A week had passed. Reich stayed at home and nothing was heard from Austria. For this, Reich and Soviet met every now and then and talked a little. Both trusted each other more and more and slowly developed a kind of friendship.

Third Reich went for a walk on the beach with his dog again. Kira ran to the water and played with the waves. She ran away when the water came towards her and ran over to it, making noises as the water receded.

Reich couldn't help but laugh. Kira was already nine years old, but was very fit and enjoyed playing.

Third Reich slowly became sad again as he sat on a large rock and watched his dog. Two thoughts came into his head. Reich would like to have children and is afraid of losing Kira because she was no longer the youngest.

He was sad about both. He would never be able to persuade Britain and who knows, maybe the child can't stand him or is afraid of him, he thought. Unfortunately, most Countryhumans couldn't have children themselves and neither could he, since that had been involuntarily taken from him a long time ago.

Reich looked into the distance, but saw nothing more than the seemingly endless sea. A few gulls and other birds flew across the cloudless sky.

"Hello Third Reich!", Reich heard next to him, but a little away from him. He looked over and saw Austria. She ran to him. She gave him a light hug. Reich was frozen at first, but gave her a hug back.

Reich asked, "Where have you been?" She told him: "First I Great Britain yelled at me and I had to clean his office before I had to travel to my country. I am so glad to see you!"

She let go of him and sat next to him. Third Reich and Austria looked each other in the face. Both wanted to say something, but they looked each other so deeply in the eyes that they forgot their words.

Kira's barking let both of them look at the dog. "What's up?", Reich asked his dog, "Are you bored or are you jealous because there are no other dogs on the island that you can make friends with?"

Kira briefly had a position, as if she were stretching so that he knew what she wanted. "You want to play with the ball?", asked Reich, getting a tennis ball out of his pocket, because he threw it, so that he could probably have set a world record. Kira ran after the ball.

What Reich didn't notice was that Austria was looking at him and watching every move he made. She found every movement, no matter how small, elegant and wanted to see more of it.

Reich was a very strong Countryhuman who shouldn't be underestimated. He didn't hurt a fly, but if he were brave enough everyone who messed with him would only lose within seconds and not just lose the fight. Reich didn't want to use his strength because he was afraid he was too strong, so he preferred to run away instead of defending himself.

Third Reich looked away from Kira again, knowing that she would find the ball. He started talking to Austria again.

Soviet Union was walking along the beach and there was a neon green tennis ball in front of him. Then he saw a dog running towards him. He quickly realized that it was Kira. He took the ball and wiped the sand off the ball. Kira came to a stop in front of him.

"Sit!", the Countryhuman ordered the dog, before she listened to his command and received the ball from him as a reward.

The dog proudly ran to her owner, while Soviet followed the dog.

When Third Reich saw Soviet Union, he waved to him. Soviet also waved to him and sat down with them. "How are you?", Soviet asked her. "Good.", came from Austria. Soviet Union sat to the left of Reich. "I'm fine too and I'm happy to see my two friends.", Reich says happily and put his arms around his friends shoulders, whereupon they both came closer to him.

Austria snuggled up against Reich and put her left arm around his shoulders. Soviet wanted to put his right arm around Reich's shoulders, but these were occupied by Austria and went with his hand to Reich's back.

Both liked Reich. They didn't understand his opinions and views on humans, but they both found that Third Reich was really interesting to them. Soviet knew much more about him than Austria.

When they let go again, Reich lay back on the stone and closed his eyes in delight.

Austria looked at Third Reich in love. Soviet Union saw it and in some way didn't like it.

USSR lay down next to Reich and looked at Austria, who also lay down. Soviet imagined how he snuggled against Reich, he liked the idea, but he was too afraid.

"Friends, I have an idea!", Reich announced, "How about if we would spend the night together. That's something that friends do, isn't it?"

Soviet was just about to start talking: "That would be-" when Austria interrupted him, "That sounds wonderful Third Reich. How about next week at your home?"

"Gladly!", came from the delighted Reich, "What do you think of that Soviet?" Soviet said: "I wanted to suggest the same thing Austria suggested, so I would love to."

"Then we will have a sleepover at my house on Friday next week.", said Third Reich happily.

The three sat up again and Kira lay down next to them, whereupon they watched how slowly everything got darker and the stars appeared.

The week passed. The two Countryhumans stayed at Third Reich for the night. However, the situation had worsened with Austria and Soviet Union. Austria was very protective when it came to Reich and so was Soviet. Both wanted to get to know Third Reich better and quickly became jealous.

Soviet had his arm around Reich's shoulders and was sitting on his left, while Austria was on the right. "I'll get us all water.", Third Reich informed his friends before he got up. He was completely clueless that his friends no longer got along so well.

"Only I am allowed to put my arms around his shoulders!", said Austria quietly. USSR said: "You're wrong. I can put my arm around his shoulder as long as he likes it."

Austria was unsure whether he would take the chance to spend more time with Reich.

Now that he knew a little more about his life, Soviet wanted to get to know Reich better and thought that Austria wanted to make sure that he could no longer do that.

Soviet Union still didn't understood Third Reich's opinion when it came to humans and did not know whether he should influence himself in this way, but Austria was a little more open to Reich's opinions and views.

Soviet Union glared at Austria and she glared back somberly. When Third Reich came back, Austria was the first to stop glaring.

Reich sat down next to his two friends with a smile and put three glasses of water on the table. Austria snuggled up to Reich, who didn't quite understand what was going on and therefore ignored it.

The three of them watched a movie and played a board game together, in which Soviet Union won. At some point Austria had the idea to play "Truth or Dare".

Reich took a glass bottle and turned it whereupon it stopped at some point and pointed to Soviet.

"Soviet, truth or dare?", asked Reich. "Truth!", replied Soviet. Third Reich asked: "Have you ever been in love with someone?" "I don't think so, but I don't know.", he said.

USSR turned the bottle and it pointed to himself, of which he turned it again and then it pointed to Reich.

"Truth or Dare?", USSR asked him. "Truth?", he said a bit unsure because he wasn't entirely sure. Soviet asked: "What are the requirements for friendship for you?" After thinking about it, Reich answered: "Cohesion, honesty, friendliness and generosity."

Reich turned the bottle, which then pointed to Austria. She was asked: "Austria, truth or dare?" "Dare!", she replied happily. Third Reich said: "You have to hug Soviet Union, Kira and me."

She went to USSR and hugged him. Then she hugged Kira, who tried to lick Austria's face, but Austria was to quick. At Reich, she hugged him extra long and a little more carefully than before so that he doesn't get uncomfortable. Reich didn't mind and enjoyed the hug. Soviet didn't like it, but was silent.

When Austria was back in place, she turned the bottle. "Soviet Union, Truth or Dare?", she asked. He decided on: "Dare!" "Give Kira a light kiss on the head.", she giggled.

Soviet had no problem with that and kissed the dog on the head. He got a kiss back from the dog as she licked his mouth. Third Reich and Austria started giggling and laughing. Reich came to him with a handkerchief and wiped the Soviet Union's mouth clean.

Austria quickly became quiet again. Soviet barely moved a bit and looked at Reich, who gently stroked the handkerchief over his lips. He felt warm and his heart beated faster while he looked at Third Reich.

"If there is a place that I overlooked, tell me where.", said Reich and Soviet came out of the little trance again. "I-I think you got every p-place", he said, stuttering.

"Are you all right?", asked Reich, "You never stutter." "Yes, everything is fine!", he assured him.

They continued to play and the two guests couldn't stop staring at Reich. Something was happening in both of them and both saw the Third Reich more and more as their source of joy. Both tried to drive away each other and to have Reich more to themselves, even if Soviet Union withdrew more from time to time because he was unsure.

The three of them had to go to bed and they all slept in one room. Reich had made it so that he had two bed frames in his room and a mattress on the floor. The guests didn't like that Third Reich was the one who slept on the floor, but he was so stubborn that he didn't swap beds with either of them.

They were in their beds. Soviet Union and Austria were still awake. USSR took a little time to himself and his thoughts and went to the bathroom. He had the door open and was looking in the mirror wondering what had happened when Third Reich wiped the dog saliva from his mouth.

He heard the door close and it was locked. He looked at the door and saw Austria. He immediately had in mind that she was going to try to hurt him, but the look on her face told him otherwise. She came to him and also looked at herself in the mirror.

"I don't want to hurt you, I somehow believe that I can trust you with something and I don't want Third Reich to find out because I'm not absolutely sure yet and I want him to realize something more on its own and please don't tell anyone of what I want to tell you.", said Austria.

"What do you mean?", asked Soviet Union. "I... I think I like Reich more than just as a friend. I feel weird, but good when I'm around him. Everything feels so warm to me. That's why I wasn't nice to you before, I'm sorry.", she said.

She knew Soviet Union could tell someone, but she took the risk and hoped that he had enough empathy that he didn't. Soviet hit this more than just as a friend, but he didn't know why.

"The secret is safe with me.", he assured her. It didn't seem right to him, but they were sure to be happy together, even if it hurt inside him when he thought about it. She could certainly make Third Reich happy.

"Thank you very much!", she said before smiling happily at him and opening the door again before disappearing. Soviet Union stayed in place and looked in his reflection again before asking himself: "What's wrong with me?"