The Best Laid Plans [Venezuela]

Peter listened, pleased that someone else agreed with the age thing. "Mister America is pretty young, isn't he? That's... huh. That's kinda weird to think about, since so much of this could have been avoided if he and Russia had just tried to get along again..." He thought about it for a moment. That was... um... Peter didn't mind being young, but when he thought about it, it was slightly terrifying that two people- well, more than that, but sometimes everyone made it out to just be the two of them- could just decide one morning that they wanted to shatter the world, and then just... do that.

Somehow, this only added further justification to never, ever give Anna's parents any reason to really worry about him, especially in regards to her, ever. 

The bitterness in Vicente's voice- that, Peter doesn't miss. He's actually somewhat familiar with the tactic of dismissing something and pretending it doesn't matter when it hurts pretty badly. His brother sometimes had a habit of doing that. So did Peter, sometimes, though admittedly he had a pretty bad temper upon occasion. Peter wondered why Vicente competed with Alfred, in particular. They were both in the Americas, but weren't they very different? Peter competed with Arthur, sort of, but they were family. That was different. He was pretty sure that was different, anyway. Was it worth asking Vicente about, though? Not really. It would probably just make the older Nation upset, and Peter didn't really want to do that.

Besides, Vicente seemed so nice, and Peter didn't want to mess up making new friends! He wasn't sure how he would- he'd always considered himself pretty good at making friends- but sometimes people said he talked too much or something. He did know, though, that making people he was trying to make friends with feel more frustrated with whatever he was upset about wasn't a good idea. The 'talking about actual problems' came at a later point in the friendship. (Wy was good at that part, even if she acted kind of dismissive a lot of the time. So was Molossia, actually, even if he cursed a lot. Seborga was older than the rest of them, so sometimes he didn't get it, and... now wasn't the time to be thinking about this.)

Peter blinks. A look around? He can do that. "Yeah," he says cheerfully, mentally considering what some of his favorite areas were. He actually really liked a place right by the generators, but admittedly, that kind of noise wasn't for everyone. He considers for a minute. He also liked the radio room a lot, for reasons that had to do with things other than the design of the (now slightly dented) room. "Uh... I guess I'll show you the hydroponics stuff first because that took some designing I mean let's go!" 

He gestured out the door, bouncing slightly on his feet.

Peter notes Vicente's words and sighs. In truth, the conflict couldn't be boiled down to being something between two superpowers, it's just... In some ways, Peter felt like, had they stayed out of it, maybe things wouldn't have escalated as far as they had. Or maybe they would have? The bomb that had really started things- still no one really knew whose fault that was. He wasn't really certain. His point had been something else altogether, anyway- though he did spend a moment to look a bit guilty.

He really, really does not like making people upset, and Peter's a little worried that that's all he's doing with Vicente. He's really not trying to, though! So he'll just avoid the subject unless it's brought up again, now. Peter is surprisingly good at avoiding things he's decided for himself not to talk about. Avoiding subjects other people would rather him not talk about, not so much, but in this case Peter had mostly decided for himself, so he'd be able to mostly avoid bringing it up pretty well.

Besides, Vicente had asked to see more of Peter's extensive setup, and Peter was happy to show it off! Peter really did think the hydroponics system was one of the coolest parts, though he had his own personal favorite areas that other people might not like, and that he also didn't like letting other people into unless he's determined that nothing was likely to go wrong. In a lot of cases, those places were overwhelmingly loud or seemingly simple or somewhat vulnerable- or, in some cases, all three.

So instead, skipping down a metal hallway, Peter started talking about hydroponics- a system that was certainly very vulnerable, but one that Vicente probably wouldn't be able to do immediate damage to (though Peter had not even realized that he'd taken this into consideration- he simply thought that it would be one of the neatest to show Vicente, one of the neat places that did not make up his very heart). "Despite being surrounded by water," Peter started, "there isn't very much water around here that can be used to take care of plants and people and stuff. Now, purifying the water takes a lot of work, and most of it has to be used as drinking water, so, especially given limited space, it's difficult to grow plants."

He turned a corner, hit a code on a keypad, opened a door. When he'd warned others that they could easily get lost, he had not been kidding- while he put up maps and signs, there were a few design choices that had been built almost deliberately confusingly, in order to protect the areas. It had mostly been just to keep unauthorized people out. (The hardest places to reach were always the generators and the ventilation system, two areas that made Peter's breath hitch at the very idea of someone not meant to be there getting there).

"So a solution had to be found- it's not like we could just eat fish and stuff, and also we couldn't just take all the food from people around here, especially once food became more of a problem more places," he continued. "Hence, hydroponics- a system of plant growth requiring no arable soil and just water, water that's supposed to have minerals in it, too- so we suddenly had a use for the hard water we have way too much of. I mean, we still have to remove a lot of salt, but still! Plus, it doesn't require as much water as traditional crops!" He's practically bouncing. "Even better, we could use things from fish waste to make the water work right, which meant it was a great solution when it was built!"

He's clearly very excited about this, even if it's not necessarily something interesting to other people- it's a step closer to self-sufficiency, after all. He opens one set of doors. Immediately, the room is much, much brighter than almost anywhere else on the fort- it gets natural sunlight in most of it, and where it doesn't, there are a lot of lights keeping it lit. This particular room has a large reservoir growing mostly leafy greens. The plants appear to be floating in large pools of water, though this is only visible due to the clear plastic sides of the reservoirs. From the top, it would be nearly impossible to tell, due to the number of plants in one place.

"The main problems we're still having is, while we can make this more space efficient- there's more down the stairs, and we can stack plants like this- I still don't have but so much space, especially space that gets actual sunlight." Even as he says this, he's beaming. "If anything, I kind of wish I had the money to set up an aeroponics system- it's what they might use in space one day, because it doesn't waterlog the plants!" He looks back at Vicente, as though asking what his new friend thinks, not really thinking about the fact that, for most people, a system of growing plants in direct water is not but so exciting.