Antonio hadn't had the displeasure of experiencing such a surprise storm on a personal basis in what felt like centuries. Nonetheless, after it had cleared, he found himself bobbing around in open water with a boat that had clearly seen better days after holding up as best as it could with the sudden, dangerous weather change. He'd gone from his typical carefree mode to one that had made even Arthur wary at one point, his sailing prowess being put to the test in other ways.
As he was repairing his ship with an improvisation that was providing only limited results, he saw a flare go off. It took longer than he would have hoped to reach the spot he'd set his course on, but when he arrived, he saw the lopsided boat of the Baltics. Looking at the state of them, the earlier sabotage to their engine seemed puny in comparison.
"Oh, Mr. Spain…." Eduard said as he held onto Raivis as the smaller personification seemed to be having trouble keeping upright with the odd angle the ship continued to float at. "Would you mind giving us a hand for a moment, if it's not too much trouble?" The Estonian asked, his sailing mates looking just as worried about his response. "Only, it's not so much we can't…um…" He trailed began, trailing off as Antonio held up a hand to interrupt.
"Of course amigos. I'm not so sure I have much to offer by way of help, but my engine is still giving its all to keep working." Antonio said as he gestured to the back end of his ship, loud whirring noises heard as the engine precariously continued to work. "It may not be the most reliable at the moment, but compared to what happened to yours earlier…"
"Oh, we can fix it!" Raivis said with a smile, already shrugging off the Estonian man's stubborn hold on him as if not fully trusting the Latvian personification to keep from having his 'helpfulness' causing any additional trouble. "Our engine is okay, but we've sprung a leak below deck. We've stopped it up, but as you can see…" He continued to ramble, his characteristic of being overly honest about things habitually making the other two Baltics look around anxiously.
"Si. I can see." Antonio said, doing his best to angle his boat better to allow the other three to hop aboard. "If we team up, we should be able to get back to land sooner. Hopefully the others have already made their way back and are sending out help- we could definitely use it." He said, watching as the Latvian of the trio jumped on board his deck while the other two remained on their ship.
"Thank you Mr. Spain. Ah, we'll just get some of our things and head on board your ship, yes?" Toris said, looking back and forth between Antonio and Raivis as the boy walked over to their help. "We'll just be a moment." He said before disappearing along with Eduard to get their things. Within minutes, the three were safely on board the Spanish man's ship, tinkering with the engine to get it working again.
"It's not too bad." Eduard said as he looked it over, readjusting his glasses as he worked. "We're not exactly expert mechanics, but with the bunch of us, we should be able to figure something out. Do you have a manual or something, Mr. Spain?" He asked, Antonio scrunching up his face in thought.
"I am not sure. But if I have one, it should be this way." He said, gesturing for Eduard to follow him while Toris and Raivis remained to keep working on fixing the engine.
"It could be worse." Raivis said, looking over to Toris, the taller man giving a nod in agreement. "We could've ended up sinking completely or…" He said with a shiver, "….we could've been picked up by Ru..." He began to say, only to have Toris hastily clamp a hand over his mouth.
"Don't say his name!" He said in a panic, Raivis shoving the hand away from his mouth. "Who knows? You might just summon him here or something." Toris continued saying superstitiously as he shook a little like Raivis had done, prompting both men to warily look around as though expecting the feared man to suddenly pop out.
"Let's…let's just work on the engine." Toris suggested, Raivis nodding as the two lapsed into silence, both wondering what might have happened to Ivan and if it was actually possible for him to just magically appear. The unexpected popping noise from the engine as they stood next to one another didn't help, Raivis launching himself at Toris to hold onto him tightly.
The other two men were busy pulling out the manual from where Antonio had stuffed it, flipping through it to see if it could provide them with any clues on how to get their means of transport back to full working order. Sighing, Eduard handed the book back to Antonio as he realized he wouldn't be able to make sense of what was written since Spanish wasn't his forte.
"Ah, of course. I'll see what's in here then, hmm?" Antonio said, sitting down at the tiny table in his cabin and flipping through the pages again. "What was wrong with yours earlier?" The Spanish man asked for lack of anything better to fill the silence.
"Oh, there was…um….something had gotten stuck in one of the engine's chambers…." Eduard said with a nervous look again, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. "It….sort of looked like a bottle cap of some kind. Honestly, it could've happened to anyone and who knows how it could've happened…." He said, trailing off as he said much softer how said bottle cap had a familiar-looking symbol for a vodka company they knew preferred by a certain someone.
Antonio rolled his eyes at Ivan's antics, pushing the manual over to read aloud what looked like might be the problem, Eduard thinking it over as well. As they were about to head back to discuss their ideas with Toris and Raivis when the radio began to crackle and Ivan's voice drifted through it, causing Eduard to stiffen up.
"Ah, my friends, where are you? I thought I could sense you talking about me, kol kol kol." Ivan said, Eduard sprinting back to the other Baltics and leaving Antonio to talk with Ivan. Picking up the microphone, Antonio simply shook his head before responding to Ivan's continued calls for someone to answer, not as creeped out as the others by how it seemed the Russian knew exactly when they would be by the radio to answer.
"Hola amigo. It's Spain." Antonio said cheerfully as Ivan paused in his own 'cheerful' calling out. "I've got the Baltics with me since their ship was having some trouble and taking on water. We've some engine trouble and could use a little assistance if you are close." He said, both hoping for a yes and a no to Ivan being close enough to 'help'.
"The Nordics and I are within sight of land at the moment. The storm blew us all further north than expected, but I was able to swim to their ship and join them when mine caught fire." Ivan said, prompting Antonio to wonder just how that was possible. "It is a good thing I am such a strong swimmer. Finland was very happy to see me when I surprised him on deck, kol kol kol." He continued, leaving Antonio to imagine the state the startled Finn was in at having Ivan spontaneously show up next to him. Then again, Antonio let his thoughts wander, Tino handled Ivan better than most others and had managed to stand up to him occasionally.
"Um…okay then." Antonio said, not sure how to respond to that as he pulled himself back into the conversation. "Well, my plan is to start heading back with my engine the way it is for as far as this ship will take us. Luckily all the instruments are working so we should be able to meet up with you all soon enough." He said, ending on his typical upbeat note. "If you could let the others know where we are, that would be very much appreciated Russia. Can you pick up my boat or do I need to figure out coordinates for you?" He said, already looking to see what his instruments read.
"Nyet. I know where you are." Ivan said, Antonio further confused as to how that would be the case but wisely refraining from arguing about it with Russia. "We will meet up soon. Tell my friends that I will be waiting." He said, the radio cutting out to effectively signal to Antonio that Ivan was done talking.
The Spanish man looked curiously at the radio before trying a few more times to get someone, possibly one of the Nordics, to talk with him but it was apparent that Ivan had taken the radio as his personal toy while aboard the Scandinavian ship. Antonio checked the controls once more to make sure their course would bring them back to land, the thought of trying to contact help other than their fellow personifications passing through his mind. That was always an option too, but for the moment, Antonio thought it might be less stressful on the Baltics to make their way back slowly since it seemed there would be another member of their welcoming party to greet them.