Tuesday, Thursday and Today are days we rest! [Germany]

Pasta and siesta breaks during training? The very idea! "Nein!" he snaps firmly, as he is more prone to do when they're actually training. Though he was actually joking when he said that he would try harder - not that he meant for Italy to take it as one. No, he just didn't like hearing such criticism of his training, and he knew that indicating that he would make it worse would get that reaction, and that reaction has made him feel better.

As for the objections that he just addressed, his first response seems to have gone down fine. But when Italy next expresses so much faith in him, he feels the need to give his friend a bit of a reality check. So he quietly reminds, "I didn't find a vay last vorld var..." Yes, Germany knows that he's good at war, and sometimes he'll even admit it to himself or others, but he's also extremely aware that he's fallible, and very much so. He doesn't deserve anyone's blind faith - not even Italy's.

Now the spy planes, of course Italy has a point. However, Germany isn't lying when he says, "That doesn't usually happen." After all, spy planes are designed for subtlety and they're very good at that. And the loss of one spy plane is just that - one plane. A tragic loss, but then again there's more where that came from.

When Italy starts to throw a fit about being denied alcohol, Germany's response is a confident, "I can, and I vill. Because like you said, you need to be sober." Of course, that's due to the effect of alcohol on the Italian. His friend makes poor enough decisions as it is, and alcohol doesn't help. Germany, on the other hand, finds that he fights best when he's just a little bit buzzed - enough to take the edge off of his nerves but not enough to impair him very much.

But in retrospect, perhaps Germany should have simply started by talking about the women. That certainly seems to do the trick as far as convincing the Italian what the best course of action should be. But on the other hand, as difficult as it can be to convince Italy of something, once he's convinced he's still hard to control. Still, he suspects that he knows how to reign him in a bit. And so he follows Italy at a slower pace as the nation starts to jump the gun, waiting for his moment to put a word in edgewise, and when the time come he simply says, "Oh? You are attacking right avay? I thought that perhaps you might vant to vait until you've had a chance to hear the strategy I planned, vhere ve charge in heroically and crush our enemies. But if you vould rather stumble onto the battlefield like drunken pig, lose half your army and embarrass yourself in front of all of the Arab vomen, that is your choice." Figuring that will be a convincing point, he turns and starts to head toward the camp's headquarters, though of course if it isn't he'll have to curtail the Italian's newfound enthusiasm another way.

It's actually very easy to overestimate how much Germany has changed since the second world war. He gets a lot of bad credit, and wrongly so, for a lot of things that are more rightly blamed upon his Boss at the time. Of course it's easy now to argue that he shouldn't have been listening to such a Boss, but at the time it really had seemed like it was the best thing to do for his people.

And he'd had many good traits back then and still does now that makes him a good friend, though it would be wrong to say that he hasn't changed either - and that change is more than simply being a bit more wary about putting too much of his own blind faith in his Boss. Most of that change centers around simply recognizing that he has a very strong personality and that he needs to be very careful about how he uses it - even if he can force other people to do what he wants doesn't mean that he should. Which isn't to say that he doesn't force people to do what he wants anymore, but he's careful to limit himself in that regard.

Another change is his level of self-control - his temper is also very powerful and losing it too often is not good for anyone. Which is why Italy's insult does not result in more than a frown and an unhappy, "Hmm..."

Italy's insistence of going off half-cocked on the other hand? That's something to lose his temper about! When his friend readies a tank instead of coming with him, to say that he's not amused is an understatement. Catching up with him just as he's about to enter the tank, Germany grabs the man by the shirt-collar. "YOU'RE calling ME LAZY and a COVARD?!?" he asks as he pulls him back, manhandling him off of the tank and then dragging him away from it and back towards the camp headquarters where he should have been going in the first place, "I have been managing the ENTIRE EUROPEAN FRONT LINE vhile you've been here SITTING ON YOUR ASS! You COULD have handled this MONTHS ago! And because you didn't, I had to come here, and so I AM IN CHARGE! And if you continue this INSUBORDINATION, I vill personally keep you so busy that you get NO FREE TIME!" That's another thing that has changed - the severity of the punishments that Germany is willing to hand out for this sort of misbehavior. They continue to be just as cruel, though.

If anyone is going to call out Italy on his past, it's not going to be Germany. Or at least it's unlikely, anyway - he's far too aware of his own past to feel like he has any room to speak about that. Perhaps in a moment of anger he would do so if the Italian were to outright accuse him of wrongdoing while claiming that his own hands were completely clean, but when you simply tell him that he was a bad nation during the last world war he simply feels guilty. And since Germany almost never ceases to feel guilty, that doesn't really do much.

In fact, that guilt is enough to make him hesitate to use physical force as much as he would have in the past, even against Italy. However, one thing that has not changed is that the Italian is regularily a stubborn fool in the face of all reason and Germany has little choice but to use force. If there was a better way of getting what he needs from his friend he would take it, but in spite of the long history between them he hasn't found an alternative.

Ignoring Italy's complaints, Germany responds to the request by snapping, "Request denied! You vill attend this meeting, you vill pay attention and participate, and you vill do everything ve plan out. Othervise I vill be forced to conclude that I have been too soft on you and ve vill use your free time for training." Fortunately, there's a stark difference between their physiques, and while hauling Italy around is an annoying chore it's not that difficult, even when he struggles.

Being friends with Germany isn't all bad - yes, he's serious and gruff but he's also extremely loyal and tries his best to be fair. No matter what Italy does, no matter what sort of mess he's gotten himself into, no matter how much it's his own fault, Germany will not abandon his friendship and will do what's necessary to help make sure that it turns out right again. And he's more capable than most at doing just that - Germany is a nation of many talents, after all.

Which isn't to say that Italy isn't talented in his own right - it's just that his talents are quite different than Germany's. And in fact, though of course he would never say so out loud, this is what he admires most about Italy - the man simply thinks completely differently. Which is obviously a frustration a lot of the time, but every once in a while Italy will do something completely brilliant. Things like putting water jets into a bathtub - Germany has to admit that he would never have come up with that one. He's known for improving designs and making them more efficient than he is for inventing totally new things, and when he does they're usually completely practical things. There's nothing practical about water jets in a bathtub, but they make life better!

But that's not the only reason why he's friends with Italy, and the other main one goes all the way to the beginnings of their friendship. Italy had decided that they were friends back in a day when Germany really needed one - he'd not taken the reigns from his brother Prussia for very long and had found himself without very many people to turn to. Prussia isn't exactly the most diplomatic person in the world, and that had meant that other nations weren't very quick to want to become actual friends with his little brother either. Italy, though, had volunteered, and Germany has never forgotten. And yes, Japan had joined them not that long after, but Italy had been the first and he's never forgotten that.

When they reach the camp headquarters, he hears Italy's timid plea for release. He'd feel sorry for treating him so harshly except that Italy should know by now he should listen to Germany in all matters relating to war. Well, except for that time when Germany decided that the second world war was necessary - he shouldn't have listened to that - but he's usually right about these things. "If I let you go are you going to make a break for it?" he asks suspiciously, because he wouldn't put it past Italy to do exactly that - and he'd really rather not have to chase him down. Italy runs away from things very, very quickly after all! But if his friend promises that he's not going to run then he'll let him go and see if he keeps his word.

Italy is exactly right that Germany would track him down - the man is known for being incredibly stubborn, after all. That doesn't mean that Italy hasn't tried a number of times, but it saves him a lot of time and pain if he simply gives up and does what the German wants. Especially now - while Germany can be quite patient, Italy of all people should recognize when he's run out of it. If the Italian tries to push him much more, Germany will most likely live up to each and every threat that he's made today.

But the German equally knows how to recognize when his friend has been thoroughly cowed and will no longer offer up any more resistance. Which actually makes a part of him a little bit sad, though he would never admit it - he doesn't like to force Italy to do what he wants. He would much rather simply talk the man into doing things - that's so much more pleasant! In fact, if he'd had enough time he probably still would have done so, but realistically that might have taken a very long time - way more time than he has. He needs to get this offensive going solidly so that he can return to Europe as soon as possible.

So when Italy says that he won't run, Germany gives a satisfied grunt and lets the man go. "Good, because I need you to pay attention. They need me on the European Front - I can't stay here forever. I can be here long enough to get the offensive started and see it through the beginning stages until it can get some momentum, but you are the one vho needs to keep it going vhen I leave. I vill be leaving a couple of my best generals to help advise you, and of course check in on you vhen I can, but my focus vill need to be on the European front," he explains.

Because unlike so many other nations, Germany knows what Italy is capable of. Yes his friend is lazy, and makes a lot of erratic decisions, but if he takes care of the hard part of getting it all started then Italy should be able to keep it going. Especially since the generals he's leaving behind are not there merely to offer advice but to also keep an eye on everything and inform him if and when he needs to come back and kick his friend's butt back into gear. Though he's hopeful that the Italian will be able to step up to the plate and maybe even do something well enough that the other nations recognize it and give the man the respect that he deserves. He's tired of everyone wondering why someone so focused on performance like him is friends with the Italian.

Having said that, he now turns his attention to the other men in the room. Who are no doubt wondering why a German general hauled an Italian general into the meeting, but his men know better than to ask him any questions and he doesn't give them any answers. Instead he asks, "Are ve ready to begin?"

Does Germany expect Italy to come up with a plan? No, of course not! Though that's not because he believes that his friend is incapable, but because he knows who is better at what. If the goal was to plan out a relaxing evening of course he'd step aside, but they're planning a war offensive so of course he's taking the lead here.

But perhaps it may come as a surprise to the Italian that Germany refrains from mentioning the previous lack of progress on this front except in passing - instead he focuses his remarks entirely upon his planned offensive. Specifically, he speaks of how their enemy will not be expecting them to suddenly spring into action - they will be caught off guard, and so it should be very easy to make rapid progress until their enemies have enough time to respond to the change. So they should take as much advantage of the situation as possible, charging forward as fast as possible until they run into some real resistance - at that point they'll need to dig in and stubbornly hold on to all of the land that they gained.

Of course, there's a lot of logistical problems with this strategy - in fact, the German strongly warns that it's very important that they don't charge ahead too fast - then the army will be so far ahead of their supplies that they won't have enough. And as they surge forward they will need to keep their forces very coordinated so that small pieces of the army don't get too far ahead of the rest - that will make them vulnerable. Though of course he has a number of ideas about how to keep everything running smoothly - in fact, he doesn't bother to go over that aspect in detail because it will take too long. Instead he simply states that it will all be coordinated nicely and expects everyone to believe him when he says so - he's Germany, after all.

Once he's finished outlining this strategy, he glances at the assembled generals to see if there's any questions. His own men are nodding to themselves, but then again this is a recap for them - they've already heard this. What matters more is what the Italians think.