Requested by adventxrous

Warning: Straight

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" If you didn't want to come, you should've mentioned it to me," A tall woman with a thick Dutch accent spoke to a man with odd hair. He appeared to be faking a smile, but the boredom was apparent on his face.

" No, that was fun. I love hearing lectures about the different ways to successfully raise tulips." Despite them being in the middle of the Netherlands, the strange man had a Danish accent. " As long as you're having fun, Karina."

Karina was seemingly unimpressed judging by her deadpan expression. " I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of my time." She shrugged, flipping her scarf over her shoulder as they exited into a cold winter street.

" Yes! Not a complete waste is so much better than a complete waste!" He whooped loudly. Karina sighed as heads turned in their direction. " Where do you want to go next?"

" There's more," She asked, totally monotone. " Can't I just leave now?"

He shook his head, shivering slightly from the icy nip of the wind. " Surely there's somewhere we could get a warm drink together? Would that impress you?" Mathias sounded hopeful, the polar opposite of his partner.

" I'm not cold, you're just weak." He huffed at her comment, his playful grin faltering for just a bit. " Why do you not just go home already? I preferred it when we just wrote notes back and forth."

" Sending notes to someone from Denmark and waiting for nearly a month for a reply is not as fun as this," He argued. " We can be pen-pals as much as we want later. Right now, I want to visit with you. It is the first time we've seen each other in-"

" 17 months and 24 days." She finished, trudging through the snow towards a small coffee shop. As the two entered, a warm blast of hair hit them. The Dane scooted closer to Karina, most likely in hopes of gaining more warmth. Unfortunately, she was highly opposed to this idea and scooted further away. They seated themselves and a waiter approached to take their orders.

Mathias looked quite ready to ask for a drink, but Karina waved him away and the Dane pouted. She stared out the window, while Mathias gingerly reached for her hand. It was yanked away before he got the chance to even brush against it. " Stop it, Mathias. What is wrong with you today?"

" Nothing, my hand is just cold." He pulled his hand to his chest sadly. His blue eyes stared her down from across the table as she ignored his existence. He had flown in a week before that day; a surprise visit. Sine it had been so long, he'd just assumed she'd be happy to see him. He figured out a little too late that she was not fond of surprises or emotions.

To put it bluntly, she was really annoyed by his visit. He jogged his memory for it, but couldn't seem to remember if she'd always been like this. Whatever, it didn't matter. He was leaving that night, without telling her. Mathias figured that would be a better surprise for her. Still, he was heavily disappointed that they hadn't so much as touched hands accidentally.

Mathias did notice, though, that she participated in nearly everything he suggested with little complaint. Like the coffee shop, for example. He'd suggested it and she'd gone along with it. " So, Karina, what have you been up to lately?"

" Financing," She answered with one word. He didn't try to continue that topic of conversation, since she was obviously done explaining. She'd always worked in financing, and loved it. As far as he knew, that was her only passion.

" We should order," the Dane sighed, " then we can get you home." She shook her head, gesturing for the waiter to come over. As the waiter neared, Karina stood up. Mathias frowned, watching her leave the store the moment he was asked for his drink order. He excused himself mindlessly and followed after her. " Karina!" He called after her. She'd disappeared in the crowd.

" Karina?" His voice lowered to a whisper when he was made aware that she was long gone. He slurred as many danish curses as he could together and started crunching his way back to her house. " Stupid bet." He mumbled.

He entered her house, using the spare keys located under the doormat. " Karina?" He found her seated in her office, a pair of reading glasses located on her face. She was hunched over important-looking papers. He tried to smile as widely as he could. " How about we don't leave me to rot in the middle of winter next time?" He sat on the edge of her desk.

She shoved him off, sending papers flying into the air, and Mathias hit the ground with a crack. " Ow! Hey, that was mean!" She hardly flinched in response, continuing with her work. He stood up, his hand numb from where he'd landed on it. " Fine, I'll be upstairs if you need me."

" Packing your bags?" She called back over her shoulder. He let out a humorless laugh.

" Something like that," he said.

-------

Mathias' wristwatch flashed 21:34pm as he awaited his taxi outside. In one hand, there was a fully packed suitcase, in the other, a singular tulip. He set the flower on Karina's doorstep, listening to the sound of her television playing from the living room. She hadn't noticed as he'd left, too focused on whatever she was doing.

The Dane pulled a pencil out of his luggage and observed it. He almost wished he could erase the past week with the pencil. He could erase words on a page easily enough, so Karina would only receive the most manicured, thought-over letters from him.  He could change any imperfections, make it perfect.

Yet, Mathias managed to screw up every single interaction he had with his pen-pal. He couldn't fix those mistakes, they would always be in her memory. His mind travelled to Karina. She was always so composed and calm. She couldn't be rattled by anything; practically untouchable. Oh, and her scent! She smelt of flowers and smoke, and it drove Mathias crazy. The very thought of his Dutch friend made his senses explode with her.

But you betrayed her, a little voice poked the back of his mind, you made a bet with her friend. It was bothering him, the bet he'd made. He'd bet that he could make her smile before he left. Clearly, that hadn't happened, but it still tickled him. Why would he bet her smile for a little bit of money? It was a sure way to scare off any trust she might've had in him.

By now, he was already in the taxi, on his way to the airport. She hadn't even noticed he was gone, Mathias was certain. He fiddled with a chain around his neck. A singular pendant hung from it in the form of an axe. His grandfather had found it at some cheap store, and thought Mathias would like it. The Dane hadn't taken it off since, despite its actual value of nothing.

The intercom at the airport was obnoxious. It spoke of flights leaving early, bragging about how other people could leave before Mathias. He was anxious to leave the country and get back to his own. The longer he spent in her country, the more she came to mind. There was pain that accompanied every memory of her. She didn't truly care about Mathias, not even in a friendly way.

His phone began to ring, and he weakly looked down at the caller ID. He mustered enough energy for a short phone call. " Hello, Karina," he said softly into the speaker.

" Where the hell are you?" Her harsh tone caused him to flinch. Perhaps it was just him, but she sounded out of breath. " I've been looking for you everywhere!"

" Airport," he answered blandly, mimicking her style of speaking. He could hear her stop everything she was doing. " I'll see you next year, I guess." He hung up before she could say anything that would tip his emotions over the edge.

He crumpled into a chair. " Flight 32A has been delayed for 1 hour," The intercom buzzed. Mathias groaned. That was his flight. He sighed, at least it wouldn't be that long of a wait. An hour turned into 30 minutes very quickly.

Mathias' feet stung from standing around aimlessly by his gate. He brightened immensely when they called for boarding. First class went first. He was usually in that group, but buying a short-notice ticket had left him in economy class. He tuned out the crowd around him and focused on the staff member scanning passengers' tickets. He just had to make it past that lady and he was home free. So close, yet so far.

They finally called for his class, and the dane's heart did a backflip. Maybe the nervous butterflies were caused by the upcoming plane trip, or perhaps it was because his brain remembered her scent at that moment. He stepped into line. There were roughly ten people in front of him when he heard her voice.

" Mathias!"

He shook his head, ignoring his stupid mind for teasing him again. A hand was placed on his shoulder and he turned around. A stranger pointed to the source of the voice rushing towards them. His jaw dropped at the sight of a messily-put-together Karina waving and calling out to him. She came to a stop in front of him, panting. " Mathias. . . You idiot!"

" Karina?! How'd you get here so quickly?" He put his hands on her arms to steady her. " How did you find me?"

" Let's just say, I had one hell of a taxi driver," She breathed. Mathias could've sworn he'd seen the ghost of a smile on her face. " Did you realize you actually have to have a ticket to get past security? I didn't, but now I have a flight to Poland."

Mathias stared, unblinking, in a state of shock. " Why? I thought you wanted me out of your hair!"

She shook her head, slowly pulling herself back together. " I'm sorry. . . That was a joke," He almost thought he'd dreamed her words, " I would never actually want you gone. I thought you knew that. Please don't leave."

He blushed like crazy when she put her hands on his cheeks, cupping his face. He laughed nervously. " Okay, I guess this can wait." He stepped out of line and watched the stress leave her face. He'd caused that.

Karina pulled the dane's face down to her level and pressed her forehead against his. " Please don't scare me like that again." His eyes softened and he gingerly wrapped his arms around her torso.

" I won't do that to you again," He promised. Mathias gazed down at her perfect features in a happy daze.

He hardly even realized when she smiled too.