Nordic 5: On Tour

Mornings

Early morning brought a knock on Lukas' door. Outside of it, Mathias held his phone which he handed to Lukas. Lukas took the phone, which was on a call, and placed it to his ear.

"He better be intact when I get there! If I find just one hair out of place, I'm taking you to the freakin' bakery, I swear!"

"Emil?"

The shouting on the other end of the phone ceased.

"Lukas? Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Yes. What's going on?" Lukas moved from the doorway ushering Mathias inside. He tiredly picked himself up from the wall he was slumped against and followed Lukas.

"What are you doing in Italy with him?"

"It was an accident. Romulus invited both of us."

"Then why didn't you come home?"

"I had business here."

"Lukas," Emil sighed in exasperation, "How are you not seeing the danger of this?"

Lukas looked at the Dane half-asleep on his couch.

"It's fine, Em. Really. If anything had seemed off, I would have gone, okay?"

"Luk." Emil almost seemed desperate. "Come home."

Lukas was silent a moment. "Emil, trust me. I know what I'm doing."

It was Emil's turn to be silent. "That's what mömmu said."

Lukas moved into the kitchen.

"This is different. You don't need to protect me." He leaned back on the counter. "Don't worry."

Emil groaned sounding further from the phone. "How can I not?"

Lukas looked back at the sitting room. "He's the same person. Trust me."

There was a long pause.

"I'm not going to convince you, am I?"

Lukas made no comment.

Emil groaned again. "Be careful."

Lukas nodded on instinct. "Of course, little brother."

When the call ended, Lukas poured another cup of the coffee from the pot on the stove. Lukas walked back to the sitting room and dropped Mathias' phone on his lap, startling him awake.

"I guess he saw the photo I posted." Said Lukas, sitting beside him.

"Yeah." Said Mathias, taking the cup Lukas handed him. "He started calling around three. Said you weren't answering your phone."

"It's been on silent since our meeting," Said Lukas, "Sorry."

Mathias shook his head. "I'd have done the same if I were him."

Lukas let him sip his coffee before getting up.

"Come on. I'll make breakfast."

After, they spent the morning collaborating on their new songs. Lukas stretched out on the couch and Mathias sat on the floor, guitar on his lap. He played the tunes and Lukas filled the gaps in his lyrics. An arrangement that had brought them some of their biggest hits.

"You should sing it. It sounds more like you."

"Maybe, but our fans like your voice better." Said Mathias, playing a different composition.

"What do they know?" Lukas grumbled, half-heartedly reading their lyrics.

His eyes drifted down to the man on the guitar. Mathias had a small smirk but not the bright grin he used to have. Lukas never realized how dependent he was on that smile. It had always been there. He had always been happy with the way they were. Perhaps why he'd ignored the fact that Mathias was not.

Lukas knew what kind of relationship Mathias wanted from the beginning. He had never really thought of Mathias that way. Lukas poked at the spikes of hair atop Mathias' head. That didn't mean he couldn't. Mathias was the only person he'd ever really felt some kind of attraction to. Lukas carded his fingers through the spikes and Mathias looked back at him with a smile. Lukas quickly moved his hand and looked away but Mathias' grin didn't fade, even as he resumed playing.

"You excited for the show tonight?" Said Mathias, not looking back at Lukas' embarrassed fidgeting.

"I'm not six."

"Hey. Peter is seven."

"Good, so you have the mentality of a seven-year-old."

"I want to see this bullfighter. You know how much of a racket he's caused in Madrid. I want to see if he is all he's cracked up to be."

Lukas thought a moment.

"The shows at six o'clock, right?"

Mathias checked the time scheduled on his phone. "Yep."

"Do you want to go sightseeing until then?"

Mathias looked round. "Don't you have work?"

Lukas shrugged.

"I can't get my head around it. Besides." Lukas stood. "We have to post more photos in case Emil still wants to convince everyone that you are dead."