Another early flight was on your schedule, this one at four in the morning, which meant you only managed to get an hour and a half to two hours of sleep. You were the first one awake among your roommates, so you showered and finished getting your suitcase packed. You were still sluggish when you bored the bus but found the gentle embrace of sleep embrace you the hour long ride to the airport. Alfred woke you up a few minutes before the bus rolled up to the unloading zone.

        Once on the plane after trekking through security, you found your seat on the plane and dozed off. Amilia had the seat next to you and was kind enough to wake you up for the safety procedures. After the pilot finished his spiel, you fell asleep again for the remainder of your three hour flight. Quite a few other of your group's members slept as well, but Alfred, Amilia, and Samantha ran solely off of coffee to stay awake. You were woken as the plane landed, giving you enough time to adjust your eyes to the early morning light coming in through the windows.

        You grabbed your carry-on and maneuvered your way off of the plane with your friends. Everyone waited for one another outside of the gate exit so you could all go to the baggage claim together. You sat on the floor near the conveyor belt with Lily, Valerie, and Darcy as an announcement came on, stating that luggage to your claim area would be a little delayed in coming out. You took another power nap until the belt began to move. All luggage from your group was soon reclaimed, and you all moved outside to find your bus. Before you managed to get outside, your attention was drawn to a male approaching your group.

        He was on the shorter side and pretty pale. His hair was a silvery white and curved slightly inward, yet it still had a messy bed head look to it. His violet colored eyes held a tone of maturity and boredom. He had on a brown jacket over a white t-shirt and skinny jeans that matched his jacket. He also rocked a pair of what looked to be white Doc Martens boots with black laces. You were a little envious of his shoes, but didn't mind him other than that. He actually looked pretty young, leading you to believe he was probably nineteen like Alfred.

        Speaking of the American, he pulled the Icelandic male into a bro hug of sorts, clapping him on the back before letting him go. He didn't seem to approve of the action but said nothing about it to the other and awkwardly patted Alfred's shoulder a few times. The blond only beamed a smile at him, then turned to your group. He urged the new male to introduce himself as a shy blush spread onto his porcelain cheeks.

        "Ég heiti Emil Steilsson ... Velkomin á Íslandi," he muttered, his eyes directed towards his feet.

        Alfred nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. "In English dude. They don't speak Icelandic."

        The other male tenderly rubbed where he had been prodded with a pout. "What I said was my name is Emil Steilsson. Welcome to Iceland."

        "Aren't you just the cutest!" Amilia squealed.

        The rest of the group, including you, made comments on how adorable and tsundere he was being. Even Valerie and Darcy couldn't help but agree. This frustrated and embarrassed Emil further to the point that he had to hide behind Alfred.

        "Come on guys. Leave him be. He's not used to being around so many girls at once. He did live with four guys most of his life after all. I will say that you can continue fawning over him once we go to the hotel later today."

        "Don't tell them that, hálfviti! What they say isn't true. I am not cute or this 'tsundere' thing the one keeps calling me."

        "Dude, you so are a tsundere."

        "Well, don't call me that when I don't even know what it means."

        "Alright. Alright. Just relax. The more worked up you become, the cuter they'll say you are."

        Emil sighed and re-emerged. "Okay. Let's get going... We have breakfast first today. Alfred can explain the rest on the way to the restaurant."

        "Food!" Lily cheered, happy to be able to eat something finally.

        You and your friends packed your suitcases into the back of the bus and found a seat. The bus backed out of its parking spot not a moment later and drove in the direction of the restaurant where you would be having your morning meal. Alfred carefully stood up but carefully held on to the back of his seat so he wouldn't fall as he addressed everyone.

        "So, if you couldn't guess already, we're in Reykjavik, Iceland's capital. To start off our first day, we'll be having breakfast, as promised. We then will be checking out the Settlement Exhibition to view old, preserved viking houses and interact with them. Then we'll go to Old Harbor to go whale and puffin watching. Yes, you heard me right: puffin watching. You'll have free time for an hour for lunch, but I recommend just getting a quick snack because of our scheduled dinner. We then head off to the Saga Museum to learn about Iceland's history, and you get to play dress up there. Dinner is right after that. We have one more place to go before the hotel and that is Aurora Reykjavík to learn about the Aurora Borealis. Emil will then take us outside at the hotel to actually view it. It's a bus day, I know, but tomorrow you guys get to sleep in until eight. Is that okay?"

        "That's more than okay!" Darcy exclaimed. "My tired ass needs it's sleep!"

        "Alright. Well, you can nap after breakfast for a half hour until we get to the Settlement Exhibition."

        "Fuck yeah!"

        The bus erupted into fits of giggles, but Emil remained silent. Although, he did have a small smirk twinging at the corner of his lips. The ride to breakfast continued uneventfully. You got off with your carry-on bag hat would double as your day bag today. Breakfast was delicious and, much to your delight, filled you up pretty well. Once breakfast was over, you were back on the bus to continue on your way.

        While the Settlement Exhibition was absolutely amazing, your interest was truly more intrigued when you got to Old Harbor. You started off with whale watching with your friends before the group joined with another vacationing group during your booked time slot to go puffin watching. Of course, you had a guide from Old Harbor to show you all the best spots to see the puffin communities. Emil sort of just stood by until a puffin with a black underbelly instead of a white one began making a ruckus and waddled over rather quickly towards the young male. Emil crouched down and pet it's head gently until the bird quieted down. Your friends raised an eyebrow towards him for a moment in confusion, but they let it slide, hoping that they'd remember to ask about it later. You, however, couldn't wait to ask.

        "Hey Emil?" you asked softly, coming up beside him and crouching down with the puffin looking at you with mild curiosity.

      The Icelander looked at you with a neutral expression. "Jà?" He cleared his throat and looked back at the puffin, his cheeks a little flushed. "I mean yeah?"

        "Can I ask you something?"

        "About what?"

        "You and the puffin? What's the story on this friendship I'm seeing?"

        "It's like most stories you hear about people and animals forming bonds. I found him injured when he was a chick and took him in to nurse him back to health. When he was back to optimum health, I brought him back to where I found him here at Old Harbor so he could be with his family. He still seems to recognize me every time I come back though."

        "It's hard to forget someone who saves you."

        "I suppose so."

        You smiled at him and sat on the ground with your legs crossed as the puffin waddled over to you. Standing around ten inches tall, the small bird looked up at you. You extended your hand to him slowly so you wouldn't spook him. He studied it for a moment, then hopped up on your foot before climbing his way up onto the knee closest to Emil. He allowed you to pet his head for a moment, causing a huge smile to erupt onto your face. He then opened his beak and gently closed it around one of your fingers before moving closer to Emil and placing your hand on top of his. Emil blushed brightly and removed his hand after letting it linger under yours.

        "Stop doing that! I don't appreciate you trying to play matchmaker!"

        You giggled and covered your mouth with your hands as Emil scolded the puffin, who didn't look amused in the slightest. You listened on until you had to keep moving with your group. Once the whale and puffin watching were over and you said your goodbyes to Emil's puffin friend, you grabbed a quick snack during your hour long free time like Alfred suggested before continuing your Iceland experience.

        Your time at the Saga Museum was an absolute blast. You were able to dress up like vikings and reenact what life was like, or mimicked what you imagined being a viking was like. Naturally you had your picture taken while you were dressed up. Dinner was right after, and that was when your friends questioned Emil about the puffin. Many "aww"s were spoken past lips and hands were clasped over hearts. The Icelander rolled his eyes and remained calm.

        "I don't see what the big deal is. I helped an animal. People do it everyday and no one bats an eye unless it was something extraordinary."

        "You were probably so young though when you did it!" Lily squeaked out.

        "Oh my gosh! Can you imagine how cute he was back then?!" Amilia added.

        "Cuteness overload! Stop! I can't handle it!" Charlotte cried.

        "Guys, come on. Don't patronize him by calling him cute," you quipped.

        "Thank you, (y/n)."

        "No problem."

        Despite trying to help him out, your friends continued to babble on about his looks throughout the rest of dinner. Afterward, you headed off to Aurora Reykjavík to learn about the Aurora Borealis. The group then headed to the hotel, settling into their rooms before meeting on the back patio near the pool to view the Aurora Borealis. As it went on, you asked Emil if you could take a picture with him with the light phenomenon behind the two of you, explaining what the picture was for. He agreed a bit reluctantly, but the way he smiled in the picture was a scene you would cherish forever. Alfred reminded the group of the wake up time for tomorrow, then headed off to bed himself. You then went off with Charlotte to your shared room to sleep the night away.

~Author's Note~

DreamsForDays here! So this chapter turned out a little longer than most of the ones I've put out so far, but that's not bad, right? I actually really enjoy writing for Iceland so far, but I'm sure I'm going to love writing for the other Nordics too! I hope you enjoy how I portray them as well! Thanks for reading! Feedback in the comments is always appreciated! Until next time!