Underneath [5/?]
anonymous
April 12 2010, 17:47:35 UTC
"So what is it that you want to know about America?" Russia asked, once they were both seated in what England thought might be a study of some kind. It was dark, there were books everywhere, and swords hung on the walls. It did not lend a comforting air to the conversation.
"I'm just a bit worried about him."
"If you were just worried about him, you wouldn't be talking to me," Russia said, leaning back into his chair. "Either get to the point or leave."
"When he attacked France, you were the only one of us who wasn't surprised," England said. For once, he appreciated Russia's brusqueness. It meant he would get a straight answer. "Why?"
Russia smiled, and there was nothing reassuring in it. He glanced off to the side for a moment, as if deep in thought, playing with the edges of his scarf. Then he began to speak.
"World War II was an interesting time, da? By the end, most of the globe was on its knees, too battered and beaten to be the threats they once were. It was the same all through Europe, and it was the same for you." Russia's teeth seemed to glint for a moment. "I was the only one left standing, still a superpower, still poised to make the world mine. I looked around for challenges, and the only one staring back at me, standing as tall as ever, was America.
"I already know this," England snapped, not liking the look in Russia's eyes when he talked about America.
"Heh, so you do," Russia laughed. "Well then, something you don't know, da? When I think of the Cold War, one memory sticks out to me above all the others. It was winter in Moscow and the snow was falling heavily. America and I were meeting, along with some of our dignitaries, and it was all very tense and falsely polite. America did not return to the meeting after a break, and I went to look for him. I found him standing outside, looking up at the snow. He did not look at me, and for a moment I thought I'd snuck up on him. But then he said to me 'This is what it will be like when we launch the bombs. There'll be ash as far as the eye can see, and it'll fall like snow. We'll go out and play in it.' It has been sixty years since that day, and I can still remember every word. And then he turned to look at me, and the the expression in his eyes was like nothing I've ever seen before or since. It was fascinating."
England was finding it a little hard to breathe, the oppressive weight of the gloomy little study and Russia's words bearing down on him. He could see the scene in his mind perfectly, America grinning in the snow, glasses fogged and eyes mad.
"Before the Cold War, I mostly thought of America as your little bastard offspring, a loud waste of space that had taken Alaska from me. But that all changed. Because he saw the world the way I did, felt what it was to be powerful when no one else was, and he revelled in it."
"You're lying," England said, before thinking. "He's nothing like you."
"You want so badly to believe that he's still a child at heart, good and pure and untouched by reality, da?" Russia's eyes glinted in the dark. "But I was not matched against a child; he was my equal, and he was fearless. You all think it was me that held the world hostage for so long, the threat of nuclear bombs like a gun to your head. But it was he who pushed things, he who dared me, he who first said 'mutually assured destruction.' He told me once that he'd pull the trigger if I would. But I never wanted the end of the world."
"And you're saying he did?" England asked, voice shaky.
"I'm saying he didn't care," Russia replied. "He wanted to see what would happen next. He wanted things to end in a bang. All in all, he was very agreeable company."
"I'm just a bit worried about him."
"If you were just worried about him, you wouldn't be talking to me," Russia said, leaning back into his chair. "Either get to the point or leave."
"When he attacked France, you were the only one of us who wasn't surprised," England said. For once, he appreciated Russia's brusqueness. It meant he would get a straight answer. "Why?"
Russia smiled, and there was nothing reassuring in it. He glanced off to the side for a moment, as if deep in thought, playing with the edges of his scarf. Then he began to speak.
"World War II was an interesting time, da? By the end, most of the globe was on its knees, too battered and beaten to be the threats they once were. It was the same all through Europe, and it was the same for you." Russia's teeth seemed to glint for a moment. "I was the only one left standing, still a superpower, still poised to make the world mine. I looked around for challenges, and the only one staring back at me, standing as tall as ever, was America.
"I already know this," England snapped, not liking the look in Russia's eyes when he talked about America.
"Heh, so you do," Russia laughed. "Well then, something you don't know, da? When I think of the Cold War, one memory sticks out to me above all the others. It was winter in Moscow and the snow was falling heavily. America and I were meeting, along with some of our dignitaries, and it was all very tense and falsely polite. America did not return to the meeting after a break, and I went to look for him. I found him standing outside, looking up at the snow. He did not look at me, and for a moment I thought I'd snuck up on him. But then he said to me 'This is what it will be like when we launch the bombs. There'll be ash as far as the eye can see, and it'll fall like snow. We'll go out and play in it.' It has been sixty years since that day, and I can still remember every word. And then he turned to look at me, and the the expression in his eyes was like nothing I've ever seen before or since. It was fascinating."
England was finding it a little hard to breathe, the oppressive weight of the gloomy little study and Russia's words bearing down on him. He could see the scene in his mind perfectly, America grinning in the snow, glasses fogged and eyes mad.
"Before the Cold War, I mostly thought of America as your little bastard offspring, a loud waste of space that had taken Alaska from me. But that all changed. Because he saw the world the way I did, felt what it was to be powerful when no one else was, and he revelled in it."
"You're lying," England said, before thinking. "He's nothing like you."
"You want so badly to believe that he's still a child at heart, good and pure and untouched by reality, da?" Russia's eyes glinted in the dark. "But I was not matched against a child; he was my equal, and he was fearless. You all think it was me that held the world hostage for so long, the threat of nuclear bombs like a gun to your head. But it was he who pushed things, he who dared me, he who first said 'mutually assured destruction.' He told me once that he'd pull the trigger if I would. But I never wanted the end of the world."
"And you're saying he did?" England asked, voice shaky.
"I'm saying he didn't care," Russia replied. "He wanted to see what would happen next. He wanted things to end in a bang. All in all, he was very agreeable company."
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