Dear Diary,
Navigating the halls of the soviet mansion can be tricky for some, but if you have ever spent an elongated period of time there you would find yourself quickly scrambling for exits. With a pipe-wielding Russian and an obsessive little Belarusian inside and a passive-aggressive Ukrainian in the garden, who wouldn't be roaming around looking for hiding places? I don't do as much hiding as you would think. I didn't really mind playing maid for Russia. Except for that one time Yekaterina convinced him that it would be cute to get me in a maid outfit. Russia made me wear it for at least two weeks before he let me take it off. Yekaterina is nice, at least she lets me call her by her given name. The other two, i wouldn't even try to call by theirs. They're both kind of.. scary. Russia mostly. Belarus is more devoted than anything else. We went on a date once, it only lasted three minutes before she decided to hold my hand and walk me home. We got there and my fingers magically bent the opposite way! (Okay so she broke my fingers, but I'm trying to at least pretend it was a pleasant experience.) I don't understand it at all. I care about her as much as she cares about that big monster of a man. And since we were kids, too. She thinks i'm stupid, or naive or something. I've been thinking about it for a long time and I really think that i'm in love with her. And I believe that if she could tear herself away from Russia for long enough, maybe she could learn to love me too. Or at least recognize that she isn't his property, and she doesn't have to be. The scariest part about this whole ordeal is that when I was cleaning her room, I stumbled over her journal. It fell open. I really only read the few words that were scribbled in darker than the others before i shoved it back under her bed, but i fear that if he keeps saying no to her, she won't make it to twenty years old. She's planning something and i'm scared. Someone so beautiful shouldn't hurt so much, maybe i can talk to her. Maybe i'll try that.
Regards, Toris.
Natalya closed the little book that she found under the big clock in the hall. If she'd not dropped her knife, she wouldn't have found it in the first place. It seems Lithuania had been keeping a diary. And that he'd been snooping just as well as she was. It only seemed fair, now. No guilt to be had, since he started the invasion of privacy to begin with. "Lithuania is such sweet boy, it is shame Ivan likes him so much or maybe I'd not have broken his bones so many times," Natalya thought. Thoughts like this were extremely common. Lithuania is in fact one of the nicer Baltics but the fact that Russia did have a soft spot for him always turned her thoughts sour halfway through. Nonetheless just as Ivan had told her, "Never tell a soviet your weaknesses," this vulnerability would be put to good use. She started brewing a plan to get exactly what she wanted from everyone involved. She headed to her room immediately to write in her journal, there was fun to be had here.
The next morning, Natalya awoke and threw her robe on her floor. She left her slippers on opposites ends of her room and messed up her sheets. Leaning down, she grabbed her journal from under her bed and placed it on her bed, open to her most recent entry. Lithuania would later on be tidying her room as he always does. Neither her nor Ivan told him to, he just did that on his own accord. Nonetheless, he would soon be by to do so and if she'd baited him as well as she'd thought, maybe he would fall into the trap she set. Leaving the door open, she went on toward the dining room to search for Ivan.
_
Dear Diary,
I knew she would notice me. I knew it. If only she'd take a moment away from that big old Russia and take a look around. I'm not unlike him, my hair is longer, darker, but i can be just as assertive. But she noticed me like i knew she would. I don't feel badly about reading her diary, she did leave it out after all. And when she knew i'd clean her room when she left. Anyway i read an entry in her diary, it was open to the page - i didn't even touch the book, i swear! But she mentioned wanting to get to know me better now that we're older, and how she likes my hair and how i look in green. This is incredible, i've never been this happy. Should I approach her about it? Or wait for her to approach me? She is terribly straight-forward usually. I'll play it cool, I wouldn't want her to feel pressured to tell me how she feels. I've liked her too long to want anything more than for her to be comfortable and happy. That's all i have to say for now, ill keep you updated.
Regards, Toris."It worked," Natalya thought upon reading this next entry in Lithuania's secret-under-the-clock diary the morning later. No pressure on her part, she knew exactly what to do next. tucking that little book back under the clock, she headed straight for the kitchen where she knew Toris would be making tea for her brother. She entered the kitchen, he was facing the stove, cooking. Crossing the room to the fridge, still dressed in her robe and hair pulled back in a messy fashion, she grabbed an apple and sat on a chair facing him. She looked devastating beautiful that particular morning. Completely on purpose. Dressed for bed but her face was made-up like a model's would be. To any girl that would seem terribly suspicious, but a simple boy like Toris wouldn't notice it was out of place. "Hello, Toris." He froze, he was used to only Yekaterina calling him Toris, but that was certainly not her voice. But a slightly lower, more sultry voice. Awkwardly turning from the oven, he looked at her. She was looking to her right, out the window. The way the light hit her pale face gave him goosebumps. "Good morning, Belarus." He turned back to his cooking. Mind racing, he suddenly felt her eyes on his back. "Darling, what are you thinking about?" Natalya said, smirking. She could nearly feel his heartbeat from the kitchen island she sat next to. Goodness knows what kind of frenzied thoughts he is being dragged through, she thought. Alternately, he was smiling down at the bacon in the pan. "breakfast, Belarus. Just fixing something for Russia this morning." As he finished his sentence, some grease came out of the pan and landed on his hand. "It seems that everytime i'm near you, something happens to my hands," he mumbled. She heard it and laughed. "You don't have to worry about your hands today, just don't touch me and your bones will be fine. Come sit with me, Toris." He turned off the stovetop and set the bacon pan on another burner. Taking a deep breath he turned to face Belarus. She was pawing at the apple she'd gotten and placed on the table. She acted as though her eyelids were heavy, her smile was catlike. He made a mental note of the fact that he loves, loves when she smiles. He moved from the stove to the stool next to hers.
Silence fell upon the kitchen, Belarus was spinning the apple under her fingertips, Lithuania was gazing at her - the room felt warm and smelled strongly of the bacon that was left on the stove. They made eye contact for the briefest moment, he blushed and she looked away - moving her hand to her thigh, taking the small switchblade from her garter and quickly slicing the apple into pieces. She gestured toward it with her knife, looking at him and nodding slightly. he obliged, taking a slice. She looked at him thoughtfully as he ate it, and said: "You look nervous, Toris. Everyone always looks nervous around me. I'm just a girl like any other. a lady, mind you. But a girl. Sometimes i tell myself that people are nervous because they want to kiss me, not because i have two knives on my person at every moment. It's probably the knives but I find myself kissing the cute ones anyway. Are you afraid of my knives?" It was so hard for her not to laugh, she usually played these games with Ivan, not Toris or any of the baltics. She watched a blush travel up from his neck to his forehead, he didn't know how to answer at first. After a moment he began to speak, "I'm more frightened of your hands than i'll ever be of your knives." He looked so serious when he said that, Natalya thought to herself. "My hands are way over here, you're not afraid of my knives and you're still nervous. You must want to kiss me then, da?"
To Be Continued.Hey, leave a review if you can! The reviews i get will determine how quickly i post chapter two. thanks!