The two states that people would expect to become friends were not California and New York.
California seemed difficult to be friends with — he was "snobby, pretentious, a loser, and so annoying" to most states, including New York himself. It's why he notoriously had no friends. New York was.. well, New York. He didn't enjoy the company of others, period. He actively chased others away to avoid gaining friendships.
California had oddly nerdy interests and hobbies, to say the least — a YouTube history full of "boring" video essays and a Netflix watch history of "even boringer" documentaries, an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the film and animation industry, learning too much about the Zodiac signs, knowing a suspicious amount of information on true crime and paranormal cases.. Basically, calling him a nerd felt less like a playful insult and more like an astute observation.
New York, meanwhile, had weirder ways to pass the time. He spent a lot of time on his phone doing god knows what, had a tendency to disappear into a crowd just for the feeling of being another face in a wave a people, yet he also enjoyed finding his way atop buildings he knew he shouldn't be on top of that were so alone. Watching the sun set over a constantly awake city as a darkness cast over it and the lights in the apartments began to flicker on. He vehemently denied that the city was his only trait — because it wasn't — but the biggest city in your state is bound to affect your personality somehow. He enjoyed parties, sure, but not so much for the social aspect than for the alcohol and shenanigans. Had he not carried the weight of being an important state, he'd spend his days running along rooftops and people watching.
They were different in their quirks, too. It was well known that California had a tendency to cling onto whoever he could, which is why states were careful to not let him get an attachment. Being left behind easily broke him down, and it showed, from the last time he'd made friends. New York, however, actively refused company. He forced himself to be brash and abrasive, a personality not many could handle for very long, just so he could be left alone.
And yet, they had grown a bond seemingly off of nothing. Well, at least to other states, it seemed like it was nothing.
California and New York first seemed to click during a meeting where DC and Florida were arguing once again, whilst other states chattered amongst themselves. California seemed distracted, though, staring off into space, deep in thought. New York wasn't sure why, but he decided to say something.
"'Ey, what's got you distracted?" He asked suddenly, clearly surprising California from the way he jumped and blinked to himself, before turning to the shorter state.
"Uh, nothing, just.." He trailed off for a moment, glancing around at the states surrounding them, "Just.. Do you think I'm annoying?"
Without missing a beat, New York responded; "Yeah."
California clearly deflated at the response, which definitely wasn't what he wanted to hear, muttering something along the lines of "Well, crap."
There was a moment of silence between the two, before New York continued his response.
"Everyone in these fuckin' meetings are a buncha dipshits."
California looked bewildered, but before he could ask for any kind of clarification, DC interrupted the table in an attempt to set the meeting back on track.
It stuck with California, for some reason. He mostly wanted to know why New York had talked to him in the first place, and if he actually thought he was annoying or if the meetings simply aggravated him.
New York knew the answer, deep down in a pit where his deeply repressed emotions lay, that he didn't really despise California. Sure, he thought he was an idiot, but he was at least somewhat sensible compared to Florida and Texas, and he could make decent points sometimes. Still annoying, but he'd rather talk to him than anyone else in these meetings usually.
