Prussia lounged on the couch, watching Germany pace around the house and pretend to be actually doing something instead of waiting for it to be five already so he could go pick up Italy.
It was all really sad, and Prussia sighed. Why couldn't his brother just be honest about things and admit that he couldn't wait to see Italy? No instead he checked the knot of his tie for the hundredth time.
"I'll be back by eleven, I think," Germany said, adjusting his tie. "I bought some candy, in case any children come knocking. Try not to make too much of a mess".
"Ja, ja, just go already".
"I'm serious, bruder," he picked up his jacket and gave Prussia his best serious stare. "I just cleaned, and if Italy wants to stay over I don't want to have a mess".
Prussia lifted his eyebrows and grinned. To him Germany was still a tiny kid shouting up at a bunch of people who didn't give a damn about what he had to say. "It'll be fine. I won't do anything. I'll just…watch a movie or something".
Germany sighed. "Alright, I'll be going now".
Germany closed the door behind him and complete silence filled the house. Even Germany's dogs had decided to lay around on the garden by themselves.
Prussia sat up from the couch and walked to his room. No children were coming, of course. Everybody around were old people or couples with no children, so the silence that filled the house seemed to extend even to the street outside. The very wind itself seemed to have fled, so that not a single leaf could move.
In his room, he opened his closet and pushed the clothes aside to reveal a couple paintings of a small blonde boy. He had bought them a few years ago, no longer than thirty, and claimed that he had used the money to buy candy and birds. Of course, it would probably be a little awkward to explain to Germany "Hey, I spend a bunch of money on paintings of you from the time when I had to carry you everywhere", but better not to think of something like that now.
Still, there were times when the silence did weight too much, and all he wanted was to look at the images of the times when Germany realized how awesome his big brother was. Prussia passed his finger over the frame of one where Germany wore a tiny replica of Prussia's own military uniform from the times of Frederick the Great.
"Ah, those were good times, Kesesese!" he grinned and looked at the clock. He had at least a few hours before his brother and Italy came back, and it really had been so very long since he had worn that uniform. He dashed to his bed and pulled out a box.
It took almost no time for Prussia to be fully clothed in the traditional blue and red uniform. Not even a thousand years could make him forget how to be a soldier.
"How's it, Fritz? Don't I look awesome? Of course I do!", he got closer to the painting hanging on the wall. "Ah, but you looked awesome too. Uniforms really suited you, even while playing the flute. No, especially while playing the flute! You looked super awesome then!"
The doorbell rang, and all color drained from Prussia's already pale face. He turned a terrified face towards the entrance, and heard a cry of Trick of Treat.
"Ch-children…right…"
He took the bag of sweets Germany had left on the kitchen counter and opened the door to find three kids with a slightly frazzled looking mom. "You want candy, right? Here, take it," he dumped the entire bag on their buckets.
"Look, mom, he's a pirate!" said one of them, a boy dressed as a mummy.
"A pi…rate?... I AM A PRUSSIAN SOLDIER FROM THE 1700S YOU UNCULTURED FOOL!" he shouted.
The mother slapped him across the face so hard, he fell back on his ass into the house, and when he looked up they were all gone.
"Uhh…sorry…"
He sighed. He had gotten a bit carried away there, and he really couldn't blame the mother, since he would have reacted even worse if someone had shouted at Germany like that. The silence was making him do stupid things. He should just take off his uniform and settle down with a beer and a nice movie and just-
"Prussia? ¿Pero qué-? Why are you dressed in your uniform?" said a cheery voice from the entrance. Prussia whirled around and found Spain standing at the entrance where he hadn't closed the door.
"I…uh, Spain I…what are you doing here?!"
Spain grinned and lifted a wine bottle and a plate with a bunch of tapas. "I had nothing to do tonight and didn't want to stay home and give out candy. I thought we could invite France and watch a movie. Now, why are you dressed up like that? It's been ages!"
"Uhm, I just wanted to wear it again for a while. Don't tell Germany you saw me like this. He doesn't like it when I…uh…"
"I know, I know. Ah, but that's so cool! I miss wearing my old clothes sometimes. Especially the pirate ones"
"I think I have some of your old clothes, actually," he went back to his room and Spain followed.
"So I can call France?"
"Ja, but tell him that we're meeting at his place. Italy's going to spend the night here."
"Really? I want to see Ita-chan!"
"They'll be back late, but I guess we can come back for breakfast tomorrow. I'll leave West a note," Prussia rummaged around the back of the closet, careful to not move the clothes too much and let Spain see the paintings. "I could swear I had one of your pirate cloaks or something. From back when we went drinking and running around in Navarra or something. With all the bulls."
"Pamplona."
"That."
Prussia's hands finally graced over an old box and he pulled it out. "Hier! I knew it!"
The box contained an old and dirty red pirate jacket, a flowy beige shirt, and a red sash. Spain wasted no time taking off his shirt and putting everything on. Prussia even gave him a pair of his own old boots to complete the outfit.
"I look just the same! How funny!" said Spain, admiring himself in the mirror of Prussia's room.
"You used to wear a lot of gold."
"Ah, si. I used to be rich back then. So rich…"
Prussia ruffled Spain's hair. "And had longer hair," he said, wanting to turn the conversation away from the topic of money. "I still look a bit…I don't know…," he pushed his hair back. "Disheveled. Let me get some hair gel from West."
A couple minutes later he had completely gelled his hair back. "Yes! Perfect!" he said, putting on his old hat. Spain had found an old handkerchief and put it on like the scarves he used to wear.
"Hello! Where are you? Nii-san's here! I brought a really nice wine, so don't leave me alone at the entrance!"
Spain and Prussia ran out of the bedroom. "France! What are you doing here? We were supposed to go to your house."
"My house? Spain's message just said –Yes we eat with you- what was I supposed to do?"
"I meant -¡Si, vamos a ir a cenar contigo! (Yes, we will go and eat with you/at your place) - I can't write english good, especially in a cellphone!" whined Spain.
"And anyway, this was a costume party? Why are you both dressed up like that?"
"We were just…Ah, forget it and get yourself a nice outfit. I don't know what we're going to do, but we'll be dressed up for it."
France needed no more encouragement, and soon he was dressed as something or other that sort of resembled the musketeers but not really. Prussia didn't care, especially since he and Spain had gone through Spain's wine bottle while waiting for France to finish changing.
"And you left no tapas for me!" complained France when he saw the empty plate.
"I'll invite you over for dinner later," said Spain, as they all sat in the living room.
"And what are we going to do now, mon amis? We are looking far too good to stay home now."
"We can't stay home now. West will come back with Italy soon, and I don't want him to see me like this," said Prussia, while writing a note that said -I went drinking with France and Spain, be back tomorrow or soon whenever-. He stuck it to the refrigerator.
"I just remembered that time when I blew England full of holes," said Spain, opening France's wine with a joyful grin. "You were there, right France?"
"Oui."
"¡Fue fantástico! And then we sunk his boat. How did he get out of that?"
"No idea, but he reeked of seaweed for a couple years after that. Good times."
"Great times," chimed in Prussia, and went back to the living room. He never noticed the small yellow bird that flew from his head back to the refrigerator, pulled away the note, and hid it in the trash. "When was the last time we shot down England?"
"Too long ago, my dear," said France.
"Let's get out of here, I don't want West to catch us like this."
"But the wine-"
"Take the wine. Let's party like it's the 1700s!"
They turned off the lights and Prussia took a last look at Frederick's painting before closing the door behind him. Yes, let's party like it's the 1700s, and he was falling in love with someone whose life faded away with every blink of Prussia's eyes. When he fought, and cried, and loved, and everything was over so very fast.
He took a swig of France's wine straight from the bottle. "Let's piss off England!"