Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine.

Warnings: emotions, misunderstandings and obliviousness

Chapter three: Slow motion towards the Abyss

The first time Germany discovers Italy in his bed is in the time between the two World Wars, when Italy had practically forced Germany into letting him work for him in Germany's house. To say it had been awkward waking up to a warm weight on his chest and a steady pulse of warm breath on the skin of his neck, when he knew that he had been alone when he had fallen asleep, was an understatement. The only other times that he had woken up with someone else in his bed had been when he had still lived in Prussia's house. But then it had been him sneaking into his brothers bed because he had been scared or lonely.

His first reaction therefore was going tense, because there was a definite breach of his personal space going on here, and then he maybe began to worry a little bit. Was everything all right, did Italy have a nightmare? Germany listened intently but there was no storm or thunder outside to indicate that Italy may have been scared by the weather. Maybe he had been lonely. Germany knew that the Italian brothers were pretty close after they had been separated all those centuries. Maybe he just missed his brother?

Nevertheless, Germany couldn't go back to sleep now and carefully extracted himself from the bed. He shot a look towards the clock-face shining in the moonlight, it was 5 am. The blond shrugged and made his way to the bathroom and then towards the work shop, those cuckoo clocks didn't build themselves after all.

With the steady work of his hands his thoughts drifted away. The only person, other than himself and even he was a little blurry, who knew what had happened on that battlefield was Prussia. Everyone else thought he was someone new, that the nation before him had died, and maybe he had. What good was it if he had no recollection of anything that had happened before? Just vague feelings and strange dreams he never remembers. And now? He was paying reparations to France of all nations.

He could feel the rage in his chest expanding again. Just behind his heart in a place where a mixture of emotions gathered as he spent more and more days trying to pay back France and trying to keep his people alive at the same time as the money lost its value with every hour of the day. A day of hard work couldn't buy anything any more and Germany could feel his pride chafe and his frustration grow. There was shame and anger, hope and the beginning of cruel thoughts, he knew he shouldn't think.

"Buon giorno, Germany!" the cheerful shout from Italy interrupted his darker growing thoughts.

"Guten Morgen, Italy" Germany replied and looked up from his work to see Italy with two plates in his hands, filled with two slices of bread and pieces of cheese.

"I made breakfast." Italy said and held one plate out to the taller nation. There was a hint of a smile on Germany's face as he took it and they sat down to eat breakfast together. The feelings in his chest sliding away to be exchanged for warmth and slight confusion at the familiarness of the strange flutter of his heart.

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It was dark except for the light of a single candle as Italy sat in the workshop and listened to the unsynchronized tick tock of the countless clocks stationed in the room. Most of those clocks were just the standard version of the cuckoo- clock, but in the evenings, when Germany's rage calmed down and everything in the house grew quieter, the blond nation would sit down and create something slightly special.

There was one clock where, instead of a bird and the typical cuckoo chime, a black clothed priest came out slowly, holding an open bible in one hand and lifting the other in the air as it held a tiny golden cross. All that to a deep chime which sounded like a church bell. There were more of these special clocks, with a man chopping wood or a baker being followed by a bunch of kids trying to reach one of the pastries he carried on a tablet.

Italy's favourite had a melodious little chime and when its doors opened, there was a dark-haired girl in a green dress and a pale haired boy in his Sunday best dancing and twirling around each other. There was something niggling in his mind every time he saw and heard it.

But that wasn't the reason why he was sitting in the workshop in the middle of the night. Italy was confused. After waking up in Germany's bed alone, he had thought that the blond nation had maybe panicked or gone somewhere else to shout out his anger, and that he would at least get a lecture from Germany or be thrown out. But Germany hadn't said a thing about it. Not one word. And Italy didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Maybe if he woke up first he would know. Maybe then he would know why he did sneak into Germany's bed last night and why he had felt like it was the safest place on earth when he had been pulled closer by strong arms.

With a small sigh he left for his own bed tonight.

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While Italy sat in the workshop, Germany was on the phone with his brother. He had just barely gotten out the words to explain why he called, when he heard his brother laugh, making one of his eye-brows tick in annoyance.

"And you haven't lost a word to the poor guy, have you?" it didn't sound like a question but Germany answered nevertheless.

"You know that I... am not... I'm not really all that good with all that..."

"Emotional stuff, Gott bewahre, talking about it, I know, West." his brother continued for him. "So let your awesome brother give this advice to you:" he paused for dramatic effect, which gave Germany the time to roll his eyes at his brothers antics. "Just sleep with him and don't be awkward about it in the morning after, okay?"

Germany thought about that advice for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay. I'll try."

"Gut. I'm going back to bed now." and with that the call was over and Germany put the phone away. He guessed he could be okay with Italy sleeping in his bed. It was just so damn startling to not notice the other nation sneaking into his room, not to speak of his bed, without him waking up. Not even his brother could do it and he trusted Prussia with his life. Not to mention that his brother had tried more than once to sneak up on him.

So why hadn't he noticed Italy sneaking in? What was so different about the cheerful nation that his unconscious mind seemed to trust Italy, while his rational mind warned him of the danger of letting someone too close?

Germany sighed while rubbing at his eyes. He would follow the advice of his brother for now and try not to lose his head waking up to someone in his bed when he knew that there hadn't been anybody when he had fallen asleep. He didn't know yet that there would be a second World War, though he felt the first signs of it in his mind and body. And he didn't know that after that war, after losing his brother to a wall and after losing his allies to the enemy, that he would lie awake many nights because his bed felt too cold and empty.

TBC?

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