Okay, so I agreed with some of my readers for Cross Your Heart and decided it was time for something else than angst.
Also, people talking about Brandenburg in the reviews got me back in the PruBrand feels.
So here you go... a short PruBrand CYH spin-off.

As it's a spin-off, needless to say, there are some spoilers for Cross Your Heart. (And it's PruBrand, if that somehow wasn't clear yet)

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy!

"Finally we get some time off," Brandenburg sighed happily, stretching her back and facing the sun, eyes closed as she enjoyed the warmth.
Prussia stood beside her in silence, watching her. It was 5 years after the Thirty Years' War had ended, 30 years after the official Personal Union between them. Which meant that today was the 30th anniversary of their marriage. He had mixed feelings about it, but not in a bad way; he had just never expected he would eventually grow to love the girl he'd been forced to marry when his duke died sonless. So he was happy, a little bit confused, but mostly glad that their worries about the great war were now officially over and they got their first time off since they'd gotten married.
And so they had gone to the city of Aachen, on Brandenburg's suggestion, to see the very few old Roman structures that were left, the Cathedral that had stood there for nearly 1000 years, and of course a visit to the natural hot springs was a must (meaning: Brandenburg had wanted to come here mostly for the hot springs so that they could relax, and Prussia had insisted they would do something history-related as well. He could, admittedly, be a bit of a nerd. An awesome nerd).
Brandenburg then pressed against Prussia's side and grabbed his arm. "Well, we'll go somewhere inside first, then in the evening we'll do the hot springs. It's easier to get a sunburn in water for some reason…"
Oh, here was one of the things that gave him mixed feelings: Brandenburg could be so worried about his albinism sometimes, no matter how much he insisted that, since he was a nation and not a human, all the symptoms it gave him were mere nuisances, no real problems. If he had a sunburn, he would just shed his skin (in real bad cases he felt like a snake, shedding his entire skin in one go) and go on living life as usual without the long-term side-effects constant sunburn could apparently have. It was sweet, of course, that she cared so much, but Brandenburg could sometimes get to the point that she was motherly –and Prussia had never even had a mother to compare Brand with, but he was pretty damn certain it would be like this.
"Then again, I think some parts of the springs are indoors…? I don't know, I've never been here before." She was silent for a moment, thinking, then shook her head and sighed. "I don't even know where to begin and I said I would be the one planning all this… Wonderful, isn't it?"
Prussia sniggered and just gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Just let the Awesome Me take care of it, then!" he said softly, grinning. "Not that I know the way, but you know my awesomeness will show the way. And if not, it will attract people who can tell us the way."
"And when it comes to that," Brandenburg giggled in response, "it's up to me to do the actual talking. I'm a better people person than you are, facts are facts."
"And I'll tell you about the historical sights we come across," Prussia then added, pulling her with him down the streets. "I've read all about them before we got here. Did you know that there's a tower connected to the Rathaus which is older than the rest of the building? It is in fact one of the oldest structures in the city."
"Ssshhh," Brandenburg shushed him with a smirk, her blue eyes twinkling. "Keep the guide-mode for when we actually see the sights you're telling me about, all right? Don't spoil it now."
The two just went on their way, saying things like that to each other until they actually got somewhere interesting.

"Look, look!" Prussia said excitedly when the Town Hall came into view. "There's the Rathaus! It looks even better than I had thought it would, wow."
The building was a great, imposing structure in the middle of a large square, leaving long shadows on the ground.
"It's amazing," Brandenburg agreed, staring at it wide-eyed. "So that's where the Holy Roman Emperors are crowned, huh?"
Prussia nodded, smiling in wonder. "Yes. And do you so all those statues lining the exterior? That must've been so much work to get done! Oh, and there's the tower I told you about!"
Brandenburg watched in amusement as Prussia ran off, excited about seeing all the things he'd read about in real life now. She just chuckled and followed him more slowly. Her husband was really a closet nerd, and he'd just raced out of there and expressed his inner nerd for all the city to see. Thankfully for him no one here knew him; he'd hate it if he destroyed his image as the greatest soldier in the world. Not that he would, of course –that he was a born and raised knight didn't mean he couldn't bury himself in a pile of books in the library they had at home whenever he got the chance. But she knew Prussia after 30 years of marriage, and she knew that his culture-loving side was one he preferred to keep hidden, for whatever reason, just like his soft side and all the rest that would 'damage his awesomeness'. He was so insecure, but masked all that insecurity with his boasting. At least he was comfortable enough around Brandenburg to be himself.
"Brand, Brand, come see!"
When she heard Prussia's call, she walked a little faster and caught up to him within seconds. The margraviate had to hold in her laughter when she saw the look with which he gazed up at the tower he'd mentioned; it was as if it was the best thing he'd ever seen. "This thing is older than both you and me," he told her with a wide smile. "Awesome, right?"
Brandenburg just nodded, but wasn't so sure when she stared up at the stone tower. It was just that: a simple stone tower attached to a truly magnificent building. Honestly it didn't stand out at all, and completely faded in comparison to the true marvel that was the Rathaus. "It's wonderful, dear," she said, trying to sound excited. "But shall we go look at those statues at the front now?" She really wanted to get away from here, because if he started talking now… No amazing tales of glory and grandeur could make this tower look less boring, not even if Prussia told them.
Thankfully he agreed, running off again, and Brandenburg laughed softly as she followed him. Why wouldn't he want people to know this delightful side of him?

Half an hour later, the two found themselves in the Cathedral that had been built on order of Charlemagne over 800 years before. They both said a quick prayer at the altar, then started looking around. Prussia busied himself with reading the Latin inscription along a ridge while Brandenburg looked at the mosaics of angels.
"Now this is beautiful," she said in wonder. "Much more so than that boring old tower you went on and on about."
Prussia turned around with a sigh and shook his head. "I never said that tower was beautiful," he reminded her calmly. "I only said it's old and therefore fascinating. Old is awesome. Well… when it comes to buildings at least." Then he turned to look at all the mosaics again and the gold and all the other riches inside the Cathedral, and he sighed, his excitement dampening. "It's just a shame that this place is a church," he mumbled. "Now here's one of the reasons I became protestant: churches shouldn't have such grandeur, they should be modest."
Brandenburg nodded in agreement. But then she walked over to Prussia's side and hooked her arm into his. "Just don't think about this being a church," she said softly. "It's merely an awesome building with a lot of history. And beautiful at that."
The Prussian chuckled and nodded. That was something he could definitely agree with. They looked around a bit more, enjoying every bit of it, and Prussia told all the stories he could tell: about the wolf with the hole in its chest near the entrance, the supposed 'finger of the Devil' in the door, and then some things inside as well.
"So where do you want to go next?" he asked Brandenburg once they were done there. It was still several hours before the sun would go down, so she probably didn't want to go to the springs yet, for his sake.
The girl's stomach answered for her. Brandenburg just sighed, blushing a bit, embarrassed. "Let's just find a place to eat, and I'm sure we can go to the springs after that."

It had taken them quite a while to find an inn where they could get a warm meal without having to rent a room (they already had one in an inn just outside the city) so by the time they finished eating and left again, Brand decided it was the right time to head to the hot springs. Luckily they weren't hard to find.
Not so luckily, they faced an obstacle once they got there.

"Oh, Prussia, come on," Brandenburg insisted for what felt like the tenth time already. "We've been married for decades and you still think it's too awkward to see me naked? Please, what are you, a child?"
"No," Prussia just protested with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly. "And if I were, at least I'd be an awesome child. But… Well…"
"Just spit it out already."
Prussia felt the blood rise to his face, and he looked away awkwardly. "It's just that I, err… I've never really… Err, I've never…"
With an amused, understanding grin, Brandenburg finished for him: "Let me guess… You've never seen any girl naked, have you?"
Prussia just silently shook his head, lips pressed tightly together. Just before Brandenburg could laugh about it, he shrugged and said softly: "Well, except maybe Hungary, but that doesn't count; that was centuries ago, back when she still thought she was a boy… and it's also how I found out she isn't one. Anyway, she didn't really look like a girl yet back then except for the lack of certain parts, so it sure as hell doesn't count."
Brandenburg sighed, chuckling, and rolled her eyes. "Sometimes you really are such a child, Prussia. Man up a little, seriously. Look, I would've been totally against it too, were it not for the fact that we're married, Prussia. We're married, have been for 30 years! You were awkward about seeing me in my underwear before, weren't you? But you've gotten used to that. You help me get into those impossible dresses without me having to ask for it nowadays, while a decade and a bit ago you would've felt too embarrassed and awkward to even come near me when I'm not fully dressed." Annoyed, she closed her eyes and huffed. "Long story short, Prussia, this will be just like that: the first time might be awkward, I know, but you'll get used to it. And besides, do you know that, since we're pretty close these days and all, some of the women at home have already asked me about stuff that- well- you see- Ugh." She grunted and turned away. "Great, Prussia, just great. Now you've gotten me awkward about these things, too, thanks for that."
Prussia just glanced at her and muttered a soft apology. But he still didn't really understand what she meant –which might just be because he wasn't really thinking about it anyway. But he was curious, so he asked. And regretted it.
Brandenburg went beetroot-red at this and fiddled with her fingers for a moment, gaze glued to the floor so as to not look at Prussia, it seemed. "Well, the Duchess for one," she said in a whisper, "she's asked me, well… if you're any good in the bedroom…" Apparently it was possible for a person to become even more red than she already was, because she did. But she also quickly turned to look at Prussia, adding in a rush: "And while I have absolutely no intention of finding out-! Well, it feels kind of stupid to have to answer with 'I don't know.'"
Prussia shuddered at the thought and grimaced. "No, we can agree on that. Let's first see how this marriage goes…"
"Because 30 years is not enough time to figure that out."
"Exactly."
Brandenburg got onto her toes and kissed him then, silencing the young Duchy completely. "But let's just get into those hot springs without thinking about it too much, because I did not want to go here just to argue with you over whether or not it's okay for us to do this because, guess what, it is!"
Prussia stared at her a moment, then sighed and nodded, giving in. "All right, let's get this over with."

They had found a solution to their problem: Prussia went in first (being completely surprised by how warm this water really was without any fire anywhere near it) and then, while he had his back turned to her, Brandenburg would undress and he wouldn't look at her until she sat beside him.
Not that it really worked as well as they'd hoped, of course. Water had the nasty tendency to be completely see-through, unfortunately. But Brandenburg had been right, and it became less awkward quickly.
"Okay, I've got to hand it to you," Prussia sighed in pure bliss, enjoying the warm water, "you've picked a great way to spend our little vacation. Of course, the sightseeing was great, but this is really nice too…"
Brandenburg chuckled, leaning back with her eyes closed. "Nah, really? You think?" She took a deep breath then and exhaled slowly. "Whatever gave you that idea?" She then opened one eye and gave him a sideward glance. "This place has some great sightseeing opportunities too, though."
This time it was Prussia who went red, and he turned his back on her again wordlessly.
She just laughed softly and patted him on the back, leaning in a little closer and deciding to just break the news to him: "Prussia, that doesn't make the sights any less good to look at. Just give up already, silly, it's not going to work."
He hesitated, but did as she asked anyway. And then they just sat beside each other like that, in silence, enjoying the heat of the water and the silence around them. Until Prussia decided to speak again. "I wonder how Württemberg is doing…?" Württemberg was yet another one of their cousins, and after his previous incarnation had died in the recent Thirty Years' War, it had been Brandenburg and Prussia who, because of their neutrality in the war (not that neutrality gave them any safety from battles within their borders) had raised the new incarnation of Württemberg in his first years. Soon he would head to his own land and be raised further by his leader.
"Oh, he's fine," Brandenburg assured him. "The Duchess adores him, you know that. He's probably being spoiled rotten right as we speak." She smiled and leaned closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. And while Prussia wasn't too comfortable with that position, for a number of reasons, he just let her do so for now. "You're not the only one who misses him, though. I've gotten used to having that kid around."
He nodded, agreeing. Brandenburg especially had been a bit motherly to the kid. That had made for some awkward moments too, when Württemberg copied the Duke's children and started calling Brandenburg 'mutti'. It had taken quite some time to get him out of that habit again. Admittedly, it would've gone faster if Prussia had put more effort into it sooner, but it took him until he heard the first 'vati' come out of the child's mouth before he'd seriously lost it and started doing whatever he could to change the little boy's perception of them.
Nowadays he could laugh about that, thankfully. Prussia just tilted his head and kissed Brandenburg on the cheek. "But I do enjoy the time we've got without him. Such a noisy little thing."
Brandenburg giggled and snuggled up closer to him. "Look at us, talking as if we really are his parents."
Now that thought sent a shiver down Prussia's spine, though not an entirely uncomfortable one. He was too fond of the little boy they'd raised to be completely disgusted by the idea.
"…It would be nice if we could get the chance to raise another one someday," Brandenburg went on softly. "I enjoyed it."
"Maybe one day, but then that would also mean someone else would have to die for it, so…"
Brandenburg hummed. "That isn't exactly what I meant… But then, what I did mean is impossible, so let's go for your version instead."
Then a heavy silence fell, to be broken by Prussia after a minute or so.
"Brand?"
"Hm?"
"Not the right moment. Not the right moment at all."
"Oh, bugger off."

So as people who've read CYH would've noticed, this was after Prussia and Brandenburg got comfortable with their marriage, and before they got comfortable with each other.

I wanted to do a chapter like this in CYH but never found the right time to do it. So here ya go!

Well, I hope you liked it, and thanks so much for reading!