Translations at the end
-=={~~}==-
The next month passed in the blink of an eye and December was upon Lukas far too soon for his liking. People always got so excited around Christmas time and the complete change in behaviour and stupid, hypocritical opinions sickened him.
Everyone preached about being thankful and helping others and giving and remembering the birth of Christ when all they cared about was getting what they wanted, having parities and eating. And the worst part of it all was that the café's menu completely changed to the most pretentious orders.
"So that's one Cinnamon Coffee and an Allspice Viennese Sponge to go?" The young woman wrapped up in a fluffy pink scarf and purple mittens nodded reaching for her purse to pay. "That'll be seven thirty." The upside was that Lukas got extra cash during the holidays. "Thank you, if you would please wait your order will with you shortly."
He turned around and pushed his fringe out of his eyes before getting to work. "Lukas," his brother caught his attention from behind the small gate that separated the workspace from the main floor.
"What is it Emil? I'm busy," he complained, looking up briefly fiddling with the coffee machine.
Emil looked over his shoulder for a second and then up to the large projected clock on the wall. "Your shift ended about five minutes ago."
Lukas nearly dropped the paper cup in his hand when he heard that. He looked up at the clock and groaned, shaking his head and closing his eyes in annoyance. "Du har å være fleiper." He put the cup under the machine and pressed a button to allow coffee to pour out. He ripped off the apron he had on and threw it at his brother. "The rest of the order is on the notepad."
Emil nodded and Lukas roughly bustled past him, happy to be free from the terrors of the coffee maker.
But his freedom was short lived because as soon he had let the relief wash over him he found himself face to face with Mathias again.
After meeting him a few weeks prior, Mathias had taken to making his presence known every time he was in range. In all honesty it irritated Lukas beyond all belief. "Hey," he greeted, smiling brightly and leaning down to be on Lukas' eyelevel.
"Don't belittle me you idiot," Lukas said agitatedly through grit teeth. In response Mathias just laughed and straightened up, still smiling. "What's with the idiotic grin?"
"Just saying hi!" he replied, leaning back on his heels.
"Good, now you've said it. If you would excuse me I now have to use the rest of my day to work even more," Lukas explained and tried to depart.
"What work?" Mathias asked, catching Lukas' arm before he could get away.
Lukas growled quietly, turning back to look at the persistent young man. "Do you ever get when you're not wanted?" he asked, sarcastically squinting his eyes slightly and sneering. Mathias just continued to stare back at him with curious innocence. "Work work. Important work. Now leave me alone, I've already worked overtime and I'm really busy."
Without allowing the other to respond, Lukas raced upstairs, leaving the crestfallen Dane in his wake, and slammed the door behind him. Once in the safety of his own home, he sighed and shook his head, scowl still plastered over his features. "Hvorfor er verden full av idioter?" Lukas muttered under his breath as he made his way to his bedroom where an extensive law paper was waiting to be finished. The due date of the following day screaming at him from where it sat on his desk, surrounded by the piles of other work patiently sitting, waiting for their turns. College could sometimes be a pain in the arse.
"Hallo dear," the voice of his mother called from the corner of the living room where she was sat, reading. She was a petite woman with long blonde hair like her sons'. Her eyes were very dark blue, gentle and sweet and Lukas swore they had magical powers of some kind.
He forced a smile and directed a small wave at his her. "Hey mom," he called back. When he saw her going to stand up he rushed to push her back down. "No, no; I'll come to you." However kind age had been to her appearance it also graced her with awful arthritis and weak bones.
She chuckled and shook her head. "You're too kind Luke." She smiled up at him and he returned the gesture. "How was your shift?"
"Tiring. It's too busy because it's almost Christmas." His mother nodded and patted his shoulder. "On the bright side everything's more expensive."
"If I didn't know any better I might call you evil," she ruffled his hair and leant back in her armchair. "I would join you downstairs if I could."
Lukas shook his head and straightened up. "Don't say that. You've worked here for centuries now; it's my turn," he looked down at her sympathetically. "Do you want some tea?"
"I'd love some."
He nodded and made his way to the kitchen to get about making a drink by hand. What with all the machines they owned, brewing tea from a bag was a relaxing change of pace. As he was opening the fridge to grab the milk though, his mother called out again. "Lukas?"
"Yeah?" he called back as he set down the milk and turned around to see his mother, now on her feet and replacing the book on their large bookshelf.
"Could you possibly do some baking for tomorrow?" she asked slightly guiltily. "The order we placed won't be coming until gone noon. Ethylene invited me for dinner, you know, as your father's with Carin, so I don't have much time. And I know you're fully aware of how desperate a case Emi is."
Lukas but grimaced inside at the prospect of even more work. "Yes, of course. Just take down a list and I'll get to it." The look on his mother's face was thanks enough. She beamed at him, relief evident.
"Thank you, dear. You're too kind."
"It's fine, really. Now I'm gonna finish your tea before it gets cold." With that he resumed what he was doing, with his mood a little lighter.
After having finished the tea and had returned to his room, Lukas didn't manage to escape his homework. He spent the best part of two hours slaving over his essay before he decided to take a break to crack down on the list his mother had made for him. She had left a while ago and now the apartment was empty. Lukas never quite felt alone unless the café was shut though as the noise would always rise through the floor and the quiet buzz was always stuck at the back of his mind.
The list wasn't too extensive and Lukas was glad to see that he wouldn't be drowning in flour by the time he went to bed that night.
Baking was something Lukas had enjoyed since he was young. While his brother spent his hours in front of a TV screen, controller in hand, Lukas was in the kitchen learning everything his mother or his grandfather were willing to teach him. Therefore by now it was all second nature.
The sound of the door shutting broke Lukas out of his concentration. It wasn't that long before Emil imposed on his quiet. "Smells good," he commented, walking over to joining Lukas at the counter top.
Emil continued to stand there in silence, watching Lukas measuring out icing sugar. "I'm not lending you any money," Lukas said monotonously, picking up a sieve and moving over to his electric mixer.
"I don't want any money. Why do you always assume that? I just wanted to see what you were baking," he said, feigning innocence.
"You can't have any."
"I know, I know." Throwing his hands in the air, Emil took a couple of steps back before heading back to the door. "By the way, you can be a grade A ass sometimes."
Confused, Lukas looked up and cocked his head. "Eh?"
"You're really lucky that it was Matt you were getting all pissy with. If it were anyone else I guarantee they'd hate you by now." It sort of started to make a bit of sense. "Honestly; and then you go on about how few friends you have. It's not exactly a mystery as to why."
"Kjeft," he grumbled a response, pouring the vanilla essence in quickly and turning the mixer on, filling the room with loud whirring noises as the machine whisked the icing.
Emil sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't hurt to be nice sometimes y'know!" he yelled above the racket before exiting, leaving Lukas agitated and grumpy.
It was just past six when the fruits of Lukas' labour had finally bared, all displayed over the kitchen counters; a mouth-watering masterpiece. Content with his work, he threw the tea towel at a clear spot of counter and left, still irritated by what Emil had said earlier.
He wasn't that mean was he? He honestly didn't have an answer. He knew he could be mean spirited but no one had complained about it yet. Thinking about it he may have been a little harsh, but he was the same with just about everyone. If someone annoyed him, he'd tell them. Maybe that was the problem.
The longer he thought about it, the more he managed to rile himself up. When he again saw Emil, lounging about on the couch watching some trash on the TV he took it out on him. "I'm done," he stated venomously.
Emil just grunted, not entirely tuned into reality and not catching on to the mood his brother had fallen into. Further angered by his lack of reaction, Lukas growled quietly under his breath. "Uforskammet lite..." Grabbing a slipper that was sat against a wall, he lobbed it at his brother's head.
"Ow! Hva faen, Lukas?!" He jumped out of his seat, startled and turned on his brother. However when seeing the expression on his face he paled. "What?"
"Take the stuff downstairs. I'm going to bed," Lukas snapped, clenching both his hands into fists and storming off towards his room.
Emil watched warily. "Hva er galt med ham?" he muttered, pausing his show and doing as his brother had instructed.
When Lukas got to his room he slammed the door hard enough to make it whine on its hinges and collapsed on his bed, holding his head in his hands. He breathed deeply and tried to calm down, sitting almost completely still.
After feeling his mind was clear enough for reasonable thinking Lukas leant over the edge of his bed to pick up his laptop with the intent of playing chess for an hour or so before resuming his paper but was stopped when it booted up from standby still on the SVR from when he was chatting with a procrastinating Vlad the day prior. He went to minimize the window but saw that 'SonicOwlsUnited' was online and considered asking him about the matter.
Before sending the message he checked the other chatrooms to see most of them full. The hum from the hubbub beneath him was decently loud but Lukas wanted to be sure.
WornAcesofAngels: Do you think I'm a bit of an ass?
The message probably was a bit random but it was straight to the point and Lukas just wanted their opinion.
While waiting for the reply he started doing what he had originally intended to and started a chess game against the computer. However it surprisingly didn't take that long for the response.
SonicOwlsUnited: sry, I'm confused what ur asking
WornAcesofAngels: Do you think I'm a bit of an ass? That's what I'm asking.
This was a bit painful. Lukas wanted a straight answer.
SonicOwlsUnited: wat, like if ur mean or sumthing?
WornAcesofAngels: Yea
SonicOwlsUnited: No. I think ur nice.
The response made him smile a little, even if it sounded as if it came from a young child.
SonicOwlsUnited: Y?
WornAcesofAngels: Just wondering. Someone said I was and I just got concerned. Thx.
SonicOwlsUnited: It's cool. :)
Lukas felt better after that and finally felt clear minded again and returned to his chess game. He'd won in twenty minutes and spent the rest of his evening getting is paper finished, happy that at least someone enjoyed talking to him.
-=={~~}==-
The following morning was freezing cold and Lukas had an early lecture to attend and he had to meet up with Arthur beforehand. They had agreed to meet in the main body of the café not long after it opened at seven. So that was why Lukas was actually sitting down in one of the armchairs in the corner of the room sipping at a cup of coffee and reading a novel he'd been leant and never got around to reading.
He was completely alone as none of the first shift employees had shown up but he'd taken the liberty of warming up the machines half an hour prior and turning on all the Christmas lights a while later. They twinkled in all colours of the rainbow and the shiny decorations that hung from the ceiling and walls were still but reflected the light in many directions. Most would have called it charming but Lukas thought it was annoying. The tree they stood in the window was nice though and Lukas was slightly partial to the mince pies.
The most grating part was the music. It was always the same, each and every year, and twenty one years of it was by far enough. It was bad enough with the rest of the world doing it but Emil, who could seemingly never get enough of it, enjoyed playing it whenever Lukas was around or at least convincing their parents to play it all the time in the café at this time of year.
When the bell rang Lukas didn't bother to look up from his book, not interested as to who had just stepped in. After a few seconds he knew immediately that it was Tino arriving for work but when Lukas realised he wasn't alone he looked to see who had come in.
Sure enough, Tino had arrived but he was accompanied by his giant of a boyfriend, Berwald, and Mathias of all people. He supposed that they were all friends, or at least that was what he had heard from Vlad.
Lukas didn't say anything though and returned to reading, then re-placing the hair pin which had fallen out, letting hair fall in his vision. "Hey." A voice brought him back out of his book again and he looked up to find Mathias staring down at him, a large grin painted across his face.
"Hi." Lukas was then reminded of what had happened the previous night and internally cringed.
Mathias looked up towards the other two who were chatting quietly while Tino got ready, and Berwald didn't look ready to leave. "Can I sit with you for a bit? I've learned it's unwise to disturb Ber when he's spending time with his wife."
That elicited a very confused and surprised reaction out of Lukas who looked at the other bewildered. "Wife?"
"Yep. That's his pet name for Tino," he replied, shrugging. "Again, I've learnt not to say anything."
Lukas just nodded and looked at the seat opposite. "I don't mind." In turn, Mathias looked down at the smaller man quizzically. "Sitting down, I don't mind if you want to."
Accepting the offer, he sat down and pulled off his scarf, hanging it over the arm of the chair.
The two of them sat in silence, the only sound being that of Tino speaking and Berwald occasionally grunting quietly in response. Lukas looked up at his company to see him fiddling with his phone. He picked up his coffee to have a sip only to find that he'd finished it. He stood up to go throw the empty cardboard cup when a thought crossed his mind and he'd remembered what Emil had said. "Do you want something to drink?"
Mathias tore his eyes away from his phone to stare up at Lukas. "Oh, erm…" he thought about it for a sec. "Yeah, I guess I'll get one." He went to stand up too.
"N-no. Don't worry, I'll get it. As you said, better not disturb the lovebirds." Lukas nodded awkwardly before walking off towards the counter.
Tino and Berwald didn't notice him until he'd started the coffee machine. "Oh, hi Lukas! I didn't notice you!" Tino greeted the other cheerily.
"Yes, hello Tino, Berwald." The latter grunted in greeting. "I trust you're both okay?"
"Of course! Though it's really cold out today, you might want a scarf or a hat or something." Lukas looked outside and saw the biting winds pull at the trees. "I hope it snows soon; we could go sledding!"
He smiled a little. "Snow for me generally just means more work. Cold means cocoa and cocoa means customers. You get it."
Tino looked at him disapprovingly. "You shouldn't let this place run your life! I thought you hated it here? When snow hits you're coming with us! Emil could come too!" He had managed to get himself riled up, excitedly looking back and forth between Lukas and Berwald.
"Sure. Whatever you say. It wouldn't hurt," Lukas surrendered.
That was when the coffee finished and the machine went off, alerting him of the fact. Lukas jammed a lid on top of the cup and hastily made an escape before the conversation led him to signing more of his free time away.
"Oi," he called, attracting Mathias' attention. He handed the boiling cup of coffee to the other man, who took it gratefully.
He smiled up at Lukas who thought he might be blinded by the action. "Tak." Lukas was slightly surprised and continued to watch as Mathias lifted the cup up to his mouth. "Det er min sædvanlige..." He then seemed to realise what he'd said and chuckled before correcting himself, "You remembered my order. I'm flattered."
"Whatever," Lukas muttered, sinking down into his seat.
He picked up his book again and tried to find his place but he had only read a sentence before he was interrupted again.
"You're Norwegian right?"
He grit his teeth and took a deep breath. "Yes. I am Norwegian, how did you guess?" he asked sarcastically, instantly cursing himself for doing so, Emil's words ringing in his memory. To his relief though, Mathias just laughed.
"Yeah I guess. Just it's hard to tell sometimes just through speech alone. You say things weird so… I just guessed." He took another sip of his coffee and looked back to Lukas, waiting for some sort of response.
Lukas chuckled and shook his head. "Really? The name of the shop is in Norwegian and that's how you deduced my nationality?" he held his hand over his mouth, refusing to allow himself to laugh out loud. "You're even more of an idiot than I thought."
After pulling himself back down to a neutral mood he looked back up. Mathias, though, was staring at Lukas with an almost dumbstruck expression on his face. "Um… are you okay?" he waved his hand in the others face and snapped his fingers which seemed to snap him out of whatever world he'd fallen into. Mathias was a little startled but quickly shook it off and sunk back into his seat, bringing his cup back to his lips.
It was at this point that another employee entered the shop and Tino deemed it time for his entourage to leave. "Matt, w' need t' go." Berwald had managed to creep up on them and both were startled, looking up to the large man.
"Oh, okay Ber." Mathias stood up and wrapped his scarf back around him. He pulled his coat around him more and picked up the partially consumed coffee. He looked at the coffee for a second before his hand dove into his pocket. "Hmph… hvor meget er disse…?" he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Lukas to hear.
When it registered what he said, Lukas spoke out. "Oh, er, you don't have to pay for that. It's fine."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Just don't tell Emil. He gets all pissy when I do it." He grimaced and shrugged.
"Okay. Well thanks a lot. Bye, see you later!" Beaming, and seemingly completely back to what Lukas' considered normal for him.
Lukas waved back but caught sight of Arthur standing outside the door watching him, looking smug and waving back. A new wave of grumpy rushed over him and Lukas frowned, stuffed his book back into his bag and stormed past the other two out to meet his friend.
"How long have you been stood there?" he demanded.
Arthur laughed and pushed Lukas out of his personal space. "Since you got the coffee."
Lukas ground his teeth and ran a hand through his hair. He grabbed Arthur's hand and angrily dragged him off towards the college across the street before the other two could catch up.
-=={~~}==-
Apparently Tino was psychic, or could at least predict the weather freakily well, because 10 inches of snow invaded Silver Leaf within the next week.
Lukas didn't dislike snow. His father was always saying how it was deeply rooted within his blood to be snow resistant and was very defensive about it, not to mention how he always dragged his sons into the freezing cold at five in the morning whenever snow fell; so Lukas was no stranger to the cold and somehow didn't despise it with all his being. But that didn't mean he enjoyed getting wet in the freezing cold while trudging up hills surrounded by screaming children. He also didn't like the heaps of extra noise that rumbled from beneath his feet as he holed himself up in his room avoiding human contact.
When he woke up, Lukas was actually happy. Normally his dad would have insisted they get out as soon as possible, that being far too soon, to get the best of the fresh snow. That day was different though as his dad was still in Norway visiting Lukas' grandmother and as a result was not there to get Lukas out of the house. So he foresaw a day of staying bundled up in a cosy nest watching the other people suffer out in the cold. The gates to the college were still shut so no classes either. The future looked bright. At least it did.
Someone had knocked on the apartment door at ten. Emil had refused to open it so Lukas had to climb out of his den and trudge down the stairs answer. "Tino?"
"Hi!" he responded cheerfully, wrapped up in a large white coat and scarf. It didn't take that long for Lukas to realise why the other was there.
"Sledding?"
"Sledding."
Lukas sighed and nodded. "You talked to Emil about it?"
"On Tuesday."
"I'll drag him down. You go wait and we'll be as quick as we can."
Tino nodded, smiling brightly and hopped down the stairs. Once sure that Tino was gone he frowned and shut the door. So much for his lazy day. Well if he was going down, at least he could drag his brother down with him.
Emil seemed to have had the same idea as Lukas because he found him curled up on his bed under layers and layers of blankets with his laptop balanced on his knees. When he noticed his brother was in the doorway, Emil glared up at him for the disturbance. "What?"
Lukas smirked. "That was Tino." The look that struck Emil's face was priceless. "You need to get dressed. And be quick."
"Why am I going? I'm younger than all of you. It's awkward," he whined, pulling the blankets off of himself.
"I don't know, you're the one who agreed to come."
Lukas left before Emil could say anything else, admittedly feeling similarly. On the bright side, his dad wouldn't be there to embarrass him.
About fifteen minutes later he was being pulled down the stairs by Emil who had his nose in his phone, apparently texting like the anti-social teen he was. "It's no one's fault but our own."
"But my phone!" Lukas squirmed against his brother who refused to let go. "You have yours!"
Emil didn't respond.
They emptied out onto the café floor, surprisingly not out of place in their warm clothing. The floor was covered in wet footprints and large, puffy coats, hats and scarfs were strewn over all of the furniture and a loud buzz hung in the air.
"You're ready!" Tino exclaimed when he caught sight of them. He was sat with Berwald and Mathias who were animatedly talking with each other, or at least as animated and Berwald could be.
Lukas shook Emil off and rolled his eyes before turning to Tino. "We going then?"
He nodded and grabbed Berwald's arm, easily hauling him out of the chair and towards the door, happily nattering away in is ear as they barged their way through the crowded room. The remaining three silently followed them out.
Out on the street was a large-ish truck that looked perfectly suited to the weather. Lukas had never seen it before but followed the others as they opened the doors and climbed in. Even Emil seemed to know what he was doing.
When he hesitated, unsure of where to get in, Mathias caught on and began steering him around the other side of the vehicle. "You can sit next to me."
"Huh?" Lukas was vaguely confused when the passenger side door was opened and he was left to haul himself onto the seat. He did so and slammed the door shut like the others did. He quickly realised what the other had meant as he settled in the driver's seat. "This is yours then?" he asked looking around. The inside was nice and Lukas realised that it was probably a recent model, what with the black leather seats and busy dashboard.
Mathias nodded as he powered the ignition and smiled. "It took me two years to save for this baby." He patted the steering wheel before starting the engine. It purred satisfyingly and they drove off over the grit road.
The scenery in the snow would have been more magical earlier that morning but the paths were now covered in sludge from where people had flattened it and the roads were practically clear. But the houses were still all topped with generous amounts of white and the un-driven cars parked in front of apartment blocks were buried.
"So where are we going?" Lukas asked, looking up to Mathias who was staring straight ahead.
He bit his lip briefly before calling out. "Tino? We are going to the golf course right?"
Tino looked up and shook his head. "No, the country club. I thought we were going in the wrong direction."
Lukas' eyes widened in surprise. "There you go. I've got a pretty bad memory." Mathias shrugged and returned his attention back to the road.
"Country club?"
"Oh right. Berwald's grandfather owns a country club fifty miles out of town. They have this huge hill and the snow should still be fresh down there." He stopped for a second before calling out behind him again. "You called gramps, right Ber?"
There was just a grunt in affirmation.
"Yeah. There shouldn't be anyone there as it closes during the winter." He glanced down at Lukas and smiled.
Lukas nodded and remained silent, watching the scenery as Mathias took a one-eighty and they drove off in the opposite direction.
As they got further and further away from civilisation the snow got deeper and was practically undisturbed. Lukas then appreciated why they had brought a large truck when the snow began to make the road disappear.
It took a good two hours to get there but Lukas couldn't deny that it was probably worth it as when he dropped down from his seat and looked out upon their destination, the hill they were meant to be sledding on was huge and completely pristine as there was no one else around for miles. If it wasn't in front of his eyes Lukas would have thought it too good to be true. It even levelled off at numerous stages as it got steeper.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side and jumped, swivelling around to glare at his brother. "Are you helping us or what?" Emil jerked his head in the direction of the bed of the truck where the other three were dragging out sleds.
Lukas shrugged and followed over to find that there weren't any left. "Why are there only three?" he asked, looking at Tino quizzically.
"Together, we only had one each."
"We have a couple," Emil pointed out, leaning on the large black one he was holding onto. "You could have asked.
Tino chuckled and scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I guess I just forgot to ask. But I'll just share one with Ber, its fine." He shoved his own at Mathias, who didn't have a sled either, and looked to Lukas pleadingly.
Lukas sighed and shook his head. "There's no need to overreact. It's fine. I'll share with Emil."
Tino seemed relieved and returned to being cheerful, leading the way towards the large building across the parking lot. The building itself was very lavish and especially large, at least in Lukas' opinion; then again he'd never been to a country club before. The walls were bright white. The building would have completely blended into the surroundings were it not for the dark wooden roof and doors. It made Lukas wonder what it would look like in the summer, probably busy and crowded.
His companions were following Berwald towards a small side gate with a large padlock on the latch. It was here when Emil tugged on Lukas' arm. "Why did we agree to this? We barely know these people." He whispered, looking up at his brother with his brow furrowed.
Lukas shrugged. "I don't know, I guess Tino is just incredibly persuasive somehow. Besides, I thought you and Mathias were friends?"
"Well, yeah. Matt's cool." He agreed, looking away slightly. "But still I could, we could, be at home on a snow day for the first time I can remember."
It was hard to argue with that point. Lukas had just been thinking that earlier that morning. "I already signed away my soul earlier this week, I guess it was inevitable." He looked over at the other three, a little the ahead of the brothers, who were completely oblivious to the hushed conversation going on behind them, laughing and loudly talking. "Who knows, it could be fun."
"Right, says you. The one person in the world who smiles a total of ten times a year." Emil smirked, jabbing his brother in the rib with this elbow. In return Lukas shoved Emil who laughed and readjusted this hold on the sled he was carrying.
It wasn't long before the five of them were face to face with the unnaturally tall hill. "What could a country club need a hill this big for? " Emil asked Berwald, bemused at the size of it.
The reply was simply a shrug before Tino answered for him like normal. "It was just the land Ber's family owned. According to his grandpa, they once upon a time just used it as a mud boarding track. They also used to train young skiers on it. Like really young but honestly it's hard to imagine how anyone would buy into that."
"Now 's j'st a golf course." Berwald finished before Tino could ramble on any further.
It seemed though that Mathias' patience had already run dry though as he was a quarter of the way up the hill. Noticing this Tino was sprinting up in hot pursuit dragging Berwald with him which left Emil and Lukas alone again.
Emil had begun to stare suspiciously at Lukas, trying to come to some kind of conclusion about something. "What?"
"You're not planning on having a go, are you?"
Lukas shook his tea but held his hands up in mock surrender. "Darm, you caught me red handed. I was planning to sit this one out. But in all seriousness, don't wait up for me, I'd rather get accustomed to the cold before plunging face first into it."
The second Lukas had finished his sentence he was being dragged up the hill. "The hell I'd let you do that."
"Let go! I don't want to!" Lukas struggled against his brother's iron grip, trying to pry his fingers from his wrist.
It was too late though they were already a good way up hill and Emil was throwing the black hunk of plastic on top of the fresh snow. The excited yells of the others suddenly passed them as they raced to bottom. He was still defiant enough to refuse to get on the sled though, willing to just sit there until he wanted to go, which probably wouldn't happen without a lot of force so Emil came to his last resort. "Come on… big brother, please." Lukas immediately gave up and sat behind Emil on their sled.
Emil seemed pleased and grabbed a hold of the reigns as Lukas wrapped his arms around his brother's waist. "Ready?" he asked, turning round and hitting Lukas in the face with the side of his earmuffs.
"Ow; and yes. Let's go already."
With that Emil pulled his legs from where they were wedged in the snow and let gravity do the rest of the work.
The wind was biting cold as it whipped across their faces and Lukas could feel his nose go red but the speed and the thrill overrode the discomfort and, as he had every year in the past, Lukas found himself having fun. When they ground to a halt upon reaching level ground again Emil was laughing with his hands in the air.
"I feel like I'm eight again!" he giggled and got to his feet. "Let's go again!"
Feeling an overwhelming sense of protectiveness he nodded and picked up the sled. "If you want to."
They repeated the cycle a few times, each time Lukas needed less and less probing to actually get on the sled and it made his brother happy.
It was on the sixth ride down that they were interrupted at the bottom. As Lukas was getting to his feet someone grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "Can I have a turn?" Mathias looked down at him, beaming, his face as frost bitten as Emil or Lukas', though he guessed Mathias had been down a few more times than them.
In response Lukas turned to Emil who nodded. "Go ahead."
"Yeah! Come on, we're going right to the top!"
Lukas gulped and stared at him wide eyed. "The top!?" Mathias nodded before sprinting off at a head start.
The trek up was difficult for Lukas. He struggled to keep up with the ball of energy ahead of him and wondered where it all came from. "Hurry up slow poke! We want to get up there before nightfall! Or at least lunch." Lukas just carried on best he could grumbling about stupid athletes.
The top of the hill really was high up. You could see most of the surroundings from up there. Most of it was just the huge country club: the tennis courts, a couple of swimming pools, a lake a ways off and the huge ass golf course that sprawled all over the surrounding terrain. The only other things visible were a small area of woodland off a ways and the expanse of white fields that seemed to go on forever.
"It's rather nice up here, isn't it?" Mathias commented, throwing down his large blue sled and looking around still with a huge grin on his face.
"It's freezing, that's what it is," Lukas complained, hugging himself a little tighter. He wasn't wrong, what with nothing to stop wind coming in from all directions and viciously attacking them.
The other shrugged in response. "Well then, we'd better hurry up and go down this hill."
Nodding, Lukas sat down in the front this time, realising Mathias was a good few inches taller than him, and making himself comfortable. Mathias then sat down behind him and Lukas waited for him to wrap his arms around his own waist but they didn't. Upon turning around he found the other at that dilemma, biting his lip and furrowing his brow. Spurring him on, Lukas grabbed his arms and pulled them across his chest. Mathias was relatively taken aback and so he rolled his eyes. "I really don't care. I only ask that you don't scream too loud."
Mathias nodded, grinning again and pushing the sled over the edge.
This time the sled went way faster. Each time they met a level off the sled would part from the ground before slamming back down. It was a little more nerve-wracking but frankly, that just made it all the more exhilarating. Both seemed to agree on that point.
Unfortunately the fun wasn't without hiccoughs. By the time they reached the bottom the sled was speeding ahead at a great speed and neither of them noticed the small raise of the ground at the foot of the hill. The sled jerked upwards and instantly they both sensed something was wrong. They flew, the sled shooting over their heads but that did nothing to stop them smashing into the snow.
Lukas lay there for a second with his face buried in frozen water, coming to grips with what had just happened. He pulled himself out of and shook his head of snow. It fell from his head and clothes. His hair was damp now and his coat and trousers were soaked.
Dazed he looked up, meeting Mathias' eyes which were wide with worry, waiting for the onslaught of insults and reprimanding comments about how irrational and irresponsible it all was. So were their three concerned onlookers.
Lukas continued to sit in silence for a few seconds longer before…
"Haha," he chuckled at first. "Hah, haha hahaha," then the damn burst and he began to laugh his tits off. He fell back in the snow and howled with laughter, rolling about, clutching at his stomach as he struggled for breath. He was wheezing loudly between each bout of laughter, hitting the ground with his whole forearm repeatedly and stomping his feet in an attempt to get it out of his system.
Everyone else looked on warily, not too sure of how to react. "I think I broke him," Mathias muttered, his mouth hanging open in astonishment.
Emil was the next to succumb. He began to laugh himself, not as violently but enough to gain attention, enjoying the sight of what his brother had been reduced to.
Tino was smiling, happy at the two's joy and eventually the only person left in shock was Mathias. It may have been from the fall or something but he just couldn't understand what was going on.
It was around this time when Lukas' laughing fit subsided and he began panting heavily. He heaved himself to sit upright and smiled brightly at Mathias. "Vi er så å gjøre det igjen!"
He jumped to his feet and grabbed the sled before sprinting back up the hill, fire burning brightly in his eyes with determination.
Emil, calmed down himself and helped Mathias to his feet too, brushing the snow off of him. "Congratulations. I've never seen him laugh so much," he praised the other. "I don't know how you did it but please, keep doing it." He smiled warmly before shoving the still confused Dane back towards the snow coated hill where Lukas was already nearly half way up somehow.
"W-wait! Wait up!"
-=={~~}==-
Several hours later everyone was exhausted and slumped in the van. Lukas was almost asleep by the time he took his place in the passenger's seat and could barely keep his eyelids from closing. He yawned and raised his hand to cover his mouth.
The engine started to purr again and the gentle vibrations from the motor followed by the movements from the truck as they drove off pushed him deeper into sleep. Not five minutes after they started off Lukas was sleeping like a log.
The ride back into Silver Leaf was way quieter than the one in as Tino and Mathias were all burned out. Emil was back on his phone, still smiling after the change of and pace and Berwald was petting Tino as he tried to sleep on his chest. Mathias seemed to be doing okay staying awake and level headed while responsible for a huge truck in day old snow and the four other people sat in it. That was until they turned a relatively sharp left.
Lukas, unconscious and out of control of where he rest himself, was left to the mercy of their journey, so when they turned round large bend his sleeping form shifted and landed on Mathias' arm. Mathias himself stiffened, meeting the same dilemma as he had earlier with the sled. Did he move him and risk waking him up or leave him to sleep and risk looking weird when he woke up. Emil noticed though and quietly butt in.
"Just leave him," he advised looking at the back of his friend's head. "Trust me, he won't care when he wakes up."
Mathias nodded and no one could see the pink that dusted his cheeks, but Emil could probably guess what he looked like at that moment.
-=={~~}==-
When Lukas woke up two hours later he could recognise the surroundings but only barely in amongst the frenzy of falling snowflakes. He groaned and rubbed sleep out of his groggy eyes. His body was still exhausted and he expected it to ache from where he was lying but he felt fine.
After stretching forward over the dashboard he turned to look behind himself, still blinking heavy eyelids. He only saw Emil though lying on his back and smiling at something on his phone, hastily tapping away at the screen. Lukas then looked up at Mathias who glanced down at him and grinned.
"Mornin' sleeping beauty."
"It's not morning, bonehead," Lukas grumbled before yawning. "Weather's taken a turn for the worse."
Mathias nodded. "About twenty minutes ago, after I dropped the others off."
Lukas looked out the window at the spiralling snowflakes battering against the window, quickly recoating the outside in a fresh layer of snow which was dim in the darkness of the evening. He frowned the more he looked at it. "It looks rather dangerous for driving in," he commented. "Where about do you live?"
"Queens Row. It's really close to Baypass; you know the park."
Lukas frowned further, staring up at the driver. "That's on the other side of town, you can't drive that far in this."
"Exactly what I said!" Emil called from the back seat, agreeing with his brother.
Mathias just shrugged though. "What else can I do? It's not that far anyway, I'll be fine," he rebutted.
"You could stay at the café," Emil suggested, sitting up and readjusting his seatbelt.
"Whaa…?" he replied, taken off guard by that. "N-no, I couldn't do that."
"Why not?" Lukas asked, crossing his arms. "Mom wouldn't have a problem. And I don't either," he paused for a moment narrowing his eyes. "I don't know about dad though."
Emil waved his hand dismissively. "He won't be home till tomorrow. You know that."
"No, he's coming back tonight."
Mathias seemed slightly confused by the whole thing and interrupted. "Guys, seriously. I'll just go home."
"No you won't," both of them replied sternly.
"Ah…" the other stumbled over his words but ultimately nodded, giving up. "If you insist."
The brothers nodded in unison, satisfied. "Err, keep going when you reach the café. Park round the back," Lukas ordered as an offhand thought. Mathias hummed his understanding and did so when Vanilje Rettferdighet passed them.
Lukas guided Mathias through the small maze of back streets until they reached the small car park around the back of the café, a single car sat buried under two layers of snow. "Don't park next to the door, whatever you do," Lukas warned as Mathias parked the other side of the buried car.
"Oh give over. Dad isn't arriving till tomorrow, it's fine," Emil said, pushing Lukas in the shoulder with his boot.
"It's really not."
The engine came to an abrupt stop and everyone climbed out, the brothers leading the way to the backdoor. Emil pulled a key out from his pocket and stuffed it in the keyhole. Beyond the door was a very narrow hallway with two pairs of thick boots caked in dry mud stationed near the door. The hubbub of the crowded café lay just beyond the end opposite the staircase which led up to the apartment.
The three of them went straight up the spiral staircase, coming out in front of two other doors, the front door and a cupboard. "Shoes go in there," Lukas jerked his head towards the cupboard Emil already had opened the door and was chucking in his snow boots before skulking into the apartment.
"Okay."
A few minutes later Lukas and Mathias were sat in the living room. Emil had already been into his room to snatch his laptop and was crashed on an armchair next to Lukas.
"Sorry that it's so boring here," Lukas apologised to Mathias, lifting his feet up onto the coffee table and grabbing the remote. "I don't have many friends. Neither does Emma." Emil mumbled indignantly in protest but didn't interrupt. "We don't really have anything to do. Vlad usually just teases me and watches doctor who reruns when he's round and Arthur and I generally just talk while reading or watching soccer or something."
Mathias chuckled and shook his head. "It's fine, when Ber and I roomed I was used to a lot of silence," he said cheerfully before changing the subject. "It's cool to be up here; though it must get a bit cramped."
Emil snorted from his corner and Lukas sighed. "You have no idea."
The three of them spent an hour just in idle chitchat, enjoying each other's company but they were interrupted by footsteps beyond the front door.
"Is mom back from Carol's already?" Emil asked Lukas when he registered the loud disturbance.
"No I told you already, Dad's home."
As he said that the door opened and a tall man burst through with a large brown suitcase in hand. He had aged features, lines creased by his eyes, on his forehead, down the sides of his nose, but looked friendly and warm. His hair was neatly cut and greyed, as was his trimmed beard.
"As I said," Lukas reaffirmed, gesturing towards the man for emphasis. "Hey Dad, flight okay?"
"Yeah, it was fine," he responded, carrying the suitcase through the room to the hallway on the other side, behind the sofa and was gone barely after his arrival.
Emil stared and nodded, slightly impressed but mostly ticked off at how right Lukas had been.
"Please mind what you say," Lukas warned, looking Mathias in the eye seriously. "He can get really obsessive over being patriotic." Mathias nodded in understanding and apprehension as the other man walked in. He strolled over and sunk into the large armchair and stretched out his back. "Pass us the remote Luke," he asked, holding his hand out. He then noticed that Mathias was present.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly deep in though before he loudly clapped his hands together and pointed at him. "You're Mary and Chris' boy, right?!" he asked, eyes wide and smiling.
Mathias nodded, returning the grin. "Yeah, I am. It's nice to meet Mr. Bondevik."
"Stefan, please." He leant over Lukas to hold out his hand and Mathias met him halfway but seemed to be a lot more aware of the man under him.
"Mathias."
Lukas blinked a few time before looking to his father. "You know Mathias?"
"Yeah! His parents own the garage a mile south."
Nodding, he looked back to Mathias and raised an eyebrow. Mathias just shrugged. Meanwhile Stefan had already turned on the television and was changing the channel.
Emil strained his neck to turn round and see what he was putting on and bowed his head when recognising it. "Of course, how could I not have guessed?"
On the other hand Mathias was still confused, not immediately getting what he was looking at. "Skiing?"
"Yeah, cross-country. We ALWAYS watch it, Dad's obsessed," Emil complained. Norwegian rattled through the speakers and Stefan looked at his elder son disapprovingly.
"It was rather rude of you to invite someone round when we have the cross-country to watch. He won't even be able to understand it."
Lukas responded defensively. "Did you see the weather? We just didn't want him to kill himself." He looked out the window to see that the snowfall had only become more violent since they got back. "Do you need to go home any time soon?"
"Not really."
"Good. Also, he probably can understand it."
Stefan looked back and knitted his eyebrows quizzically. "Huh?"
Mathias nodded slowly. "Danish is really similar to Norwegian," he pointed out.
"Ah, right." Without anything further said, Stefan turned back to his sports and watched in intense silence. The others didn't feel like interrupting him again and returned to their own conversations.
"Do you like it too then?"
"Cross country skiing?" Mathias nodded. "Yeah I guess so," Lukas responded looking up to the screen. "I've always watched it with Dad since I was a kid. He also made me do it whenever we went to Norway. I'm not really into sports though." Then as a second thought Lukas asked, "You play something don't you?"
Mathias nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I thought you knew? Me an' Ber are on the Soccer and Swim teams!"
Lukas nodded, remembering then what Vlad had told him. "I think I forgot… You any good?"
"Am I any good?" He looked down at the smaller man, melodramatic offense plastered over his face. "I'll have you know I am the soccer captain and vice of the swim team. I am awesome."
"Keep telling yourself that Matt," Emil piped up, still refusing to take his nose from his phone.
Lukas chuckled, earning a surprised look from his father. "Is Luke…?"
"Smiling? Yeah, I know." Emil smirked and readjusted his computer on his lap. "I think he hit his head too hard."
"Gud, må det være slutten på verden," Stefan commented quietly, following it with a slow whistle. Emil and Mathias laughed while Lukas pouted and rolled his eyes, pulling his knees to his chim.
"Gugh… Kjeft."
After a few seconds of silence, only excited Norwegian buzzing in the air, Mathias lit up like a lightbulb. "The last meet of the season is next week. You should come!" He looked over to Lukas hopefully, waiting for an answer.
Lukas on the other hand bit his lip for a minute, not too keen on it. It wasn't that he didn't want to see the other, he was starting to tolerate his company in a similar way he did his friends'; but it was the promise of sport. "Which sport?"
"Swimming. The autumn soccer season ended two weeks ago."
He nodded still thinking of ways to get out of it. "I may have classes…" he dragged out the 'I' with his thought train.
The other tried to recall the times. "Uh… it's from two to half three on Thursday I think."
Emil let out a loud 'HA!" upon hearing that. Lukas' ears went a light shade of pink in is frustration at his brother. He was very aware as to the reason of the outburst: Thursday was the one day he had no classes. But that also meant he'd be working.
"I have to work all afternoon."
"It's okay, I'll take your shift. School breaks out on Wednesday."
"You're so kind," Lukas growled out between clenched teeth.
Mathias seemed overjoyed at that and was grinning from ear to ear like a loon. Still for many, many reasons Lukas began dreading it.
-=={~~}==-
Translations in order of appearance:
[1] You have to be joking
[2] Why is the world full of idiots?
[3] Shut up
[4] Insolent little…
[5] What the hell
[6] What's up with him
[7] It's my usual…
[8] How much are these…?
[9] We are so doing that again!
[10] God, it must be the end of the world
[11] Shut up
Let me know if any of them are horrendously wrong. I can't speak Norwegian or Danish,
This took quite a while to get out. I'm sorry it took that long but you guys can probably tell why from the length alone. Anyway, now I know exactly where this is going it shouldn't be so difficult to write. At least it would be if I didn't have my GCSE's next week. This is a story I really want to finish for you soon so I'll do it when I can but I can't guarantee it'll be out within the next month.
Anyway, I really hoped you liked this absurdly long chapter. The next one should be the last so look forward to that! I love you guys! So long and thanks for all the pasta!