The Danish Slaughterhouse by: IntraSule

Chapter 2: A Chill Up His Spine

"I can't wait to see this for myself!" Tino chimed giddily, the only one of the group bouncing excitedly in his seat.

"Yes, love, we know," Berwald replied, a bit of amusement hidden in his usual monotone drawl.

The four Nordic nations and Peter were clustered together in the Copenhagen Airport's terminal, waiting for their scheduled ride after a long and tiring flight in which Tino wouldn't shut up about the day ahead, Berwald wouldn't stop staring at Tino as if he really was interested in Tino's chatter instead of the nudity under his clothes, Peter wouldn't stop whining about the airplane's lack of milkshakes and kicking the seat in front of him, and Emil wouldn't stop blasting that damn rock music in his ears for two seconds to keep up a conversation with Lukas, let alone address him respectfully as "Big Brother". Now they sat on the cold, plastic benches, surrounded by the bustle of Danish civilians rushing to their destinations or flight, reconnecting with family and friends, or sitting around for their rides as well. The group had nothing to do, except for Emil, who still had his ear buds jammed into his ears and was now bobbing his head and playing an air guitar, and Tino, who just had so much to talk about.

And why were they exactly in the wintry airport's building, waiting for a ride that was two hours late and counting, with Tino and Berwald's brat napping on Lukas's shoulder as if they were close friends (which couldn't be any farther from the truth)? All because the stupid Dane sent them a text message. Lukas fished his cellphone out of his pocket, tapped on the screen a few times to get to his messages, and reread it with an annoyed scowl.

"Lukas, Emil, Tino, Berwald (and the brat, I guess) you guys would not believe it, but I gots me a MANSION! Its new, bigger, & totally badass! Its incredible, you guys gotta come & see it. No, you WILL come! & you will stay here! No's not an option! Luv, Mattie. :)"

And there were about fifty more texts of the same matter, absolutely begging the Nordics to come over as quickly as possible. Lukas sighed loudly, shut off his phone and slipped it back into his pants pocket. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, his toes hanging off the edge of the chair. I chose the perfect time to wear freaking skinny jeans, he silently scolded, shivering into his knees. Although he was used to cold climate after living in it for centuries, Lukas couldn't help his teeth-chattering, spine-quivering, and blood-freezing state that his body involuntarily came into. The worse thing about this was the fact that it was in the middle of spring in Denmark, and nothing's more confusing than having the body temperature drop during one of the warmer seasons after a long winter one. What Lukas wouldn't give to just lie in his warm, comfortable bed underneath the thick, warm quilt, drinking a piping-hot mug of delicious, warm coffee and just be warm.

"What a great way to start a vacation," Lukas muttered to himself sardonically.

"Aw, come now, Lukas! It isn't that bad!" Tino assured him, interrupting his own stream of thoughts and smiling at Lukas.

"In case you haven't noticed, Tino, we're stuck in a freezing airport, freezing our asses off waiting for an incompetent jerk who can't seem to tell time, and these stupid assholes can't seem to at least blast the stupid heat up for a couple of minutes so that their patrons won't become sitting icicles," Lukas ranted.

"Freezing? Lukas, it's spring, and it isn't cold in here," Tino stated, changing his puppy-like grin into a confused frown.

"What?" Lukas looked at Tino and finally noticed that Tino wasn't shivering at all. In fact, none of the others were visibly shivering; he was the only one freezing to death.

"Lukas, are you okay?" Berwald asked. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not sick," Lukas mumbled. He then sighed and added, "But it is strange, though; I was feeling fine up until we set foot in Copenhagen. Then, I don't know..."