The silence bothered him so he quickly broke it by saying, “I heard America was being mean to Russia too, you know?” They’d been talking about the rising tension between the two countries and how the 2 weren’t exactly getting along at the moment; it was like they were having a lover’s quarrel, really.
He wished the latter would just drop the matter and stop worrying about things he couldn’t change or do anything about. It wasn't like he could stop the USA and Russia from trying to wage war on each other and the world or something.
“Well, I saw this map in Wikipedia. It showed the world map with the current members of NATO in one color and Russia in another color. It seemed like the USA and NATO were everywhere. It looked kind of unfair to me,” Alfred explained, frowning as he recalled the map in question.
Cyrus face-palmed; he wasn’t going to pretend he understood the way Alfred’s mind worked. Sometimes, Alfred could be really confusing, not to mention strange and odd. “Don’t use Wikipedia as a source,” he said instead.
Alfred refused to let the matter go though. “I heard that Russia was feeling threatened because it’s like NATO was encroaching on the country’s borders. That does make sense, doesn’t it, I mean for Russia to feel all threatened and stuff? Why can’t Russia and America just be friends? Why can’t everyone just be friends and try to get along and solve all these problems in a peaceful and diplomatic way?”
Now Cyrus knew Alfred was either quoting from somewhere or had recalled something he’d read or something because there was no way Alfred could have come up with these words all on his own. Really, since when did Alfred know words like ‘encroaching’? “I suppose it’s like with personal space then.” He shrugged, unconcerned and uncaring. Why should any of this matter to him? After all, this had nothing to do with him. Let them do whatever they wanted as long as they left him alone and didn’t bother him, Cyrus thought, scoffing.
Cyrus face-palmed again; really what was Alfred going on about now? If he’d said it once, he’d said it a hundred times- sometimes, he really had no idea how Alfred’s mind worked. Strange didn’t begin to cover this. “Somehow, I highly doubt that,” he muttered. “I mean that if someone gets too close to you, would you like that? They-” he started to say before amending his words as he remembered that Alfred had absolutely no concept of personal space whatsoever.
He should know as the guy had way too many friends and had no problems being all friendly with people, smiling at them, clapping them on the back, giving the occasional friendly hug and even holding hands or grabbing people’s arms to drag them off somewhere (the last was most familiar to him; how many times had Alfred grabbed his hand or arm and insisted on dragging him off to some place or other?). “I don’t like anyone getting on my personal space,” he said instead, almost growling.
Alfred pondered this, frowning.
“Besides, think about it,” Cyrus said. “If Russia made alliances or tried to build military bases and the like near the USA’s borders or whatever it is they do-” Cyrus rolled his eyes; like he cared what they did. “Do you think America is going to like that? Don’t you think the USA will protest that?”
Alfred said nothing.
Cyrus growled. “This is ridiculous.” He stood up, approaching Alfred. “Look,” he said, attempting to change the subject (he’d already tried earlier and it didn’t exactly work, but what’s the harm in trying again, right?). “Weren’t you going on about some new ice cream store or something? Why don’t we go there now? It’s too hot here.” Well, don’t look at him like that. He does want some ice cream and besides, he was sick of dealing with a moping, sulking and upset Alfred; it was completely out of character for the normally cheerful guy.
Alfred’s eyes sparkled, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Ice cream? I love ice cream.” He grinned. “And I want some now. Oh yeah, there was that new place, and, come on Cy, we gotta go now. Also, did you know that-” Alfred moved to grab Cyrus’ arm. As he dragged his friend off towards the ice cream store, he started talking about the new flavors of ice cream the place offered and the kinds they should try.
Cyrus pulled away from the grip, but walked alongside Alfred who was now gesturing wildly with his hands as he went on about something or other, smiling widely and eyes sparkling. Cyrus wasn’t really listening though he had a half-smile on his face. Finally, he’d gotten rid of that annoying frown.
Prequel: Why Russia And America Have To Involve The Entire World With Their Lover’s Quarrel?
*Notes:
- First image is a screenshot showing Axel and Roxas from the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Nintendo DS game from Amazon.com
- Pic is meant to represent Cyrus and Alfred who are close friends just like Axel and Roxas
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by Nikolas Becker (CC:BY-SA) from Wikimedia Commons
- Image features a map of the world to represent the countries and how they fight and ally with each other
- YouTube video shows the reset button that America gave to Russia; this just shows that the 2 countries are capable of being friends / can get along even if they may have differences as long as they just try
- Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. Check the disclaimer linked in the footer section of this blog for more info
