Closing In [Germany]

It indeed doesn't take Germany very long to arrive. His official story, if anyone besides Sweden asks, is that he was 'in the neighborhood' and just wanted to visit a friend. Because he too supposes that they count as friends - they share many common interests so they'd spent a lot of time pursuing them before the war began to take up too much of his time. He'd be lying if he said that he was happy that Sweden has chosen to be neutral, but that's something every country is free to decide for themselves.

But that's also something that he means to discuss with his friend. In fact, it's something that they've spoken of before, but only briefly - he knows better than to argue a point for too long if the other person simply isn't going to agree. All that does is make them wish that they hadn't talked to you. But this time he feels that perhaps the situation has shifted into his favor and there's somewhat more to talk about, so perhaps he'll make some more headway. So it's no coincidence that he's such a short distance from Sweden's place when he calls - in fact, it had been a precaution in case Russia somehow hears of it. He'd rather that if that particular nation hears of this visit that it will be after he's left instead of on his way.

Though he's quite surprised at what he sees when his car pulls to a stop. It's been awhile since he's actually visited Sweden at home - during the war he's obviously had his hands full, and before that they'd usually meet up at the gym or something - but he's pretty sure that this is not what Sweden's house looks like. This is clearly an IKEA store. However, though he asks his driver to verify it twice, this is apparently the right address. Sighing, he decides to get out and go inside - at the very least he's sure that he can find someone to point him in the right direction if this is indeed the wrong place.

When he goes inside he has to pause for a moment, simply to look over the wide assortment of things on display. And the fact that he can't see anyone anywhere - it looks like the place is practically deserted. It's easier to hear some distant sounds that might be footsteps, though - hopefully that's a sign that he's not entirely alone in here. Not that he's afraid of being alone, or anything like that. In fact, the moment from when he first steps into to when he steps forward to attempt to find someone in this place is quite brief.

Let's see... If anyone is anywhere, there's probably at least some poor lone employee manning a register, so he'll attempt to find the registers. Which are usually on the opposite end of the front part of the store. He appreciates it when things are made in a standard design, after all. And fortunately, though he's quickly surrounded by things that are too tall for him to see over, he also has a very good sense of direction. Unfortunately, whoever decided how to arrange the store was not as much of a fan of order as he is (and probably not even remotely German at all!), and he quickly discovers that there is no straightforward way to get anywhere. Still, he manages to make some progress in the direction that he assumes is the correct one, though he peers over things as frequently as possible as he goes in an attempt to confirm this.

One surefire way of navigating his way through the store quickly: he completely ignores the arrows on the floor. He also completely ignores the things on display - he's here to talk to Sweden, not buy things. Even before the war broke out he wasn't much of a fan of shopping - for most things anyway - and now that he has the war to blame for his disinterest he's been able to avoid the undesired task more frequently. So it's with single-minded purpose that he makes his way to the end.

Though he has to pause for a moment when he actually spots Sweden - he'd been half assuming that he was in the wrong place, but if the nation is here, that theory is disproved. Stepping forward, he nods as he gives the offered hand a firm shake, "It's good to see you, Sveden." A pause, and then he can't help but remark, "...You live in an IKEA store..." It may be stating the obvious at this point, but he finds this odd enough that he's have a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact - letting alone getting to the point of being able to ask why. It's good to be proud of your successes as a nation, but this is a bit much.

Not that he's about to actually verbalize his opinion on the matter - Sweden can live where he wants. So he puts his confusion aside, forces himself to ignore the fact that they're in a store, and puts his focus instead upon the conversation at hand. "I vouldn't say that - I did find you, and you're not objectionable," he answers, "And I'm afraid that I'm not needing any furniture right nov - vhat I need to knov is if you have any preference about vho vins this var you're refusing to take part in?" True to his nature, he's not interested in small talk and would prefer to get right now to business.

There are a lot of things that Germany could say about Sweden's choice of residence. However, everything concerning that fact that comes most immediately to mind are questions that he wouldn't ask because they're more likely to offend Sweden than they are to get a satisfactory answer. Well, that and observations about the fact that, while he's been extremely successful in a number of enterprises, you hardly see him living in a store - but all such comments are completely pointless. So he decides to let that subject drop entirely. He'll just chalk it up to yet another odd quirk of his cousin's and leave it at that.

There are far more important matters to think about and discuss, after all. And he knows that this will be a difficult conversation, as it's no small thing to keep one's country out of the war when so much of Europe didn't and are all on the same side - he wouldn't accuse his cousin of having made the choice lightly. But as neither of them are really that good at random small talk, he might as well get straight to the heart of why he's come.

Does he question Sweden's loyalties? Not really. If anything, he trusts him to be loyal to himself, which is a fair enough position to take. But that's precisely why he started with the question that he asked, even though he sees that it's made his cousin feel a bit defensive. "There are many good reasons vhy you should stay out of the var, I agree," he acknowledges first, nodding easily, "And that has been good for you so far. But perhaps that is something that is changing. Perhaps there are nov more reasons for you to fight."

He pauses for a moment, a slight frown coming to his face before he asks, "You believe that the Alliance vill vin, don't you?"

The response that he gets not being quite what was expected, there's a pause as Germany considers Sweden's words, but he's quick to nod. "It depends, of course, on vhat you mean by vinning - it's a rare var that doesn't bring suffering to every side," he acknowledges with a grim frown. Which is a fact that most countries come to know quite intimately - and those who don't learn it the moment they win a war only to realize how much they lost in the process.

"I vould have you reconsider vhat vorth you vould be to the Alliance," he responds immediately, then pauses, looking off in the distance as if he can see through a sturdy gray aluminum outdoor bench (only $75!) a section away as he gathers his thoughts. His eyes return to focus on Sweden as he says, "It's been thirty years since it began to fall apart, and in that time ve have not been able to end this. Neither has Russia, but do ve pat ourselves on the back for this vhen every year there are more graves? Every year the Alliance has pushed against the European Front, but ve are pushed back and make no progress. And there's a pattern - in the summer ve usually gain ground, the vinter ve usually lose it. And the reason is simple: even beginning in Poland, the climate becomes different. Both the nations of the Alliance and our soldiers are used to a mild vinter, vhile the Russians know such veather very vell. This has been their protection for centuries - I nearly made it to Moscov myself only to lose because of vinter. And ve can't seem to get even close to it this time."

He pauses, his lips held in a tight frown for a moment before his eyes lower and he quietly admits, "I don't think I can do it, Bervald." As if in a hurry to both justify that and put some space between himself and those words he turns and paces a few steps as he adds, "I don't think ve have anyone vho can - Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltics - all have been taken by Russia. Norvay is on the vest coast - he doesn't get vinter like you. Svitzerland has a taste of it in his mountains, but of course he's staying in them. That leaves you and Finland - do you think Finland could command our armies to victory against Russia?" At that question he stops his pacing and turns to look at Sweden as if that was a serious question.

Allowing that question to hang, he steps back over to Sweden as he adds, "You may be able to end the var - this is not nothing. Vith your men training our men, all guided by you, I vould not be surprised if ve take Moscov this year. And you only need to vorry about advancing the front - the rest of us can get you the men and supplies you vill need - ve are very good at getting things to vhere they are needed." A subtle hint that they can also help Sweden's people with what they're now lacking thanks to the years of neutrality which have cut them off from the rest of the world. Perhaps they don't strictly need that, but he's sure that the people wouldn't mind having access to all of what Europe has to offer again - even if the offerings are a bit more modest than they were before the war changed everything.

"And vith Russia out of the picture, Europe vill be safe again. You can go home and let the rest of us vorry about the rest of the Pact - the Russian is not the only strong one on their side, but it vould be a severe blow, likely leading to the end of the var everyvhere," he states confidently. After all, without the European front taking so much of their time and attention, there would be more to send to strengthen the other fronts.

The moment that he's finished saying everything he'd needed to say, Germany simply goes silent and gives Sweden the time to mull it all over. He's knows better to say anything to 'encourage' his cousin even more - the slightest hint of coercion on his part and the other nation would probably refuse to even consider it. Sweden is certainly not one to be intimidated into anything, after all - something that Germany can fully understand as he's much the same way himself. But he feels like he has logic on his side in this - he believes that joining the war in the way that he's proposing would be a genuinely good move for Sweden right now, and that he merely has to help his cousin to see that to get him to agree.

And it would be an extremely good thing for the Allegiance right now as well. While it's tempting to also ask for the men, he knows that knowledge and tactics are far more important than numbers of soldiers and that Sweden is more likely to agree if he doesn't. "You train the men and you offer your advice in our strategy meetings, and the Allegiance vill support you just as ve support each other," he clarifies, certainly wanting to make sure that the terms are clear - he doesn't want any misunderstandings, "And vhen ve have Russia, you are not obligated to do anything more. That is enough." Which is, indeed, putting it too simply. But he wants to make himself very plain.

Because he's definitely not trying to be deceptive at all - he means exactly what he's offering. Yes, he knows that the progression of the war may make it very complicated indeed, and yes he does hope that in time Sweden will be convinced to participate even more fully, but if not he fully intends on living up to what he's saying. So when Sweden asks for it in writing, at first he's surprised by the request. "You don't trust me?" he asks first, but he's also very quick to realize how many potential problems that might solve and nods, "Ja, I vill give it to you in vriting as soon as soon as it can be vritten." Getting these things on paper can be a bit of a process after all - not taking very much time if they're in a hurry, but quite formal. When done properly it's written in both of their languages, scrutinized by experts in international affairs for loopholes and the like, all the particulars are spelled out as plainly as possible, and amended until they're both satisfied that it's all fair and that it will be perfectly clear to everyone if the agreement has been broken.

And it's certainly a good move on Sweden's part to want it on paper - broken agreements, especially among nations who should be able to trust each other and especially ones that are of very real and obvious consequence, prompt so much condemnation by their peers that there's plenty of incentive to satisfy the agreement even if one of them later changes their mind and doesn't want to. And Germany probably would change his mind about being so willing to let Sweden leave the war before it's completely finished, even though he means it now.

Though he can see the distrust in his cousin's eyes, what can Germany do about it? He's being sincere, but in these difficult times it's certainly understandable to be cautious when someone is offering even what appears to be a fair deal. In fact, the fairer the deal, the more suspicious it probably looks. And it's certainly not without precedent for one nation to cheat another when they should have been able to trust each other.

Of course, Ludwig is only telling himself all of this in an effort to skirt around the thought that perhaps his cousin's distrust is more personal than that - perhaps he's remembering the previous world war. Perhaps his efforts to change have not been recognized? Perhaps he deserves to be distrusted? Yes - he'll definitely avoid such thoughts whenever possible, though they come to him so easily.

His gaze is steady, though, as he returns his cousin's look - his thoughts may be troubled but that doesn't mean that he questions his course of action. He only worries whether or not it will be enough. Though he's disappointed that Sweden is refusing to give a verbal agreement before the written one can be made, he simply nods in understanding, not really surprised. Though they have a lot of differences, to a certain degree they're actually quite similar and though they make different choices it usually isn't very difficult for Ludwig to understand his cousin's perspective on the world.

"Don't think me indifferent to yours - if it vas possible for me to help you vithout compromising your neutrality, I vould do so," he says quietly. But there really is no way around that - the extensive amount of trade it would take would be enough of a boost to the Allegiance that the Pact would be fools to ignore it. And though perhaps they could have simply given Sweden what he needs without a return, they simply can't afford that - not during a war. The Allegiance is actually doing quite well on the economic front, but only because of careful management.

When Sweden goes on to speak of his son, it actually takes Germany a moment to remember who he'd be referring to - it's not that he discounts the boy for his size, but he has so much on his mind these days that the literally small things can easily slip from it. Or at least the small things that aren't a part of his current war strategies. But he's actually quite well aware of the boy - more than any other nation might guess, actually. And when he remembers his expression becomes surprised. "I did not..." he says, quickly making a mental note to make sure that England knows - if Russia was there than he was practically on England's shores, after all. How would he have gotten so close anyways? Probably by submarine - pretty much any other way would have gotten their attention. Even so, perhaps he needs to rework their undersea defenses - they can't cover the entire ocean or even just the North Sea, but Sealand is really close to England and that should not have escaped their notice.

Forcing his mind back out of the strategy of the situation, he takes a deep breath. "As you knov, the boy is not one to take the safest course of action - var or no var, since he refuses to stay with England he puts himself at great risk. And he's frankly unfortunate to have England for a brother - if he vere my younger brother, it vould have been different. He is a sea fort - if he vas villing, he could be made very capable of defending himself if he was simply given the technology and veapons. Certainly enough to make it not vorth it to the Pact to try to touch him unless they decided to blov him up just for the hell of it - and even the Pact rarely does such things," he says, though he knows he can't say that they wouldn't. A lot of their fellow nations have had their moments of pointless destruction (especially himself...).

"To be honest, cousin," he continues, "I don't think that I understand vhy you have not so outfitted him yourself vhen you are so concerned for him - it vould not be so very expensive to greatly protect something his size. Unless you believe that the Pact really von't touch him just because he's says he's neutral - even though it vould currently be a trivial matter to defeat him and I can think of several strategic uses they could have for him. Perhaps Ivan has simply not thought of them... yet." Even as he says this, however, Germany is giving no indication that he's attempting to use these thoughts as a scare tactic. That's because he isn't - at least not intentionally. Sealand may be small, but he's concerned about what happens to the boy himself, and he'd like to see his safety handled better.

Then again, it isn't as if he didn't notice why Sweden brought this up in the first place, or that he isn't well aware of the implications of his response - at this point Germany can't help but reject the idea that one can rely on mere neutrality for safety. It can keep a nation safe, yes, but it only works until it doesn't - and then you're just as badly off as you would have been anyway.

At heart, Germany is a pessimist. Which is actually something that usually works to his advantage - when everything goes right he's pleasantly surprised and when everything goes wrong he was expecting that and he's prepared for it. That philosophy is actually quite key to a lot of his strategies. So he's not surprise by things, especially of a military nature, very often. But he is surprised when Sweden confesses that he can't help Sealand. "But he is so small!" he blurts out in surprise, honestly dumbfounded by the concept. He can understand not having enough equipment to adequately protect a large country like one of them, but the boy is minuscule. He'd have thought that giving him what amounts to a few scraps to them would prove to be more than enough to arm him to the teeth. But he was wrong? Really? It's that bad in Sweden?

But, catching himself, he forces himself to contain any further outbursts on the subject. He doesn't want to sound critical or like he believes that he could have done better or anything like that - he honestly doesn't believe so. He's simply surprised, and that's all there is to it. He's still trying to clear out his more unuseful thoughts when his cousin suggests that he go back the way he came in, which prompts an immediate frown. "I have no need for any of these things! They vould do nothing but clutter up a house I am too busy to be in anymore! The only thing I am here for is you!" he says, almost but not quite yelling. Partly because he really doesn't like it when people get pushy with him, but even more so because there is no amount of things that he could buy from this store that would be enough to even put a dent into Berwald's problems. And he knows that, and he wishes that weren't the case.

Does he want to drag another nation into this war? No. Well, unless it proves to be the key to ending the war - he'd do anything short of surrender to end the war - but if he thought that they could do it without Sweden then he wouldn't be here. Perhaps he's being enough of a pessimist that he truly doesn't but he doesn't think so.