L:   Wehrmacht flinched when MA referred to him as "German" rather than by name.  The Mandarian had every right to be angry at him, he couldn't even control his own son. He started to regret telling Iremacht about the invitation.  As Wehrmacht flew after MA, he could only hope that Iremacht was sensible enough not to pull any drastic moves during an important occasion in a foreign country. 

-----

Germany heard the uncertainty in Poldara's voice.  His own nerves were just as charged but he told the kid evenly, "nein, nein, he wouldn't hurt us, we're family and friends. He likes teenagers too so you're in a good position."

M:   Poldara nodded slowly, though he didn't feel that reassured, he just grabbed Germany's arm and hugged it tightly, like he was a 5-year-old hiding behind his parents when they met someone new.  He barely even knew Germany yet he felt safe with him, and probably wasn't going to leave his side for a while. 

Meanwhile, Mandara was occupying himself by checking on the festival preparations, but it didn't go over well either.

"What do you mean he can't come, the ceremony is in two days and he's backing out now?" Mandara said irritably, the person on the other line spoke a bit and he nodded along, "custody disputes, how the hell can a man organize a rescue mission for his country, but not be able to hold a marriage together?" The person talked some more and Mandara sighed, "yeah, yeah, I understand, thank you." 

When he hung up Poland asked, "What happened Mandy, is something wrong?" He didn't get an answer because Mandara buried his face in a pillow and groaned as loud as he possibly could.

L:   Germany patted Poldara's hand, feeling both awkward and parental with the kid by his side. He heard Mandara groan after getting off the phone. Germany was beginning to be wary of any phone calls for anyone at this point. 

"The man who organized the rescue mission?" Germany echoed, "is he the one you were going to knight?"

M:   "He is," Poland answered for Mandara, "it was mostly me and MA who planned it, but Colonel Adam Jerod had helped gather the resources and the volunteers, we wouldn't have been able to rescue Mandy if he didn't help."

"And now he can't come because he and his wife are getting a divorce and they're fighting over who gets custody of their 6-year-old daughter," Mandara added as he lowered his pillow, "I know it's not something I should be mad about, but the stress has been piling up today and I don't know how much more I can take." he then reburied his head in his pillow like he was trying to hide from his problems.

L:   "Humans and their human problems," Germany sighed, "I stopped paying much attention to their issues, you should do the same Mandara. You're juggling too much responsibility otherwise, focus on one thing at a time.  Are all the other preparations going according to plan at least?" 

-----

At the front of the estate, a car pulled up onto the driveway. The driver leaped out of the vehicle and went to open the backseat door but Iremacht stepped out on his own.  He barely looked at the driver as he waved him away.  His attention was focused on the mansion before him, assessing the number of windows, estimating the size, analyzing the front yard.  With one hand on his hip and the other shielding his eyes from the sun, Iremacht searched the sky for MA and Wehrmacht. 

M:   Mandara lowered his pillow again, this time deciding to just hug it so he could talk, "you make a good point Germany, but I refuse to abandon my people again, the last time I let them fend for themselves they were almost wiped out by Prussia. You may not think it, but being the leader of your country means that you are responsible for the wellbeing of your people, because if something happens to them, you won't have a country left to lead." 

Poland looked at Mandara as he finished, then started to pet a spot on his husband's wings that he knew he liked. "Nothings going to happen to your people hun, they are far more capable of taking care of themselves than they were two centuries ago." 

 Mandara hummed but said nothing more, instead, he spread his wing out further so Poland could pet his sweet spot better.

-----

MA had flown up to the estate seconds after Iremacht's car pulled into the driveway, landing with his namesake thud next to the car.  He folded his wings and walked up to Iremacht, "everyone is waiting inside, I truly hope you will prove my suspicions wrong while your here. And make sure to stay behind me, Flurry and Tank already tackled your father and I don't want you to take a slobber bath like he did."

L:   When Iremacht heard the part about his father being tackled by the dogs, he glanced at Wehrmacht, who had landed next to MA.  Wehrmacht wrung his hands in embarrassment and said, "ja, these clothes I'm wearing are MA's since my uniform got dirty." 

"Couldn't handle an ambush?" Iremacht clicked his tongue in quiet mockery, shook his head, and twirled his hand at MA. "Lead the way inside, dear host."

Wehrmacht's hands dropped sadly to his sides but he didn't say anything back.

M:   MA sighed at Iremacht's new personality, he knew this was going to be a loooong visit, but he wordlessly led the Germans inside.  Lucky for them, Mandara and Poland felt MA and Wehrmacht's wings so they put the dogs outside this time, with Mandara asking Mandoria to keep an eye on them. 

"Iremacht, it's good to see you again my friend, look how much you've grown," Mandara greeted cheerfully when the three militants came into the living room, even though he was nervous he made sure to hide it well so they could hopefully have a peaceful coexistence with the young entity, though Poldara whimpered in fear and hid further behind Germany, gripping onto his shirt for dear life.

L:   "Hey, it's okay," Germany murmured to Poldara, "he doesn't bite." 

Iremacht merely nodded at Mandara, glanced over Germany, and finally focused on Poldara.  His eyes lit up at the sight of the kid. 

"A new face," Iremacht said softly. He noticed the blue, black, and white wings and frowned at first, but he quickly masked the expression and said, "You must be Poldara. I'm Iremacht, though you may call my Machty if you wish."

M:   Poldara's reaction unfortunately was to bury his face in Germany's shirt and whimper again, he was always nervous about meeting new people but Germany's story made him scared of the newcomer. 

Mandara frowned, even a wingless country could feel the fearful vibrating coming from Poldara's wings, they even made a soft humming noise from how bad they were shaking. The country walked over to his son and knelt by him, "you don't have to be afraid my little Blue-Jay, Iremacht is a friend, I promise he's not going to hurt you."

"B-but Mr. Germany said he was bad, w-what if he does something and you're not here?" Poldara murmured, still not letting go of Germany. 

Mandara looked up to Germany with a frown, "you know, just because my son's eagle bit you doesn't mean you have to make him scared to death of Iremacht, no wonder he didn't talk to you in Ireland."

L:   Poldara's shaking was causing Germany's own body to tremble since the kid was clinging onto him. When Mandara brought up Ireland, Germany folded his arms in indignation. 

"I only spoke the truth," he said, "you wanted the information. Why would I intentionally scare a child?" 

Iremacht was only paying half attention to the conversation. He kept staring at Poldara and the way he held onto Germany like he depended on him. Iremacht had once depended on the "adults" too.  Not anymore. 

Wehrmacht tried sending comforting wing vibrations to Poldara but he wasn't sure if the kid could pick it up. 

M:   Mandara huffed at him, but dropped his frown anyway, "yeah, I guess your right, sorry." 

MA and Poland were watching in the background, they both hated that Poldara was so scared, but there wasn't a whole lot they could do since Mandara was with him, so they simply sent him some more reassuring vibrations.

Poldara was feeling a little better from the vibrations, he stepped out a little bit but still didn't let go of his safety shirt. "U-um ... h-hi ... Mr. I-Iremacht, it's ... um ... n-nice to m-meet you." he stuttered, still fearful but with his parents in the room he was starting to regain a little confidence. 

Mandara smiled, "that's it buddy, don't be afraid, Iremacht is nothing more than a giant kid just like you." he pinched Poldara's cheek a bit, which made him laugh a little.

L:   Poldara's laugh, although small, stirred an old feeling inside Iremacht.  It was such a genuine and innocent sound that reminded him of the days he used to laugh for real.  He hadn't been as nervous as Poldara when he was young - for crying out loud, he'd shot MA with a paintball and dumped a bucket of water on Mandara the first time they met - but Iremacht suddenly felt the need to take Poldara under his "wing" and show him the ropes. 

"It's nice to meet you too," Iremacht said, "you have beautiful wings." You must be the favorite of the house, he added silently.  Oh, the tricks and troublemaking he could get away with.

M:   Poldara blinked at Iremacht and nodded slightly, "Th-thank you, sir, I-I ... um ... th-think your eyes are c-cool, they're different like d-dad's." 

Mandara looked back at Iremacht, he didn't notice before that his eyes were different, even by militant standards, "huh, I guess they are, except he can see out of both of them so don't you start trying to make faces in his blind spot because he doesn't have one."

Poldara snickered a bit, "I won't," he agreed, then he finally let go of Germany's shirt and went with his dad to rejoin the rest of his family, now he wasn't as nervous thanks to Mandara's jokes and Iremacht's lighthearted tone of voice.

L:   Look who's good with kids," Wehrmacht remarked to Iremacht once Poldara seemed happier than before, "you definitely didn't get that from me." 

"Nein," Iremacht muttered curtly without a glance at his father. "Then again, I didn't get much from you." He shook himself out of his previous reverie and brought back a lazy smirk.  Walking further into the estate, Iremacht flourished one hand and said with added boredom, "so where will I be staying in this impressive palace?"

M:   Mandara and MA glanced at each other nervously, the exaggerated and flamboyant way Iremacht behaved reminded them of another German, a German that had ruined their lives at one point. 

"In the north guest wing," Poland said, not noticing anything odd about the young militant's personality, "your room is in between Wehrmacht's and France's, if you'd like I can show you." 

Mandara looked alarmed, he didn't like the idea of his husband being alone with someone who acted like the German who killed his father, but he stayed silent to not alert Iremacht of his fears.

L:   Iremacht clicked his tongue again at his room being near Wehrmacht's. He didn't mind France; in fact, he had some ... dealings to make with her, though she would probably prefer to keep any formal business out of the way during the celebration. 

"Lead the way then," he said to Poland. "I wonder if the rooms here are as nice as they say of royalty." 

Wehrmacht noticed the alarmed look on Mandara's face and guessed why. But he held his tongue until Iremacht was out of earshot - his son didn't like it when people talked about him behind his back.