Hahaha, who posts things on time anymore anyway, right? @sunorweek2023
PT1: Taking Care of Iceland
[Collab (Britpicked and nitpicked (affectionate)) with @pvffinsdaisies]
NAMES:
Aksel: Norway
Ari: Iceland
Björn: Sweden
Mathias: Denmark
Aksel taps the tabletop absentmindedly as he watches his little brother play with his toys in the family room. Several papers are strewn about on the table; he's flipped through each of them at least three times already. The interviews are done, and he knows which ones Ari liked best, based on how they interacted. He, of course, wants to find someone who will be able to properly look after Ari, but also someone that his little brother approves of. He rests his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand as he watches Ari for a moment longer. “Hey, Ari, do you think I could pull you away for a moment? I have a question.”
Ari pauses in his game, giving him his best annoyed glare as he puts down his toys. He toddles over to the table, gripping the edge of the table and peering over it. “Yes?”
“I need you to help me pick someone to help me with you,” Aksel tells him, pushing the chair at the end of the table out so Ari can climb into it. He watches him with some fondness, a bit regretful that he has to task someone to help him raise his brother at all. He wishes he could afford to stay home more, or all the time for that matter. When he’d been tasked with being Ari’s guardian, he’d been more than a little overwhelmed and concerned. How was he supposed to handle this? For the first few months, he’d been able to keep Ari in daycare and take a cut in his hours at work to accommodate. But that period is over. His bills are adding up, and he needs help at this point. As Ari gets settled, Aksel pushes a couple of pictures towards him. “They were nice, weren’t they?”
“Yeah, that one told some fun stories,” he answers, pointing to one of the pictures. He smiles a bit and launches into a story of his own that has Aksel smiling a bit as he listens, nodding a bit here and there. “But there was the man, who told better stories. He was nicest.” That is exactly what Aksel had expected. He hands Ari the picture of one Björn Olssen, a rather stoic man at first sight, but who had proven to be rather gentle where Ari was concerned. “That one!” Ari cries enthusiastically, snatching the picture and beaming at Aksel. “He told me a story about trolls! Just like you used to tell me!” When he’d had time. His smile falters slightly, but he listens to Ari prattle on and he’s also made up his mind. He’ll have to call Björn tomorrow and tell him he has the job.
~~
“Guys actually apply to positions like that?” Mathias asks as he accepts his coffee and pastry. Coffee and pastry, it was his and Aksel’s morning bad habit before work. “I mean, like, I’m glad you got it figured out and everything, I guess.”
“Just because you wouldn’t want to do the job.” Aksel rolls his eyes as he collects his coffee as well. “He was really kind, and knowledgeable. Asked the right questions, just like the other candidates -- you know, medications and if he's allergic to anything, likes, and dislikes. And he told Ari some fun stories that he really enjoyed.” He sips at his coffee thoughtfully. “He wasn’t the one I thought I’d pick, I’ll give you that much.”
Mathias snorts as they start the walk to work. It’s not a very long walk; just a couple of streets away. Aksel usually justifies it as his daily exercise. “I guess as long as he gets the job done and Ari gets on with him, I’ll hold my tongue.”
“No, you won’t,” Aksel retorts, because he knows his friend better than anyone. They'd been friends since they were kids.
"You're right, I won't." Mathias grins at him. "You picked him 'cause he's hot, didn't you?"
Aksel gives him a rather withering look. "No, I picked him because he's responsible and Ari likes him. That's all I need." Mathias doesn't look convinced but shrugs and changes the subject.
~~
Aksel is being spoiled, and he knows it. But like hell he’s going to cave and admit defeat. It's been a couple of months now. Björn has been keeping the house in order, and now he's taken to coming early and starting coffee. He usually arrives about forty-five minutes before Aksel has to leave for work, immediately gets the coffee going, and then takes breakfast demands from a rather sleepy Ari who doesn’t want to miss out on anything but will definitely crash later.
“You don’t have to go through the trouble of making coffee or getting dinner ready, you know,” Aksel tells Björn as he pours himself a cup of coffee. But he doesn’t really want Björn to take him seriously and stop, either.
Björn shrugs, a hint of a smile on his lips. “I don’t mind. You’re the head of house, and when the head of house is happy, the rest of the house is happy. Or something like that.”
He’s the sole guardian of a single child with no one else in the house, but the implications of his statement still make Aksel smile. “Careful, or I might get used to it.” He’s already used to it. Sometimes he forgets he’s paying Björn to be here, because Björn is slowly becoming a permanent fissure in the house. The amount of stuff that Aksel has to do on his days off is dropping drastically because Björn is keeping up on it all -- he takes to doing quick clean ups of the house when Ari is napping, apparently, and gets dinner ready every night.
Now he’s getting coffee in the morning and an almost uninterrupted morning to get ready for work. Plus, a really good conversationalist. Aksel hadn’t expected that when he’d hired Björn. He’d been soft-spoken the first time they’d met, and he’d sort of been surprised that Ari liked him at all. But then again, Aksel and Ari are very similar in that loud and demanding personalities aren’t all that easy to be around constantly.
“What makes you think that I wouldn’t want you to?” Björn asks with a note of playfulness. Before Aksel can respond, Ari wanders into the kitchen and reaches for Aksel while demanding breakfast from Björn. Aksel’s heart thuds rather loudly in his ears as he peeks at Björn, who is very seriously listening to Ari’s requests.
Damn.
~~
Aksel had never set out to be involved with Björn. In fact, quite the opposite. Who gets involved with a babysitter unless they’re looking for trouble, anyway? It’s just…Björn spends so much time at his home, and he’s honestly good company. He’s tried to up Björn’s pay, to compensate for the time he spends not taking care of Ari, but he took it almost as an insult the first time he brought it up and he hasn’t tried again. And, honestly, who is he to argue with him when he’s got a dinner date almost every night.
It’s a cool summer evening when he realises just how in it he is. Björn has Ari outside when he comes home from work, letting his little brother run off any excess energy from the day. He leans against the doorframe and watches them for a bit. Part of him is a little jealous. All this time that he feels should be his rightfully with Ari and Björn has it all instead. He knows, logically, that he’s doing what’s best for Ari in the end, but it doesn’t always make the decision easy. The other part of him, however, doesn’t mind. He gets to spend extra time with Björn.
“Are you going to come out or haunt the doorway?” Björn teases, looking over his shoulder at him. Aksel smiles slightly as he closes the door behind him and steps out, sitting down in the grass beside Björn. “Long day at work?”
“Every day is,” Aksel replies, crossing his legs and picking at the grass. “It just makes coming home nicer.” It’s quiet between them for a moment before Ari comes over and occupies several minutes of their time, telling quite the stories that they both nod to.
When he takes off again, Björn says, “I was wondering… Maybe one of these nights, I could stay a little later than usual, and we could watch a movie or something?”
Aksel glances up at him, barely even daring to smile. “I think I’d really like that.” A lot, if he’s honest. It’s not like their developing relationship is new, per se, but he really likes the idea of a proper date. “But you have to call it what it is. If it’s what I think it is.”
“A date?” The corners of Björn’s lips curl upwards a bit. “I’d like it to be.” He reaches over, rather subtly, and takes Aksel’s hand.
With the tips of his ears bright red, Aksel intertwines their fingers and nods shortly. “A date, then.”
@sunorweek2023 Day 5 - Kalmar Union (with delay, obvi)
Originally written for @sunor-hq Zine in 2018, with minor alterations (ever asked yourself why some nations need glasses? Here is a possible explanation and it is eh, no fun)
Names:
Kjetil - Norway
Björn - Sweden
Christian - Denmark
TW: abuse, hinted SA, post torture
R: T+
Everything was dark in this chamber; the air was as cold as ice and still so full of humidity that breathing had become a terrible exercise for him. Breathing in, breathing out, and in again.
This was nearly the only thing he could do, the only thing he could do except from experiencing this terrible pain in his whole body.
There was something cold dripping on his surely bruised cheek, something even colder than the air and the cold floor made of stones in his back. If Björn hadn’t been able to hear just the softest, the faintest of sobs, he would have thought those cold drops were plain water from the ceiling and nothing else.
The dark that surrounded him was so deep without even the slightest source of light and he was not sure anymore if it was the natural dark of the cellar he knew so well by now or if he had been blinded. He had tried to open his eyes a couple of times already since he had awoken from his painful slumber, but it was absolutely useless. His head ached so much while he tried to remember what had happened yesterday. Yesterday? The day before? He was not even sure when exactly Christian had locked him in here after another violent fight that the Swede had lost against his elder. Björn had lost his sense of time and not only this sense – the only thing he could smell was dried up blood and the fould scent of a cell that was all moldy and cold, the only thing he could feel were the cold stones in his back and the chill metal around his wrists and, of course, those cold drops that fell so steadily on his face. His mouth tasted like death to him – what differed this from death anyways?
His heartbeat was slow and shallow, his lungs were ripped, his breathing rigged, his body torn – now what was different? Everything was cold, everything felt meaningless except for the warmth he could suddenly feel on his broken arms. And those quiet sobs that echoed so loudly between these walls of stone, those sobs gave all of this a meaning. If even always-not-caring Kjetil was crying, Christian must had beaten him to the very verge of dying.
Strangely the sadness, the desperation and fear that he could sense in Kjetils behaviour made him angrier than the fact he had been abused and locked away again.
Honestly, by now Björn was used to it, was used to the weekly arguments, the fights – he had always known that a union between the three of them would destroy their bonds rather than strengthen them. It had been tough during the Viking ages once they had drifted apart and what started as the idea of a united, strong North, had ended in violence and anger.
Those arguments would always star slowly, but exploded within mere minutes into unfair fights, first with insults and accusation. But since a few months it never stayed verbal at all.
They were nations – that was the reason his weak, hurt heart kept beating – they were nations and they were bound to be brutal, merciless creatures.
His hopeless thoughts were suddenly ripped into pieces by a sharp pain coming from his eye sockets – the warmth of Kjetils hands was gone and instead he could sense a cold liquid pouring on his face and into his opened, bloody eyes. The sobs hadn’t stopped completely but they were disrupted by chanted words uttered by a shivering voice. Björn had opened his cracked lips, probably in an attempt to scream because the pain was worse than anything, but a soft hand was clenched onto his mouth while a second pressed his jaw back with gentle force.
“Quiet.”, the Norwegian’s voice was back to his usual cool tone as far as Björn was able to hear it with the exploding pain in the back of his head. If he had listened more closely, however, Björn could have heard that the fear still stained his heavy, melodious tone. But the only thing that kept the Swede busy was pain, pain, and even more pain.
Was that even Kjetil? Why would he hurt him like that? Especially in this state?! Especially even when he always proclaimed that he loved him even though he behaved so cold most of the times.
His anger got worse, filling his veins with burning blood, but a small voice inside of him told him that it was probably just a way to quicken his healing progress. Kjetil was a healer after all.
And it was just this.
When the explosions in his brain finally had stopped, his vision had begun to clear up. Björn wondered if his eyes had ever been closed at all or if they had been bloody sockets with a mess of flesh inside of them. He still wasn’t able to see the lines of the stones at the ceiling, but the face of his companion appeared in front of his now restored, sea blue eyes.
Kjetil looked sick, his face even paler as usual, his dark blue eyes held a shade so red that they stood out like drops of blood on fresh snow. On the left side the red, puffy eyes were accompanied by a deep purplish greed spreading around it. Unshed tears still filled the deep orbs of the younger, whose face was stained by those he had shed and his whole figure was shaking, from fear or cold, Björn couldn’t tell.
He felt the need to sit up and pull him into his arms but a hand on his chest stopped him from doing so.
Just now he realised the soft blue light radiating from the places that the younger one had touched.
His arms didn’t feel as cracked as before and even though his clothes were still stained by his dried blood, he could imagine that his ribcage was closed again, with fresh, sensitive skin stretching over healed bones. Björn didn’t want to imagine what amount of energy sick, sick Kjetil had used to repair him like that. And even though he tried to raise his voice to tell him to stop, it was as if Kjetil controlled every movement of him.
It took hours and hours for him to heal, even with the energy and the chants of the Norwegian and after a while the both of them could hear hard and heavy steps coming down the stairs. Kjetils eyes – now even more tired looking than before, shifted from his patient to the metal door that separated the cell from the hallway. He froze for a second – of course he should have thought about this more closely, the sleeping potion did not last as long in Christian’s body than it did in Emil’s. The Norwegian wanted to stand up but a hand around his wrist kept him on the ground – even though Björn had looked so weak and destroyed during those hours he had spent by his side – he still was far stronger than he himself war. The Swede had finally managed to free his tongue from whatever Kjetil had used to keep him quiet. “Stay.” He could not even bear the thought of Kjetil going out there, having to face this monstrosity of a nation alone. “Please.”
Kjetil turned his gaze downwards to him again, his face softer than it had been in a very long time. He looked him with a mixture of warmth, desperation and the quietest love while his lips had curled into half of a smile. “I can’t. I am sorry.”, the younger one reached down with his free hand and loosened the grip of his elder, intertwining their fingers for the shortest of moments. “I can’t.”
The sounds had become louder, and Kjetil stood up, his eyes gleaming as he tried to pull all of his courage together. For little Emil, for Björn, even for little Tino. Then he went to the door once he knew that Christian had stepped onto the last stair, opened it and locked it behind him, very well knowing that once his mostly muffled screams had reached the inside of this cell, Björn could break his chains.
I commissioned Inko_dokotei (link below) to illustrate my fanfic 'Gravity' for @sunor-hq zine - had this in my drafts since 2018 and add this to this years @sunorweek2023
So for those who prefer doujin formats over fanfics, here you go <3
Hahaha, who posts things on time anymore anyway, right? @sunorweek2023
PT1: Taking Care of Iceland
[Collab (Britpicked and nitpicked (affectionate)) with @pvffinsdaisies]
NAMES:
Aksel: Norway
Ari: Iceland
Björn: Sweden
Mathias: Denmark
Aksel taps the tabletop absentmindedly as he watches his little brother play with his toys in the family room. Several papers are strewn about on the table; he's flipped through each of them at least three times already. The interviews are done, and he knows which ones Ari liked best, based on how they interacted. He, of course, wants to find someone who will be able to properly look after Ari, but also someone that his little brother approves of. He rests his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand as he watches Ari for a moment longer. “Hey, Ari, do you think I could pull you away for a moment? I have a question.”
Ari pauses in his game, giving him his best annoyed glare as he puts down his toys. He toddles over to the table, gripping the edge of the table and peering over it. “Yes?”
“I need you to help me pick someone to help me with you,” Aksel tells him, pushing the chair at the end of the table out so Ari can climb into it. He watches him with some fondness, a bit regretful that he has to task someone to help him raise his brother at all. He wishes he could afford to stay home more, or all the time for that matter. When he’d been tasked with being Ari’s guardian, he’d been more than a little overwhelmed and concerned. How was he supposed to handle this? For the first few months, he’d been able to keep Ari in daycare and take a cut in his hours at work to accommodate. But that period is over. His bills are adding up, and he needs help at this point. As Ari gets settled, Aksel pushes a couple of pictures towards him. “They were nice, weren’t they?”
“Yeah, that one told some fun stories,” he answers, pointing to one of the pictures. He smiles a bit and launches into a story of his own that has Aksel smiling a bit as he listens, nodding a bit here and there. “But there was the man, who told better stories. He was nicest.” That is exactly what Aksel had expected. He hands Ari the picture of one Björn Olssen, a rather stoic man at first sight, but who had proven to be rather gentle where Ari was concerned. “That one!” Ari cries enthusiastically, snatching the picture and beaming at Aksel. “He told me a story about trolls! Just like you used to tell me!” When he’d had time. His smile falters slightly, but he listens to Ari prattle on and he’s also made up his mind. He’ll have to call Björn tomorrow and tell him he has the job.
~~
“Guys actually apply to positions like that?” Mathias asks as he accepts his coffee and pastry. Coffee and pastry, it was his and Aksel’s morning bad habit before work. “I mean, like, I’m glad you got it figured out and everything, I guess.”
“Just because you wouldn’t want to do the job.” Aksel rolls his eyes as he collects his coffee as well. “He was really kind, and knowledgeable. Asked the right questions, just like the other candidates -- you know, medications and if he's allergic to anything, likes, and dislikes. And he told Ari some fun stories that he really enjoyed.” He sips at his coffee thoughtfully. “He wasn’t the one I thought I’d pick, I’ll give you that much.”
Mathias snorts as they start the walk to work. It’s not a very long walk; just a couple of streets away. Aksel usually justifies it as his daily exercise. “I guess as long as he gets the job done and Ari gets on with him, I’ll hold my tongue.”
“No, you won’t,” Aksel retorts, because he knows his friend better than anyone. They'd been friends since they were kids.
"You're right, I won't." Mathias grins at him. "You picked him 'cause he's hot, didn't you?"
Aksel gives him a rather withering look. "No, I picked him because he's responsible and Ari likes him. That's all I need." Mathias doesn't look convinced but shrugs and changes the subject.
~~
Aksel is being spoiled, and he knows it. But like hell he’s going to cave and admit defeat. It's been a couple of months now. Björn has been keeping the house in order, and now he's taken to coming early and starting coffee. He usually arrives about forty-five minutes before Aksel has to leave for work, immediately gets the coffee going, and then takes breakfast demands from a rather sleepy Ari who doesn’t want to miss out on anything but will definitely crash later.
“You don’t have to go through the trouble of making coffee or getting dinner ready, you know,” Aksel tells Björn as he pours himself a cup of coffee. But he doesn’t really want Björn to take him seriously and stop, either.
Björn shrugs, a hint of a smile on his lips. “I don’t mind. You’re the head of house, and when the head of house is happy, the rest of the house is happy. Or something like that.”
He’s the sole guardian of a single child with no one else in the house, but the implications of his statement still make Aksel smile. “Careful, or I might get used to it.” He’s already used to it. Sometimes he forgets he’s paying Björn to be here, because Björn is slowly becoming a permanent fissure in the house. The amount of stuff that Aksel has to do on his days off is dropping drastically because Björn is keeping up on it all -- he takes to doing quick clean ups of the house when Ari is napping, apparently, and gets dinner ready every night.
Now he’s getting coffee in the morning and an almost uninterrupted morning to get ready for work. Plus, a really good conversationalist. Aksel hadn’t expected that when he’d hired Björn. He’d been soft-spoken the first time they’d met, and he’d sort of been surprised that Ari liked him at all. But then again, Aksel and Ari are very similar in that loud and demanding personalities aren’t all that easy to be around constantly.
“What makes you think that I wouldn’t want you to?” Björn asks with a note of playfulness. Before Aksel can respond, Ari wanders into the kitchen and reaches for Aksel while demanding breakfast from Björn. Aksel’s heart thuds rather loudly in his ears as he peeks at Björn, who is very seriously listening to Ari’s requests.
Damn.
~~
Aksel had never set out to be involved with Björn. In fact, quite the opposite. Who gets involved with a babysitter unless they’re looking for trouble, anyway? It’s just…Björn spends so much time at his home, and he’s honestly good company. He’s tried to up Björn’s pay, to compensate for the time he spends not taking care of Ari, but he took it almost as an insult the first time he brought it up and he hasn’t tried again. And, honestly, who is he to argue with him when he’s got a dinner date almost every night.
It’s a cool summer evening when he realises just how in it he is. Björn has Ari outside when he comes home from work, letting his little brother run off any excess energy from the day. He leans against the doorframe and watches them for a bit. Part of him is a little jealous. All this time that he feels should be his rightfully with Ari and Björn has it all instead. He knows, logically, that he’s doing what’s best for Ari in the end, but it doesn’t always make the decision easy. The other part of him, however, doesn’t mind. He gets to spend extra time with Björn.
“Are you going to come out or haunt the doorway?” Björn teases, looking over his shoulder at him. Aksel smiles slightly as he closes the door behind him and steps out, sitting down in the grass beside Björn. “Long day at work?”
“Every day is,” Aksel replies, crossing his legs and picking at the grass. “It just makes coming home nicer.” It’s quiet between them for a moment before Ari comes over and occupies several minutes of their time, telling quite the stories that they both nod to.
When he takes off again, Björn says, “I was wondering… Maybe one of these nights, I could stay a little later than usual, and we could watch a movie or something?”
Aksel glances up at him, barely even daring to smile. “I think I’d really like that.” A lot, if he’s honest. It’s not like their developing relationship is new, per se, but he really likes the idea of a proper date. “But you have to call it what it is. If it’s what I think it is.”
“A date?” The corners of Björn’s lips curl upwards a bit. “I’d like it to be.” He reaches over, rather subtly, and takes Aksel’s hand.
With the tips of his ears bright red, Aksel intertwines their fingers and nods shortly. “A date, then.”
babygorl, could we please have a fantasy theme too or can we at least mix it with an another trope +-+
Hello, sorry i didn't get to this sooner.
There's going to be a free day at the end of the week as always so you could do it then, however if you want to mix it with another theme that's fine get as creative as you can :))
so after looking at the votes it's actually pretty tied so this was a hard decision to make but I decided to take into account usual exam times. So, Sunor week will take place
7th of August - 13th of August 2023
I'm sorry if you still can't do this but I do take late entries and if you need that late entries time extending just let me know ❤️🩹
hello everyone! I know it's slightly early to be thinking about this but I think making it earlier will give people a chance to schedule and figure out what they are going to do! So please fill in the survey if you're interested in anyway :)
This was so wonderful, I enjoyed this week alot. I'd like to thank everyone who participated! Although it was only a few it was so lovely to see my favourite ship represented. Hopefully next year we can get better prompts! Remember you have two more weeks to submit late entries as I know alot of people have been busy this week! 💞💞
Even though I didn't have the time to do every prompt, this was still a fun challenge to experiment with styles and make creative interpretations of the prompts. Thank you @sigridhere for organizing this, and here's to an even bigger and better SuNor Week 2023!
This piece was inspired by this song, which always makes me think of SuNor and sounds like something they would play at their wedding. (Hydrangeas aren't a native species in Sweden or Norway, but I chose them because they're my favorite flower)
i've needed a reason to draw bjarni in a hockey uniform for a long time (because it's pretty cute) so here's a super original au ice skater + hockey player (i'm sure they don't wear uniforms on trainings, but i don't care, i just want to draw it and who can stop me)
is it the last day already? wow the week has passed very fast. i've never done anything like this before so it was a very interesting first experience thank @sunorweek2022 for organizing it! 💕
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
titsay
jacobvanloon
germansingergirl
discoholicmusic
gummygunk
