Out in the cold
"You're kidding me…" Eduard von Bock stared up at the huge oak doors of Russia's mansion, even darker than normal in the dim evening light. Scowling slightly, the Estonian once again rattled on the doorknob, even tried knocking, but there was dead silence throughout the house. No doubt at this hour Latvia would be in bed, but Lithuania normally stayed up later to finish little jobs around the house or to file some more of Mr. Russia's papers- papers like the ones Estonia had in the satchel over his shoulder. He had accompanied Mr. Russia to the meeting with his boss that day, to as Ivan put it, "Keep the papers in order.", but really meant "taking notes for Russia who got too distracted to keep writing.".
Sighing, Estonia walked around to the side of the house, to the kitchen door and was surprised when he looked inside the windows, fairly high up but not a problem for the tallest Baltic. All the lights were off, and there was no sign of Toris. Damn, that probably meant he had assumed Eduard would be coming back with Russia and had locked up and gone to bed. That had been the original plan, but Mr Russia had stayed behind to talk with a few old political allies, and had sent Eduard home ahead of him. There wasn't really any knowing how long it would be before the Russian would be back. Trudging back around to the front of the house, Estonia tried the door one more time, but it was definitely locked, and Ivan had the key.
A sudden gust of icy wind made the hair on the back of Eduard's neck stand up. Shivering, he tried to take shelter pressed up against the door, and squinted up at the sky. Please say it wasn't going to start snowing…
Minutes later, and the blond was cursing his luck as Russian snowflakes swirled around, dusting the ground with an icy frosting. Estonia pressed his back against the door and slowly slid down, taking the satchel off as he did so and sitting curled up against the doors, watching through carefully polished lenses the snow tumbling from the sky, like raindrops on a British afternoon. It looked like it would be a long wait, especially with this snow, but hopefully snow wouldn't hold up Ivan Braginski, of all people. Thinking of his currant ruler, Estonia's mind- exhausted by the long day- drifted back to previous bosses, ruling states…the good, those periods of independence that had felt so freeing but (in hindsight) so temporary, and the bad. The wars, invasions…right from when Eduard was a child. A snowflake drifted and melted right on the Estonian's hand. Somehow in his drowsy mind, the memories and the cold were becoming more intertwined, taking him back, back, very far back…
1219
"Are you cold?"
Estonia looked up. Though a child himself, the nation above him seemed to tower over the much younger Estonian. He blinked and didn't reply. With a cheerful smile, the other country crouched down and peered at him with sky-blue eyes. "Are you cold?" the older nation repeated his question. For a nation whose people were known for being vicious and bloodthirsty, this boy had always seemed…nice.
Estonia nodded. All he had was a simple tunic, not enough to protect even a country from the Northern winters. The other boy's smile grew.
"I thought you were. Here! I got you this!" from behind him, the country with sky-blue eyes produced what looked like at first a small bundle of red fabric, however when he unrolled it, Estonia found himself looking at a cloak, well-made and thick.
"W-what's th-that?" Estonia stuttered, reaching out with a tiny hand to trail his fingers down the back of the cloak, which was emblazoned with a symbol or pattern he didn't know.
"That?" The older country looked proud. "That's my flag! It's called the Dannebrog!"
"D-dannebrog." Estonia tried the name out for himself.
"Yes. Do you know where it came from?"
Azure-blue eyes, curious and listening, looked up to the sky-blue ones.
"It came from here, Estland! From your home." The taller one beamed. "And! Did you know…it actually fell from the sky?"
"Taevas?" Little Estonia's eyes widened.
"It fell when I set foot on the shore. Like it was welcoming me!"
Welcoming. Estonia thought that through and came to a conclusion. If he was welcomed, then he was good. He must be good! Slowly, Estonia gave the other nation a small, shy smile.
Taking that as the reply, the country leaned forward and settled the cloak on Estonia's shoulders, fastening the buckle around his neck. "How's that?"
"Warm." Estonia pulled the material closer around him. Then, acting purely on instinct, he jumped forward and threw his arms around the older nation, who after a moment of surprise, hugged him back. "T-Taani?" Estonia dared to use his native word for the other nation. Pulling back from the hug, he went on. "You're…you're n-not going t-to leave me, are y-you?"
"I have to go home at some point. But don't worry." The older nation reassured him. "I'll visit you whenever I can, and I promise I won't let anyone else hurt you. Just let them try and invade. I won't abandon you, I promise."
Promise.
Promise…
"Estonia!" Eduard's eyes snapped open and he shook his head, looking around. Fear clutched him momentarily as he saw Russia looming over him, but the concern in the Russian's voice was evident. "Estonia, are you ok?"
"Y-Yes sir!" Estonia scrambled to his feet, picking up the satchel as he did so. Thankfully none of the papers were damaged. Ivan nodded, pulling the key out of his pocket and unlocking the huge mansion doors. The two men entered and paused briefly in the dark entrance.
"Извините Эстония! I forgot you did not have the key." Ivan waited for a reply, but there wasn't one. Confused, he looked back to see the Estonian seemingly lost in thought, a strange look on his face. "Эстония?"
Estonia started. "S-Sorry Mr. Russia!"
"No harm done." Russia shook his head. "You are just tired, da? Looks like Eduard needs to sleep!"
The Estonian simply nodded and handed back the papers, politely wishing Russia a good night before heading up the stairs to his own room. In truth, he had barely listened to a word Russia had said, his mind instead mulling over the strange dream.
Well, more a memory than a dream…
Eduard shook his head, trying to clear it of thoughts like that. It was definitely too late to be thinking about the past like that. It was over, done with, Eduard always made a point of focussing on the present and future, not the past. Speaking of the present, the ever-growing snowstorm was beginning to batter at the window.
The sound was somewhat soothing however, and, wrapped up in numerous blankets, Estonia felt the lines between memory, reality, and dreamworld blurring again…
Which is more painful, he wondered sleepily. A freezing night, and no protection from it…
Or lies and a broken promise?