Stranger in a Strange Land {Russia and Seychelles}

[Russia]

June 30th of 1976

Of all the alliances Russia had made over his years, this was definitely going to go down as one of the most random and unexpected. In fact, when his boss had informed him of the recent plans for an alliance with Seychelles Ivan’s first reaction had been one of confusion. With his recent dealings with Cuba and Angola dominating his mind, it had taken him a moment to even remember what Seychelles was and where it was located. He had heard about the islands in passing, but he had never concerned himself with anything to do with it or its representative. Which was why he had been surprised that his boss would choose to ally him with such a nation.

But Seychelles had apparently just declared itself an independent nation the day before, and as his leader had explained, any new allies could only be good. No matter how small and seemingly insignificant they were concerning global affairs. If he was to become this newly independent nation’s ally, then it would be one more nation on his side.

That, and the fact that he usually failed miserably at making new friends or allies (and as a result never had many)had convinced him that meeting this island nation just might be worth it in the end. Besides, he had been in Moscow anyways and the strange nation was to meet up with him in Red Square. So it wasn’t like he had to go to Seychelles itself for the alliance. And so Brezhnev had handed the tall Soviet nation a small guidebook on Seychelles and sent him on his way with the orders to go make friends and cement the alliance.

After having thumbed through the book with information about Seychellois culture and history, the Russian still knew very little about his intended ally. So far, he knew that it was a small nation, with strong French and British ties. He was sure there had been something mentioned about spices and fish too, but with the dry uninteresting wording that the author used, there was no way Ivan had the patience to actually attempt to do more than just skim. Times like this, he was glad nations had a common tongue to use, otherwise he was certain the encounter would go even more awkwardly. He did not know French at all-other than a few very basic phrases that he surely mutilated with his heavy accent. Russia did know English, so he supposed that they could have possibly used that, but if the other nation came up speaking only French he would surely be lost.

Glancing up at the colorful domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral in the distance, it also occurred to Ivan that he had no idea what this island nation would look like. He had never personally been to Seychelles, and had never seen it’s representative that he could recall. If they had ever been present at any sort of world meeting, then he couldn’t for the life of him remember what he or she looked like. So looking around the square for this other nation would be interesting, since he had no idea what he was looking for. Hopefully Seychelles would find their way to the meeting place without problems and he wouldn’t need to go hunting for them amongst his normal everyday citizens. He got enough questioning looks for wearing his scarf loosely around his neck and a long coat in the hot humid, June weather; he figured randomly asking people if they were from Seychelles-in a foreign sounding language- would really make people wonder.

After he had been waiting in front of Lenin’s tomb for what seemed to him a long time, he shoved the small book about Seychelles in his inner coat pocket. Pulling his sleeve up, he examined his watch anxiously. As fun as it was watching Soviet guards goose-step around Lenin’s tomb every hour, and staring out at his everyday citizens, the blonde was starting to get impatient. Moscow was a big city, if Seychelles got lost in it, he could be waiting at their meeting point for half the night without a word. That did not sound fun at all, and he would surely rather return to the Kremlin rather than be stuck waiting for so long. But he would give Seychelles a little longer to show up. The Mausoleum stuck out fairly well in the square, and surely even lost she would find it. And she wasn’t terribly late yet anyways. If anything he was just being overly impatient.
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((Sorry for the rather quick opening post. I hope it works well enough, but feel free to let me know if you need me to modify anything. There surely is not a ton of info on Seychelles' alliance with the Soviet Union, so we are free to wing it through most of this.~ ))

[seychelles]

Cold. That was the first thing on Seychelles’ mind as she wandered around Red Square, wearing a blue sundress and sandals. Wasn’t it supposed to be summer? Then again, considering how far north Russia was located and the overly dramatic tales she had heard of the harsh Russian winters, this was probably warm to the locals, even if it was cold by her standards. And of course Océane knew that not every nation lived practically on the equator like she did, and was fully aware that she probably should have thought of that before she got on the plane to Moscow, but she had been so preoccupied with celebrating her independence and worrying about how to meet with and befriend a strange foreign nation that she hadn’t even paused to consider practical things like the weather. So now she stood, shivering, in an unfamiliar and somewhat frightening foreign land.

The other thing on her mind was how exactly she was supposed to find the nation spirit of Russia in a square full of Russians when she had never met him before and had no idea what he looked like. Oh, she had heard enough over the years to get a vague impression of a large man, fond of vodka, with a creepy smile, but that was hardly enough to go by to pick one man out of a crowd when so many of them shared those characteristics. Wasn’t she supposed to have some sort of instinct that would tell her which one he was? She wished in vain that she had been able to meet more of the other nations as a colony so that she wouldn’t have to be so confused now. But really, aside from England and France and her fellow colonies, she had mostly kept to herself, and she had preferred it that way at the time. Or, it might be just as useful if she could remember where in this stupid “Red Square” they were supposed to meet. That would definitely be helpful. But honestly, Océane had no idea where it was. If only Russia had come to her own capitol, Victoria, rather than her going to Moscow, she wouldn’t have this problem.

She thought bitterly of her new bosses*. You send me off to Moscow and tell me to go make friends, knowing that I’ve rarely set foot of my native soil before, knowing that I’ll probably only succeed at making a fool of myself. Why?

Forcing herself to focus on the task at hand, Seychelles looked around desperately for someone who might be able to help her. But even then, what could she say? She didn’t speak Russian. She had never had the need to learn it. And even if she did, she couldn’t exactly go up to random people and ask them if they were a nation, could she? She supposed she could simply ask in the nations’ language. If they didn’t understand, they would probably just ignore her and assume that she was only an eccentric foreigner, and if they did understand, then there would be no need to hide who she really was. But Océane was too timid to go up to a random stranger and start speaking to them in a language that they probably didn’t understand. She would look a little bit more first and see if that instinct for recognizing other nations was going to kick in anytime soon.

And that’s when she saw him. He was tall and … well, big, although she knew at one glance that she would never dare to call him fat to his face, and he was dressed warmly even for weather that Seychelles considered to be cold. There was something about him that caught her attention in a way that she could hardly understand. She didn’t know how she knew, but somehow she just knew that he was the man she was looking for.

It wasn’t necessarily a pleasant thought. Something about him sent shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with the temperature. Still, she reasoned that her new bosses would not have asked her to make an alliance with a nation that couldn’t be trusted. She forced herself not to turn and run to the first airport she could find and go home and hide on her islands.

If you want to stay independent and keep away from England, you need allies, she told herself as she walked up to the man.

“Excuse me,” she whispered tentatively in the language of the nations. “I’m looking for someone and I think maybe you might be him. I am Océane Charbonneau, the Seychelles islands.”

--

((*At the time when this thread takes place, Sir James Mancham was President of Seychelles and the leader of its democratic party, and France-Albert René was the Prime Minister and leader of Sey's socialist party. Logically, I would guess that Sey's alliance with the Soviet Union was René's idea, but I can't find anything that says for sure. Like you said, there's not a whole lot of info on this alliance.))

[Russia]

Ivan's eyes had been fixed on some youthful looking man with glasses and shorts-a tourist by the looks of him- when a small voice using the country language drew his attention. Previous thoughts of grabbing the young man by the arm and demanding to know if he was the representative he was searching for evaporated on the spot as he focused his gaze on the source of the voice in surprise.

“I’m looking for someone and I think maybe you might be him. I am Océane Charbonneau, the Seychelles islands.”

For a moment, the large Russian just stared at the nation in shock. He had expected Seychelles to be young of course, but he had always imagine the representative to be male. Not that he had anything against women or anything like that-it would be silly for him to, since most his population these days consisted of females-but it seemed to him that he found himself meeting more male countries than female. Perhaps it was just his own experiences that made him think that the gender ratio was slightly skewered in favor of male nations.

“Привет.” Russia finally greeted in acknowledgment, ever present smile on his boyish features. “Welcome to my home, Seychelles. I was hoping you would show up.”

His violet eyes studied the foreign country up and down. She was a pretty girl, and Ivan would have placed her in her middle teens if he had to guess. Which was fitting, given the fact that she had only just been declared an independent nation. Her dark hair and eyes, combined with her skin tone, gave her an exotic look that made her stick out amongst his normal citizens. He was slightly disappointed in himself for having not noticed her sooner in fact. Her sandals also set her apart from his people, since even when they wore dresses in the summer, his women had a tendency to wear heels instead.

He considered his bosses orders, and how exactly to go about making friends with his new ally. Perhaps she would be happy with being shown around? Red Square was very beautiful in his opinion: a highlight of Soviet architecture and Russian culture as a whole. With its mass usage of red brickwork and its close proximity to so many sites of interest, it was no wonder the place was iconic.

“Congratulations on being independent from England. It must feel good to finally cut ties with that capitalist dog, Yes?” Ivan had a way with being blunt with his words, and now was no different. He felt he needed to say something to lead the conversation along here. The tall blonde suspected that they would never get to be friends if he just stood back quietly and simply continued to stare at her with curiosity. No, he needed to make her feel welcome.

“You made the right decision to come to me for an alliance, Comrade Charbonneau.” Ivan tripped over the pronunciation of the strange last name, vaguely wondering if he got it right. He decided that perhaps it would be best to be on first name basis, since her first name sounded less complicated. “I’ll just call you Océane, I think. You can call me Ivan.”

With a crazed smile, he grabbed her arm in an attempt to lead her along with him. “Since you’re here, would you like to see some of the sights my square has to offer? I can give you a quick tour.”
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((We'll have some interesting interactions here I am certain. I feel sorry for poor Seychelles already. XD))

[seychelles]

Russia’s gaze made Seychelles feel uncomfortable. She couldn’t get rid of the fear that she would do something wrong and he would change his mind about their alliance. If she couldn’t get the Soviet Union on her side, she would have few options for powerful allies. She wasn’t going to get friendly with England and those Western countries.

She relaxed a little as Russia congratulated her on her independence. It did feel good. She had yearned for independence for a long time – in fact, she had begun to think about it not long after falling under British control, and it had only intensified when the World Wars left her in an economic crisis. She was hardly able to believe that she was finally a full nation after all this time.

“Definitely,” said Océane. “I was beginning to worry that I’d never be free. I just hope I can stay independent and stay away from England.”

“You made the right decision to come to me for an alliance, Comrade Charbonneau.”

Océane had to fight back a giggle as the Russian’s heavy accent butchered her surname. Was it really that hard to pronounce? Well, maybe, if you weren’t French, but that didn’t register in Seychelles’ mind. Most of her people had French names, so they sounded perfectly ordinary to her.

Russia must have realized he couldn’t pronounce her last name, because he quickly established a first-name basis. Océane eagerly agreed. She wanted to make friends, and surely this was a good first step. Anyway, the whole “Comrade” business seemed very confusing and foreign to her, and surely it would be easier for her to call Ivan by his first name than to try to remember a foreign custom.

Océane let out a little gasp of surprise and flinched away from Ivan as he suddenly grabbed her arm. After being raised by Francis, her first impulse was to try to get away before he did something improper, so she struggled a bit more against his grip. It didn’t work. He was just too strong. She looked up at his face, which bore a very creepy-looking smile, as he calmly offered to show her around Red Square.

“Okay, sure,” she said in an irritated tone. “I’d love to see it. But … um … maybe you could let go of me now?”

[Russia]

Ivan had ignored the flinch and gasp as he had grabbed onto the young woman’s arm and began to pull her along with him. He was accustomed to ignoring such signs of discomfort and annoyance. How often had he grabbed onto one of his servant nations and heard and felt similar displays of irritation? It had happened too many times to count. These days it was more rare to find a nation who didn’t flinch or wince at his sudden touch.

Focused on his own ideas and the scene ahead of them, Ivan did not even notice as Seychelles struggled in his grip a little. He was a very powerful nation physically, and she might just as well have been struggling against a stone gargoyle for as much good as it did her. Once Russia had a grip on something, it took another decently powerful nation to be able to pull free from him. Which-although she was now independent- Seychelles had yet to become. Not all nations got to be the same power level either physically, and the Russian couldn’t imagine the slender girl besides him as ever being on the same level as him in that area.

“Okay, sure. I’d love to see it. But … um … maybe you could let go of me now?”

The blonde had expected agreement, but was a bit puzzled by her tone. Never one to read people’s voices or body language well, he mistook her irritation and hesitance to be pure nervousness. “So long as you can keep up.” He informed her brightly, releasing her arm in the process. The lead Soviet nation had a habit of grabbing onto people and pulling them around like ragdolls. There was a feeling of power and control to be had from physically gripping someone in such a manner. Also, he had a large stride, and had gotten used to pulling nations like Toris along out of habit, so they would keep pace with him. His Baltics never complained or tried to have him release his hold, but whether or not that was out of fear or because they did not care enough either way was something he was not clear on.

In any case, he did not mind letting Seychelles go so long as she proved able to keep up with him. There were few things more annoying to the blonde than being left talking to the plantlife and buildings because his partner had not been able to keep pace with him. Which had happened a few times in the past on various occasions, and left him irritably waiting for his conversation partner to catch up.

“You’ve already gotten a glimpse of Lenin’s tomb, yes?” He gestured towards the red faced building besides them, pausing for a moment. “I am not sure if they are allowing people to see him on display right now…but if you really want to see him I am sure we could arrange it.” he looked to the guards near the building thoughtfully. But why would his new comrade want to look at some dead boss of his? From what he had read, Seychelles would be more drawn to… fish and water-related sites. But not having those in abundance in Moscow, surely she would settle for staring at an embalmed Bolshevik?

As crazed as he could be, even Ivan realized that maybe staring at bodies was not the way to start a friendship. He liked Lenin, and would not be bothered at all by such things, but it occurred to him that just maybe it would be odd and disconcerting for someone like Seychelles. “If you would rather not though, I can show you the cathedral.” He pointed towards the colorful onion domes in the distance. “You’re an island, Да? My book says you like fish. We don’t really have any fish or beach related sites here in Red Square…but if you really want, we can swing by the Moskva River. It’s not far.”
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((Ivan is very awkward with meeting new nations. They are sure to have some interesting conversations, no matter which way you want to go with this. ~))

[seychelles]

Seychelles breathed a sigh of relief as Russia released her arm. Maybe it was silly of her, but she really hated being grabbed by other nations. France had certainly given her reason enough to feel that way. For a moment, she worried that Ivan would be angry - what if grabbing people by the arm and dragging them around was some kind of weird Russian custom? She wouldn't hesitate if it were France, who she was used to having to dodge advances from, or England, who she didn't like much and had enjoyed irritating, but she figured that offending a powerful potential ally was not a good way to start your life as an independent country. However, Russia just told her to keep up with him and began talking about Lenin's tomb.

"I am not sure if they are allowing people to see him on display right now ¡­ but if you really want to see him I am sure we could arrange it."

Océane balked at the thought of trying to bond with this strange foreigner while staring at a dead body. Was this really his idea of a good way to make friends? If so, no wonder he didn't have very many. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a polite way to decline.

"Oh, that's okay, I ...­ I wouldn't want to trouble you," she said in a nervous tone. "You know, if they're not letting people in to see him? Maybe we could ... um ... find something else to do. It seems like there's a lot going on here."

Those creepy purple eyes of his are going to see right through you, said a voice in her head. He's going to figure out how freaked out you are, and then he won't want to be your friend. You'll be stuck depending on England and America, just like the other ex-colonies.

Russia suggested the cathedral, pointing at a funny-looking building in the distance. Seychelles nodded politely. "That looks pretty." It actually looked kind of weird to her, but she didn't want to turn down another of his ideas and risk getting him angry.

"You're an island, Да? My book says you like fish. We don't really have any fish or beach related sites here in Red Square ... ­but if you really want, we can swing by the Moskva River. It's not far."

"You have actual water here?" she grinned at the thought, having assumed that being in Moscow would mean no water nearby. Sure, a river was nowhere near as good as a beach, but Océane was delighted by the thought of anything wet. That was one of the things she missed most about her island home when she was away.

"I'd love to see the river!" she said eagerly. "I mean ... if that's all right with you. If you'd rather show me the cathedral or something, that's okay, too."

Her voice fell as she added the later part, but she felt like it was necessary. Objectively, the alliance was more important than seeing the river, and she would not like to see her bosses' reaction if she ruined the alliance because she couldn't stay away from the water.

"Where is it?" she asked, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a map of Moscow that René had given her. "Oh ¡­ I see it!" She pointed at the squiggly blue line excitedly. "I didn't notice that before."

[Russia]

All ideas of visiting his dead boss had been pushed from his mind as Seychelles had suggested something else to do. Not that he blamed her, staring at bodies could get a bit dull after awhile. And pushing her into a friendly conversation while staring at Lenin might have been too great of a challenge. Most countries he met were not as calm or content in the company of corpses in his experience. They never bothered him. His past had been full of corpses, and he had been exposed to them at a very young age. Plus, being the crazed, violent creature that he was, he could be standing in a field of corpses and not bothered in the least. One dead embalmed boss was nothing to him, but he was content to let the idea die for the time being.

"You have actual water here?"

The blonde looked at Seychelles curiously. Of course they had water. What city didn’t? It was true that he wouldn’t really want to drink any of the tap water in Moscow, but they still had it. Plus there was the Moskva River itself, which ran all the way through the city. “Of course we have water here. I can’t imagine a city without it.” In truth he could imagine a city without it, but he really would rather not. People relied too heavily on water for things.

"I'd love to see the river!"

His book must have been correct concerning the water and fish love that the country had. She seemed far more excited about just going to stare at a river than she did with the prospect of seeing a dead boss or his cathedral. Seychellois people must have been a strange breed, to get so excited over something as simple a river. Not knowing anything about her people as a whole, he was quick to assume that if they were like Seychelles herself, they must have been completely obsessed with any form of water.

"I mean ... if that's all right with you. If you'd rather show me the cathedral or something, that's okay, too."

If she would rather look at the water, he had no problems with that. The cathedral had a way of bringing back bad memories anyways if he stared at it too long. He had changed so much since it had been constructed, and been through a lot of unhappy times. As beautiful as the structure was, it was probably best to go to the river to cement their alliance and make friends. He didn’t want to go off talking about things that were better forgotten.

"Where is it?"

Ivan moved closer to the young woman as she pulled out a map. Peering curiously over her shoulder, he could pinpoint their location and the river with ease. The land was a part of him after all, and so very familiar. His ally pointed to the river excitedly, and he smiled and nodded, even though she was not looking up at him. “That’s it. It’s close to the here. Just around that side of the Kremlin.” The stocky Russian looked from the map to the walls of the Kremlin not far off.

“Follow me.” He started off in the direction of the Kremlin with the intention of following the wall around and to the river. “It’s so very hot out today, so there will probably be a lot of people near the water.” He informed his female companion cheerfully. Granted, it was probably not at all hot to an island nation like Seychelles. There was humidity of course, but the temperature was not nearly as hot as it would be in an area closer to the equator. Still, it was hot by Russian standards, which would surely mean more people flocking to the areas with water to cool off.

Reaching a section of the large red wall, he turned to make sure Seychelles was keeping up. “This wall runs right along the river. See that tower over there?” He gestured to one of the wall’s large cylindrical towers. “Once we get there’ you’ll be able to see it really well.”

[seychelles]

Seychelles had to jog to match Russia brisk speed – he hadn’t been joking when he said she might not be able to keep up. Still, she more or less managed to keep from falling behind.

“It’s so very hot out today,” said Ivan, “so there will probably be a lot of people near the water.”

Océane let out a giggle. Maybe it was hot compared to winter in Siberia, but it certainly didn’t seem that way to her. Thanks to her islands’ location just south of the equator, she was used to heat and humidity year-round.

“It’s not really that hot,” she said. “I mean, it’s probably hot to you, because I’ve heard that your winters are really cold, but to me it’s not very hot.”

She glanced up at Russia and noticed that, despite his insistence that today was hot enough to attract his people to the water – as if someone would need an excuse to get wet – he certainly seemed to be dressed for cold weather. And not the Seychellois version of cold, either. Even when her mild version of winter came in July and August*, the temperature rarely dropped below the mid 70’s. You didn’t need a coat and scarf for that.

“Anyway, if it’s so hot today, then what’s with the clothes? You look like you were expecting … I don’t know, snow or something.”

Océane looked up as Ivan pointed out tall tower jutting out of the red brick wall. She grinned at the thought that the river was right there, just out of sight. Eager to get closer to the water, she ran forward excitedly.

Dozens of questions raced through Seychelles' mind. Would the water float calmly downstream or race with an angry current? Would there be a lot of people, like Russia assumed, or would it just be the two of them? Would the water remind her of home, or would it be too different, too foreign, in the same way that snow and ice - though they were forms of water - were too foreign to appeal to that part of her? And the worry that had hung over her like a dark cloud throughout her trip so far - would this alliance work out?

--

((OOC:
sorry for the really short, fail post
*Yes, Seychelles is in the southern hemisphere and gets winter, if you can call it that, when the northern hemisphere has summer))

[Russia]

“It’s not really that hot. I mean, it’s probably hot to you, because I’ve heard that your winters are really cold, but to me it’s not very hot.”

The Russian spared a glance over his shoulder at his new ally curiously. It sure felt hot to him, and apparently to his people too, since they were all dressed for summer weather. Ivan had always thought his home had frigid winters and blistering summers. Especially in areas such as Moscow and the Siberian regions. He did not spend a lot of time in tropical locations, so had a hard time grasping the idea that anywhere could get hotter than his own home in a summer heat wave. If Seychelles’ home really did get hotter on a daily basis, it would probably be enough to force even him to take off his coat and scarf. Turning his gaze back to the Kremlin tower ahead, he briefly wondered if sunflowers grew well in tropical areas. They liked lots of warmth and sunlight after all.

“Anyway, if it’s so hot today, then what’s with the clothes? You look like you were expecting … I don’t know, snow or something.”

It was true, he was not at all dressed for hot weather, and it occurred to him that he probably looked a bit odd. But he liked his coat and scarf, and did not feel comfortable without them- hot weather or not. He also chilled easily, and preferred to be a little too hot over a little too cold if he had any say in the matter. He would have plenty of time to cool down in the winter, when even his heavy coat and scarf were not always enough to combat the General’s icy grip.

“It’s better to be a little too hot than a little too cold, yes?” He answered with a smile. “Besides, I like my coat and scarf. Why should I take them off just because the weather warmed up? The heat doesn’t bother me so much.” It was a rather nonsensical answer all things considered, but there was an undeniable comfort to keeping the garments on, and he didn’t really want to try and explain that to Seychelles as well, so he left it at that.

Seychelles must have really, really loved water, and couldn’t wait to get close to it. As they neared the tower and the still unseen river that was just beyond it, the young female nation darted out ahead of him, running as though she could already see the Moskva River and couldn’t contain her excitement anymore. The blonde blinked a bit in surprise. He had never seen anyone so eager to stare at a river, especially not the Moskva, which was not one of his cleaner rivers. He could only imagine what Seychelles would think of Lake Baikal, which was a far more magnificent and clean body of water.

Picking up his pace so as not to be left too far behind, Ivan jogged after the dark haired girl. With the increase in speed, it didn’t take them long at all to reach the edge of the Kremlin building-the river becoming visible as he reached the tower.

Catching up with Seychelles near the metal guardrail that separated them from the river, he studied the water with muted interest. It looked relatively calm, its glassy surface reflecting the few scattered clouds perfectly, even with the gentle ripples. Russia’s idea that a lot of people would be near the river was partially correct. There were less than he imagined there would have been present, but there were still a fair number of Russians milling about close to the edge. It was of course much cooler to be near bodies of water, even if they were not swimming.

“Sometimes I think more people swim in there in winter than in the summer.” Ivan noted idly, resting his arms on the metal guardrail and leaning over a bit to stare into the water’s inky depths. “What they do, is they break a hole in the ice and go for quick swims. It’s supposed to be good for the health or something I guess. Personally, I think I would much rather swim in summer than in winter, if I were the type who liked to swim much.”

[seychelles]

As Seychelles stood practically hanging over the side of the guardrail, looking out at the Russian river that she had been so excited to see, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment. About the only thing this river had in common with her beloved ocean was that it was wet. It sat there, moving slowly downstream, looking polluted and unappealing compared to the ocean that surrounded her home.

Seychelles’ ocean stretched out in every direction, nothing but water and the occasional island as far as the eye could see. Her ocean’s salty waves lapped against her shores, a dazzling shade of aqua that faded gradually into deep blue as one drew farther away from the islands. Her ocean was bordered by white sand beaches, luscious palm trees, and magnificent boulders, not buildings and red brick walls. Her ocean was dangerous and untamable, full of storms and pirates and sharks, but somehow that only made her love it even more. This river was a poor substitute for her ocean.

But it was water all the same. Freshwater or saltwater, aquamarine or dark blue, polluted or not, river or ocean, something in the water called to her in a way that few things ever did. As strange as the Moskva river seemed to Seychelles, it did remind her of home.

She heard Ivan approach from behind and smiled to herself. Now who exactly was having trouble keeping up? As fragile and weak as she appeared, Seychelles was a nation – finally! – and when she wanted to get somewhere fast, she was perfectly capable of it.

“Sometimes I think more people swim in there in winter than in the summer.”

Océane listened in disbelief as he explained how his people, supposedly for health reasons, would break the ice and go swimming in the river during winter. Not having had much experience with frozen rivers, the tropical nation couldn’t be certain, but that certainly didn’t sound like a smart idea to her. As much as she loved to swim, a frozen river in a northern winter would certainly not appeal to her. She liked her water warm.

She didn’t see how it could be good for your health, either. If you didn’t catch a cold, all you would be doing was the equivalent of taking a bath in ice water. Boiled water was safest, at least to drink. So how could icy-cold water be better to swim in? She shrugged and figured she didn’t need to worry about it. After all, it wasn’t as if she was very unhealthy. Seychellois people lived a long time, maybe not by Western standards, but phenomenally long for Sub-Saharan Africa. So there was absolutely no need for her to come back in winter and try swimming in the river as a crazy way to try to improve her health.

“Personally, I think I would much rather swim in summer than in winter, if I were the type who liked to swim much.”

Seychelles nodded in agreement. “I love to swim, but I don’t think I’d want to do that.”

Honestly, she would be a little bit worried about the mental health of anyone who did. She had often heard other nations call Russia insane, and she wondered if maybe that was true. Maybe there was just something wrong with the minds of most of his people, so that they thought crazy things, like that swimming in a frozen river was good for you. That sort of thinking would have to rub off on the nation himself, so maybe that’s where the general opinion came from. Not that she was going to say that aloud. Insane or not, he was her ally now.

“Have you ever tried it?” she asked curiously.

[Russia]

Violet eyes fixed on the young woman as she nodded her head in agreement to his statement and claimed that she wouldn‘t want to do that either. Being from a much warmer area though, he had not expected anything else from her. As much as Seychelles appeared to be obsessed with water, that obsession had to have its limits, and apparently diving into icy rivers was one of them. Maybe that was what was keeping her from leaping over the rail and into the Moskva right now. Maybe she was afraid that the water was far too cold for her liking? With how enthused he had seen her about water, he had fully expected her to leap right over the rail and swim first chance she got.

But Ivan was usually bad at predicting what people would do. When he wasn’t assuming they would be just like himself in thoughts and actions, he was over generalizing aspects of their personalities. He had a tendency to embellish their likes and dislikes in his mind, and was often left puzzled when new people or nations did not follow the set ideas he would form about them.

“Have you ever tried it?”

Ivan shook his head “no” at the question. “Нет.” he affirmed, gazing back to the river. “It’s cold enough on dry land sometimes here. I would never willingly jump into an icy river just to swim. I don’t care how good for the body it’s supposed to be.” Even if the ideas about swimming in icy water were true, being a nation, he didn’t figure he needed any extra health benefits anyways. Besides, he surely would have already gotten tons of health benefits already from all those times he had been forced to swim through frigid winter waters in wartimes. He remembered all too well the few incidents when he had been crossing frozen bodies of water with his soldiers and had the ice give way underneath them.

He shivered at the thought despite the current heat. “I am amazed you didn’t jump right in.” The Russian stated merrily, gesturing towards the water. “You and your people must practically live in the water, yes?” Comical images of Seychellois people crowding out in the surf at all hours came to mind. That must have been the case for Seychelles. Surely her people’s obsession for water was what caused her to be that way, right? Or was it the other way around? Things could be so very confusing when it came to who influenced who with their kind. It was not always clear whether or not it was the nation influencing the people, or the people influencing the nation.

It was silent for a moment as Ivan considered what else to say to his new ally. His orders had been to make friends with her, which meant they should probably find common ground somewhere. The problem was, he knew so very little about the island nation. Other than water and fish, what could he use to start friendly conversation? The things that interested him, were probably things that would make Seychelles uncomfortable. How did she feel about nuclear weapons? What about topics like oil, war and communism? She must have been happy with communism to come to him wanting to be an ally. But even his allies usually got uncomfortable when he tried to talk to them in depth about nuclear weaponry or similar things. The safer topics were usually things like literature, art and scientific research, but he doubted that Seychelles and he were familiar with the same authors, artists and etcetera there.

“So… you like fish?” He tried with perhaps too much enthusiasm in his voice. “What’s your favorite kind of fish? I like sharks myself. I’ve never really seen one up close before, but if I could be any fish in the ocean it would surely be a shark.” It was possibly the strangest topic he had ever brought up, but hopefully it would help him achieve his goal.

[seychelles]

“I am amazed you didn’t jump right in. You and your people must practically live in the water, yes?”

Seychelles paused thoughtfully, considering his question. It was true that her people’s lives were strongly connected to the water – hence her love for it – but it wasn’t as if they splashed around in the ocean 24 hours a day. They had work to do, families to feed, and lives to live on the islands. Although, now that she thought about it, a lot of that work was fishing, so maybe her people really did “practically live in the water”.

“I guess you could say that,” she said. “There’s always water, all around us, so it’s really important to us. A lot of my people are fishermen, so the ocean is our main source of food. And of course it’s nice to cool off in the water on a hot day.”

“We do have other things, though,” she said, hoping that Russia wouldn’t think the ocean was all there was to Seychelles. “We grow spices on the islands – we’ve done that since the beginning, although I think my people have kind of been losing their enthusiasm for that recently. And everyone lives on the islands, of course.”

The odd pair stood in awkward silence. Seychelles was unsure of what to say. It wasn’t as if she and Russia had anything in common. What was there to talk about?

After a while, Ivan spoke. “So … you like fish? What’s your favorite kind of fish? I like sharks, myself. I’ve never really seen one up close before, but if I could be any fish in the ocean, it would surely be a shark.”

Seychelles' mouth twisted into a little frown as she thought that if he had ever been attacked by a shark, he might not like them so much. They were kind of fascinating, with their sleek, powerful bodies and the feeling of danger that hung in the water around them. But their teeth weren’t much fun.

As Océane looked curiously at the larger nation, an image of a bull shark* emerged in her mind. Immense, predatory, viscious sharks that would eat anything, including unlucky humans or even other sharks, bull sharks frightened the island nation, not least because she had once “died” in the teeth of one. And she couldn’t help but notice how much Russia reminded her of them. She wondered if maybe this alliance was not a good idea after all. But that was just her nerves speaking. Of course it was a good idea. And Ivan was absolutely nothing like a bull shark.

She turned her attention to his question. Seychelles liked fish too much to have a real favorite, although there were several that lived in her waters that she especially liked. She allowed her thoughts to drift to the fish that surrounded her islands – sailfish, swordfish, marlin, many types of grouper and snapper, more types of shark than she would like to have …

“I don’t think there’s any kind of fish I don’t like, except maybe bull sharks,” she said. “Being ‘eaten’ by one kind of ruined them for me. And … they’re not really fish, but I like dolphins, maybe even more than I like fish. There’s this one kind in particular – the striped dolphin.** Sometimes I like to imagine that I am one. I think it would be nice to just swim around and eat fish all the time.”

--

((OOC:

* Bull sharks are one of the many, many types of shark that live in the ocean near Seychelles. They’re huge, gray-brown colored sharks that can live in freshwater as well as saltwater. They eat fish, dolphins, humans, other sharks, and everything in between. As soon as I started looking up Seychelles’ fish online, these guys immediately reminded me of Ivan.

** The striped dolphin is a fairly common type of dolphin that lives in tropical waters around the world, including Seychelles. It eventually became Sey’s national animal. In my headcanon, she really likes fish, but she likes dolphins even better and would genuinely like to be one. She wouldn’t actually like to be a fish because they’re usually what’s for dinner in Seychelles.))

[Russia]

The stocky blonde noticed the frown that tugged at the smaller nation’s mouth, and wondered if he had said something offensive. She had said earlier that she had liked spices as well, and that they played a large role in her people’s culture. So maybe he should have attempted a conversation about them? Maybe asking about her favorite spice and what she liked to put it in would have been a more suitable topic for discussion than fish? But fish were infinitely more interesting than spices, so it had seemed like a good ice breaker to him.

“I don’t think there’s any kind of fish I don’t like, except maybe bull sharks.”

He smiled once more at the fact that apparently he had chosen a good topic. Since she liked all sorts of fish-with the exception of bull sharks- they were sure to have lots to discuss. Of course he would get bored talking about nothing but sea creatures, so maybe she wouldn’t mind switching the topic a bit later on. Maybe he could mix his favorite topic of weaponry in with a discussion on fish somehow? The amusing image of nuclear fish being used as weapons against the enemy came to mind. Perhaps after a bit he would throw the idea out there and see what his comrade thought of it.

“Being ‘eaten’ by one kind of ruined them for me. And … they’re not really fish, but I like dolphins, maybe even more than I like fish. There’s this one kind in particular – the striped dolphin.** Sometimes I like to imagine that I am one. I think it would be nice to just swim around and eat fish all the time.”

Ivan imagined that being killed by a shark might make him more bitter with them too. He had never even seen one though in all his years, and had never been attacked. Still, the shark was surely the most dangerous and respected fish in the waters, which made him like them. There was a certain beauty to dangerous things that appealed to him. He had a fondness for innocent things like rabbits and cats too, but animals that were known for their savagery were always fascinating.

“I’ve seen dolphins before. They were pretty enough, though the ones I saw didn’t have stripes. They were just a steel color.” He considered the rest of her words for a moment, briefly wondering what it would be like to swim around all day and eat fish. It didn’t really sound appealing to him. Russia didn’t care much for swimming as it was, and being trapped in the water sounded awful. The same would be true if he were a shark as well, but then at least he would look fierce and demand the respect from both swimmers and fish alike.

“Dolphins seem too peaceful though. Think about it, they prey on fish the same as a shark, but nobody is really afraid of dolphins. Humans and other sea creatures don’t really respect dolphins. Lots of creatures fear sharks, and of course fear is the same thing as respect.” The blonde looked content with his logic, and stared out at the river for a moment.

“It’s the same way with nations, you know. The friendlier and more laid back the nation, the more that other nations will take advantage of them. You have to be aggressive if you want to gain and keep power. You may like dolphins, but if you want to be a strong nation you have to be a shark.” Seychelles would need to understand that now that she was independent. Surely if she got more aggressive and confrontational, she would be better off. It was hard to imagine the smaller woman next to him as ever being confrontational or aggressive, but maybe his influence would help her there. They were allies now after all.

Looking down the river a ways, he gestured for Seychelles to follow him along the embankment. “You won’t need to worry so much though with me as an ally.” The unhinged Soviet assured her merrily. Glancing towards the large red Kremlin wall off to their side.

[seychelles]

Océane listened as Russia talked about the dolphins he had seen. From what he said about them, they were probably bottlenose dolphins. She liked those well enough, too, but striped dolphins were much more interesting to her. She was surprised that he had seen them. She didn’t really know a lot about the world beyond her islands, but she couldn’t imagine her tropical, warmth-loving dolphins ever coming this far north. Unless he had seen them somewhere else, of course. She reminded herself that many nations did travel more than she did. And maybe the dolphins did visit this part of the world. After all, she loved the tropics just as much as any dolphin, and yet here she was in Moscow.

“Dolphins seem too peaceful though. Think about it, they prey on fish the same as a shark, but nobody is really afraid of dolphins. Humans and other sea creatures don’t really respect dolphins. Lots of creatures fear sharks, and of course fear is the same thing as respect.”

Seychelles frowned. She had never really thought about it that way before. But it wasn’t really true, was it? Fish were afraid of dolphins, just as much as they were afraid of sharks or humans or anything else that ate them. But maybe fish didn’t count. Maybe Russia meant that other predators didn’t respect dolphins. But that wasn’t really the case, either. It seemed silly to her to assume that just because dolphins were gentle, playful creatures, they didn’t know how to defend themselves.

“It’s the same way with nations, you know. The friendlier and more laid back the nation, the more that other nations will take advantage of them. You have to be aggressive if you want to gain and keep power. You may like dolphins, but if you want to be a strong nation you have to be a shark. You won’t need to worry so much though with me as an ally.”

Oh, so he was trying to make some kind of comparison. She was a dolphin, and he wanted her to become a shark. But … why? Sure, no doubt he wanted strong allies, but dolphins were strong, too, in their own way.

“You shouldn’t underestimate dolphins,” she said as she followed him. “They may seem friendly, and they mostly are, but they’re not weak, at least not in the way you seem to think. They’ve learned how to defend themselves. They stick together and look out for each other, and they can fight really well if they have to. I’ve seen a pod of dolphins work together to kill a shark before.”

She paused for a moment and realized that she must have missed something in his words. He wasn’t just saying that nations had to be tough; he was saying they had to be aggressive. They didn’t just need to be able to fight back; they had to seek out a fight. She wondered if that was why France and England were such powerful nations. Did they try to behave like sharks? She knew immediately that the answer was yes, and that thought was not very comforting to Seychelles.

“I see what you mean, though. Sharks are more predatory than dolphins. Is that really what nations have to be if we want to survive?”

[Russia]

Russia was not entirely sure where he was leading his female companion. He didn’t really have any one place in mind, but meandering along the river bank sounded good enough for the time being. Not being very good at socializing, he was unsure at to which places other than the river would be of interest to his new companion. She just didn’t look like the type to enjoy being drug along to a bar, which would have been his first choice of places to go and talk. He wasn’t entirely sure as to whether or not his boss had had any particular topics he had wished for Ivan to speak to her about either. Having just been given a book with his assignment, the blonde was assuming it was an “anything goes” type of meeting.

“You shouldn’t underestimate dolphins.”

The words broke through his thoughts, making him cast a glance curiously over his shoulder at the young woman. It seemed a strange thing for her to say, being so knowledgeable about the sea. Ivan may not have had the opportunities that she had to observe a wide range of sea creatures, but he knew a friendly, less impressive animal when he saw one. Still, he allowed her to explain her views.

“They may seem friendly, and they mostly are, but they’re not weak, at least not in the way you seem to think. They’ve learned how to defend themselves. They stick together and look out for each other, and they can fight really well if they have to. I’ve seen a pod of dolphins work together to kill a shark before.”

She made a good argument, the deceptively friendly looking nation had to give her that. But her statement did nothing to convince him that dolphins were more impressive than sharks. Seychelles had mentioned that they stuck together in pods, but truly impressive creatures didn't need to stick together in groups, right? Sharks usually didn’t stay together like that. Ivan liked to think that it was because a shark was so well adapted to what it did that it didn’t need any other sharks with it to be strong. Another reason to admire them. He was content to ignore over the fact that he was the lead nation of a group of nations. He didn’t want to even consider that the Soviet Union was far more like a pod of dolphins than a lone shark.

“I see what you mean, though. Sharks are more predatory than dolphins. Is that really what nations have to be if we want to survive?”

At least she seemed to be understanding now. Ivan paused in stride as well, turning to face Seychelles. “Of course. That’s just the way things work. You gain as much power as you possibly can and keep one step ahead of your closest rival. That’s the key to success being a nation.” Ivan stared at the young woman before him for a moment in silence. As seemingly young and innocent as she looked on the surface, he was convinced that if she followed his advice she would become at least somewhat more powerful and intimidating of a nation. He himself did not look half as fierce and powerful as he was. So there was hope for her yet, even with her strange ideas about dolphins and strength in numbers.

“And you can’t gain power if you’re not aggressive. If you notice, the less confrontational nations are the nation with the least amount of power and global sway.” His mind wandered to the more obscure nations that he had encountered in his life. The ones that he never heard anything about these days. Surely the reason why he never heard anything about them was because they were not aggressive enough to work their way up.

His somewhat thoughtful expression was quickly replaced by a insanely happy smile. “Speaking of power…” since his new friend was close enough to him by this point, Ivan swung an arm around her shoulder in what he thought of as a friendly gesture. “What is your stance on nuclear arms?” It was off the topic of sea creatures, but it was something that he never tired of discussing. Using the arm he had around her to lead her along, he continued to follow the river bank while waiting for her response.