Polarity.docx

Polarity by Anonymous

Prompt:

I stumbled upon this article: http://www.lithuaniatribune.com/2012/02/09/poland-should-be-more-sensitive-towards-lithuania-european-voice/

The part I found most interesting: "Whereas Poles remember fondly the joint Polish-Lithuanian state of centuries past, they have no idea that Lithuanians remember it as a time when their national identity was ground down and away by a cultural hegemony." (emphasis mine)

The prompt I'd like to make....

Poland has a brilliant idea - let's rebuild the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth! Because the Commonwealth was so awesome, right? Right. So he brings the idea up to Lithuania, expecting Lithuania to heartily approve.

Instead, Lithuania's response is basically, "Uh... no."

Poland is crushed. It's the first time he realizes that his relationship with Lithuania isn't what he thought, and maybe it never was.

I'd like to see this lead to a huge falling-out between the two of them, followed by a rebuilding of their relationship with greater awareness of how they each view their shared past. (Relationship can be platonic or romantic, your choice.)

Fill:

Side A: Engagement

They sit down at a table in the middle of the kitchen. It’s not an unusual scene. On some occasions, they have tea and just talk for hours and hours on end until it’s late in the night and the sky is black and one of them has to half-carry the other up to bed.

But today there is no tea, and it is evening—the clouds beyond the window are purple-pink-red-orange-yellow-cream from the changing sky, and large. It might rain tonight.

“What do you want to talk about tonight, Po?” Lithuania asks. He begins to rise. “I’ll make us some tea.”

“N-No!” Poland exclaims.

Lithuania’s eyes widen in surprise, and he sits back down. Poland closes his and sighs. That is not the best way to start the evening, especially an evening as important as this. He should know this by now. He just has to be calm, no matter how much his heart is jittering.

“Lie—Lithuania,” he says. “I really, really have to talk to you right now. This is, like, really important, and I need you.”

Lithuania looks at him with a troubled expression. Poland can only wonder why; Lithuania is always the one with important talks and concerns. For Poland to request a conversation especially in such a direct and serious manner, must be nearly inconceivable, now that Poland thinks about it.

“Is everything alright?” Lithuania says. “Do you need help with something?”

“No, no,” Poland replies. “Well, at least, not total help, but I need to ask you something.”

Lithuania leans forward, his unsettlement growing. “What?”

Remarkably Poland smiles. Oh, Lithuania will love it when he said this! He knows he will!

“Would you like to reform the Commonwealth with—?”

“No.”

He speaks the word with such finality and certainty. He sounds decisive, his voice unwavering.

It’s not, “No, Poland, I’ll do it later” or “No, but maybe I’ll think about it” or “No, but I’m sure we can come to a compromise about this.” It’s just—

No. N-O. Final.

Poland isn’t even sure that he heard Lithuania right. This is just something so unnatural, so bizarre, so un-Liet, that it just has to be wrong. He didn’t even have a chance to finish the sentence!

“Um, did you heard me right?”

Lithuania looks at Poland from across the table with clear eyes. He doesn’t look delirious; he isn’t drunk. So, what is it then?

“Yes. I heard you, Poland. And I’m saying no.”

The clock ticks behind Poland above the refrigerator. He feels every motion of the hand, the sound striking into his soul.

Poland clears his throat. “Liet, like, I’m pretty sure that you didn’t get that right. I’m talking about reforming the Commonwealth. You know, our glory days.” And right after he says that the flood of memories hits him—resplendent medieval Warsaw, the gentle rye fields. The feel of power. The power of half of the European continent within his hands.

Lithuania scowls, jarring Poland out of his memories, but it disappears in a heartbeat.

“Yes, Poland. I know about the Commonwealth,” he states calmly. “And I believe that this isn’t the best solution in these current times.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Poland insists. “I mean, look at what happened then. Everything was really good. We didn’t have to worry about much. Our economies were booming. Of course, there were some…err, stuff that needed fixing towards the end. But Litwo—”

Lithuania starts at that last word.

“Liet—sorry. But seriously, Liet, I, like, don’t see why you don’t want to do it.” He chuckles nervously. “I mean, we both need to support each other, you know. We’re a team. If God is with us, then who is against us?”

Lithuania snorts, shaking his head.

Poland blinks and honestly feels confused. “Uhh, sorry, what? Liet, you remember the Commonwealth, don’t you? Don’t you remember how great it was, being, like, one of the strongest countries in the world? It was amazing! I can’t remember a happier time in my life.”

Poland looks back at Lithuania, who hasn’t moved an inch.

“What the heck, Liet?!” he exclaims. “Don’t you agree? Don’t you remember? We had such a great time.” When he does not respond, Poland’s voice takes on a harsher tone. “Were you even there—?”

“Of course I remember.” Lithuania speaks quietly but with such intensity that it cuts off the words Poland was about to say. One of his hands clenches into a fist. “I don’t ever want to relive that again, you understand? I didn’t like it; it was like a poison for me.”

Lithuania might as well have slapped him. Or stabbed him. “What?” he whimpers. “B-But why? Liet, we had everything we could have wanted. I don’t understand. It was a great time for both of us. I thought you liked it.”

The brunet closes his eyes and sighs sadly. “You’ve never really listened to me, have you?”

“What?!” Poland snaps, standing up. And enraged, he just keeps talking. “What makes you say that? Of course, I’ve always listened to you. I was your partner for, what over 200 years? I’m still your partner, in some ways.”

Lithuania opens his eyes. “Po—”

“How can you say that, Liet? How? I thought we were best friends—”

“Poland—”

“This hurts, Liet. It really does—”

“Poland, that is enough.” Lithuania slams an open palm onto the table, the smack reverberating around the room for a few moments. Poland falls silent, shrinking in the face of Lithuania’s anger.

Lithuania breathes out through his teeth and shakes his head. “See, this is exactly what I am talking about, Poland. You. Never. Listen. Even today, after four hundred years, you still don’t.”

“But why, Liet?” Poland asks. “I-I thought we were friends. I thought we treated each other fairly, like equals.”

“Poland, please just calm yourself and sit down,” Lithuania replies. “I will explain this to you, but you'll have to be quiet and listen to me.”

Poland sits but finds himself unable to calm down. Lithuania has knocked something over in his mind, and an unknown anxiety spreads through him. But he can’t concentrate on that now.

“Can you just tell me what I did wrong?” he asks. “You’re just telling me that you hated the Commonwealth, but you’re not telling me why, Liet.”

“There were several reasons why I didn’t like it, Poland, partially because it was rather forced and formed out of desperation. But that isn't the main reason.”

Poland leans forward to listen. “Then what is?”

Lithuania slowly breathes in and out, and his voice and voice relax. “The way you treated me and my culture.”

Poland blinks. “Wait, what? What was so bad about that? I thought the Lithuanian nobles were treated fairly. I made sure that they were—”

“But they were hardly ‘Lithuanian’ nobles,” Lithuania says. “They spoke Polish, wore Polish clothing. Some even changed their surnames so that they sounded Polish.”

“And you think I had something to do with that?” Poland retorts. “It’s not my fault your people adopted my culture. You’re acting like I forced them to do it. I didn’t force them to do anything. In my eyes, they were still Lithuanian.”

“No, but you made it more than obvious that my culture and language were frowned upon.” Lithuania crosses his arms.

Poland makes a sound of disgust. “Oh really? When did I ever do that?”

“First off, only the middle and lower-class of my people spoke or even practiced any type of Lithuanian culture.” He clears this throat. “And now, let me remind you of the official languages of the Commonwealth.” Poland really hates the tone that Lithuania is taking. He’s starting to sound like a bratty child who didn’t get his candy. “Polish—”

“What does this have to do with any—?”

“Just be quiet and listen, Poland!” Lithuania snaps. He takes a deep breath. “Polish, Latin, Hebrew, Ruthenian, German, and oh I think you even recognized Armenian at some point.”

“So? What’s your point? All of those languages were really important, Liet—”

“But not mine?” Lithuania replies. “Not Lithuanian? Not one of the many languages of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?”

Poland rolls his eyes. “God, stop talking like that. It’s annoying.”

Lithuania blankly stares at him. He says nothing for a few seconds before opening his mouth to speak in a hushed voice:

“That is exactly what you told me when I tried to speak Lithuanian while I was in Warsaw.” He adopts a high falsetto voice in mockery of Poland. “‘Stop talking like that’, ‘No one can understand you anyways’. There were times where you wouldn’t even speak to me if I spoke Lithuanian. My culture was frowned upon and treated second-class, Poland. Your influence was so great that mine was shrinking every year of the Commonwealth.”

The room goes quiet. Poland honestly has no idea what to say to this. Did he really say this? Did this really happen? He doesn’t remember at all. Maybe he did tell Lithuania those things. But doesn’t Lithuania know that was then and this was now?

“If you had such a problem with it, why did you tell me?” Poland says. “I could have fixed something.”

Lithuania looks at him as if to gauge whether he is being serious and closes his eyes. “I did. I voiced to you my concerns so many times, but you didn’t do a single thing, even if I did tell you in Polish or Latin or Ruthenian.”

“Oh...” Poland has to carefully choose his next few words. He doesn’t want to offend Lithuania anymore than he already has.

“But, I mean, this time it’ll be different, Liet,” Poland says softly. “This is today and things have change. If it matters to you that much, then I’ll make sure both of our languages have equal status.”

“You’ll make sure? In that case, what am I supposed to do then?”

“Oh please, you knew what I meant. Don’t try to turn this around on me.” Now it’s Poland’s turn to cross his arms. “I mean, it’s not like you haven’t seen how nostalgic I’ve been about the Commonwealth or anything. You could’ve told me then and not now when I tried to reform it with you.”

“I thought you knew, Poland. I thought you knew and pretended to forget about it. Now I know that you forgot about it all this time.”

“Mmm.” Poland will never admit it out loud to Lithuania, but he was right. Poland really did forget about the status of Lithuania’s culture during the Commonwealth. It was never a big focal point to him—he just remembers the glory of the Crown and everything good and stable that came with it.

“This conversation has given me a headache,” Lithuania says. “Can we just put it to bed for now and have some tea?”

“Yes, we can. You know I like black tea”

Lithuania nods and gets up, first going to turn on the light (how long have they been arguing in the dark?) and then heading to the cabinets to get the teakettle.

Night has fallen, and it is dark outside. From what Poland can see, his house is one of many with lights still on. There aren’t any stars in the sky and he faintly sees watermarks on the window. Rain.

He looks back at Lithuania, but there is something different about him now. It’s like an invisible wall has sprung up between him and his friend. Lithuania is no longer so approachable or familiar. He has changed. Yes, there is no doubt in Poland’s mind that Lithuania is cordial or friendly or helpful. Lithuania has always been those things. But it’s not the same. He can’t help but wonder what Lithuania has been feeling the entirety of his stay at Poland’s house. Did he not want to be here at all? Is there some subconscious disgust when Poland went to hug him? Does he loathe the times when they were intimate? Is his opinion of Poland really so low, but he just doesn’t have the heart to tell him anything?

Is everything a lie?

Sure, their relationship has problems big and small, like every other relationship there is. Why, just last week Lithuania yelled at Poland for not folding his clothes correctly. And a few days after that they had a “debate”, for lack of a better word, about the current situation of Polish schools in Vilnius. But despite all of these things, they are together. Poland considers Lithuania—the man; the personification of that ancient country; the living, breathing being with his own thoughts and wishes and dreams—one of his closest friends, and he has been with him throughout nearly all of his life. And that idea is impossible for anyone to change, no matter how many times they have fought.

But if that thought is so rigid, so engrained in the both of them, then why on Earth is Poland so worried? He is still the same Lithuania, right? The same Liet who will hug him if he had a rough day at work, the Liet who knows exactly how Poland loves his pierogi. This is just another argument. Nothing too major. Everything will be back to normal within the next twenty-four hours. Their relationship will still be the same.

Right?

Then again, they left their previous argument hanging. Now it was Poland’s turn to step up and resolve it before they both let it sit there and fester.

He turns around and looks at the clock just as Lithuania walks across the kitchen. Eight o’clock. Poland hopes he could resolve it within the next few hours. He has to get up early for a meeting in twelve hours.

“Oh, it looks like it’s starting to rain now, Poland.”

Poland, he said. Not Po. Could mean something. Could mean nothing.

“Is it?” Poland says nonchalantly. “It looked like it was going to rain earlier today.”

“Really? Did it say so in the paper?” See, here he is, talking about normal domestic stuff. After an argument. This is normal, right?

“I didn’t read the paper this morning, Liet. I just saw the clouds outside.”

“Ah. Well, in that case, it’s good for the flowers.”

Poland nods and pretends not to watch him as Lithuania sits back down at the table across from him. Alright, this is it. This is his chance. He either has to tell Lithuania now, or—

WHEEEEEEEEEE!

“Oh, the water’s boiling already!” Lithuania gets up again, but it’s quite a jerky movement. Poland hears his knee bang on the table “Hold on, I’ll be back in just a little bit.”

Oh yes, something is most definitely wrong. And it’s up to Poland to fix it.

“Don’t forget the little lemon.”

Lithuania has his back to him, but Poland sees him pouring the water into the teapot. “I won’t forget it, Po.”

Poland taps his fingers against the table. “And don’t bring out the milk. You know I don’t like milk in my tea.”

“I know, Po. I know.”

Poland turns around and faces the empty chair across the table. The clock is ever ticking behind him. He wishes he had control of the time now. That way he can fast-forward all of this tea business and go straight to talking to Lithuania.

But does he really have to talk to Lithuania now? The brunet is jumpy, and if Poland says the wrong thing, it probably can set him off on something else. Maybe he should just wait until the morning.

No, no, the morning won’t do. Poland can’t procrastinate. He has to do it now so he can get it over with.

Finally, the damned tea is done and Lithuania comes back to the table with the tea tray. There is the teakettle and the teapot and two cups for the both of them and a small lemon wedge on a napkin and another cup filled with—

“Liet, is that milk?” Poland asks, looking at the white liquid.

Lithuania sits down. “Yes.”

“But you know I don’t like milk in my tea.”

“I know.” Lithuania takes a cup and fills a quarter of it with milk. “But I like milk with mine, remember?”

Poland ever so slightly narrows his eyes at Lithuania. “Oh…of course I remember. You do like milk with your tea.”

Lithuania fills the rest of his cup with tea. “Go on. Why don’t you pour yourself some tea, Poland? It’ll keep us warm tonight.”

Poland just stares at the teapot. He can’t help but wonder if Lithuania put some rue in the tea. Why is he even thinking like this? Lithuania is his friend; he would never deliberately poison him.

“Yeah, I think I’ll need a cup.” Poland takes the teapot and fills his cup up to the brim. Steam rises, and Poland breathes on the top to cool it down.

“Thank you for making the tea, Liet.”

Lithuania smiles, but it is a forced one. “You’re welcome, Poland.”

Poland waits in silence for a minute and takes a sip of his tea. “Umm, Liet.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re, okay, right?”

“And why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh…no reason then.” Feliks’ free hand draws circles on the table. “Listen, Liet, about our discussion earlier.”

Lithuania groans and puts down his cup. “Oh God, you’re still on that, are you? Don’t think I haven’t figured out what a part this was about.”

This was certainly a new development.

“What do you mean what this was about?”

“Our current conflict about the Polish minority in Lithuania.”

“Just what makes you say that?” Poland exclaims. “Why the hell are you dragging that into this? This has absolutely nothing—”

“Well, it makes sense,” Lithuania says calmly. “If the Commonwealth is reformed, then technically, Polish would be an official language, and there would not be any problems in the Vilnius. That’s what this is about.”

Poland’s eyes widen, and he cannot believe what he is hearing. “That is absolute bullshit! I wanted to reform the Commonwealth because it would provide the both of us protection while all of this crap is going on in Europe. I did not have any ulterior motive while I told you about this plan.”

“I wonder why I don’t believe that,” Lithuania says, looking around the room. “Since you seem to have forgotten most of our past, maybe you’ve also forgotten the word międzymorze.”

“Now you’re just being stupid, Liet, and bringing in random things that have nothing to do with what I said.”

“But it was another plan your one of bosses brought up to reform the Commonwealth.”

“Piłsudki wasn’t even my boss at the time! Maybe you’re the one who’s forgetting stuff.”

“At least my boss doesn’t tell me plans to revive something that’s been dead for two hundred years.”

Poland stiffens, and for a few seconds, he hates Lithuania. “My boss didn’t come up with this plan,” he whispers. “I did. I came up with it personally, Liet. I thought that it could help both of us. I thought that our nations could regain the wealth of the first Commonwealth and even provide some form of leadership to Europe.” He looks Lithuania up and down. “But obviously, you’re not cut out for it.”

Lithuania takes slow, deep breaths. “You only are thinking of the fun side of the Commonwealth, Poland. You’re not thinking of anything else. What about me? What about my people? Do you honestly think that they’ll be happy learning that their country—their country that they has worked so long for independence—will be forming a union with the nation that A, is my most troubling minority, and B, the one that has suppressed them since the sixteenth century, maybe even earlier.”

Poland scoffs. “They’ll be happy soon enough when our economies improve.”

Lithuania laughs, a harsh cold laugh. “And how on Earth do you propose that will happen. Have you seen the state of our economies today, Poland? Have you?” He lets out a bark of laughter. “If anything, this union would probably drive us into even deeper debt.”

“Well, I didn’t think of how because I thought that you would help me come up with a plan,” he snaps. “Obviously, that pessimism of yours is keeping us from going anywhere.”

“And your idealism is? Oh and guess what. You know who else might be unhappy about this second Commonwealth? Our neighbors!” Lithuania smiles widely and claps his hands. “Let’s see, Germany will think something’s us. Ukraine and Belarus might even hate us because they think we might invade them and try to control them like before.”

...