//countryhuman stories\\

DenEst (goddess au) 5

The birds chirping outside had woken her up.

Faint light barely shone through the windows. Judging by the coldness of the room, she had assumed it was just before dawn, moving one of her fingers to rub her eyes.

She gently shuffled around, turning to face a sleeping Denmark. His features hadn't changed, there was still a sort of charm behind his lips and a gentleness in his closed eyes.

Carefully, she brought her hands up to his cheeks, still utterly fascinated by his freckles. She really loved them.

A soft smile tugged at her lips. This was nice. Far nicer than waking up alone.

Denmark remained asleep for only a short while longer, eventually fluttering his eyes open and gazing at Esti. Then he turned his head and huffed, face planting the pillow.

"Hey," she greeted him, shifting closer and wrapping her arms around his neck, her breasts pressing up against his bare chest. It seemed she had forgotten his rule. "Good morning. Are you feeling well?"

"...I suppose." He eventually turned over and got out of bed, easily escaping her arms as he rubbed his eyes with a fist, then stretching to the ceiling and yawning before looking at her again. "I'll make breakfast. You get dressed."

Dang, okay.

She covered her chest, the little light in her eyes fading as she looked away from him, her lips tugged down to a neutral expression.

"Alright." She shuffled again and turned around, her back facing him as she pulled the blanket over her shoulder, just relaxing in her own warmth for a little bit. She was silly to think they'd still be lovers after that night, huh? She did only say for the night. Had she been too demanding?

Den picked his shirt up from the floor and pulled it on, making his way to the kitchen and cracking the window open, then turning to the stove. He wasn't sure if the cat would show up or not, but it didn't really matter.

He began to make eggs, simply cracking them in a pan and cooking them over the open flame, quietly staring at the pan handle, lost in thought.

Once she had slipped on the dress he had gotten her yesterday, she sat back on the bed-- where he had lied before.

Did she do something wrong? He felt colder than he did yesterday. She must have been too demanding.

Picking herself up, she sighed before going downstairs, her steps so light they didn't seem to bend the planks beneath at all.

She watched him stare at a spot for a little bit before speaking up, her hand on the railing, positioned at the bottom of the stairs.

"Denmark?" Her voice faltered as she swallowed down her question. No, she shouldn't ask him if she did something wrong. He most likely wouldn't tell her. "Sorry."

He glanced at her. "Hm? Sorry for what?"

In the time his back had been turned, the stray cat from yesterday had appeared on the windowsill and invited itself in, crossing the kitchen counter and getting ready to dip its paw into the pan of eggs.

Luckily, Den turned back around, grabbing the scruff of the cat's neck and holding it up like how a mother cat would a kitten, grumbling under his breath as he walked to the open window and tossed the cat out. Then he returned to the stove.

She watched as Den picked the cat up, her eyes widening as she skimmed over to the window once Den had thrown it out, leaning her hands on the windowsill as she looked down.

The cat had still been there, its tail flicking as it looked up at Estonia, meowing as if it hadn't done anything wrong.

Oh. It was okay.

She flinched back when it jumped up on the windowsill again, sitting down, its eyes fixated on her this time. Did it want something from her?

It mewed at her, lifting a paw and trying to either paw her or bat at her clothes. It mewed again, upset that she wasn't close enough for it to reach.

Estonia hesitantly moved closer, still a little cautious from last time when it had bitten her.

"What do you want, little one?" she mumbled quietly, holding out her palms in front of it, unsure of what it wanted.

It gently hit her hand with one of its paws, then trying to headbutt her palm. If it couldn't eat her, then it might as well try to get affection from her.

"Oh," she pet it gently, sighing a little as she leaned against the windowsill, just petting the curious black blob of a creature as it purred, pushing into her hands.

Hey, it was kind of like her. Desperate for attention.

Den had by then finished with breakfast, setting the plates on the table. "Esti, I made breakfast for us. Do you eat eggs?"

She looked at him and then at the food on the table, almost tempted to lie to let him eat more. She didn't deserve his kindness.

She walked over. "Oh, um... Yes, I do." she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the cat at the windowsill crying at the lost attention, its tail flicking as it only meowed louder.

"You can close the window on him, if you want. He's just a big crybaby." Den sat down and began to eat, looking from Esti to the cat. "Or there's some dried meat in the cupboard, if you want to feed him first."

She didn't quite know what to do, so she just walked back to the cat, pressing a soft kiss onto its forehead before gently nudging it off.

"I'm sorry," she frowned before closing the window, walking back over to the table and sitting down across from him, where her plate was, and just sort of staring at the food.

It looked delicious-- she just felt guilty.

"...are you hungry?" she looked up at his face.

He gave her a questioning look. "...Yeah? But I'm eating now so I won't be hungry. Go on, you should eat too."

She looked down at the food hesitantly again, picking up the knife and fork and doing as she was told, only taking small bites here.

She managed to finish the plate, not wanting to seem rude or make him doubt his cooking skills. The food was good, as she had said before, but... again, she felt guilty. For what? She didn't quite know, most likely for being too demanding.

"You're going to work today, right?" she looked at him. "Will I be here alone?"

Den shook his head, taking the plates from the table. "That wouldn't be fair to you. I think I'm going to leave you with one of my brothers for part of today. It'd be good for you to meet new people anyways."

"Oh." her eyes were fixed on his face for a few seconds before they dropped to her hands on the table, curious. "Is the blacksmith one of your brothers?"

"No, but one of my brothers works with him. His name's Finland, but I think I'll leave you with Norway instead, he's nicer. He works as a jeweler and sells precious metals. That'll be interesting for you, I hope."

A few minutes passed until Den was ready to go to his job (he had been hired for the day to help someone out with plowing and seeding a field). "You ready to go? You can borrow a pair of my sandals, if you want."

"I'll be alright," she hummed, sliding her hands off of the table and resting them on top of her lap, drifting away into her own thoughts.

Was Finland not a nice person? How often did Denmark visit his brothers? Did they also have.. 'Freckles' on their faces? Would they treat her nicely, even if she was a stranger? What would she even do, watch them work?