"You should have mentioned that your house was a fucking ice cube!" Romano complained as he shivered by the fire place. Alaska smiled at him as she relaxed comfortably on the other side of the room with her nine dogs plus Kolov lounging around her. Romano had been at her house for about three days, nowhere near the two weeks of the bet, and he was already having quite a few issues.
"My attire when I arrived at your house wasn't a hint?" Alaska asked rhetorically, "Or the latitude that my house is at? And the fact the city we're in is fairly far inland, and not near any large bodies of water?" Alaska laughed. Then she looked at one of her light gray huskies, this one with a purple collar with silver tags and sent the dog over to Romano, "Anastasia's happy to warm you up though."
"How do you keep track of which dog's which?" Romano asked, letting Anastasia curl around him.
"Collar and tag color combinations, and eventually I memorize their markings." Alaska admitted, "I've had a lot of dogs in my life though, all descended from the original four in some way. I've gotten new blood in there though, so they're still smart dogs."
"Or mostly dogs…" Kolov commented. Romano glanced over nervously at Alaska's companion.
"Mostly dogs?" Romano asked before glancing down at Anastasia next to him.
"Yeah, Kolov gets a bit too proud of his brood." Alaska laughed.
"I thought the Hamburger Bastard said Kolov was a…Alaskan Malamute." Romano looked at her nervously.
"A convenient excuse since Malamute's look so much like wolves." Alaska stated, "So according to anyone but Maman or Papa, Kolov is an Alaskan Malamute."
"I've gotten used to it." Kolov sighed
Romano looked surprised, "So, you're a wolf and have, what, fathered the other canines here?" Romano paused for a moment before adding, "Is that why they understand English so well."
"They know Russian better." Alaska said offhandedly, "Do you want salmon or tuna for dinner?"
"You eat more fish than Japan…" Romano laughed.
"Yeah, well, I get too much pork and beef when I'm with the 'continental forty-eight' because that's America's favorites. Speaking of Japan, did you know he taught me how to safely prepare sushi." Alaska stated, "Maybe I'll make that. Or there is goose if you like."
"Let's go with the goose." Romano said.
"Nice." Kolov hummed as he followed Alaska as she got up and headed for the kitchen. With the loss of their humanoid warmer, the pack of dogs moved over to Romano. Not that Romano complained, they were nice and warm.
The next days continued similarly. Romano learned that part of Alaska's daily routine is to sled with her dogs, which, Romano suspected, is where some issues in caring for the pooches comes from. They need that much exercise. Kolonova (A mostly white dog with a red collar and white tags) was the 'lead' apparently. Above that Romano didn't understand it. But he did end up being a passenger on the sled once.
Those dogs could book it. He wasn't scared of the speed, more that he was scared of falling out of the sled at that speed. He didn't understand how Alaska could be standing up with nothing but a bar to hold onto. Then she commented on having sled since she was just tiny and only had four dogs.
"Papa got me the dogs to help keep me warm while he was gone." Alaska had explained, "I had Kolov, too. I'm pretty sure there's an interesting story to that. I may even remember most of it if you're interested…but at that time, it took Papa a day to make it to my physical house from the docks. I'd end up trying to meet him half way, but one of my pups always ended up dragging me home." Alaska stated, "Then one day I saw people using dogs to pull sleds with cargo and people. I asked for a method to make one. By the next time Papa visited, I already had a sled and was able to meet him at the dock and keep up with him on the way back." Alaska looked a little embarrassed, "Papa's better at telling the story though…"
Romano looked somewhat impressed. Mostly that Russia was good at story telling. Then again, Romano was learning quite a bit about Russia and the man wasn't even here. Romano could sense, however, that Alaska held a similar hero-worship attitude towards Russia that his little brother held towards Grandpa Rome. As such, Romano took her words with a pinch of salt.
Of course, Romano was not expecting a visit from the large nation during his visit. So when Russia walked through the door like he lived in the house, Romano was surprised, and not quite pleasantly. Because as soon as Russia saw him, the creepy aura came out.
"Little Romano~" Russia sang at him, "Why are you in moy douchka's house?"
"Uh…um…We made a bet that I couldn't live at her house for two weeks…" Romano said quickly.
"Oh? And how long have you been here?" Russia asked
"A week and two days." Romano squeeked.
"PAPA!" Alaska shouted as she saw Russia. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "I wasn't expecting you here Papa! How did you make it past America's security?"
"Easily, I flew to your Materi's northern house and drove across the border." Russia stated, "It's not difficult."
"Nyet, America's an idiot~" Alaska stated, "You know my new friend Romano, da?"
"Da," Russia stated, "I have met him before." Russia stated, "How did you meet?"
"The idiot bet that Romano couldn't live with me for a week." Alaska shrugged, "Romano's house is really warm Papa~"
"Da, douchka, I know, I have been there." Russia stated, "Your aunt was with me however, so I didn't make many friends."
"Auntie Belarus?" When Russia nodded Alaska just sighed. She hugged Russia once more before mentioning the cakes she had in the oven, "I have the ingredients for Borsht, if you'd like to stay for the night." Alaska stated, "It'd be a shame for you to come all this way and have to leave so soon."
"I'd be happy to douchka." Russia said with a smile, "Go make sure your sweets are prepared right." With that dismissal, Alaska left the entry way. This left Romano alone with Russia, and Romano could feel the larger nation's eyes drilling into his head. Romano, though, did his best to ignore it.
"You are friends with moya douchka, da?" Russia asked politely.
"Yeah, so what?" Romano shot off. The Italian turned to look at the Russian and noticed a very scary feeling coming off the man.
"You do know that if you hurt moya douchka, there will be consequences, da?" Russia said simply. He was just stating a fact to the hot tempered Italian.
"Why would I hurt her?" Romano scoffed, "I'm not an idiot."
"Nyet, that word better describes America…" Russia muttered before speaking more clearly, "Just to being clear." With that Russia started moving towards the living room. Romano fallowed and sat in the chair closest to the roaring fire. Russia looked very amused by this as he sat in one of the farther seats. After a little bit, Alaska came into the living room. Russia looked up at her and smiled widely.
"Douchka, your materi asked me to tell you that he's holding a little party for some of his friends. Of course, you are invited, and Canada sent…Ontario I believe to get Pennsylvania as she usually attends with you." Russia informed his daughter.
Alaska smiled, "Will you be there Papa?" she asked.
"Nyet, I'll have to head back to my house by then. It's happening this Saturday." Russia stated. Alaska smiled at the information.
"In that case, Romano will still be with me, and he couldn't leave or he'd lose the bet." Alaska hummed
"What did you bet, douchka?" Russia asked.
"If he wins, he gets free passes to visit whenever he wants." Alaska stated, "If I win I can call him over to 'talk' with America on my behalf."
"The idiot wouldn't listen to Romano any more than Canada…" Russia commented.
"Da…but it'd be nice to have an ally." Alaska replied, "But you can come to the party with me and still be within the terms of the bet." She told Romano.
"Where is it?" Romano asked.
"If it's like Maman's usual parties, it'll be up in northern Quebec or southern Nunavut, where there are less people to be annoyed by poor singing, as Maman usually sets up Karaoke." Alaska explained, "I hope someone starts the Language Duet Game." Alaska said with a smile.
"Language Duet Game?" Romano asked.
"To play the game you have to select a song with plenty of lyrics in two languages, then you sing the song in which ever language you're most fluent in and pick a partner who is fluent in the other." Alaska explained the game to Romano. Truthfully it was one of her favorites, since she always got any Russian parts, as Russia himself was rarely there.
"Sounds fun…" Romano commented, and it was honest. It did sound fun to him. Romano secretly, or not so secretly depending on how much time one spends around the Italian, liked singing. Anyone who had spent enough time in the same building as Romano to be around for his showers knew that, because he sang loudly. Though, Alaska would admit, showers were magical enough to make anyone sound like a professional singer. Alaska could think of a few pop stars that might want to start recording in the shower. They might sound better then…
The rest of the night was spent in pleasant conversation. Alaska even convinced Romano to admit he enjoyed the Borscht she prepared for their dinner. That pleased Russia immensely, since the 'culinary expert' that was France admitted to not always being able to please the picky Italian brothers.
The next day was a Wednesday, Russia was still present, he had informed the pair that he'd be leaving on Thursday. As such, Alaska set up the dog sled and the three of them, though mostly Russia and Alaska, took turns sledding until the dogs were too tired to do any more. Then they went inside again and Alaska pulled out what was left of the cake she had made the previous day.
By the time Russia left, Romano would be able to say that the northern nations mere presence wasn't terrifying to him anymore, but the man could still be immensely creepy. Mostly when he was trying to defend his daughter though, so Romano wasn't quite sure he minded. One thing was certain, it would take a special kind of brave (or was that stupid) to cause someone to hurt Alaska.
The days soon flew by and soon it was Saturday. Romano stepped on a plane heading south east at four in the morning. To be honest, he didn't remember much of the trip to the party, or the first hour or so. Alaska insisted he just slept through it all, and Romano wasn't about to disagree. But around noon, Romano became conscious of what was happening. It seemed that Quebec had just finished some French song when Romano noticed Alaska whispering to Canada. Canada, for his part, smiled and walked up to the microphone.
"Well, the Language Duet Game has been requested, meaning we're getting at least two rounds of that." Canada's voice was firm now. Romano decided that he wasn't nearly so nervous around his kids and friends. Said friends included the Albino Potato Bastard, who was now walking up to the stage, as it was his turn.
"Get up here Hundchen!" Prussia yelled. Alaska scurried up to the stage with a huge smile on her face. Prussia leaned down and whispered in her ear and she nodded eagerly. So Prussia put in the CD and soon the music was playing.
"Eto pyesnya o samom prekrasnom gorodye v mirye. Moskva!" Alaska sang the first lyrics and Romano recognized them from the meeting he'd first met Alaska at. After a bit of instrumental Prussia jumped in.
"Diese Stadt ist eine Dirne, Hat rote Flecken auf der Stirn, Ihre Zähne sind aus Gold, Sie ist fett und doch so hold, Ihr Mund fällt mir zu Tale, Wenn ich sie dafür bezahle, Sie zieht sich aus doch nur für Geld, Die Stadt die mich in Atem halt, Moskau" Prussia managed to get to the right octave even. That surprised Romano, if he was being honest, as usually Prussia's voice wasn't nearly so low, but even with Romano's destrations, the song continued
"Raz, dva, tri!" Alaska chimed in with ease.
"Moskau"
"Posmotri! Piionyery tam idut Pyesni Leninu poyut" Alaska was obviously enjoying the song. Romano would even guess that this song was often picked for the 'Language Duet Game', as both of the people singing the song seemed to like it. And Pennsylvania and Saskatewan were singing along with Prussia and Alaska and as easily as the duo on the stage. Romano spent the duration of the song looking between Pennsylvania and Saskatewan and Alaska and Prussia.
The party continued with more songs. A few of the songs chosen were far out of the person's vocal range, but no one commented unless it was clear they were playing it as a joke. All in all it was a nice experience.
In fact, his whole experience with Alaska had been fine. Except the temperature (how did anyone live in this ice box?) and the run in with Russia. The man seemed to be quite protective of Alaska. It didn't surprise Romano actually. He didn't want to imagine being separated from his brother, let alone his own child (not that he actually had one…). Honestly, Russia's protectiveness boosted Romano's opinion of the man. Not that he'd probably care…at least he'd learned how to deal with being around Russia…at least when his daughter's around.
Hope you enjoyed it~
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