A/N: Yay! Chapter 2 is up!
Any who, enjoy!
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The second time they meet, it is barely seven years after their first encounter. Lukas is back in Norway, now occupied by Nazi Germany, living his life undercover as a resistance worker. He is not Jewish, but he feels the need to help them, and secretly sends them off to Sweden, where they are safe.
He likes the thrill, and for the first time in a long time, he feels like he has a place in someone's life. He hasn't felt that since he met him.
Mathias.
He knows that it is nearly impossible to find the male again, yet he still tenses up with excitement when he hears news about the Danes.
That is why he is so happy when his group hears of a Danish resistance group that has been posing as Nazi soldiers and taking the Jews to Sweden. There is news of a fearless leader, the commander of the 'army unit', with untameable hair and a firey personality. He hears that he is young and strong, tall and muscular.
Lukas is sure that it's him. There's no one else that it could be.
And so he spends his time fizzling with excitement, reassuring the scared escapees with actual faith behind his words. Because there is hope. Hope is there.
He never would have said this before he met the Dane seven years ago, but he thought it now.
The Danish are really helpful, after all.
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Mathias's army unit, well, faux army unit of Danish freedom fighters, trails behind him, marching obediently so as not to make any German that might be watching suspicious, though he can feel the palpable excitement in the air. They are nearing a fairly well known base of operations of a group of Norwegian rebels, and everyone in the unit is looking forward to civilization and real food after a month of hard ration loaves of bread and nearly inedible potatoes.
He himself aches for beer and a sexy lady at his side, but has to bury it under a hard face. After all, no commander of any unit of soldiers has a dreamy grin on his face.
Especially not anyone that wants to secretly smuggle Jews to neutral Swedish land without getting killed. So the company stays as stoic as possible as they can be on the outside.
Mathias also longs for company. These soldiers are so used to treating him like a higher-up that he can't fit in with them no matter what. He wishes for Lukas. He hopes the quiet male is safe. Judging by his cross-shaped hair clip, though, he was in no risk of being sent to Jewish concentration camps.
Patting the large axe that is strapped around him and is resting on his back, he turns his head towards his followers and hollers, "We're almost there!" Cheers answer him, and he can't help a proud grin to inch up his face. They were so fun sometimes.
His mind wanders at the thought of some alcohol and maybe some quality time with some pretty lady.
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Lukas is busy printing a fake passport for one of the newly rescued Jews when his superior, a stout woman in her mid-forties, pats him on the back.
"The Danish are here. I was just telling you. You can pause for a bit and go meet with them. There's someone special, isn't there?" she informs, before winking and walking off to relay the news to the others.
Lukas places the pen back in the inkwell, pushing back his chair as he stands up. He unconsciously finds himself straightening his worn button-up short and pulling on his coat.
Excitement is buzzing through his veins, and he dashes up the winding staircase that led up to a normal looking convenience store. That was really all the secret base was, yet it had never been found out, so it was a decent hiding place.
He stepped out of the door to the shop, looking left and right for the familiar swamp green Wehrmacht uniforms.
Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a flash of bright red, the Nazi armband? He swivels to that general direction, deep blue eyes beseeching. There!
Something flashes gold in the sunlight, and he squints, finding a unit of soldiers marching towards him. And at the front... Was that...?
"Hej, Lukas!" a familiar voice shouts out, and yes, it is, it's Mathias. Lukas smiles slightly, lifting a hand and waving. Mathias starts running, which is no easy feat considering his tired body, and it spurs the rest of the men forward, a stampede of eager cattle.
And then Lukas is swept along, his hand gripped in a strong, gloved one, and they run together, hooting and hollering happily, as if the war had just ended, even though the rest of the town is dead silent, and people are starving, they rejoice for a brilliant moment together.
After a while of frolicking, Lukas leads the exhausted commander inside the convenience store, which has long since been looted nearly to the ground. He notices the Dane looking around, confused, and smirks knowingly.
They duck behind a shelf and kick away bits of rubble, and Lukas shows the other the staircase leading to the cellar that is the base of operations.
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Once they are settled in on two cots pushed together, Lukas asks about life pretending to be a soldier. Mathias' eyes light up, and he weaves a tale of companionship and bravery, helping the weak get to safe havens and doing all of this while pretending to try and catch them.
He recounts with an amused expression of a time when they even staged a mock fight, with pebble throwing and everything. That pulls a chuckle out of even Lukas.
But then his eyes darken, remembering the times when his soldiers died of famine and disease, of when they were right on the edge of Germany, how they had to fight for their lives. Countless soldiers had fallen, like the former commander, who appointed Mathias as co-commander.
Lukas nodded solemnly, offering the other a second to compose himself, before gently pulling off one of Mathias' black gloves and neatly folding it. Their fingers intertwined, and the Norwegian almost puked at how much more rough and scarred the Dane's was than from seven years ago. It was so cruel.
Mathias notices, and laughs humourlessly, the sound grating against Lukas' ears. He hates how much the war has changed the Dane, how responsible he now is, how bleak.
He wishes that Mathias had just stayed safe in Denmark, hanging around Tivoli and exchanging greetings in Norwegian with passerby, always cheerful.
But then, he decides, his other hand reaching up to comb through the Danish man's messy hair, they wouldn't have been able to meet again.
And that, he smiles as Mathias yawns and curls up on the cot, is the most important thing.
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The days pass too soon, Lukas seeming to barely tell his story and the two of them teaching each other more of their languages, before it is time for the Danes to leave, along with the Jews and their new fake passports.
It is only a few more hours before Mathias departs to Sweden, and they are sitting together under a bare, ash-covered tree. The Dane is staring wistfully at the sky, his hand laced with Lukas' hand. The Norwegian finally speaks up, voice quiet.
"Why'd you agree to all of this? You don't get paid, and you don't get recognized. What's the point?"
Mathias blinks thoughtfully, his other hand running through the other man's silky hair.
"Well, for one, all the seriousness of being a real soldier would make me keel over."
He quips, a side of his mouth tilted upwards in a smirk.
"Next, it's because I wouldn't just leave these poor Danes to die!"
He taps his chin.
"And, maybe I'm just selfish, but I wanted to escape reality."
"Me too."
Lukas answers simply.
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And then the scene is all to familiar, they are waving and exchanging farewells and thank you's and everyone is loud and boisterous, drowning out the unbearable quiet.
Lukas and Mathias stare at each other for a minute, before the latter turns away, gesturing for his soldiers to follow.
Lukas touches his fingers to his lips and sends it off towards Mathias, an air kiss.
And Mathias swears he can feel something sweet on his lips.
That was the second time they met, in a time of death.
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Yeah... That wasn't as angsty and gory as it could have been. Oh well, I'll just add extra to the next chapter!
Oh yeah, those of you following Iwatobi Fire Department, sorry for the delay, I've got it mostly typed out but I'm on a slight slump. The next chapter will be out by tomorrow!
I actually like how cute and fluffy this chapter turned out, though!
Reviews would be lovely.
Tak, and Best Wishes,
Wannabe-Danish-Cookie