Something to Remind Me, Part II (Germany & Prussia)
Moscow, 12 September 1990
Prussia sat on the sofa in Germany's hotel room, boots on the coffee table, a smug grin plastered on his face.
"We're happy for the time being, aren't we, West?" he declared, ruffling his brother's hair affectionately.
"There are still many things that could go wrong…" Germany pointed out, trying to smooth his otherwise impeccably neat hair. Still, the corners of his mouth quirked upward.
"Yeah, but let's enjoy this evening and deal with problems when they arise!" Prussia said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Why does my little brother always have to be such a responsible and serious person? That's boring!" he cooed. "So boooring!"
"Actually", Germany said, "I did a very irresponsible thing today. I…" He produced the pen with which he had signed the Final Settlement. "I stole a pen?" Germany blushed.
Prussia stared at him, looking stunned. Then, he burst into laughter. Germany's face gradually assumed the colour of Spain's tomatoes.
Wordlessly, Prussia whipped an object out of his trouser pocket and held it in front of Germany's face. It was another pen, very similar to the one Germany held in his hands. Suspiciously similar.
"Great minds think alike!" Prussia commented, still laughing.
"Fools seldom differ is what you mean," Germany retorted. He was still red in his face, but the smile was back on his lips.
Notes
Apparently, Hans-Dietrich Genscher wasn't the only one who nicked the pen with which he signed the "Two Plus Four Agreement" in 1990. According to the article „Im Bademantel zur deutschen Einheit" ("Towards German Unification in Bathrobes") by Sabine Kinkartz on the website of Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Lothar de Maizière (*1940) did the same. In 1990, de Maizière, descendant of a Huguenot family, became the only democratically elected prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). He is the cousin of Thomas de Maizière (*1954), Germany's Federal Minister of the Interior since 2013.