Guest: First I felt sorry about you but then you said Swiss and I went like "well, with those views..." :p I used to live in Austria, on top of mountain (that locals called a hill but for me it was a mountain) and I went down to the town once a week to get chocolate. Heck, I was fit after that half year.
I am late, but... I tend to be always late. I even missed my own birthday once by six months.
So, it was Norway's constitution day. It is already 18th here so it was yesterday. I was so sure I will not write anything about it. I really love all these "happy birthday" fics but I don't feel like I want to write one and I also thought that I don't know Norway well enough to write anything deep. I have visited there only few times, but you have probably already realized that I am kind of big fan of Nordics. Also, as a Nordic citizen (in three of them, hah) I kind of see all the five as my home. So this chapter has been made out of all the love I have for Norway. I hope you had a great day, neighbours!
It also warmed my heart to see Denmark and some Danish companies / societies mentioning and celebrating the day. One even called it "kamelåså day" so apparently a joke once made will never be forgotten. You had it coming.
The room was almost completely dark. The screen on the wall brought some light, though it was dim and didn't reach all the corners of the small space. Beside of the screen, there wasn't much in the room. Only one chair, placed carefully so the person sitting on it would have easy access to the keyboard and still perfect view to the screen. There were some boxes too, but they were only filled up with things left behind because they had no value. A man walked forward and took his seat. The screen seemed to react on the movement because it lighted up more for a while and after few minutes a mechanic voice started to speak.
"Welcome to the files. This is an archive, moderated and admitted by the representatives of the Nordic countries. Please, identify yourself." He placed his hand over the small machine next to the keyboard and waited a moment for it to be ready with scanning his fingerprints. He didn't move, but his expression showed his impatience and he was hardly keeping himself from tapping his fingers against the armrest.
"Welcome", the machine said again after processing the information, "you are now viewing the file archive of the project Norden. You may choose the file from the left side bar. If you do not choose anything, the program will automatically play any file marked for this date. Please, choose now." The man didn't move. He only waited until the screen flashed black and white numbers briefly appeared.
"Today is 17th of May", the voice said at the beginning of the file, "today is the constitution day of Norway." The man nodded as he already knew the fact. The numbers disappeared from the screen, but soon he could see a room. It wasn't the room he was now in and he couldn't place it anywhere since the camera showed only a white wall as background. After a while he saw some movement and a familiar looking man sat down on front of the camera. He was smiling but there was also something nervous on the way how he looked at the camera and whoever was behind it.
"Thank you for coming", an unfamiliar voice said, "would you like to hear more about this project before we start?"
"No, I did read the papers", Denmark replied and glanced briefly directly at the camera, "so what you gonna ask me?"
"The aim of this project is to collect information about the relations of the nations", the voice said, though the Dane had mentioned about knowing these things already, "today we will ask you to explain how you feel about your neighbours."
"Personifications or the actual land?"
"Personifications."
"Oh", Denmark said and hesitated, "well, okay."
"Please, be as honest as you can", the voice said, clearly noting the nation's discomfort, "these files will be secured and viewed only for selected persons when it is needed."
"Okay."
"I will name a nation and you can use as much time you want to talk about them. You may start whenever you are ready." Denmark nodded, but the screen turned black before he had time to say anything. It only took few seconds for the film to come back but it was clear that whoever had edited the file, had wanted to keep it only about the topic. Denmark was still sitting in the same room and the cameras angle was same, which meant that somebody had simply cut some parts of. The Dane still looked slightly nervous but his smile was a bit more sincere so he had probably replied already for few questions and decided that it wasn't so bad.
"Next we would like to hear your opinion about Norway", the unfamiliar voice said and Denmark flinched. Not much, but enough to be noticed by everybody who knew him. The Dane was staring of to distance and few long seconds passed before anything else happened.
"Mister…?"
"Leave me alone", Denmark said sharply and his earlier nervousness disappeared, "I will tell my opinion for the camera, but I don't want you to be here." The man watching the film raised his brow, but he could see the stubborn look on the Dane's face. Apparently the people behind the camera were just as confused because their reply came slowly and unsurely.
"We should be here when…"
"If you don't leave this room, I will not say anything", Denmark said and made the man watching the film chuckle quietly. He knew that look well and was sure the Dane would storm out soon if he didn't get what he wanted. Still, he didn't need to leave because the people gave up. For a moment he could hear chairs scratching against the floor and steps going away. Denmark's eyes followed the people and he nodded when the door closed after the last human. Then he looked straight at the camera and bent down so his face filled up almost the entire screen.
"I love Norge", he said with so serious voice that it sounded almost like a threat if one didn't understand the message, "I love him more than anything. I would be happy to die him, and then be scolded by him about dying because he would not approve that." Denmark fell silent and for a moment the watcher thought that the Dane's part of the file was over, but then the man opened his mouth again.
"Norge, in case you are watching this someday", he said with a much softer voice, "I love you. It is a short thing to say but there are no enough words in this world to explain how I feel for you. So please, believe me when I say you are my everything." The screen turned black again and the man watching nodded shortly. He didn't have much time to think about the Dane's words because next the Finnish nation was on the screen. The camera's angle was slightly different, but still there was an unmarked white wall behind the nation and it was hard to say where the film was made.
"My opinion about Nor?" Finland asked. He seemed to be relaxed and even happy to be filmed with all these questions.
"Yes, please", the voice replied. It was the same voice than in the previous part. Finland was tapping his fingers against the table and used a moment to think his answer.
"I think he is the strongest of us", Finland said, "but he is also gentle, at least when he wants or bothers to be. Sve has told me about their younger days and he said Nor used to be the most skilful and ruthless of all the warriors. I believe the peace has made him calmer but that fire is still there, you know. He is also smart. I have never seen anybody who could talk himself out of the troubles like he can. He has his bad sides too. Like, he always drinks all the coffee, he is sometimes rude and he should show his emotions more, but that is okay. Except the coffee thing, that is unforgiven."
"What exactly is your relation to him?"
"My relation?" Finland asked and smiled, "he is part of my family, of course. We often say we are in-laws, it is easier to explain it like that to humans, but in reality I think we are closer than that. Like brothers or cousins, I believe. He had helped me before and so I would help him if he ever needed that. Only, that when it's about skiing, we are enemies." After saying that the Finn glanced at the camera and smirked like he knew that someday somebody would see it on the screen.
Next one was Sweden. He had dressed up with a suit, which made the man watching the film to think that he had been in meeting before the interview or was going for one after it. The Swede was sitting straight and showed no emotion on his face. He was also the only one who never even once glanced at the camera.
"Could you tell us what you think about Norway?" The voice asked and Sweden nodded shortly.
"He is my brother."
"Is there anything else?"
"Should there be?"
"Why exactly you like him?"
"He is strong, quiet and doesn't bother me. A good neighbour and his people invented the cheese slicer."
"Anything else?"
"No." The screen turned black again. The man in the dark room glanced at the clock and snorted when he noticed that Sweden had used less than one minute for telling his opinion. Somehow that was still sweet and just typical for him.
"I can't believe I am doing this", Iceland's voice said and the man looked up again to see the nation looking at the camera with a slightly distressed expression on his face. They had changed the camera's angle again.
"So, about Nore", Iceland muttered and let a small sigh, "he is my big brother, okay, I admit it. That man smells like a fish, speaks with fairy tale creatures, has almost unnatural craving for butter and salt, and has more money than we all others combined, but still he is my big brother."
"Which kind of feelings you have for him?"
"I don't hate him", Iceland muttered and looked away to hide his embarrassment, "I mean, how could I hate somebody who has been protecting me for centuries and used his time to teach me? Hell, he even supported me and I don't need to ask anything when he is already offering me all I might need. Nobody can hate a person like that."
"Do you possibly fear him?"
"No", Iceland shook his head and looked like he couldn't even understand why the human asked something like that, "he can be dangerous, even scary, but he has never and he will never show that side to me. Even when I was still a kid and depended on him, he was always gentle. It was the enemies who feared him."
"So how about love?"
"Yes", Iceland shuttered and even on the screen it was easy to see the light blush on his cheeks, "damn it, I don't want to say anything more. He is my brother and I love him so. Can I go now?" The man couldn't hear what the humans replied, but it was probably a positive answer because the screen turned black once again. He knew the film had ended and he leaned back on the chair while he screen showed different photos and some info text. He saw flags, people, beautiful views and some old photos from history, but he was familiar with all of that so he didn't even bother to think about them.
"The day's file has now ended", the voice said and the screen showed the menu again, "select another topic or log out. The search and view history will be erased after log out." The man reached for the key board and pushed the button that would log him out from the system.
"Logging out", the voice informed him, "thank you for visiting and note that all the material you might have viewed is marked as top secret. Sharing this information for any third parties will lead to immediate and possibly permanent consequences. Have a nice day." The man nodded and just sat in the dark room for a while before he laughed softly and shook his head.
"Idiots", he said, but it sounded more like a compliment or a lovely nickname than insult. The man got up and walked out of the room without looking back. He managed to make his way down to the lobby before anybody noticed him.
"Mister Norway?" the human sitting behind the desk asked and she sounded honestly confused and surprised to see the nation there, "what are you doing here?" The man understood her confusion. He had all the rights to visit there, just as other Nordics had too, but they rarely did and he was almost sure he was the first one ever coming to view the archive of the files.
"I was just checking something", he said and glanced at his clock, "I am sorry, I will have to hurry now. I have a party to attend for." The woman looked still confused, but she smiled after she remembered what day it was.
"Oh, right", she said, "today is your constitution day, right? Do you usually celebrate it?"
"Yes", Norway replied and let a small smile to appear on his lips, "and yes. In fact, my family is waiting for me and I should go before they realize I am not at home."
"Oh, of course", the woman said, "have a nice day!"
"You too", Norway replied and stepped out from the building. It was a beautiful day with sun and clear blue sky. The spring had arrived and brought some warm with, though the wind was still cool enough to make the nation wear a jacket. Norway felt nothing else than peace, joy and the warm feeling of being loved, and so he smiled.
...this means I should write something for Denmark and Sweden too. Well, I have like about two weeks time to figure that out.
As an extra, here is so far the best conversation I have had with a random Dane:
Me: *mix-mash Swedish-Danish*
Dane: *Listening carefully*
Me: *More mix-mash*
Dane (with super excited voice): Du er norsk! (you are a Norwegian!)
Me: ...Nej (no)
Dane (suddenly very upset): oh.
And the first time ever I met a Norwegian (about four years ago, took me a long to find one)
Norwegian: *speaking fast*
Me: Kan du tala långsamt? (Can you speak slowly?)
Norwegian: ...Jag talar norska (I'm speaking Norwegian) *continues fast*
Me: ?
And the second time I met a Norwegian (a different one, after we had hang out together for about two weeks)
Me: Vad är det på svenska? (what is it in Swedish?)
Norwegian: Jag vet inte (I don't know)
Me: Vad? Men du är svensk, hur kan du inte veta? (What? But you are a Swede, how can you not know?)
Norwegian: Jag är norsk. (I am Norwegian)
Me: Vad? (What?)
Norwegian: Ja. (yes)
Me: Har du pratat bara på norska. (Have you talked only in Norwegian?)
Norwegian: Ja (yes)
Me: ?
The Norwegians were speaking in Norwegian but I have no idea how to write it so my options were either Danish or Swedish.
