The peace conference has awakened a flood of emotions in Vietnam that she didn't expect. She's always seen herself as strong and proud. Fierce. Capable of anything. So why then did she cower and feel the need to lean on her brother when she found herself surrounded by the empires. Yes, they are now probably the strongest nations who have existed. Yes, Rome was strong, Ancient Egypt was strong, and China himself was strong. But that was at a certain time and a certain age - technology is changing the world very quickly now. Everything is bigger - the empires, the weaponry, the destruction.
And yet she should not be afraid. After all, she is Vietnam. She has endured much of the world's horrors for millennia, and yet she is still here. And the bigger they are, the harder they fall - she knows this. Even if she's smaller than them, that doesn't mean that she should feel small. She has many important traits that they lack, after all - patience, endurance, determination. They may assume that they have those things, but they are but children to her.
But perhaps colonization affected her more deeply than she thought? The idea seems odd to her because, after all, that wasn't the first time she'd been forced to live and serve somewhere else against her wishes. In fact, there's a part of her that still sees the idea of living with her eldest brother China as more normal than not. But she always escaped from him with her courage and identity intact. What was different this time? Why is she so troubled, and so not herself? She must ponder this...
Fortunately, the Kremlin is a large place with many nooks and corners where she might be able to find some privacy. She's not even sure which room this is or what its purpose is, but it's presently empty and it has a large, west-facing window with the evening sunlight pouring through it. It's very richly decorated with ornate paneling, objects of art she doesn't really understand, and there are many comfortable chairs surrounding well-crafted tables. But she ignores those parts of the room.
Instead she notes that the carpeting is quite plush in this room, so she kneels in the patch of sunlight and closes her eyes. Her breathing slows as she begins meditating, attempting to cast all thought out of her mind. A goal that always produces mixed results, but even attempting to do it tends to have the effect of at least rearranging her thoughts into a more orderly and useful pattern. Just a few moments of being alone with her own thoughts often does her a world of good.
Last Edit: Jan 23, 2017 22:32:29 GMT -7 by Vietnam
The party indeed was very fun. He wasn't sure exactly what it was all about, not that it really mattered to him in the beginning anyway, but there were nations. Many, many nations, and they seemed... To decently get along. At least, there was no hostility apparent in the child's view. He was very nervous at first that it in fact was taking place in Russia, of all places available, and was still finding himself looking over his shoulder often enough to seem like an awkward kid, but the tot had come to relax slightly when he had yet to find Ivan himself. Or rather, he decided he would pretend he didn't see him, to keep himself from panicking too much. Either or, really.
If he couldn't see him, he didn't exist.
Such logic hadn't failed him yet, and he was going to continue using it. He managed to sneak out of the large overcrowded room, having told his brother he was going to go wee, as he had been holding it in for quite some time. He was a big boy, he could go all on his own. After having denying the offer of assistance from the Romanian, he had moved out to the hall, where the restrooms were really, just right out the door on the other side of the hall. He was able to go with no problems; success, really. A big accomplishment for the tiny tot.
Proudly he was about to head back when he spotted the female nation exiting the room and wandering off. Viktor rubbed his wet hands on his specially made outfit after having washed them before he decided, it would be more fun to follow her, instead of going back to the noisy crowded place. So, that is exactly what he did; the little tipper tapper of his boots didn't seem to alert the Asian nation as he followed her, and soon peeked into the room quietly when she entered a random room and sat on the carpet.
Viku frowned, confused. The place seemed to have chairs all over the fancy table, and she was all alone in here now. Now she was sitting on the floor and... Well, at least in the child nation's eyes, doing nothing. Just sitting. He stepped into the room with his finger in mouth, giving it small suckles curiously, his head tilting to the side in question. It didn't take him long to move around her and peek into her face, his own brown eyes staring straight to her's.
"What'cha doin? Is chu sick? Do we needta call a doctor?"
Vietnam first learned to meditate thousands of years ago from China himself. And having had as much practice doing it as she has, it doesn't take her very long at all to reach a meditative state and it isn't difficult at all for her to completely ignore everything going on around her. This includes the voice of small child. However, when she hears it she can't help but immediately become curious - who is it? It's not a voice that she recognizes at all, and she doesn't know that many nations that are that young to begin with. Also, why is said child here instead of the others? Is there nobody looking after it? And while she is quite capable of resisting the temptation to satisfy her curiosity, she doesn't want to. She can mediate at almost any time, after all, but it isn't every day that she meets a young nation.
Opening first one eye and then the other, they both nearly close again because of the expression that comes to her face when she sees the little boy that's attached to the voice. So cute! Though she's a bit of an isolationist and likes to keep others - especially those she doesn't know very well - at arm's length, a very warm smile comes instantly to her face. "Xin chào, little one! Who are you?" she asks, seeming to be delighted rather than bothered by his interruption.
"Không, I am not sick, I am meditating. That means that I'm resting my mind so that it will calm down," she explains, trying to keep it simple for him. Twisting to look back the direction she came from, and more specifically in the direction of the room where most of the conference is taking place, she frowns slightly. "There are a lot of very big countries in there," she comments, but then she turns back to the little boy and smiles again, "I guess I'm just not used to it. I haven't been to a meeting for the whole world before."
And by saying that, she's already being far more open about her feelings than she would be to pretty much anyone. Because why not? He's too young to try to use something like that against her. And if she's wrong about that, she's pretty sure he wouldn't succeed, for one reason or the other. Besides, she keeps so much bottled up inside of herself that she almost has to let some of it out whenever she feels that it's safe to do so.
The worried expression pasted upon the young tot's face didn't waver with the assurance of the elder nation. The boy was still frowning, his brows still furrowed in concern for the other, as he was explained to. He completely disregarded the question of the other asking who he was at first, his hands on the female's lap, his face still close up to her's, the big brown eyes blinking several times in obvious curiosity. When it was explained what she was doing in the simple terms, finally the frown was replaced with a small smile of relief.
After he was certain the other nation was indeed fine, as she insisted, the child pulled away and hummed in contentment. "That sound silly," he admitted, commenting on her explanation of what she was doing in the middle of the room alone, "How can just sit down here make chu calm down?"
It was something he was unfamiliar with; and having not been with many different cultures himself just yet, anything he had yet to experience himself went in the 'strange' category for him. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, seeing the brunet child was only now trying to make sense of the world around him, in his own terms and knowledge. His own mind tried to put the pieces together of the puzzle known as the real world, and it was, no doubt, still a work in progress.
"Da, there's many many big countwies there..." He agreed with her, bringing his index finger up to his mouth in thought. "An... Many scawy ones, too. Ish chu scawed of somebody, Miss?" Manners... Miss was part of manners, right? He wasn't sure what to call the older nation in front of him, so he tried to keep up with his respects. That was when he finally remembered of the question that was thrown to him earlier, and he blinked and pulled away fully from her. He sung out his introduction, his own speech mixed in with the German language that, unfortunately, already was making its way into his speech patterns.
"Oh, und, mein name is Viktor. Viktor Albescu. Bwuder calls me Viku, though. Ah... But, if chu want my land name, it be Bessarabia. Chu know where that at? It next to many many biiiig countwies."
If an older nation was so quick to decide that meditation was 'silly', Vietnam might have been bothered by that, but coming from one so young it's actually kind of cute. "That's what I thought when I first learned how!" she says with a smile, "I think that I was about your age when my brother China first taught me." Or thereabouts, as age is so relative among nations anyway. She was rather young at the time, that much she knows - it's hard for her to remember back that far.
"I can try to teach you if you want me to," she offers, but her expression becomes serious as she quickly adds a warning, "But it's really hard and you might think that it's kind of boring." Because though she finds it to be extremely useful, what she does remember about learning to meditate was just how mean China was about it. He had to threaten, punish, and bribe her to convince her to sit still long enough, and though it ended up being a very helpful skill to her she still questions how necessary it was for her to learn it that young. She suspects that China was desperate to make her more compliant, and she doubts that he even considered the idea that there is such a thing as being too harsh. So she's not going to do such a thing to another small child, and especially not one she's personally raising. Any meditation lessons will be strictly voluntary!
She can't help but smile when he clearly makes an effort to be polite - yes, he's definitely very different than she was when she was young. Though the question he asks forces her to think a bit. Is she scared of any of the other nations there? Yes and no - 'scared' is a bit of a strong word. Plenty of them make her a bit nervous, but then again there is a part of her that isn't scared of anything. But she quickly decides on an answer that she can give the little boy that will probably make sense to him. "Sort of. One of the countries there used to scare me a lot, but he got into a big fight with another country during the big war and he lost. So I don't need to be scared of him any more, and the country who won doesn't really care about me so I don't need to be scared of him either," she explains.
And she could say so much more than that, but she figures that is sufficient. Especially if the boy has had enough of his own experiences to know that there's some subtext there - even if the immediate threat of a 'scary' country is removed, that doesn't mean all the feelings go away. And unfortunately, she knows that it's quite likely the he'll know that - life is rarely easy for even the smallest of countries.
When the boy starts to throw some German into his introduction, Vietnam finds herself having to really concentrate to understand what he means. Of course she's used to the fact that all nations tend to throw in a word or two of their own here and there, but it's usually possible to figure out what was meant based on context. The real difficulty is that she is only so fluent in English to begin with, and she's talking to a child who is only so fluent in anything he says at all. Fortunately, German is very similar to English, at least in the simple words that he's using. "Không, I don't know where that is," she answers, "I don't know a lot of Europe very well, sorry!"
"My 'land name' is Vietnam, and most of the time that is what people call me. But my name is Nguyen Thi. You can call me 'Thi' if you want to. I live in Asia, south of my brother China," she says, introducing herself, and figuring that the boy has probably heard of China - even if he's technically a part of Japan now, just like her. China is pretty famous in Europe, after all.
Last Edit: Jan 25, 2017 16:52:08 GMT -7 by Vietnam
When offered to be taught how to meditate, the child only responded with a hum in thought, and nothing much more. It was not a yes, not a no, just an unsure gesture. Especially when mentioned it was boring, he figured it wasn't something for him. Already many things adult nations did were boring, he didn't want to sit through another thing that even an older country would consider 'boring'. It must be dreadful, then. What the boy of course failed to think of was the fact things he enjoyed would fit into the boring category as well for the elders, but that didn't matter at the moment. He instead shook his head at the offer, the finger staying at his mouth as he gave the answer.
And when mentioned that the countries in the other room were not scary for her anymore, Viku widened his eyes. She wasn't scared? Of any of them? Sure the boy himself only had one main one he didn't want to be around, and unfortunately he was already currently in his home being in Moscow and all, and it came to an amazement that the female nation didn't share that same fear. Even big brother was scared of Ivan!
"Big countwy... That's not Mister Ivan?" He asked curiously, finally pulling his hand away from his own face to slump down on the floor in front of the other. It was a new experience, meeting somebody who didn't share the fear of the Russian nation that he and his brother did. Was she some sort of superwoman? "Chu ish not scawed of Mister Ivan, Miss...? Or ish big countwy chu say... Ish that Mister Ivan?"
When the conversation continued onto introductions, the boy grinned. He was used to people not knowing exactly who he was or where his little land was located; he was still very new. If the youthful appearance wasn't telling of so, then certain the lack of knowledge other nations had of him was one. "Bessarabia is next to Womanya," he said, trying to say his brother's name correctly, "under German empire. Make many many wines! I know Mister China, too. He pwetty, just wike bwuder. Ah, chu very pwetty too, Miss Thi!"
When the child rejects her offer of a meditation lesson, Vietnam is not surprised. If he's not interested enough in the idea to want it even when he's been told that it will be hard and boring, then he's not ready for it. Meditation requires time, effort, and discipline after all. Besides, if at all possible the young should be allowed to be young - she wasn't, and that wasn't entirely China's fault, but that's exactly why she strongly wishes it for others.
It actually takes Vietnam a moment to remember who the boy would be talking about when he mentions a 'Mister Ivan'. The large nation doesn't exactly come up in her conversations very often, and when he does, she doesn't think about him that way. But when she does remember, she laughs gently and says, "Oh, of course I am not afraid of him! Not at all! In fact I don't think that I ever have been afraid of him... He's friends with my brother China, after all. And he doesn't notice that I exist most of the time..." And she actually looks somewhat bothered by that... "But even if he did notice me, I doubt that he would do anything to me. He has no reason to," she says very confidently. In fact, the only countries at the conference that she's less afraid of are those that she could defeat personally, if she had to.
Of course the relationship between Russia and China is much more complicated than she's making it sound. If that relationship even counts as a friendship then it's quite the turbulent one. And she's reasonably confident that they've been in bed together, if you know what I mean. But that's not something you tell a child... Still, she's extremely Russia will never bother with her - not with China literally in the way. Her eldest brother may overlook a lot of things when it comes to her, but he wouldn't overlook Russia.
But all of that potentially very deep intrigue is why being at this conference has been so taxing on her nerves, and why if anything it soothes them to be talking to this little boy. He's just as much of a moment of peace to her as meditating would be when compared to that nest of vipers in the other room. She's not exactly afraid to dance with poisonous snakes, but it's nice to take a break. "Romania?" she asks, attempting to determine the correct pronounciation based upon the way that he's trying to say it. Actually, she thinks that she might have heard the name once or twice, but she's still drawing a bit of a blank. "I don't think that I know where that is either, so sorry!" she says, looking only slightly embarrassed. She really should take the time to study her geography again, and catch up to all the changes! But at least she's not really afraid that he'll get offended that she doesn't know, like others might.
And she can't help but smile when he calls her pretty. Normally she tends to be very dismissive about comments on her appearance, partly because she doesn't care about it and partly because she suspects those who give her them want something from her - if only a roll in the hay. But it's hard for her to tell herself that this could be anything less than sincere coming from such a little boy, so she can only accept it for what it is. "Cảm ơn bạn!" she thanks him with a flattered smile, "And you're very sweet and handsome!"
The boy's chin rested in his two small chubby palms as the elbows rested on his knees, and he quietly listened to her, though his eyes were wide with curiosity and surprise. When he heard she wasn't afraid of Ivan, he couldn't believe his ears. Especially when told that she was not only not afraid of him, but in fact never was, was something the boy couldn't comprehend. The brunet child stared wide eyed to her, before jumping back onto his feet, and stumbling right back down with a small 'oof'. Only after he pushed himself back up properly by using both hands to support himself first, did he begin pacing around the room, swinging his legs wide as he did so.
"Chu not scared at all... That is stwange," he commented, stretching his legs with each step, unable to sit still, "I didn't do anything too, but Mister Ivan still take me before. He vewy mean, too. He make many scary dweams now. Do chu haf some stwong super power to make him go away...? So chu no haf to be scared of him?" If so, that would be an amazing superpower he would want to learn from this older nation. If it wasn't to protect himself, then to keep his own brother happy! With the shared fear they had about the enormous Russian nation, Viku could only imagine how helpful he could be in terms of ensuring his brother too felt safe, if he had such magical abilities!
So with that hope in mind, the toddler of a nation returned with a pounce to sit in front of the Asian once more, grinning. It was then that the other attempted to correct the boy's obvious struggled name of his own brother, and he gave out a small giggle and a nod. "Da, Womanya! It funny name, da? Sometimes I think it's not weal, that he only make it up cause he trying to make a stowy! But, he say it's weal... So I dunno." He muttered honestly, his gaze traveling up to the ceiling in thought. "But... It next to Bessarabia. I know that. It weird..."
Even as a country himself, how everything worked in terms of structure was not something the boy was quite clear on himself, either. If anything, he was still at the age where he would hang out with the human children of his own civilians, and think of it as strange as they grew older and he didn't himself. So many confusions were still left for him. His small thought was broken when she commented on his compliment, and he returned with a big smile, his fangs showing. "Hehe... Handsome? That's mean... I ish cool, da? Chu think I can get giwlfwiend fast?"
Even as she tells the boy that Russia is of no real concern to her, Vietnam knows that he's likely going to be surprised by that. Even though she's not really sure where he is on the map, she's guessing that he's European, and that makes sense. Russia seems to enjoy tormenting his neighbors over in Europe, but he simply isn't the same to his neighbors in the East. The only one he really seems to even care about is China, and perhaps Japan now that Japan seems to want to take over the world. She seems to be a footnote to him. Which is why if you were to ask her opinion on the very old debate about whether Russia is Asian or European, she'd say that he's probably European - he just plain seems to be far more interested in the Europeans to her. Then again, she also doesn't fully lump him in with them either.
In any event, the reaction that she gets causes her to smile, though she manages to suppress a laugh - she doesn't want him to think that she's laughing at him for being clumsy, but it's too adorable for her to not at least smile over it. But as he starts to explain his perspective on Russia she forces even the smile to disappear, because that isn't something to smile about. "Không," she answers when he asks about superpowers, "I suppose the closest thing that I have to that is that China is my brother." Which isn't a superpower even metaphorically to her, as she has absolutely no control over him and she'd argue that the drawbacks equal if not exceed the benefits. Not that she wishes that she wasn't related, but that's mostly because family is family and she doesn't ever consider what it would be like if that weren't the case. "But I have scary dreams too sometimes. They're just not about 'Mister Ivan'," she admits.
When told that he doesn't think that Romania is real, Vietnam looks surprised by that opinion. "If Romania is not real, then how how is it possible for you to talk to him? And how can Bessarabia be next to Romania if Romania isn't there? You can't be next to something if it doesn't exist," she points out, wondering how he got that idea into his head in the first place. She's pretty sure that she's heard of Romania before, even though she's not sure where it is (somewhere near Russia, she's guessing, based on this conversation) but even if she hadn't she's not in the habit of telling any land that they don't exist. That would be rude.
But all thoughts of that are quickly forgotten when his smile becomes so large that she notices his teeth for the first time. Her eyes go wide in surprise. "...Your teeth are..." she starts, but then has to stop because she can't immediately think of the word that she's looking for in English. Which is just as well, because the moment that she overcomes her surprise, she wishes that she hadn't said anything at all. For all she knows he's extremely self-conscious about it, and many nations have unusual characteristics - she's just never see anyone with teeth like that before!
And, very quick to want to want to erase the attempted comment with something indisputably positive, she says, "Vâng! I don't think it would be hard for you to get a girlfriend at all, as long as you're nice to her! Sometimes girls don't like you even if you're handsome, but I'm sure that lots of them would!" Even if he has weird teeth. In fact, if anything they make him that much more adorable!
"Chur big brother is a super power...?" Viku asked, tilting his head again. He couldn't help but to think of his own sibling, a small smile appearing on his face again just at the image of Fane smiling at him. It was a sight he always enjoyed, and wanted to see it as much as possible. When Fane was happy, so was he! In turn, he tried to bring it out as many times as he possibly could. In a way... Was that a super power in itself? Now he was just confusing himself of his own question. So when the other admitted that she had nightmares, but it wasn't about Ivan, he puckered his lips out slightly in silent thought. "So there ish scawier people than Mister Ivan...?" He asked, concern on his face now, "will they stop be so scary when I get big und older?"
And now, he was stuck with what seemed like, at least to him, another riddle. If Romania was not a real place, then how was it possible for him to talk to him and be next to him? Was it not possible to be next to something that didn't exist? Really? The boy's brows furrowed as he tried to solve the puzzle he created for himself. "But..." He started, "But... Umm... It can be make up name land...? Maybe...? Because we all Germany now... Wight?" Oh he was confused. He was oh so confused, and there was no real reason for it, either. The question was a logical one, and the child just didn't know of what to give as an answer. He was starting to pout when she commented of his possible outcome of getting a girlfriend, humming.
"I always nice! It not nice to be mean, so I be nice!" He then opened his mouth wide to show her his fangs as she seemed to want to comment on it, poking at one of them with his finger. "It look silly, da? Bwuder haf them too. It super hewpful when I wanna bite meanies."
When asked if her brother is a superpower, Vietnam realizes that the boy misunderstood exactly what she meant before, but she's happy to clarify. "Không, he's not a superpower, but he is big and strong, and very wise," she says with a smile. Of course, none of those things means that he's a good person, but he does have those particular traits.
But she can't directly answer his question about things that are scarier than Russia directly because, as she mentioned earlier, she doesn't think that Russia is scary. But she figures that perhaps he may be able to grasp a concept that he might find even more useful. "Everyone is afraid of something, but not the same things. You're scared of things that are not scary to me, and you're probably not scared of some of the things that are scary to me," she explains, hoping that isn't too hard for him. From what she knows of France, he isn't exactly the same terror in Europe as he is in other parts of the world, at least not while she was serving him, so she doesn't expect that he'll understand her fear. "Sometimes does helps to be big and older, sometimes it doesn't. What always helps is if believe you can do big things and never give up. Then even if something bad happens you know you'll be able to fix it and you keep trying until you do," she adds, knowing from her own experience that this is good advice.
Of course, as he attempts to sort out the logic hole that he's fallen into when it comes to the existence of Romania, she can't help but smile but she does manage to not laugh. She helpfully tries to clear the confusion (or possibly make it that much worse) by commenting, "If 'Romania' is a made up name, then what is the real name for his land? All lands have names, you know. But it can't be Germany, because if he's Germany or you are Germany, then who is that big, loud, bossy country?" Yeah, that will probably only make him more confused, but to a certain degree that just makes it more amusing. She's sure that he'll get his understanding of the situation sorted out eventually anyways.
And her smile gets even bigger as he comments on his teeth. "Silly? Không, I don't think so. Perhaps they are simply what makes you and your brother special. Only you and your brother have them, and everyone else has boring normal teeth," she states.
"If he's not superpower, then how he keep Mister Ivan away...?" Viku asked finally, getting the the point he wanted to end up in the last part. He just wanted to know a way to keep himself and his brother away from the Russian; if this man that Vietnam spoke of had the ability to do so, then he wanted to ask him how he did it. But it didn't seem to be that easy. Instead, Viku was met with a smile and her moving on, explaining of fears. At that, the boy couldn't help but to have his smile disappear from his face. The frown replaced it's position instead, as he tried to think of ways to get answers, that would, in the end, make sense for him. And be possible, if anything.
When explained everyone was afraid of something, though it didn't have to particularly be something in common, Viku's attention shifted away from his initial questioning of the tactics. Instead, he went to the most logical question that came to his mind at that; everyone? Even Miss Thi? But she didn't look like she would be afraid of anything! It made sense, seeing she looked pretty collected, and was an adult, and wasn't crying like he was used to seeing his own brother do. And at least in his own eyes, the large Russian nation too didn't look like he'd be afraid of anything; or Mister Ludwig too, either, for that matter! It was eye opening to hear something that would contradict such thought that the child had been having since his early days... Which honestly, was not much in terms of time to begin with. He wasn't even 30 years old himself, after all. In terms of knowledge and experience, one could safely assume and be correct that, he had none.
"Chu scared of something too, Miss Thi?" He asked the logical question that of course came to his mind first. "What ish chu scared of...? Grown ups... They shouldn't be scared of anything. They hafta be big und stwong, da?" Well... Excluding his own brother, of course. "If I beweave in big things... Und neva give up, then I no be scared? I... I gonna do that. I gonna twy that." With a determined look now on his face, the toddler nodded, his already-chubby cheeks puffing out slightly more as he held air in them. Weird habit, it just happened, and the cheeks were back to normal within a second later. She was throwing more unfitting puzzle pieces to his logics.
Real name of his brother? Wasn't it Germany? But when she spoke and shot down that guess, Viku's brows furrowed. Fane's name was Germany, as was his own, and... So was the big loud bossy country, right? They were all Germany? "...German Empire?" He asked his guess, regarding what the big main guy's name was, muttering softly. "...I think?" Was he right? Viku wasn't even sure anymore. He dug his own logical hole and was unable to climb back out of it. He was so stuck in his own thoughts that, by the time she commented of his teeth, he just nodded absentmindedly, trying to still figure out the riddle-like question.
"I already told you - they're friends," Vietnam answers easily, not minding that he needed the reminder, "If someone is your friend then you don't need to keep them away because they're nice to you." Of course with that particular 'friendship' it's much more complicated than that, but she's certain the subtleties would go over his head.
When asked to clarify that she, personally, is indeed scared of things, she's quick to do so. "Vâng, of course there are things that scare me!" she states, though she simply skips answering what exactly she's afraid of. If he insists then she'll probably answer, but if she can get away with 'forgetting' that he asked then she'd prefer that route. Instead she's happy to address the concept surrounding adults in general. "Even the biggest and strongest adults are scared of something - usually the other biggest and strongest adults," she informs him, "But a lot of adults are really good at looking like they're not scared even when they are."
"But yes, if you believe you can do big things and never give up, you won't be afraid of very much," she confirms with a smile and a nod. That's the key to her own calm and confidence, anyway - her life has certainly never been smooth or easy, but she endures all the setbacks by being confident in her ability to eventually get what she wants if she just keeps trying. 'Eventually' may take centuries sometimes, but it comes.
But on a much less serious topic, at least for her, she watches as he attempts to grapple with her added pieces of logic and decides to add in yet more. "Well, if he's the German Empire, then who is Romania and who are you? You can't all be Germany - that would be silly! How does anyone know what anyone is talking about if everything has the same name?" she asks with a smile, wondering whether and how much these questions will help or harm his level of confusion.
"Chu ish nice if chu ish fwiends?" The child asked, that in itself a surprise alone. He obviously wasn't one who made many friends himself, that, at this point, the only thing he went by was whatever his brother stated. And as far as he knew, the 'friends' his brother explained as so by interacting with others have all been... Well, nice wasn't the right word. Distant, perhaps. Indifferent of their situation. Not that Viku considered himself to be in a bad position at all, honestly, but it was still a rather confusing idea in itself. So he just went along with whatever she said for now, nodding along and turning to the windows in the room.
The scenery on the other side of the glass was one the boy was all too familiar with, and though he didn't enjoy the particular nostalgic flashbacks, his mind was also craving for some stimulation with vision. So he pulled himself away from the female nation and bounded over to glance out the window, to watch the people walk and live on their daily lives. They looked like ants with how tiny they were! Turning in time to hear her explain of fears adults still bared on their own shoulders, he tried to think of other random fears he himself also still had. "So..." He started, in thought, "Do that mean, if chu be grow up... That ish only thing chu be scared of? Big big biiiig grown ups? What about bugs? Und, like, ghosts? Monsters? They not scared of that? Ish chu scared of any? If I bewieve in that, that mean I no be scared of anything, but the big big countwies? Why it no work with them?" So many questions spurted out from the boy's mouth, as curiosity had taken over once more.
Pulling himself away from the window, he approached her once more, shaking his head when she added more twists to the logic riddle he was struggling with. "...Womanya ish bwuder's... Land name? But he also Germany. Wike, wike how, I ish Bessarabia, but also Germany... It a nickname. Miss Thi, we has many many nicknames..."
The question that the child asks now surprises Vietnam, as she'd have thought that he'd know that already. And when she moves past her surprise, it saddens her because she knows that the fact that he doesn't know such a thing means something. Specifically, it means that he probably doesn't have any close friends - or if he does then they're not very nice people.
"Vâng, good friends are always try to be very nice to each other! Friends who are not nice are bad friends," she explains, quickly deciding that he needs a more nuanced understanding, but of course she needs to keep it simple for him. "Sometimes you have friends who try to be nice, but they're not very good at it - but that's okay. But sometimes you have friends who pretend to be nice, but really they're mean and that means that they're bad friends," she adds. And the sooner he understands that distinction, the better off he'll be. She herself has had a shortage of truly good friends - instead she's found herself having to figure out how to make do with those who are nice to her with ulterior motives.
When he goes to look out the window, Vietnam smiles to herself - he had a hard time holding still, doesn't he? But she'll not mind that as long as he's giving her at least enough attention for them to keep having a conversation. And when he starts asking her if she has various fears, she considers each in turn. "Hmm... I'm not really afraid of bugs. And not ghosts either. Monsters... what kind of monsters? Ugly monsters? Giant monsters? I think it depends on the monster," she says says honestly, "But I know other adults who are scared of bugs, ghosts, or monsters. Everyone is different."
"But we are nations! We don't need to be afraid of any of those things. If you grow up big and strong, the only thing you need to worry about is losing your people. Everything else will work itself out. Sometimes it takes a long time, but as long as you have your people then you can just keep trying until you get what you want," she says with a smile and a hint of determination. If life has taught her anything, it's that.
As the child returns from the window, she smiles as he still attempts to work out his riddle. This in spite of the fact that his words this time triggers a certain level of upset within her. But that's not his fault, so she smiles instead. "Không, you're not Germany and your brother is not Germany," she says, sounding a bit amused, "Germany is Germany. Sometimes really big countries like to tell other countries that they're a part of them. Like my brother says that I'm a part of him. But I'm not Japan - I'm Vietnam. I wasn't Japan for over two thousand years, and I am not Japan now just because he said so. But he's bigger than me so I tell him that he's right even though he's wrong, because I don't want him to be angry. Understand?"