Book 3 - Retrievers

XLI - Reintroduction

Russia walks back into the hallway, and South Dakota cheers. He tries his best to ignore Ukraine's teasing, which is made easier with the fact that most of Ukraine's voice falls below the ever-present buzz in his head.

Russia starts looking around further when someone flicks his ear. He turns around, ready to yell at Ukraine, only to see Ukraine talking with Kansas and Finland standing behind him.

"Fin," Russia groans.

"Oh. We're using nicknames now? Okay, Vin."

"I haven't heard that in a while," Russia jokes.

"Why are you talking so loud?" Ukraine asks bluntly, "are you deaf or something?"

Russia looks away and runs a hand through his hair. His face grows pink, and his eyes focus on the ground. His ears fall back a little.

"That's closer to the truth than you think," Finland comments.

"Go to America, go deaf. Got it."

"It wasn't Meri's fault."

"'Meri'? Oh! America? You call him that?!" Ukraine cackles, clutching his stomach.

"Shut up!" Russia demands, his face growing warmer.

"Ruby," America says calmly from behind him.

Russia's ears perk up at his name. He turns with a smile. Then he sees Ukraine leaning against a wall, laughing hysterically. His ears pin back. His tail curls just behind him and fluffs up.

"Hey," America soothes, "we have bigger things to worry about."

Russia's cheeks puff out and he pouts. America laughs a little and ruffles Russia's hair. Russia smiles.

Then, he looks over and sees Ukraine saying something to him. He recognized the speech patterns, but his voice does sound different with part of it shielded by tinnitus. None of the words fit together.

"(Sorry. I can't hear you,)" Russia signs absentmindedly.

Ukraine stares at his hands before staring back at him.

"What was that?! Were you threatening me? It feels like you were threatening me," Ukraine asserts, crossing his arms.

North Dakota begins talking softly, and Russia watches, embarrassed that someone else is trying to explain his actions. Then, Ukraine turns back to him, a softer, more concerned look adorning his features.

"Wait, you really have hearing loss?"

Russia nods.

"I can still hear some things, but I have some problems," Russia admits, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck.

Russia glances back to catch Ukraine staring at him, worried. Then, his heart drops. He steps forward quickly, and Ukraine almost pulls back in surprise.

"Are you hurt? Did they hurt you too?" Russia rambles, grabbing Ukraine's shoulders.

Ukraine opens his mouth, but Russia doesn't hear anything. So he proceeds to scan for any obvious injuries. He doesn't see any. After a moment of Ukraine standing stiffly under his grip, Ukraine pulls away.

"I'm fine," Ukraine shouts, concentration on his face, and the strain on his voice is audible.

"You don't have to yell," Russia says, waving his hands around, "you just need to talk a little louder and face me."

Ukraine sighs in relief.

"Okay. I can do that," Ukraine says with a worried smile.

"Where should we go from here?" South Dakota asks.