Author's Note(s): I do not own Hetalia.

It had become a habit, or it could even be considered an addiction by now if anyone else had known.

The same ritual tended to happen over and over around this time of night now. It started with a simple dinner shared between the two of them that basically included the Dane doing the most of the talking and the Norwegian nodding his head whenever he felt the need to, along with the small 'mhm' and 'uh-huh' that seemed to slip between his lips when he figured he had been nodding his head too much.

After dinner, the house would tend to get quieter. Norway, taking a shower or bath by himself and Denmark retreating into the living room to watch some television until he saw that the other was out of the bath and it was his own turn to take one. There were nights where the two of them would share a tub, whether it is for a simple shower or just a bath, but those nights were mostly when the two of them had been out too late into the evening and wanted to get to bed as quickly as possible.

When they had both finished bathing and changing into comfortable clothing that was suitable for sleeping in, they would both do a walkthrough the house to make sure that everything was turned off, the coffee pot was set to start up, and that the alarm clock was good and ready to go as well before they would both retreat into the bedroom one after the other.

This is where the habit would begin.

Norway would pull out whatever book he was working on reading at the time from the drawer of the bedside table, and Denmark would simply lie in bed and wait. The Dane would mostly stare at the ceiling while he waited, and would occasionally glance at the other man from time to time; he learned once from experience that it wasn't a good idea to watch Norge and how angry he tended to get.

Sometimes the Norwegian would only read for a few minutes to half an hour, or he had nights where he would read nonstop for an hour or two. The Dane really didn't care about how long he read, though he would be lying if he said he never got impatient and bored waiting for the other to lie down.

Tonight happened to be one of those nights where the smaller male read for only a few minutes; apparently having some trouble getting into the book; and he would remove his clip from his hair, setting it on the table along with the book, and turning the lamp off before sliding all the way between the sheets and comforter.

Taking a few moments to get comfortable and relaxed, Norway would then close his eyes and within a few minutes he would be out like a light.

This was when Denmark's habit would kick in. He doesn't even remember when exactly he had started it, just that he had been doing it a few times here and there when he was younger and happened to share a bed with the other on a few rare occasions.

Slowly he reached his hand out from under the blanket and began to run his hand through the other man's hair. The Dane never managed how the other did this but his hair always felt so soft to the touch; even when they were children.

He gave a small sigh as he brushed some of the others hair behind his ear, and continued on farther and farther, brushing and running his fingers through the Norwegians hair.

If Denmark had to call this habit of his anything it would have to be 'security'. If anything this whole habit of his had become something similar to a security blanket. Knowing that the other was beside him and that he, himself, was able to reach out and touch him made him feel so safe.

Maybe the habit had developed because as a child he was slightly afraid of storms that would shake the oceans badly, and generally on those nights he could recall playing with the other boy's hair until he managed to pass out.

Yeah, maybe that was it but the Dane wasn't so sure considering the fact he had grown out of that fear easily. There was really no point in thinking about it, every time he did he would just shake his head in disagreement with himself.

Denmark was sure that Norway had no clue that this seemed to happen every night, but then again he wasn't so sure since Nor always seemed to know about the things that go on around him. But if Norway knew he sure as hell hadn't informed him that he did.

He made sure never to make a mess of his lover's hair and would just stick with brushing it from side to side. If he made a mess of the others hair it would probably be noticeable that he had played with it considering the other didn't toss and turn that much in his sleep

Slowly his strokes through the others hair got slower and slower, and he could feel his eyes getting heavier. Within a few more minutes, the strokes had stilled and the Dane's breathing evened out as he slept.

Something the Dane never managed to see though as he drifted into dream land was the small detail of the Norwegian actually being awake. It was because of the Dane's habit that he had developed one of his own.

The habit of simply not being able to drift off to dreamland himself without having the Dane play with his hair while he tried to sleep.