Sov Gott

Familiar

When the alarm clock bleeped at 7:30 Iceland and Norway ignored it, having already been awake and ready by that time. Outside the sky was a dull grey, signaling that there would be more rain that day. It was overcast weather to match an overcast mood. The Nordic brothers, whom had gotten little to none sleep, were groggy and exhausted. Norway had eaten a few bites of the pie from the previous night for breakfast, and Iceland helped himself to a piece of buttered toast with jam spread across the top. Both hadn't packed anything special to bring to Jeff and Jan's home other than the necessities, jeans and sweaters. Their sweaters were traditionally patterned, Iceland's sweater various shades of grey with black and white, Norway's a series of complicated patterns with rosemaling at the bottom in the center.

Jeff, who was in the process of making breakfast greeted Norway and Iceland when they entered the kitchen. He was taken back by the Personifications' tired countenances and stopped whisking what could only be the beginning of scrambled eggs.

"Good morning, how was your sleep?" Jeff asked casually, carefully treading around what he hoped wouldn't be a sensitive topic.

Norway shrugged in response. "I would've slept better if Iceland wasn't kneeing me in the stomach every other hour." Norway sent a look to Iceland that told him to play along, but appeared accusatory from the side.

"Not my fault," Iceland retorted, holding his hands up innocently. "I had creepy dreams, and if I remember correctly, one of them involved you."

Jeff smiled to himself. In a way, the two brothers in front of him reminded the officer of how his own brother and him used to quarrel over something new every hour. His smile disappeared at the thought of his brother and he returned to the scrambled eggs, pouring them into the pan.

This sudden change in expression did not go unnoticed, however. Iceland asked the obvious "is something wrong?", to which Jeff shook his head.

"Nothing that you need to concern yourself over. Memories, that's all. I appreciate your asking, however." Jeff stared at the pan as he stabbed at the eggs with a fork, scrambling them in bigger chunks.

Norway was not convinced, however. "Memories are all we know," he said, reaching out a hand to gently touch Jeff's shoulder. "We all have both good memories and bad memories. Please, you can share your memories with us. I get that you're trying to be strong, but withholding the parts that make you weak only makes you more vulnerable once they've been exposed."

Jeff groaned, turning back to the eggs. "I've told you once and I'll tell you again, it's noth―" He cut himself off as he met Norway's unblinking, dead eyes. Norway reached out and touched Jeff's arm, and suddenly the detective could see all the torment and pain that the personification had experienced, such as his dead countrymen piling up on the battlefield, separation from his friends, having to watch his family be split up. He had to see the cycle of death over and over, and had endured not knowing where his family was and whether or not they were safe for a longer time than most people were alive. He'd been beaten and suffered blows that would have killed any normal person.

Norway took his hand off of Jeff's shoulder, and these visions were gone. "Now, what is this memory that seems to be bothering you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Iceland grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter and sat down at the table, biting into it with a satisfyingly crisp crunch.

Jeff was cornered, Norway had shown him his life, and all they were asking for was a memory. Still, it was personal, and people tend to be sensitive with such topics. Thus Jeff sighed and told only a portion of the complete story. "I had a brother, and when he grew older he started getting mixed in with the wrong kind of people. One day we woke up to a call reporting that he was dead from excessive drinking, even though he had been underage at the time. He was my older brother, I looked up to him my entire childhood. I apologize, it's rather painful to remember so I prefer not speaking about it."