Germany riffled through his papers, tucking his pen behind his ear for a few seconds to allow his fingers to work freely. Electric, cable, water, mortgage. Bills needed to be paid, and Germany was the one to pay them. He opened his check book and scrawled out the sum of money on the paper with a sigh. There goes another lump of my salary… he thought sadly. He scrawled his hand in fancy script before ripping it out of his little black check book. He froze in the act of putting the check in the envelope. On the paper was a faded picture of his three dogs, Blackie, Berlitz, and Aster all sitting in a line. He smiled and stuffed the check in the envelope, sliding his tongue along the adhesive strip before folding it over and pushing it down. He was just about to start another check when the phone rang. He picked it up, holding it on his shoulder with his head so he could write at the same time.

"Ah, Hello, is this Ludwig?"

That tone. It couldn't be. Germany answered slowly, "Yes, this is Ludwig."

Please no. Please no. Please no.

"It's me, Roderich."

DAMNIT!

Germany sighed, dreading the impending conversation. "Yes Roderich, What do you need?" There was a small cough and the noticeable clink of a teacup meeting a saucer. "Ludwig, that check you sent me recently, the one paying for my Turkish rug that your brother spilled beer on last week," Germany shuttered, and put his pen down, gripping the phone tightly. "Well, the check you sent me bounced."

Germany ran the notion through his head, his brow furrowing as he did the mental calculations. "My check bounced? It shouldn't have…" Again, there was the clink of a teacup on a saucer. "It did, and I can prove it. Ludwig, please, that rug was very expensive and I need it cleaned… The stain…" His voice broke, and he almost sounded like a nervous wreck "I-It disrupts my piano playing… the vulgarity of it scares me… THE VULGARITY-" Germany hung up and rubbed his temples.

He stood up and walked around his desk out into the living room. He swung his arms in wide circles, before cracking his back. Doing bills made him feel sore. He cracked his fingers, before walking over to his brother's room. "Gil'" he said plainly, making his older brother look up from his laptop.

"Oh hey West, what's up?" he said boredly, most likely editing his blog. Germany cleared his throat. "Well, remember how you spilled beer on Roderich's rug?" Prussia shuttered subconsciously "Yeah well, my check for cleaning bounced and I was wondering if you knew why." Prussia looked at Germany for a second, before turning to his computer, "C'mere West" he said quickly, waving him over. Germany stepped inside and sat down next to Prussia who had Wikipedia pulled up.

"I feel asleep with the TV on," he began "And I guess Gilbird," He motioned to the small yellow fowl nestled in his hair "Must have slept on the remote 'cause when I woke up, it was on the Discovery Channel." Germany nodded, "Ah-huh, and what does this have to do with the check bouncing?" Prussia glared at him. "West, story telling is an ART, you can't just RUSH the teller to get to the good parts!"

Face, meet Palm

"So anyways, like I was saying, there was a documentary on Discover Channel, about this-" His fingers hit his keys, and instantly a Wiki page was up. "The Exxon Valdez oil tanker incident in the Prince William Sound, Alaska." He swiveled the laptop to face Germany. "Ya see West, an oil tanker crashed and all of this oil got dumped all over the wildlife." He pulled the laptop back and scrolls down to a picture of two dead ducks, covered in oil. As Prussia turned the laptop to face him, Germany felt his heartstrings tug; they never had a chance…

"So… I took a chunk of our money" Germany was snapped out of it, looking at his older brother, who was looking teary eyed, "And I donated it to a 'Save Animals Caught in Oil Spills' foundation…" He looked at the computer, pulling Gilbird off his head and nuzzling him protectively. Gilbird chirped happily at the attention and Prussia smiled, returning the fowl to his hair. Germany smiled; his brother had been selfless, donating money to a worthy cause. He smiled and patted Prussia's shoulder. "That was very nice of you Gil' I'm proud." Prussia laughed loudly, "Of course you're proud West! I'm the great Prussia!" Germany couldn't help it, he laughed too.

…Wait

"Gilbert, when did you donate that money?"

Prussia thought for a second "Uh, around Wednesday, why?"

Face? Palm would like to visit again.

"…I mailed the check to the Electric Company on Thursday…"

And with that, every light in the house shut off, the glow from the laptop casting eerie shadows on Prussia and Germany's faces.

…

"…GILBERRRRRRRRT!"