Dragons of the East [Vietnam]

The relationship between Vietnam and this particular brother is... interesting. Then again, given just how 'interesting' he is, she's certain that he doesn't have any relationships that could be considered normal. When he invited her over to his house, she immediately knew that he meant that she was ordered to come to his house. Which is silly, of course - she doesn't take orders from anyone. Nevertheless, she did immediately make arrangements to go. Not because she takes his orders, but because she likes to give him the illusion that he does and she really wasn't doing anything she couldn't interrupt to go visit him.

You see, he likes to delude himself into thinking that he's in control of her. And while she knows perfectly well that he can't control her, she doesn't care whether or not he knows that too. A part of her suspects that he does know, but if that's the case then he prefers to believe the illusion instead. Which she wouldn't put past him - while she tolerates a lot from other nations without assuming that they're somehow insane, unlike America, even she is pretty sure that he's not quite right in the head. But if he wants to believe that he's in control - let him. And she quite willing to maintain that illusion for him as long as he doesn't overstep his bounds. At that point she's quite happy to shatter that illusion so badly that he backs up to where he should have stayed.

On the other hand, she believes that she has him wrapped around her little finger and can get him to do whatever she wants. This too may be a delusion. In reality their relationship is probably on far more equal terms than either of them would ever be willing to admit. And it's a surprisingly good relationship - she's willing to overlook far more of what he does than most other nations, and she believes that he is - at least in his way - grateful for that.

As she's arriving she nearly gets run into by a young woman who seems to be fleeing the room in great haste, but she pays no attention to that. How her brother runs his household is not her business. When she enters the room a smile comes to her face. "Chào buổi chiều, Anh Korea," she greets him warmly, "It's good to see you! And your house is more beautiful every time I see it! I was surprised by your invitation - I thought that surely you were too busy to see me." She comes wearing an ao dai - a blue one that she's secretly not that fond of even though she knows that her brother will probably like it well enough. When she enters she pauses just inside the doorway, clearly waiting for him to direct her to where he wants her.

Though she's smiling, Vietnam sighs inwardly at her brother's treatment of his Boss. Does he not know that any nation is nothing without the people in it? And that since the people choose the Boss (in whichever way is their custom), that's exactly why a nation should heed their Boss and not the other way around. Turning it on its head like that is surely going to blow up in his face some day - she just hopes that it doesn't get him killed. But that's a lecture for China to give him, not her.

She simply waits along with her brother for his Boss to leave, and is not especially surprised at his treatment of her the moment that the man is away. Laughing as he spins her around, she says, "Of course I came - Anh Korea asked me! But don't worry, it was no trouble - I know there's the war, but others are deciding where my armies should be, so was merely in Hanoi, directing supplies. They can spare me for awhile." Whether or not it was difficult for them to spare her is something she'll leave him to guess.

But there's a bit of hesitation in her smile at the way that he speaks about her ao dai. Yes, it's not one that she likes as much, but it was her choice to wear it so for him to say that something else would have been better is an insult. Nevertheless, she swallows her offense at that - for now - and her full smile has returned as he leads her toward the seat, following him easily.

"The war is going very well! If I could defeat France, America, and Cambodia all in a row with no chance to prepare, how hard do you think it is to keep Oceania out of Asia after so many years of plenty?" she asks him rhetorically. Which is a bit of an overstatement, since she had help with most of the wars that she referenced but, then again, she's not unsupported now either. Still, whether or not her soldiers are holding guns made elsewhere, it's still her soldiers doing the actual fighting. And they're good at it.

"I hear things are going very well for you as well," she comments, as she's sure that's how he'd describe it.

As judgmental as Vietnam can be in her own mind about the way other nations do things, at least when it comes to her allies she keeps such assessments to herself. It's not polite to disagree when you don't have to, and being critical of the way someone else does things that aren't any of your business is one of those situations. So much unnecessary arguing could be spared if everyone simply followed that idea.

Smile brightening when he kisses her forehead, she nods in agreement as she comments, "Vâng, it has been too long since we were together in China's house - and I miss being together. But I do not regret wanting my own house - I do not miss our brother ruling over us. It is unfortunate that we can't have both at once." As she speaks she takes the liberty of gently cupping his cheek, her expression somewhat nostalgic. Their time actually being in China's house at the same time was actually quite brief - she'd lived there for much longer than he had, though she ran away from home a number of times when she was younger before she moved out permanently. The twins had managed to evade his efforts to keep the family under his roof much better - South Korea especially - but she still remembers those moments when they'd managed to set aside their resentment of being there and actually enjoy each other's company.

Lowering her hand again after a moment, her smile turns to one of slight embarrassment as he praises her fighting ability and she comments, "Vâng, and then you used your skill to help me fight America, almost without pause, even after he turned South against us." Or at least that's how she remembers it. South Korea had been so content to be Asian until America came and filled his head with all those silly ideas about democracy - he came to be just as bad as Japan in that way. Of course, the great and kind Russia had done the proper thing for North Korea by teaching him communism... though he seems to have gotten some of the basics a bit wrong. Which isn't Russia's fault, of course - her brother is simply... himself.

What needs to happen as far as she's concerned is for South Korea to be convinced of the error of his ways - then perhaps he can make himself useful by reigning in his twin, since he's probably the one best able to manage to do that. But it's better for him to remain locked up for now, because if he was let loose he would probably now attempt to convert North Korea to his democracy, and if North Korea corrupted the idea of communism so very badly she can only imagine what he'd do with that. For now, though, it seems that things are going fine - that delicate balance that North and South had been in for so long could have ended up going the other way when it shattered, but happily it went as it did. Still... she's of the opinion that once China manages to get Japan under his roof, perhaps it's best if their elder brother also took in the twins - then he can straighten all three of them out, and she's confident of his ability to do so.

She of course, should remain in her own house - she's perfect as she is.

When he mentions how unhappy South Korea is at the moment, she frowns in sympathy and nods, "Vâng, I imagine so. He cannot be happy being so restrained, but if you gave him more freedom he would try to escape. The situation is unfortunate! But what else can be done? Perhaps in time he will grow more content." Having had to be restrained herself a few times in order for China to keep her in his house, she can attest to the fact that one eventually accepts the fact that one is living where one is living. For awhile, anyway. "Do you think that he would appreciate a visit from me before I leave?" she asks him curiously. Though she's probably not the sister he'd most appreciate seeing right now, they're still family, after all.

Vietnam can only nod sadly to her brother's words. She most certainly needs her own space! If that means that she has to travel a bit to see her siblings, then so be it! Well, she supposes that it would work out nicely if they were united in her own house... but unlike their older brother she doesn't feel that strongly enough to attempt to convince anyone that they should do that. No, she'd be satisfied by merely uniting the Indochinese Peninsula. Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand are better off under her guidance, after all. Unfortunately, Russia seems to have a thing for Laos and Thailand is strong enough to resist her when she has so many of her forces needed elsewhere, but little Cambodia is settling in nicely as the newest (and lowest ranked) member of her household staff.

Hardly objecting to his hold on her hand, her expression softens considerably as he speaks of not wanting to lose her. "Vâng, there has been too much pain in our family," she agrees softly. Truthfully, much of it was self-inflicted - they're all very stubborn nations and argue with surprising ferocity for people who don't like to ever disagree - but ever since the West came and tried to impose their ideas they've had a lot more to argue about, it seems. The family is now split in two. But of course she's on the right side of it - China is on the same side, after all.

Nodding sadly as he speaks of their brother, she says, "You did all that you could - it's not your fault that it didn't work. You tried." Well, he could have not gone after the weapons and freaked everyone out, but she's guessing that he wouldn't agree with that idea so she keeps it to herself. "I'm sure that a part of him would be happy to see me, even if his words say otherwise," she decides with a nod, because if Yong-Sun won't object then she has no reason not to at least say hello. He's her brother too, after all, even if he believes in democracy.

But then her expression lifts a little as she says, "I'm afraid that I have led us to talk of unhappy things, and I don't think that's what you had in mind when you invited me." Which is her way of basically offering to let him change the subject to something more important and hopefully less saddening if that's what he wants. Because while she knows of his strange sort of obsession with their brother, she hopes that he doesn't necessarily enjoy talking about the current unpleasantness.

Well aware of what her brother is capable of when he's angry, Vietnam is quite aware of the building anger in him. And she's also quite relieved when she sees that he's calming down - or at least able to set aside his anger for another time, which is also perfectly acceptable to her just so long as she's not around when it inevitably comes up again. It's not that she's afraid of his anger per se, as she knows that she's quite capable of handling herself if he were to turn it on her. It's more that she doesn't like the idea of all the unpleasantness that would happen if she had to defend herself, and the last thing that she wants is to have unpleasantness with another family member.

Even better, he's taken her up on her offer to change the subject, and she's quick to smile at that. But the smile is very quick to become coy as he says such flattering words. They're true words, in all actuality - while the war has weakened so many nations and for her it's been a mixture of good and bad, but on the whole she's much stronger now than she was when it began. Still, she doesn't regard her appearance as being all that important so she's quick to say, "You flatter me too much, brother!"

Her smile is quickly replaced by a look of surprise then he asks her about troops. Though it only takes her a moment to recover before she says, "Oh, that is very generous of you! I have so many people in my country, but never enough soldiers. It's a lot easier for them to make more of themselves than it is for me to give them what they need to protect themselves - guns are the easiest, but without planes and ships to move and protect them how are they to combat those who do have them? It's better for them to remain home in such cases. If that weren't so, of course I have many enemies they could face."

Which is her way of completely avoiding saying that no, she doesn't need soldiers but heavy equipment - though if he means to send the appropriate heavy equipment too, she could of course use them. Of course, even without that equipment she wouldn't mind more soldiers - it's just that she wouldn't have much she could do with them besides throw them at one of her problems. Which would be useful, but she figures that her brother might complain if she throws their lives away for too little gain. Then again, you never know with Yong-Sun about that sort of thing...

Having already protested properly about his flattering words, when they only continue - and in a direction that she's far more comfortable in accepting - she finds herself unable to do anything but simply be quietly pleased for a moment, allowing that to show in the embarrassed expression on her face. Though after that moment she simply says, "I am not the only fierce one in our family." In fact, she'd say that her siblings all have a strong claim to that trait. Of course... some have a stronger claim to it than the others.

When she'd explained why simply giving her soldiers wouldn't be as useful as he'd might have supposed, she hadn't thought that her brother would turn around and offer her what she really needed instead. The surprised look returns to her face, but this time it lingers for a bit longer, as it takes her a moment to figure out how such a thing might alter the balance of the war. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things when there are so many men, planes, and ships all deployed at once a piece of South Korea's arsenal might seem like such a small thing, but it could make all the difference to her personally. Sometimes

"That would be very agreeable!" she's quite quick to say, accidentally revealing her eagerness. But, quick to compose herself, she politely asks, "You do not need them to protect Korea?" She doesn't need what he's offering, after all, and to take it from him if he'll end up needing it later is a very bad idea for everyone. But if he really doesn't need them... well, she has some ideas of how to put them to good use.

Of course Vietnam is delighted by the idea of having something to add to her strength - she's spent so much of her life feeling as though she was meant to accomplish great things, and yet instead she's been placed in one circumstance after another where her goal was just out of her reach and it wasn't within her power at all to fix that. To have someone else offer to assist her rather than make it even more difficult is actually a pretty rare thing for her.

Not that she can't feel suspicious about the source. It's not simply a matter of who is offering it this time - she's even suspicious of Russia's offerings. But she's certainly much more suspicious of this particular brother - he's known to be... erratic, after all. And usually seems to be much more concerned about Russia and China than he is about her. Of course, that's also true of everyone - she may be much stronger than she used to be, but she's still not a superpower and just doesn't get the same regard. "Vâng, it is settled! I will see to it that anything you send will cause much pain and suffering to our enemies," she promises, planning on doing exactly that with them. Well 'planning' in the loosest sense of the word - she wouldn't put it past her brother to make such a promise and then change his mind, but then again that only means that she wouldn't have something that she already doesn't have so it wouldn't really be a loss.

She's much less sure how to answer his last question, so she rambles a little, "You are being so generous toward me today! You offer to reinforce my army and then ask if you can do more?" Having said that, she allows herself a brief pause to think, and then she smiles as she says, "There are two things you can do. First, you will accept an extra share of my rice this year for your people - it will be a good year and there will be much to spare." And that would relieve all her guilty feelings about accepting such a generous gift without offering something in return.

"And second, you can be happy - I wish for nothing more than to see our whole family happy again, though perhaps it may take forever to accomplish this, but I would have you at least be happy along with me already," she says very sincerely, lifting a finger to playfully poke his cheek and smiling at him as if to demonstrate her own happiness. But though the smile is sincere there's a twinge of sadness to it - she truly cares for her siblings, even the ones that she doesn't trust or even doubts their love - so a part of her can't help but be saddened by the war. Both the thought of them all needing to fight in general and even more especially the thought that they're fighting each other in some cases is troubling to her. But as she does not have the power to stop it, it's something she must simply accept.