after WWI.

trembling, stubbornly trying to read the political documents in between the harsh coughs. There had to be some kind of solution - something he could do to amend the wretched state his country was in.

had his mouth covered as he walked into the others office, frowning at the state he was in.

warm with fever, the words on the paper seemingly melting into each other from time to time. His mouth was already covered, like it had been for a long time, and he looked overall exhausted.

sighed and walked over to him. "How are ye feelin' today...?" He knew it was rather pointless. He could see it with his own eyes, for once.

's fingers slipped slightly in surprise, quickly curling around the paper again. He hadn't heard him approach, and stared down at his desk as he slowly shook his head.

cursed quietly and ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the other. "Ye... ye need to take a break, man."

huffed in protest, which caused another violent cough to shake him. He put the paper down to clasp a hand in front of his covered mouth, steadying himself on the desk with his other arm.

frowned and tried to support him, rubbing his back a little. "Come on, ye gotta get to bed... ye can't work like this."

wiped his brow and shook his head again, not moving from his spot. "Nei, I don't.. don't have a choice. I have to.." He paused several times to steady his breath, careful not to trigger another coughing fit, _

"Have to, ah... work this out.."

shakes his head. "Ye'll kill yerself at this rate, that's the last thing yer country needs." He looked around before pulling up a chair to the desk. "Give them to me."

bit down on his bottom lip at the words, keeping his eyes cast down. He wasn't convinced, though. He knew his state better than any other nation. "I won't.." He flashed him a glare and put his hand down on the_

documents. "A-are you mad? Nei, this is-" He coughed lightly, "my responsibility."

sighed. "Nor, I raised ye. If anythin' I'm slightly responsible for what happened. Now let me help."

snorted, not believing that logic one bit. The troll was his first guardian and always would be, yet that was irrellevant. "T-this is concernin' Norway, Søren. Not Denmark, nor anythin' in between."

huffed. "Just let me help. M'not gonna watch my best friend die from his own idiocy."

remained silent for a while, save for the shallow breaths. Slowly, he sorted through the papers and slipped one out of the bunch, pushing it reluctantly over to the other. "That one, then. Medicine, I think.."

raised his brow and started looking it over. "... Deal."

blinked his eyes a few times, trying to focus on the words that kept swimming again. He glanced over to him tiredly with a faintly questioning look. "Hm?"

shakes his head as he went over the document, fixing a few 'mistakes'. "Nothin'. Just keep workin'."

made a mental note to look over what he'd done afterwards, just in case.. He kept his hand in front of his mouth now that he had company, even if nations couldn't catch it like that. He kept glancing over to _

him, positively paranoid to anything that could possibly worsen things.

finished with the document and put it with the others he had gone over. "Give me another."

stared quietly at the sheets, his vision becoming hazy. He swallowed and shook his head, "Nei.. We're done."

raises his brow. "Ye gonna go rest now then?"

put his hands in his lap, frowning lightly, trying to regain the focus of his sight. Everything remained blurry, however, so he gave in and nodded, ".. I guess."

got up and helped the other. "Where do ye wanna rest"

*?"

stood up in resignation, feeling like he should continue working, even if he knew he'd done all he could today. He supported himself more on the desk than the other when his knees felt weak. "W-wherever."

felt that he'd not make it far so he brought him to the couch and helped him lie down. He went and found some pillows and blankets, putting the others head on the pillow while covering him with the blanket.

slumped down onto the couch, quickly bringing up his arm to cough into the crook of his elbow. He turned over on his side, still shaking with coughs when the other came with the blanket.

made sure he was covered well before crouching in front of him and sighing. "Just sleep..."

waited until the painful coughs ended before nodding lamely, his voice strained as he spoke, "You can go.. y'know.. take care of your own."

rolls his eyes. "It's not nearly as sever in Denmark than it is here. I'ma help ye until ye get better."

chuckled humourlessly, forcing his eyes to stay open. "I'll be fine on my own, don't worry.. Nothin' in comparison to... ah, what I've dealt with before." He'd been through much worse illnesses, after all.

still didn't want to leave the other alone. He just went to the desk and sat there.

wouldn't admit that he was doubting his own reassurances. He frowned, aware that the Dane hadn't left the room, but was too exhausted to do anything about it before he was dragged into a disquiet sleep.

kept a very close eye on him as he went over the documents. He wasn't changing anything, he was just rereading all that Nor had done. He wanted to make sure he hadn't signed away his country to England or s

something.

hadn't quite reached that point yet, as that would be the last thing he'd ever do willingly. Especially not now, only a few years since he'd left Sweden. The coughs didn't leave him alone even when _

unconscious, and he wheezed breathlessly as he shifted around.

frowned as he watched the others crippling state. He went to get a few things so when the other woke up he'd have a nice wake up.

eventually fell silent, his body strangely still as he seemed to finally have reached a relatively peaceful slumber.

kept an even more careful eye on him, just to make sure he was still breathing. He hadn't realised how personally affected he was by the flu.

already weak before the outbreak. Shamefully so, in his own opinion, and the increasing deaths weren't helping. He slept for about two hours before he stirred.

got up once he saw that and made him some tea with honey and lemon. He crouched beside him after with it. "Hej."

groaned quietly, shifting uncomfortably before peeking at the taller man. "Mm.." He barely looked any better than he had before the nap.

handed him the tea. "Here. This should help with the coughin'."

luckily wasn't as shaky still, so he managed to hold the cup just fine. He propped himself up on his elbow, feeling dizzy. "Is it spiked..?" He questioned weakly before taking a sip.

rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Ja. With lemon and honey. Now drink it. I'll find ye some medicine once ye're up a bit." He didn't want to give him medicine right now in case it made him sleepy again.

shrugged one shoulder as he drank carefully. At least it tasted delicious. He put the cup down on the floor once it was empty and sank down slightly to rest his head on the armrest. "Prescription's.. in _

the fridge."

nodded and pushed his hair out of his face before going to get it.

slipped the cover over his mouth again, hooking the strings around his ears. He sat up carefully, blanket covering his legs. The medicine he'd been recommended, along with the rest of his people, was cognac.

smirked when he saw that. It took him a while to realise but he came back a while later. "Really, Nor? This?"

"Shut up." He huffed miserably, reaching for the bottle. It was better than nothing, and if the medical staff said it helped..

smirked but gave him the bottle, crouching beside him again.

unstrapped the mouth cover, letting it hang around his neck while he opened the bottle. He couldn't really say he was sad the medicine was alcohol. "Wipe that grin off your face." He muttered, then took a _

good swig of the bottle.

just kept smirking as he sat on the ground in front of him. "Oh come on. It's the best medicine for anythin'."

wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his arm trembling for a moment at the effort. ".. Numbs it down, at least."

nods and helped support him. "Better than nothin', at least." He sighed a little, hating seeing the other like this.

hated all of it, especially how hopeless it seemed. Norway was down politically, economically, in military and in health. The only thing he had left to lose was territory. He murmured a curse and kept drinking.

stroked his hair lightly. He'd make sure he didn't lose territory, even if he had to fight off others on his own..

shifted uncomfortably and pushed his hand away. "Stop that." He mumbled sternly, feeling like he'd helped unreasonably much already. He didn't want to need the support of others again, in any way.

rolls his eyes. "I do it because I care, so shut it."

about to retort about not taking orders from him, but was disrupted. He coughed into the crook of his elbow, his vision blurring for a moment again and so he just continued drinking.

sighed and stroked his hair a bit more. "Ye need to rest relax. No bein' a smartass."

didn't answer that, staring plainly ahead as he lowered the bottle.

glad he was paying attention to him at least.

wasn't focusing on anything particular, though. He absently secured the mask back in place with one unsteady hand, then just sat and lightly swung the bottle between his legs.

got up to sit beside him on the couch. "So no work until tomorrow at the earliest, kay?"

took a while to answer, frowning in dismay though eventually grumbling, "S'pose so.." He just hoped that by fixing one of the severe problems, the other mess would be easier too.

wondered if there was anything he could help with? He could move a lot easier than the other and didn't have a crippling cough.

didn't think so. There wasn't much immediate work, more so long-term projects. Very long. He kept silent and shifted the bottle to one hand, putting his elbow on his knee and rested his head in his free hand.

hums. "Do ye think ye'll get outside at all today?"

slid his hand into his hair, curling his fingers as harshly as he could muster. It was about the only act he managed to take out his frustration. "Perhaps.. does it matter?"

shrugs. "Just thought some fresh air would do ye good. But not if ye're not up for it."