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Denmark was already tasting the victory — but, again, at the last second, the Swede caught his real intentions. He squeezed Denmark's groin, buying himself a moment's distraction — just enough to pull away before his wrists ended up where Denmark had been planning to put them. He then tried to grab the belt, but the other had anticipated that move as well and pulled back in time.

They fought over the belt, exactly as Sweden had known they would, in an increasingly unfriendly fashion, reproducing, with remarkable fidelity, what they had been doing for most of the past years. They turned the room into a battlefield — as they always did, because no one else had ever been worth the trouble. It was a competition, a way of measuring who was ahead. It always ended in a draw. That was why it never ended at all.

Details determined a temporary victory, and Denmark registered his own disadvantage upon finding himself in the exact position he had tried to put the other in — with his own belt around his throat. The Swede looked down at him with an analytical expression.

Returning the look, Denmark read what Sweden was considering — and the nature of it did not please him in the least.

🇳🇱 Ned: My sister just bought a new mattress, but I couldn’t bring myself to pay for delivery. Can you help me pick it up?

🇩🇰 Den: Sure.

🇩🇰 Den: Do you think our bikes will do?

When the children of Scandinavia grew old enough, the adults decided they were ready to help with the main activities. Norway and Denmark started learning to fight. Sweden, on the other hand, often tried to skip the lessons. He wasn't interested in these war games.

One day, his friends came after him to find out what he was up to. And the teachers followed.

Impressed, they discovered that Sweden spends long hours assisting the people in building. The moment of shared joy didn't last long, as the children were soon interrupted.

"Come here, boy, let's teach these strong arms a few more things," one of the swordsmen called and handed a sword to the child who avoided his lessons. After quickly explaining the basic stance and some moves to Sweden, he asked Denmark to perform a combat.

The Dane didn't think twice before attacking with energy. In a matter of seconds, Sweden was thrown to the ground after being struck with his guard down.

Denmark celebrated loud and cheerful, as if he had just won a grand battle. However, he stopped immediately as he noticed Sweden still on his butt. He crouched down to help his friend get up, but a well-aimed push hit him on his nose, quickly followed by another on his cheek. Denmark fell.

The adults smiled and applauded.

"That's the way, kid!"

Sweden got up and continued to throw more punches, in such a way that the other had no choice but to give up. Then, an adult lifted the Swede by the arms and handed him back the sword.

"But it's better if you learn to use this properly, boy," he said gently. "You wouldn't have been able to land those blows if you hadn't caught him off guard."

Another adult helped the other child to stand. After confirming that Sweden was fine, Denmark joined Norway's side, who had been watching with a grumpy expression.

"You should have aimed for the neck," he said as the Dane approached. "He'd be dead."

"But our blades aren't sharp," Denmark replied, slightly confused.

"So what? If you die, you can't get up again. That's the rule."

The child was referring to the matches they had every single day. Stretching his muscles, the taller of the two boys seemed to understand.

"I bet you can't kill me."

"Yes, I can," the Norwegian said, less stressed about his friend's poor performance. As always, his voice was calm and confident.

"You can't!" the other shouted, laughing, already forgetting about his injured face. Denmark advanced against Norway, moving to strike. Norway met it in turn, clashing swords and repeating familiar movements. Sparing only a glance, the teacher returned to demonstrating stances to Sweden, who listened carefully this time. Glancing over at the loud child, he decided that if he really had to learn this kind of thing, he would be as good as his friends.