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Since we don't make this clear until later, Finland is a tonttu from Finnish mythology, which is very similar to the brownie in English/Scottish folklore. They're fairy/elf type creatures that protect and care for the home.
Chapter Summary: Finland discovers evidence that Sweden may be cheating on him, and goes to Estonia for advice. Estonia and Latvia consider their options for the full moon: a cage, or dangerous freedom?
Ch. 5: Trolled
October 30th, 1:00 PM
It takes only one sweep of a Swiffer mop to turn Finland's day from perfectly pleasant to a full-scale disaster. He isn't expecting it, because he's made a thousand or so sweeps today (and the day before, and the day before that one too). He's cleaning the master suite now while Sweden takes a shower, and when he pushes the mop under the bed something rolls out.
At first he thinks it's a coin, but…no, it doesn't look like his coins or Sweden's. He bends down, frowning at it, and realizes it's an earring. An earring. Why is there an earring on their bedroom floor? His ears are not pierced, and neither are Sweden's.
Earring in hand, he rises to his feet and brings it over to the little table by the window. Who wears earrings? Who wears earrings in their bedroom?
He stares at the trinket, his mind leaping to all sorts of conclusions. Then he hears the shower stop and gasps, suddenly terrified. He snatches it from the table, stuffing it in his pocket. He can't let Sweden know what he's found, not yet. Not until he decides how to confront him.
Down the hall, Sweden is staring into the mirror. His skin is getting all rough, and it's not just from the weather. How is he going to hide this? He supposes he'll just have to refuse to be naked around Finland until it's passed. He starts getting dressed, hoping he can pass off the scaliness of his face as dry skin.
The door opens, and Sweden comes out wearing his long, cozy flannel pajamas. Finland always thought those were adorable. But right now, he averts his eyes and starts scrubbing the floor like he's trying to wear a dent in it. He needs a reason to get out of here. Maybe he can visit Estonia? They haven't really talked in a while, and that's a good enough excuse. He puts the mop aside and pulls out his cell phone, dialing fast.
"Hey Eddie! I just realized it's been ages since we hung out. How about we go grab some lunch together?" He shoots a glance at Bernie, who is staring at the floor with an odd... non-expression. "Oh…no, I understand if you don't want to go out. But I really want to see you!" He emphasizes the words, trying to make his friend understand. "Your place? That sounds perfect! I'll be there as soon as I can." He hangs up, pasting on a cheery little smile and giving the floor one last meaningless swipe.
"Y're goin' out?" asks Sweden, not sure what to make of the strangeness in Finland's tone.
Finland jumps; he'd been hoping the phone call was enough, that he could slip out unnoticed. "Yeah!" He turns around, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Lunch at Eduard's. You know. Just us. We haven't seen each other in a while. I just... Have to change my shirt!" He practically flees into the closet.
What worries Sweden isn't the look so much as the fact that he left out the Swiffer. Finland never forgets to put something away. He picks up the mop himself and returns it to the closet, eyeing his wife. "Y'feelin' okay?"
"Fine!" says Finland, turning around only to realize that Sweden has him backed into the closet. Oh God. He doesn't even know what to do. "I'm fine. Totally good. Just... Gotta meet Eddie. You know how he is." He rips the coral pinstripe shirt off the hanger, grabbing a steel grey vest that matches his trousers rather nicely.
Sweden raises an eyebrow. "Y'sure? No one's been bothering y', have they? Heard Ivan's been sniffin' around."
"I'm Fine," he snaps, his voice edged like glass. Breathing in slowly, and then out again, he closes his eyes for a millisecond and buttons his vest. "Totally fine. All is right with the world. What could possibly be wrong?"
Sweden reaches out toward him, but realizes his nails are getting longer and snatches the hand back. Will it be too obvious if he wears gloves? "Well, if y'need anything. M'here."
"I don't need anything, but thanks!" Finland says it too fast, too callous, and he slips past his husband as though he's no more than a concerned friend or a stranger. Does he really know Sweden anymore? He can't think about it. He flees, hoping Estonia has something stronger than tea around.
XXX
The house Eduard and Raivis share these days is a complete mess, messier than any other home Tino has cleaned in the last forty-eight hours. He's been working off his frustration and avoiding Bernie, but he can't get the shakes to leave his blood. He needs to talk to somebody. So he's here five hours later, still talking to Eddie about absolutely nothing and polishing his bedroom furniture (he's vacuumed, dusted, mopped, and scrubbed down everything else).
"...so, I said I just couldn't believe the state of his tile. I mean, I was like 'Toni, the green is not grout. It's mold. And it's going to eat your flesh if you don't kill it now.' It was disgusting." He slides the rag over the headboard, smiling as the polish makes the wood shine like new.
Eduard is feeling rather shaky himself, but for different reasons. The smell of the cleaning products bothers him. It's getting rid of their smell, and it makes his nostrils itch. But he won't say anything, because he can tell Tino is upset. It's best to let him chatter on until the truth comes out.
"I just couldn't believe it." Tino can't believe anything these days. He can feel his eyes pricking with tears, but he lets out a soft growl and rubs them away with the back of his sleeve, scrubbing polish harder into the wood. "I just…I can't believe he'd…"
Estonia sits on the floor so he can scratch at the back of his head with his foot. He's gotten the general story in bits and pieces. He can't believe it either. "There must be some sort of mistake. I mean...he's your mate. Mates are for life."
"I thought so too," Finland growls, not even realizing he hasn't mentioned the actual issue. "There must be some kind of mistake, some kind of fluke, because I don't..." He trails off, his fingers digging into the bed beneath him. "But how else would it GET THERE?"
"What, exactly, did you find?" asks Estonia. Sex toys or underwear might just indicate a kinkier side of Sweden than he ever wanted to imagine. But something in the wrong size, or something, ah, used, might make things worse.
Finland breathes in, preparing himself to say it, then lets out the breath because he can't. It takes him a moment to get it out, like he's been holding his breath against a foul odor. "An earring." The word rolls off his tongue, through his teeth, hard like a marble. "Under the bed. Under his side."
Estonia frowns, but tries to keep his expression otherwise blank. That is compromising. Sweden doesn't wear earrings, at least not that he's seen. Neither does Tino. He tries to think of who does have piercings. Netherlands, maybe. Hungary. England when he's going through a 'punk' phase. ...Denmark. "O-oh. Well. You do have a lot of parties, maybe someone was exploring your house or got lost when they were drunk."
"We lock our room during parties. Lock it," he hisses, picking up the rag again. "I don't wear earrings. Very few people I let in our room wear earrings. But I don't know who Bernie's been letting in our room. I don't know who wears an ugly stone earring, unless they're trying to make some statement. I only know one person who makes fashion statements." He lets that hang in the air, cutting a sidelong glance to Eddie, watching his face to see if he knows anything.
At that Eduard nearly laughs. "Just one? I'm thinking of fashion week in London, New York, Paris, Prague, Milan..."
Tino growls, "Well, only a few other people have been married to my husband. That's all I can say." The thought makes him rub harder at the wood. There's nothing left to polish and he can't stop now, so he jumps from the bed.
Eduard backs up, hunkering low to the ground. Tino is downright scary sometimes, and he doesn't want to be the next one on his list of possible scumbags Berwald might be sleeping with. He can't imagine Feliks and Bernie ever getting back together. It was enough of a problem the first time around, when they decided Eduard was going to be theirs too; bad bad bad. The start of so many problems. Not that they themselves were cruel to him, it was just...well. Ancient history. Besides, Toris can be just as possessive as Tino. If Feliks ever showed up smelling like Bernie, there would be blood.
Finland starts scrubbing the mattress frame, and that's when he peers beneath the bed and sees something that makes him smile, just for the sheer oddness of it. A little book lamp has been left on, illuminating a lumpy pillow in an old pillowcase, about eighteen shoes and slippers, and several stacks of paperback romances he happens to know involve many a gay love scene. There's also a bag of pretzels. "What the hell...?"
Estonia blushes scarlet. "Oh. Um, Raivis-" A door slams downstairs, followed by feet pounding up the steps. He sighs. "We're in here, Raiv! Tino came over to...chat. And clean."
Latvia shakes a leaf from his hair, pausing when he finds them both kneeling by the bed and peering under. Oh. He blushes hard, fiddling awkwardly in the doorway. "What?" He asks, as though the question isn't obvious.
Finland smiles a little wider, cocking his head to the side and giving the boy a look. "Looks like a pretty sweet set-up under hear, Raiv." He reaches under the bed, pulling out a yellow, fluffy slipper with a smiley face on it. "But this is... Dirty."
With a low, heavy growl, Latvia snatches the bright yellow slipper from Finland before he can get any of that nasty smelling polish on it. "It's fine!" He cuddles the slipper close to his chest, glaring softly at the two as he mutters, "FluffyfluffysmellslikeEddie..."
Finland raises an eyebrow at the boy, trying not to laugh. "Oh. Well. Oookay then." He coughs, looking toward Estonia's blushing face. "I'll just leave you to that, shall I?"
Eduard looks between the two, blushing darker. His own collection is hidden in the back of the closet. Locked. His thing isn't so much the shoes, but he really likes Raivis' t-shirts. Sometimes Toris' too, when he needs more familiarity. They're warm and soft and they smell like home. "Erm...he...likes shoes..."
Tino tries to smile wider, but, they're so in love. The smile fades the moment he realizes he doesn't have that anymore. He has to get out of here. It's starting to feel claustrophobic. "I think I have to..."
Eddie frowns. Tino practically smells of sadness, and it makes him want to put his chin on his lap and give him a kiss to make it better. However, Tino will probably not see that as platonically as he does. "Maybe you could talk to Lukas? They're friends, right?"
The look on Tino's face makes Raivis drop his slipper. He almost whimpers, but he doesn't know how to make him feel better, short of licking his face. He doesn't think that will help. "What's going on?"
"Nothing! I'm fine." He pushes past Eddie, heading for the door. It's too far away, in his opinion. "I'll call you tomorrow, if I can." He leaves, the sadness that creeps over him almost choking him on the way out.
Eduard glances back at Raivis, wondering if he should tell him the whole story. Maybe together they could figure something out. But, it's a problem for Tino and Bernie to discuss. He shakes his head and licks Raivis' cheek. "Don't worry about it."
Raivis pouts a little, leaning into Eddie and nuzzling his neck, pulling his arms around himself. "I heard he's been freaking out about something lately." He winces at the sound of the door slamming.
"It's Tino. There's always something," says Eduard. Though this...if Bernie really was sleeping with someone, that would break Tino. Break them all. He hopes there's a better explanation. He's sure there is. "We have our own issues to worry about. Like the smell at our gate, and how big the moon is getting."
Raivis sighs, nodding against his neck. They really do need to think about themselves. The moon is getting high and round. Soon it will be time to either lock themselves in Norway's basement, or go find their alpha. And that... that's a tough choice. "I brought steak for dinner."
"Sounds good." Estonia licks his lips, acutely aware that he's about to drool all over Latvia's shoulder. That's another problem they've been having. Everything smells good when it's meat, including some of their friends. There's something inside him that is pure wolf; something that wants to run and hunt, to rip out a throat and taste blood, then roll around in the dirt for the sheer freedom of it. He shivers. He has to fight that urge, or he'll end up forgetting himself. "Lukas will come. He always does."
Latvia nods, pulling away and drawing Estonia toward the bed by his collar. "Use the time we've got, right?"
Estonia laughs, leaning into his neck. "You smell amazing."
"I may have been hunting rabbit." Latvia grins, tipping his head back and letting him smell. It was too easy to chase the thing into the woods and catch it. He hadn't killed it; he wouldn't let himself. That is for beasts. He isn't a beast... yet. "I've been thinking of you since I left you in bed this morning."
Estonia makes a noise in the back of his throat: a soft, low sigh of pleasure. "Then stop leaving me alone in our big, comfy bed."