World Men à la Mode

Chapter Forty - Drinks and a Movie

        Your final day in Norway was nothing less than spectacular. You had gotten up around eight and ate a somewhat healthy breakfast before cafe hopping most of the morning to truly get a taste of Norway's deliciously different coffee options. Afterward you had two hours of free time for lunch and to explore the area you stopped in. The group then proceeded to head to the Royal Palace to witness the changing of the guards and to take a tour. Your day in Oslo ended by taking a tour of the seventeenth century Oslo Cathedral.

        Your luggage had been traveling with you the entire day, so after the cathedral the group headed to the airport to head to Copenhagen. Everyone said goodbye to Lukas and gave him hugs, which he gave a gentle squeeze back for everyone. On the plane, you pulled out the folk and fairytale book you had begun reading while in Norway. You noticed some scribbles on the back of your bookmark that hadn't been there before. Upon closer inspection, it was a note from Lukas and his contact information should you wish to stay in touch with him. A smile spread across your face as you tucked the bookmark towards the back of your book before reading, all the while wondering when the Norwegian had taken your bookmark to write on it.

        The plane landed after a little over an hour in the air, and you collected your carry-on bag from the overhead compartment and helped your friends collect their own before disembarking. After claiming your luggage in the baggage area, you were greeted by a tall, cheery looking male with the biggest smile on his face. His hair was blond and sticking out in different directions, but it looked styled. His eyebrows were black, not matching his hair at all, but it looked good on him. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. His clothing consisted of a black trench coat with his sleeves rolled up, a red t-shirt, red pants, and black combat boots.

        "Welcome to Denmark, lovely ladies! I am Matthias Køhler, and I'll be taking care of you during your stay in my fantastic country! We'll start off by going to see the bronze Little Mermaid statue before dinner, and then we're going to bar crawl to taste beer!"

        "Hell yeah!" Darcy and Valerie exclaimed, the rest of the group following with their own exclamations.

        You all boarded the bus waiting outside with your luggage settled in the back. Matthias chatted with everyone on the way to the iconic landmark, and as the bus drew closer to the destination, he began explaining the history of the statue.

        "The statue was built by Edvard Eriksen and depicts a mermaid becoming human. He based it off of the story by the same name by the author Hans Christian Andersen, who also wrote 'The Ugly Duckling' and 'Thumbelina', which I'm sure you're familiar with. If you're not, I own the movie versions of both and we can all go to my house later to watch them."

        "Dude, no one wants to watch those lame ass movies," Alfred interrupted playfully.

        "Bite your tongue, broshinki! Thumbelina is an awesome movie, and you can't tell me otherwise!"

        Alfred laughed boisterously. "Yeah it is. I'm just messing with you."

        You smiled and looked on in awe as the statue came into view. You and your friends got off the bus after it stopped to take pictures. Matthias continued telling the story of the statue and its vandalism in more recent decades since its unveiling in 1913. The group then boarded the bus again and headed to dinner. You hoped that what food you ate would help absorb the alcoholic beverages you would soon consume.

        Speaking of alcohol, the first pub you started with was next door to the restaurant you ate at for dinner. You tried what Matthias claimed to be a good starter beer for the evening. It was very light and barely tasted like alcohol, which you didn't mind. You figured he would recommend alcoholic drinks with higher concentrations of alcohol towards the end of the night so you and your friends wouldn't be drunk before the day was through.

        You ended up being right in that he handed you a more alcoholic beer by the fourth bar you visited. You watched as Samantha down her sixth beer while you were only on your third of the night yet. Matthias wasn't pacing himself very well either, but he didn't seem affected in the slightest. Meanwhile, Lily and Darcy were already tipsy enough to the point they couldn't walk straight. You helped them to the last bar of the night before Matthias led the group to his house. He really was serious about watching about Thumbelina.

        Your head felt a little clouded, and you figured it was the alcohol finally catching up to you. It was only eight-thirty in the evening, but you couldn't care less. You were having an amazing time in Copenhagen, and you hadn't even been there for a full day yet. Your tipsier friends, plus Alfred, took up the couch as they lounged and giggled at one another. The three more sober ones sat on the loveseat, all huddled together as Matthias put on the movie. The only seat left was an armchair, so you decided to sit on the floor. The Dane had other plans though.

        He turned off the lights and sat in the chair before looking to you and patting his lap. "I don't bite, (y/n)."

        "I'm okay on the floor. I wouldn't want it to be awkward," you replied, a slight blush on your face.

        "Nonsense! It takes a lot for things to be awkward for me."

        "O-Okay."

        You got up and carefully sat in his lap, a little off to the side so he could still see the movie from either over or around your shoulder. He relaxed against the backrest, letting you choose if you would follow him or not. You did and leaned back against him, your mind wandering to his solidly built his torso was against your back. An arm slid around your waist, but you put up no protest. He was warm, and you were going to enjoy the warmth he gave to you.

        By the time the movie was over, everyone was sober enough to walk the few blocks to the hotel you had reservations at. Thankfully they had twenty-four hour front desk service and the woman at the desk was very nice as she handed over the keys for the rooms. Alfred gave out the pairings for roommates. You ended up with Samantha and headed up to your room to hopefully sleep and not wake up with a hangover the next day.

~Author's Note~

DreamsForDays here! I'm sorry that this update was out late! Thank you all for being understanding and patient as I attempted to write this in a hurry. I hope you'll all enjoy it though! Thanks for reading! Feedback in the comments is always appreciated! Until next time!