They had a good time at the pool. Some of them, like Prussia and Canada, spent a wonderful time smiling and splashing each other and ignoring as America kept whining about them getting a little too close for his liking.

Denmark got to ogle Netherlands in only swim trunks so that was a win.

And then there was Norway.

Mattias was unnerved. He was tense and jittery. Norway was tracing every move he made with his cold blue eyes.

And it was all he did!

Wherever he went he could feel that gaze following him around.

It was like a constant tingle on the back of his neck. After three hours he wanted to smash something, preferably a certain someone's face and it made him even more irritated. Because Norway wasn't doing anything. He was perfectly polite and kept to himself and goddamit he came to the pool only because Mattias wanted to go with all his friends and that included all the Nordics.

Every time a dangerous mood descended on him he made himself take a deep breath and dive down under the surface. It wasn't exactly peaceful but it worked anyway. And then he could pull some poor bastard underneath as a joke. Surprising was impossible after the first time he did it. All of them were trained like world-class assassins, nothing could surprise them the second time but it was still lots of fun.

World-class assassins don't get to fool around like a band of children often, after all.

It took him a while but finally he found something that got him to relax completely and forget all about blue eyes.

The third hour was just starting and he was about to give up and go back inside claiming a sudden headache which could mean something important happened in his country. He was ruining this time for all his friends with his sour expressions quickly covered with smiles and absentmindedness so unlike him. They were concerned about him. Mattias couldn't decide if it was Norway's sudden attention or their worrying that irked him the most.

Either way he was at his wits' end, this close from ruining everything even more when suddenly Lars, his wonderful boyfriend, once again came to his help.

Nothing fancy. He just kissed him. Placed his hands on Mattias' arms, looked him in the eye and without saying anything just leaned in and kissed him.

And kissed. And kissed. After thirty seconds they started getting catcalls and Mattias grinned devilishly, parting their lips for a quick gulp of air before diving back in, surprising a huff out of his partner. It wasn't until Alfred started mimicking gagging noises that they finally, reluctantly, separated.

It wasn't their first make-out session but it was their first public one and though Mattias knew his friends all accepted them and were happy for him it was still nice to see them with big smiles on their faces and teasing them both good-naturedly.

He sneaked a peek at Lukas' face. It was carefully blank but still a stark difference from everybody else's. As soon as Lukas spotted him looking though he quickly gave him a little smile. A very fake one at that.

It made Mattias' stomach churn with a strange mix of guilt, defensive irritation and unease, for some reason.

"What's going on, Mattias?" Lars asked with a miniscule frown glancing between Denmark and Norway.

So he noticed.

"Um..."

"Don't say nothing or I'll pull you under." he warned before the Dane could come up with some lie. Mattias snorted.

"Okay okay. You know the feeling of being observed?" he asked and got a nod in response. "Can you distract me?"

"Norway is stalking you?" Lars said lifting his brows but his eyes went stormy with anger sparking in them.

"Nah, lets not go that far. He's just looking, you know? In fact he's become like, the perfect friend. Even came to me and congratulated us, you know? Apologized for treating me like shit before. It's not normal but it isn't exactly harmful. I'm just really confused... Distract me, Lars, I know you can." Mattias made his voice grow huskier and he threw his lover a smoldering look.

They were completely useless after that.

And after they decided to ditch water for something to eat the fun Mattias had with toweling each other dry and putting their clothes back on was more than enough for him to focus completely on his happiness.

Then they went for dinner. A very nice experience, it reminded Denmark of his feasts in the mighty castles of the past centuries. Loud, messy, drunk and cheerful. It was wonderful. He ended up with hair dripping the beer Prussia dunked on him because it wasn't a party until somebody was doused with German beer, and halfheartedly protesting when a drunk Alfred insisted on Lars licking it off him. Matthew came to his rescue and covered his brother in maple syrup advising him to go and find some willing bastard to do it for himself.

After that it was pure mayhem and Denmark reveled in it. Because America, never the one to stay behind, started a food fight.

They were thrown out of the hall.

Denmark was laughing so hysterically at Netherlands' bewildered expression when he found himself with face full of cream that he didn't even care about the dish on his plate, only halfway eaten.

Britain shut the door after them grumbling about undignified gits who acted worse than frogs.

Lars combed his hand through Mattias' soaked hair in a rare public display of physical affection with an even rarer bright grin on his face and Denmark thought he couldn't be happier if he tried.

/txtbreak/

Finally though it was time for them to head back to their busy lives, back into political scandals and economic fluctuations.

All of the Nations leaving New Zealand that day were doing so reluctantly, constantly looking back at the green expanses although the Kiwi himself seemed to feel relived.

Well I suppose we did test his patience, after all. Mattias mused. But then this place will always be somewhat special for me. After all here's where I found what I've been looking for since forever.

He knew he'd miss New Zealand for sure. But he also missed his own country, with it's numerous islands and his little siblings, the Faroes and Greenland. They grew out of that phase when they begged him for souvenirs from the places he visited because now they could go visit them themselves. Still Denmark thought fondly of those times and always made sure to have something for them, even if it was only a symbolic trinket. This time he had some photos from where "The Hobbit" had been filmed.

They met him at the airport in Copenhagen. Before they could hug the living daylights out of him though they stopped short at the sight of the tall man standing behind him. Denmark grinned.

"Hi kiddos! Meet Lars." he said deliberately using his boyfriend's human name so that his little brother and sister would know this was not a business affair but social.

Although awkwardly at first both youngsters welcomed Netherlands warm enough and wished him a good flight home as there were no direct ones from New Zealand to Amsterdam; truthfully both Mattias and Lars were rather glad for that. They had to part though and soon Denmark was heading home with his two little siblings answering their questions about anything and everything they found worth knowing about. The topics varied from the food and looks of New Zealand to the most ridiculous things that the nations had been doing during the meetings. The serious stuff waited for tomorrow morning when Mattias would be rested after the flight and time change.

Both Faroes and Greenland were fans of The Hobbit so they were delighted with the photos. Soon they launched into a heated discussion about the book and the film and Denmark sighed relaxing into his seat in the car. Tomorrow he would meet his Queen and go back to overlooking everything that happened on his lands.

Today though he had time for his family and he was glad about that.

He was distinctly less glad when, safely back at the house, they both started teasing him about Lars but honestly nothing could put a dent in the happiness he's been feeling.

He fell asleep in his bed, with Greenland and Faroes in the guest rooms, and felt like in that moment, nothing in the world could.

/txtbreak/

I suck so bad. I'm sorry. Barely had the time to sleep this week, including Saturday. That's not really an excuse but that's everything I've got. Hope you like it anyway.