rukhgate | There might be a bed, but sleeping is not where it's at.

[Whoever passes by the entrance to the dorms will see a teenager of maybe 14 years, but that age is really only visible in the bits of remaining baby fat and other such details of the facial structure: The brunet looks exhausted, the eyes much too old, acutely so, and more blood than can reasonably be shed by one person is spilt over a greenish military uniform, complete with helmet and everything, that is caked in dust and grime. A rifle is slung over one shoulder, loosely, as if to keep it ready and at hand, but while alert, Kiwi is not about to use it if spooked. There has been too much death in the recent and very recent past to really need more.]

This place looks peaceful. [It's not really meant as a remark to someone, more as a note-to-self kind of finding.]

So [and this is where the nation will adress the world as a whole, or maybe the building that the brunet is standing in front of] everyone here is supposed to dabble or be dabbling in magic. I'm surprised that the city is still standing.

[Having seen and hear about magic what the nation has, Kiwi is not too keen on getting first hand experiences in magic.] I wonder if it is very different from what they do at home.

...There can't be much more time left before I wake up. Standing around here isn't going to make the most of this. [The brunet's expression turns into a smile that speaks of a determination to not let the worries of the waking world affect the inside of a peaceful dream.]

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[It takes New Zealand a moment to recognize China, mostly because the man looks a lot better than when they last were in the same place. Which, considering the circumstances at that time, probably isn't hard - after all they had not met for the first time then, so this dream might just have drawn the other man from an earlier time. Though the clothes are admittedly slightly odd for that.]

China, hullo. [This is a dream so the way the uniform and everything looks should not mean much, and though Kiwi's leg still hurts, it can be ignored enough to not show it as long as no walking around is necessary.] You live here? [The question might be odd, but. In dream logic, that could very well be.]

[He sighs.]

I really have no choice but to live here now, aru. Just when I was half-way finished with my Christmas shopping too... What a bother.

[They're just sitting in his dorm, now.]

Edited 2012-12-15 09:03 (UTC)

...You are early this year, aren't you? [Did China celebrate Christmas? Sure, Hong Kong participates in the family Christmas but Kiwi always assumed that that was England's influence, so... Huh. You never cease learning.]

Well, it was December last time I checked. I would rather get it all finished in the beginning.

Buying gifts is all I am doing for the most part, though if America has another Christmas party this year I may think about going.

[But he's not eating any cake. All those fluorescent are too much for him.]

[Well, you couldn't expect dreams to make sense.]

Why are you going to America's Christmas celebration?

[That's not... exactly what Kiwi would have expected from anyone, and China certainly is on the very bottom of the list of possible nations for various reasons.]

I never said I would attend for certain. You know how busy I am around this time since I have to prepare for Chinese New Year, aru. I thought you always got an invitation as well, Xīnxīlán. To America's Christmas parties.

[Tilting his head to the side now. Should he ask about the bloody uniform and the rifle? Usually he'd try to avoid beginning a conversation about something like that, but this just keeps getting stranger and stranger.]

Er... Forgive me, but you look... a little younger than I remember.

[WOW RUDE. Kiwi is pretty sure to have aged since the beginning of the century. Not at a human rate, but certainly there was no loss of years.

Despite this, the nation will smile. With everything that is going on, China might just be mixing the two Oceanian dominions up. They don't really look that similar, aside from hair/skin colour and eyebrows, but are young and remote enough for people to sometimes do that...

No need to act angrily.] I'm pretty sure I didn't get younger at all recently. Maybe you're mixing me an Oz up.

And I can imagine your New Years being hectic, Hong Kong told me about it. It sounds like a lot of fun once it is there, though! Maybe I can come and visit one day when things have calmed down.

[Yep, something's up, considering China doesn't remember anything too hectic happening to NZ recently. Still, he smiles regardless and nods his head.]

Oh, it's definitely a fun and beautiful celebration! You are welcome to join us when you decide to come over, though... I've been meaning to ask you... Why are you in uniform and covered in blood?

[He didn't remember NZ doing any extreme training exercises.]

[Not remembering NZ doing any extreme sports lately must be due to either the privacy of the younger nation or the fact that you get a weird level of "normalcy" of exercise when you're around Kiwi for a bit.

Not that this much blood and grime should be a result of exercise.

Well, it's no secret, is it?] We're in the middle of an offensive, but... Just like everything else in this war, it's not really going according to plan. [A shrug] We're doing our best, but that's what everyone's doing, aren't they?

[China raises both his eyebrows, looking rather startled.]

War?

Yes.

The one that all of Europe is caught up in? [What is that question. Not in an agressive, more in a confused way.]

[The tension is becoming awfully heavy for China too now. He takes a step back, puts his hands up defensively, and speaks to NZ in a calm voice. By now, he's beginning to put the pieces together. The reason NZ looks even younger, the bloodied uniform, the rifle, and now this talk of a war that Europe was fighting.]

...The Great War?

It's big enough to be called that, yes.

[Even more confusion. What is with that reaction?]

[China keeps his hands where they are and tries to keep the tremble out of his voice since this was such a startling turn of events, though he imagines that it may be the same for NZ.]

I know that what I am about to say will sound unbelievable to you, Xīnxīlán, and it is alright if you do not believe me, I understand, but it appears that we come from two different periods of time, aru.

Oh.

[New Zealand's reaction might sound weird to someone who does not think that this is all a dream, but that sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation to the brunet. People talk about seeing the future in dreams all the time, so why not people that are from the future inside a dream that is some place entirely different from reality?]

So you're from the future? [China did know the name of the war and thought that NZ was younger than the dominion should be, so...]

[He nods and finally puts his hands down.]

Yes, from 2012. It was December back home for me, which was why I kept talking about Christmas and New Years.

That's almost a century.

[Honestly, Kiwi did not think that it would be that far into the future. A couple of years, maybe a few decades, but 97 years...]

Yes, I know.

[He's wondering if he should tell NZ that the Great War was long over, but he'll refrain for now. He smiles.]

You would not believe the sort of technology we have now.

With how quickly things have developed over the last 100 years, I probably would be. I hope you've learned to better adjust to the changes?

There might be a bed, but sleeping is not where it's at.

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