Hello Again, Mr. America [America]

Date: 1991

Toris drifted off to sleep after a full, hearty Lithuanian meal. The first meal he made just for himself after all that time he made all kinds of food, mostly for Ivan. He didn’t mind making meals for Natalya, but after awhile he grew tired making meals for everyone within the Soviet Union. It was exhausting to stand over the stove cooking meals that would be devoured in mere minutes. Now that he could finally eat his own food he nearly ate himself to illness. Instead, just passing out on his couch, still holding a Lithuanian written edition of Sherlock Holmes. Snoring ever so lightly and would require someone to be within inches of his face to here to hushed snore. The book against his lap and his other hand draped around the side of the couch. His dinner sitting in the kitchen sink, waiting to be washed after the long meal.

Within his dream Toris found himself back at Ivan’s house. The grinning Russian in front of him, coming closer and closer to him. He said something, but Toris couldn’t make out the words. They were slurred and Vodka was on his breath. Despite being a dream he could swear he smelled it as the Russian closed the gap between them. Toris avoided eye contact with him, like always. His body began trembling, shaking so hard he might appear to be having a seizure. In reality, he just feared the upcoming pain which would sting his back and would cause more scars to litter his back. “M-Mr. Russia…you’re d-d-drunk.” His shuttering and trembling wouldn’t stop. Even more shaking when he caught sight of the whip in his hand. The blood on it from earlier punishment that day. “M-Mr. Russia…please…y-you don’t have to do this anymore.” He pleaded with him. The whip raised in the air and then a knock came.

The knock snapped him from his nightmare and brought with it a scream. A loud scream that echoed in his silent house. Toris could feel his cold sweat slither down his forehead and his body shaking from the dream. He glanced down to see the book in his hand, it shook as he placed it on the coffee table. “Another dream.” If only he could find medication to take the nightmares away, but he feared no such medication out there. Toris ran his sleeve against his forehead, soaking up all the sweat with one swipe.

Another knock. This wasn’t a dream…it was…real. Toris became tense to hear it again…louder. His heart race as visions of Ivan trying to drag him back to Russia with him flashed through his mind. No…I can’t go back. He thought to himself, nibbling on his lip. Who else could be knocking at his front door? His eyes caught the time. At nine midnight. Midnight? He didn’t realized how long he slept. The nightmare felt too short to have slept for five hours. No one can to his homeland this late at night. It had to be Ivan. Why didn’t he just bust down his door instead of knocking? Toris wasn’t sure the answers to any of these questions, but he knew one thing…he wasn’t going back to Russia. That cold country with that cruel Russian.

By the time the third knock came, Toris darted across the room toward the window, peeking outside the blinds. Nothing came into view. Curse his window for not being in view of the front door and the peephole…he never installed a peephole! He gritted his teeth. Even if the person on the other end called out Toris wouldn’t be able to hear it. The door made out of thick mahogany would keep any voices, no matter how loud, silent. He couldn’t risk it. Ivan could be on the other side…waiting for him.

The knock came once more, but this time muffled because Toris had dashed across the living room and into his bedroom, grabbing out a small pistol in the nightstand. He knew nothing about the gun, the model, the make, when it was used much less how to fire it. Just knowing he had it here made him feel safer. Pipe against a gun…what would win? Ivan would clearly back away from him…right? It was the first thing Toris did when he came back to Lithuania. Strange as it was…being the country of Lithuania he didn’t need a background check or pay for it. Probably because his people knew why he needed the gun.

Toris’ hands shook as he ran to the front door, holding the gun at his side and yanked it opened. Seeing the friendly face of Alfred F. Jones made him instantly hide the gun behind his back…hopefully before Alfred saw it. “Ah…M-Mr. America…g-g-good to see you.” He gave an innocent ‘I don’t have a gun behind my back’ smile. No clue how he could get rid of the gun without Alfred seeing him, but he’d think of something. “Come inside.” He motion with his free hand to come inside the house, stepping away from Alfred to enter.

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Alfred walked up to the entrance of Toris' house, the first time he'd done so in...well, ever. The nation rarely interacted with Toris prior to the 1920s, and Toris worked for him in his own home in the 1920s.

Though Alfred certainly did not expect Toris to work for him forever, the circumstances by which Toris departed upon were very unpleasant, ones that Alfred did not want to repeat. With the stock market crash in 1929, Alfred became severely ill. He was confined to his bed for the first two weeks after the crash. Toris did a fair job of caring for him at this point, for which Alfred was grateful. Unfortunately, such a large dip in the economy meant that not only was Alfred ill, but he lacked the ability to keep Toris employed at his house.

It was at this point that Ivan swooped in like an opportunistic vulture and carted Toris back to the Soviet Union. Once there, he remained sealed off from the public, only able to interact with countries outside of the Union when Ivan allowed him to. Which, needless to say, wasn't often.

Not anymore. No longer did Ivan have the control over Toris that he did before. The Soviet Union was no more, and Toris was presumably free from Ivan's control.

Alfred hadn't actually intended on turning up on Toris' doorstep this late. Unfortunately, when one traveled across a long distance, matters didn't always go according to plan. One delay set back his schedule a few hours. He finally found himself in front of Toris' door and gave a hearty knock. Not so hard that he knocked over the door, though, of course.

Although after a moment passed, Alfred began to wonder if he should knock the door down after all. It worried him a little, that it was taking Toris so long to answer his door. Was he alright? Had Ivan done something to Toris in his upset? Alfred hit the door a little harder. Still nothing. Alfred was really starting to get worried now. What was keeping Toris from answering? Was he unable to answer?

His final knock was stronger than ever, to the point where it more than likely left a dent in the door. Finally the door swung open, Alfred ready to rearrange his features into a scowl if he saw Ivan...but it just turned out to be Toris. Alfred let out a sigh of relief and smiled, the smile slipping only slightly when he saw Toris move something behind his back. He hadn't caught exactly what, though, and pushed it aside when Toris spoke to him.

Mr. America. Damn, it had been decades since he'd had an actual conversation with Lithuania. Oh, they'd "talked", but rarely could they get more than a few words in before Commie Scarfovsky reigned the other nation in. Alfred scowled a little at the thought.

Remembering whose company he was in (Lithuania's, not the bastard he'd nearly started World War III with on more than one occasion's), a smile quickly returned to Alfred's face as he addressed Lithuania. "Alfred, Toris. Alfred. You don't have to call me Mr. America, I've told you that a zillion times!" It was all good-natured, though. He didn't mind being called Mr. America, in all honesty, he just didn't want the other nation to feel like he had to call him that. Especially when Toris did not even work for him anymore!

He happily accepted Toris' invitation to come inside, closing the door behind him. "Thanks, it was getting a bit chilly out there." Noting that Toris' hand was still behind his back, Alfred arched an eyebrow. "So, what do you have back there?"

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To see Alfred on the other side of the door was like a huge weight as lifted from his shoulders. He didn’t have to worry about Ivan with Alfred being here. If the Russian decided to show his face at all Alfred would be there to protect him. If only he was able to protect him when the Great Depression struck. He’d never have to go back to that horrible country ever again, but he felt more concerned over Alfred though his own safety. Toris didn’t want to return back to the horrors that were Russia, but he had no choice in the matter. He’d never blame Alfred for allowing Ivan to take him back. It was just nice to be away from him for awhile. A nice break to gain some good money doing simple tasks and not having to worry about being beaten for messing anything up or accidentally ruins something. It was nice to see a friendly face after a lot of turmoil in the past. He just wished Alfred called him instead of showing up randomly and nearly giving him a heart attack believing that Ivan stood on the doorstep instead of the friendly American.

“I know, but I wanted to…Mr. Alfred.” Toris changed switched his country name for his human name instead, but still adding the polite mister from it. It was never a matter of having to, although he use to be just as afraid of Alfred as he was of Ivan because he didn’t know anything about him and after being treated so cruelly in the past felt like he might have just been set in front of someone just as violent, if not more. “I respect you and I want to show you that.” He continued to give an innocent smile, hoping that Alfred would be too focused on the reunion to notice it the gun behind his back and by the sound of it he was more curious then anything. Good…he didn’t see it. How could he explain to Alfred the reason behind it? Alfred knows how cruel Ivan is and it should be no surprised why Toris purchased a gun, but Toris really didn’t want Alfred to know.

“Yes. It’s a little cold. Do you want some coffee or hot chocolate?” He made sure to not show even a glimpse of the gun. Toris didn’t move an inch in fear of exposing the gun and probably playing an unwanted twenty questions with the American. “Uh…n-nothing…M--M-M-Mr. Alfred!” His stomached churned as he tried to fight off another stuttering fit. Almost instantly his forehead dripped with sweat, sliding down his cheeks and hitting the floor below. He leaned against the door, hiding it as best as he could. I have to…get it out of here. He nibbled on his lip and tired to figure out what to do. That’s when he thought about coffee and hot chocolate. Alfred didn’t answer yet, but Toris took this as his one chance to get out of here, hopefully without Alfred knowing something’s wrong.

“Uh…I-I’ll go back some coffee and hot chocolate!” He moved in a way where Alfred wouldn’t be able to see the gun. Walking backwards wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it would keep Alfred from seeing it. He hit into the side of his wall, looked behind and then side stepped to where he stepped inside the kitchen until Toris couldn’t be seen anymore. His hand shook as he tried to figure out where to put the gun. He yanked open a cupboard and screamed, startled when a couple of breakable dishes came crashing toward him and onto the ground around him. His heart darted so fast it felt like it was competing in a marathon. He set the gun down and went for the broom. “I-I’m fine! Don’t come in here! It’s…r-r-r-really messy!” Why couldn’t he control his stuttering just once?

Toris started to sweep up the broken glass into a neat pile. He kept looking up to make sure he didn’t hear any footsteps, but could he hear them? After all he has carpet, not titles. Please don’t come…just listen to me Mr. Alfred. He thought, praying that Alfred wouldn’t come running. He eyed the gun on the counter and decided that he had to be quick if he wanted to keep Alfred from seeing it. Being on the counter was like screaming from Alfred to step into the room and lock eyes with the deadly weapon.

He grabbed the gun and stashed it into the cupboard everything fell out of. He leaned against the cupboard, breathing heavily and trying to calm his racing heart. He held onto some fear that Alfred saw it and would ask him. That would lead to a lot of unwanted questions too…questions that Toris didn’t know how to answer.

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Alfred smiled a little as Toris addressed him once more. It wasn't quite what he suggested, but close enough. Given that the point he was trying to get across in the first place was that he had no issue being on a first (human) name basis with Toris, it was a success. Especially when Toris explained that the reasoning behind the formal address was a feeling of respect, not a feeling of obligation.

The offer of a warm beverage was not one that Alfred had any plans of turning down. "Doesn't matter to me! Both sound good!" The nation took his shoes off and was in the process of slipping his coat off as well when Toris had a rather...exaggerated reaction to what Alfred thought was a small inquiry. His eyebrow went up at once. However, a large smile soon replaced this expression. "Alright, if you say so!" He didn't believe what Toris was saying. Alfred was brash and impulsive, and often said and did things without thinking, but he wasn't that clueless. Toris worked for him for a decade. He knew of the other nation's tendency to stammer when he was nervous.

However, he decided to give Lithuania the benefit of the doubt. Alfred knew Toris had something he didn't want to show him behind his back, but he'd play along for now.

Alfred waited as Toris went into the kitchen (moving backward in an attempt to continue to hide whatever was behind his back). Alfred watched, still curious what Toris felt he needed to hide, but not acting on it just yet. He wasn't sure that he would either. It just depended on how the matter unfolded.

He heard a scream and the sound of something shattering in the next room, quickly followed by Toris shouting to Alfred that he was alright and Alfred didn't need to come in. Like hell he was going to listen to that! Though he didn't exactly come running, he certainly poked his head into the room to check up on Toris. Toris did indeed look fine, which was a relief, but Alfred saw something he didn't quite expect sitting on the counter. Watching as Toris threw the gun into the cupboard in a panic, Alfred was able to make the connection that said gun was Toris was trying to hide from him.

"A gun?" Alfred questioned, taking a few steps forward. "That's what you were trying to hide from me?"

A few seconds passed before several chuckles escaped Alfred's lips. "That's what you were in a panic over? You didn't want me to see that?" Alfred shook his head as the chuckles died down, his expression more puzzled. "Why? It's just a gun! After spending so much time with the commie bastard I don't blame you." It did occur to Alfred that Ivan was technically no longer a 'commie bastard', but he didn't feel like changing his nickname for the other just yet. Especially when he knew it annoyed Ivan. Alfred watched Toris as he waited for a response, hoping his words would offer at least a small bit of comfort for the other.

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Toris jumped to hear Alfred’s booming voice. His heart picked up speed, but to his surprise…Alfred didn’t say anything bad about Toris having a gun for protection against Ivan instead he said the complete opposite. His shot nerves calmed down instantly. A weak smile forming on his lips to know that Alfred wasn’t going to give him a lecture about how he shouldn’t have a gun. He was going to correct Alfred and say Ivan’s no longer a communist, but he decided against it. No need to bring it up. After all, he didn’t want Alfred to go on a rant since they should be moving forward instead of backwards and focusing on history they can’t change. If they could change their history Toris would change being under Ivan’s control and being beaten by him routinely.

“Uh…I was just worried you wouldn’t understand.” It turned out that Alfred understood completely and he wouldn’t have to deal with a ‘you don’t need a gun’ rant he feared so much. “I…I’m sorry about getting so worried. I didn’t know what you’d think of me.” The smile never faded away as he spoke, in fact, it actually grew wider.

His eyes caught sight of the broke glass. “Be careful of the glass.” He warned Alfred, pointing at the swept glass on the floor. He turned his attention back to cleaning the rest of the glass up. Toris then grew it away and looked back at Alfred. “You can go in the living room now. I’ll have your…” he thought for a moment of what to give Alfred since he said either was fine. “Hot chocolate.” He added and motioned for Alfred to leave the kitchen.

Toris took the gun out of the cupboard and set it in the counter again. He’d finish making hot chocolate and then put it away in the nightstand. It didn’t take him long to make the hot chocolate. To Toris’ surprise it was hotter than he expected so he weighed it down with a little bit of cold water to balance out the heat and cold. He made enough tea in a lifetime for the Russian that he felt like never making another cup ever again. Toris even got bored of tea himself. It had a great taste, but hot chocolate has a much better taste and just as soothing to his throat as herbal tea.

He grabbed Alfred’s cup of hot chocolate and walked it over to him, placing it in his hand. Without saying a word he left the American alone to sip on his coco and went to retrieve the gun. He went back into the kitchen and came up into the living room with his own cup of hot coco. Toris sat down on the couch and stared at Alfred.

“I’m glad you came over, Mr. Alfred. It’s nice to see you again.” He stared down at the cup in his hand before taking a sip. Savoring the sweetness of the chocolate and the pleasant warmth it gave him as it traveled down his throat.

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Alfred couldn't help but grin a little as Toris calmed considerably at his words. "I do, believe me." He chuckled. "Apparently you don't know about the Second Amendment of my Constitution. The right to bear arms? There's always debates going on about it, but I think most of my people agree that people should be able to defend themselves. They just argue about how far it should go." Needless to say, though, Alfred had more than a few guns of his own. A nation didn't become a military superpower without having a heavy amount of weaponry at their disposal.

When Toris finished sweeping up the broken glass and informed him that he'd have his hot chocolate ready soon, Alfred took the invitation to go back into the living room and have a seat.

Alfred was content with tea not being offered as an option. He rarely drank tea, insisting that he couldn't stand the stuff. And he really didn't like tea much, but not because of the taste. He disliked tea because it reminded him of all of the issues surrounding tea when he was a colony on the verge of becoming a nation. The taste itself, though he wasn't likely to admit it, wasn't that bad.

He still preferred coffee and hot chocolate, though, and that made it easier to avoid.

When Toris presented him with hot chocolate Alfred grinned back at him, taking a quick sip. It wasn't hot enough to do too much damage, but the hot liquid did cause a slight burn on the tip of his tongue. Pulling the cup away from his mouth, Alfred blew a few times in an attempt to cool it off, the movement generated by his breath creating small ripples in the cocoa. Once Alfred deemed it cooled off enough, he raised the cup to his mouth again and took a few sips. Yes, that was much better.

Alfred nodded when Toris mentioned that it was good to see him again. "Good to see you again too. It's been a long time." Far too long, in Alfred's opinion, considering that Ivan was involved. "How are you holding up?" He took another drink from his mug as he waited for a response. It looked like Toris was doing pretty well, but he would offer his help if it was needed.

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Toris wasn’t entirely sure everything that was covered in Alfred’s constitution since he never sat down and read all of it. If he did he wouldn’t have been so nervous to show the gun to Alfred and things would’ve been easier for his stomach which just now started to stop hurting. It was embarrassing how he could make himself sick to his stomach just by worry. He should take anxiety medication, but he didn’t think it would help him.

The question wasn’t something that Toris wanted to answer. How could he tell him about his nightmares? He felt a little sick just thinking about it. Once again his stomach screamed in pain. He sat the cup of coca on the table and held his stomach. It hurt too much to ignore. Toris wasn’t sure how he handled it before with the fear of Alfred seeing him with the gun. He closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. Finally he forced himself to pull away and tried to remain calm. The pain wouldn’t stop, but Toris didn’t want to show anymore pain. Alfred might make a fuss over it and Toris didn’t want to tell him the reason for it.

“Uh…I…everything’s better now that I’m away from Mr. Russia.” Even away from Ivan Toris couldn’t say his first name or country name without adding in mister at the start of it. “I’ve caught up in my reading. I didn’t realize how many good books I missed.” He glanced down at his hands and then back at Alfred. “Mr. America…” should he say this or keep it to himself. He decided to tell Alfred. “Mr. America…I’m afraid…what if he comes back and drags me under his control again.” A chill went down his spine just thinking about it. “I can’t handle it. I just can’t. Please protect me!” Alfred couldn’t before, but maybe he could now. He forced back tears and his body began to tremble.

An old tree branch scratched against the side of the window and sent Toris flying into Alfred’s lap. Only when he learned of what he did was when Toris stumbled off Alfred and onto the floor with a bright red blush. It wasn’t like he planned to be started by a stupid tree branch. “Uh…M-Mr. America…I-I’m sorry!”

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Alfred took another drink from his coffee as he waited for Toris to answer. He watched Toris clutch at his stomach and frowned. Alfred wasn't usually the best at noting the subtle things, but Toris holding his stomach was hardly subtle. "You feeling alright?" Alfred asked out of concern, leaning forward a little in his seat. He set his cup off to the side.

The blond nodded as Toris confirmed that things were better without Russia. He expected as much, given the circumstances under which Ivan had taken him in the first place.

"Mr. America..."

"Like I said, Toris, I'm cool with just Alfred or Amer-"

He paused when Toris began to speak once more, admitting that he was afraid. Afraid of Ivan. Not only that, but he was asking Alfred for protection and help. This was something that Alfred could finally oblige on, being unable to offer much help the first time around owing to his state during the Great Depression.

"He won't," Alfred's voice came out in a growl, drawing on the old animosity he felt toward Ivan. "The Soviet Union has collapsed. He does not have power over you any more." His voice calmed slightly with these words, though he still spoke them with confidence - A confidence that he hoped would help to bolster Toris' own. He had more up his sleeve than that, though, of course.

"You were the first to declare independence. Where's that spirit now? You're more powerful than you think, don't let him get to you." Alfred would certainly offer his help if needed. In fact, he was already making plans to speak with a few of the officials in his country to offer aid to Toris as he worked toward establishing a free market economy.

Still, Toris was majorly in needed of a confidence boost, and what better way to do it than to remind Toris of his recent accomplishments?

It turned out to be a good thing that Alfred set his hot cocoa aside, as Toris flung himself into Alfred's lap at the sound of a branch scraping against the closed window. Alfred himself jolted a little in surprise, not expecting the action by the other country in the least. Once Toris became aware of what he did, he scrambled off of Alfred's lap, apologizing profusely.

Alfred frowned at this display, as well as being addressed as Mr. America again. "Don't worry about it." He told the other country. "What we should worry about is fixing you up now that you're free from Ivan. Is there anything in particular that you need help with?"

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It wasn’t like Toris wanted to show Alfred how sick he felt, but his stomach screamed in pain so much that he couldn’t help himself from clinging to his stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut as though the pain would transfer from one pain to a lesser pain. The nerves wouldn’t go away or at least not for a little bit because the pain went away just enough for Toris to open his eyes again and force a warm smile to the American. “I’m fine.” He partly lied because anxiety still felt present. He could feel it in his back. His anxiety came in the form of extreme hot flashes and chills all at the same feel leaving him feeling very uncomfortable even though the pain in his stomach mostly subsided.

Alfred didn’t have to finish his sentence. Toris knew he was going to say. Maybe it was bothering or making Alfred feel uncomfortable. I should just call him Alfred. Seems like he really wants me to call him just Alfred or America. Toris wasn’t sure if he could since he grew use to calling him Mr. America for so long. It became a habit and calling him by any other name would be a hard thing to be, but if Alfred really wanted him to call him by just his name he could do it. If he remembered that is.

That fighting spirit of Toris was gone. Ivan beat it out of Toris with the whip. He could still hear the crack of it. Alfred would have to try hard to bring his spirits up and make him realize Ivan no longer had control over him and hopefully never will ever again. All Toris could think about was being dragged right back to Ivan’s house and under his control again. The Soviet Union was no more, but what if Ivan tried to bring it back? Would Alfred be able to protect him again or would something come up and Alfred would get sick again? Toris felt ill just thinking about it.

It seemed that what Toris though about before to call Alfred just by his human name went out the window went he apologized. He smiled a little bit as Alfred offered his help and thought about what he had to do. The first thing would be to calm his people who were probably just as nervous about being back under Russian control. At least Toris believed his people would be nervous. He felt disconnected with his people due to the fact that it was so long since he last been in his own country and he wasn’t so sure they felt the same worries as he did.

“I…would like you to help me calm down the worries of my people. They…they’re probably just as worried as me.” Toris admitted and then added, “would you help me do that, Alfred.” It felt weird to call him by just his human name, but Toris would call him Alfred from now on.

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Alfred arched an eyebrow as Toris insisted that he was fine. Really? He certainly wasn't acting fine. Toris' actions were anything but subtle. Alfred reached over to grab his cocoa and took a few drinks before setting it back aside in case Toris went diving at him in fright again.

He hated to see Toris like this. Toris was always jumpy and a bit anxious, but this was something else. He knew that he needed to help the other country get back on his feet again. He recalled Toris and his attempts to care for Alfred when he fell ill early in the Great Depression.

"The Soviet Union has collapsed." He reminded Toris once more, hoping that if he repeated it enough the words would sink in and Toris would realize that things were different now. Ivan was still there, yes, but he no longer had the control over Toris that he did before. Not only that, but Alfred was pledging his help, as both a country who wanted Toris to succeed and as a human who wanted to help his old friend through what he knew would be a hard time.

"Well, I can already tell you that you'll be getting some aid from me." The blond stated with a smile. By this, he was referring to monetary aid, though monetary aid would only be the beginning. "I'll try to get some other negotiations kick-started too. That might take a little longer, though - You know how it goes." He chuckled a little. There was a lot more paperwork involved with treaties and other such matters.

"As you know, I already have an embassy set up in Vilnius, and we're working on appointing an ambassador. You and your people are in good hands, Toris." Alfred stated with a small smile. Though Alfred could not reassure Toris' people face to face, as he was with their country, he could offer his reassurances through aid and negotiations. Hopefully it would be enough.

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