Chapter Text
Mathias spit out leaves from his mouth, chuckling as he pushed the branch that Lukas was holding away from him.
"I'll say whatever I want, Luke!" he continued, wrapping his arms around the other and pulling him on top of Mathias. "And I say I lo- mph!"
Lukas managed to shove more leaves in his mouth, sitting up on his lap and hitting the other on the forehead with his hand.
"Don't say things you don't mean, idiot."
Mathias pouted lightly and sat up with Lukas after spitting out even more leaves, "Yeah, yeah. I'm going to eat the entirety of this forest before we go back, aren't I?"
"If you continue being stupid, then yes," Lukas smirked, pushing him by the shoulders and standing up. He stretched a little, cracking his back before continuing, "Now come on, we have to get back so you can take more medicine."
The other groaned loudly and laid down on the ground in protest, "Can't we just stay here? It's nice out here."
"A beetle is about to crawl into your ear."
A scream louder than a girl in a stereotypical horror movie came out of Mathias's mouth as he jolted up, batting his face and body with his hands in attempt to get rid of said bug. Lukas covered his mouth to stop his laughter, grabbing Mathias's hand as soon as he calmed down, with a "not fair" from Mathias; he started towing Mathias along back to the castle.
"So, this is the all famous Lukas, huh?"
Mathias smiled as he wrapped his arm around his friend Berwald's shoulders, showing off Lukas for the first time. Lukas shuffled his feet a bit and looked towards the ground, uncharacteristically shy under this best friend's glare stare. Berwald had heard so much about Lukas; what if he didn't meet his expectations?
"Beautiful."
Lukas's eyes widened as he looked up at Berwald. The Dane laughed loudly and slapped the Swede's back hard enough to make a loud smacking noise, this notion not seeming to even make the taller flinch.
Mathias walked around Ber, coming up close to Lukas and putting an arm around him instead, "Well, you better stay away, cause this is my Queen-"
"Don't call me that."
"-And I have no intentions on loosing him, even to you, Ber!"
He blushed slightly, pushing up the simple glasses he had on his face and coughing, "I just mean that he's aesthetically pleasin', Mat. I 'ave no intentions 'f stealing yer boyfriend."
"I'm not his boyfriend."
"Course not, Swe," Mathias chuckled, again ignoring Lukas's remarks and hugging him closer.
Berwald looked over at Lukas and nodded at him to get his acknowledgement, "He calls me Sweden 'cause 'f my Swedish decent. Don' worry; I already know 'bout you bein' Norge."
Lukas groaned loudly, throwing his head back, "Did you ever grow up, Mat?" He slapped Mathias's chest lightly in feign anger.
"Of course! I'll have you know-"
"Berwald! Mathias!" a voice yelled from the end of the hallway, footsteps resounding throughout the corridor.
All three men jumped in surprise as a servant came up to them, panting and leaning their hands on their knees. Berwald's face grew stoic again, and his voice grew cold and stern, "What's wrong?"
"It's- New prince! You guys! The new prince has been chosen!!" the servant smiled wide, still breathing heavy. Mathias and Berwald looked at each other and smiled as the servant continued on, "Mathias has been chosen to christen him into princehood, and Berwald, you've been assigned to protect him!"
Berwald's eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyebrows furrowed as he started, "My profession is 'pposed t' be an officer o' the law, not a personal knight."
The servant's smile faltered, and they continued, "U-Uh, it's not- not my decision! Please go see the prince at least before you make a decision!" Then, with that the servant ran off to continue telling others.
Lukas sighed softly and took Mathias's arm off of him, and he looked up at Mathias, "You gave up your prince status?"
Mathias chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck, "Uh, yeah, Luke. I had to to go get ya."
His hand slapped Mathias's chest forcefully, "Idiot."
"Well, come on, Ber. He's probably this big ol' brute, and you probably won't even need to guard him!"
"Ah, Mathias, Berwald, you're here," one of the Nordic kings stood up and turnt to them. "And Lukas, too. Hello."
"Hello," they all greeted.
Their eyes all moved to the spot where the other kings were turnt to. A figure, most likely the new king. It turned around, and-
It's a small boy, smaller than Lukas, but the same age. His hair was soft and light blonde, falling around his hair; he almost had a feminine look to him, but it was quite evident that he was indeed a male figure. He turnt around and faced the others, chocolate brown eyes widening in surprise. He seemed quaint and cute, not fit to be a ruler at all. His ethnicity seemed almost Finnish in quality.
The small prince waved his hand at them, smiling wide. They all walked up to him as the kings walked away, finished with their conversation. Mathias smiled wide and held out his hand for him.
"Hey there!! I'm Mathias, Mathias Køhler! You seem to be my replacement, huh?" he shook the other's hand hard, but the man didn't seem to mind. He gestured to the others and said, "This is Lukas, and this will be your guard, Berwald! I'm sure you'll need one; you're so small!"
"Mathias, don't be rude," Lukas scolded, glaring at Mat.
The new prince chuckled, holding a hand loosely to his mouth, "Oh, it's alright! I'm quite capable of handling myself! Hello, Mathias, Lukas." He turned to Berwald and smiled softly, "A-And Berwald, is it?"
Berwald took a moment before responding, his body still stiff, "Berwald. Yes. Ah I mean, that's my name, yes."
"Well, everyone, my name is Tino!" he smiled to everyone, waving his hand a little.
"Tino..." Berwald repeated softly, a blush evident on his face.
"I'm skilled in arrows; my eyesight is so good that they say I could spot a bird migrating its way from the ocean five miles away!" he chuckled lightly. "Th-That's just an exaggeration, though."
"Ah, that sounds so amazing, doesn't it, Ber?" Mathias elbowed him in the gut lightly.
Berwald barely paid attention as he watched Tino, "Y-Yeah. Amazin'."
Tino blushed lightly, continuing, "I'm sure I'm not that good."
"You're definitely good enough if they chose you to be a prince of the Nordic Kingdom," Lukas said, placing a hand on Tino's shoulder.
"Definitely," Berwald repeated lowly, attemping to make his face into a sincere smile.
Mathias laughed loudly, slapping Berwald on the back and making him push forward a little. He whispered in his ear, "I guess I won't have to worry 'bout you stealin' my Norge, will I?"
Berwald's blush spread more across his face as he stuttered, but Tino seemed completely unaware, still a little taken aback by the threatening stance and expression that Berwald always held.
"I think that Luke and I should get goin' now, eh, Norge?" Mathias smirked, pushing Lukas out of the room by the back while he weakly protested.
As soon as they were out of the room, Mathias smiled at Lukas and held his hands, "Did you see that? Did you see that?"
"See what?" Lukas's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and irritation as he looked back up at him.
"Ber's totally fallin' for the new prince! How could you not see it?" Mathias smiled and bounced lightly up and down.
Lukas sighed, smiling and pulling the other along by the hands that were holding his own, "Come on, Mat. Let's just head over to the medic and get you your medicine."