and gave the Dane a questioning look. "Do you want another one? If not, you should look through the rest of my house for weapons." I would follow along to make sure he doesn't get eye candy from my clothes, but... She shook her head slightly. It really doesn't matter anymore. The Hun well knew that Mathias, too, was aware of her secrets.
Mathias grinned mischievously at her response. "I didn't say it was only you." He had moved in for the kiss he thought he was about to receive, and frowned as she pulled away and pushed him back. However, that frown twitched into a smirk, and he coolly replied. "Pah, you should know better than that-I'm not Arthur." He chuckled, shaking his head. He eyed the stove, but let out a small sigh. "Nah, I'm good-that was pretty heavy in itself. I guess I'll just go and check the rest of the house."
He went up the stairs, figuring to finish up there before looking around the first floor, and escaped into the Hungarian's room. He stood there for a while, his eyes scanning it, to look for any potential hiding spots, and of course, for his own enjoyment. A smirk alighted his face again when he his eyes fell on the bed, and, with a shudder, remembering the pistol the Hun had pulled out on him the night before, carefully examined around and under it and everywhere in between, but found nothing more. He continued moving through her room and her bathroom till he was sure he checked everywhere, the only thing to be taken care of was a small dagger concealed behind her mirror.
Before he left, though, he just couldn't resist. He looked through her clothes, smirking at some of the more revealing garments, wondering if he'd be able to see her in those, just for the sake of it. Then his attention turned to the drawer that he had been looking through the night before, and he contently went through it again. His lips couldn't seem to shake off the smirk he had and he slipped one of her thongs out, and balling it up, stuffed it in his pocket. Satisfied, the Dane looked through the rest of the upper floor, finding nothing more, and returned downstairs with the few weapons in his hand, dumping them into the container in the living room.
Then he made his rounds throughout the house, looking up and down everywhere, just in case there was something else, and he didn't want to miss it because that would spell trouble if it was caught. He found a few swords, which he quietly bundled up before putting them in the container. That was about all he could find, and a small slingshot, though he wasn't sure if that counted as a weapon or not. Finally done with his search, he closed the container and fell back on a sofa, sighing with relief. Well, at least that's done with.
Elizaveta slowly shook her head as well as she repeated the process to make another Gundel palacsinta for herself, adding the extra ingredients onto the pancakes again. However, her inner paranoia got to her and she kept an eye out on Mathias as he disappeared into her house. While folding the palacsinta, Elizaveta promised herself, I'll hurt him if I find out that he decides to take advantage of this. Little did she know he did.
Her eyes remained on the hallway as she set her many breakfast dishes out on the table, patiently taking up each of her own foods and focusing her ears to pick up any noises from around the house. The most she could hear was Mathias's feet walking along her floor upstairs and some things shifting here and there - but sometimes there was silence, which would leave her suspicious and perhaps a bit worried for herself until she heard him start moving around again.
She watched Mathias every time he passed by, either carrying some of her weapons or nothing at all (which was when she would quickly scan him from head to toe, secretly admiring his body). When he finally finished, Elizaveta had tossed in the last bit of strudel she had left into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it before stacking the dishes and glancing at Mathias on the sofa. She smiled slightly at his small exhaustion after some labor and went to the sink to wash her plates, then went over to the sofa to offer the Dane a cup of coffee. "Here, Mathias." She scrubbed his head with a hand. "For being so dutiful in your work." Her voice acting displayed her teasing, and she kissed his head to make up for disheveling his hair. "You don't seem to have any plans today, do you?"
He could hear her shifting around and the run of the tap, as well as the clinging of the plates, and for some reason these sounds soothed the Dane-he figured it might have just been that it sounded like a home, but he wasn't sure if that was it either. Mathias smiled faintly as Elizaveta offered the hot beverage to him, taking it out of her hands and cupping it with his. His lips twitched into a slight frown as he felt his hair ruffled, but he quickly inhaled the Hungarian's scent as she kissed him, closing his eyes temporarily.
Slowly opening them again, he shook his head, leaning back and letting out a sigh. "I think I was pretty damn dutiful." A grin. "And no, I don't, not really...other than getting back home at some point." His eyebrows knitted slightly at the thought, knowing he'd have to leave her once again. The Dane's hand reached out and lightly encircled her wrist before he gently pulled her into his lap, his arms around her, still holding the coffee, and kissed her cheek. "Do you?"
Elizaveta permitted the Dane to take a hold of her once again, never (or at least most of the time) bothered by his touches, and comfortably settled in his lap, sneaking her arms around his neck and nuzzling his face as she received a kiss. "No - unless my boss decides to call me in, of course." Quietly and perhaps more melancholy, she added, "I'm quite the loner here." She was used to being alone; often, she didn't mind. However, there were those rare occasions when Elizaveta would just get a very small spark of loneliness, which would infect her for usually the rest of the day. She would even go out into Budapest once in a while to exchange a few words with her people and entertain the children, probably much to her boss's dislike - but she couldn't help it. There was no one else to go to especially if the other nations were occupied with their own issues.
She, too, had noticed Mathias's disappointment with the thought of having to return to his home country soon, the warmth from his body one of the few things that told her so. She shared the same feeling, though to a lesser degree as she learned to cope with it beforehand. Her head snuggled into the crook of the Dane's shoulder, murmuring gently into his neck with a small smile, "If you need to leave, I'm alright with that." She chuckled and widened her grin from another thought. "Not that I don't want you to leave, obviously. Though, if you do plan on staying, do you have anything we could do in mind?"
The Dane watched Elizaveta as she spoke, raising an eyebrow in amusement, despite the sad look in her eyes. That makes us both loners. He couldn't help but think back to the first day that had sparked all of this-the fateful day that he somehow ended up in the Hungarian's territory, and in just a couple of days how both realized how similar they were. Similarities that no one else could see, at first glance, but going deeper, undeniably that connection was there. Maybe it was something that only he and Elizaveta could see, but that's all that mattered-no one else, not their opinions, because they couldn't, in Mathias's mind, understand the bond that existed between them, even before that day.
Mathias shifted his head, slightly burying his face in her hair, smelling it as he inhaled. He was filled with the scent of fresh-blooming flowers and another feminine scent that he couldn't quite place. He chuckled quietly, his coffee still cooling in his hands, and he let a smirk play on his lips. "Oh, there are plenty of things that we could do." His voice was a seductive purr, purposely teasing her as he gently breathed on her ear.
Elizaveta grinned as she felt Mathias's face dig into her hair, but then carefully sat up to look at him face to face for his innuendo. Her face gave him the look, an expression that most women seemed to share and be able to pull off particularly to their significant other as a sign of silent disapproval, then murmured as if nothing was wrong, "Well, if you don't have anything in mind, then I'd like to take you somewhere." She thanked herself for thinking of this certain "somewhere" earlier, when they had talked about their eventual departure. Elizaveta began to squirm around slightly to get off of Mathias's lap, staring at his hands to make sure she didn't knock the beverage out of his grasp, and stood in front of him with a bright smile while gently and encouragingly pulling on his arm.
Mathias chuckled quietly, again amused by the Hungarian's reaction, examining her face (though, he couldn't help but feel a slight pinch of disappointment as well). His eyes stayed locked onto her as she squirmed her way out of his lap, and managed to take a few sips from his coffee before being tugged onto his feet. "Take me somewhere? Now where would that be?" The Dane raised an eyebrow at her, curious about where this "somewhere" was and why she seemed to want to take him there. He bent in slightly to peck her lips. "Well, since you seem so wanting to go, I won't mind." He flashed her a smile, and once again rose the coffee mug to his lips, taking in a large amount.
Elizaveta at first laughed, nearly believing that Mathias was hoping for something more than what she was planning. I'm not letting him get another round so soon. She waited until Mathias chugged down the coffee before taking him off to the front door of her home, locking her fingers with his and grabbing a jacket on the way. "Don't hope for too much. It's nothing big," the Hungarian told him while sliding her shoes onto her feet. "It'll be quite a walk. But I don't think you would mind, Mathias, since you decided to come all the way down here from your house by foot." She expected him to be very capable to walk long distances, especially if her destination in mind was still within her own country.
Mathias set down the now emptied up in the Hungarian's kitchen as they passed by to reach the front door. He got into his shoes and laughed, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "Yeah...not that I really even paid attention to how far I was going. I was pretty lost in my thoughts that day." He stretched, also grabbing his jacket that he had thrown aside when he had entered Elizaveta's home the previous night. "Though now you have me really curious...and also why we're walking there instead of driving." He glanced outside at his car. What's on her mind? The Viking tapped the toe of his shoe on the ground a couple of times to make sure it was on properly, then waited for the Hun to lead him.
Elizaveta only returned a small smile to Mathias's words. "With a car as fancy as yours, I don't think it would be smart to be driving that around too often," she murmured, slanting down the ends of her eyebrows slightly as Elizaveta locked the door and lead him westward. "I'm sorry to have to leave your child behind." A smirk blinked on her face before sneaking a look at the vehicle, exposing her eyes to the sight of the sleek silver car for a few seconds longer. Though it was a car worthy to awe upon, it was too modern for publicity in her country. We should drive only when we absolutely need to.
"It doesn't hurt to get some exercise either, right?" Her hand remained clasped in the Dane's hand, gently tugging him as she walked ahead of Mathias. She tilted her head back a bit, observing the warm but bright blue sky with some clouds fluffed out across it. The teasing breeze cooled down the temperature of the sunlight that pressed upon her skin. Perfect weather today. "You haven't had a taste of the climate of a landlocked country, too."
"If something happens to my 'child', I'll make sure that you'll be responsible." Mathias teased, also looking at his car, somewhat longingly, before continuing down the road. He chuckled quietly, allowing himself to get tugged along, almost as if purposely trying to hold Elizaveta back. "I get enough exercise, thank you." The Dane looked around as they walked, enjoying the breeze that dance through his hair and clothes as the warmth of the sun filled him.
"And no, I haven't-it's strange not being able to smell the sea." He inhaled, and sure enough, not a trace of oceanic scent was there. Instead, he caught scents of fresh flowers and earth, trees and something else he couldn't place-something unique to the area, probably. "This is like how my summers are...my land is known for being wonderfully cold." He laughed, slinging his jacket over his shoulder.
Elizaveta released a short laugh, then twisted her head around to give the Dane her attention. "After spending that first night in your castle, I can't agree with you more." She turned her head back to see where she was walking and followed along a cobblestoned path for almost a good half hour until it eventually lead the two into a bustling city of moderate size, enlivened by the energy and chatter of the Hungarian civilians. Cathedrals of Romanesque design though with a hint of Gothic and Baroque styles loomed over the smaller buildings populating the city center they had entered. The city emitted a sense of historical importance to Elizaveta's country.
"Welcome to Győr," the Hun chirped, shooting Mathias a grin. Remaining silent to allow Mathias to absorb his new surroundings, Elizaveta continued to drag him across the city, keeping a secret eye out for those who gave them looks in case they may recognize either of them, and entered a more dense area of the town as they arrived at a farmer's market. She let go of Mathias's hand to dig around her pockets for money and purchase a bag of fresh foods. "This isn't exactly what I want to show you, but you can still look around if you like."
Mathias chuckled, continuing to allow himself to be tugged along. The walk actually felt quite pleasant, and as they came upon the town, the Dane nearly had to stop to capture it all (though he was dragged along behind Elizaveta, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't). "Nice." He murmured under his breath. His eyes examined the various structures around him (he did have a forte for architecture, after all), while his ears picked up on the various noises around him. The chatter of the people, which he obviously couldn't understand, and the usual buzz of a town, thrown in with a couple of street artists.
His attention snapped back to the Hun, and he watched her make the transfer of payment for the food before slowly nodding. Putting his hands in his pockets, his eyes scanned the area again, and tried to avoid any stare that was thrown in his direction. I probably stick out like a sore thumb here. Shaking the thought from his head, Mathias raised an eyebrow at Elizaveta. "Alright then. What was it that you wanted to show me?"
Elizaveta, after trading a small amount of money for some apples and grapes, glanced among the crowd, as she felt Mathias's unease. "This way," she instructed, escaping from the populated market. She would have grabbed a hold of the Dane's hand again, in case he lost her, but her arms were occupied with the two bags of food she carried. Let's just hope he can differentiate me from my people.
The nation continued down a path until there was an opening to behind the city, straying from the main road to eventually come upon a riverfront. The area was noticeably more tranquil, lacking the blended murmurs of the people that the heart of the town had; a stone wall separated it from the rest Győr. At the top of one of few staircases to the river were two children, giggling loudly as their mother carefully watched over them. Elizaveta shot Mathias a threatening look, trying to tell him don't make fun of me for this, before approaching the mother and offering her the just-bought goods. The mother gasped in delight and exchanged a few lines of Hungarian with Elizaveta before accepting the bags and quietly questioning in heavily accented English, as if she wanted Mathias to hear her, "And who is this man with you, Edina?"
Elizaveta twitched slightly and uneasily; she was not used to the name just yet, a name that she had to substitute her own with for security reasons. The country, too, now had another small dilemma, which involved Mathias. The corners of her lips tightened temporarily. "Oh, him?" She turned her head around, taking a quick look at the Dane and urging her brain to come up with something fast. "He's a close friend. His name is Frederik."
Mathias followed closely behind the Hungarian, hands still thrust in his pocket as he glanced now and then around him, but otherwise making sure he didn't lose Elizaveta in the crowd. He relaxed a bit as they seemed to leave the busy town center behind, which allowed him to look around more. There definitely seems to be a story behind this place... As the Dane was lost in his thoughts, he was abruptly brought out of them when he nearly crashed into the Hun. Blinking, his eyes wandered over to the mother and her children, and simply watched Elizaveta make her way to them, curious.
Mathias glanced between the children, mother, and bags of food now held in the mother's arms, before again looking at the Hun. She's giving food to her people... That wasn't too surprising-he was sure all nations couldn't help but try and help out their people in anyway possible. What did catch his attention though was the sudden English from the conversation, causing the Dane to stand a bit straighter. Edina? He glanced at Elizaveta, and slowly approached, though still standing a couple of feet away. ...Frederik? Wondering where she pulled the name from, he nodded to the woman. Who is she. . .?
The woman again switched languages, murmuring lowly but smirking slightly as she spoke in Hungarian to Elizaveta. The nation smiled slightly before turning her head away shyly, and once she felt ready to speak without showing her flustered self, she looked back at Mathias. "This is Ilona. Luckily for you, she's one of the few people I know who can speak English aside from Hungarian."
On the meanwhile, Ilona had called out to her children, who had been preoccupied with their fun at the edge of the river. Realizing that Elizaveta was here, they scrambled up the staircase to run up to her and hugging her legs while crying out "Edina!" with their high pitched voices. The children were noticeably in their early childhood and only a year or two apart in age; and though they were full of energy as the youth usually were, their skinny bodies told Elizaveta that they weren't in the best health. The country was shot with one question after another, also in English - "You brought food for us, right?", "Will you play with us?", "Are you going to stay with us?" - but neither of the two expected an answer, or perhaps forgotten about their questions when their eyes settled on Mathias. Elizaveta could tell that, even if the Dane's height was intimidating, they were truly curious to know more about the man. She bent down onto her knees to properly meet the children face to face.
"Miklós, Kinia, you've always wanted to go out to the seas, right?" The kids bobbled their heads up and down eagerly. Her eyes looked out the corners of their sockets to again peek at Mathias. "Well, I've brought someone special. His name is Frederik, and he lives right next to the sea..." I don't think I can last long with calling him Frederik. "...And he's been living his life sailing it. You two should talk to him about it - he doesn't bite, even if he's incredibly tall." As the children's faces beamed, Elizaveta smiled at Mathias, giggling quietly. "Right?"
"Nice to meet you, Ilona." Mathias flashed the woman a smile. He couldn't help but think how obvious his Danish accent came across as he spoke. He watched her call to the children, who looked so small and fragile yet bursting with energy, their eyes brightly lit and curious. Seeing those children as they excitedly surrounded the Hun, the Dane couldn't help but feel a small twinge in his heart-one of sadness. It was never a pleasant site to lay eyes upon, and he himself had a reputation of spending a great deal of money to help the less fortunate.
He blinked in surprise as Elizaveta addressed him-or well, this sudden person he had become-and then approached the small group, also squatting down, which greatly reduced his height. "That's right." Mathias chuckled quietly. Is this why she brought me here? For the sake of these children... "Though, I might not be able to resist if I get particularly hungry." He teased, lightly pinching one of the children's arms. "I come from up North. Denmark, to be exact. I'm a sailor of sorts, you could say. So why are you two so eager to see the sea?"
The children turned their focus back to Mathias, completely intrigued by his strangely spoken words, though inched away towards Elizaveta as he knelt down. They were still frightened, yes, but as the Dane reached out to pinch one of their tiny stubby arms, both Miklós and Kinia giggled brightly while trying to further shrink away. However, the two ended up standing openly in front of the total foreigner instead, no longer huddled around the Hungarian nation. Miklós, the boy, spoke out first.
"I wanna go to the sea because I wanna go explore beyond the land!" He threw up his hands into the air, obviously unable to keep his enthusiasm bottled. "Anyu said that the ocean and seas are too far away from home and the Atlantic is too dangerous. But I'm so tired of seeing just land!"
"Will you take us there? To the sea?" Kinia, the other female child, questioned, her puppy eyes nearly begging him to allow her to go. But Elizaveta noticed a worried expression appear onto Ilona's face upon hearing her child's words; she understood that she didn't want her children to be out on their own as they were still young in age, and it aroused more fear in the mother to send them away and out of her protection, as much as she wanted to fulfill her children's wishes. There was more to be concerned about than just that - they could potentially get lost, get kidnapped as they pass through the other countries, and could possibly get killed. Ilona had to repeat herself to convince the two kids to stay in Hungary, though gently scolded them, "Remember what I told you about going to the sea? We can't go there."
There was a group "awww" humming out from Miklós and Kinia. But Kinia suddenly perked up at an idea, and suggested, "Can we go down the river? Will it take us to the ocean?"
Mathias smiled as the children seemed to become a tad more comfortable with him. His smile widened into a grin as he saw the boy's enthusiasm, though he had to listen carefully due to his heavy accent. He chuckled, then turned his attention to the girl, and was immediately struck by her pleading eyes. Not the first time I've seen that look before... The Dane was about to respond when the mother spoke up. He blinked at her before again looking at the children, raising his eyebrows as they showed their disappointment.
"The river?" Mathias looked to where the stream of water was located, and again chuckled. "Well, all rivers have to empty out somewhere right? So yes, eventually you would reach the ocean, or sea." His smile became sympathetic. "But it would take a long time. You all are pretty inland." The Viking looked over to the Hun, and then to Ilona. "I wouldn't mind taking them. And you could come too, Ilona, and..." The Dane had to catch himself. "...Edina too. It'll be safe."
Elizaveta smiled at the children's seemingly limitless energy and excitement, glad that the two appeared to be ecstatic to have Mathias around. She noticed Miklós and Kinia retreat to their mother, who offered them the fruit that the nation had bought for them as they begged and pleaded to head down the river. It took her a moment to realize that Mathias had used her other name, and turned to look at the Dane while the family was occupied. "If we continue following this river northeast, we should reach the Danube, and that would eventually take us to the Black Sea." A concerned smile came upon her face. "...But are we really going to do this? I'm sorry I had to bring you into this...you reminded me of these two."
Nearby, Ilona seemed to give in to her children's wishes, but wasn't completely convinced yet. She approached Mathias and Elizaveta, Miklós and Kinia closely behind her and chattering away to each other, and murmured to prevent the young from hearing her, "I would prefer not to come along." Elizaveta had the impression that she was attached to the Hungarian land and didn't want to go outside of her comfort zone. "I don't want them to be too far away from here either...is there any way you two could remain nearby?"
"Eventually is the key word there." The Dane replied quietly. If he remembered correctly, the Black Sea wasn't too close by. "Besides," He glanced at the children. "Following the Danube from here would mean going through a lot of other territory-including Emil's." The river had the reputation of being the second longest river on the continent after all-and from his memory it passed through Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak nation. "I think that's really the last thing you want right now."
He snapped his attention back to Ilona and the children as they approached. He smiled sympathetically again, nodding. "That's understandable. Staying close by, though. . ." Mathias shook his head slightly. "They want to see the ocean, and it'll take a while to get to one from here." He looked again at Miklós and Kinia, unable to push away the thoughts of how much they reminded him of Valdimar and Tino when they were young. The Viking made eye contact with the mother, and spoke quietly, though reassuringly. "I can understand if you are too uncomfortable with it, but I can take them by car for some distance. Edina will be there with us, and then we'll head back. But only if you allow it."
Elizaveta frowned slightly, recalling that the Danube did run along the border of Emil's and her own territory; but her worries temporarily swept away as Ilona answered with a surprising "I'll allow it." The mother had come upon the thought that this was her children's possibly only chance of fulfilling their dreams, and it was either that she would have to let them go off on their own eventually to pursue their happiness or live to see their saddened faces for the rest of her life. Trust, on the other hand, was a different issue - she didn't know Elizaveta personally all that well, but there was nothing bad she could see from what the nation had done for her. Miklós and Kinia were stunned themselves, but shrieked in happiness and ran into Mathias and Elizaveta, embracing them tightly with their little arms.
"I promise that they'll be safe," Elizaveta swore, obviously abiding to her responsibility as a nation. Ilona truly doesn't know who she's entrusting her children to. She then quietly directed her words and attention to Mathias, remembering something. "And don't worry - erm, Frederik." Eep! Get it to yourself, Elizaveta. Rather, Edina. "Don't worry, as long as we're on our side of the river, we should be alright. Plus, he lives in his capital, and that sits next to the part of the Danube before this river and the Danube merge together. We'll be okay." Her eyes lowered to Kinia's. "Come on, there's no time to waste, you two! We're not going to be by the sea for more than a day."
Mathias also looked at Ilona in surprise, and couldn't help but laugh when the children showed their joy and came running to them. He swept Miklós up into his arms, surprised at how light and easy he was to pick up, and set him on his shoulders. Mathias could feel the bony structure of the child, signs of his obvious undernourishment, and sighed quietly. He could very well understand why Elizaveta was so assisting to this family-nations in particular felt the most pain from such situations.
Mathias grinned at the mother of the children. "Don't worry one bit-nothing will happen to these two as long as we're around." He nodded his head in Elizaveta's direction. If only she knew who we really were... The Dane turned his attention to the Hungarian again as she quietly assured him. "Right. Well, let's get moving, then!"
A/N:
WOOOO LESSON TIME.
And sorry for where the last chapter left off, eheheheheh.
Gundel palacsinta - It's a common Hungarian type of palacsinta or crêpe-like pancake. I haven't tried one myself unfortunately, but it does look good. Google it and you'll see what we're talking about. :'D
Mor and anyu - it means "mom" in Danish and Hungarian, respectively.
Győr is, according to Wikipedia, the most important northwestern city in Hungary. The Rába River runs through (beside? along?) the city, which is where Denmark and Hungary meet Ilona and her children.
xNeyu: I'll admit that I was laughing several times while reading this chapter. There are a few inside jokes Amerzt and I have with the things we put in there, but the one that I can probably (and only) explain is the name Frederik...should I explain it? No? Yes? Yes. I find it amusing to talk about.
SORRY IF I SERIOUSLY RAMBLE AWAY, I WANT TO TELL THE ENTIRE STORY.
So at school, we have a flag pole, and since we just returned to school, my school decided to write down "welcome" in different languages around the flagpole since we have so many international students at our school. I've been studying Danish on my own (shut up, I officially want to live in Denmark) and my friend, knowing that I've been studying Dainsh, pointed out to me that "Velkommen" was one of the few "welcomes" written around the flagpole. I was wondering why the hell it was there, but was at least happy to see it there.
But then I was told that there as a boy from Denmark that attended our school and I completely spazzed out when I heard so. I had jokingly suspected that boy to be Danish when I saw him at our school's football game (my band classmate pointed out that he was cute, actually) because he looked so much like Denmark. It's actually ridiculous how so many Danish boys look like Denmark from Hetalia. But I didn't even know that he was Danish until someone told me. He's probably so confused why all the girls (and even boys) at my school are fawning over him (and all the other girls most likely have no interest in living in Denmark like I do hahaha) - BUT. UH. SORRY. Point is, his name is Frederik, and I decided to use that in this RP for the laughs because I've told Amerzt all about him too. xD
/ramble