A/N: Okay, so I haven't been as active as I'd like to have been in the Hetalia fanbase lately. So, here's to one of my favorite pairings that needs more love (:

Pairing: Prussia/Austria, side Germany/Italy

I absolutely adore Prussia's character. Hopefully I'll be able to do him justice in my writing ;_;

Roderich Edelstein was a patient man, really.

For being several hundred years old, he could think of multiple instances that could make that statement true. He had survived the Seven Years War (it was a very long seven years, mind you), both World Wars, and the anxiety and fear of being captured by Ivan only a couple of decades ago during the Cold War. And the last time he checked, he still had kept his cool, and was perfectly sane.

Although he seemed constantly on edge to those who knew him, it took a lot to make Roderich completely snap. Unfortunately, a certain silver-haired albino knew this, and was determined to be the first to accomplish that certain feat.

To drive Roderich crazy was something that Gilbert Beilschmidt enjoyed with a passion. Though Roderich would never admit it out loud, the red-eyed Prussian was one of his major stressors, and one of the few people that threatened his sanity on a daily basis. Of course, now that Prussia technically didn't exist anymore, Gilbert had all the time in the world (literally) to annoy the Austrian to his wit's end. And just when Roderich thought that he couldn't possibly think up any more ideas to frustrate him, he'd walk into the house to see Gilbert's latest catastrophe.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what had just happened recently.

It was nearing four in the afternoon, and Roderich was dead tired. True, the UN meeting was only in England, but the shouting and arguing and the lack of control made his head ache. It was all the same things as usual, though – Alfred's ego, Arthur's and Francis's fistfights, and Feliciano's lack of any attention span whatsoever. As expected, nothing was accomplished that meeting.

Unlocking the front door to his mansion, Roderich envisioned the perfect afternoon to eradicate the migraine he had developed. There would be an hour of so of Chopin, then dinner with Ludwig, and hopefully to be in bed by eight, at least. He also threw a bubble bath into the mix, not that he'd ever share that tidbit of information with anyone else.

But as he jiggled the key in the lock, he felt a wave of dread wash over him. The door was already unlocked. Squeezing his eye's shut, he tried to remember back to that morning. Even though he had been tired, he definitely remembered locking the door. Why wouldn't he?

Cautiously opening the door, he caught the sight of a dark denim jacket lying on the couch in the main hall. His pulse resumed it's steady beat. It was only Gilbert.

After walking inside and shutting (he remembered to lock it for sure this time) the door behind him, the reality hit him in the face. He felt his migraine ache worse than ever with the sense of foreboding.

Gilbert was in his house.

Roderich groaned openly, deciding that the best approach would be to go through his routine and ignore Gilbert completely, then call Ludwig to kick him out later on.

A part of his brain nagged that it was nearly impossible to ignore Gilbert, after all, he had tried many times to no avail.

He brushed it off, hoping that Gilbert would eventually get bored and leave, taking all of the baby chicks with him this time.

Shuddering at the memory, Roderich entered the grand room where he kept the ebony piano he was quite fond of. The room had the highest ceiling in the house, with tall windows taking up the full height of the walls. Sunlight cast through the thinly veiled curtains, bathing the tiles in a soft, golden glow. Feeling his mood brighten at just being in the room, Roderich unbuttoned his violet suit jacket and hung it on the coat hook by the door. As he turned his eyes to his piano, a terrible eyesore caught his eye.

It was the Prussian flag...

...that perched on top of a navy blue tent...

...sitting cozily on his piano.

Roderich felt a vein throbbing in his forehead, and stalked towards his most beloved artifact. Fighting the urge to rip the offending thing from his sight, he sat down at the bench and poised his slender fingers over the keys. They had held the itch to play music all day, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let someone like Gilbert Beilschmidt stand in his way.

Promising himself that he'd burn the stupid tent later before Ludwig came over, he began to play.

Instantly, the tension was gone, the frustration had vanished, it all was released through the gentle notes of the piano. Music was the only thing that could soothe Roderich's soul to that extent; it relaxed him and gave him the wonderful feeling of inspiration he couldn't get anywhere else.

His eyelids slipped shut as his fingers continued to move and he involuntarily moved with the rhythm. Mariazell, the lone curl that stuck up from his part, bounced along as well.

He was too engrossed in the music to notice the two crimson eyes that peeked out mischievously from the darkness inside the tent.

"Roddy!"

Before his eyelids had the chance to fly open, Roderich screamed in horror, flailing and falling backwards. The piano bench tipped over with him, sending them both crashing to the hard tile with an echoing thump.

The Prussian's cackling laugh rang in his ears, and as Roderich sat up, he caught sight of Gilbert laying on his stomach in the tent. The albino wore a devilish grin, and his chin was propped up with both hands. Roderich instantly saw red. Jumping to his feet, he stalked back in Gilbert's direction.

"Mein Gott, do you have no common sense? Get out of there before you break my piano, you daft idiot."

Gilbert feigned an expression of hurt. "Roddy, darling, are you calling me fat?"

"I'll be calling you a lot worse unless you get out of there now," Roderich seethed.

"Okay, okay," Gilbert grumbled, even though he was having a hard time hiding his wide grin. He climbed out of the piano most ungracefully, slamming his knee down on several piano keys in the process. Roderich winced, fighting the urge to strangle him to death.

Jumping off of the bench and landing on the flood with a resounding crash, Gilbert stood proudly at his full height. "I hid in there for three hours," he bragged to the Austrian, whose eyes were twitching in the bottled-up anger. "But it was so worth it to hear you scream like a little girl, Roddy." He dissolved into laughter again, and this only enraged Roderich further.

"Well then. What else shall I have to do for you until you can leave my house without me having to call your brother this time?" Roderich hissed through clenched teeth.

"A beer would be nice," Gilbert said thoughtfully. "West won't buy me any more."

"I wonder why," Roderich thought bitterly, pulling his cell phone out of his pants pocket.

Gilbert smirked. "Aw, come on Rod. It was just a joke, no need to get so pissy about it."

Roderich sent him a death glare as he punched the numbers into his cell phone. "How would you like it if I constantly made a wreck of your home every day? Better yet, how would you feel if all you saw was me constantly annoying you, simply because I'm too bored to do anything efficient with my life?"

Gilbert's grin widened. "I'd say that you were my wife."

Roderich felt his rage boiling over, and he finally pressed the 'talk' button.

"Hey, Roddy...who're you..."

"Ludwig? It's me...yes, he's here again."

Gilbert's face contorted in horror.

"Damn it!"

There were no words to describe the happiness that Roderich felt when he heard Ludwig's brisk knock on his front door. The twenty minutes of chaos that ensued after the call had been made were quite possibly the worst twenty minutes of Roderich's life outside the battlefield. Gilbert's ability to be so damn annoying really baffled the Austrian at times.

Roderich practically threw the front door open, and seeing the stoic, blond German standing in front of him made him want to cry with happiness. "Ludwig," he said as calmly as possible, realizing that if he had ever wanted to give him a hug, it would have been now.

Ludwig nodded. "Hello, Roderich. Are you sure you'll be okay for dinner tonight still? You look like hell..."

Roderich waved his hand as if to clear the idea from Ludwig's head. "I'll be fine. As long as your brother's not around to harass me, I think I'll be able to get some sleep tonight."

"What'd he do this time?" Ludwig inquired, stepping over the threshold of the door as Roderich ushered him inside. "You seem pretty...well...distraught."

Roderich clenched his jaw as he remembered the sight of that thing defiling his piano. "Fort...in the piano..."

Ludwig raised his hand to cover his mouth, and even Roderich could see that he was doing a poor job of hiding his laughter. "Ludwig, please!" he begged. "The meeting today was enough hell for a week, if you could keep your brother on a leash or something...anything...for the next few days, I'd...I'd be able to get a decent night's sleep, for one..."

Ludwig interrupted him. "It's fine, Roderich," he assured him. "He'll be with Antonio and Francis all next week as far as I suppose...but I'll try to talk to him."

Roderich sighed in relief. "Thank you, Ludwig."

"And one more thing," the German added as he walked into the kitchen to pry his older brother from the refrigerator, "he only does this because you get angry. You know that, right?"

"Of course! Why else would he insist on being such a...an...annoyance?"

Ludwig shrugged. "I don't think we'll ever know. But Roderich, he does it for your reaction. If you stop giving him that satisfaction, he'll probably stop."

Roderich paused. He had been rendered speechless. True, he had never considered this point, but it made perfect sense to him. Gilbert always did enjoy provoking his reactions, even back during the War...

"Come on, brüder, let's go."

"West? Aw, why do you always have to show up and ruin all the fun?"

Roderich was surprised at how obedient Gilbert was to Ludwig. Even though he was the older brother, the Prussian seemed to do anything that Ludwig said.

Hm. So he actually can be caring towards people, Roderich thought sullenly.

As Ludwig dragged his silver-haired brother out the door, Gilbert looked over his shoulder and caught Roderich's eye.

"See you soon, Roddy!"

As the door slammed shut, Roderich felt his migraine kick back up again for the third time that night.

A/N: I lovelovelovelove the German nations in APH. They're all complete opposites and just...ahh. :D

Reviews are always encouraged [: *also is prepared to bribe with cookies*