Sensation of Memory

[Norway]

Nils didn't like hot weather. There was nothing about this Caribbean area that excited him. Frankly, he wasn't sure why anyone in their right mind would find these sort of locations tempting. If he wanted to feel hot, he could light a fire and sit too close to it. At least then he could back up once his mind realized how uncomfortable that was. He couldn't get away from it here. He much preferred his old ships short patrol routes in the Baltic and North Seas. Even the southernmost parts were still much cooler than here.

The Norwegian tried to focus on the task at hand instead of the weather. He had left the ship in order to pick up a few things and maybe get a look around. Even with his disinclination for the environment, he still felt like he'd regret not seeing the place. New landscapes could be interesting and if he was going to have to bear the heat, he might as well get something out of it.

He took out his camera, thinking he'd take a few pictures for his collection. The landscape was nice. Perhaps that was the attraction. Nils wasn't sure that could make the heat worth it, let alone desirable, but at least it gave him some idea of the motivation. Leaning on a rail, he snapped a few photos. Judging by the preview screen on his camera, they seemed to be pretty good.

Noting his memory card still had plenty of space, he moved away from the rail and started to walk further down the street. He had no interest in pictures of people, so he didn't pay much attention to the rest of the world as it passed him by. His neutral expression and posture assured him that no one would be approaching him for directions or any other favors. Typically, his demeanor was enough to guarantee him a quiet afternoon. In a shady place like this, it'd hopefully keep him from having to deal with the local less-than-desirables.

[Danmark]

Mathias was, one could say, still a little bit in shock over all of the things that had happened. He had joined a pirate crew (and accidentally slept with the captain, although they both swore to never speak of the incident again) and been carted around all over the place since he had left his home in Copenhagen. It was what he had wanted, to get out to sea and have an adventure; to find that piece of himself that he felt must lie with someone else...someone he had yet to meet.

He had never been to Tortuga, nor had he even heard of the tropic island until his Captain had announced they'd be going there for a good time. Naturally, that meant alcohol, and anywhere where there was alcohol was okay with Mathias.

Once they had docked in Tortuga, his captain had encouraged the crew to take a look around; as long as they didn't get into any trouble, he had added, and so Mathias set out to do just that. Of course, with the warm and humid weather, Mathias had shed his long black coat and had rolled up the sleeves of his red shirt in a very vague attempt to cool himself off. He was taking the tour of the infamous pirate town at a leisurely pace, wandering aimlessly through the winding streets and admiring the scenery that didn't include drunken pirates attempting to kill each other or pull poor unsuspecting by-standers into their fights.

Because of his short attention span leading his eyes all over the place on his walk through town, Mathias barely noticed when he caught the flash of an oddly familiar head of blonde hair heading the opposite direction of him. It wasn't until moments later that his mind actually caught up with his eyes and was that a floating curl by that guy's head?

Mathias almost knocked himself - and a number of others - over with the speed with which he spun himself around, eyes scanning the crowd to find that bobbing blonde curl. Once locked onto his target, Mathias quickly began a slow jog to catch up to the guy. He didn't want to surprise the man by just appearing behind him, so he called out none-to-softly.

"Hej! Hey, you!"

[Norway]

Ah yes, the area in front of him looked pretty appealing. Plus, there was a few good vantage points he'd be able to take advantage of. Perhaps it wouldn't be the most picturesque, but it would be worthy of the digital album he kept. In truth, he probably wouldn't look back on any of todays snapshots anyway. He knew he only looked at pictures that pertained to important events. Unless his Captain found something amazing here, it'd just be one of dozens.

From what Nils could tell, the only thing anyone could find here would be lice and disease. But they wouldn't be here if it wouldn't lead to profit, so he had to assume there was more to Tortuga than he knew about. Were it his job to care he'd ask what that was later. Instead, he'd just accept it.

Nils' minor speculation was interrupted by a loud greeting. He whirled around to face the person that had made that call. Nils Olstad wasn't someone to just holler at and expect to congenially reply. Especially not with his obvious Danish accent. Nils knew all about working with the southern Nordic people. He fully intended to explain that to the man, but instead he paused upon seeing him. For the shortest moment, he felt like he already knew the guy.

The feeling passed pretty quickly, but it had still served to stop Nils' momentum. He stared up at the other, making sure in his head that they were not acquainted. ”I'm very busy, so unless I dropped something, I'd like to be on my way.” He didn't have the energy to deal withr random Danish rouges no matter how weird it made him feel just looking at him. Best if the other man just walked along now.

[Danmark]

Mathias' boots scraped him to a rough stop in front of the significantly shorter man, and for a moment he couldn't help but wonder, Has he always been this short?

He shook the thought away quickly, his enthusiasm returning full-force as he looked the man over, grinning from ear-to-ear as he confirmed with himself that this is him. After a moment of staring, Mathias realized that he had been doing just that, and he sputtered into speech before the guy could change his mind and walk off again.

"Hej, uh," he laughed here, mostly at himself but partially out of nervousness as he tried to untie his tongue and get the words out. "I'm pretty sure I know you from somewhere. Have we met before?"

Of course, part of him knew that they had; they had met many times before, but only in his dreams. Mathias wasn't exactly sure if the dreams were memories yet, or if his imagination was really that over-active, but here he was - the guy that Mathias had dreamed about over and over again for years. How could he have dreamed about someone he'd never met before without some kind of bizarre explanation?

"That is to say," he continued quickly, hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck in a nervous gesture, "I think I've had dreams about you."

Mathias was completely unaware of the fact that this perhaps was not the best thing to say to a complete stranger on the streets of Tortuga, nor was it perhaps the best thing to say to a complete stranger at all. In fact, he was even more unaware of the fact that it sounded like an extremely cheap and unbelievable pick-up line, and that it was more likely to drive the man away faster than before.

[Norway]

"Nils didn't particularly like the way the Dane was staring at him. What was making him so happy? It was hot and there wasn't anything interesting to do. Not to mention Nils wasn't trying to give him any indication that he was interested in this conversation. And yet he was just staring away and smiling. It made Nils' cheeks color slightly being examined like that. He wasn't some product to be looked over.

Before he could make that known, he was interrupted. Hardly a graceful greeting, but it was better than just being leered at. Though the addendum made him roll his eyes. The act made that strange feeling flare up again. As if he did that all the time in this man's presence. It had more weight to it than regular deja vu.

Yet, the other man said they had met in his dreams. Nils didn't have any control over anyone's dreams, so that had nothing to do with him. Perhaps it was a bit creepy, but nothing that wouldn't be concerning if it wasn't for that strange feeling in his gut.

After a moment, he shrugged. ”I have nothing to do with who or what you dream about. But I'm sure this dream me, would appreciate if you stopped.” Being harsh to the other was like a reflex. For Nils it just fit into the conversation like a puzzle piece.

”In the mean time,” he crossed his arms, ”The real me would appreciate if you stopped giving me that look...” It was just eerie. ”I'm not for sale.”

[Danmark]

Mathias should have felt the rejection and walked away. He should have been dejected at being turned away so easily by someone he had fought so hard to find - or at least that's what his heart was saying - but the response from the other made him only more determined. The last remark left Mathias feeling - and looking - a bit confused for a moment as he tried to sort out just what it was the other had meant.

"Sale?" he repeated, and then he realized and quickly began to shake his hands back and forth, an indication of denial. "Nej, nej, that's not what I meant!" He at least had the good humor to laugh and scratch at the back of his head again as he looked at the other, a swelling happiness that he couldn't explain rising in his chest, causing his grin to widen further.

"I just, you're so familiar, I'd like to be friends is all!" he finally amended, still thoroughly amused at the misunderstanding. So maybe it hadn't been his finest hour, and the guy had mistook his friendly conversation a bit too much, but Mathias felt like the happiest person in the world at that moment.

"You're from Norge, aren't you?" and he had to be conscious not to leave out the word 'from' in that sentence, although the question had seemed to natural. "We should grab a beer or something!"

[Norway]

Nils didn't like being seen as something he wasn't. It had been that way his whole life. He hadn't wanted to be seen as an extension of his father when he was little and he didn't want to be tied up in whatever fantasy this man had concocted now. He was Nils Olstad, no one else. The funny thing about his life is that he had been there throughout its duration. If he didn't remember this guy than the other man couldn't remember him. The little pull he had felt toward him had faded pretty fast.

”Friends? And you're basing this all on what? That I come from Norge? Or that I look like someone you used to know? I'm not really in to New Age therapy. I'm sorry if your friend met the Earth's shelter too soon, but I don't want to chase ghosts with you.” He explained. He wouldn't stand in for someone else. It'd be creepy if he had to pretend he was some dead guy just to appease a stranger.

”But I'm bored. So I'll let you buy a round.” Sometimes Nils was too giving for his own good. ”And if you wanna tell me about your friend, I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world. Hope they lived up to the standard of this look.” Oh yeah, way too nice.

[Danmark]

Mathias seemed completely unfazed by the severely mixed signals the shorter man was sending him; it felt completely natural to him for some reason, and a part of him didn't even register that the man had initially rejected him. Instead, he allowed himself a pleased grin as he started off toward the nearest bar, keeping pace with the shorter man (shorter legs and shorter strides, so the Mathias had to keep his excitement in check), practically bouncing.

"I'm not really sure what you mean about New Age therapy or whatever, I just think that we could be friends! I mean, I've been having these dreams for a really long time, and you - well, a guy that looks just like you - has been in all of them! It's kind of weird that I found you here, actually, kind of like fate or something. Do you believe in fate? I guess I've never really thought about it before but it seems like a possibility now and--"

He stopped as they reached the door of the pub, grinning as if he hadn't just cut himself off completely, and wrenched the door open with so much glee that it was practically oozing from his pores. He held the door for the other (like a gentleman, he told himself), grinning like fool at the shorter man.

"Oh ja, I just realized I never asked your name!"

[Norway]

Fate? Another interesting subject. He wasn't sure if he believed in fate. He would prefer to think he wasn't stuck in some story that was already written. But perhaps his fate was only there because he was going to make those decisions. Like he was in a play, but he had written his own parts. But then what was the point of saying it existed then? Wasn't that labeling something for no reason?

Nils walked in without looking at the man holding the door open for him. He could feel the other man's expression so there was no need to look. It made Nils very uncomfortable. He didn't understand why these emotions were being directed toward him. He was as fond of himself as anyone who wasn't a narcissist was, but he wasn't sure what made him so special to this guy.

”I don't waste time thinking about fate. Maybe it exists, maybe it doesn't. Either way you get where you're going and end up with whoever you do. Or maybe you end up alone and never get anywhere.” He shrugged as he walked to take a seat. ”Seems to me if I was in all of your dreams, you would have been bound to have called me something. So you tell me, what is my name?” That should put some of this dream nonsense to rest.

[Danmark]

Names? Or, no, just one name. Mathias laughed as he took a seat next to the shorter man, leaning his elbow on the bar counter and looking at him thoughtfully, still wearing a smile.

"Your name? Well, I'm sure I only called you Norge in the dreams, but that couldn't be your name," he nodded to himself, as if giving himself a pat on the back for his brilliant deduction skills. After all, why would this guy be named after the country he's from? That's just kind of weird.

"Well...except for that one dream," he corrected as the memory returned to him, a bit fuzzy and vague at first, and all he could remember was the blood, the gunfire. Then figures, shapes, people, and then himself, 'Norge,' and more blood. But this was their blood, and it was mixing, slowly bleeding into the soil, and--

He shook himself out of the memory, pulling back the smile that had fallen from his face as he remembered the dream, feeling a bit shaken up by how vivid it always seemed.

"In one of the dreams, I think I called you 'Nils'," he nodded a bit, then laughed with a sheepish grin. "But that's probably not your name, either, ja?"

[Norway]

Nils was inwardly very smug despite his neutral exterior. He couldn't prove the other man didn't dream of someone similar to him. His stats weren't that rare in the northern countries. But if he was going to use it as basis for some get together, then Nils wanted him to understand that whatever he was seeing was nothing more than a generic model he was fitting Nils into.

”Hn not unless your dreams are really that nationalistic,” he mused. He felt an odd stirring at that being mentioned as his name. How strange... Norway was his country of origin. A place he had abandoned. Not his name.

Nils was surprised he was actually trying. He could have laughed it off. The entire thing being a pick up line was a bit out the window if he actually had something to think over. You could guess a name by staring at their face.

His head snapped over when his name was correctly given. Nils stared as the taller man laughed. ”How do you know my name?” He asked. ”I never told you.” There was no way he had gotten that from a dream. He must have asked somebody or something.