Here's a new character perspective, yay! This one's from Denmark's POV, and it's a little experimental, so feel free to review.
Lukas stared out the window. Mathias stared at Lukas. Tino sat in the back seat and looked fearful for his life.
"You're not watching the road." Lukas said after a minuet, without looking at him.
Mathias glanced up, corrected the vehicle on the dark road, and went to turn back to look at Lukas again, but the Norwegian grabbed his face and held him straight.
"Eyes on the road." he said firmly.
"But my arm hurts," he whined almost automatically.
"That has nothing to do with your eyes." he said unwaveringly.
Mathias frowned and made a sad noise. He wanted to look at Lukas, and to talk to him, but he refused to allow either. He wanted to be able to talk to him about what was on his mind, about what was bothering him, but he knew Lukas wouldn't open up to him now. He wouldn't unless they were alone. The way Mathias figured it, however, they were pretty much alone with Tino in the car; he wouldn't talk for days if no one spoke to him first.
"Tell me a story." he demanded as soon as Lukas removed his hand.
The person in the passenger seat shifted, but was stubborn. "No."
"Pleeeease?" he begged.
"You sicken me." he told him, finally turning so he could meet those strangely purple eyes when the glanced over.
He laughed loudly, possibly startling Tino.
"We're almost to Ber's," Lukas added quietly.
So there was a possibility of getting a story out of him, just not if they had to stop in the middle? That's right; Lukas hated interruptions, especially when he was the one speaking. Mathias smiled to himself. He was determined to get a story.
Although he wouldn't have thought so when he met the dull-eyed blond, Lukas was a fantastic story teller. He only ever told stories from Old Norse lore, but they were always managed to fill Mathias with wonder, leaving him to stare hopefully up into the night sky or into old ponds. He was aware of how strongly Lukas felt about his heritage, and wondered if that was what led him to give such powerful performances. That's what his stories were: performances.
They arrived at the hill-top house in a matter of minutes, it seemed, and he honked before getting out of the car. Lukas and Tino followed behind him, and the door opened just before they reached it. Berwald nodded to them all, and the new German that stood beside him looked at them each in turn, and then they all fetched the bags they had piled in the living room without a word and began to load up the large car.
He still wasn't certain how he felt about having a German along for the ride, but if Lukas said he was staying, then he sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to tell him to go. After all, they had each exchanged shots, which made them even by his reckoning. However, while he was busy thinking about their newest member, he realized that the keys had slipped from his possession.
"Hey!" he shouted at Berwald.
The tall, stoic Swede looked at him with the keys in his hand. "It's my car."
He frowned folding his arms childishly, but didn't argue this time. When he saw Lukas climbing into the passenger seat, however, he honestly became cross. That meant he would have to sit in the back. Sitting with Tino wouldn't be too bad, maybe a bit boring, but with the new German, he wasn't sure what to expect. They were also in the car before him.
Swearing thoroughly in Danish he threw the last bag into the trunk of the car and then got in. Tino had reclaimed his place next to the window behind the passenger's seat, and Ludwig had thus been place in the middle seat. He always liked the middle seat because he liked to see what was going on, and didn't like to be squished off to either side. He grumbled and began to get in, but then the German looked at him.
"Do you want to sit here?" he asked seriously.
He arched his eyebrow and began to nod. The German nodded back and, to his surprise, climbed out and let him sit in the middle. Then, he got back in and shut the door without another word. He now liked the German more than he liked Berwald. Lukas was rolling his eyes, though.
"Lukas said he'd tell us a story!" he blurted out as soon as the car began rolling in an attempt to avoid a somber parting scene.
The Norwegian tried to cast him an annoyed look, but Berwald turned his head and caught his attention instead.
"Really?" he asked.
Mathias hated the way Lukas would stop whatever he was doing when Berwald asked him something. He understood that they had been friends longer, but they hadn't been living together for over a year now.
"Tell the Wulf story!" Tino suddenly hummed happily.
"Beowulf?" he corrected, still sounding a bit annoyed, but already regaining his seemingly mystical expression.
Mathias cheered his support, but Lukas didn't begin until Berwald grunted as well and he had made eye contact with the German.
The story was a familiar one; Lukas told it often, but it never lost its edge on Mathias. Even though he knew it by heart, he still held his breath when the hero came face-to-face with the monster Grendel, and shouted in victory when he defeated it. Lukas rolled his eyes at his enthusiasm, but he could see in his eyes that he was smiling. The story took most of the drive, and when it ended, when Beowulf slew the demon, and in doing so sacrificed his own life, even Tino cheered.
"That's an incredible story," Ludwig told Lukas after he had concluded.
The Norwegian smirked a little. "You should hear Feer tell it,"
Ludwig looked confused, turning to Mathias when Lukas didn't say anything more. He was only able to shrug. Lukas often referenced things and people he didn't know, but even if he asked about it, he was never told anything more.
Tino suddenly yawned widely which made Mathias yawn, too. It was then passed to Ludwig, and all three of them blinked sleepily. He caught Berwald's eye through the rear-view mirror, but felt too tired to make a face at him or even grin. Instead he opted to sink down a bit in the seat, and tried to lean comfortably against the part supporting his back.
The small Fin tipped over after a few more miles, leaning against him innocently. He smiled a little and put his arm around his shoulders but didn't want to lean on him lest he squish him. Instead, he gathered himself up discretely, and leaned over on Ludwig, careful of his hurt arm.
The German looked startled, even with sleepy eyes, but when Mathias just continued to stare up at him from his place against his shoulder, he relaxed.
"Sorry I shot you," he mumbled after a moment, slowly beginning to lean against him in return.
"Yeah, me too." he nodded a little.
Tino squirmed a little next to him, and the rest grew rather fuzzy as he faded in and out of sleep and the scenery flew past the windows.
He remembered the car slowing as they presumably reached Gothenburg, then Berwald and Lukas both got out. He awoke again when they got back in, and Lukas angrily hissed that there was a change of plans. Mathias wanted to wake up and be involved, but he was very warm and comfortable between the two people sleeping on either side of him. Sleep dragged him down again a few minutes later without him being able to actually grasp what was happening, but there was some discussion about England. They were going to stop in England? Didn't he have a cousin in England?