This was written for the Prumano Secret Santa event as an extra gift. I wrote it for Melloohsaur, and the prompt was that Prussia gets sick and Italy makes Romano take care of him.
CHRISTMAS SURPRISE
Romano did his best to make sure there was an irritated scowl on his face – but not too irritated because he didn't want to make the others think he was actually bothered by any of this. Nope, no way. He was perfectly content sitting here on the couch, reading some dumbass book he had found in his bedroom and wasting his Christmas. There wasn't a chance that he wanted any of the others to come back inside and ask him to join them.
Or even if he did want that, it was only so that he could yell at them to leave him alone one more time. Maybe, if he was feeling generous, he might give in and go outside to play in snow like a total loser, but only so that they would stop asking.
He should have stayed in Rome, even if it had meant spending Christmas alone. It would have been so much better than this catastrophe that their holidays had turned into. He hadn't been expecting a lot since he had decided well in October that he'd let Spain and Belgium be alone this year. Maybe the slow idiot would finally get a clue and confess to her. If the saints had been smiling upon him, this would have meant his stupid brother would have recognised the sacrifice he had just made and called off his plans with Germany in order to spend Christmas with him – but no, Veneziano was too attached to the brainless lump of muscle and had just invited Romano to join them.
As if spending Christmas within close proximity to Germany hadn't been bad enough, they were spending the holidays in a goddamn mountain lodge in the Alps. That Veneziano had agreed to something like that was proof that his brain was further turning into mush, so Romano had decided he couldn't turn the offer down and had to accompany him to make sure Germany didn't try to take advantage of his brother's deteriorating intelligence. And that was how he had ended up freezing his ass off in the mountains with nobody but his brother and two potato bastards for company.
He made a show of not looking up when the door was opened and Prussia stepped inside, breathing heavily. Romano had been watching him through the window all day when he was sure nobody would spot him. Prussia looked so ridiculous as he ran around in snow with Germany's dogs, built an army of snow birds and threw a snowball at Germany whenever he got the chance. Ridiculous – and like he was having the time of his life.
"You're still cooped up here with that book?" Prussia asked. "Who the hell goes on holiday in the Alps and then stays inside all day?"
"I can do whatever I want, so stop bugging me. I'm not coming outside!"
"Be my guest. I don't think I asked you to. It's not my problem if you don't know what you're missing. I mean, there's snow, but don't forget my awesome company!"
"Piss off."
Prussia stuck his tongue out at him. "Why did you even come here if you're going to act like a rotten lemon the whole time?"
"I'm here to make sure your stupid brother doesn't do any more damage to mine!" And because he had nobody else to be with, but Prussia didn't need to know that or he might think he was a loser. And he would never let someone who wasn't even a proper nation anymore think that way about him.
Prussia let out a crude laugh, took off his woollen hat and brushed some snow off it before putting it back on his head. "I think you're a few decades too late for that."
"I said any more damage! If I can stop him from taking advantage of Veneziano even once, it's a victory."
"Really, you need to loosen up. Get your ass off the couch and come outside! I bet I can make a better snow sculpture than you!"
"Do you even know how many fantastic sculptors I've had on my land?"
"Doesn't matter. I'm still better."
Romano snorted and turned his eyes back to the book. He listened to Prussia rummage around for dry mittens until the other headed out once again. All that time, Romano tried to come up with an excuse that would let him join the others without making it look like he was lonely and miserable, but no such luck. Then Prussia was out again, and it was too late.
It wasn't like he wanted to spend Christmas like this, cooped up inside with a book, alone and hating everyone, especially himself. He wanted to be around people he cared about, eat so much he'd burst and do sappy things. But as long as he had the feeling that he didn't really belong there and that the others wouldn't care if he was with them or not, he couldn't bring himself to do anything but sulk.
He had no idea how Prussia could be having so much fun. It was clear that Veneziano and Germany would have preferred to be alone. Maybe Prussia was just too stupid to notice that, or maybe he was so blinded by his enormous ego that he didn't care. Romano found himself wishing he could have been like that. At least he could have been happy for a moment.
"Fuck," he muttered and slammed his book shut, falling on his back on the couch. Deep down he knew that the biggest problem was himself. If he could just forget about his pride and insecurities for a moment and seek out their company instead of waiting for them to drag him into joining them, he might get some enjoyment out of it. But if he did that, they might reject him, and that was his biggest fear.
It wasn't just that he was afraid of Veneziano turning him down. There was Germany as well. Romano put all of his effort into acting like he hated him, but it was more multi-layered than that. What he actually hated was that Veneziano was so affectionate towards the potato brain, much more than he ever was to him even though they were brothers. If Germany decided that he didn't like him, that just might make Veneziano turn his back on him for good.
And Prussia... It was a well-guarded secret, but Romano didn't actually hate him either. He had never thought much of him during the centuries he had known him, but lately he had found himself thinking about him pretty often. The two of them were in such similar situations, and yet Prussia seemed so much happier. How could he be content when he was the less important half of a country and when most young people had never even heard of his name? There had to be something more behind his ego, but so far Romano hadn't figured out what it was.
The others came back inside when it was starting to get dark. Romano wrinkled his nose as Germany's dogs came to sniff at him. At least Germany had dried them off before letting them in so they weren't making a mess everywhere.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about Prussia. While he did always fold his clothes away with such precision that it gave Romano a headache, he saw no problem with marching around the cottage and spreading snow everywhere.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Germany said.
"Don't nag. It'll dry in a minute!"
Veneziano had already hopped into the kitchen, and poked his head out. "I'll make everyone hot chocolate! Germany, what do you want with yours?"
"Something simple. Don't overdo it."
"Okay! What about Prussia?"
"Everything!"
"Romano?"
"Whatever." Romano felt his annoyance flare up because he had been asked last. It was so ridiculous, but he just couldn't help it.
Prussia threw himself on the couch by his side and leaned closer to take a look at his book. "So, what are you reading anyway?"
"Some shit I found in my bedroom. It's not like there's anything else to do here."
"You're just being a grouch. You shouldn't have come here if you hate it so much."
"I already told you why I'm here!"
"Yeah, and it's a stupid reason. If you want to get technical, it's your brother who's taking advantage of mine. Italy is... I mean, you two are at least a thousand years old, right? It's not that long ago that West was still my baby, so if I were a bit more protective, I'd call your brother a cradle robber."
"Doesn't matter," Romano said stubbornly, frowning at the logic in Prussia's words.
Prussia rolled his eyes and sighed. "Stop being like that. What do you think you're going to accomplish? The only one whose Christmas you're ruining is you. Do you think West and Italy give a shit about your sulking when they can sit in front of the fireplace and lean into each other and be all cute and kissy-faced?"
The couch shifted as Prussia took a more comfortable position. "And me, I'm perfectly fine spending the holidays by myself, so you aren't bugging me either."
Romano let out a frustrated sigh and turned to glare at his book again. He hated the fact that Prussia was right. He wished there was an easy way to make up with the others that didn't involve admitting that he had been acting like a shithead for the past two days.
"I bet I could take the grimace off your face if you let me," Prussia went on. "There's this huge sled in the storage room. We should try it out tomorrow!"
"And break every bone in our bodies?"
"Not when I'm steering! I promise it would be great!"
"Oh, yeah? And what if it's not and I end up totally wasting my time? What would you give me as compensation?"
"What would you like? And does that mean you're coming?"
"No, I'm just humouring you because I'm that desperate for something to do in this damn place."
"You know that you would have totally crushed a weaker guy's heart by now, right?"
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just pointing out that you've been acting like shit ever since we got here, and someone with less self-confidence would have stopped talking to you already. But not me because I'm strong, and I don't actually even care about what you think about me."
"Then why do you keep bugging me all the time? I thought you said you're fine by yourself."
"I am! But I could be even better when there's an appreciative audience for my awesomeness!"
Romano was about to throw a reply at him, but that was when Veneziano and Germany emerged from the kitchen with four mugs of hot chocolate. He was glad for the distraction and spent a good while blowing into the drink his brother handed him and listening to him chatter about the great day he had had with Germany.
Germany this, Germany that. Blah blah blah. Romano was glad for every sip Veneziano took of his hot chocolate because those were the only times when he wasn't blabbering. He didn't usually mind so much, but his mood was already rotten, and he didn't particularly enjoy being reminded of the fact that everybody else had had a great day.
He glanced at Prussia, wondering when he was going to start boasting about his fantastic games in the snow. He had been oddly quiet ever since their brothers had arrived, and Romano didn't think it was just because he was focused on his mug.
Maybe this was getting on his nerves, too. Veneziano had barely mentioned Prussia, so maybe he was feeling left out as well. Romano knew Veneziano didn't do it on purpose, but he was always so earnest with his feelings that he probably didn't even know what tact was.
Hell, maybe he would go check out that sled the next day. It couldn't be worse than yet another day spent inside.
"It's pretty chilly in here," Prussia said, downing the rest of his hot chocolate and getting up to throw a few more logs into the fireplace. The cottage was heated with electricity, so the fireplace was there for atmosphere and didn't even store heat all that well, but Romano liked it for what it was.
"You should change out of those wet clothes," Germany said.
At once, Prussia began to peel off his tacky, yellow pullover and tossed it to the floor. It was quickly followed by his undershirt until he was sitting before the fireplace only half-clothed and reaching his hands towards the flames.
"That's not what I meant."
"So? It's comfy here. And there's room for more people."
"Germany, we should go and sit by the fire, too! I'm still cold. Let's all huddle together! Romano, you too!"
"Absolutely not!" Romano snapped.
"But then we'd all be warmer. Look, Prussia is shivering."
"That's because he's an idiot and not wearing a shirt!" Though to be perfectly honest, Romano was enjoying the view. Prussia was firm but lean, not disgustingly over-muscular like Germany. He found himself examining his old battle scars with his eyes and wondering what they'd feel like under his fingers, but he caught himself before the images became too vivid. Damn, he really was going insane.
"I can resist the forces of nature. This is nothing compared to 1761 when I and –"
"The last thing this shitty Christmas needs is war stories, so shut it!"
"I think they would really brighten up the spirit. You're still doing nothing but sulking."
"I don't want to hear any war stories," Veneziano said with a worried frown. However, Romano's smugness faded as soon as his brother turned his eyes to him. "And Romano, be nicer. It's Christmas, so try not to be mean to Prussia."
"I wouldn't have to if he wasn't such an idiot," Romano muttered, but he was starting to feel like he was the only one being stupid. If Veneziano had to specify Christmas as the reason to be nice to Prussia, it had to mean he didn't think he was capable of it any other time of the year. If even his own brother had given up on him, he had to be a pretty sorry loser.
"I'm going to bed," he announced and got up on his feet. The day was already ruined, but maybe the next one would be better. After some solid sleep, maybe he'd try to forget bout his problems long enough to be decent to someone for a few moments. Hell, maybe he'd even manage to have some actual fun.
When Romano woke up, he was feeling like shit. It wasn't unusual since he hated waking up on principle, but this time it was even worse. He reached out for his phone to check the time and shivered when his arm left the warm confides of his blankets. It was only five in the morning, which meant it was entirely too early to be up, especially when he didn't have to go to work.
"Why the fuck is it so cold in here?" he grumbled and tried to bury himself under the blankets, but he couldn't escape the feeling of freezing his ass off. In the end, he had no choice but to wrap himself into the covers and start descending downstairs to find the answer.
The cottage was dark even though he was sure they had left the light in the hallway on. He fumbled around for the light switch, but nothing happened when he clicked it.
Shit. They didn't have electricity. That meant no light, no heat, no warm food, no goddamn coffee.
"Hey! Wake up!"
He marched to where he remembered Veneziano and Germany's room to be and banged on the door until he heard the approaching footsteps.
"What is it?" Germany asked, sounding annoyed but not groggy. He probably woke up around this time every morning anyway.
"Are you stupid? Try turning on the light!"
It figured that Veneziano and Germany wouldn't notice the cold. They'd probably been wrapped up in each other's arms, warm and content while Romano was freezing to death.
"Hmm. I wonder what happened," Germany muttered once he realised what the problem was.
"I don't care as long as you fix it. It's cold."
"It's probably just temporary. We should wait and see what happens."
"And do what in the meantime?"
"Put on all our clothes and start a fire downstairs?"
"That's... that's... Dammit, you do it!" That was the only logical thing to do, but it wasn't the answer Romano wanted to hear. He wanted the electricity to come back this very second, not later, and he didn't want to have to work for it.
He stomped back into his room to put on some clothes. When he emerged once more, Germany had found a bunch of candles somewhere and lit them so that they could at least walk around the cottage without stumbling on their own feet. Veneziano had got out of bed as well and was trailing behind Germany, looking unhappy and scared.
"I called some people," Germany said, "It seems there was an avalanche last night that caused some damage. That's why we're without electricity right now."
"Great. And when will this get fixed?"
"They don't know yet. They know where the problem is because the powerlines usually travel underground so that this wouldn't happen, and there is only one place where they emerge. So they know what to do and where, but it might take until the afternoon before they're done."
"But we're going to be fine, right?" Veneziano asked and clutched at Germany's arm. "We've got food and a fireplace and a car, so we can get away."
"The car is probably useless when the roads are covered in snow, but you're right. We have nothing to worry about as long as we stay here. There's enough firewood in the shed to see us through the whole winter if necessary."
"Like I'm going to stay here that long," Romano said with a huff. "The only one stupid enough to like this is your idiot brother. I bet he thinks this is an awesome chance to play some mountain survival and boast about his non-existent skills!"
Veneziano frowned and let out a confused hum. "That reminds me, where is Prussia? I'm sure he should have been woken up by all the noise we make."
"The lazy ass probably just went back to sleep." Nevertheless, Romano followed the others upstairs and into the third bedroom where Prussia was.
At first he thought his guess had been right because in the candlelight it was easy to see that there was a figure on the bed, wrapped up in blankets. But when Germany went to shake his brother's shoulder, there was barely a reaction. Romano knew that Prussia was a light sleeper who could be startled awake by the slightest noise because he was so dumb that he hadn't yet learned that it was unlikely an enemy would be creeping up on him in the modern days.
It was only when Germany shook him harder and called out his name that Prussia did anything. He groaned angrily and tried to turn away, mumbling something about them leaving him alone.
"You will get up now," Germant declared and tore the blankets off his brother, stumbling backwards because he had expected some resistance and had used more force than necessary.
Prussia sat up on the bed, glaring at them in irritation and confusion. Romano had never felt compelled to compare Prussia to Adonis, but now he looked like total shit. His skin was even paler than usual, his hair a sweaty mess, his gleaming and unseeing, and the light of their candles made shadows dance on his features in a way that was grotesque at best.
Veneziano hurried to place a hand on Prussia's forehead. "Germany! I think Prussia is sick!"
"Bullshit. I'm not sick. I can't get sick. I'm too awesome for something like –" Prussia started, but he was cut short when a shiver ran through his body, and he drew his feet under his body to warm them. "West, give me back my blanket before I make you."
"And this is why I think it's stupid to play in snow like a half-brained loser. I've been sick enough all through the past few years because of my economy. The last thing I need is a normal cold," Romano said.
"This isn't a normal cold!" Prussia protested. "I bet my states' budget went red because we have the best Christmas celebrations in the country. Call someone in Brandenburg and ask! And then turn on the heating and make me some hot chocolate."
"We have no electricity," Germany said. He picked the blanket up from the floor and wrapped it around Prussia's shoulders. "You should come downstairs. I'll make a fire."
"What, are you serious? We're in the middle of a survival of the fittest situation, and I'm sick? That's not fair! I want to go and hunt something so that we won't starve!"
"We have no weapons," Germany reminded him.
"Who said I need any?"
"And I thought you didn't like hunting? Because animals are cute?" Veneziano said.
"Not when it's for sport, but if you need and eat what you shoot, go ahead!"
"We don't need anything. There's enough food in the kitchen for at least a week, and by that time I plan to be back in Rome where something like this would never happen. I'm never spending another holiday in Germany," Romano said.
They all gathered downstairs where Germany started a fire. Romano watched Veneziano make a fuss around Prussia as he brought all their blankets to the couch and built him a nest inside them. Prussia looked like he couldn't decide whether to enjoy all the smothering or cling to his pride and refuse it, but in the end he was too tired to do more than smile appreciatively as Veneziano tucked him in.
What an ass, Romano thought in irritation, but he wasn't sure who he was angry at.
"Now that the bastard got the fire going, I'm going to heat up some milk," he declared. On his way to the kitchen, he turned back to add, "For myself because I want it!"
The ice in the fridge was in the process of melting all over the kitchen floor, so he grabbed a bucket and placed all of their sensitive groceries, like the meat and the cream, into it and put it on the windowsill. Then he grabbed a saucepan and a milk carton and made his way back to the living room.
"There are people living a few kilometres away from here," Germany was saying as he entered. "I'm a little worried about how they're holding up. I think I should go and check."
"What, all alone? Are you going to leave me here?" Veneziano asked.
"You'll be fine. As long as you keep the fire going, it'll be warm. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"But what if something goes wrong on the way and you fall into a crevice or get lost? Or what if you get tired even though you're so strong and can't make it back? Then you'll be all alone in the cold!"
"Italy, let go of my arm," Germany said in exasperation and tried to remove the nation who was clinging onto him. "I only want to check if those people are fine. It won't take long. If it makes you feel better, I'll take one of the dogs with me."
"Do you know what would make me feel better? If you took me with you!" Veneziano said.
"That wouldn't make me feel better," Germany said, making a face like the mere idea was horrifying. "You would clutch onto me so that I'd have to drag you the whole way. You would complain about the cold and worry about non-existent wolves. You would slow me down so that if the people are in trouble, I might not reach them in time."
"Do you think I'm a burden?" Veneziano asked, and Romano knew from his voice that he was going to start crying any minute.
"No, that's not what I meant. I just think I should go alone," Germany hurried to say, but it was already too late.
"Great going, bastard," Romano growled. "Now that you've made him bawl like that, own up to it and take him! You aren't leaving him here where he will just give me a headache and keep asking over and over again whether you hate him now."
"Aren't you at all worried?" Germany asked.
"You said it yourself that it's no big deal," Veneziano said, brightening as fast as his tears had started. "Think of it as extra training!"
"I was meaning to organize something like that since everyone has been eating so much..."
"Perfect! Then I'm coming with you, and I'll bring all the food that you can carry so that we can help those people if they need it!" Veneziano let go of Germany and turned towards Romano, eyes gleaming with determination. "And you're staying here and taking care of Prussia!"
"Like hell I will!"
"But you've already started since you're warming that milk for him."
"I said this is for me! He can only have some if I can't drink all of it."
Veneziano ignored his outburst and skipped over to Prussia to pat the hair that was peeking from under the blankets. "Romano is going to look after you until we come back. Don't worry."
The reply was muffled by the layers of blankets, but Romano didn't mind. He was sure he didn't want to hear what Prussia had said anyway.
It didn't take long before Germany and Veneziano had gathered some supplies and were out the door. They promised they would call as soon as they had reached their destination. Before they left, Germany asked Romano to remember to keep the fire going since it was their only source of heat, to which Romano replied that he wasn't an idiot.
Prussia moved the blankets a little and revealed his face so that he could grin at Romano. "Now that they're gone, do you want to play doctor?" he asked. "I think I need a check-up."
"The only thing you're getting is a huge suppository if you don't shut up."
"Hehe, I didn't know you'd be so into this."
"I meant this log," Romano said and raised one. "You be quiet or it goes up your ass."
He didn't listen to Prussia's grumbled reply. He tossed a few more pieces of wood into the fire and then leaned back on the armchair, pondering the situation. He had known that Christmas in Germany would suck, but he had never expected it would be this bad. But at least he had learned his lesson and would never repeat this mistake.
"You still awake?" he asked after a while when there had been no more comments from Prussia. He got no reply, so he supposed the other had fallen asleep. That was fine. He didn't particularly feel like talking to him, especially now when his fever was making him even more irritating than usual.
But he could have drunk the milk first, he found himself thinking. After all the trouble Romano had been through to make it for him, he hadn't even asked for it. He must have known it was for him. Even Veneziano had noticed.
He found himself wondering what the cause of Prussia's sudden sickness was. He had been jumping around snow like crazy for the past two days, but nations were tougher than humans and very rarely got sick when it wasn't connected to their economy and politics. Since Germany was fine, there couldn't be anything going on that affected all of the country. Romano didn't know the details of what kind of arrangement the two had about representing Germany, but if Prussia had kept the states that had once been East Germany, it could mean there was a crisis of some sort.
Or it could be just a regular cold, which was actually a more frightening thought. An economy-related illness was something every nation had to deal with at some point. It was normal. A nation who got sick for other reasons was an oddity, and Romano didn't like the implications that came with the concept.
He glanced at his phone to see how long Veneziano and Germany had been gone. It had no doubt been a stupid idea to let his brother go, but Romano was sure Germany would take care of him. Much better than Romano ever could, which was a fact that he hated to admit.
The crackling of the fire was almost hypnotizing, and he could feel awareness slowly leave his body as he sank deeper into the armchair. It was comfortably soft, and since it was much too early for him to be awake, it didn't take long before he had fallen back asleep.
When Romano woke up, it was once again because it was too cold to his liking. His back was also aching from sleeping while sitting, and he groaned as he rubbed his face and tried to remember what had happened. One glance at the dim living room brought it all back.
"Fuck, what happened to the fire?" he muttered as he eyed the few smouldering embers that were left. The fire had been roaring when he had fallen asleep. Just how long had he been out, and why weren't Veneziano and Germany back yet?
He dug out his phone and saw that Veneziano had tried to call him several times and that there was also a message for him. It said that he and Germany had found the people they had been looking for and that they were fine but that since it had started to snow so heavily, they were staying there until the weather got better.
Romano let out a frustrated sigh, typed a quick reply and put his phone away again. As he glanced out the window, he saw that it was now light outside but that there was indeed so much wind and snow that only an idiot would risk it.
"Hey, you," he called out to Prussia, but there was no answer. Reluctantly, he forced himself up and walked over to the couch to take a look.
Prussia was asleep, but he looked worse than before. He had grown even paler, and he was shivering despite the layer of blankets on him. It probably didn't help that he had let the fire die, Romano thought with a pang of guilt. They had given him one job, and he had screwed it up.
It didn't take long before he had the fire burning again. His house in the countryside had an oven he heated with wood, so he hadn't forgotten how to start a fire. Once he was sure that the flames had actually caught onto the logs, he turned his attention back to Prussia.
He should probably try to get him to drink, he figured and went to get a bottle of water from the kitchen.
"Get up," he ordered and poked Prussia on the shoulder. It at least got him to open his eyes, but based on the feverish gleam in them, Romano wasn't sure if he was at all aware of what was going on around him.
He showed him the bottle. "Sit up and don't you dare choke when I put this in your mouth."
There was no lewd comment or even the faintest shadow of a grin, so Prussia truly had to be out of it. Romano forced him into a sitting position and held him up as he brought the bottle to his lips. He gave him only a little water at a time because the last thing he needed was for Veneziano and Germany to come back and discover that he had drowned Prussia. Nobody would believe it was an accident.
He stiffened when Prussia suddenly shifted and nuzzled against him, seeking the warmth of his body. The bottle fell from his hand, and half of the contents were on them before he had the sense to pick it up and put it on the floor.
"Fuck, now look what you did," he growled and tried to shove Prussia back under the blankets. "I'm not your goddamn hot water bottle. Wait until the fire warms up the room."
He huffed in anger and crossed his arms on his chest. He felt like an idiot for grumbling when there was nobody to hear it and throw a single comment back at him. It was unnerving and unnatural when Prussia was being that quiet, and he found himself thinking that he preferred him when he couldn't shut up.
"This had better be some temporary thing, okay?" he said, shooting an angry glare at the other. "Because only the biggest asshole in the world would get seriously ill on Christmas. So get better soon and stop ruining the holidays for everyone."
There was once again no reply. Romano threw another log into the fire, but he didn't feel like the temperature had risen all that much. Even he was feeling chilly, especially since his shirt was wet, so he couldn't imagine what it had to be like for someone who was sick.
His thoughts trailed to stories he had heard about how to keep someone warm and to his own experiences from years and years ago. There were quite a few tricks, but a lot of them weren't possible right now. For one, they had no bathtub in the cottage.
"I can't believe I'm even considering this," he muttered as an idea crossed his mind. This was something that only France would try to do. Well, Spain would do it, too, but he wouldn't see anything perverse about it.
"Alright, bastard. It's time for you to stop being selfish and hogging all those blankets for yourself. I'm coming under there whether you like it or not," he muttered. But first he grabbed his phone and sent Veneziano a message that they absolutely had to call when they were about to get back so that he would have the time to destroy all the evidence of what he was about to do.
The next thing he did was toss away his clothes save for his boxers to get some more skin to skin contact. Then he drew a deep breath, lifted the blankets, braced himself and dove to claim a place by Prussia's side.
For the first few moments, he remained completely stiff and kept his eyes closed, expecting the worst. Maybe his skin would start peeling off from being in contact with a Germanic nation, or maybe he would melt from it. But when nothing disgusting or painful happened, he slowly let himself relax, especially once he became aware of the fact that he was feeling a little warmer this way as well.
Prussia was quick to take advantage of his body heat and snuggled up close to him in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant. Romano reluctantly wrapped his arms around him. He remembered his thoughts from the previous day and felt a little ashamed of himself as he found a scar on Prussia's back and traced down its length with his fingers.
He wasn't enjoying this, he kept telling himself. He wasn't. It was just that he was cold and tired. Otherwise he would have never even entertained the thought that this was nice because it was pathetic to cuddle with someone who wasn't even aware of what was going on. If Prussia were his normal self, he would never be doing this with him, at least not without expecting something sick in return.
He felt Prussia shift, and when he looked down at him, he realised that he had opened his eyes and was looking at him. Panic clutched at his throat, but then Prussia put his head back on his chest, and he realised that he still didn't know what was going on.
"Mmmmhh...you're so cute..."
God, this was embarrassing. Now the idiot was hallucinating. At first Romano was glad that half of his words were mumbled gibberish because he was sure he didn't want to know what images Prussia's mind was feeding him in this situation. But the other half was nothing but sappy compliments, praise and even a few love confessions. Even though he knew that none of it was actually meant for him – if it was meant for anyone, really – it was nice to hear something like that.
"You're like a chocolate button... I could just eat you..."
"Be glad I'm not recording any of this, idiot. I could blackmail you forever."
"And then... Mmmmhm... maybeeee... Mmmmhh... Italy..."
Romano felt all of the pleasant warmth drain from his body. Had Prussia just called him Italy? That struck a wedge under his heart in a way that he hadn't even been expecting. Sure, he had known all of this was just random crap that he was saying because he didn't know any better. That wasn't the problem. But if he was saying this because he thought he was with Veneziano... That changed things.
In a way, he had always suspected that Prussia had a crush on Veneziano. He was always fawning over him and trying to get his attention. It had become less noticeable in recent years, so he had thought he had got over it. But maybe it was just that he was trying to be a good brother and not get between Veneziano and Germany. Maybe he still had feelings for him.
Romano had no idea what to make of the mess of emotions inside him. There was anger – how dare yet another of these bastards think of his brother that way? There was sympathy – he had spent decades crushing on Belgium even though it was obvious she saw him as a little brother. There was disappointment – and this one he couldn't understand.
"Yeah, okay," he murmured and remained where he was even though every sensible part of his brain was yelling at him to get the fuck away. "We'll, uh... eat pasta and I'll take you to my house."
"I'm going to bring flowers. So many... You can't count them because there are going to be so many, haha..."
Romano swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "Then I'll take you sightseeing. We can go on a gondola."
"Hahaha, you're funny. There are no gondolas in Rome. Right...? Or... or have you kept them a secret from everyone? Your secret gondolas?"
"What? You aren't making any sense! Of course there are no gondolas in Rome! We're talking about Venice!"
"No, no... No Venice."
"What?"
The only answer he got was low mumbling as Prussia fell back into deeper sleep and grew quiet again. In the silence it was all too easy for Romano to hear the beating of his own heart. What should he make of Prussia's words now? Or should he just ignore them? He was sick and talking nonsense, so the safest and least embarrassing option was just to pretend that he hadn't heard anything.
Romano didn't know how much time had passed by the time his phone started ringing and brought him back from his half-slumber, but he guessed it had to be at least a couple of hours based on how often he had had to get up to throw more wood into the fire. He nearly fell off the couch as he hurried to grab the phone and press the answer button to make it go quiet.
"What?" he asked in irritation, sitting up.
"It's me! You said to call when we're coming back. We just left, so we should be there in an hour. Is Prussia okay?"
"Yeah, he's fine. What about the people you went to find?"
"They're fine, too. And Germany says the electricity should come back later today, so everything's perfect! But I have to stop now, so bye!"
Romano tossed his phone on the floor and was about to get comfortable again – only for a few minutes, honest – but then he noticed that Prussia had sat up as well and was staring at him with wide eyes. He still looked feverish, but it seemed that a few hours of sleep had helped to clear his head a little.
"What's going on here?" Prussia asked. He lifted all the blankets and took a long look at their crotches. "Did you have sex with me when I was out?"
"No! Don't be stupid! I've just been enduring your ugly presence to keep you warm so that your brother won't kill me if you freeze your ass off and die!"
"Now you're being stupid. I told you this isn't serious. Someone probably just misplaced a bit of money. I'll be fine in no time. And besides, keeping someone warm with your body isn't actually as effective as everyone thinks it is."
"Whatever. No need to thank me," Romano grumbled and made his way out of their cocoon of blankets. The floor was irritatingly cold against the skin of his feet, and he inwardly blamed Prussia for making him feel it.
"I didn't say I didn't like it! In fact, I could use some more of it now when I'm awake to appreciate it," Prussia said, patting the empty space by his side.
"Yeah, dream on. I've had enough. You were embarrassing enough when you were out of it. I don't want to hear what you have to say now that you're up."
"Huh, did I say something?"
Romano ignored him and began to put on his shirt.
"Romano, what did I say?"
He turned around at the near-panic in Prussia's voice.
"What does it matter?"
"Of course it matters! If it was something stupid, I take it back! I'm sick, so it doesn't count!"
"Okay, so tell me one thing. Do you have feelings for my brother? I need to know if I have to start protecting him from yet another bastard."
If Prussia had been pale before, the shade that took over his face next was absolutely pallic. "Shit, is that what I said? Then I definitely take it back! My brain must have gone back to the 19th century or something, and even that's stretching it. So forget it. Act like I never said it."
"Why? Because only a loser has the hots for his brother's boyfriend? Don't worry; I won't reveal your pathetic secret to Veneziano or Germany."
"That's not the point! You've got to promise you won't think I want your brother!"
Romano frowned at Prussia's words. He had been planning to just fool with him a little to get back at him and give him a scare by making him think Veneziano or Germany might find out, but Prussia wasn't reacting anything like he had expected. His priorities were in all the wrong places.
"What does it matter what I think?" he asked.
The question seemed to catch Prussia off guard because he didn't answer right away, just stared at him stupidly.
"Well... uh..."
"It's not like we even see each other except in world meetings or when our brothers force us to socialize, so it shouldn't matter at all!"
"But it doesn't have to be like that!"
Romano was a little taken aback by the sudden, enthusiastic outburst. Prussia tossed away all the blankets around him and jumped to his feet so that he was standing proudly with his hands on his hips.
"I say we should hang out more!" Prussia declared. "And when I hang out with people, I don't want them to think I'm after their brothers! So if you want to spend more time with me, you've got to promise that you'll ignore everything I just said."
"And what makes you think I'd want to hang out with you?"
"W-what? Why wouldn't you?" Prussia asked the question like Romano had just stated the sky to be purple. "Hahaha, you're kidding, right?"
"No, that was an honest question. And it looks like you don't have an answer."
His words didn't have the effect that he had been expecting. When he said something like this, Prussia was usually quick to throw a boastful comment at him and declare himself so awesome that only an idiot wouldn't want to spend more time with him. It was actually something that Romano liked about him, illogically enough. He always felt like crap when he was yelling at people who didn't fight back because it made him think they had lost all hope of him ever getting better and had grown to tolerate his tantrums. Prussia at least was willing to put in the effort to point out when he was acting like shit, like he actually thought he could do better.
But not this time. It was as if Prussia was an air mattress and Romano's words had just poked a hole into him, letting his ego escape. His shoulders slumped and the looks that took over his features was so miserable that Romano actually felt a little bad.
"You know what?" Prussia asked. "I'm still feeling sick, so I'm going back to bed." And with that, he collected the blankets from the floor and curled up under them on the couch, turning his back to Romano.
"That's not how you're supposed to react!" Romano snapped, but when even that didn't get a better answer out of the other, he knew that he had to try something else. The more time passed without Prussia acting like his normal self, the guiltier he felt about how he had been treating him, not just right now but throughout the holidays. Prussia had been inviting him to do things with him ever since they had arrived at the cottage, and he had always pushed him away with spiteful words.
He sat down on the floor by the couch and shook Prussia's shoulder.
"Hey, don't get mad at me now." He paused to think. "Or fuck, get mad. I guess I deserve it. I've said a lot of stupid things lately."
"If you know you have a problem, how about working on it?" came a muffled reply from under the blankets.
"I know." Damn, did he know that. There were few things Romano wanted as much as getting over his issues and learning to act like a normal person. He knew he could never get the love and affection he wanted if he didn't learn to accept them from others and give them some of it back, but it was so much easier said than done. "I'll try a little harder."
Prussia snorted, but Romano guessed he had to be making some kind of progress.
"And sure, if it matters that much to you, fine, I'll believe that you don't have the hots for Veneziano. I think... I actually prefer it this way. Because Veneziano is so brainless that I don't think he's getting over your brother soon, so it would suck if you were pining for someone who won't like you back."
There was crude laughter from Prussia, and he finally turned around to look at Romano.
"You don't know shit," he said.
"What's the problem now? I'm trying to be nice here!"
"Yeah, because you feel sorry for me. That's one thing I can't stand."
"That's not it! I don't want you to feel like shit because of something I said! God, is it that difficult to understand? I don't want to hurt you."
"That's funny because you're actually pretty good at it."
Romano sighed, unsure if this was going anywhere. He didn't even know why he was trying so hard, but this felt so important somehow. There was something about Prussia being miserable that made it difficult to swallow.
"I'm sorry, okay?" he tried again. "Believe it or not, but I don't like doing it."
"Then why do you do it?"
"I... I don't know! Fuck, why are you being so cranky? Why can't you just accept my apology and act normal?"
"Because I'm sick and I have a headache and it sucks when you're treating me like shit even when I'm trying to be nice. I don't even know why I like you so much. Maybe I'm a masochist."
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if – Wait, what did you just say?"
"Pfft, don't act like you're surprised. You must have noticed. Why else do you think I've been all over you? But never mind, I got the message a long time ago. I just don't like giving up easily, so I had to try a bit longer. But I'm not so stupid that I can't see when a battle has been lost."
"What? Of course I didn't notice! You didn't say anything! How was I supposed to know?"
Even before he was done, Romano knew he was being a hypocrite. If there was someone who had trouble communicating his feelings to other people, it was him. One look at him right now was enough proof. What he wanted was to apologize and make Prussia believe he didn't want to see him hurt, but he had just ended up making him even more miserable instead.
"Listen," he said, feeling like he was balancing a pile of plates that was already falling over. Hell, what was he supposed to say? He hadn't had the time to decide how he felt about Prussia actually liking him, but he would have to make up his mind fast.
He cleared his throat. "I don't actually know what to say because... I never thought... I mean, I just can't understand why you'd like me."
"You need a list?"
"Later."
"Why not now?"
"Because now you're going back to sleep, and I'm heating you more milk. You need to get better soon so that you can take me out."
Prussia stared at him in confusion. "Huh? So does that mean –"
"Don't get ahead of yourself. It means I'm giving you a chance. That's it. I can't promise anything else."
"Yeah, but if you're giving me a chance, that's already a point in my favour, right? Because if you weren't interested at all, you'd say no right away. In fact, you're so difficult that you'd probably say no even if you were super interested, so the fact that you're doing this means you can barely hold yourself back from jumping on me right now! Man, I'm lucky!"
"Shut it! You're –" Romano started, but he decided it wasn't worth it. He'd have to learn to control his outbursts if he wanted something like this to ever work, so he might just as well start now. "Get to bed. Now."
"Already pushing me around? You think you're going to get me under your thumb that easily?"
One of the couch pillows was on the floor. Romano grabbed it and threw it at Prussia to shut him up. The other didn't even try to dodge. He smiled as it hit him in the face and then complied with Romano's words and lied down again. For a while, he simply watched how Romano worked with the milk, but the silence didn't last long.
"What are you laughing at?" Romano asked. "And stop swinging your legs around and kicking the blankets to the floor!"
"Can't help that I'm excited! But I bet I'd calm down if you crawled back in here with me."
"And let our brothers catch us?"
"Why not? I bet they've done a lot more every chance they've got ever since we arrived."
Romano finished heating the milk and tested it with his fingers to make sure it wasn't too hot. He found himself thinking that it was almost like taking care of a baby, except that Prussia was even more bothersome. And not as cute.
"This'll have to do," he said and shoved the mug into Prussia's eager hands.
"What about a kiss then? You know, some pre-payment since we can't go on a date yet."
Romano let out an irritated sound. "Like hell I'm kissing you when you're sick. Knowing my luck, it'll infect my economy and make it even worse."
"I don't think it works like that."
"I don't care. No kisses. Drink your milk before it gets cold."
Prussia didn't put up another fight. He fell asleep not long after finishing the milk. Romano moved to throw another log into the fire and tried to make sense of what had just happened. It was only now that it was over and he had time to think about it that he realised what serious matters he was dealing with.
Shit, should he call off the whole thing? He had spoken in the heat of the moment and maybe promised a little too much. He didn't even know if he could ever give Prussia what he wanted. Maybe... He didn't mind trying, but if it didn't work out, it would just mess up his life even further. Maybe it would be better to take back his words and deal with a small catastrophe than wait until either he or Prussia became too emotionally invested? The damage would be much bigger then.
But then there was the chance that it could be wonderful. He might like it. He might be happy. None of that would happen if he didn't have the guts to take a risk. The more he thought about all the good things and everything that he had ever thought was nice about Prussia – though some of them were reaching since the list wasn't that long – the more his own excitement was bubbling.
"You had better get well soon, you hear me?" he said and went to adjust the blankets when he noticed that Prussia's toes were peeking out from under them.
Maybe he could do this after at all. At least he should try.