out front shoveling some snow from the steps. He looked up and blinked at the other.

stops when he sees Den's expression. Greenland's rejection still stinging. "Did I come at the wrong time?"

shakes his head and smiles a bit, putting the shovel down. "Nej, not at all." Steps down and over to him. "Need help?" He hadn't

looked at the other long enough to notice his distress.

"Good." Didn't want to lug the huge piece of reindeer meat back home. "Just get the door for me, takk."

nods, clearing some snow out of the way for him as he got to the door and held it open.

walks through, pulling the cart with him and parking it by the door before taking off his coat and boots. "Berwald still here?"

nods. "Mhmm." Closes the door behind him, wiping his brow a bit as he took his coat off. "He's been wokin' though, so I've not bothered

him much. I mentioned dinner, and I think he'll come." Looks at the cart and smirks. "He better, or we'll have left overs for a week."

"Reindeer never goes to waste though." drops his bag by the steps and pulls the cart into the kitchen.

follows him. "I got everything cleaned up so it looked good... And I cleaned the kitchen specifically for ye~"

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble, but it looks nice." lets go of the cart handle, turns and hugs him. "I know it's only been a _

few days, but I missed you."

blinks a few times before hugging him back tightly. "I've missed ye too..."

senses his surprise and backs away. Walks over to the fridge and begins moving things around to make room for the reindeer.

watches him and leans against the wall. "So, I made a place for everyone at the table."

puts the reindeer in the fridge, then moves a few more things around. "That's good. Greenland's not coming." closes the fridge door.

frowns slightly. "Oh. I'll have to take her stuff away then."

"Ja." looks around the kitchen, something was different.

sighs a bit and goes to get her plate and things. "Did she say why?"

"Ja, she did." suddenly has a very strong feeling he should leave.

hums and puts the plate and cutlery away. "What'd she say?"

"She said that none of us had bothered to see her for centuries, and now it's only sporadically. She's not interested in being part a family

with us." takes a deep breath, closes his eyes.

narrows his eyes a bit and huffs. "She wanted to be independant. Which means we'd not visit her constantly to make sure she was okay. She

said she was old enough to take care of herself."

"She threw me out of her house after that. Maybe she is?" Still deeply hurt by her words.

frowns and walks over to him. "She threw ye out? Even after helping her when no one else did...?"

"Ja, said even me ... too little, too late." sighs.

frowns and brings him into a hug. "If she throws ye out... Then she isn't a part of this family."

closes his eyes and hugs him. "I'll always feel like a father to her."

nods a little and rubs his back. "Ye always acted like one... Ye were great to her. Better than I've ever been..."

"She resents I went away." lays his head on Den's shoulder.

continues to rub his back. "It's not yer fault..."

"I told her that." looks at him. "Me being here now, it's okay right? You seem surprised to see me."

smiles at him and nods. "Ja. It's fine. I was just surprised to see that ye had a cart with so much meat in it."

"Got a good price on it. If we don't eat it all, it freezes."

nods. "With four of us I think we'll eat it all..." Keeps rubbing his back a bit, finding it calming.

finds it calming too. He had been upset ever since he left Greenland's house. "We'll have a good time. And eat well."

nods. "Mhmm. We'll have tons of fun. Catch up with Iceland, and try and keep Sweden happy... and ye happy."

"And I'll keep you happy."

smiles down at him. "Tak..." Kisses the top of his head.

puts his arms around his neck and kisses him on the lips.

hums and puts his arms on his sides, returning the kiss. Even if it was only a few days he was away, he missed this.

had missed it too. Strange how when he got home he felt restless and watching the calendar for the weekend to get here sooner.

had lost track with paper work, but was glad the other was eager to spend time with him... He had no idea how he felt,

being wanted. It made him so happy.

"Mmm~ When do you want me to start cooking?" looks at him.

smiles down at him and licks his lips quickly. "Ye can start now, 'nd take it slow... Hopefully Ice'll show up.

I can get Sweden when it's closer to the time."

"Can't rush reindeer, besides, it will take hours for this thing to be done. Want me to do it outside, like I did with the lamb?"

hums before nodding. "Sure, it'll be great. I'll help ye with everything." He had made sure everything was perfect before he

showed up just so he could help him if needed.

"Then I'll get to work with the pit. Troll will be helping." Kisses him again, then walks back to the door to get his coat and boots.

follows him, blushing slightly. He loved this, he truly did. He got ready himself before heading to the back door.

puts on his boots and coat. Heads to the back and outside. Looks at the covered pit and goes in search of the shovels.

beat him to the shed and grabbed two, handing him one.

takes it. "Takk." Walks over to the pit and begins digging.

nods and follows him, starting on his side. "It's a good thing the weather hasn't been that bad, or else this would be a lot harder."

"Ja, of course, the troll did the hard work and broke this up for us." makes a pile of dirt, digging down until he found the rocks lining_

the pit.

hums and nods. "Ja. He's a pretty good guy I guess..."

"He's not a guy, he's a troll. But as far as good guys go, he would be one." hears his shovel hit something hard.

smirks. "Well, whatever. He's pretty okay." Hits a few rocks then starts digging around the sides.

uncovers more of the rocks. "He did a good job fitting these rocks in here too." the troll appears with a large load of wood.

nods, watching the floating wood. He shook his head before finishing up his side.

"Hei." Watches the troll, then finishes up with uncovering his side of the pit. Moves to set his shovel aside for later, watches the _

troll stack the wood in the pit.

puts his shoved to the side and watches what he can assume is the troll, though he didn't know where he was exactly.

reaches in to help with stacking the wood. "Another load should do it." Watches the troll disappear for now.

lets them do their thing, still looking around for the Troll. He was still annoyed that he couldn't see him..

stands and looks around. "If we start doing this more often, maybe we should make a lid to cover the pit, instead of filling it back in_

with dirt."

nods. "I'd not mind that... I have a feeling this'll be happening more and more. It's one of the best ways to cook~"

"My favorite way to cook." starts stacking more wood when the troll arrives with another load. "That should be enough." points his finger_

at it and it bursts into flames.

jumps back slightly, cursing quietly to himself. He still wasn't use to that magic crap.

looks at him. "Sorry." grabs the shovels to put them away.

sighs a bit. "I'm just not use to that..."

puts the shovels away, walks out and watches the fire for a bit. "That has to burn down, it will take a while." walks back to the house.

nods, staring at the fire for a bit before following him.

walks into the kitchen and makes a pot of coffee. leans against the counter, mentally mapping out how to prepare everything.

hangs his jacket on the back of a chair, then leans against the wall. "I got the kind of coffee ye like. So ye better drink it."

"Don't worry, I will." already enjoying the aroma as it brewed. Decides to prep the meat now, veggies after.

watches him a bit. "Do ye want any help?"

"I'll need help carrying the roast out there." looks at him.

smiles and nods. "I can do that."

takes out two mugs. "Coffee?" fills one mug.

nods. "Ja... might be nice to be energized for tonight. Cleaning took a lot out of me."

fills the second cup, hands it to him. sips from his mug. "Energy is good, otherwise we'll end up passing out in the snow after eating _

like last time."

laughs a bit and nods. "Ja..." Takes a sip. "It was worth it though. I had a great dream that night."

"What did you dream about?"

hums a bit and looks down. "Just 'bout the old times... We were all livin' together as one big tribe. Nothing coud take us down..."

"Nothing can take us down now." sips his coffee.

smiles a bit and nods. "Ja, that's true. Together we're strong.."

nods. "Always have been." puts down his coffee mug, reaches for the bag on the grocery cart and puts it on the counter.

chuckles quietly, watching him. "Mhmm..."

takes items out of the bag, rolls of tin foil, some spices for the meat. "Would you like me to bake bread with the roast again?"

nods. "Sure, why not~ There'll be enough of us, I'm sure nothing'll go to waste."

"Nothing will, not reindeer. I'll make the leftovers into other dishes, or you can." starts pulling out ingredients to make bread.

pushes himself up on a part of the counter as he continued to watch the other. "Mhmm. Could make some interesting Smørrebrød."

"Ja, that sounds delicious." mixes the sponge and leaves it alone to proof. looks out the window at the troll tending the fire.

leans a bit over to look out the window. "So, troll thing out there... Are they rare?"

"Nei, in my country they are very numerous." turns and looks at him. "Though they stay in the wild places, many people don't see them."

nods a little. "I see... What do they look like normally?"

"large, heavy set. lower jaw protrudes sometimes ... Not always the smartest, and like to cause trouble. Not evil though."

nods a little, getting a very strange mental image. "Ah..."

"I think the troll out there is a bit better looking than most of them." walks back over to him, standing in front of him. "No trolls in _

Denmark, I take it."

shakes his head and kicks his legs back and forth a bit. "Nej. Though, even if there were I doubt I'd see them."

moves so he's standing between his legs. "Oh, that's too bad."

smirks a bit and wraps his legs around the other as well as drapping his arms over his shoulders. "Not really. Means it's one less

thing to be paranoid about."

"Why would you feel paranoid about trolls. You can handle children who cause trouble, right? Same way to handle a troll." puts his hands_

on his waist.

"Ja, but a troll is big, and probably stronger than some kids." Leans down and kisses him lightly.

returns the kiss, closing his eyes. "Ja, but children are also easy to get to do what you want."

nods. "Hmm... that's true." Links his hands behind the others back. "But they're also fun at times."

"And so are trolls." wraps his arms around his waist and pulls him closer.

raises his brow. "How can troll guys be fun?"

"My troll and I have lots of fun. He likes games, drinking beer. Have you ever seen a drunk troll?"

smirks and shakes his head. "Nej. Though I've never even seen a troll, so I don't know what to expect."