Nedden Week 2017

Day 3-- Historical

Just a little warning before the story starts, there are some areas that might be considered NSFW, so please be wary of that!

Denmark looked up at the front of the large house he stood in front of. As nations, he wasn't surprised to see that Netherlands, or Lars, as he knew him, was so well off, but the house was still bigger than he'd expect from his friend. He knocked on the door twice, waiting for his friend to open the door. Two days wasn't a long enough time in his opinion, but any amount of time visiting Lars was good enough for him.

"Hello, Mathias," Lars said, "Glad to see you found the place." He opened the door to invite the other into his home.

"This is a nice house you have." Lars smiled softly from the compliment.

"Thank you. It's been a work in progress for quite a few decades." Mathias admired the different details etched into the wooden mantle and different objects Lars had collected over the years.

"You can definitely tell the amount of work and care put into this place." Lars nodded, pulling a carton of cigarettes out from his shirt pocket.

"Do you mind if I smoke around you?" Mathias shook his head.

"No, go ahead. As long as you don't blow the smoke at me or something," He chuckled. Lars nodded while pulling a matchbook out.

"Would you like a smoke?" Mathias shook his head.

"No, thanks. I'm trying to cut back a bit." Lars nodded, waving the match out after lighting his cigarette with it.

"Okay, no problem. Your room is the first on the left of this hall right here," He stopped in front of a hallway on the second floor, "And dinner will be ready in an hour or so. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." Mathias smiled, hugging his friend before going into his room.

"Quit bein' so formal. It sure is nice to see you, though." Lars smiled weakly and nodded.

"It's great seeing you too."

At dinner, the two talked about what was happening in each of their lives, and conversation slowly stopped as they sat in comfortable silence, Lars drinking coffee while Mathias had a beer after eating. Mathias couldn't help but noticed how nice Lars looked. He always thought so, but was noticing more so in this moment. He liked Lars for a long time, but never thought about making a move. He always figured he'd be content with just being his friend. But, as time went on, he found that to not be the case. He looked over again to see Lars fumbling with his matchbook again.

"Someone ought to get you a lighter, so you're not constantly having to pull matches out like that," Mathias chuckled.

"What if I like using matches more?" Lars asked while lighting a cigarette. "I can get my own lighter, if I want one."

"Yes, that's true. But you seem so adamant about not having one, so someone should get one for you. That way then you'll have to use it!" Mathias said. He knew how Lars was. He wouldn't buy himself a lot of new or fancy things, rather saving the money to use when absolutely necessary, or on others.

But, if someone gave Lars something as a gift, he would use it and make sure it was usable until he couldn't anymore. And for a lot of objects Lars had, they probably wouldn't be unusable until he was dead, if such a fate was possible. Mathias remembered the pipe he saw Lars using for centuries, even as it started to fall apart from use. Lars saved it to be an ornamental piece to only be used for special occasions when Mathias finally convinced him to switch over to cigarettes.

"Why would I have someone buy me a lighter? I don't need one. Matches work perfectly fine."

"But it's faster!" Mathias retorted. "And  easier!" Lars shook his head.