Trust is Dangerous- Russia x Germany

A letter from the Past

"So, a letter," Finland said slowly when he saw me at the verge of tears in the doorway. His eyes didn't betray his emotions, but he did scan the paper, thank goodness he didn't recognise who it belonged to. He sighed, and walked over to the balcony, stepped over the threshold and fiddled with his pocket. Since it was dark, I couldn't see what he was doing until I saw the smoke combing out of his mouth. I've noticed many people around me smoked. Funny. Still clutching the letter, I dared not read it until I felt ready, but that didn't mean I didn't hold it. As carefully as possible, I held it close to myself and made my way to Finland, who leaned on the railing to the balcony. It was made of cast iron and was intricately shaped into little trees, and at a closer glance, thick trunks and little leaves told me that they were oaks. I guessed that Mr. UK spent a lot of time on the design and setup of the campus, since he didn't miss even the slightest detail. I expected the smell of smoke to be as disgusting as the belomorkanals that USSR smoked, but they had a sort of smell that I could only describe as cold.

"E-cigarette," Finland said to my silent question, as if anticipating it. "You're one of those people that always has a question, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. He smirked and looked out at the sky. Silence stretched for almost an eternity, as I wanted to phrase the question, but didn't know how to word it. Many dorm lights were still on from adjacent rooms, and it seemed like there wasn't any sort of curfew that I was "I have multiple nicotine rolls which I insert into this slot," he showed me a little opening tab on the cigarette. "And it doesn't have to be just nicotine. It has certain types of flavours and stuff like that. I personally like menthol, the one I'm using now." He glanced at me once more, took an inhale from the cigarette and laughed, the steam from his mouth coming out like flames from a dragon. "But it's addictive, this stuff. I figured if I should smoke, it should be Vaping, not inhaling tar, rat poison and polonium-112. But I got hooked on this stuff when I was young, like, twelve, maybe, and I've been vaping ever since."

"I guess." I said absentmindedly. "Smoking is pretty bad for health."

"I never said it was good for my health." He inhaled the steam from the e-cigarette again. "I've got to get help for it. That's what Estonia said. But he's always jumpy about it for no reason."

"Mhmm." I couldn't focus on his words, and thankfully, he didn't continue. He wasn't the sort of person to go on ranting, so he inhaled the steam two more times before he said something again.

"Is that letter....from your father?" Finland asked, and even though he tried to sound carefree, there was a hint of awkwardness and uncertainty in his tone. When I didn't answer, his shoulders rounded and he sharply inhaled through clenched teeth. "Look, I'm not one to invade into private space....or family matters....or gossip.....but if you don't want to tell me, that's your business....I don't need to know." With that he turned the e-cigarette off, and blew the rest of the steam out. The blue fringed button that glowed neon shut off and he threw the empty cartridge into the waste receptacle.

"Err, Finland!" I was surprised by my own voice, and it called to him right before he opened up his phone notifications.

"Yes?"

"Sorry I didn't answer you," I sighed. "I didn't know what to think of it all. The letter is from my father, yes."

"Oh," he said. "Good...I guess. I didn't really need to know, just curious." He smiled at the end and then he settled himself on his bed to read on his phone. I shut the balcony door behind me and walked over to the kitchenette. There were two white stools and a square table in the middle of it. I sat down onto a stool and made myself read the letter that was now crumpled despite my best efforts not to do so. My hands shook with a fine tremor, but the words were like set in stone.