Chapter Text
«Я вас любил: любовь ещё, быть может…» : "I loved you: love still exists, perhaps..."
-Alexander Pushkin; Eugene Onegin
Alfred felt the icy air seep into his bones the minute his plane landed in Russia. The shift from his home in Yesterday Island and the Altai Mountains, in terms of temperature, was not immense, yet he felt the cold embrace of Ivan Braginsky envelop him immediately (metaphorically, of course). His twin brother, Matthew, was supposed to land soon, so Alfred took the opportunity to take in his surroundings.
His stepmother and father stood across the room, nose to nose, and were wrapped together in a large assortment of scarves. They were bantering quietly in French, and Alfred could not quite make out what they were saying. Even though the lobby of the resort was heated, none of them, save the Nordics, seemed to be able to stop shivering.
Japan, India and Australia were closest to where America was standing. He could hear Nellie’s obnoxious snorting, see Chiyo’s usually impassive face smirking, and could make out a few of Ila’s quick, witty comments. New Zealand, Ireland and Spain were standing a bit to the side of the group, having an amicable, heavily accented discussion.
A majority of the other Americans were seated closer to the entrance of the room, greeting most of the nations as they walked in. However, from that group, only Brazil and Costa Rica greeted Alfred as he entered.
The few Central and Southeast Asian nations occupied the corner of the room closest to the large windows, and did not speak much, aside from the occasional light hearted joke.
Around 10 African nations gathered near the fireplace, their glossy skins contrasting starkly with the pale room.
Alfred was overwhelmed by the number of delegations the UN had managed to assemble here in less than a month's notice. 55 countries were already gathered in this room.
As he made a mental note of these attendees, his gaze dragged over China, standing exactly parallel to Alfred. Siyu’s lithe body was wary and attentive, her stance the same as America’s. When she noticed him staring, she gave a little bow of respect whilst glaring at him. He rolled his eyes and waved at her, though lacking his usual bravado. Siyu understood him better than a solid 98% of this room, and he would not insult her intelligence by pretending the eye bags he tried to hide came from “fun-filled" nights.
Alfred was so engaged in his silent exchange with Siyu that he did not notice Josefina walk up to him until they were nearly shoulder to shoulder. Mexico’s warm, chocolate eyes were filled with poorly hidden concern, and Alfred found himself nearly melting into it. Her magnetic gaze was something America had never been able to resist, especially while they were married, but presently, he tore himself away. She caught herself and changed her expression to one of contempt, walking over to where a few middle-eastern countries and the new arrivals, Nigeria, Sudan, and Iran, were gathered.
He could feel everyone’s eyes on him as he stormed towards the door, so distracted that he bumped harshly into Russia. Ivan swore and clutched his red nose, his violet gaze murderous but slightly amused. Alfred apologised quickly to avoid drawing even more attention to himself, and dashed out of the murmuring room.
Alfred almost wanted to cry from just being so overwhelmed. His country felt like it was being torn apart from the inside, he was completely at the mercy of his president, and now he had is ex-wife hating him. But he was not so fragile. He was a superpower, a hyper-power even, which unfortunately did mean that UN had made it clear he could not express his vulnerability in public. He settled for a cigarette. He had robbed the box off of Ivan the last time they had met, and intended to give them back at some point today, his snipes ¹ left inside.
As he let the smoke fill his lungs, he spotted Matthew park his large truck and approach him. Matthew immediately noticed Alfred’s expression and rushed over to hug him. Alfred said nothing except for a weak “Hello” and threw his cigarette into the snow.
“Everyone else is here, at least, I assume so.” he muttered, ”After you head in, hopefully UN will explain us why the hell she dragged us out here.” Matthew only shrugged and led Alfred back inside.
As if on cue, UN walked in, smiling at everyone.
“Good afternoon, my dear nations. Before anything else, thank you for being so cooperative and meeting me here. And of course, a special thank you to Russia. Without you, we wouldn’t have a venue for this little … intervention.”
Unease rippled through the room at the word, and UN continued speaking.
“As you all have no doubt noticed, the stable political climate of our beloved planet is rapidly deteriorating," Her smile faltered as she continued, “Your human leaders have come to a rather rare agreement. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to ease these tensions.”
Even though her tone was doubtful towards the end, she pulled out a thick document from her bag.
“This is a contract signed by each of your leaders. The United Nations informed them that, based on research conducted in 1962, your presence here is necessary. The UNNPRC,” (The United Nations Nations Personifications Research Council,) “concluded that personifications’ perceptions of and interactions with one another subconsciously influence international political relations.”
Alfred’s focus was directed involuntarily towards Ivan’s stiffening features at these words. He felt himself tense subconsciously before drawing his attention back to UN’s words.
She took a deep breath, pausing before saying quickly “This is why your leaders, and us at the UN, have decided to keep you all here until the political climate between each of your countries is regulated.”
UN allowed the complete chaos that broke through the room to consume everyone for a moment before requesting silence. “This is a private resort without any humans. There are more than enough rooms, and you’ll have access to food, entertainment and everything you need, for as long as this takes. However, you are not permitted to leave until visible improvements are observed. Unless you can stand the intense cold, as some of you can, refrain from swimming in the lakes.”
The nations eyed UN dubiously, and Ivan was the one to break the painstaking silence with a scoff. “If I had known you wanted this place for a conference, I would not have agreed. And what of the room arrangements? Are we to figure them out for ourselves or will they be arranged by you? И как, чёрт возьми, наши лидеры согласились на эту чушь?!”( And how the hell did our leaders agree to this nonsense?!)
“Firstly, Russia, this is no conference. This is not a discussion you get to opt into. It’s already been decided, and arguing with me will not change that.”
“مفهوم يا الأمم المتحدة، ولكن ماذا عن الغرف؟" (Understood, UN, but, as Russia said, what about the rooms ?) ,Saudi Arabia asked pointedly.
“Thank you for your compliance, Saudi. As for accommodations, you will each have your own rooms, no exceptions to couples, or family. Your belongings are already being delivered. You will be placed sequentially according to global influence.”
Outraged, overlapping voices encompassed the room demanding the method used to calculated this order
A formulaic weighting of military capability, GDP, geopolitical importance, population, regional dominance and strategic resources followed this outburst to humour the indignant nations.
Alfred felt a violent flush overtaking his cheeks. He would be next to Russia and China. He purposefully avoided the velvety gaze that he knew on him and tugged his glasses higher onto his face.
This was certainly going to be… something.
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snipes ¹- when Alfred says: "..to give them back today, his snipes left inside." snipes refer to already smoked cigarettes, or the butts of cigarettes as we call them ^J^ this is his way of a subtle joke on Ivan, but can be seen as kinda romantic? idk up to you to percieve it :)