"Hello Germany," Nurse WHO welcomed me warmly into her office. Poland was already sitting in one of the couches, munching on a cookie. "Cześć Germany," he greeted. I smiled awkwardly before greeting him back. She motioned for me to sit next to Poland and took a seat at her desk. Swallowing, I hesitantly sat next to him. "Cookie?" she offered it to me from a jar. I politely declined, not in the mood for any food.
For a few moments, the only sounds in the office were the sounds of Poland's munching on his cookie and the soft whir of the small fridge. After a while, Nurse WHO decided to dive into Poland's treatment plan. "Have you ever tried removing nightmares before Germany?" she questioned me. I shook my head, noticing Poland frowning. He's probably regretting his choice now... She nodded, before reassuring me that the procedure was uncomplicated. "If a novice was the first person to try this out and succeeded, then you too can do the same," she told me, "It's better anyways for those who are unfamiliar with their ability since this is to do with the mind. Relying on your instincts will be better in this case. If you are worried, I can let you read through this book first. Be careful with it." She passed me a blue hardcover book and I took it, thanking her. Ancient words in gold lettering and a picture of a snake twirled around a staff decorated the front cover. "This is a copy, the usual one that you get at the libraries, of the journal I keep. I can't give you the actual one since it's old. It's not very safe to give it to people. Honestly UN should keep it in a museum but–you get the idea."
"When can we get started? Today?" Poland interrupted, not bothering to hide his excitement. I only felt more pressure on my back. "Unfortunately not today. I want you to try an exercise first before we start the treatment. The procedure works the best when both parties are familiar with one another," Nurse WHO explained, "Today you'll work on that aspect. I want both of you to spend an hour to find out 10 positive things about one another. I can leave my office as a place for you to do so or you can do this later tonight after dinner with Singapore in your dorm living room. It's up to the two of you."
"Dorm," both of us said at the exact same time. Nurse WHO nodded before telling us that she'd notify Singapore. We thanked her and she chuckled. "No problem. Tomorrow at the same time, please come back here and we can start on our treatment then if I think both of you are ready," she informed us.
We both stood to leave as we bid her goodbye. She waved back at us and we quickly left the room.
*
It was around 8pm when Singapore came back from his dinner. I was sitting on the couch–Poland chose to be in his room–reading the journal Nurse WHO had given me. The more I read about the procedure, the more nervous I felt. I could already foresee a thousand ways I could completely mess it up. I might erase a memory by accident...I might go another power run and completely fragment Poland's mind (and mine in the process if I was unlucky)...I might make his nightmares worse... Eventually, I gave up and began to read the other pages. They were much easier to process and wouldn't send me spiralling.
"Oh hey Germany," he greeted me casually. It seemed like he had gotten a bit more used to me after spending almost 2 months with me. "Hey Singapore," I smiled, setting my book down.
"I'll take a quick shower and we can start?" he asked me.
"Sure."
Just as the door to the toilet closed, Poland came out. "Is Singapore back?" he stifled a yawn. I nodded as he took a seat next to me much to my surprise. "Er...yea," I answered, berating myself for acting so awkwardly. Poland nodded, stifling another yawn. I returned back to my book as silence filled the room.
"Erm...so...er...are you feeling better? Y'know after you passed out and all," I could already hear East slapping his forehead. Amazing social skills Deustchland. Really amazing. I winced internally as Poland nodded. "I'm better now. Thanks for asking," we both fell silent again. Say something! Come on! This is getting too weird. I racked my brain for something conversation worthy but couldn't think of anything. I can't possibly talk about the weather can I?
It was safe to say that I was very glad when Singapore came out.
"Great, both of you are here! Let's get started shall we?" Singapore was dressed in a red shirt and grey shorts. Poland and I nodded. Singapore smiled as he quickly gave out some rules. "We'll play two truths, one lie to get started. Boring? Yes, but highly effective," he smiled brightly, "You know how to play it right?" Both of us nodded again before Poland offered to go first.
"Okay...let's see...er...the royal pet of my kingdom is called Balint, I regularly run out of the palace grounds and...I've read the entire Russian Roulette series."
"The second one is a lie," Singapore guessed.
I thought for a minute before shaking my head, "The last one is a lie. The Russian Roulette series still has...another 1 book to go. I think." Poland cracked a smile as he sheepishly scratched his head. "Haha, Germany's right. I'm not very good at lying," he admitted. Singapore looked a little miffed that he had guessed wrong but soon shrugged it off. Looking at me, he asked if I wanted to go next. I agreed and thought for a moment about what I would say.
"I have wings that appear when I'm excited. I invented a mini guillotine vegetable when I was 9 and I've only headed to my kingdom's capital 4 times in my life."
Poland and Singapore both frowned as they tried to guess which was my lie. Finally, Poland asked, "Is it the last one?" I waited for Singapore to answer but in the end he decided to follow along with Poland's answer.
"The first one was a lie. My wings appear only if I'm threatened or scared," I answered. Their eyes widened as Poland asked hesitantly, "Can...can you...can you fly with them?" I shook my head. "I've never tried before since they don't appear often. My guess is that they are purely decorative and supposed to ward off people," I answered, playing with my fingers. He nodded and I noticed a small relieved glint in his eyes.
Singapore went next. "I once kissed China as a dare, I have an incredibly low spice tolerance and I have a connection to the Merlions," he smiled at the last bit.
"I'm gonna go with the first one as your lie. China would never allow that," Poland answered. I nodded and added, "If I remember, that incident created the joke about how you and China are together or something." Singapore nodded, a disgruntled look on his face. "It was a stupid accident! I was walking down the crowded hallways and I tripped. China was right in front of me and when he caught me, we accidentally kissed. On the lips. Yuck," he made a face, miming himself gagging. I chuckled as Poland asked how old he'd been.
"I must have been...Year 2. Yea, either that or the end of Year 1. Mal still teases me about it."
"I've got to say, if it weren't for remembering the controversy of that incident, I would have gone for the last statement," I commented. Singapore shrugged his shoulders as he explained that oftentimes, many people didn't believe him. "The Merlions are rare creatures so I'm not surprised. I'm just very lucky that my bloodline has a connection to them. Think it was passed from my mother or something..." he trailed off, furrowing his eyebrows. Tracing his fingers in the air, it looked like he was drawing out his family tree. After a minute though, he shook his head and stopped.
"But that's a story for another time. Specifically when I finally get my family tree sorted. For now, shall we continue with our activity? Maybe this time we can answer some of our other burning questions about one another?" he asked. I nodded.
The rest of the time was spent answering questions from one another. To my surprise, Poland's answers were fairly interesting, some of them surprising even. Singapore's answers too. I felt as if I knew my dorm mates better and it made my stomach warm and tingly. Is this what it's like to be close with someone? All too soon, the night bells rang. Looking at the time, I told them that it would probably be a good idea for all of us to get some rest. Stifling a yawn, Poland agreed as he said good night before entering his room. I bade Singapore goodnight before entering my room. Hopefully Nurse WHO would give me the all clear for me to treat Poland tomorrow.
Translation:
Cześć--Hi
A/N: Damnnnnnnnnn, I managed to post at last. By the way, for those who didn't know, the Merlion is a mythical creature from Singapore whose...yea half fish and half lion.
This is what it looks like and it stands at the Singapore River and lots of people take photos with it. There's a smaller one behind it (the place is called Merlion's park) but I don't think too many people take pictures of it.
As for Singapore, since all the ASEAN kids have abilities that are based off their national animal, he has the ability of a lion since it's the national animal (If anyone wants me to explain it, I'll do that in the Q&A. Yay, S.E.A history time!) but still has a connection to the Merlion cus it's half lion and fish.
The Merlions are native to the Kingdom of Silk and are elusive creatures so spotting one is very good luck. They are quite meek but will not hesitate it harm you if they think you are a danger to them. And borrowing the idea from a book called 'Altered Straits', Merlions are in a 'hive-mind'. A group of Merlions are known as a pod.
Anyways, for those who didn't know, I won't be posting weekly but now it will be twice a month (every two weeks). I need more time to write and I have school and stuff. If we're lucky maybe I can get another chapter out early but for now, ETA for the next chapter is next week.
Okay, byeeee! Stay safe! :D
(Yes, I am well aware that I am posting this on April fools)