Norway speaks just as slowly, if not slower than Greece. It's just that he doesn't pause or fall asleep when speaking.
Norway raised himself up to his full, still rather short height, and stared out over the gathered crowd of nations.
Already several were blatantly not paying attention, Australia and New Zealand perched on the same seat, earphones split between them. Their heads were bowed, almost in prayer but not to any religious figure. They were praying to the god of rugby for their team to win, and nothing short of World War three was going to distract them from that. Japan appeared to be concentrating intently, but to anyone paying the slightest bit of extra attention that he was listening to music, thin wires partially concealed by his hair. America was overtly playing on his phone, mostly likely a driving game from the excessive leaning he was doing, almost winding up in Russia's lap during one turn.
Clearing his throat, Norway reached forward and tapped twice on the microphone, the noise crackling as it rolled around the lecture hall. A few faces turned towards him at the clear signal of a speech about to start, but more did not. No offence was intended and no offence was taken, often these were used to place bets. And Norway was going to win this one.
"Nations, I have found that over these past few years..."
-
Norway could feel his face flushing, a grin threatening to break through his cool composure but he carried on, gaze not fixed on his fidgeting audience but on the clock slowly ticking on the back wall. Finland was building a tower of cards, partially using Denmark as a support, the other nation having long since placed his head on the table and tried to go to sleep. Russia had taken the game from America almost an hour ago and was walking him through the scarier stages of the game, a calm smile on his face as America flinched and hid his face. Australia and New Zealand were fixated on the calm, one hand clamped over their mouths as the other clutched the person next to them, Wales and England both continuing to sew and knit respectively despite the death grip the smaller nations had on them. China was drawing, pen slipping from the paper covering the table to the newly varnished wood, pen scratching as he dug it in.
"And so, to expand upon my previous point about the vast impact this had on my development as a nation..."
Every conscious face in the room was turned to stare at the clock, watches being checked every few seconds, some nations tapping them in frustration as if time was deliberately slowing down. Latvia had managed to successfully swipe a bottle from Russia's briefcase, the small nation moving ever so carefully away, clutching his prize to his chest. Switzerland seemed to have ascended to a higher plane, the man not moving or even twitching, Liechtenstein napping on his shoulder. Both Italy's had decided to break out the picnic, portable stoves being pulled seemingly out of thin air, pots and pans bubbling away filling the air with delicious scents setting stomachs rumbling.
"And so in conclusion," Norway paused. He had slotted five false stops into his speech and the entire room was fixated on every word, faces begging to him to stop, and briefly he considered doing so, but Iceland tapped his watch and so Norway continued, "that is the end of the speech, thank you for listening."
Never before had a room cleared so quickly, nations almost climbing over each other to get out, Prussia choosing to go out of the window. In a matter of seconds, only two nations remained in the room.
"Good sleep?" Norway asked Greece, the man yawning and stretching, cats meowing in discomfort as he jostled them.
"Good, thank you. Did you beat the record?"
Norway checked his phone and smiled.
"By almost thirty minutes. I could have gone longer but I have a potion on boil at home."
"Same time next year?" Greece asked, scooping a cat which was tangling around his legs.
"Of course."
