Name

[#1 in the 100 Theme Challenge on Deviantart by Momma-Ran]

Prussia hated fancy dress uniforms. They itched. They were hot. He hated them just as much as documents. Documents he was meant to look at, actually look at! His left hand ached with how much he had been forced to write and sign in the past few hours. Ah but what the king wanted, the king got. He was the Kingdom of Prussia, as such he had duties to preform. Because of this, he sometimes missed the old days.

If a regular human being looked at him, unaware of his identity- which was difficult as how many humans were naturally born with blond hair so fine it looked near white and reddish colored eyes- would think he was a mere teenager. He had taken this appearance a few hundred years before he ceased being called the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Prior to that, his appearance was that of a child, something that amused his knights to no end. But at that time many of the kingdoms around him had a similar appearance, as the ancients slowly faded away. It was as if the world was growing up.

Like any teenager, Prussia hated responsibility, even if he wasn't a real teenager. He'd rather be sparring or running around shouting obscenities at his enemies… and neighbors until they finally grew fed up and actually did something for a change… in other words, challenged him to a fight. He'd win of course, or so he would say. It seemed like those days were over. The Kingdom of Prussia was growing; he would have to grow with his people as its representative. But that didn't mean he wouldn't grumble and whine about it later before bed. Then get a scolding.

He was not a child, nor an actual human. He had to act as everyone expected of him. This thought made Prussia grumble out loud. He hated it when humans thought this way. What was he supposed to act like? A god? Honestly, he thought, humans were stupid. Did they not realize that he wasn't just a representation the land, but a reflection of the people as well? he might as well be one of them, but with an immortal lifespan… superior intelligence… and a handsome face!

Prussia couldn't help but snicker at the thought. He'd went from being a cute devil to being a handsome one! Who could resist him? No one!

The smirk slid off his face. Of course, there were downsides to his existence. Memory. Ties. They went hand in hand in making his life easier… and miserable. Some things he could forget, others he could not. No matter how much he wanted to. Others like himself did not fade from memory, especially not ones he was close to. Despite what the humans thought, he too felt family ties toward others. He had a Grandfather. Father if he wanted to get technical rather than emotional as Germania reminded him more of a grumpy old man rather than father. He had brothers… though they were a pain in the ass and now they were less like brothers and more like friends… or frienemies… frenemies… friend-enemies… Hell! Whatever you wanted to call them! Point was if he had the chance he'd kick Austria's ass again! Same with Spain or France but lately they were actually good friends when they put their kingdom statuses aside. But that was off track.

They weren't very close. In fact, Prussia hadn't been close to anyone in a manner worthy of truly calling it siblings. Well, there was that one kid… but he hadn't been very much fun. Prussia at that time was under his control… and he was as socially awkward as they came. The Holy Roman Empire. That "kid" had so much power and land! Yet he remained a kid until just before the end. When he suddenly grew up to look like Prussia did now, a teenager. But more than that, he suddenly acted human. He was afraid. Afraid of his empire's weakening state. Afraid of dying. This was when Prussia got close to him. This is when they stopped being just a state and ruling empire. They were sort of brothers. So his "death" made Prussia feel something. Dare he say it, he mourned him, if only for a while. But it was a sad fact of life. Kingdoms came and went, empires were erected and fell. Someday, he too would join them… or so he had been told.

Because of that, Prussia refused to make those sort of ties again. No matter how much he wanted to. He couldn't help but want to know how it felt not to feel like some little brother, or just a brother. He wanted to be the big brother. To lead, to teach… to protect. But he wasn't human, he just had to remind himself that. It was better this way.

Prussia heard a knock on the door. Probably his king, coming to check on him. Make sure he was doing his work. Fine. At least it would break him from his melancholy thoughts.

"Ja?" Prussia called out, signaling the monarch to come in.

Prussia didn't look up as his king entered the office. He knew it was disrespectful and he would probably earn a tug on the ear by the queen later. But he didn't care right now in the least. He was in that kind of mood. His king cleared his throat but Prussia didn't look up from his writing.

"My Kingdom, you have a visitor."

Prussia hummed, telling the man to get on with it. He could see the vein twitch on the man's forehead in his mind, nearly making him smirk and ruin his stoic appearance. Who would be visiting him?

"He is the kingdom to your south." His king went on.

This made Prussia's quill stop. The kingdom to his south? Which one? The lands that Prussia controlled had existed as far back as Holy Rome's time. They changed hands so many times. It was a little hard to keep track sometimes of who came and went. The land was changing so much, he thought. Once upon a time, even the land he called his own was nothing more that "barbaric" tribes constantly fighting with each other and the Roman Empire. Curious, Prussia looked up… and nearly snapped his quill in half. In God's name… what was he looking at… a ghost from his past?! The boy held a spitting image to Holy Rome. But it was not him. This boy was far smaller, his face less rounded. His blue eyes were identical to Holy Rome's, even held a similar serious look that didn't belong on a child's face. His hair was the same, blond with hair over his forehead.

The kingdom… boy was not dressed in a military uniform. It would have looked too out of place, Prussia thought mildly. He was dressed in a good, clean shirt, vest, trousers and starched stockings with shined shoes. He stood next to Prussia's king, as straight as a stick. He was nervous, despite that serious look Prussia could tell. How long would this kid last, Prussia found himself thinking.

"Please get to know each other as potential allies." The King said.

The king chose to take his leave, leaving the two kingdoms alone in the room. Prussia turned back to his work as the other kingdom sat down on a chair in front of his desk. The air filled with the sounds of Prussia's writing as he ignored the other. He didn't want to babysit. It was insulting. And he didn't want to make diplomatic relations with this kingdom. But when Prussia glanced back up, he noticed it. The other was watching him, very closely. So closely that he was slouching, a look of curiosity overtaking him as he didn't realize he had been caught.

"Sit up straight. Show some pride." Prussia said, trying to make it sound sharp while looking down at his own work.

A glance back up saw the boy sit straight up, scrambling to compose himself. Oh he saw. This kid was trying to impress him. Maybe… Prussia might be able to see some potential in this kid, though he wouldn't admit it. This would be interesting though.

"Wie heißen Sie?" Prussia asked.

He could see the kid was struggling not to smile at finally being acknowledged by the kingdom he no doubt secretly admired. His eyes locked on Prussia's.

"Ich heiße Deutschland."

Note: I wrote this short thing in college and when I found it recently I thought I'd post it up! Here's the original note I wrote explaining this: "I guess you could say Germany in this is considered the eventual German Confederation (Deutscher Bund). This takes place before the unification, probably a hundred or so years before. I'm not very well versed in German history but with what little research I did to write this short… thing, I found out that the German Confederation was "a loose association of 39 German states in Central Europe" to "replace the former Holy Roman Empire" as well as act "as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia" (Wikipedia). I think that's interesting. I had Prussia's king consider him another kingdom to keep things simple. I didn't care to keep things too historically accurate. I just wanted a short… thing. I wanted to try out some of my pitiful German… in the end it was only "What is your name?" and "My name is…" Oh well. I wrote some more into this as I am doing my German homework. It is talking about changes to Germany's border as far back as 1866. Then I remembered my Medieval Christendom class. So if there's something that you notice isn't right, I don't doubt it. I'm still learning German history. According to a map in my German homework, in 1866, Prussia controlled the upper half of today's Germany in addition to other land. Interesting, no?" I hope you enjoyed this thing!