Chapter Text
Gilbert opened his eyes to a dark bedroom. He wasn’t sure what had woke him up. All he could hear was Romano’s steady breathing, his chest slowly rising and falling, and his heartbeat pulsing through the Prussian’s head. Everything was peaceful inside the Italian’s bedroom. Both men holding onto each other underneath the cozy blankets with Romano on his back and Gilbert lying on top of the Italian’s chest.
Then Southern Italy suddenly inhaled, the Prussian knew what this meant, and lifted himself slightly above his partner so he could roll onto his side. Gilbert lowered himself behind Romano and slid one arm underneath the Italian’s head while the other wrapped around his waist. Romano would move around a lot if he was half asleep, which didn’t help since Gilbert was a light sleeper. Besides Romano’s loud snoring for restless nights, the Prussian had nothing else to complain about when sharing a bed with his partner. Romano had the perfect body to sleep with, in Gilbert’s mind.
“Nurgh…” Romano groaned into his pillow. After a few more muffled noises, Gilbert wondered if the Italian was awake or having some kind of bad dream.
“Hey…” Gilbert whispered softly into the back of the Italian’s neck, sending a chill down the brunet’s spine. “You awake, Roma…?”
“Noo…” the Italian replied slowly. The Prussian figured he was being sarcastic.
“You sure?” Gilbert playfully responded. There were no limits to the Prussian’s teasing, even at 3 o’clock in the morning.
There was a long pause on the other’s end and Gilbert was beginning to think that Romano really wasn’t in the mood to be made fun of. Until the Italian spoke.
“Asshole… You’re an asshole.”
Gilbert chuckled breathlessly. This was, by far, the least hurtful thing Romano could come up with.
“Aw, come on. You can do better…!” Gilbert still whispered. They were in Italy, so Feliciano was in the room across from them sleeping. Though Gilbert doubted the younger Italian was a light sleeper.
“You do shit… That I don’t like,” Romano grumbled softly.
“Uh, okay…?” Gilbert was a little confused. The Italian’s tone was very serious but groggy from being just woken up. Plus it didn’t help that Romano was facing away from Gilbert, so he couldn’t see his expression.
Romano calmly sighed before continuing. “I’m tired of your shit….”
“Wha… What did I-”
“Tired of seeing your shitty face...”
“Ouch…?” Now Gilbert was beginning to get a little concerned. Yes, it wasn’t the first time Romano said something like that but, in this context, it was hitting differently.
Gilbert was confident. He knew what he wanted in a relationship. Romano was the opposite. The Italian had an idea of what he wanted, but he had trouble expressing himself and had low self-esteem. So the Prussian made sure to be extra careful during the early stages of their relationship. They barely told anyone except for their own brothers of their relationship.
“Getting a little deep there, Roma. How about we talk about this some other time?”
“God… I hate you.”
Gilbert bit his lower lip at that one. Again, Romano had said things like these many times, but it was usually when the two of them were bantering back and forth, and Gilbert could always see Romano trying very hard not to smile afterwards.
“Roma…?” Gilbert lifted himself over his partner, trying to make out his facial expressions. “Are you being serious right now…?”
The Italian’s eyes were ever so slightly open, staring off into the distance with his eyebrows furrowed together. The smallest frown pulled against Romano’s lips. This was the most disappointed look Gilbert had ever witnessed on his partner.
“What the hell do you think I mean?” Romano spoke clearly now and a bad feeling sank down the Prussian’s stomach.
“Um… I thought everything was okay?” Gilbert felt extremely uncomfortable as he began questioning himself and their relationship. Self-doubt was the last thing on earth Gilbert ever wanted to experience, and now Romano was making that a reality. “Look, let’s talk about this tomorrow morning. Alright?”
“I’m going to kill your whole family.”
The Prussian froze. Alright, now it was getting too personal. And weird. Gilbert opened his mouth to speak before Romano interrupted.
“Your whole potato family… Potatoes aren’t people…”
“Oh.” Gilbert sighed in relief as his whole body relaxed.
“Potato suffrage… Ain’t real,” Romano mumbled, his voice growing quiet again.
It had finally clicked for Gilbert. Romano was talking in his sleep. Laying on his back, the Prussian placed his hands on his forehead then massaged his eyes and temples with his palms.
“Oh, thank god…” he whispered.
“Get that rock.. outta my face… Cumbreath,” the Italian grumbled.
The Prussian laid awake for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling while listening to Romano mumble nonsense under the blankets. Finally the Italian grew quiet and his breathing was steady again. Gilbert couldn’t help but smirk once it was all over.
“Potato suffrage…” he repeated quietly as a plan of revenge formed in his head.
Prussia decided that once Romano woke up, they were going to have a very interesting morning.