A week passed since America had been taken care of by the few countries who still had faith in his condition, and Russia was happy to be witnessing some improvements with the nation he had been responsible of caring for. It was true he was still showing signs of fear when he was around his caretaker and he was still having difficulty performing a lot of actions on his own, but at least he was showing more and more trust in the company of the one who fed him and cared for all his needs. Not only that, but he was even willing to tolerate being cuddled and hand-fed (though it was easy to tell he didn't necessarily enjoy this). Even if Russia would've found it to be more convenient if the one he was caring for was civil enough to eat without making a mess, he didn't mind taking time out of the day to try and teach America how to eat as a normal person would; and later give up and do all the work for him, since the other nation didn't appear to be capable of learning how at that moment. Besides, it only created a mess regardless of all the effort he put into attempting to teach him to eat properly. He figured it would probably be best to try and teach America how to eat properly once he was able to sit at the table, anyways, as he was growing more aware of how inconvenient it was to try and teach him while he was still bedridden. At least at the table, any possible messes would be easier to clean up.
The weak sunlight of the afternoon sun during the early spring day filtered through the bedroom window, greeting Russia as he entered the room. In his hands was a plate, holding a somewhat fancy sandwich he made. He walked towards the bed and set the plate on the nightstand. Though the main reason he even bothered entering the room was to feed the nation he was caring for, he still wanted to check on America to make sure he was even in any mood to eat to in the first place. Sometimes, he would end up falling into a deep slumber only five minutes after Russia checked on him, or would appear sickly (he assumed this must have been a result from him unintentionally over-feeding him), and he wouldn't want to bother the poor nation with food if he was either too nauseous or too tired to consume it.
When it appeared America was in fine condition, and had, in fact, become a bit excited when he became aware of the fact that there was now food nearby, Russia figured it was safe pick up the sandwich, and lift it to the hungry nation's mouth. Even if America was a bit excited about being fed, he still couldn't help but be a bit nervous in the presence of the one who had been able to pin him down, the first time they'd ever come face to face, so easily. Though, he didn't hesitate to take a bite out of the sandwich, as he would have during the other time he had been fed. Russia was happy to witness this lack of apprehension.
It'd only been a week, and the brave nation was already showing some trust in him. Yes, it was obvious that suspicion radiated from the piercing gaze he shot towards the one feeding him at that moment, but that was easy to overlook. Especially with the great amount of courage America was showing towards the situation, despite the fact that he'd been traumatized for two years straight. Besides, he understood now there was going to be no way of escaping his current situation until he regained some strength (though, the ones caring for him still probably wouldn't let him go so easily). What Russia loved most about how the young nation handled this lack of control over what had and was happening to him was the fact that he didn't try to fight it too much. It was true he'd put a lot of effort into trying to fight the others off at first, but it appeared that at some point, America was smart enough to understand this was a lost battle, and that it was best to simply go along with what his caretaker wanted from him. Perhaps some would consider this weak of him, but to Russia, he saw this as a sign the young nation was doing a wonderful job keeping his emotions under control.
In fact, since it it was obvious that, even if there was still some fear and hatred within America, he was now able to handle being around the same person who had been taking care of him for a week, Russia figured he was now ready to become more familiar with another individual. Maybe he was even ready to be around three people at once, and even bond with them. Perhaps some people would've found this to be a bit too much of a push, and believe the now less feral than before nation wouldn't be able to handle this, despite how well he was handling being around one person, but Russia believed this push was still worth the risk of causing him a little too much stress. America couldn't stick around only one person forever. He was going to have to accustom to being around and meeting strangers. Besides, if the company became too much for him, and he wanted to leave, his caretaker wasn't going to force him to stay around England and Canada.
When America was finished eating the sandwich, Russia wiped his face with a napkin, in order to rid him of any crumbs before pulling him off the bed in, so he stand him up. At first, the young nation was confused by this action. For what reason would the human need him to be standing? Russia, on the other hand, wanted to find out whether or not the nation was strong enough to walk on his own without any problems. If he was able to walk, he would be able to remove himself from the social situation with ease if he wanted to. With all this in mind, he strode across the room, until he was standing at a yard's distance in front of America, and demanded, "Come here."
At first, Russia believed it was a bit stupid to try and tell the verbally inept nation to come towards him. Some people probably wouldn't have even bothered trying to find out if he understood any commands, after studying him for a week and observing no signs he understood English, or any language for that matter. On the other hand, there was a vast number of words and commands in the English language, and there hadn't been many opportunities for America to prove he understood any words in English, so Russia figured it would've been unfair towards the other nation's intelligence if he didn't give him any more chances to express what knowledge he possibly could have possessed when it came to understanding English. He also figured it was possible that, even if his memory was wiped clean, the nonverbal nation still could've learned some words from being around the scientists.
Much to his surprise (and his relief), America did end up obeying his command, and only after a moment of hesitation. His legs were a bit shaky, since he was weak, due to laying in his bed for such a long time, but it wasn't long before he was standing right in front of the one who had wanted him to move closer. When the pale, blue eyes of the obedient nation gazed expectantly at the one who demanded for the proximity between the two of them, Russia couldn't help but be a bit gleeful at the fact that America was finally able to understand something he'd said, and grabbed the other nation's hand in his own as he lead him out of the room. At first, America was confused as to why the human was gently tugging on his hand, but soon enough, he understood he was simply trying to urge him to move forward and follow him; and so he did.
Though his vision was blurry, and he had trouble distinguishing any objects he happened to pass on his way through the hallway and down the stairs into the living room, America couldn't help but become cautious as he walked through these new surroundings, which were so unfamiliar to him. He was also apprehensive about why the human wanted to drag him through this unfamiliar territory. He was almost tempted to pull away from Russia and flee, but something told him this wasn't a great idea, so he resisted the urge to do so.
When the two nations arrived in the living room, America was shocked to find two other blurry figures there. Despite the fact that he had difficulty trying to decipher exactly what they looked like, he was still able to recognize them as the first two people he'd caught sight of since arriving at this strange place. Panic whirled through his gut as he tried to come up with ways on how he was going to escape from these two people. He was aware that he should've been trying to run away from these people at the moment, but he was too petrified to do so.
Meanwhile, England studied the fear radiating from America's aura before saying, "Russia, I don't think that it's a good idea for him to be around so many people at once right now."
Russia glanced at America for a moment, before stating, "I realize that he might be scared at the moment, but I don't see too much harm coming out of giving him a little push. He can't only stay around one person forever."
After saying this, he let go of America's hand before adding, "Besides, I'm not going to make him stay here, if he wishes to leave."
Though he was becoming even more panicked by the second, to the point where he was on the verge of tears, America couldn't help but appreciate the fact that his hand had been freed of the human's grasp. Now was his chance to escape!
"Look," England retorted, "I know you keep claiming that he's showing a lot of improvement in just one week, but that still doesn't mean he's ready to be around a small group of people. It's only been a week since he's been around us, so please, give him some more time to grow used to his surroundings before dragging him off to hang around a bunch of people he hardly knows."
Now offended by the fact that it appeared as if England disapproved of the way that he was handling the situation, Russia was about to speak up, in order to try and defend his actions. However, he immediately refrained from doing so when he witnessed America darting from the room. Now a bit hurt by the fact that it had become evident the other nation was right, he gave England a look of defeat before following after the young nation.
It didn't take too long for Russia to find America, as the nation was now hiding in a corner of his bedroom; curled up in a futile attempt to try and protect himself in case someone attempted to attack him. A pang of sympathy flooded throughout his heart, as he strode over to where he sat on the floor, and attempted to pull him into a tight embrace. America yelped at the contact, and tried to struggle a bit in an attempt to avoid his touch, but Russia had managed to make him stop flailing around so much after saying in a soft tone, "Nyet, don't be scared."
As America's trembling and panic gradually ebbed away, Russia couldn't help but be even more guilty for trying to force the poor nation to socialize with the others, when he was clearly not ready. It was stupid of me to think that was a good idea, Russia mentally scolded himself, I thought that a little push would help him, but I should've known that one week is not enough.