It started when they were walking together to a market and an old lady mistook them for a couple. Laughing, Ivan commented that it would be quite amusing indeed if they were, in fact, married. But of course that would be extremely weird, since they had been raised together since they were very young. They could have been blood relatives. Perhaps they were. For matters of relation were fuzzy among people like them. And certainly they had originated from the same tribes, the same original peoples.

Natalia smiled sweetly. Ivan remembered why he had always stated that she was certainly the lovelier of his sisters. Katyusha was pretty too, but there was something stunning about Natasha's smile. You could go days without it and still dream of it before you went to bed. It was her smile that drove poor men like Toris mad.

"Oh, brother of mine, become my husband!" she exclaimed giddily as she clung mock-possessively to his arm. Her hands were tight around his arm, but loose enough to escape from easily if he had wanted to.

Ivan screamed, "Nooooooooo!" girlishly and ran away with his arms and legs flailing about. He did not move particularly quickly, and was putting on more of a show than anything else.

Natalia cried, "Marry me!" as she chased him around the square. Her hair got in her eyes, but its messiness had a certain charm to it.

After a few minutes of the chase, Natalia grabbed Ivan gently by the end of his scarf and pulled him to her. "Now..." she paused for dramatic effect, then continued with a low voice, "you are mine."

The two of them melted into giggles as the old lady looked on approvingly. Ah, young love was so sweet! She continued to peddle her wares with an approving smile.

Later, when walking back to Ivan's house, they decided that they would pull the same stunt next time they were around others of their kind. It certainly would be a hilarious prank on everyone else.

"Probably that oaf America will freak out about the... taboo... nature of the prank," said Natalia impishly, with a spring in her step.

Ivan continued, "Although he has legalized incest marriage in many of his inbred little states," and laughed deeply. "Judging by his southern region, he probably made incest mandatory!"

They then both chucked at America's rather silly marriage laws, ignoring the ones of their own. Ivan inwardly smiled. It was wonderful to see his sister happy like she was. She had been smiling less and less, but perhaps now she was going on a more exuberant path.

"You know, I think my boss has a crush on you or something! He keeps on trying to bring back all the old policies from when we were actually one," exclaimed Natalia, with a little bit of disbelief. "It's actually a little bit weird! I don't exactly like it, but I can't really do anything about it. Ugh," she continued, with a hint of disgust in her voice.

Ivan kept walking, and hummed an old folk tune instead of saying anything. He was sure everything would probably sort itself on its own, and he couldn't really control what went on in her country anyway.

"So, anyway, should Katya be in on this?" Natalia asked, changing the subject. Ivan's house became visible on the hill from where they walked. They would be home soon.

"Sure," stated Ivan noncommitedly. "Why not? If she didn't know, she'd probably take it the wrong way and start crying about how the family's fallen apart, the poor dear." His older sister was such a crybaby! But it was endearing, and really rather cute. It felt like it should be ironic in some way that such a... mature... woman acted like such a child most of the time.

They both shared a good laugh about their older sister's hypothetical reaction.

By the time Katyusha opened the front door they were rosy-cheeked from laughter and the cold. Natalia poked at her brother and monotonously droned, "Let's get married... married... married..." then put a winter-chilled hand on her brother's shoulder.

As expected, while Ivan started babyishly weeping, Yekaterina's turquoise eyes watered up and her lower lip trembled.

"Natasha, what's gotten into youuuuuuuuuu?" she wailed as a fat tear threatened to drip down her face. The family that she had held together for so many years was riddled with... incest! The HORROR! She felt as if she were about to faint or start bawling. Maybe both.

Noticing his older sister on the verge of tears, Ivan ceased his crocodile tears, stopped pretending to flip the fuck out, and ran over to his sister. Well, "sister", but they were all practically family. They looked similar enough and had grown up together as family. "Katya, Katyusha, it was a joke! A silly prank! Of course we wouldn't be in incest together, because incest is disgusting and anyone who condones incest, whether fictional or real, is a very sick individual!"

Natalia interrupted rather untactfully, "Hey, incest is great!" and chuckled.

Not knowing who to believe, Katyusha began to sob from confusion. As he held his older sister in his large arms, Ivan glared icily at Natalia, who grinned lewdly back at him and stuck out her tongue.

After Natalia had been banished to a faraway room, Ivan sat down and explained the whole deal to his older sister. It took several false starts and reiterations of "I promise I would tell you if I actually liked someone!" and "No, I am not an incest!"

An hour passed. Katyusha, the Ukrainian personification of the Ukraine, grinned. Yes! She understood what was going on! Awesome! (She wasn't as knowledgeable about subterfuge as her siblings, having never needed to learn).