Page 101 of The Explorer
Thor groaned and covered his eyes, but Freya nudged me with a “Go ahead.”
Inhaling long and hard, I thought about it. “My favorite parts about the Motherlands are the beaches. And my favorite part about Old Europe is that it’s so fucking different.”
“Indiana!” Doreen covered her mouth. “Language please!”
I rolled my eyes. “My point is that Old Europe might be tiny but the way it’s built in levels is clever. Their love for vibrant colors in fashion and architecture is unique, and sometimes I feel like I’m on a different planet.”
Freya went after me. “What I like about the Motherlands is the inclusiveness. You always make us feel welcome and although you’re sometimes too sensitive for your own good, I can see how it’s that very empathy and sensitivity that we, your neighbors, benefit from.”
“What do you mean?” Thor asked with his lips turned downward.
“With their size they could have overtaken both the Northlands and Old Europe if they had wished to. We are lucky that Motlanders are pacifists and show a tolerance for our different ways of living.”
“Thank you, Freya, that’s a mature observation,” Oliver said and bowed his head.
“Old Europe…” Freya tapped her lips. “Hmm… I suppose I admire their focus on cleaning up the world.”
“That’s a matter of survival,” Celeste pointed out.
“True, but the tenacity to keep on working on solutions for future generations is admirable. Each generation of survivors have bettered the circumstances until you were finally able to live above ground again. Your investment in science has allowed you to speed up an otherwise slow process of breaking down the radioactive pollution around you.”
“Thank you, Freya,” Isaac said, and I swear I saw the edge of Victor’s lip twitch in a tiny smile.
The next in line to speak was Celeste, who leaned forward and weaved her fingers around her knee. “The thing that I always look forward to when coming to these summits in the Motherlands is Holly’s tight hugs and Lachlan’s innocent jokes. I don’t mean it in a condescending way, but there’s an adorable innocence about you Motlanders. You wouldn’t hurt a fly and I love that you’ve turned your society upside down. In France the people running our country are the ones attracted to power, which is the way it’s been in most places throughout history. You’ve blocked those people from running your country by selecting Council members based on their values and lack of ego. The way that the five of you have been trained from childhood to put the people first is beautiful. We have scandals with corruption in France and our prime minister is…”
“Celeste!” Victor’s sharp tone cut through and made Celeste pull back in her seat as if he had physically slapped her hand.
“Oui, well, anyway…” She looked a little flustered and gave a nervous smile. “The thing I love about the Northlands is the abundance. You have so much room to roam, gorgeous nature, and always enough of everything. The list of what I don’t understand about your culture is endless, but when you drink and ease up, you are some of the loveliest people to be around.”
Oliver was next and with his face lit up from the fire in the middle of our circle, his large nose looked even bigger. “I know this might sound funny coming from a Motlander, but I appreciate the directness of the Northlanders. Sometimes polite people imply so much that I miss what they’re trying to say. With you Northlanders it’s incredibly easy to read the situation because you don’t know the word passive-aggressive. If Victor had insulted one of us, we probably wouldn’t have demanded an apology but rather dropped hints that we expected it. Obviously, I’m appalled at your threats of killing Victor, but at least you address a situation head on and deal with it rather than slowly building up resentment over time. I’ve noticed in the past that once you’ve solved a disagreement, you’re able to move past it quickly.”
I gave Oliver a nod. “Thank you.”
He smiled and continued. “I’m always in awe of the level of education that you people from Old Europe have. It’s amazing to me how sharp your solutions are when we have complex problems to solve.”
The French thanked Oliver and then all eyes looked to Victor, who was next. He remained quiet.
“Victor, what about you?” Holly encouraged him.
Pushing a hand through his dark hair, he puckered his red lips a little and looked like a sullen child who didn’t want to be here. With a sigh, he said, “Motlanders are too concerned about individual lives to ever reach ambitious goals. And Northlanders are too busy crawling on the floor for crumbs to notice the cake on the table.”
Thor immediately took offense and pushed to the edge of his seat. “We aren’t fucking crawling for anyone!”
Doreen was quick to ease the situation, “Victor, dear, you need to stick to the rules of the friendship game. We are looking for the positives here, not what you see as negatives.”
He lowered his brow and seemed to think hard. “All right. I like that the Motherlands have added forty-three men to their Council over the last two decades. Equality should be essential in any civilization and holding men responsible for something their forefathers did was always a vile example of misandry.”
“What’s misandry?” I whispered to Freya.
“Hatred, contempt, or prejudice against men and boys in general.”
“For once I agree with Victor,” Mason said and pointed to him. “But just for the record, you’re the worst at giving compliments. Didn’t anyone tell you that a positive thing wrapped in an insult is still an insult?”
Victor waved a hand in front of his face and moved to the side to avoid the drift of smoke from the bonfire. “I never claimed to be a people pleaser.”
“What’s your favorite part about the Northlands?” Holly asked him.
Victor looked utterly bored as he crossed his ankles. “That it’s so far away.”
