The title does not mean to offend anyone
It's not going to be about Third Reich or WW2
But you know what it is It's Angsttttt-
Based off a prompt by Shadowcat849 who wanted to see more about their scars (See our scars make us stronger for reference)
(But long story short, the boys have the symbol of their parents marked on them, Germany as you guess has a swastika on his lower back and Russia has a hammer and sickle on his chest)(Just a headcannon)
Enjoy!! (It is 3 am here am I tired? yes am I going to sleep? Nahhh :'D)
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Germany was pressing an ice pack halfheartedly against his cheek when he heard the door to his room open and hurried footsteps rushed in. He looked up and found wide ice blue eyes staring at him in shock, then the large body moved closer toward him, sending the shorter guards that was standing around the room scurrying away.
"Leave us." A controlled, accent-less voice spoke, and the guards filed out slowly. Russia stood indifferently in the middle of the room until they all were gone, the door closing with a click behind him. He immediately walked over to him and kneeled down beside the bed, eyes filled with worry and fear.
"Are you okay? How did they hurt you, who were they?" He demanded answers, hands outstretched but too nervous to actually touch him. Germany sighed and took the ice pack away from his face to shove it into his hands to shut him up. Russia stared at it, and then at the revealed dark bruise that was forming over his left cheekbone.
"Германия-"
"I'm fine, it's just a few bruises and cuts. Things could have gone worse-" He insisted, ignoring the pain from talking with a split lip. His chest hurt a lot, but there were no broken bones anywhere on his body.
"No Ger. You're hurt, and I don't even want to think about if things had gone worse." Russia said with a frustrated tone, but Germany knew his boyfriend enough to recognize the true feelings behind his words. He looked at him and gingerly wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him in for a rather painful hug on his side.
He heard him sigh shakily in relief and hug him back, hiding his face in his upper chest that was slightly uncovered from the loose hospital gown he was given to wear.
"Ow. Chest. Not too tightly-"
"Sorry!"
Germany gave him a slight squeeze in their hug to reassure him. Russia's upper arms were around his back, gently stroking up and down. He had to let go after a few more seconds because of the ache in his muscles, and went back to his position reclined against a propped up pillow behind his back. He decided not to say anything about Russia sniffing discreetly and wiping away a tear.
"I was walking back from work, the usual way. Some guys cornered me, I didn't really see their faces." Germany told him as he stood up to go pull up a chair to properly sit on.
"Weren't there street lights?"
"...no. It was pretty dark. They uh...dragged me into an alley."
Russia's eyes narrowed as he listened on, nodding ever so slightly like he usually did when he was deep in thought. But then he stopped moving, and flicked his eyes up to meet Germany's. "You're hesitating. Are you telling the truth?"
"What? Of course I am, I told the officers the same thing."
Russia leaned forward in his chair and stared even more intensely at him, the ice in his eyes sharp. "The whole truth?"
Germany had tried to win over this particular glare many times over, but it seemed that every time he won a staring match between him and his boyfriend, Russia would invent a new, next level that was harder to beat after each round.
He gave up after a few more seconds of enduring his gaze and gripped the blanket between his sore fingers. Russia made a noise of approval and leant back, crossing his arms over his chest as his mind worked.
"Why did they attack you?" He asked. "People don't just come up and beat someone up for fun, there must have been a motive. They didn't steal anything from you either, so they weren't doing it for money."
Germany bit his bottom lip, then winced painfully as he touched his wound. It had stopped bleeding, but it still hurt. Russia picked up the ice pack on the table and handed it to him, a flash of worry in his eyes as he continued to wait for an answer.
Germany pressed it gingerly against his injuries and didn't say anything, even though the tension of the room was slowly eating away at his resolve. He didn't want to tell him. But it would be better, right? No, no it wouldn't. But he deserved to know. He's worried.
"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else, okay." He spoke barely above a whisper. His boyfriend didn't react.
"...please."
Russia took a deep breath and let it out slowly, uncrossing his arms and leaning forward again. He carefully put a hand over Germany's and gave him a small nod. "Fine."
Germany nodded back and swallowed nervously, still not looking into his eyes. "They saw it."
"Saw what?"
"The...my- mark-" He mumbled, and put down the ice pack on the bed. Russia looked confused, trying to understand his words and connect the dots.
"They were...one of them saw my back." Germany finally let out.
Russia gathered as much that he was talking about one of the scars on his body again, but immediately after he said that they saw his back things made sense. "They thought you were a Nazi." He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, noticing with slight regret when his boyfriend winced at the word.
His mind was whirling. He knew the reason why he got beaten up and why he was now hurt. Uncontrollable rage threated to burst in him as the violent part of his mind rose up in anger.
"Nein, Russland please don't-" He heard Germany plead and use both hands to hold on to his own hand. "I didn't want to tell you or anyone because I knew you'll react this way please I don't want this-"
"How could you say that?!" Russia said in a furious whisper-shout, looking around for signs that someone might be coming close to the room and overhearing their conversation. "They attacked you, Германия. You were outnumbered and defenseless. You could have bled out there and if someone hadn't found you, who knows what could have happened?!"
Germany looked like he was close to tears, but he fought them away and gritted his teeth as he continued to speak. "They had every right, Russ. If I really was a..., I would want them to beat me up too. They weren't the bad guys, they were doing the right thing."
"No, no they were not." He growled out and pulled his hand away, standing up and taking a few steps and then sitting down again, clenching his hands several times in anger. "I understand why you think they were doing the right thing, you're right, but-" He raised his fist, dropped it, and then groaned in frustration.
"Look." He started up again, trying to keep his anger at bay. "If they were beating you up for being a Nazi, they should have called the police. What they did wasn't completely right either. And they harassed you first."
Germany looked up in shock and confusion, opening his mouth to defend them. "Don't tell me they just Saw your back. They would have to pull up your shirt first. They wouldn't just see it right there, I know you would never have let that happen. That means those people cornered you and tried to harass you. Am I right, Германия?" Russia asked him with a sharp edge of fury in his voice.
He sat there on the bed numbly, listening to Russia's words. No, those people were still right, they were doing a good thing, he wanted people to be brave enough like them take down every last Nazi, the people that were evil and didn't deserve to live. But when Russia mentioned them pulling up his shirt he couldn't help remembering hands on his body again, a smirk on the man's face as he and his friends got closer and closer to pinning him against the wall despite him telling them to stop.
Germany's lip trembled as his eyes watered, and tears started flowing silently down his bruised face. He felt Russia's strong arms envelope him into a hug, and he sobbed once, twice as he gasped for air shakily, gripping his jacket and squeezing his eyes shut, pressed against his shoulder.
"Shh...everything's okay now-" Germany heard him mumble over his crying. and run a gentle hand through his hair to calm him down. He tried, he tried to calm down, but the tears just kept on coming no matter what he did. The sleeve of Russia's dark blue jacket was soaked by the time he finally managed to get a hold of himself.
He took another shaky breath and wiped away the tear tracks on his face, pulling away from the hug slowly. "...danke..." Germany whispered softly, sniffing once more and rubbing his blood-shot eyes. Russia gently wrapped his hand around his wrist and pulled it away, looking at him with concern.
"Germany...this isn't the first time this happened. About, people thinking that you're what you are... because of your mark." He said to him quietly, staring into Germany's beautiful golden eyes. "I know you don't like talking about it, but I don't like seeing you get hurt and mistreated because of something we have no control over."
"..."
"I don't mind mine most of the time, its easier to hide because of where it is and it's...in a way...less offensive than a swastika. People notice yours and they think the worse for it, and you, you get hurt-" He reached over and gently cupped his boyfriend's uninjured cheek, trying hard not to cry as Germany looked so helpless and sad.
"I don't want to see you hurt." Russia repeated in a small voice and looked away, letting the hand on his cheek drop.
He took a deep breath, meeting Germany's eyes again. "We can get them covered. Tattoo over it so that no one can see. It would only work properly on our human appearances but as long as they don't see it it's okay-"
"no."
"I'll do it with you, Германия please just-"
"I said no." Germany said again louder than his previous whisper.
"But-"
"I don't want to do it." He said firmly, pulling his arm away from Russia's hold and clenched the blanket tightly in his hands. "I can't."
Russia stared at him, eyes filled with confusion and frustration. "Ger, this is about your safety now...please-"
"I don't want to do it. This...It's one of the last pieces of my father I have left." He said quietly, keeping his eyes firmly glued on the surface of the blanket. "Even if we cover it up with ink, it'll still be there. It's a mark I have to bear, Russia. There's no way around it."
Russia couldn't believe him. On one hand, he was shocked. He understood. The hammer and sickle scar-like mark on his chest wouldn't simply disappear underneath ink, it would be hidden in his human appearance, but as the countryhuman of a country, their past was physically marked on him, and there was no way of truly removing it. You can't erase history.
On the other hand, he was angry. 'This isn't about sentiment anymore, Germany.' He wanted to shout, scream. 'Your life could be in danger. You can't risk it.'
'I can't risk losing you.'
"...Russland?" He heard him call out quietly, nervous and scared. Russia did his best to smooth away the angry expression on his face and grabbed his small, cooler hand in between both his own, pressing it against his forehead as he continued to think, elbows resting on the edge of the bed.
Germany breathed softly, feeling the warmth of his forehead on the back of his fingers. Russia's hands were shaking, he realized. He quickly reached over and brushed his jawline with his other hand, pulling him closer until they were nearly hugging again.
He didn't know what to say, what words to comfort him. Reassure him that it'll never happen again? Apologize? Germany resisted his habit to bit his lip and lightly caressed his face, bumping against the ear flap of his ushanka occasionally as his fingers moved around his features.
A series of knocks made them tense and withdraw from each other, eyes on the door. Russia stood up and went to open it. A doctor said something softly to him, and he responded likewise, looking directly at her as she spoke. She left a few moments after, and he closed the door again.
"I have to go." He told Germany quietly when he walked back, eyes flickered to met his own and then gone again. He stood still for a moment, opening his mouth again to say something else, but then deciding against it. Germany forced himself to nod understandingly.
Russia caught that obviously, and stepped closer to the hospital bed. He smiled faintly and lightly kissed him on the cheek, right above the bruise. "Get well soon." He murmured in Russian, his blue eyes gentle and glimmering with love.
Germany blushed pink and stared into them, wishing that he never had to look away. But of course his boyfriend had to leave too soon. He fidgeted with the blanket when he slowly, almost reluctantly straightened up and turned to walk away, trying to find the right words.
"Wait." He called out, still using Russian. That got his attention immediately, and he looked back at him, an almost hopeful look on his face.
"I'll...think about it. Okay?" Germany said.
Russia's expression softened a little, and he nodded. He opened the door and walked out quickly, leaving him alone in the room.
Germany sighed, and suddenly looked at the chair he was sitting on just now. His dark blue jacket was draped over the back, left there when he took it off after he embarrassingly cried his eyes out on it. He blushed again, and carefully leant over to hook a finger around it, dragging it over into his arms.
It was one of Russia's favorite jackets, well technically the one he wore the most. The collar was fur-trimmed and soft, the insides well worn. Germany pressed his face into the dry side of the jacket and let the familiar scent comfort him, playing with the collar between his fingers. His accident seemed like a very distant memory now, but he knew it would come up again to haunt him. For now, he let himself feel safe, and think of his boyfriend.
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Tbh, there's no REALLY tragic backstory to those marks. It's painless and they both got it when their respective fathers died and they become the new countryhumans representative of their country. All of Russia's siblings have the mark on other parts of their body.
It causes problems sometimes cuz humans can see those marks too. But its more like seeing as tattoos that what it ACTUALLY is. So obviously, people would think lil boi Ger got a tattoo of a damn swastika, and that's badddd. But in reality he can't do anything about it-
Thank you for reading! You're all the best!! <3