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Post by Argentina on Jul 22, 2012 19:37:21 GMT -5
"No... no.. no..."
Flipping through a picture book of universal animals that her bunkmate Seychelles had let her borrow, Argentina sat cross-legged on her bed. It was a thick, encyclopedia-sized brick with many pages, and was sorted alphabetically. Thus, Tina had been searching for the past hour for every animal of her own continent that she could find.
Argentina could name every land mammal that lives in her home off the top of her head. Her memory wasn't the problem. It just felt nice to think of something that reminded her of home. Canada is at the very top of North America, while she is part of the very bottom of South America. There was certainly distance between the two countries, and, in all honesty, Argentina had been feeling an awful sense of homesickness in her time away. Her home had some parts that were towering cities, some that were suburbs, and of course, (Like much of South America) many forests and jungles. She had expected more of a find from such a large book.
With a disappointed sigh, Argentina finally gave up on her search. She slammed the book shut in her lap and reached over the edge of her bed, sliding it under the mattress for safe keeping. If she had lost Seychelles' property while it was in her care, Tina wouldn't have been able to forgive herself. Especially not after how kind her new friend had been to her.
Argentina let her body give way and fell backwards against the mattress, lying horizontally and letting her legs hang over the edge. She stared up at the bottom of Seychelles' top bunk, which blocked off her view of the too-high ceiling of the warehouse. The South American nation let a yawn escape her lips and stretched her arms out as far as she could to either side of her.
Maybe something not-so-boring would come along and brighten up her day... if only...
(Lame starting post is short. Can you tell that I'm at a loss of what to write here?)
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Post by England on Jul 22, 2012 20:59:20 GMT -5
((It's not so bad. I had a hard time writing my post, though xD))
England had been worried for a long time now about the lack of zombies. Since it was winter, it was understandable that a lot of them had probably just frozen and would thaw out in the spring again, but that didn't mean that all of them had. Slowly, paranoia was creeping into his mind, and he often insisted to take up night shifts of guard duty to observe restlessly the movements of the shadows on the ground.
He just never stopped thinking. It was like he was a machine again, acting on automated commands, doing what he had to do to survive, and nothing more. It reminded him way too much of how automated he became during wars in general- shutting his mind down so he wouldn't stop and despair at every new issue, cry for every martyr, and die for every cause. And the feeling just reminded him that this was just one big bloody war, after all, and that he -they- were destined and expected to take care of this one as well.
And to win a war, you had to know your enemy well. Predict its movements and prevent its every move. Centuries and centuries of bloody battlefields had thought England one thing, and that was: always stay ahead of your enemy.
Even if they weren't around, a scouting was in order to make sure that the zombies hadn't gotten too close, or hadn't congregated. England didn't mean for it to be long. Just a perimeter scout, through the first few sectors of the forest. As he headed up the ladder to the bunk beds to grab his full winter gear, though, he recognized that he would need a partner, as the rules he gave to other Nations applied to him as well.
Never go out alone.
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Post by Argentina on Jul 22, 2012 21:29:12 GMT -5
(I apologize in advance for this post.)
In the good few minutes she had been lying there on her back, motionless, Tina had gotten to thinking. About her home. About Argentinian civilians. About her neighbors, like Brazil and Uruguay. What was everyone up to? She had found herself constantly wondering about those nations who were yet to show up safely at the warehouse. The warehouse scientists knew that complete zombie transformation wasn't out of question, even for the nations. It was a very scary thought. Even England had recently had an extremely close call.
He should consider himself lucky that Argentina had agreed to let him use that stupid voodoo-magic or whatever on her to transport her to Scotland's exact location. That way, the two could carry out the last leg of Team Nova's mission. What they had brought back were the papers which told how to concoct an antidote for the zombie infection. Without those papers, Artie would've been long gone by now - re-animated as a drooling, groaning, brain-eating creature. Even more-so than he already was.
In the midst of her deep thoughts, Argentina heard an almost-inaudible clattering as someone made their way up one of the side ladders that lead up to the upper floor. She quickly pushed off the bed, into a sitting position. If she were any taller, Argentina would've sat up fast enough to hit her head. Maybe being short can be a virtue... sometimes.
Not knowing who was on their way up to the upper level of the warehouse, Tina began running her fingers through her hair as a quick, makeshift hairbrush. Her hair had been a bit messy, so why not make herself more presentable? Argentina fumbled to pull her hair tie out and began re-wrapping her braid that fell over one shoulder. Once she was finished, Argentina stood up and flattened out any wrinkles in her coat. Might as well give a little test to see who exactly she was about to come face-to-face with.
Clearing her throat, Tina cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "Oi! Don't come up here! I'm getting dressed!" She then stood, leaned up against a post of the bunk bed, arms folded over her chest, and waited.
Was it a lie? Yes. Was it a fun lie? Yes. If she was lucky, maybe whoever it was would instinctively let go and fall right off the ladder. As long as they didn't kill themselves in the process, Argentina could get a good laugh out of a reaction like that.
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Post by England on Jul 23, 2012 22:34:41 GMT -5
England groaned at the thought of having to explain to another Nation why the sudden perimeter scout was vital (to both their survival, and his peace of mind). They just wouldn't understand his logic, they never did. England just hoped that the first Nation he crossed would be a semi-reasonable one. Preferably Japan. Or Austria. Or even Canada.
Luck decided that it would be funny to kick him in the face.
At the sound of Argentina's very distinctive voice, England froze in mid-step and groaned. The last thing he needed was to get stuck on the ladder until the South American nation decided to get dressed. But he was a gentleman, so he couldn't simply barge in there... Then again, it was a public area...
"Well then, get decent! I'm not going to wait for you forever." he yelled back, mentally counting thirty seconds. "You've got thirty seconds to either get dressed or pull a cover over you before I come up. And this is entirely justifiable by the fact that you've decided to dress improperly in a public area. You at least could've gone to the showers or the bathroom to change."
He also doubted anyone else was up there, so... that meant his only choice would be to take her.
Oh, he just hoped he would be able to come back in once piece, and bring Argentina back unharmed as well.
He made no promises.
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Post by Argentina on Jul 24, 2012 7:24:44 GMT -5
Argentina couldn't help but pout at hearing little to no true reaction out of whoever was clinging to the ladder. Then... she was pulled by an - unfortunately - familiar-sounding accent. England. He must've recognized her voice as well. Sometimes, Tina hated having such a distinct accent. There was the fact that there were few female nations at the warehouse in general, but with the mix of her natural Spanish and Italian dialect, it was pretty hard to miss exactly who she was. Argentina had one of the most unique varients of Spanish of South America.
Tina slapped her hand over her forehead, leaving a large red mark. Luckily, it disipated quickly, and by the time she walked over to the ladder to meet England, it was invisible. Argentina leaned over the edge of the catwalk, staring at England with a raised eyebrow. "...I wasn't really getting dressed. You can chill out." She commented before moving away to give the "gentleman" some space to climb up again.
What a disappointment. Tina knew she would've enjoyed seeing England fall off the ladder.
Argentina returned to her bunk and sat down cross-legged on her bed, hands in her lap as she stared in the general direction where England should rise to the same floor. Clearly, England wasn't looking for her specifically. After all, why would he come all the way up here, especially for her, of all the nations? Might as well see what he really came for.
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Post by England on Jul 24, 2012 15:23:35 GMT -5
“Keep that in mind for future reference, dear.” England huffed as he climbed the last rungs up to the rest area and brushed himself off before heading for the bunk he shared with America. “Especially if the frog is around to jump at your ‘offer’.” He added before pulling his stock of clothes from under the bed and rifling through them to pick out his winter gear.
Also, at the very back of his mind, he dearly hoped that Argentina wouldn’t ask him what he was doing. Maybe he could find someone else to take with him? The warehouse was unusually silent today, but… maybe he’d be lucky enough to find someone in the kitchen, or at the training grounds? It’s not that he didn’t want to go with Argentina (well…. Debatable), since he’d promised himself that in time of crisis, he would leave the past behind and work towards a better future with other nations (he’d never actually succeeded, come to think of it…), but… would they really be able to work as a team if something came up? They didn’t really know each other past the initial ‘I-want-to-rip-your-face-off’ feeling (or… they did, but that initial feeling still predominated over everything else), so could they really harmonize?
He just hoped she wouldn’t ask where he was going.
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Post by Argentina on Jul 24, 2012 15:55:50 GMT -5
Argentina rolled her eyes. "Francia is harmless. Yes, he is creepy, but he wouldn't dare come near me. Not if he had sense enough to know a move like that could quite possibly put his friendship with a certain Spaniard on the line..." Her voice trailed off towards the end as her bright green-blue eyes followed England over to the bunk.
"...Plus, he knows I wouldn't hesitate to kick his ass back to the 16th century." She added, her tone lowered to not much more than a soft whisper. Instead, she was more fixated on something different than France now. There was something England wasn't telling her, and it was clear he was trying to avoid confrontation with Argentina... or was it just conversation with her?
She didn't blame him for not wanting to talk to her, or even be around her. Not that spending time with England was much of a skip through a field of roses for her either. Since all the two ever did was fight, Argentina tried to avoid him as much as possible. She doubted England minded one bit.
Tina stood up and walked over to the Englishman. She was doing what she knew England wouldn't want her to, just to tick him off. Argentina was ready, willing, and going to pry into him until he gave up whatever he was hiding.
"Are you going outside? In this weather?" She made sure to stand close behind him, to the point where she was practically breathing down his neck... or, would be, if Tina was only a bit taller. Argentina stood on her toes to be able to just barely peek over England's shoulder at what he was doing. "Or do you Brits just really enjoy freezing your culos off that much?"
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Post by England on Jul 25, 2012 22:42:05 GMT -5
"That's hardly fair, anyone could kick the frog's arse back to the 16th century since he's not strong enough to protect himself. Hell, I'd kick him back there every day if I had the choice." but as much as his love-hate relationship with France extended, he knew he couldn't. Not in a dire situation such as theirs. He didn't hate France as much as he let on, either, but he would die before admitting that.
"And yes, I am going outside. Mind your own business." England huffed, not looking at her as he concentrated on getting his gear out as soon as possible. The quicker he got ready, the quicker he could duck away from her. "It's not exactly peachy outside, but it's not horrible. May as well get some things done while I still can."
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Post by Argentina on Jul 26, 2012 7:20:02 GMT -5
Argentina reached over and grabbed at England's cheek, giving it a tug to get his attention. "If you're such a 'gentleman', don't you know it's polite to look at a lady when addressing her?" She asked with a mocking tone and a smirk on her face. "What're you going outside for anyway? It's gotta be important if you're going out in weather that's not considered 'peachy'. Is something up?"
A sudden look of concern washed over Tina's face. What if something was really wrong? Well.. whatever it was, it didn't seem like an emergency. If it was really that urgent, England would be in more of a rush. Or, at least more of a rush than he was in now... but Argentina suspected that "rush" was just to get the hell away from her.
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Post by England on Jul 27, 2012 23:08:37 GMT -5
"Tch, don't touch me." England grumbled, slapping her hand away. "And don't tell me what I should and should not do. Gentlemen have principles, too." he huffed before zipping his jacket and pulling his hat over his head. "It may not be peachy outside, but the weather never stopped zombies before. There hasn't been much activity these past few weeks. I am afraid that the zombies have congregated, and that, as a larger mass, are moving slowly, but steadily towards us. I'm going out to scout the perimeter, if anyone asks." he told her, not mentioning that he didn't have a partner yet. Hopefully, she'd let it slide. It wasn't even as if he needed one. He could handle himself very well, thank you very much.
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Post by Argentina on Jul 28, 2012 7:41:48 GMT -5
Argentina's expressive eyes gave off clear signs of suspicion. "...Uh-huh." She nodded and, against what England had told her about not touching him, propped her elbow up on his shoulder. "And you're going out there alone? Or are you taking the love of your life, America, with you?" Argentina's lips curled in a smirk.
It was no secret that America and England were ever-so in love. The way America fussed over and went on and on about England after he'd been hospitalized in their medical wing was so loving and protective of him. So much so that it was almost unnatural.
Before England could blush and deny anything, Argentina continued, "You really shouldn't be going out alone, you know." Argentina moved her leaning position on him, and stood up straight.
As she went on, she began strutting circles around England, hands behind her back. "You just said hoards of those undead bastards could be piling up right now. You'd be bitten once again and turned right on the spot if you were left there to rot and become zombified. We don't want a repeat of the excruciating pain you went through before... now do we?"
Although her innocent-enough pose had her hands behind her back, there was a tone of suspicion in her voice. Like one might expect of a police officer in the midst of interrogating a suspect. Perhaps the way she walked around England could also be perceived as threatening.
Despite what it may appear, it was all in childish fun for Tina. A scare-tactic, maybe, but still all in good fun. Argentina knew when she was right, and one could always see that look of certainty on her face. She liked being right.
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Post by England on Jul 29, 2012 22:00:46 GMT -5
England bit his tongue to resist adamantly denying the claim about him and America, despite acknowledging that it was true. The blush on his cheeks made up for the silence, though.
"It's just a quick scout. I wouldn't be as daft as to engage them, if I did see them. I'd just run back the way I came. I only want to situate them." he kept trying to justify, though he knew that rules were rules (his own rules, at that, too), and that there were only slim chances that Argentina would let him off the hook so easily.
Slim, here, used as another word for 'quasi-impossible and close to unreal, even'.
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Post by Argentina on Jul 30, 2012 7:28:34 GMT -5
Argentina stopped right in front of England, her hands moved from behind her back and now positioned on her hips. "Wasn't it you who made a set of rules? No going out alone?" Not that Tina liked listening to rules that England, of all countries, set out. She was still refusing to acknowledge England as the leader of their warehouse, no matter how true it may be. If they didn't have a leader to keep them in line, the warehouse would be in chaos. The nations never got along, not at World Conferences, and certainly not during a zombie apocalypse. England and his rules did keep them in line, and more importantly; alive.
"...So. Working accordingly to your own rules, who are you planning on taking? Was I really right on the mark when I mentioned that American man?" Argentina questioned, looking over her shoulder at all that England had already pulled out.
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Post by England on Aug 1, 2012 11:31:15 GMT -5
"Just drop it, alright? Both of the issues. They don't concern you, especially not the latter. " England blushed, turning his eyes away from her and getting up from his crouched position, snapping the last of the buckles on his coat shut. "Besides. What do you want me to do about it? I'm not going to ask anyone to get geared up and ready to leave for something that might as well take me twenty minutes. They'd take too long, and it'd be for nothing. It's alright. Please, you needn't worry about me." the sarcasm was dripping from his tone as he gently pushed past her, towards one of the poles to the bottom level. "I'll be back before you know it. Don't miss me when I'm gone. "
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Post by Argentina on Aug 1, 2012 13:14:56 GMT -5
Argentina sneered and mumbled something under her breath that might have been 'Dumbass' in Spanish. "Yeah, like I'd miss you!" She growled and quickly looked back at her own bunk. There was no way Argentina would've been able to pick through her luggage and get a coat in time, but for once, her bunkmate's messy habits paid off. Clothes were scattered across the top bunk, where Seychelles sleeps. Surely she wouldn't mind letting Argentina borrow one of her coats?
Quick as a flash, Tina was already climbing her way up to the top bunk. She grabbed the first heavy coat she saw and draped it over her shoulders, not bothering to put her arms in the sleeves or close it at the moment. "Wait up!" Argentina called and quickly climbed down again, snatching her twin daggers from underneath her own mattress. "I'm coming with you. And don't even bother trying to complain about it, got it?"
Tina would never in a million years admit it to England's face, but she didn't want him to go out there alone. The cold, the snow, the zombies. No going out alone, absolutely not. It was for the good of the warehouse that England stay alive, no matter how much he wanted to argue that he'd be perfectly fine. Zombies have heightened senses, and thus an advantage when it comes to catching and turning those who give them the chance to.
"I'm taking it upon myself to go with you! It's not like I have to do this, I'm doing it by my own damn choice. Be grateful!"
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