L:   Iremacht looked down at the paint splatters on himself. His vest took most of the damage, so he just slipped out of that and draped it over his arm. One of his sleeves was coated in dried paint, so he rolled it up.

"I'll be fine like this," Iremacht said. He preferred to keep his clothes with him rather than wear anything else. "If it's possible before we retire to bed, I'd like to wash it so it's clean tomorrow."

Wehrmacht smiled at Iremacht's polite attitude. He didn't know how long his son would keep this up - he'd likely go back to his original sarcastic self after a night's sleep - but Wehrmacht hoped at least one dinner would be civil. They started for the dining room to wait for Poldara and Mandara.

M:   MA shook his head in amusement, "we can do that, wouldn't want you to wear boring clothes to the festival tomorrow."

"About that MA, are you going to do the flyover tomorrow, or are you not since you retired," Belarus asked.

MA gave her a confused look, but then he remembered that he threatened to retire because Iremacht said he wasn't fit to lead anymore. He shook his head, "I'm not retiring any time soon Bel, I couldn't do that to Trigger and leave him without a militant, if I do decide to retire it will be once I have a replacement."

Belarus smiled approvingly and playfully nudged MA, earning her a small blush and a grunt. When they walked into the dining room, everyone took a seat where they sat last time, though Belarus sat next to MA.

"This time we had the chefs prepare some of the Mandarian pork roasts to give you a taste of our country," MA said, "though since we've learned that not everyone can handle spicy food, we had them hold off on the Dragon's Breath sauce, there will be a bottle available to anyone daring enough to try it."

L:   "I'll take the sauce," Iremacht declared, eyeing his father pointedly.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Germany asked in surprise.

"I've been to enough spice countries to build up a tolerance. "

While they chatted, Wehrmacht was relieved by MA's statement that he would only retire when a replacement was found. France's eyes flickered suggestively between Belarus and MA like she was just about ready to write their French love song for them.

"So," she said to the two. "Will there be a wedding along with the celebrations tomorrow?"

M:   MA squeaked in surprise at the statement and Belarus started blushing a little, though MA's blush was much brighter than her's.

"Woah woah woah, it's not like that at all," MA frantically explained, "we are not dating, Belarus and I are just really great friends."

"Are you sure about that MA," Poland asked smugly, "you're blushing brighter than a Christmas light."

"Shut up Poland," MA barked, though now he was partially hiding himself with his wings, "we are not dating, Belarus saved my life when I was injured in an ambush from Ukraine, now we're good friends, end of story."

Belarus was shaking her head at the militant's flustered behavior, it wasn't helping the situation.

L:   "Sure, that's what I thought when I crashed near Ireland after UK shot me down," Wehrmacht chuckled. "But obviously, the birth of Iremacht is proof it became much more than that."

Iremacht grimaced and rolled his eyes in exasperation. Then he smirked at MA and Belarus and made kissing sounds with his lips.

"Machty, that's not how real kisses sound," Wehrmacht scolded. "You need to try it to get it right. Have you thought of approaching Bundie for - "

"Maybe MA and Belarus can demonstrate for me?" Iremacht quickly interrupted, and Germany and France both covered their snickers with their hands.

"Any advice for the lovesick?" Germany asked France after he controlled himself.

"Oh, young love," France said in a singsong voice. "UK and I are old now but he still sweeps me off my feet sometimes. You may have to wait for your partner to make the move ... or you can be the first to do it!" She clapped her hands together. "Be bold!"

M:   MA was so embarrassed, he was glad that Mandara and Poldara weren't here because he would never hear the end of this.

Unfortunately, Poland decided to get in on the fun, "I can't vouch for that, I may be married but mine and Mandy's first kiss wasn't entirely consented, as Kazahkstan and MA pushed us together to force us to kiss. But hey, it was still one of the best things that has ever happened to me, so I think that the two lovebirds will like it too."

Belarus was starting to get a little annoyed at everyone's teasing, she didn't like being the butt of other's jokes and she wanted them to stop, but she knew they wouldn't unless she did something drastic.

"You all want us to kiss, then so be it," she barked.

MA jolted at her words and turned to her in confusion, giving her the opportunity to grab him by his uniform collar and smash her lips with his own.

MA was extremely caught off guard, his eyes were wide and his face was redder than a strawberry. When Belarus pulled away and demanded if everyone was happy now, the militant's wings flared open and almost hit Poland, he had succumbed to the Mating Flare.

L:   "And that's a wrap," Iremacht said in amusement.

Wehrmacht knew what the Mating Flare was - he remembered MA's stories about unfortunate romantic incidents with it. He had a feeling, though, that this one had the most potential to develop into something real.

"Is something the matter with your wings MA?" France asked, not knowing how to interpret the reaction that just happened. She assumed it had something to do with the kiss.

Germany confirmed her thoughts. "The kiss triggered it. Which means ..."

"Love is in the air," Iremacht sang until Wehrmacht flapped his wing in his son's face to cut him off.

"You better turn it off," Wehrmacht said teasingly to MA. "Or else Poldara will notice and ask and that's a conversation I don't know if any of us want to sit through."

M:   MA looked behind him and sure enough, his wings were flared open, he closed them quickly and buried his face in his hands, this was probably the most embarrassed he had ever been in his entire life.

"Well MA, I thought you said we were just friends," Belarus said, both seriously and teasingly.

"Well, I don't know now that you KISSED me!" MA said, the red never leaving his face.

"Who kissed Thunder?" Mandara asked, he and Poldara were standing at the doorway to the dining room. MA squeaked again in surprise and his behind his wings. Mandara let a smug smile grace his lips as he led Poldara to the table and saw Belarus blushing a little.

"Well bud, looks like you owe me ten bucks," he said to his son, who made a pouting face in response.

L:   "Oh hold on, Mandara and Polds set this up?" Iremacht burst out laughing. "I can't believe it! I'm surprised, especially by you Polds. Didn't expect you to go into the dating industry so soon!"

"There, there," France was saying to the hiding MA. "No need to be embarrassed about love. It's a beautiful thing, even more so when it's directed at a beautiful person like Belarus." France also smiled knowingly at Belarus's blushing face.

Wehrmacht decided to come to his fellow militant's rescue and said, "Now that Mandara and Poldara are here, let's all have a seat and prepare ourselves for dinner. We can have this conversation at least over some pork roast."

"Seconded," Germany said, stomach rumbling a bit at the mention of the meat dish.

"And add some drama with spice?" Iremacht snickered.

"Don't push it Machty."