//countryhuman stories\\

DenEst (goddess au) 8

After eating, Den dragged her over to the same place as yesterday-- the jeweler's shop. Norway, his name was, if she could remember.

He greeted them warmly again as they appeared at his door, and he nodded when Den had asked if he could watch over her.

"What do you have this morning?" Norway asked out of curiosity as Esti had walked to the taller boy's side, eyes fixated on his brother's face.

"Um... just an appointment a few houses down," Den explained vaguely. "I think I'm overdue for a visit."

Norway let out a sigh, obviously unhappy with the answer. "You're a terrible liar." he mumbled, "you're really going... to do that? Really?"

"It's not a lie, it's technically true." Den frowned at his brother's reaction. "It's been like a week, okay? Be glad I went that long."

"You can't be overdue on that kind of thing." Norway's tone grew stricter, arms crossed over his chest as the frown on his brother's face was mimicked on his own. "Jeg trodde hun ville være nok for deg, for Jupiters skyld. Du er egentlig bare (I thought she would be enough for you, for Jupiter's sake. You're really just...)" his eyes narrowed at the shorter boy, his tone condescending.

"Wie haar?" (Who, her?) Den glanced at Esti for a second before returning his attention to Norway, the frown on his face only deepening. "Noorwegen, ze is gewoon een willekeurig meisje dat ik een paar dagen geleden heb gevonden. Word niet allemaal 'hoog en machtig' met mij, ik pleeg geen misdaad of zoiets." (Nor, she's just a random girl I found a few days ago. Don't get all 'high and mighty' with me, I'm not committing a crime or anything)

" Du knuller alltid tilfeldige jenter! Hvorfor er hun annerledes enn deg? (You always fuck random girls! Why is she different to you?)" Nor had raised his voice, one of the rare times he was angry at Denmark. "Hvorfor kan du ikke bare slå deg til ro? Hvis hun gråter til meg, kommer du til å få tak i det, Danmark. Jeg vet allerede at Fin er interessert i henne. (Why can't you ever just settle down? If she comes crying to me you're going to fucking get it, Denmark. I already know Fin's interested in her.)"

Estonia had just shyly stood beside the taller boy, feeling as if she was being talked about, looking down at the planks as she fiddled with her fingers a little. It didn't sound very nice, whatever they were saying about her.

"Nou, Noorwegen, ze is toch niet echt een mens? Je verwacht echt dat ik me ga settelen met de verdomde maan ?? Ze heeft het volwassenheidsniveau van een kind. Het kan me niet schelen of Fin verdomme in haar geïnteresseerd is, hij gaat haar ook niet neuken. Kun je niet al van me af komen?" (Well, Norway, she's not really human, is she? You really expect me to settle down with the fucking moon?? She has the maturity level of a child. I don't care if Fin's fucking interested in her, he's not gonna fuck her either. Can't you just get off my back already?)

Norway fumed.

"Så du kommer bare til å fortsette å levere henne til brødrene dine slik at vi skal ta vare på henne, da? (So you're just going to keep dropping her off to your brothers like we're supposed to take care of her, then?)" Norway pointed his finger out the door, barking at him. "Get out! Get the fuck out! I really was hoping for more from you!"

Den just rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed. "Sure, whatever dad. I'll be back in an hour."

He left the store to presumably go to his 'appointment,' leaving Esti and Nor alone.

Esti hadn't taken her gaze off of the floor. It seemed like Den didn't have very good relations with his brothers at the moment.

A pressed sigh escaped Norway's lips as he gently motioned for her to follow him. "I'm so sorry. I very rarely get angry or shout. I'm really sorry you had to see that side of me." His tone was far gentler now, looking behind him to make sure she was following as he walked inside of his little studio, bringing her to his living room.

Yes, he worked in his house-- it was nice and comfy and he didn't have to go far to get to work, which was what he liked about it. Oh, and it was cosy.

She sat down on the rather large sofa as he went off to make some tea, sitting down and discussing a few things with her and generally just calming down, getting her to speak up and come out of her rather (understandably) timid shell.

He then invited her to help him with a few jewelry tasks, not minding that she had been extensively viewing the jewels and crystals he had whilst he fitted a ruby into a golden ring.

Fucking Denmark. God, he didn't know what he'd do with the boy.

Sure enough, an hour later, Denmark came back to get Esti. He was noticeably more relaxed than before, rubbing the back of his neck as he entered the shop. "Esti-- ready to go?" He appeared a little disheveled with his hair messed up a little and a few dark red stains on his neck.

Norway stood up as Denmark came through the door, a disgusted look on his face as he walked towards the door, Esti standing up.

"No, she's not." Norway mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's staying with Fin for the night."

Esti had just stood there, tilting her head a little as her gaze flicked from the taller boy's back to Den's face.

"She is not staying with him," Den snapped, tense. "You have no right to decide that."

"Yes, she is." Nor stood coldly, his voice controlled. "You have no right to decide that, either. I asked her if she was alright with it and she was."

Den turned his glare on Esti for a split second before directing it back at Nor. "I found her, she's staying with me. You could ask her if she wanted to sleep outside and she'd probably say yes."

"I--"

"You're the one passing on the responsibility to us." Norway didn't allow Denmark to pass him, knowing that even with Den's strength Nor had the advantage over him. "You want to 'protect' her but then call her stupid."

Oh boy, Nor sure was spiteful today. He didn't usually say things like that.

"I didn't call her fucking stupid you cunt, don't put words in my mouth. If you didn't want to babysit her, all you had to do was say so, not fucking backstab me."

"You said that if I asked her if she wanted to sleep outside, she'd probably say yes." Norway shifted so that Den couldn't look at her, becoming more protective, like a mother hen would. "I'm not backstabbing you. I never said I didn't want to help her. I'm going to do what I think is the best for her since you don't want to."

Honestly, Den was a little peeved that Esti even agreed to stay with Fin. Did she really like kissing him that much? "You don't know what's best for her. I give her a place to sleep and food to eat, what else do you want me to fucking do?? Put a collar on and call myself her bitch?"

"Denmark," Norway's tone was firm. "I am not letting you take her away with hickies on your neck and lipstick on your fucking cheek, fresh after fucking another one of your whores and then pretending you're the good guy. I'm sick of your behaviour, Den. Go find another girl to lie in bed with you."

"I couldn't give a shit about what you think of me!" Den wiped his cheek, just in case there had been lipstick there. "Just because I like to have fun doesn't mean I'm irresponsible, and it doesn't mean I'm taking care of her just to sleep with her!" Jupiter, couldn't he do one decent thing without his brothers questioning his intentions? "And I don't have whores. They all have names, do you even know that? Go on, just call all the girls in town sluts because they like me. You fucking ass."

Den left after that, much too irritated to stick around.

Where the hell did Norway get off to? Just because he was taller didn't mean he was king of the world. Who was he to shame Den for liking to sleep around? And now he had convinced himself that he was Esti's guardian, even though he wasn't.

Den rubbed his neck, mumbling a few curses and checking his hand afterward, seeing dark smudges of lipstick on his palm. Why the hell did girls wear lipstick anyways?

He stopped by home to snatch up his hunting gear, as well as his bow and arrows. He hated arguing with his brothers, they always knew the right buttons to push.

Raking his hand through his hair, Den set off to the forest. Whatever. He'd stop by Fin's place that night.