A young blond boy called for his older brother, "Gilby!" He knew that he had done something really, really naughty, his vater would be so angry too. Ludwig was looking for his brother for some guidance for what to do, because if there was one person that had gotten on Germania's bad side the most, it was Gilbert.
Gilbert turned his head just as the child rammed into him. He had been talking to his two best friends just seconds ago about the party that was happening later that night, but he was knocked square on his ass with a sore stomach where Ludwig had head butted him.
"Oi, West, watch it." Gilbert said prying the child off of him. He wasn't that upset though, he loved his brother too much for something simple like this to really bother him.
Francis laughed at the two, he wished he had a little brother like the Prussian sometimes. "You're brother is really cute Gilbert." A smile lit up his face as he fondly looked at the child.
"Watch it Francis," Gilbert warned as he dusted himself off and glared slightly at his friend. He knew that Francis would go after any one, man or women.
"Non, my meaning is purely innocent." Francis offered a small smile. He was already more than aware what would happen if he looked at the albino's brother in that way. Ludwig was still far too young for him anyways, maybe in a hundred years or so they would both be a reasonable age. He may be a pervert, but never a pedophile.
"Um guys, why is he crying?" Antonio asked, again not reading the atmosphere of what had taken place between his two friends.
The other two were surprised by the was that the Spaniard had noticed something like that before they had. "Luddy? What's wrong?" Gilbert inquired, though not that concerned that something terrible had happened. If it was that horrible, then the child would've gone to Germania.
"I'm sorry!" Ludwig cried burring his head in his older brother's shirt and hugging his waist.
Gilbert gently rubbed Ludwig's back, "What are you sorry for?" One thing was for sure, if the child had come crying to him, it was something that was going to have Wilhelm ready to flip.
Ludwig gave a choked cry, as he admitted what dastardly deed he had done. "I-I broke Vati's sword!"
Gilbert found himself completely speechless for a moment. What big brotherly advice could he give for destroying the sword? It was an relic from Wilhelm's days of being a much stronger nation, the one he used to finally knock Rome down with to end his slavery. Despite its age, it was still dangerous and kept in top shape. The teen had learned himself not to touch it when he was younger than Ludwig. Little boys that touched dangerous objects always got a sore behind.
Francis noticed his friend's struggle, "How did you do that?" Breaking a sword certainly had to take some doing.
"I found it in the woodshed." Luddy started explaining. "It was kind of heavy when I picked it up, but I thought I could carry it. But, then I dropped it on the ground." the ground in that particular spot happened to be all stones, it made a few tasks easier for the Germanic nations that way. Ludwig's blue eyes dripped more tears, "Vati's going to be so mad. What do I do Gilbert? I was just playing around."
Gilbert ruffled his hair, he could never understand how the child could stand having it slicked back all the time, and honestly replied. "I'm not really sure, Luddy."
All three of the teenagers were silent, they all knew how Germania dealt with naughty boys who didn't listen as each had been on the receiving end multiple times. They also knew that there was no chance of Ludwig getting out of his well deserved punishment.
"Ludwig, Gilbert!" Wilhelm called out from the house. "If you don't want me feeding the swine your lunch you best get in here."
"We have to go," Prussia mumbled. "I'll see you guys tonight."
"Oui," Francis kissed him lightly on the cheek and tugged Antonio. "Antonio, I simply will not allow you to go in that hideous outfit, Toni." He started to lecture the other teen about fashion and grooming.
"Eh? What's wrong with it?" Antonio asked.
Gilbert chuckled a bit, pulling Ludwig along with him. "Come on, you have to go eat."
"No, he'll know and I'll be in big trouble!" The child pulled to get his arm free again.
"Maybe he doesn't know, you could be lucky." Gilbert offered, not really believing it himself.
Ludwig kicked a rock, "No I won't be"
Their bickering ended as the neared enough that there was a possibility of the becoming caught. "Few more minutes and swine would've been pleased." Wilhelm commented as he spotted his sons trudging in.
"Ja, ja." Gilbert grumbled. "You say that all the time."
Wilhelm raised an eyebrow, "Are you asking for me to go through with it?"
"Nien," Gilbert quickly said digging into his bowl of rabbit stew. The weather was just being to cool down and this stew was perfect for the season and delicious.
Wilhelm noticed the way that Ludwig looked at Gilbert before picking up his own spoon. It looked like the two were hiding something, and knowing his boys it had to do with the way he found his sword just a few minutes ago.
The man cleared his throat, "So, does someone want to tell me what happened in the woodshed?"
Both children stopped eating and looked at him a bit worried. "Nien," Gilbert answered unconvincingly. "I don't know what happened."
"Ludwig?" Wilhelm questioned looking at his youngest, he knew that look of guilt that was plastered across the younger's face.
"J-ja, me either." Ludwig stumbled in his response.
Wilhelm buttered his bread and simply said, "My mistake. I'm sure it couldn't have been either of you that took my sword off the wall and broke it on the rocks." Again he glanced at the two for their reactions.
Gilbert's eyes became larger and his grip on the spoon tightened, a sure sign that he knew what his vater was talking about. Ludwig in comparison avoided Wilhelm's look and poked at a carrot that was swimming in his dish.
Possibly it was a joint effort, but Wilhelm didn't believe that one bit. Rather he thought that one was covering for the other, it wasn't common for them to do that and he never discouraged it. The man liked his children having a strong bond, they would certainly need it later in life with the hard work of being nations. "Perhaps it was the raccoons that did it," Wilhelm said.
"Nien, Vater." Ludwig mumbled. "Raccoons don't do funny things like that."
"Oh, then who did?" Wilhelm asked the question they had been waiting for. Both children were extremely nervous, but the man had his doubts that it was Gilbert this time. The teen mentioned about a particular event coming up that night and he wasn't likely to jeopardize it, in fact, he had been rather angelic recently.
Ludwig looked at Gilbert, wanting his brother to do something. He wasn't sure what he wanted, just something that could stop him from being spanking. Tears were on the brink of falling from his blue eyes.
"Ludwig," Germania said sternly, his suspicions confirmed in his mind. "Why did you touch mein sword?"
The dam burst and tears rolled down the child's face. He managed to mumbled something, but what Wilhelm was finding impossible to understand.
The man held up his hand as a cue for Ludwig to calm down a bit, "Little one do you wish to get this over with now?" Both boys seemed to prefer to get through the punishment quickly rather than wait, mostly Wilhelm honored these choices.
Ludwig nodded, the guilt and terror of a hard spanking was eating away at him. Once it was over he knew that no matter what Germania would forgive him, but until he was at that point he was going to be upset.
Wilhelm nodded and lead the child to his study, he preferred that over their bedrooms for punishment now that they were older. As angry as he was when he first stumbled upon the sword, he wasn't overly upset with the boy. He had given himself some time to calm down, and it was obvious that the child felt very guilty of this act. There was the blacksmith in town that could perhaps repair for him for a few silver coins, so it wasn't impossible to fix it.
Gilbert meanwhile stared at his food, far less interested in it now. He could hear his little brother's cries, which he didn't like. He knew the kid kind of deserved it, and this wasn't the first time. But, this didn't sit well with him for some reason. He got up to do something.
The teen pushed the door open to see the youngest German positioned over his Vati's lap with pink bottom. Still more painful spanks were raining down one the little one's bottom.
"Father, not him...me." It was all he could think of to say, or rather he didn't really think when he said it. Gilbert knew that he had just signed himself over to a hard punishment and more than likely wasn't going to be going to that party later. There was no going back now though.
Though his tears Ludwig saw Gilbert, he briefly wondered why his brother was there before the sting in his bottom took over his mind again with another sharp swat from Germania's hand. "Ow!" Ludwig squirmed to avoid the hard hand, but he considered himself lucky that it wasn't with the belt. The belt really stung, at least according to Gilbert since Ludwig was never that bad before.
"What was that Gilbert?" Germania had a small suspicion that something strange was going on. He couldn't possibly put his finger on it, but this had been a strange day already.
Gilbert swallowed and grabbed Germania's hand so that it didn't fall on the already punished bottom again. "The broken sword wasn't his fault. It was mine." There he lied, although this time there was no nagging guilt. He never interrupted Wilhelm when he spanked Luddy before, this was a tense moment for him.
"Is that so?" Germania questioned with an eyebrow raised, this was more than just a bit unusual for his oldest child.
"Ja, I thought I'd let Luddy take the blame." Gilbert almost cringed as he heard himself. He might appear to be a self-centered jerk, but that is something he would never do to his brother. Hopefully, Germania wouldn't agree though.
Wilhelm studied his eldest child, "Oh really?" He didn't really think that Gilbert would do that, the brothers seemed to love each other too much.
"Yeah, I took it out to show my friends and I left it in the shed after." Gilbert made up a quick story. "I'm sorry." He said dropping his gaze. "I told Luddy to cover because I want to go to the party."
Wilhelm thought for a moment, because the story was certainly likely sounding. He shook the doubts from his head, this was getting confusing. "Very well, corner Gilbert." He ordered, needing a bit of time to change punishments and collect his own thoughts on the matter.
Cheeks burning, Gilbert walked over to the corner. He softly leaned his head on the wall, wondering what he had been thinking in the first place. If there was one thing he hated most, it was corner time. Spankings were painful physically, but the corner was mental torture to the boy.
Ludwig rubbed his eyes, only half understanding what was going on. Germania gently fixed the child's clothing. "Vati?"
"Ja?" The older blond was still unsure about this.
Ludwig looked down, still feeling guilty. "Is Gilby in trouble?"
"Ja, very much." The nation mentally went through a list of 'crimes' the teen had done. It was turning out to be a fairly long list, surly one that couldn't be solved with just a spanking.
"Oh," Ludwig slowly understood that his big brother was taking the punishment for him. The guilt started to gnaw at him again, but he was now stuck as well. If he called his brother out on it, they were likely to both be spanked. Him for the crime and Gilbert for lying.
"Go eat your lunch," The man gave the child a gentle pat on the bottom. "Though it's likely to be cold."
The child nodded and left, knowing it was better than arguing. However, he didn't return to the kitchen like what was requested of him. Instead he sat outside the door, listening in. Ludwig wasn't hungry at all anyways.
Wilhelm unbuckled his belt, and slid it out of the loops. Gilbert was much older, therefore was in need of a harder punishment for the same effect. To be honest, the man was surprised that his boy's hide wasn't tougher with all the spanking he earned.
"Over the desk, I assume you know why this was wrong to do Gilbert." Wilhelm said. He knew the teen hated lectures and rarely truly listened to them, some days it was easier to save his breath. On second thought, he was like that with everything; it would go in one ear and out the other.
Cheeks blazing, Gilbert shuffled over to the desk and unbuttoned his pants. Without a single complaint, he bent over the desk and grasped the other side. His eyes seemed to lock on a certain section of the wall.
Silence was unusual for this child, something was still fishy. The blond could only work with what he had though. He raised the belt, "You're too old Gilbert to be acting like this!"
Gilbert let out a slight gasped as the belt struck his bottom, he always forgot just how hard the first one was. He squirmed over the desk for just a moment, adjusting his position and trying to be brave through this.
Wilhelm noticed, but didn't comment. The man set them both in a little rhythm of the belt smacking down on Gilbert's bum and pausing about five seconds in between. After about ten strokes of this it seemed to be nothing more than just a daunting and cruel task to the both of them, and each could feel it in the atmosphere.
Tears fell from blue eyes outside the door as well. Ludwig couldn't stand hearing Gilbert crying when it wasn't his fault this time, the guilt was going to kill him. Pulling his knees up to his face, the child sat there crying a little.
Deeming enough to be enough, Germania stopped. This was just horrible and wrong for them all, but he couldn't exactly call the children out on it this time. The man set down the belt, "For this you're grounded as well."
Gilbert nodded and tried to stop crying. This was all so stupid, the teen thought as he pushed himself up and hissed in pain. What really sucked about this all was that he felt even worst for doing this, plus he couldn't go party with everyone. Francis was going to be so disappointed, and he was going to miss seeing Hungary.
With a reassuring pat on the back, Wilhelm left him to recover his lost dignity on his own. Gilbert knew that he was forgiven and that if he really wanted more affection than that his father would give it to him. He felt just awkward hugging his father when he wasn't wearing pants anymore and was okay with just a pat.
Ludwig had scurried downstairs just before Wilhelm opened the door and was at the table. Apathetically he nibbled on his food, though he remained standing not wishing to sit on his sore rear. The man joined him shortly, though Ludwig didn't feel like talking; this resulted in a cold meal eaten in silence.
After lunch, Ludwig took off for his brother's room, knowing that's where he had to be. The teen hadn't come back down to finish his lunch, which was concerning to the boy; his brother was always hungry. He pushed open the door and was relieved when he saw that Prussia was just lying on his stomach teasing his pet bird.
"Gilby," Ludwig was crying again. He wasn't even sure why this time, but the day certainly had been something.
"Oi, West don't cry. It's not that bad, plus you're not in trouble anymore." Gilbert winced as he he moved to set his brother on his lap. His bottom was certainly sore, but he pushed that aside for now. There was no use whining about it anyways, when he knew that was what he was walking right into it, literally.
Ludwig's big blue eyes looked at him. "But it was my fault!" he exclaimed not able to take the guilt anymore.
"Ja, I know that." Gilbert messed the child's hair up, enjoying the wrinkled nose reaction he got. "But that's why I did it."
Ludwig blinked and tilted his head, "Huh?"
"You were already were sorry, and it's not like you meant to cause any harm. Plus, I'm your awesome big brother that has to look out for you." Gilbert grinned, feeling much better about what he did.
Ludwig hugged the teen, taking him off guard. "You are awesome!"
"Shit, take it easy kid." Gilbert said, but secretly he was enjoying playing the hero for the little boy.
Ludwig frowned, "But didn't you have somewhere to go this weekend?"
"Well, ja." He said slowly, nad the teen didn't miss the looked of guilt that crossed Ludwig's face. "But it's not that important anyways." Actually it was, but he wasn't going to tell the child that. "Why don't you go take a nap or something?"
The five year old yawned at the mere mentioning of sleep, however he still protested. "But, I'm not tired."
Gilbert rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, "My mistake."
The child didn't complain as his brother laid him down in the bed though. "Tell me a story," he whined.
"Well, aren't we being spoiled?" Gilbert joked, though he didn't really care all that much.
"Nu-uh," Ludwig mumbled. "I just want a story."
"Ja, ja," Gilbert begun to weave a tale that he knew Ludwig would have to hear the ending another time as he could see that the child's eyes lids were heavy already.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Hetalia~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was later in the evening, about the time that Gilbert needed to leave. Wilhelm had made up his mind finally, "Gilbert!"
The teen wondered what his old man could possibly want with him now. "Yeah Vati?" he asked with a bit of attitude, but not enough that his father would complain.
"You're not grounded after all." The man said as he picked up some of Ludwig's scattered toys.
Gilbert thought he heard a pig hit the roof of his house, it was practically impossible for Germania to let up on a punishment. "What?" He had to hear it again just to be sure.
Germania smirked, knowing that he was throwing his eldest for a loop. That was part of his purpose, and he was enjoying it. "I said that you weren't grounded, brat."
"But why?" Gilbert asked before he could stop himself.
"Because I said so," Wilhelm replied not seeing a need to say his real reason. "And if I hear you swear one more time I'll bring the soap out again." he warned.
Gilbert cocked his head to the side. Now how did he know? A blush covered his face clear to his ear tips, as he realized that Germania had heard him talking to Ludwig. "Don't punish Luddy!" he blurted out.
"Now why would I do that? You were the one who broke my sword." The older Germanic nation smirked, at his cleverness. "What are you waiting for? You're going to see that Hungary girl, aren't you."
Germania left the puzzled Prussian to wonder what had gotten into his Vater.