Nora sighed, running her hand through her caramel brown hair. What was she going to do? Her dad was going to – okay, so he wouldn't kill her, but he certainly wouldn't be happy with the intimidating Russian being in his bedroom. At the same time, she certainly couldn't kick mister Russia out, not if she wanted to survive the next week or so. He really would kill her. Nora wasn't like her father, she couldn't draw on the confidence of some of her other siblings, it just didn't work like that. She paused; could it work like that? Maybe they were just so stubborn and stuck in their own ways that maybe they just blocked out the influences of their other siblings. With another sigh, Nora knocked on the door, first hesitantly then more firmly, opening the door to peek in.
"What would you like, girl." Ivan said irritably, laying on her father's bed.
"I'm really sorry, mister Russia, but dad will get mad if I let you stay here. He can be scary when he's angry, as much as it can be hard to believe, and I don't like seeing dad upset."
Ivan frowned. Although he was annoyed with this girl, he was intrigued by the thought of an angry Canadian, and he had to wonder; why was Matvey so protective over this room? "Comrade Canada values much privacy, da?"
"Da." Nora agreed softly, sitting on the bed beside him. "I think, I could be wrong, but I think it's because of who he is, who were are, really, as a nation. I mean, we're the second largest country in the world, second only to you, yourself. Yet, a lot of it is uninhabitable and in the north. In fact, 90% of the population is within five kilometers of the American border, I believe. Plus, the entire population of the country, thirty-four, thirty-five million or whatever, is smaller than California's, only ONE of America's fifty states and our cousin. Because of all this, and because we're often forgotten, we're very isolated and private. Plus, I think he just like privacy in general." It wasn't lost on either of them, how Nora alternated between describing her father and the country as "he" and "we", being that she was only one province. Russia idly wondered, somewhat uncharacteristically, how odd it must be to be only a small part of one large country, if it was as weird as being an entire nation and all of it's people in it.
Russia nodded a little in response to her little monologue, taking it all in. It seemed that "little" Matvey was not as little as he thought. The taller nation stood up and decided to take a look around the room, despite the province's protests. Overall it was pretty nice, a large king-sized bed bed made of maple wood with a fluffy maple leaf duvet as well as matching pillow covers. The dresser, nightstand, desk and overflowing bookcase were also made of maple, and over his dresser he had a rather large mirror. His dresser was cluttered with knick-knacks and personal items, and all along his walls were hockey memorabillia and native art, while photos of some of the more beautiful places in Canada lay all over his bed side tables. All of his furniture held hints of his French heritage, except for his desk. His desk was more than just a regular desk. In fact, it was a restored Victorian roll top, littered with documents, letters and photographs, many of them very old. One photo in particular caught Ivan's eyes, and naturally, he leant in to pick it up.
"Don't! Dad's very protective of his pictures!" Nora exclaimed, trying to jump up and take it out of his hands. Ivan looked at her, puzzled.
"Vimy ridge, this is familiar, da?" He asked, lowering his guard momentarily to stare at the photo, wracking his brain for any hint of why he would know it. Nora, despite her fear, took this opportunity to gingerly pluck the photograph out of his hands, quickly explaining before he could beat her with his pipe.
"Vimy ridge, or the battle at Vimy ridge, occurred on April 9th, 1917. It's one of the more famous battles of world war one. Uhm.. General Julien Byng, who later ended up being our Governor General, was in charge of the Canadian army, because for some reason no one believed that Canada could take care of it's own and instead had the Brits babysit us." She grumbled, "Anyways, the Canadian army was asked to attack Vimy, and for once Canada actually developed a strategy for attacking. You see, thanks to some idiot, the Canadian army wasn't trained or equipped very well and we kinda sucked since this was our first war pretty much, but this guy Arthur Currie trained the soldiers and took many days of prep and practice. The picture was actually a picture of dad and Currie, who later because the first Canadian commander in Paschendale. Uhm, Canada and the army managed to capture Vimy, a key strategic point, even when the Brits and French couldn't, gaining a huge amount of respect for Canada. Unfortunately, that seems to have passed. Even Canadians seem to think Canada wasn't involved in anything "cool". They seem to think we weren't involved in any wars. Don't really blame them since, at least in Ontario, a majority of the Social studies is spent on aboriginal stuff, but it still sucks." She explained.
Ivan frowned. Although all that information was interesting (who knew? Maybe he should read a little more on Canadian culture and history if he was going to be.. ugh... babysitting for a while), he hadn't forgotten about the fact that she had still taken the photograph, nor did it excuse the fact that she had taken it right out of his hands. Maybe Canadians weren't as meek as he thought, but they should have been. "Very interesting," he said dryly, "now return picture or meet pipe."
"I'm sorry, monsieur Russie, I can't do that. Dad get's protective over his pictures. Pretty sure I said that already." Nora sighed, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. The province of New Brunswick shook her head, looking around the bedroom. Her dad, although much more diplomatic and quiet, was still very alike her uncle Alfred in some ways. One of those ways was, unfortunately, his lack of organizational habits. She went over to his desk, picking up all the photos and putting them away in his drawer, putting all of his pencils and pens back into the container. She bit her lip, looking down at his special wax seal. The official nation seals had existed for as long as... human-nations had been around, or so she'd been told. All nations had one. The seals were sacred, and had to be used very carefully. The provinces and territories of Canada had their own seals as well, but if they ever need quick, full nation approval on any matter, then each province had their own key to the vault in which the seal was supposed to stay. Her father's seal was beautiful, really, and fairly intricate. A circle of maple leafs, with a beaver, a moose, a whale's tail and, at the bottom, 'A Mari usque ad Mare", or "from sea to sea", the official motto of Canada. The seal was not to be treated lightly, and meant more than the Prime Minister's Signature and the Governor General's stamp of approval combined. It meant that the country itself approved of an action. It meant that it could override any decision it's government made, on the grounds that, the country knew what was right, even if nobody else did. That's why they had to be kept locked up. If the seal got into wrong hands...
The prime minister was worried about Nora and her siblings even having access to it. Especially Quebec. After all, it meant that Quebec could separate from the rest of Canada using that seal and, since the seal would be used, there would be nothing anyone could do. It took a great deal amount of trust to let them use the seals, and Nora made sure that none of her other siblings took advantage of that. Like the rest of them, she kept the key to the vault around her neck at all times, just to make sure she could lock it up in case her father, the moron he was sometimes, forgot to. She put the seal in it's special box, the coat of arms painted on the lid, and walked over to an old painting done by the famous group of seven and moved it aside. "You didn't see this, Russia." She muttered, putting the pin in to open the first door, then unlocking the second door and putting the box inside. She locked it up and reentered the pin, closing it before replacing the painting. She then returned to tidying up, receiving an odd look from the northern nation.
"What are you doing, girl?" Ivan asked, raising an eyebrow. Nora sighed.
"Unfortunately, dad seemed to have picked up some very bad habits, being Alfred's brother for so long. I mean, they're as thick as thieves and even have the longest unguarded border in the world. Even though uncle Al forgets us sometimes, they're super close, closer than dad is to Grandpa England and even Grandpere France sometimes, so it's only natural that he gained some of America's habits. Anyways, dad tends to be very messy and disorganized, so I usually try to help him out. Especially when he decides to leave the seal out, the moron." Nora shook her head.
Ivan thought this over for a moment. He was going to be dealing with these people for as long as he was, so he should probably get to know them a little more. At least, he should know who he should avoid and who he shouldn't avoid. With a brief nod, he decided. "Tell me about siblings, da?"
Nora paused, thinking things over as she continued to tidy up her father's bedroom. She attempted to organize his books and gave up, realizing the futility of this action. "Well, dad did a pretty good job, I think. Maddie and Tara, that is, Ontario and Quebec, argue the most and that's because of old grudges. They hate being told they're a lot alike. Tara tends to be very bossy and controlling, not just because she's kind of like our cousins, but because she's seen as one of the more important provinces. In government, her province has the most seats, with Quebec being fairly close to the same. She's also very loyal though. Maddie tends to be a little self-centered. She's the only province that speaks more French than English, and is a little racist towards the English, though that's more out of a fear of losing her culture. She constantly tried to get special status throughout the country and is always threatening to move out, but no one believes it'll actually happen because she's a major daddy's girl. Umm... Maddie and Hiromi are a little tense around each other, because Maddie gave a laboratory which lead to the bombing of Japan during world war two and Hiromi has emotional and population ties to Japan. Currently Hiromi and Alberta are fighting over a pipeline, and it's causing Hiromi some health issues because it's sorta splitting her province in two, half of BC wants it for economical reasons, but the other half worries about the environment. A lot of people make fun of Hiromi and her ties to nature, Alberta keeps saying she's into bestiality which doesn't do much for their relationship right now, umm... Sarah tries to intervene but no one really pays much attention to her. She can get a little violent though, since she has the most violent crime in Canada last I heard. Toby... Toby's too much like dad, and it's sad how much we actually forget him. Scott, my brother, he kinda goes out of his way to stand out because people keep thinking he's either me or Newfie and no one seems to be able to distinguish us at all... Eddie has a bit of a short person complex and is obsessed with red. Noone can understand Newfie and we all make fun of him for it, he's sort of the butt of all the Canadian jokes. Also, he kisses fish or something like that. Liam doesn't talk, we're all terrified of Sergei and he usually ignores us to talk to Aleksa, he's also super close to Nina and West... he gets sick a lot, which is annoying. We all fight quite a bit but we love each other, and wouldn't let anyone dare touch one of our own. We're a family, from sea to shining sea. Just... don't talk about hockey. Ever. Unless you want your head ripped off. Hockey is a very touchy topic in our house."
Ivan blinked. This was a lot to take in in such a short amount of time. He had to admit that it was a little disconcerting to hear that Matvey had been involved in world war two – he hadn't realized that they were comrades in battle. It was especially odd to hear how dysfunctional this family was, though in retrospect it really wasn't. After all this, though, there was only one question on his mind. "Why can you not mention hockey?"
Nora giggled, "because all of the Canadian teams suck. Team Canada for the world hockey league is very good, which is why dad himself is a good hockey player, but the Canadian teams in the NHL kind of really really don't do well at all." She paused, "I swear, my siblings would kill me for that. Truth is, we're actually pretty good, but most of the nation doesn't really think so. Anytime we lose a game, they complain that we suck. The best in the nation is the Montreal Canadiens, the Leafs someone coming in second despite how much they really do suck, the Canucks and Flames are third and fourth in Canada respectively, Oilers and Senators coming next. The rest I think are all dead teams. Anyways, regardless of how "good" our teams are, any hockey game is toxic in our house, though in actuality all of us Canadians are proud when even one team makes it to the playoffs. Still, during hockey season, we're a volcano waiting to blow. Dangerous topic." Nora paused, thinking everything over. She opened her mouth to speak once more, only to freeze as a loud yell erupted from downstairs.
Ivan frowned. "You would think that provinces know how to care for selves, da? Not behave like little children?"
Nora sighed. "Yeah, you'd think so. That's probably Maddie and Tara again."
A growl left the Russian's lips, already regretting the decision he'd made as he started to head down the stairs. An eyebrow raised involuntarily at the scene, watching the supposedly oldest teens scrap in the middle of the living room as the other provinces and territories gathered around to watch, Toby being the only one of the remaining eleven provinces to try and interfere, to no avail.
Nora sighed and moved to stand beside Sergei with a frown, "what're they fighting over now?"
Yukon shrugged, staring at the squabbling teens with an expression of distaste. "I do not care. Something to do with the language again, I think." He shrugged, running a hand through his white-blond hair.
Russia's scowl darkened, a threatening aura of violet permeating the air around him as a menacing round of kols left his lips. He walked into the middle of the circle threatening, ripping the two teens apart and holding them by their collars, tossing each to a side. "You will listen now, da! I will not tolerate fighting. If I hear of it, I will smash all with mr pipe. You will all behave, da. You will not bother Russia when Russia is sleeping. Understand?"
A meek chorus of "yes"es and "oui"s made their way around the circle. Russia nodded satisfactorily, only to scowl once more when his leg was pulled. He glanced down, his gaze softening when it fell on the young territory of Nunavut.
"When will papa be back, mister Russia?" She asked meekly. Russia leaned down and picked her up in his arms, sighing.
"Soon, I hope." He said, turning his attention to the clock, then to the other provinces. "What will I cook for dinner, little Matveys?"
"Pancakes!"
Ivan groaned.
I'm so sorry! I had much of this typed up long before, but then I sorta didn't know where to go from it. I'm still having issues where to go, but I have a bit of an idea. Now, I do have a problem, involving both this story and the Quiet Annexation of New South Canada. I need all of you to go vote in it, please.