Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia: Axis Powers or the game Risk. They belong to their respective owners.

A/N: This is a random one-shot inspired by a fic I saw about the Hetalia countries playing the board game Risk.

The fic takes place in WWII Berlin, near the time when the German officials were planning an attack on Stalingrad.

~Enjoy!~

"Yeah! Take that, Australia!"

"Shh! Gilbert, quiet down... Do you want anyone to hear us?" "It's your turn, bruder. Think you can beat my blockade?"

"... How did I ever get roped into this?"

The two uniformed brothers were currently seated in a rather spacious office located in central Berlin. Surrounding them were various files and stacks of important-looking paperwork, along with detailed maps, military reports and production graphs scattered around the room. A large ornate clock hung on the opposite wall, ticking off the time until the end of another busy workday for the German populace.

In effect, it appeared to be a normal military office running as smooth and efficiently as ever.

However, the room was in a state of complete disarray. This was largely due to the interference of the chaotic, albino brother barging in earlier this morning with a large mug of beer and proceeding to disrupt all efforts of the younger military officer to accomplish anything that needed to be done for that day.

Along with the beer and a few sauerkraut sandwiches to share together, the albino had brought a board game with him and loudly challenged his militant brother to a few rounds of what was known as "Risk".

Fast-forward a few entertaining hours, and Germany was severely wondering how he could've gotten himself into this headache-inducing mess.

"Gilbert, we're supposed to be planning our next real initiative on capturing and containing Stalingrad, not attacking Australia with dice in a board game!"

Prussia laughed and chucked the die at him. "Come on, West! This is the most fun I've had since I last saw Spain and France! Besides, it's probably been like, years since you took even a single break from working so much. Lighten up!"

Germany easily caught the airborne die and rolled his turn. Four. He moved some of his pieces farther north, taking one of Prussia's South American territories as his own.

"I appreciate the thought, but you do realize I needed to have those diagrams sent in over three hours ago, don't you?" Germany motioned to the messy stack of maps and files littering his desk that had been unceremoniously shoved aside to make room for the board game now occupying the space between him and Gilbert.

Prussia waved it off. "You can get those done anytime soon." He turned back to the game. "Now, how are you gonna defeat my awesome defensive line here?", he declared, rolling the dice and reduced Germany's advancing infantry to a pitifully small amount.

Germany surveyed the board. He was currently controlling most of Western Europe, but Prussia had a firm grip on the Asian and Eastern European front, and managed with little effort to hold a strong blockade and push back whatever Germany advanced with. It was a conundrum how such a simple area could turn into a long and confusing campaign, with many a wasted roll on Germany's part.

He shrugged the thought away, and absentmindedly rolled his turn a little too forcefully. The dice bounced off the wooden desk, behind Prussia's seat and skittered across the floor to some unknown location.

Germany immediately stood up to try and search for the fallen die, but in his haste he tripped over Prussia's empty beer mug and scattered the playing pieces all across the desk, some bouncing onto the floor. Prussia turned and knelt down to gather up the many falling pieces, but just then-

"Heil- Uh... Am I interrupting something?"

They froze.

The door opened to reveal a young, timid-looking man in a uniform slightly too big for him standing outside the office door. He looked at the two brothers, then at the disheveled papers, then at the jumbled board game, and back again at their faces; surveying the chaotic scene before him.

Germany got up fast and stood stiff at attention, mentally trying to think his way out and also trying not to stammer as he felt his face turn an uncomfortable shade of red. Sheiße, they were so caught...

Prussia, being the impulsive yet nonchalant talker he became under pressure, stood up casually and confidently strode over to the young subordinate officer; who was still leaning awkwardly against the office door, unsure of what to say.

"Hey, man! Naw, you weren't interrupting anything much... Me and West- uh, I mean Herr Beilshmidt here-" he indicated Germany hurriedly sweeping papers and diagrams over the playing board in an effort to make themselves look busy, "-were just
discussing some, ah, important businessy-type files and things that should be completed soon enough for..." Prussia broke off to think of any person he could name on the spot. Finding none useful, he shrugged it off and concluded, "For... -Well, just whoever needs it around here."

He quickly changed the subject. "So, you a newbie in this office?"

The young officer balked at being asked such a question by an important superior - as well as put off by the albino's unnerving forwardness and apparent motor-mouth distractedness.

"Well, I- uh, yeah... I'm new around here, I guess. Just transferred from Cologne..."

"Hey, great! Well, if you need anything, just ask Herr Bossy McStrict-Pants over here-" He motioned with his thumb to indicate Germany behind him, who looked less than pleased at being as being saddled with the new guy and an embarrassing nickname- "- And everything'll be sure to run smoothly. Got that?"

The young officer nodded in response.

"Good." Prussia backed up and sat down at the desk, swung his feet up (ignoring Germany's indignant scowl), and gave a little send-off wave to the officer. The man took it as a sign to leave, and turned towards the open door.

"Oh, and try holding your back a little straighter and your chest higher when you walk. Really gives you confidence... Plus, you'll look better in that uniform." Prussia called.

The young officer looked surprised at Prussia's advice, and self-consciously fidgeted with his rumpled uniform, but he did indeed straighten his posture and carried himself more proudly as he exited the office, almost striding down the hall with the sound of his too-big boots fading away.

Germany breathed a loud sigh of relief. Never had he been so lucky to enjoy an entire day of goofing off and manage to escape with his cover fully intact.

Now, back to the larger problem at hand...

He turned to see Prussia chuckling softly, his dirty boots still laying on Germany's messy desk like it was the most casual thing in the world.

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Germany knelt down near the large filing cabinet on the opposite side of the room and peered underneath; spotting the missing die and retrieving it from its hiding place. He tossed it over to Prussia, who lazily caught it in one hand and proceeded to pick his teeth with one of the toothpicks left over from the sandwiches he had brought.

Germany sighed again, this time in exasperation. It was amazing how smoothly and nonchalantly Prussia had deflected trouble away from the duo and yet couldn't care less about proper etiquette or the state of Ludwig's very expensive desk. He started picking up the pieces to the game, and then unceremoniously yanked the partially-hidden board game out from under the albino's feet.

Prussia apparently took the hint, as he grudgingly got up and put away the rest of the game. "Man, I really wanted to win that..." he wistfully whined. "Pretty close, too..."

Germany playfully nudged his brother in the shoulder. "What do you mean? I thought it was undoubtedly clear that I was winning that round!"

His brother scoffed. "Yeah, right! You had what- less than three continents? I was practically dominating the East European front..."

"Yeah, but that-"

He stopped. "-that... Eastern front... where- oh, gott..."

Prussia turned in surprise. "What?"

Germany had paled, cringing at a sudden realization. "That spot, on the game... You don't think that objective could-"

Prussia's eyes widened slightly, coming to the same conclusion as his brother. "... Be as hard with real battles as it is in the game?"

He glanced at the maps and diagrams on Ludwig's desk; all detailing possible initiatives their armies could take in the battle for Stalingrad. Was it really that easy to hold off a whole army like that...?

He shrugged it off, laughing at the passing thought. "Bruder, it's just a game. You saw how the map was divided; the pieces are unrealistic and I don't think a game with rolling dice is exactly accurate... Besides, you said yourself that a game of Risk is a waste of time."

Germany let go of the thought at his brother's words. He still felt a bit of apprehension at the idea of such a loss, but as Gilbert said; it was only a game.

Placing the last piece in the box, he handed the board game back to Prussia. "Here. I must say I'm not exactly looking forward to handing in those diagrams late, but it was- enjoyable, I guess."

Prussia took the game and gathered his uniform coat from the coatrack in the corner, swinging it over his shoulders and patted his brother on the back.

"Well, I'm always glad to bring a little fun to Herr Bossy McStrict-Pants over here-" he broke off to avoid Ludwig's good-natured swing at the jibe, "-and don't forget to write when you leave for the Eastern front, got it West? I don't want to show up a week after you've left and find out that I'm stuck in this office until you get back!"

The albino staggered out the door, still feeling the buzz from the beers he had brought over, and strode down the hall until the thumping of his boots faded away.

Germany sighed once more, (with Gilbert it was almost impossible to avoid), and turned back to survey the messy state of the room. He would have a lot of cleaning up to do before he even got started on the maps again...

He couldn't help but smile a bit as he thought of his brother's impulsive visit. It was hard to imagine how long it had been since he had seen East. The two Beilshmidts had been growing more distant as the war went on; running around everywhere from Berlin, France, Eastern Europe and Africa at the orders of whatever superiors they had to listen to. Gilbert's visit was actually quite a nice break in the past few stressful years he's had.

He should see East more often...

Prussia walked out of the office building and down into the bustling streets of Berlin. He whistled a soft tune as he hailed a nearby cab and climbed in, throwing a wad of bills at the cabdriver and telling him to take him to the outskirts of the city. Tomorrow he would be making his way to southern occupied France; a destination that he was not particularly looking forward to.

He knew the young officer from Cologne was going to be transferred in a few weeks to Gott-knows-where on the Eastern European front. Whatever chance the man had of surviving was slim; just like all the other soldier boys Prussia had met over the years, but Gilbert couldn't stop himself from hoping all the same.

It had been hard to slip away from his position in the Baltics a day early to see Ludwig, but he knew it was the best thing he could've done. The whole country of Germany had been hit hard by the past few decades, but his brother took it particularly bad under the circumstances. Gilbert just wanted to make sure he could keep West from getting into too much trouble, surrounded by all those stiff officials talking about glory and a united country all the time.

It wasn't the greatest war to be stuck in, but Prussia did what he could to protect his brother from becoming an empire at the cost of Ludwig Beilshmidt.

~End~

A/N: A few things I need to mention. First, this fic takes a tiny break from reality in assuming that Risk was around in WWII. The game was actually invented in 1957 by a French film director, Albert Lamorisse, and has been revised since then compared to the modern-day version.

Second, I have a small head-canon that Prussia hides his deep concern for Germany during the war under an attitude of obnoxiousness. He doesn't believe the propaganda and ideals as much as his brother does, and secretly doubts the righteousness of the war even though he can't do much about it.

Thirdly, for those of you who know Eddie Izzard's comedy sketch on WWII, I did indeed base the "Stalingrad invasion problem" on his words about Risk. It's worth watching for a bit of history-related humour.

Lastly, I must confess I have yet to play Risk or research much about WWII, so feel free to comment about any inaccuracies I might have in this fic. Thanks for reading! :)