L

The next morning, Germany woke up to the sound of his phone ringing on his nightstand. He squirmed in bed and pressed the speaker button. 

 "Germany?" came Wehrmacht's voice. "You awake, nephew?" 

 "Now I am," Germany groaned, sitting up in bed. 

 "Listen, I'm sorry for leaving like that last night," Wehrmacht said. 

 "It's okay. I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you and not realizing it. Why are you up so early?" asked Germany. 

 "I wanted to see if MA or Mandara were up for a trip to the history museum. Iremacht wants to go - kid woke me up at 5 am begging and begging." Wehrmacht sounded absolutely exhausted. 

 Germany chuckled, putting on his glasses. "Sure, I'll see if they're awake." 

They hung up and Germany put on his slippers and shuffled down the hall towards the guest rooms.

M

Once again, Mandara was the first to wake up, but only because during the night he had moved himself over to the edge of the bed and when he turned over in his sleep he fell off it. He jumped awake upon hitting the ground, groaning softly when he realized what happened. Deciding he might as well get ready for the day, he untangled himself from the sheets and went in to the bathroom.  

While Mandara was getting ready, MA was also awake but didn't get out of bed yet. He was pretty sore from his fight with Iremacht and it made him feel really tired, despite having slept all night.

L

Germany wondered whose door he should knock on. He decided to go for Mandara's, since he heard footsteps inside. He tapped on the door with his knuckles. 

 "Guten morgen again Mandara, are you awake in there?" Germany said. His morning voice was loud, however, and could be heard through all the rooms in the hall. He didn't quite know he was that loud though.

M

Mandara jumped at the loud voice coming from his door but he opened it anyway, not bothering to put on his eye patch since he was comfortable around Germany with it off. 

"Hey Germany," he said when he opened the door, but was surprised when he saw that Germany was still in his pajamas. "Is something wrong, you were talking pretty loud."

L

"Ah, my bad," Germany said. "I'm still drowsy in the morning so I don't realize I'm so loud. Wehrmacht called just now and says Iremacht wants to go to the history museum today. He invited you guys to go." 

 Now that he said it out loud, Germany realized that his uncle hadn't invited him to go. He felt a pang of hurt at being left out and his face fell. 

M

Mandara noticed his change in attitude at the end, he didn't know why Germany did that but he had a pretty good idea why, "He probably thought you'd be busy or forgot to ask, but I'm sure he would be delighted to see you there, just let me finish getting ready and I'll be right out." He said then closed the door to do just that. 

 Right when Mandara closed his door, MA opened his, "What's going on out here?" he groaned, rubbing his eyes tiredly, "Why are people talking so loud so early in the morning?"

L

Germany sincerely hoped Mandara was right. When MA came out of his room, Germany chuckled nervously. 

"Tut mir leid, I should really keep a check on my morning voice. I just finished telling your brother that Wehrmacht called to invite you two to the history museum that Iremacht's been dying to go to. Mandara agreed and is getting ready right now." Germany stretched and shivered a bit since he was only wearing pajamas. "I better go get dressed and I'll be downstairs with breakfast ready. I'm assuming you'll go with Mandara on the trip too?"

M

"Yeah I guess, I was hoping to just relax here for today, but a museum trip couldn't hurt." MA said, but as if on cue one of his injuries started hurting and he winced, "or it might." He grunted, holding on to the painful spot, "s-sorry Germany, but I think I'll have to take a rain check, I'm just too sore at the moment, but maybe I can catch up later."

L

"A-Are you alright? Ja, maybe you should rest," Germany said with a concerned look. Then he had an idea. "You know, since Wehrmacht didn't explicitly invite me to the trip, maybe I could stay with you here and keep you company?" 

He reached out and placed his hand on MA's arm, as if steadying the Mandaran and assessing his other injuries. Even though none of the wounds were supposed to be fatal, he still wanted to make sure the militant recovered while in his country.

M

MA nodded, even though he didn't like the idea of Mandara going somewhere without him or Germany, he completely trusted Wehrmacht to keep him safe. 

 "I think for now I'm just going to lay back down, but thanks for deciding to stay." 

 "You're staying?" Mandara asked, he heard MA open his door and decided to eavesdrop a bit, when MA mentioned staying he opened his door to confront him. 

"Yeah, I just don't think I'm up for going anywhere today." MA answered. 

 "Well then I'll stay with you too." 

 "No you should go, you haven't really spent too much time with Wehrmacht and no time with Iremacht, I'll be fine just go have fun." 

 Mandara wanted to protest, but decided against it, since Germany was apparently staying with MA, it made him feel a little better.  "Ok, but I will be calling every hour to check on you, alright." 

 MA chuckled, "Deal, though I think it's Germany you should be calling, since he has decided to play nurse today."

L

Germany smiled reassuringly at the brothers and gave Mandara his phone number so he could call him. He also gave Mandara the address to Wehrmacht's house. 

 "They should both be up and waiting now," said Germany. "I told MA the same thing and I'll repeat it to you too." Germany smirked. "Keep your eyes peeled for any surprises. Hopefully Iremacht is too focused on going to the museum today to play any tricks on you, but you never know with that kid. Right MA? Got any advice for your brother?"

M

MA rolled his eyes, "Keep an eye on the roof and don't bring any guns. When I went over there yesterday he shot me with a paintball sniper rifle, needless to say I thought I was under attack." 

"What, you didn't shoot him did you!?" Mandara asked horrified, to which MA hung his head in shame, "I shot at him, but I didn't hurt him, in my defense Germany is the one who told me to 'keep my eyes peeled.' " 

Mandara shot a glance at Germany, "You can't say stuff like that to militants Germany, that is one of the number one ways to guarantee that someone gets shot."

L

"Ahah, my apologies," said Germany. "I have a lot to learn about militants. That's probably why I called Wehrmacht for help back in the day, when I was finally allowed to have an army again. I'll make a note to check my terminology with Bundeswehr later." 

 He shivered. He realized in embarrassment that he was still in his pajamas. "I should really get dressed. MA, since I am playing nurse today, you must go back to bed. No complaining." He said it both seriously and good-naturedly. "I'll bring breakfast up to your room."

M

MA chuckled then playfully saluted, "Yes sir. Trigger, I'll see you later?" 

 "Yep I will, now go back to bed like you were told." Mandara said, playing along with Germany. MA scoffed but did as ordered and went back in his room, closing the door behind him. 

Mandara then turned to Germany, "Just to warn you, if you plan on giving him medicine you either got to stuff it in something he's gonna eat, or you got to hold him down, he's always been a big baby when it comes to that stuff." 

 Mandara playfully patted Germany's shoulder, but froze when he saw that yet again he didn't have his bandages on his arms, and what was worse was he was still wearing his short sleeved pajamas. He didn't know how Germany didn't notice the uncountable amount of scars on his arms yet, but he was inclined to keep it that way. So he quickly moved his hands behind his back, said "see you later" to Germany, and went into his room shutting the door behind him, all the while hoping to God that Germany really didn't notice his scars.

L

If it weren't for Mandara's sudden movement of putting his hands behind his back, Germany would never have guessed anything was wrong. But in the moment Mandara was returning to his room, Germany spotted the arms he had tried to hide...and the scars that the bandages once covered. The German kept a neutral face, but the crisscrossing lines against Mandara's skin made Germany trust with all his might that Wehrmacht would watch over their guest on the trip. He hoped Iremacht wouldn't cause Mandara too much trouble; though MA had a strong mentality, he wasn't sure the same could be applied to Mandara. 

 So Germany called to Mandara behind the door that he could head straight to Wehrmacht's house when he was ready, and he went downstairs to fetch breakfast for MA.

M

When Mandara was finished, he did as Germany suggested and headed straight for Wehr's house. Just like MA when he first left, Mandara was also on edge while walking, but it was for a different reason. He was nervous about Iremacht, the only time he saw him was when he attacked EU and MA, and even though MA spoke highly of him the incident yesterday didn't really strengthen that reputation. When Mandara finally came upon Wehr's house, he made sure to check all of the roofs to make sure no one was up there, and when he didn't see anyone, he walked up to the door and knocked, still on high alert for surprises.

L

Iremacht liked to change things up. And despite the fact that he'd gotten into so much trouble yesterday, the teen couldn't help his troublemaking nature. He didn't hide on the rooftop this time because he didn't want to use the paintball sniper; he'd already put the gun in a nice box to give to MA as a gift later. 

Instead, Iremacht was inside the house, right at the door. He held a string in his hand. It was connected to a contraption above the front door, and it involved a large bucket full of nice, cold water that would flip over if he moved his hand. 

 "I'm going to regret this," Iremacht mumbled to himself as he waited. It was his last attempt to dissuade himself from going with the prank but it failed in the midst of his adrenaline. 

 Iremacht heard the knock. Before his father could come downstairs to get it, Iremacht opened the door and pulled the string.

M

"TES MULER!!!" Mandara screamed when the cold water hit him, it shocked him so hard that he ended up shouting 'Jesus Christ' in Mandorian, a language that died off when the kingdom of Mandoria was conquered by Prussia. 

 When the immediate shock wore off, Mandara wrapped his wings around himself as he shivered.

"WEHRMACHT, FEN MID EH LIERD!!!" he shouted, which translated to 'Wehrmacht, what the f*ck!', he never noticed Iremacht nearby. 

L

Iremacht jumped back; the sound of a foreign language that he had never heard before surprised him. He recognized the name of his father in the mix and instantly tried to escape up the stairs. Unfortunately, Wehrmacht was rushing down the steps at that moment and his son crashed into him, bouncing onto the ground with a soft "oof." 

 Wehrmacht blinked at Iremacht and then at Mandara's drenched form at the front door. He ran forward, grabbing a spare coat from the hanger, and threw it around Mandara. Then Wehrmacht noticed the bucket above the door. As he threw another coat over Mandara, the German glared at his son. "Explain. Now."

M

Mandara looked above him to see the bucket that just dumped cold water on him. 

"T-tes Muler ren ict h-hathver (Jesus Christ that was cold), was this the p-plan the whole time, was the museum just a r-ruse." he stuttered, despite the coats he was still shaking from the water, which felt like it came from Antarctica. He looked at Iremacht, "When G-Germany said you play pranks, th-this is not what I ex-pected." 

L

"The museum was real," Wehrmacht reassured him. He continued to glare at Iremacht. "Although now I might reconsider it." Wehrmacht led Mandara over the couch and gestured for him to sit down so he could be more warm against the cushions. 

 "Wait please don't!" Iremacht begged. "I'll be good, I'll be really good for the trip. No pranks. I can't pull any in the museum anyway or they'd throw me out." 

 "I'm about to throw you out of the house," Wehrmacht hissed and his son shut up. "Now get a blanket from upstairs for Mandara." 

 Once Iremacht was gone, Wehrmacht mumbled worriedly to Mandara, "Please don't get sick."

M

"I can't guarantee it, but I'll try not to." Mandara muttered as he sat down. He took off his eye patch so the cold fabric wasn't up against his eye, he then started assessing the rest of his drenched clothes.

"If I knew that this was going to happen, I would have brought extra clothes, and bandages." he grumbled as he was attempting to ring out his shirt.

L

Iremacht came downstairs with a blanket, which Wehrmacht snatched from his hand and then ordered him to fetch a set of Wehrmacht's clothes for Mandara and a roll of dry bandages. Wehrmacht wrapped the blanket around Mandara, being careful around the wet wings. 

 "I'll go get you a cup of hot coffee," Wehrmacht said, rushing to the kitchen to quickly brew some. While the coffee machine dripped, he came back to sit next to Mandara on the couch. 

 "Is MA with you?" he asked, tucking the blanket closer around Mandara. "We should get you back, you'll catch a cold with this and you might have shock."

M

"No Thunder not here, he was feeling sore from yesterday and decided to stay at the estate, and frankly I think I should have stayed too." Mandara said, ending his sentence with a bit of bitterness in his voice. "This reminds me of when I was visiting America to discuss diplomatic relations and a few of his states decided to do something similar, except instead of cold water they dumped this black sticky stuff on me and then blew a bunch of feathers on me with a fan. They called it 'tar and feathering' but I just called it embarrassing, took me three months to get all the gunk out of my wings." 

 After he finished his story, Mandara violently shivered then pulled the blanket tighter, "V-vehc ker mal f-frenhow denr." (I regret coming here)

L

"Verdammt," Wehrmacht mumbled, feeling hopeless and guilty and very much angry at Iremacht - again. "I'm sorry...but I've apologized enough to you and MA in the past couple of days, it barely means anything at this point." 

 Iremacht returned with the dry clothes and bandages. He looked afraid to approach his father, whose eyes shot daggers at the kid. Iremacht placed the items on the table and stood awkwardly, wringing his hands in discomfort. 

 "The coffee should be ready, go get it for Mandara," Wehrmacht ordered. "Don't fucking spill it." 

Iremacht flinched when Wehrmacht swore. He shuffled quickly to the kitchen, poured the coffee into a cup, and brought it back. He handed it delicately to Mandara, the heat from the coffee warming up the sides of the cup. 

M

"Keleir" (thanks) Mandara said taking the cup while trying to hide his bitterness, but then he softly chuckled, "I don't know were you got that water, but it was apparently cold enough to make me start speaking Mandorian again, and I haven't done that in centuries." 

He took a sip of the coffee and immediately shivered as the warmth spread throughout his body, causing his feathers to fluff up.

L

Iremacht smiled a little, relieved that Mandara's tone was more lighthearted and less angry. Most other people he'd pranked, he could get away with it because of his father's status. They'd always be super angry and then cower away when Wehrmacht appeared. Mandara was much nicer. 

 "I've never heard Mandorian before," Iremacht said in interest. "Was that the language you were shouting? No wonder it sounded so strange." 

 Wehrmacht glared at his son. Iremacht shrank and sat on the sofa, hanging his head.

M

"Yeah, it's what we spoke during the kingdom era of my country, though it pretty much died off when Pru-" Mandara hesitated when he got to that part, but quickly reiterated himself, "a-after the 18th century. Thunder and I are the only ones who still remember it, but we only ever use it when we're in stressful situations, or apparently when we get drenched in water from Antarctica." 

Mandara shot a glance at Iremacht upon saying that, but went back to focusing on his coffee, which was quickly warming him up.

L

"Ja, because everyone LOVES to be doused in cold water in the morning on a friendly visit to a neighbor's house," Wehrmacht said, still glaring at Iremacht. "What a great way to set an impression." 

 "Sorry," Iremacht said, dropping his head even further. He brought his knees up so he was hugging his legs. "It's an interesting language though...kinda like the old medieval days, or like Latin." 

 While waiting for Mandara to be finished with his coffee, Wehrmacht eyed the soggy bandages clinging to Mandara's arms. He knew that was a sensitive spot for Mandara, so he took up the dry clothes and bandages and handed it to him. 

 "We have some spare rooms where you can change your clothes down the hall," he said. "And your bandages too, if you're comfortable. You'll have complete privacy."

M

"Ok, thanks" Mandara said taking the clothes and bandages, "and that is indeed quite the way to set an impression, because no offence, but it wasn't a good one after what happened yesterday." 

He didn't try to hide his bitterness this time, he wanted to make sure that Iremacht knew he was still angry about that. Once he had finished his coffee, he got up and wordlessly headed for the spare rooms that Wehrmacht mentioned so he could change.

L

Iremacht felt Mandara's unhappiness with him and looked away. This time, he had picked the wrong person to fight. His father wouldn't be there to scare away anyone, especially since he was retired. When Mandara was inside the changing room, Iremacht prepared for his father's scolding. 

 And Wehrmacht did just that, barely controlling his fury. 

 "Mandara is right, after EVERYTHING that happened yesterday, did NOTHING get into that stupid head of yours?" Wehrmacht shouted, so loudly that Iremacht yelped. "First you SHOT MA with a fucking PAINTBALL SNIPER and nearly got yourself KILLED. Then you DISOBEY me and attempted to ASSAULT EU IN FRONT OF GERMANY AND OUR GUESTS. And you INJURED MA in the process so much that HE STILL HASN'T RECOVERED. You messed up so badly, GERMANY RETIRED ME EARLY to make up for YOU. And now you've DUNKED Mandara in COLD FUCKING WATER. MANDARA, the country we JUST MADE A TRADE DEAL WITH. Are you INSANE? Or are you testing my LIMITS to see how far you can go before I DISOWN YOU?" 

 There were tears welling in the corners of Iremacht's eyes, which the teen tried desperately to hold back, but Wehrmacht didn't care. Iremacht needed to learn his lesson - and for a brief second, just a brief second, Wehrmacht thought about using the belt.

M

Mandara heard everything while he was changing, and he was actually scared for Iremacht. He didn't know what kind of parent Wehrmacht was, but he was beginning to think that Iremacht's violent outburst yesterday may have resulted from the way Wehr treated the kid. 

When he was done changing and putting on fresh bandages, instead of waltzing out to the living room, Mandara quietly exited the room and crept towards the end of the hall, hiding behind the corner so he could see what was happening, he just hoped that his assumption was wrong.

L

Not knowing that Mandara was there and in the midst of his blind rage, Wehrmacht raised his hand as if to hit Iremacht. His son cowered, trembling so much that Wehrmacht's wings picked up the vibrations in the air. The sight of Iremacht curled up on the sofa and showing weakness pissed off his father even more. He brought down his hand. 

That's when he heard the sobbing. 

 Iremacht had been covering his face in fear of being hit, but his shaking shoulders betrayed him. Wehrmacht's hand never touched him; he stopped just inches away. The sound of Iremacht's soft crying had made him freeze. Slowly, Wehrmacht's hand fell away as he realized in horror what he had been about to do. The German knelt down by the sofa and gently pried Iremacht's fingers away from his face. Tears streamed down his son's cheeks. 

 "Oh mein Gott," Wehrmacht mumbled. He pulled his son close to him.

M

Mandara was frozen in fear and shock of what just transpired, his eyes were as wide as saucers as he watched the Germans. His mind was racing with questions, but the biggest on was why; why was Wehrmacht going to hit his son, why didn't he go through with it, and why was he now hugging Iremacht even though he was going to beat him just seconds ago. Mandara wanted to run out and confront Wehrmacht, to yell at him about what just happened, but he forced himself to stay put and wait to see what will happen next, but he was fully prepared to jump in between the two should the worst happen.

L

"D-Dad," Iremacht stammered, sobbing into his father's shoulder. 

 "Shh, es tut mir leid," Wehrmacht murmured, stroking the back of Iremacht's head. "I shouldn't have -" 

He didn't want to finish that statement and instead rocked Iremacht soothingly in his arms. He was having trouble believing his own actions. 

 As he kept comforting his son, Wehrmacht felt a tremor in his wings - a sense of fear and agitation coming from around the corner of the hallway. Wehrmacht continued to hold Iremacht, but he turned to stare in that direction.

M

Mandara noticed Wehrmacht look in his direction and quickly tried to duck behind the corner. He didn't know if Wehr saw him, but he guessed that the German knew he was there, which frightened him even more. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't go back to the room since Wehr would undoubtedly hear him now that he wasn't shouting, but he definitely didn't want to go out in to the living room either. Mandara's wings were vibrating in fear, which if Wehr didn't already know he was there, then that absolutely was giving him away. Still unsure of what to do, he just stood behind the wall frozen.

L

The vibrations were still there. It had to be Mandara, Wehrmacht thought. How much had he seen and heard? He hadn't come out yet either. The German wondered what Mandara thought of him now - most likely not in a good light. Wehrmacht placed his chin on top of Iremacht's head, listening as his son's sobs subsided to sniffles. 

 "I-I'm r-really, r-really, reall-y, really, r-really, really s-sorry," Iremacht stumbled over his words, trying not to choke on the remaining tears. "I-It's my fault, it's my fault..." 

 "As long as you don't do it again," Wehrmacht said and Iremacht nodded. His father held him tightly. "I would never hurt you. I love you too much to do that." 

 Once Iremacht had calmed down some more, Wehrmacht called softly, "Mandara. If you're there..."

M

Mandara involuntarily squeaked at his name being mentioned by Wehrmacht, he had no choice, he had to come out now. He slowly stepped out from his cover in to the living room, trying to look anywhere but the two on the couch.

 "S-sorry for eavesdropping like that." he nervously said, fiddling with his wet feathers, "I heard shouting and was just concerned, I-I won't tell anyone I swear."

L

"It's alright," Wehrmacht said. He let go of Iremacht, who leaned into Wehrmacht's feathers and frantically wiped the tears off his face. He looked embarrassed at being caught crying. 

 "I'm not usually like this," Wehrmacht explained. "Guess it was too early in the morning and the prank came at the wrong time. Forgive me if I made you worried." He looked Mandara up and down. "Are you all dried and warm? I'm not sure if you still want to head to that history museum..."

M

Mandara let out a breath of relief that Wehr wasn't angry anymore, he then nodded at his question, "Yeah, my feathers are still a little soggy but they'll dry." He flapped his wings a few times like he was trying to dry them off faster. "And I do still want to go, I didn't just come here for a cold shower after all."

L

When Mandara opened his wings, Iremacht watched in fascination as the colorful feathers flapped and showered droplets everywhere. His tears were almost dried up and he brightened at the mention of going to the museum. 

 "C-Can we leave right now?" he asked hopefully. Wehrmacht nodded and let go of Iremacht. The teen stood up and grabbed a backpack, which had been sitting by the front door this whole time. He had packed plenty of water, snacks, his phone, and money for the gift shop - these sorts of trips were becoming routine for him. 

 "Shall we," Wehrmacht said to Mandara. Iremacht was already out the door.