~ 9 ~

Prussia was glad that for the next two days he didn't dream. He hadn't had a flashback in years and he wondered what brought this last one on. He wasn't going to dig too deep though in case it brought on another nightmare. Instead, he'd pretend it didn't happen and continue keeping himself busy.

As this went on, Prussia found he was thinking more and this led him to a revelation.

At dinner a day ago, he noticed how they were eating in silence and found he didn't much mind. Usually he was loud and cracking jokes to rile the Brit up but there were also long stretches of silence that were…nice. That never happened back home.

And so he reflected on this. England's house had a way of mellowing him out and he wasn't sure how to feel about this fact. Sure living in Germany's basement for a couple of years had made him far from the warrior he'd once been but that wasn't really his fault. Germany didn't like letting him do anything. Even when Prussia offered to help he'd get shot down on the grounds that Germany pretty much liked doing everything for himself.

Prussia liked action and keeping his hands busy so life at Germany's house those first years had been boring as hell. He'd eventually found the joys of trolling which he exploited with perverse glee, video games, his music collection, and, oddly enough, musicals. That last one was a secret that only his brother knew about.

Yet none of them could replace the years when Prussia would solve every problem with his sword.

But England didn't seem to mind making him work. Besides cooking breakfast, he was also now making lunch and dinner (mostly by his own insistence because he really didn't want a repeat of the last time he'd tried some of the Englishman's home cooked meal). They'd made lots of progress on the movie department, despite England's half-hearted protests.

And damn right they were half-hearted! Who could resist him and Gilbird when they were bored? Seriously?

Plus, Prussia wasn't about to admit it but he liked that England seemed to be trusting him. Sort of.

Hell, today England had allowed him to trim the hedge outside which Prussia was doing with more energy than necessary.

The smell of last night's rain, washing away the usual smells of the city, was refreshing and the sun was even out. Overall, he was in a good mood.

"Prussia."

He looked over at England who was holding his umbrella like a cane (in case it rained unexpectedly) and wearing his formal suit again. "I'm going to be gone for a couple of hours. Um, after I come back, we need to…discuss your situation."

Uh-oh. He supposed he'd been expecting this for a couple days now. England had said he was going to leave soon to wherever his 'cottage' was. Since he'd sort of been ignoring his brother after that late night call (which England somehow seemed to know about), Prussia wasn't in any great rush to go back to Germany. In fact, he was feeling a bit like a daredevil and England was a safety zone where he could do what he wanted without his brother breathing down his neck. Perfect arrangement if you asked him.

"No need. I'm going with you." He whipped his dirt smeared hands on his (or rather America's) pants. "Just let me get my sweater and we're off."

England spluttered for a second but Prussia wasn't going to take no for an answer. This was his chance to talk England into letting him mooch off him for a while longer. Although mooching probably wasn't the best way of phrasing his proposition, or evening thinking about it actually.

"Let's go," he said as he tried to smooth his hair into a more presentable form. It occurred to him that he should have changed clothes, after all England wasn't dressed up for nothing. He was also carrying a briefcase so that meant the errand was important, right?

Neh, too late now.

"Who said you could come along? Get your arse back to trimming the hedge."

Prussia found this funny rather than threatening and threw an arm around England's shoulders because he knew how much it annoyed him. As per usual, he immediately tried to shake him off. "Chill, Limey." He waved his hand vaguely in the air and he directed the other nation out the gate. "We can go out to eat after and have the whole tea, crumpets and tête-à-tête thing you Brits love to do so much."

Their feet clicked in synchrony as they made their way down the street.

"Although that does sound compelling, your wording will one day earn you a punch in the face." He said all this with a blank expression but there was no hiding the darker tone just beneath the comment.

The albino snickered. "And what? You threatening me now? I can still beat you in a fight. You're a shrimp compared to me."

"Oh, I beg a differ," England interjected with conviction. "And I'm not a shrimp! We're the same height, give or take a centimeter."

"Two centimeters actually. To me of course. I'm taller."

"That doesn't even count!"

The two walked and bickered. They were a striking duo: an albino with a sharp and well shaped face, a strong built frame demanding respect while the other was smaller but with extremely vibrant green eyes, a delicate aristocratic face coupled with a strange aura that radiated grace and refinement while at the same time appearing coy and even dangerous. All in all, they were getting more than a couple of head turns.

"Where are we going anyway?" Prussia finally asked, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

The change of subject seemed to remind England that he was actually supposed to be doing something. "Oh, um, I'm going to the Palace of Westminster to drop something off. Perhaps I will see my boss but I highly doubt it. It won't even take five minutes. You can wait that long, can you?"

"Pfft. Of course!" What did England take him for? A toddler?

He really hadn't taken the time to explore London. If he had, he wouldn't have been quite so fascinated by the Palace of Westminster's structure. It was huge and there was that clock tower that he always seemed to see on postcards.

Note to self: go exploring!

After commenting on a couple things, like the fact that England liked towers, they reached their destination.

"Do you want to accompany me or would you rather stay here in the Victoria Tower Gardens?"

Prussia shrugged. "You said you wouldn't take long so I guess I'll just stay here and look around."

Nodding his consent the Brit's parting words to him were not to do anything stupid.

"It's only five minutes. Not much I can do in five minutes even if I wanted to."

A/N: I said I would didn't I? Hurray for fast updates! Anyway, not much to say.