DenNor Shorts

Sucky Valentine's Day

(An AU in which Norway aka Lukas is home sick with the stomach flu. And works at PetCo because why not?)

Wasn't it just perfect spending the day of love stuck on the toilet feeling as if your bowels will be emptied five times over? Lukas sure thought it was. He thought he'd enjoy the day by ranting about the sucky corporate holiday that only the local drugstore truly enjoys, whilst eating chocolates sold to him by said local drugstore; but that didn't happen. Instead, he was stuck slowly picking at his watery soup, praying that he'd be able to keep it down. Which he usually couldn't, because then his stomach would growl in a certain way, which he had soon understood as trouble, and he'd have to go get up and expel whatever decided to come up or down his digestive system.

Being the lonely person that he was, Lukas did not tell anyone about his sudden illness (besides his boss of course). Because who just randomly tells people that they're sick? In Lukas' opinion, they didn't care at all about him puking a little, since he should be fine the next day.

At least he wasn't stuck cleaning the fish tanks at the local pet store. Usually, if you weren't good for lifting heavy tanks or handling small creatures, you'd be sent to the register. But Lukas wasn't the "people type". So, he was sent to the back room in the fish aisle where the only human interaction he encountered was someone asking for some live food.

Lukas felt the slight uneasiness in his stomach turn into a heavy pounding, and that famous growl was now signaling for him to get the heck up.

As he did so, he heard a knock on the door, followed by a loud "Lukas, I brought you some dog treats for Valentine's Day! I know how much you like 'em!" That voice came from Matthias, his cute- I mean annoying, coworker. Matthias had a strange gift with the reptiles, and the two met when Lukas had asked if the treats in the break room were any good.

"Hey, um, Matthias?"

"Ya?" Matthias turned to face him, that classic bright, wide smile spread across his face. He was currently feeding the boa constrictor a small mouse. It confused Lukas how someone could be so calm watching a snake squeeze a tiny little creature to death. Mother Nature is extremely disturbing.

"Do you guys have any food around here?"

"We gotta, Luke, it's a pet store....."

Lukas could feel his face turn a slight shade of pink at the nickname. "I meant people food, idiot."

"Haha, I know. Just messing with ya. Here, lemme show you." He closed the top of the terrarium and put his arm around Lukas' shoulders to guide him to the break room.

Lukas' cheeks flared up, and his heart began pounding. He usually hated physical contact with others..... But now, it felt totally normal.

The two made their way to the break room, and it wasn't as gross as Lukas had imagined it. It had a very "office-like" look to it. It was nice.

"Want some of my homemade cookies?" Matthias turned Lukas' body so it was facing the counter, where a tray of cookies lay in waiting. His arm was still around Lukas' shoulders, which was driving Lukas crazy (but in a good way).

Lukas shrugged and picked one up. "Why not?" He took a large bite and immediately regretted it. They weren't sweet at all. Trying to stay polite, (and look like a decent person in the presence of an incredibly hot person) Lukas stupidly swallowed and faked a smile. "Yum...."

Matthias then burst out laughing. Which made Lukas extremely confused. "Did I do something wrong?" He knew Matthias was Danish, so maybe there was some weird custom in how to eat cookies?

Mathias was still laughing, but he tried to form a sentence.

"Y-you just a-ate dog-!" He continued taking breaths in between words.

"I JUST ATE DOG?!"

Mathias shook his head, laughing even harder. "Dog food!"

Lukas glared at Matthias, and threw the remaining bit of cookie at him. "C'mon, Luke, you thought they were delicious."

This was the reason why Lukas stayed in the back, cleaning old tanks.

After that, and to both of their surprise, Lukas and Matthias became good friends, and Lukas stopped seeing him as just a really, really good looking guy. He started to see him as a really, really good looking guy that he might have a chance with.

And seeing someone you want to kiss while you are practically puking all over yourself isn't necessarily the smoothest thing to do. So, Lukas ran to the bathroom and hoped that Matthias would leave the tiny apartment complex after no one answering.

After the knocking didn't end, Lukas eventually became fed up and texted Matthias.

'I am sick. Go away.'

'I brought u something tho'

'I know. Dog treats, was it?'

'Lol no something better youll like it'

'I can't open the door at the moment.'

'Dont care. ive got all day'

Lukas sighed and put his phone down before feeling the contents of his lunch come up and out of his stomach.

After that, and thoroughly rinsing his mouth, Lukas opened the door to find his tall friend leaning on the railing, looking at his phone.

"Hey..."

Matthias looked up and flashed that amazing grin of his. Lukas looked away so he stare at it for too long. That's when he noticed the large bag in Matthias' hands.

"What's that? The dog food?"

Matthias rolled his eyes. "Already told ya. It's not dog food." Lukas led him inside where they awkwardly sat on Lukas' bed.

"Did you, uh, catch the big game lasts night?"

"What big game?"

"Dunno just thought there was a big game or somethin'...."

Fed up with the silence, Lukas motioned to the bag. "What's inside?"

"Oh yeah. Well, today's kinda a bad day for all this, so I think I should just come back when you're better." Matthias' clear nervousness was making the entire situation even more awkward, which is the opposite of what they needed. Matthias shoved the bag behind him, and wrapped his arm around Lukas and pulled him close. But releasing from the semi-hug way  too soon. "I hope ya feel better, Luke. I'd stay, but I don't wanna get sick." He lifted himself off the bed, and picked up the bag. But all he did was stare at it. Then, after a while, he put it back down. "I'll leave this here. It'd be kinda weird if I gave it to you later. See ya."

Lukas let out a weak goodbye and soon regretted it as he heard the door shut. He leaned over, and tipped the contents out of the bag. Out came a bag of loose M&M's, and a greeting card. He opened up the card, and was met with a whole lot of writing and words scribbled out. But hey, it's the thought that counts.

"Dear Lukas, I've known you for like a year now and I just wanted to say that you've been the highlight of that year. I know I've probably been an asshole or really annoying but I think you're cute and that we could really hit things off. And if future me was too stupid to ask you out when he gave this to you, then please call my ass back over there to go ask you. Love, Matthias."

It was the cutest thing Lukas had ever read. But, he was also sick so he didn't follow through with that last request. Instead, he took a nap with the joy that Matthias had felt the same way still bubbling inside of him.