|A/N| Greetings and salutations, my beautiful readers!
(Ahhh, I didn't realize this was late! Just when I thought I was on top of updating, too. My sincere apologizes, have an early update!)
And with this chapter, the Intro arc is completed; whoop, whoop. This chapter is really just some unimportant filler introducing Emmy and company (and the RomNor), but there are some key points to it, especially towards the end. That's all I can say for now, though!
Enjoy!
February 24, 2016
Bergen, Norway
"Hey, Lu, have you seen my hat?"
Emil groaned, opening an eye and watching tiredly as Vladimir tore up the living room. Sitting up and stretching on his place on the couch, the teen yawned out a question. "Why do you even wear the stupid thing around?" His voice was slurred with sleep, but Emil didn't really care. The more tired he sounded the more Vlad felt guilty; Emil was going to get revenge for being woken up from his nap on a break day.
Red eyes looked at him, before Vladimir sent the boy a devilish smile, like he was proud of waking the teen up. "Welcome back to the waking world, Sleeping Beauty." He chuckled, closing his eyes with amusement. "And, to answer your question, I wear my hat because it's where I keep my magic. We've been over this, Emmy." Vladimir winked.
"Yeah, when I was five." Emil rolled his eyes, flopping back onto the couch and turning away from the Romanian. "I'm not a baby anymore, Vlad. And don't call me Emmy." The silver-haired boy huffed, pulling his blanket (decorated with exploding cartoon volcanos...A gift from one of Lukas' old friends, Matthias, a long time back) closer around himself.
"That name's cute though, little brother." Said Lukas' monotone voice, hovering right above the Icelandic teen's spot on the couch. A small pressure landed on Emil's arm after a few moments, before he heard Lukas shuffle towards Vladimir.
Groaning, Emil looked at the toy resting on his pectoral; Mister Puffin looked back with dead button eyes. Great. "Why'd you bring this relic out? I don't need a toy." He said, deciding that he wouldn't be getting back to his nap and tossing his legs over the side of the couch. Emil glared at his older brother, demanding an answer. No matter how many times he tried to get rid of the damn plushie, Lukas always managed to get it back.
Lukas and Vladimir stood side-by-side, the latter bent down slightly so that the Norwegian could place that silly ribbon-decorated hat on his head. Irritatingly calm bluish-purplish eyes looked at Emil, an eyebrow over one of them raised. "Don't you like Mister Puffin anymore, little brother?" He asked, lips tugging downwards a bit more than usual, "I remember when I couldn't separate you two."
Of course. Lukas always brought up the memories of when he was a toddler.
"That was when I was little!" Emil huffed, standing up and storming past the duo, the plushie being held in a tight grip around the neck. "Why can't you two treat me like an adult? I'm not a stupid kid anymore!"
Both of the adults said nothing, listening as the door to Emil's room slammed and, after a few minutes, the window opened. Vladimir was the first to break the silence, giving a sigh through his nose as he straightened up again, "He's going to go over to that Chinese kid's place again, isn't he?"
"Where else does he go when he hates us?" Lukas responded, not even sounding affected by his little brother's words, as he fixed the Romanian's black tie. "He's a teenager, Vlad. I'm not sure how to treat him anymore; I'm only qualified to work with toddlers."
Vladimir smirked, his one oversized canine glinting in the low light of the living room, "That makes both of us, Lu. Speaking of toddlers, we should get to the daycare, da? After all, we don't want to be late!"
"I suppose so. You're driving this time though."
"Of course."
Leon was throwing pebbles at the frozen surface of Fishing Lake when Emil rode up on his bike, still silently fuming as he let the bike drop into the snow. The brunettewas wearing about seven layers to Emil's two, but the Icelandic teen was already used to that, watching in slight amusement as Leon struggled to turn his head. "Hey, Em." He greeted once he finally locked eyes with his friend, waving a gloved hand.
"Don't call me that." Emil grumbled in reply, scaling over a particularly large rock and settling down beside Leon.
Pouting, Leon raised an (admittedly oversized) eyebrow in question. "What's got you so, like, pissy?" Another pebble was thrown, bouncing off the ice and skittering a foot away from where it originally landed.
"Take a wild guess, Brow Boy." Emil gave an amused smirk when Leon's face turned even more red, but not from the cold this time. Emil knew that his friend was a bit insecure about the whole "eyebrow issues" he had, but it was just funny to push the usually-bitch-faced Leon's buttons once in awhile; especially when he was feeling upset himself. Yes, it was cruel, but also hilarious.
Shaking his head and sorting out his expression so that it was once again neutral, Leon sighed, "The two lovebirds acting like you're a baby again?" He asked, resting his head on his knees and letting his eyes fall halfway closed.
"Yuck." Emil stuck out his tongue at Leon's comment about Vladimir and Lukas, scrunching up his nose a bit. "Don't call them that, it's gross. And, yeah; they're treating me like one of those snot-nosed brats they take care of at their job." Violet eyes rolled in their sockets, Emil frowning.
Leon just smirked, picking up a smooth stone and holding it in his palm. "Why can't I call 'em, like, lovebirds? Aren't they an item?" The brunette's smirk turned into a cheeky grin, "Or does sleeping in the same bed not count as being in love?"
"They only did that once!" Emil embarrassedly shrieked, going red-faced as the memory resurfaced, giving Leon a hard punch to the shoulder. "And that was when you slept over in the guest room; you now Vladimir usually sleeps in there."
Throwing his head back, Leon gave a good-natured laugh. He looked at the silver-haired boy beside him with amused eyes. "I know, but it's always fun to rile you up, Em." He said, standing up and walking over to one of the only bushes with some leaves left on it. Bending down, Leon took out his satchel from the green confines of the bush, tossing it over his shoulder and grabbing his own bike from where it was hidden.
"Where're you going? I just got here." Emil said, wrapping his arms around his knees and curling into a ball.
Leon put a foot on his bike, shrugging, "You know that Teach will get mad if I'm late for dinner." The Chinese boy's grin grew larger than Emil had ever seen it. "Are you going to miss me in all my glory, Em-Em?" He fluttered his eyelashes and put his hands under his chin in a hammock, making Emil gag.
"Of course I won't," Emil stood and hoisted his own bike out of the snow, "I just don't want to go back to the house while it's empty. I'll take you to your place since I know the way even better than you do, Dumberella."
"My knight in shining armor~" Leon mockingly sang, rolling his eyes and hopping onto his flame-decorated transportation. Emil was still surprised that Leon's oldest brother, Yao, had allowed the boy to buy it. "What would I ever do without you?"
"You'd probably be a lot less gay." The Icelandic boy laughed, pushing down on the pedal of his bike and leading the way to Leon's place, his friend right behind him.
Emil usually wasn't so...lively, but he felt a bit more relaxed with Leon. He didn't feel the need to act mature around the other boy. Lukas and Vladimir weren't hovering over him when Leon was around and it was a sweet, sweet release. Of course, there was the plus to their friendship. Emil wasn't being judged for his hair or his eyes or his accent, like what had happened so many times before, but Leon could compare the traits with him and laugh about it.
Of course, Emil always knew that the people at school didn't view him as an equal because of it all. But, he really didn't care.
Leon was fun and Emil had never felt so...well, normal.
"Bro, I'm home!" Leon threw open the door, tossing his satchel onto the coat rack and shedding his jacket as Emil did the same. It always felt odd to Emil when Leon did things like this, but he was slowly getting more and more used to it. "Yao!" The Chinese teen called again when no reprimand or answer immediately came. That was odd...
Footsteps padded down the hall, coming from the kitchen. They sounded as light as a cat's. "Leon?" A face that defiantly didn't belong to the older Wang popped out from the corner, a bright smile on it. His hair reminded Emil of the pictures Lukas had shown him of Matthias, except for the fact that this man's hair was jet black instead of blonde.
"K-Kamon?" Leon looked just as shocked as Emil felt. His eyes were big, filled with confusion. "What are you doing here? I thought you were back in Thailand! Where's Yao?"
Kamon's full body quickly followed his head as he went to scoop Leon into a hug. "I'll explain later, I'm just so glad to see you again, little cousin! And to answer your second question: Yao went to go get some fresh fish for dinner." After releasing Leon, Kamon's large golden eyes fell onto Emil. The man blinked, tilting his head to the side. "Hm? Are you a friend of Leon's?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm Emil. Emil Steilsson." Emil offered a hand, years of Lukas teaching him proper etiquette forcing him to do so. There was something...unsettling about Leon's cousin. His smile was a little too forceful, barely reaching his golden eyes that glinted with some sort of...Well, Emil didn't know what it was, but it defiantly wasn't good. Emil didn't trust him.
"It's very nice to meet you, Emil." Kamon replied, taking Emil's hand and giving it a firm handshake. His hands were impossibly cold. "I'm glad that Leon has found a friend!" His smile wasn't happy; it was forced, almost like it was programmed.
Yes. Emil didn't trust Kamon at all.