"I love U."

Raivis snapped out of his groggy, half-asleep state and turned his head to better hear. "What?" he inquired.

"I love U." Eduard repeated.

Raivis propped himself up on an elbow and turned to look at Eduard. He was tucked perfectly and neatly under the comforter and had his elbows up on the pillow and his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling almost ponderously.

"Guh... I love you too." Raivis answered, rubbing the sleep from one eye. What an odd thing to say at such a time, he thought; they had all already said goodnight about an hour ago.

"You do! That's great." Eduard grinned, "Isn't it the cutest?"

"What?"

"The letter U! It's so cute, like a precious little parabola."

Raivis rolled his eyes and plopped back down on the bed. He watched Eduard speak. The rhythmic, low timbre of his voice lulled him back into his original relaxed state.

"It reminds me of a solute." Eduard continued, "so innocent and sweet; it minds its own business. That's unlike the bully solvent with its sharp V. U is, in a way, a hero for taking V's crap.
And don't get me started on U with an umlaut! It's the cutest face ever - it looks so happy! I've never seen a face as happy as U-umlaut."

Raivis rolled his eyes again. A bright smile was on his face as he listened, and Eduard turned his gaze slowly from the ceiling to Raivis and poked his nose. "There!" he whispered, "There's that face!"

"Go to sleep." Raivis mumbled tiredly.

"U is keeping me up."

"You are such a geek."

"Don't get sassy. Go to sleep."

"Hey! I told you first!"

Eduard rolled over with a similar smile and closed his eyes.

"I love you."

"You already said-"

"No, I love you."

"I love you too."

"And I love U too."

"Fine. Goodnight, Estonia."

"Goodnight, Latvia."