rain, and hopes that Anya will get some too!

shakes her head, worried. "Not just rain, Mei. What could be called a Category 3 storm is coming China's way."

widens her eyes. "That's horrible! When is it supposed to hit?"

shrugs. "Perhaps in seventy-two hours. I'm not very sure." She tries to smile. "Maybe it'll have weakened by then?"

continues, "The weather's an unpredictable thing." She remembers General Winter, and promptly blinks the memory away.

bites her lip. "I hope so...I can't reach Hong's cell, so I'll have to wait till later to talk to him..."

shifts from one foot to the other. "China might be in a little more trouble, actually," she starts. "The eye of the storm's headed for..."

swallows. "Shanghai."

dashes frantically around. "Shanghai! That's really near Beijing! Crap, I don't have China's number or email!"

"And he's AWOL, too, at a nice time. Maybe he's preparing for it?"

stops moving, thinking for a bit. "Yeah, that could be why...Hong's probably helping him out, right?"

then scrunches up her hair in frustration. "I don't get why no one told me, though!"

doesn't know. But she doesn't say anything. "I just learnt a couple hours ago. The news."

"Apparently it's been building up for quite some time."

"I'm stuck in my office most of the time, so I switched on the TV, and..."

"Really? Darn, I should've been paying attention..."

taps at her phone for a bit, before saying, "China knows. He's alerted the people." She looks up. "That's good."

sighs in relief. "Thank goodness. I'll beat up my president later over sending some people in to help, too."

nods. "The world will be obliged to help. But China's neighbors will get there quicker."

smiles at Mei.

smiles back.

then ducks her head now, suddenly shy. She couldn't believe she had a big meltdown in front of someone she didn't know that well!

tilts her head, a bit surprised. "What happened?"

looks away. "U-um...I'm sorry for getting all worked up when the storm was a whole three days away..."

looks away, at the clouds building up near the horizon. "It's summer now, in Petersburg. It's very sunny there."

"But the rivers are still cold."

"You're probably used to summer rains - I know my friend India is, but a storm would get me worked up too."

"Like now it's getting quite hot, and my roads aren't working as well as they should." She smiled. "Built for snow, they were."

curious now. "What's snow like?"

"I've never actually seen it..."

laughed quietly. What a question, and what a person to ask. "I could go on for hours about snow."

"It can be both hard and soft, cold and freezing."

"When it's soft it's like little flowers, or powder at best."

"When it's hard it's as if the clouds were shooting arrows down at the world."

"It sounds kinda like rain."

"It messes up crops and slushes up roads but there's nothing more beautiful in the winter."

turns and laughs. "It is like rain. Powdery rain."

tilts her head to one side. "That would be some weird rain." then she laughs too. "You have to show me snow sometime!"

then darkens a little. "You're lucky it doesn't snow and rain at the same time. It is like walking through sheets of glass."

smiles a little wanly. "Of course," she started.

"But it's a matter of visiting Russia - during the winter."

grins. "S'okay, Anya. I heard people eat icecream there in the winter! And Russian icecream has to be good, so I'll go!"

"I can't help you much there. I'm usually stuck in my office acting dutiful child for the Boss while Ivan goes to all them meetings, lucky."

grins too. "That's true. The cream is good."

pats Anya. "Aww, that must suck. I don't go to meetings often but at least my boss lets me go out!"

scratches her head. "I suppose somebody's got to stay in and take care of the people," she said, shrugging.

"They're all a bit mopey right now."

sits crosslegged. "Yeah, but that shoud be traded up between you!"

"Wait, wait, I have the best idea! Give 'em icecream!"

"And Ivan's stuck in meetings most of the time." She smiled. "Ice cream wouldn't stop the population from falling quicker than it rises."

"Though I wish it would."

"If I were sent to a meeting, though, I'd probably ask double the price for everything Russia trades."

"Maybe this /is/ good sense." She chuckles.

laughes. "Oh, I wish I could see their faces if you did that!"

laughs too, but quieter. Everything about her was a bit quiet, from the way she dressed to her voice. "Particularly Germany."

"Especially Germany. Remember that one time he thought we were the Council of Vienna?"

smiles at the memory. "And, to add to it, he owes us quite a bit - and that by Ivan's reckoning - for the gas we're piping him."

whistles. "ooh, Luddy's not paying up? That's unusual!"

shakes her head. "Oh no, no. It's only just been arranged." She ducked her head meaningly. "Gas against nuclear power after, you must know~"

catches on quickly. "Oh, that." Secretly she doesn't but asking about it seems rude.

purses her lips. "After what happened to Japan. Now Europe's pretty much against nuclear power."

"Zwingli's decided to get rid of it altogether."

"And guess who's been asked to provide the gas till greener methods could be set up." She scowls.

blushes, feeling incredibly dumb now. "Right! Um..." she fumbles around awkwardly

"Couldn't anyone else provide some too?"

sighs. "They could always ask Alfred, but apparently Russia's closer."

rolls her eyes. "Ivan settled the bill. /Ivan/ did it."

"He could've asked double the price - goodness knows we could've used it, but no~o."

"Oh well. As long as they don't default or anything."

looks questioning. "Default?"

"You must know. When they admit they can't pay up." By the way her face darkens it's quite apparent that 'defaulting'

not something you want to be caught doing when she's around.

squeaks. "D-don't worry, Anya! I'm sure they won't default!"

snaps out of it. "They won't. I'm sure they won't. Ukraina does, but Ivan's always been a bit soft with siblings."

"But he'll make sure they won't. Let's just hope America doesn't."

"Now that his boss is fumbling with those trillions of missing dollars~"

"It is kind of worrisome. I hope he gets out of it soon..."

if Alfred would be okay.

"Oh, he will. If he pays up."

"But it's not completely his fault, is it?"

"Though he's been borrowing some 2.5 million dollars every /minute/ for the past year..."

shakes her head. "But he had to, didn't he? Because of all the housing problems and the banks being untrustworthy!"

"Let me remind you that he owes you quite a bit, too~"

sighs. "Yeah, it is annoying. But I'll hold him to it after he pays China and everyone else off."

"And if there's anything else."

"Well, he's such an idiot he'll manage to pay everyone off somehow."

laughed. "That made no sense. But he's such a 'hero' that he'll want to pay everyone off."

"So I believe him."

looks carefully at Mei. "He owes you more than he does me. And he's in major trouble with China, too."

"And, of course, now the debt's crossed his GDP..."

"I'm not inclined to be very allowing, but I'm not exactly losing anything here. He was pretty nasty to Ivan just a while back."

"Yeah, he was a bit of an ass during the Cold War."

[I might be gone for around 45 minutes.]

[Wait, please?]

[That's fine!]

[is back ]

[hey bro!]

[ ]

"Perhaps so,"she returned, "but that's over, isn't it?"

"Lots of people still think he's an ass." retorted Mei, with a smile.

"Maybe he is~" She grinned.

grins again. "Well, at least he's an entertaining one!"

"True, that." She wonders what Alfred would think were he to overhear their conversation. His opinion would also be rather interesting.

shakes her head furiously. "No, he can't see this! That would be embarrasing!"

a little taken aback. How did Mei know what she was thinking?

"No, it would be rather... entertaining."

"How so?"

"I'd simply shoot back at everything he had to say. There's nothing wrong in discussing what everybody knows, is there?"

"Yeah, I guess so...you're pretty smart, Anya, so he'd probably just stand there with his mouth wide open!"

"Or shoot right back, with his usual panache." She almost seemed to be looking forward to it.

hides a smile. "It'd be pretty fun to watch!"

nods, a little lost. For want of a topic, she asks, "How are things at your place?"

of the food scare, but decides not to talk about it. "It's pretty good! Really, really hot but it's kind of blissful, y'know?"

"Ah~" Heat is a rare occurrence. Twenty degrees C was not very hot. She'd been to warmer places.

"But then, the government told the convenience stores to put their air cons to only 25 degrees! Can you believe that?"

"Why, that must be sweltering!" Anya considered it. "Does it often get hotter than that?" She could not imagine hotter climes.

[This RPer considers the irony. She spends ten months of a year in Dubai, where the temp does to 55 C easily... ._.]

nods emphatically. "Totally! I get around 40ish in July!

[You live in India? Awesome! I live in Australia!]

"Forty degrees,"says Anya, faintly. "Doesn't the skin melt off your bones?" Ice creams must be tough business in such weather.

"Just about!" says Mei cheerfully. "That's why you stay in, crank the air conditioning and surf the internet!

[Australia~ I live two months a year in India, the other ten in Dubai. :3 ]

"It seems you do that often," she says, smiling. "I'm stuck indoors most of the time, but now I get out more often."

looks pleased. "That's great! I try to go outdoors during the really hot days but I end up going into convenience stores for their aircon-

or I go to the beach."

"It's getting warmish here in Moscow, though it has been getting rather warm here of recent. Global warming's what the boss says."

"My boss too. It doesn't rain as much here anymore..."

[I've to go now, bedtime~ sorry.]

[Oh, okay! G'night!]

[Kah, not bedtime. Dinner. Good night!]

[Haha, s'okay. See you tomorrow!]