towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: England and all you ~~positively insufferable~~ wonderful people!
Setting: Floor Three
Format: Starting with prose/paragraph/whatever you want to call it, but I'll match.
Summary: Apparently the Shakespeare collections he brought with him aren't enough -- actually finding the library in this godawful place was a small blessing.
Warnings: Language, most likely, gosh England that's so improper (also mild suggestive themes, courtesy of him and fem!France)

The kingdom breathed a minor sigh as he turned the page, away from the inquiries of comedians and further into the tale of one 'Cesario'. A stack of books flanked each side of the open copy of Twelfth Night on the table; one stack for the books he had finished (currently, about three), and a stack for the ones that had not yet been opened.

Getting down to this floor had been a nightmare. England didn't mind stairs -- he was no lazy American, after all -- but this was just ludicrous. The place was a scientific disaster and a magical marvel. He was less disturbed by the physical impossibility than he was by the chance of hostile supernatural figures lingering about. It didn't take a mage adept to realize that a place like this could easily have them, just by looking at the way the tower defied physics and logic.

But at least he'd suffered no loss of limb nor any encounters with anyone he'd rather not meet with on the way down here. And, thus far, he'd had no significant disturbances.

Now all he needed to do was just stop thinking about the damn building and relax enough to enjoy what he was reading.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ivan liked to read--it was one of the lesser known facets of his life, but he certainly liked books and the written word. As such, the library was one of the places he liked most in the tower--after all it was big enough to keep him occupied when he wasn't trying to figure out a way to escape, or trying to find something to drink, since his alcohol supply had diminished to nothing at all. The new found, almost completely ice-cream diet didn't help.

He carefully collected a few books, moving to sit on a seat, barely noticing the other in a seat nearby, carefully settling down, choosing a book from the pile, and opening it carefully, humming a little to himself.

Even as absorbed in the tale of Viola as he eventually became, England couldn't help but become aware of a creeping sense of dread. He shrugged it off, though, attributing it to his nerves about the tower. Despite the anxiety that was just getting worse, England kept on reading, until humming caught his attention.

An illusion of this awful place, maybe? The nation looked up from the volume opened in front of him--

And froze immediately.

Oh.

He was dead silent as he stared at the Russian man occupying one of the other chairs, lips parted but not moving. At length, he closed his mouth, swallowed, and cleared his throat before returning his attention to the story in front of him. Maybe Russia wouldn't notice him.

Ivan felt the eyes on him, and he frowned slightly, turning the page of his book, marking his page, and then looking up, brows furrowing as he peered over the englishman's book, and then he frowned slightly.

"Ah. Angliya," he started, hummed a little, rubbed his thumb over the book cover, pondering for a moment. "I did not know you were being here as well. Though I am supposing it is not being very much of a surprise."

Drat. He'd been noticed.

Calmly, England reviewed the passage he was on and set his book down to look back at Russia. "...I suppose it wouldn't be, no," he agreed with slight hesitation. "Though I wasn't aware that you had a love of literature yourself." Not that he didn't think Russia had the capacity for it or anything. It was just...he didn't make a habit of thinking too hard about Russia's tastes, he supposed.

Ivan frowned and gave a tiny shrug, looking thoughtful, watching England, rubbing at a page in the book, and shifting slightly. "Ah, I do like reading, da," he replied with a slight smile, looking amused at the confusion there. Reading was relaxing--something he didn't get the chance to do as often as he might like, but that was okay. "Ah... How long have you been being here?"

England was just going to pretend that conversation with the larger nation wasn't frightfully awkward and just a little intimidating. Gentlemen always knew how to keep their composure, after all.

"About two weeks, I believe. I haven't kept an exact tally." Though he probably should have. But he didn't exactly fancy turning into one of those maniacs that carved their days into the bedpost or wall.

"What genre of story do you gravitate towards, if I might ask?" he questioned politely following his reply to Russia's query.

Ivan was just smiling because he didn't have quite the same problems talking to the Brit. After all, the smaller nation didn't intimidate him--but then, it was hard to intimidate Ivan.

"Ah, you are just getting here then," he replied, a tiny frown on his lips, tipping his head to the side. "Ah, how is our world doing? With some of the nations gone?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, wondering how to categorize his interests, tapping his chin with his fingers. "Mmm. I like novels that are making one be thinking, da? Adventure novels can be nice too, depending.... But not like America's. He tends to be putting elements in his stories just because his author's writing is not being exciting enough. I think some of my favourite novels are being from my Dostoyevsky, Dumas and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...."

The larger country's question was met with slight bemusement on the Englishman's part. "With some of them gone? They were all present at the time I fell asleep before I came here, I believe." ...at least he was pretty sure that they were. Granted, he didn't know how long he had been unconscious before he actually got here, and who knew what odd timestream antics could be mucking up the sense of things?

He put his confusion aside to listen politely to what Ivan was telling him, and he couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from quirking a little in recognition of Sir Arthur. He was familiar with the other authors, of course, but Doyle was considerably closer to home.

"I concur," he said. England enjoyed a wide range of genres -- he would read almost anything -- but as some of his favourites weren't exactly the best to uphold his image of dignity, he decided instead to ask another question. "So, you enjoy the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, then?"

Ivan's brows furrowed, and he watched the other, looking a little puzzled. "That is very... ah, very strange," he replied, looking a little thoughtful, quiet for a moment. He had definitely been here longer than a few days, or even a few weeks. A few months sounded right--it was right in his mind. "So strange. Ah, it has definitely been months since I was getting here. But I am supposing it is not the only thing that is being strange here...."

He paused and smiled a little, certainly agreeing. He also read most things that he came across. Some of the nations had other hobbies--Ivan's hobbies were primarily drinking and reading. And he nodded once the other mentioned Sherlock, smiling slightly. It was one of the things that he liked about the Englishman. "I do. They are very silly and amusing. He is very witty."