[FanFic] Job Hunting

[chibi-zoe.livejournal.com]

Title:  Job Hunting

Prompt:  Norway, Any Nation - Warm welcome [Optional time period: 1700s or Modern]

Pairing: Norway

Rating:  G    

Word Count: 750

Summary: When Elsa met her Nation for the first time, he was not what she expected.

Elsa settled deeper into her seat and peered over the rim of her coffee mug.  Her well-dressed target was sitting alone at a table that could easily seat 6 and had waved the waitress away when she came to take his order.  This was completely out of character for the man she had been discretely tailing all month now; he always ordered his coffee to go.

There'd been persistent rumours that all of the nations had anthropomorphic personifications that walked among their citizens, but Elsa had never believed it until her brother Anders had literally run into Norway at the airport one day.  He could never define exactly what it was that had caused him to be so sure that the blond man was their Nation, but he never swayed from his conviction.

Elsa had been no more than mildly curious until Anders had pointed out the very young-looking blond man standing amidst a sea of greying politicians on the news one night and said 'that's him, that's Norway'.

It had taken months of painstaking investigation and night after night of staking out various buildings for Elsa to discover anything about the man; his background was completely fake, he very closely resembled photos, paintings and written descriptions of political advisors throughout history, and he visited this particular coffee shop at least once a week.

Elsa had been disappointed to learn that if this man really was Norway, then he was shy, standoffish and rather terse.  She had been hoping that the personification of their Nation would be forthright, friendly and persuasive; the kind of person capable of founding economic groups yet also able to resist conforming to surrounding fiscal associations, someone dedicated to world peace and social welfare, a hero they could look up to and emulate.

So she had started tailing him personally, trying to find out if he was any different in his interactions with other Nations, because she was sure that he must be meeting with them at some point.  So far all of her efforts had been in vain, but she had not given up hope, and today seemed like it would be her lucky day.

Seeing her target look up suddenly, Elsa turned her head to see a group of four blond men, two tall and two short, heading towards the café and talking amongst themselves.  Glancing back at Norway, Elsa was interested to see him twitching at his clothing and indicating to the waitress that he was nearly ready to order. 

One of the tall men grinned hugely when he caught sight of Norway, wiggling his fingers in a little wave as the group moved closer.  Elsa was shocked to see the normally placid face of her Nation soften as he rose to his feet to accept the boisterous hug of the smiling man.  Norway was then passed amongst them until they'd all had the opportunity to enfold him in their arms and rumple his neatly-pressed shirt.

Elsa had never seen anyone else manhandle Norway the way that he was allowing these men to do, her stoic Nation would accept a handshake and the occasional companionable shoulder clap, but that was it, and he never smiled.  To see him like this, clearly enjoying himself and allowing multiple full-body hugs meant that these men had to be Nations as well.  From their looks, Elsa suspected that they were the other Nordic Nations.

Two cups of coffee and a heavenly slice of chocolate cake later, Elsa was still slightly gobsmacked.  Two of the other Nations were just as stoic as Norway and two were extremely garrulous, but it didn't seem to make any difference to either the conversation or to the obvious friendship between the five of them.   

As the men stood to leave, still chattering about what they were planning to do today and how much fun they were going to be having, Norway's eyes turned and met Elsa's.  She sat, frozen in her seat, as her Nation walked up to her, placed a soft hand on her shoulder and leant in to gently kiss her forehead. 

"Still disappointed in me Elsa?"  He asked with a small smile.  Totally lost for words, Elsa could only shake her head.  "Then meet me here tomorrow morning; I'd like to offer you a job."  With that mind-shattering comment still ringing in her ears, Elsa watched as Norway turned on his heel and re-joined the other men who slapped him on the back and chivvied him down the street.

***END***

Comments

[coeurgryffondor.livejournal.com]

Aw heck yeah! At first I was wary of the idea but I love the way you executed it, the build-up, the way she wanted Norway to be vs who he was, seeing the relationship of the five nations, and the end when Norway knows her... perfect! :D

[chibi-zoe.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'd never tried an outsider's perspective in any of my fics before and I was worried about how it would go over. I suspect that my summary line could've use a re-phrase. Thanks for reading and for commenting :D

[yuuago]

This was so cute. I love how she took to stalking following him in order to find out anything at all about him. And that he knew she'd been following him the whole time - of course he would.

Over the years I've heard some disappointment that the characterization for Norway isn't what people would expect based on the stereotypes of what the national character of the people is/should be, so it's pretty cool to see something that takes this issue and runs with it.

[chibi-zoe.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I've heard the same disappointments, and having read Scandinavia Against The World, I got a different idea of Norway. I'm glad that you enjoyed it and thank you for commenting on all of my little ficlets, I appreciate it.