Exchange Experience ~Iceland x Reader~

          “Hello, I believe you must be [Y/n] from the exchange program. I am Emil Steilsson.” Greeted the Icelandic boy, who had a quite interesting and different appearance than you’ve expected. His short hair had a really pale nuance, such a light blonde you could say it was almost white. His tired, amethyst eyes were scanning you and your parents and his lips were slightly parted like he was about to say something. He was pretty short for his age, but he was compensating with his good looks. He was wearing a traditional lopapeysa covered by a jacket, with jeans and Converse shoes. What made you internally squeal was the tiny puffin plushy he was carrying under the arm he wasn’t dragging the stroller with.

          “Hey, Emil. Pleased to meet you!” You stretched your hand in order to shake his. “I hope you’ll be enjoying your stay.”

          “Thank you.” He muttered before nodding as a greeting towards your parents and motioning to the exit.

“I like your puffin. It is really cute. I know that puffins are like the bird symbol of your country.”

          Emil nodded in agreement, not adding anything and speeding the pace the closer you were to the exit. He wasn’t talking much and seemed a little uncomfortable by something. Moreover, his plushy seemed to be starring intensely at you, like it was alive and ready to break free from your partner’s grip. Maybe you were a little paranoid but, you would understand if you were to be a bird that couldn’t escape a really awkward and uncomfortable position under someone’s arm.

          As soon as he closed the car’s door, he loosened the grip and in the next second the plushy fled from under his arm, flying around in tiny circles in what could be the free space in your dad’s car. Your eyes went wide in surprise as you covered your mouth to suppress a squeal. You could admit that this was the same reaction your parents had.

          “Do you know how uncomfortable I was for the past hours during the flight? Did you even care or you thought only about yourself?” A new voice was heard from what seemed to be the very pissed off bird, as it landed on Emil’s knee.

          Your mother screamed, your dad couldn’t move a finger and you simply pinched your cheeks to check if you were dreaming. Meanwhile, the young man was trying to stop his pet’s scolding, with few to almost no success.

          “I told him to resist a little longer until we reach your home, but he didn’t listen.” He spoke in utter embarrassment when he finally managed to get a hold on the bird’s beak and immobilize its wings. “I am sorry for startling you. This heimskur* over here is Mr. Puffin, my… friend. I pretended he was a toy so I could sneak him with me on the plane.”

          With a little more struggle, said Mr. Puffin broke free once again and sat on Emil’s shoulder. Neither of your parents said anything. But how would anyone react to a talking bird, idea that was possible only in books and movies? There was no explanation for why that bird was talking or how it was doing it. Instinctively you reached your fingers and gently petted the soft feathers of the bird, still in shock from what had happened.

          “Well, butter my back and call me a biscuit, aren’t you a cutie?” The puffin suddenly said as your fingers touched him, making you retract your hand back. “I don’t think I caught your name, b…” But he didn’t have time to finish his sentence, as Emil snatched his beak closed again.

          Without being able to control, you started laughing while Emil was apologizing again for his friend’s behavior. You patted his back to show him everything was alright, and you were quite liking Mr. Puffin’s presence, so he shouldn’t worry.

          “If you don’t want that bird to become steak for tonight, you better make it watch his beak, understood, young man?” Your dad said sternly, before finally starting the car, something between pissed-off, nervous and confused in his voice.

          Emil nodded, a little startled, and the puffin gave his word that he would annoy us as little as possible. What’s more to say, no one was able to say anything on your way back home, except for some commentaries from the bird regarding the passing views of your city.



          “Come on, Emil! The earlier we leave, the emptier the ice rink is! That means we’ll have more space for ourselves!” You pulled on your friend’s sleeve.

          “No! What if we run into someone I know… And hate? What if we meet any of my brothers? I won’t be able to handle the embarrassment.”

          You were having a quite hard time trying to convince your exchange partner to come with you to ice skate, since the ice rink has opened recently and it would have been a shame if you had missed it while he was over. You have already met his ‘brothers’, the ones he was talking about, and you could imagine why he didn’t want to run into them. They weren’t bad people, moreover, you thought they were a pleasant company, but they could make him turn red in matter of seconds. Especially the Dane and his bigger brother.

          “I’ll buy you licorice if you come!”

          “Hm… Not enough.”

          “Two bags! I’ll get you two bags!”

          “Hm?”

          “Three bags and nothing more! And I throw in some mackerel for Mr. Puffin as well. Deal or not?”

          “Come on, tough guy! You cannot say no to such a deal!” Said Puffin butted in.

          “Oh, now he’s coming as well?”

          “Of course, I am! I am the true spirit of fun and entertainment!”

          “Well, this is a difficult situation.” Emil puffed crossing his arms. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time with you. He really did. But he was afraid he would make a fool of himself. And if he didn’t, for sure Mr. Puffin could have some tricks down his sleeve. But he just couldn’t say no to that adorable pout and puppy eyes you made. He didn’t want to disappoint you. “Fine!” He finally groaned, taking his coat. “But I expect the licorice bags. And if you dare to mess things up, I’ll send you back to Iceland.” He pointed to his bird.

          But suddenly it came your time to start worrying. It has been some time since you’ve last ice skated. You were afraid you might fall in front of your friend and embarrass yourself. This had a bigger importance right now than, who knows, falling and breaking your leg. Once in your ice skates, you were waiting at the entrance of the rink, stealing glances of your friend gracefully sliding across the ice. Seeing you hesitate, he made his way over to you and looked at you confused.

          “Haven’t you ever skated before?”

          “I did before. But that was a long time ago and I’m afraid I’ll…”

          “…fall and mess up everything.” He finished your sentence. He reached a hand for yours, hesitantly. “Here, I can help you get used to the movements.” He added, his face to the ground, not making eye contact.

          You reluctantly grabbed his hand and stepped on the ice. You almost lost your equilibrium a couple of times, but Emil’s grip tightened and always helped you maintain your position. Mr. Puffin was, as he said, the true spirit of fun, helping you with encouraging mottos and cheering. In no time, you were skating like you didn’t even take a break from such an activity.

          Maybe you weren’t as good as Emil was, but you were having a lot of fun together, playing tag or racing to see who can reach the other side of the rink faster. At a moment you stopped, needing to catch your breath and take a break. Suddenly, you observed your Icelandic friend a little gloomy, having a word with his bird. He was talking in his own language so you couldn’t quite understand what they were saying. But one thing you understood. Emil’s mood dropped tragically from happy to sulky.

          “Hey, is everything alright?” You asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder and making him flinch. Mr. Puffin gave you two a look before flying away. “Where’s he going?”

          “It doesn’t really matter…”

          “What happened to you? I was gone for like a minute. Is anything wrong?”

          Emil grabbed your arm and dragged you to a part of the rink where not many others were passing through and then he looked deeply into your eyes, a hint of sadness and dullness catching your attention.

          “[Y/n], I wanted to ask you something… I know it might sound silly, like what a secondary skill kid would do, but do you find me annoying?”

          “Emil, what’s gotten into you?”

          “I mean it! Do you think I am an annoying prick? Did I make you think I was a stubborn stuck-up person the first time we’ve met? Sometimes I am worried that people might think I am arrogant and self-centered, because I don’t talk much with others and I am mostly on my phone doing who knows what. I don’t want you to think the same, that I consider myself too good to be with others, that they don’t deserve my attention. I swear that’s not why I behave like this…”

          “Don’t you ever think like that again…” you spoke softly, placing your hands on his shoulders. “I’ve never considered you to be conceited. Moreover, I liked your mysterious aura that you were giving. People will always judge and gossip about what they don’t know or understand. So you shouldn’t let their unresearched opinions bring you down. Be the way you want to be and put your trust in the ones that care for you.” Mostly like an impulse, you gave him a quick hug, before parting and grinning sweetly.

          "Takk fyrir góðvild þinn. Ég þúrfi einhver að heyr rödd minn."**



          “Mr. Puffin, no!”

          “Mr. Puffin, yes!”

          It wasn’t long after Emil called his friend when he straightforwardly flew from his shoulder, claiming that he could perform God knows what kind of trick. Unfortunately, he miscalculated something because, instead of landing on his tiny orange legs, his head was the first one to collide with the cold snow at the other side of the ice rink. Unfortunately, the little buddy got stuck and it was waving his wings in all directions to no avail.

          “Ugh, Ég sagt þig, heimskur fugl.”*** Emil groaned, talking to himself.

          “Go on and help your little friend, I’ll be waiting here.” You giggled and motioned to the place where Mr. Puffin was still trying to cut loose. Emil threw another glance at you before skating to the other side.

          Until he came back, you’ve decided to text your mom to let her know everything was going fine and you and your friend were having a marvelous time. As your fingers were moving fast across the screen, out of the blue, a hand slapped the phone away from your hands, making it glide across the ice.

          “Hey, what was that for?” You snapped at the snickering guy standing next to you.

          “You are outside, loser, don’t use your phone or this happens.” His smirk grew wider as another guy grabbed your phone and threw it back to him.

          “Hey! Give it back! It’s my propriety and you can get in trouble for stealing or breaking it.” You tried to reach, almost losing your equilibrium.

          “Boo hoo. I am sooo scared. And who’s this white haired dude? Your boyfriend? Is he gonna woop my ass?” He laughed before throwing the phone back to his friend.

          But the device didn’t make it to the other dude’s hands, as a black bird flew like a lightning and caught it, making a sound that seemed like a giggle. The two bullies were too concentrated, and confused, on Mr. Puffin flying around with the mobile to notice the angry Icelandic guy coming towards them at a fast pace.

          The guy helping that dude who laughed at you was thrown backwards when Emil’s fist met his guts.

          “Get yourself someone your own size.”

          “And since when are you our own size? You look so cute and tiny!” He started laughing again.

          “I. Am. Not. Cute.” His rage took control of your friend as he punched that dude right in the face, breaking his nose. “Not for you, anyway.” He huffed.

          Mr. Puffin landed on his shoulders, handing him your telephone, before going to attack those douchebags some more, making them leave the ice rink in the end.

          “Are you alright? Did they hurt you or anything?” Emil cupped your face, looking for any bruises or wounds.  “I’m leaving for a minute and this happens! Can you believe it?”

          “What’s important is that you were there to save me.” You slowly grabbed one hand in yours. He gave you a confused look, while a blush was spreading across his face. “How about we leave it in the past and enjoy ourselves?”

          You started sliding on the ice, dragging Emil after you until he caught up and together you delighted in the lovely activity.



          “I want to punch you in the mouth… With my mouth… Gently.”
          “Emil, you’re redder than a tomato. Was this your brother’s idea?”