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The few times that Kang had gone to the Sensoriums and imagined up bits of home, he'd been careful to limit the appearances of anyone he was particularly close to. So far, only Granak and Riel had shown up; the only people he'd expressly banned were his mate and hatchlings. He'd felt that it would be too uncomfortable, too... depressing, seeing them. Nothing could compare to the real thing, after all.

He was in a strange mood that day, though, feeling more homesick than usual. So, after a bit of an internal struggle, he'd made his way to the Sensoriums and recreated a sizable portion of Teyr. He knew the doors didn't lock, and he wanted to lessen the chances of anyone showing up. Throwing a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one else was there, he left the busy main road and turned down a side street, taking the back way to his own home. The many draconians going about their daily lives would help obscure things, too.

Even though he'd already made the decision, the bozak still hesitated at the door before taking a deep breath and opening it. Almost immediately, four hatchlings, scales shining a bright, metallic bronze, horns no more than nubs on the sides of their heads, and stubby little wings buzzing excitedly, swarmed towards him. Their mother followed much more calmly, her own scales not much darker, "It's about time you came home."

Kang felt himself relax almost immediately, allowing himself to indulge in the fantasy as his children attached themselves to his legs and tail. It couldn't hurt to do it just for a while, right?

"I can't stay for long. You know that." They spoke in Nerakese, Stacy's systems unable to completely hide the harsh sounds of the actual words in the background of the translation.

Fonrar knelt down and picked up one of the children, wings rustling slightly. "Yes, I do. It's okay."

He couldn't help a glance around, soaking in the familiarity. His home was (obviously) very medieval in design, sizable, and the furniture was well-crafted, made of wood and stone. There was a shelf above a simple brick fireplace built into one wall with a few carved wooden figurines on it; a small bookcase nearby held a handful of leather-bound books and scrolls. The doorway to a side room was open, and a very large bed covered with furs was visible, as well as a smaller one built much like a nest.

He smiled, and carefully moved to the furs in the middle of the main room, sitting down. The remaining three younglings crawled up on him, competing for the much-desired spot on his shoulders; they loved being up high. The fourth squeaked, reaching arms out towards him and struggling in her mother's arms. Shaking her head, Fonrar sat down next to him and let her join her siblings, "Rough day?"

"No more rough than usual," Kang shrugged and grinned, mindful of Brevo on his shoulders. One of the females yanked on his tail, pulling him down, and claimed his spot with a triumphant hiss. Growling, the little male returned the favor, and the pair ended up brawling, only to be pulled apart moments later by their parents. "Yana, Brevo, no."

"I don't think those two will ever manage to get along for more than ten minutes," Fonrar sighed, watching as the other male took the desired spot. Kali made a disappointed sound, but contented herself with staying in Kang's lap. "At least they don't all get into petty fights at the drop of a silver."

Laughing, Kang leaned over and brushed his chin against the top of his mate's snout, "I'm sure it's just a phase. They're only a month old, after all."

A snort. "I bet you said that about Hanra and Shanra, and they still bicker all the damn time as adults. I don't know how Slith can stand it."

"...point. Let's hope it's just a phase, then."

((Open, but ask first. I'll more than likely say yes. :D))

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"Well met, then, Trudy. I am General Slith," after shaking her hand, the sivak gave a short little bow, wings flicking in an almost gallant manner. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you to his house."

Of course, not without a little bit of a chat on the way. Kang had told him before, multiple times, that his curiosity was going to get him killed one day, and he really couldn't refute that. "Where do you serve? I've never seen a uniform quite like that."

Slith's bow made her raise her eyebrows. Kang was mostly uncomfortable around human females, and she'd assumed their two species just didn't interact, that way. "Oh, no place you've ever heard of," Trudy said. "Pandora. Very small, out of the way."

She never thought she'd refer to any part of Pandora as 'small,' but there it was. Glancing around the town, she noticed that quite a few of the draconians watched her as she passed. Huh.

"Must be far away, for me to have never heard of it. Maybe even on that other continent we keep hearing rumors about, up north," Slith commented, casually. A few of the draconians they passed that were staring at her particularly more noticably, he gave pointed looks to, as if to say to watch it. Even though he was the general now, he wasn't afraid to still bash someone's head in for misconduct.

"What's this Pandora place like?"

"Oh no, it's south - way south of here. Tropical. Lots of big predators." It was easier to construct a lie if you made it as close to the truth as possible, and Trudy wasn't going to say anything about Stacy. If Kang wanted to preserve the simulation as it was, she wasn't going to mess that up.

She chose not to comment on the nonverbal exchange that seemed to be happening around her, just walked with her head up, ignoring it.

Aaaaaand Trudy was caught. Slith didn't show it yet beyond an intrigued nod, and a moment later, they were in front of a large house. Odd that the guards were dismissed. Shrugging, he knocked on the door once, paused, and knocked again.

Ten seconds passed, and Kang opened the door, frowning, "Yes, Slith?" He hadn't noticed Trudy yet.

"There's a human female here, claiming she knows you. She says she's from a place way down south, called Pandora. Problem is, you and I both know there's nothing down south but a hell of a lot of ice." Moving much faster than he looked like he could, Slith grabbed her wrists and pinned them behind her back, "Who are you, really?"

"Aw, hell," Trudy said. Caught in the lie.

Despite full knowledge that Kang was standing right there and would probably bail her out in an instant, the grip on her wrists provoked an immediate and violent reaction. Trudy didn't like being grabbed. She threw her head back and up with force, aiming for the draconian's snout. Getting hit in the nose wasn't pleasant for many species and she was willing to bet draconians were one of them.

"Ow! Son of a - hold still before I slit your throat," Slith growled, keeping a strong grip on Trudy's wrists with one hand and pressing a dagger to her throat with the other.

Kang cursed in a mix of Nerakese and Common, and using his sons-of-bitches voice, he barked an order, "Let her go. I do know her, and she's no threat."

"Hey, I resent that no threat business," Trudy said, yanking at Slith's grip on her wrists. And, because she just couldn't resist, she added, "You heard the governor, put the toys away."

She certainly didn't sound like someone with a knife to their throat. Trust Trudy to think that messing with Kang was more important than making sure she didn't have any new holes to breathe out of.

Kang quirked an eyebrow ridge, "You know what I meant, General. Slith, let her go."

Trudy was released, and the sivak scowled, rubbing at the end of his snout. He was a little impressed, though. Most human women wouldn't have even attempted to fight back, and she'd hit him hard. "What in the Abyss is going on?"

Trudy made a face at the title, rubbing her wrists as Slith let her go. "Sorry about the nose," she muttered. "I don't like being grabbed."

At his question, she glanced sidelong at Kang. "You want to take this one?" To be honest, she probably should have been as vague as possible until they got here. Kang would have known how to lie about this world far better than she did.

"I've had worse," Slith snorted, resheathing his dagger and crossing his arms over his chest.

Sighing, Kang waved Trudy in, holding up a hand when the sivak made to follow. "I'll explain later, old friend. Over drinks." He was lying, of course.

"...alright. But you're buying."

"Sorry about that," Trudy said. Her eyes were adjusting to the lower light inside the building - no electricity in this place as of yet, meaning no wonderful conveniences like modern lighting. "I should have known better than to try and spin a lie when I had no knowledge of the territory."

Slith shot one last curious look at Trudy before turning and leaving. Kang watched him for a moment, closed the door behind them, and spread out his hands, "Well, I did tell you that I'd show you Teyr one day."

There was another adult draconian, this one shorter than him by several inches and a bit shinier, standing in front of four very young children with a dagger of her own. After receiving a nod, she put it back in its sheath and set it to the side, though she still kept it close. "Who is this?"

"Fonrar, this is Trudy Chacon, a friend of mine."

Confronted with the sight of Kang's family, something twinged uncomfortably in Trudy's chest. "Sorry," she said again - Kang shoul count himself lucky to hear so many apologies out of her inside of so short a time. "I didn't know I was interrupting family time. I can come back later, if you want."

Trudy didn't have a husband or kids of her own - didn't want them, for that matter. But she wasn't going to stand in someone's way if he wanted to alleviate the pain of missing them a little.

"No, it's... it's fine," Kang assured Trudy, wings rustling slightly. "I know it's a bit silly."

Fonrar kept a careful eye on the woman, but after a moment, moved forward and held out her hand in greeting, "Well met, Trudy. Odd that I haven't heard of you before; he doesn't keep much from me." Kang calling her a friend meant that she was more likely to be trustworthy.

The hatchlings stayed where they were for the moment, staring with unabashed curiosity.

"Likewise," Trudy said, taking Fonrar's hand. Her grip was firm but she didn't squeeze hard - she had no desire to challenge the draconian in her own home. "It was a long time ago, it's taken me a good while to travel this far."

She hoped this lie would fare better than the last one. While she smiled at Fonrar, her eyes strayed to the hatchlings behind her.

They were cute. Never a word she'd thought she'd use for a draconian, but cute.

"This is a friend from the other place," Kang said quietly. Nodding in understanding, Fon took a step back; even she towered above Trudy, at over six feet. "You can tell the truth, Trudy. Come sit down?"

He gestured at the furniture, and the furs on the floor near the hatchlings, and settled himself on the latter. One of the little females, still staring at the human woman, moved over to him almost immediately to be picked up and settled in his lap. "...this one's a bit shy."

Fonrar snorted, "The others, not so much."

There was a relief. "Never was a very good liar," she said, choosing to sit in the chair. Children were not her favorite thing ever, no matter what species. In fact, she was currently eying them warily. They looked much more active and likely to get in trouble than human children.

"So this is Teyr, huh? It's a nice place, very homey. You've built a good place for yourself here."

Laughing, Kang patted the spot next to him for Fonrar, "I told her already. And, even if you were, Slith still probably would have noticed that something was up. He's good at that. I apologize for that, by the way; he's a suspicious bastard at times."

He'd noticed the wary look, and he knew that any moment, the others would probably go bother Trudy. They really were too curious for their own good sometimes. "One of the completed portions of it, at least. There was still a bit of work being done in some areas."

...and there they went. At first, two of them moved, and then the third followed. Grinning, Kang leaned over and whispered something to Fonrar in Nerakese, a hand on her arm.

Trudy felt an irrational urge to pull her feet up into the chair, but that would be ridiculous. So she stood her ground as three sets of glittering draconian eyes looked up at her. "Uhhh... hey kids," she said. "Why don't you go have some daddy time?"

Apparently the hatchlings were done with daddy time for the day. One of them set his claws into her pants and climbed up into her lap - Trudy lifted her hands away and an expression washed over her face that Kang would probably never see again - pure panic.

"Hey now - hey!" the hatchling was gnawing curiously at the edge of her uniform, and she snatched it back. "Kang!"

"They don't care about me right now with you here. This is the first time they've been so close to a human," Kang said, adjusting the little one in his lap while he and Fonrar laughed at Trudy's panicked expression. "They're just curious. Just... be mindful of their claws; they're very sharp."

The chair being scaled for draconians meant that there was plenty of room for the other two to climb up and investigate the strange squishy thing they'd only ever seen from a distance before.

"Thanks, way to be a friend," Trudy said, making a face at him. She didn't want to touch any of the hatchlings to move them off her lap - what if she accidentally hurt one of them? Fonrar would put her head up on the wall.

That thought was fairly ironic given that the next thing one of them did was reach up, grab two clawfuls of her hair, and yank. "Ow! You little-" she cut herself off abruptly. No cursing in front of the children. "You let that go - hey! Quit that!" Now she was talking to the one in her lap, which seemed to be occupied with trying to burrow himself under her shirt to investigate.

She grabbed her hair in one hand, trying to pull it back out of the hatchling's grasp, and used the other to try and shove her shirt down.

"Grosk," Kang let out a sharp growl, and the one yanking on Trudy's hair let it go, only to have his sister reach up and do it after, though not as hard.

The one trying to get underneath her shirt made a disappointed, squeaking noise and prodded at her chest (his original target), to get the same warning from his mother, who was trying not to laugh. "...I'm sorry. You're, ah, quite a bit different in the chest department than we are. If you can manage a good enough hiss or a growl, they'll stop."

"Yeah, human vocal chords aren't really built for that." Claws in her chest region were not something she was a fan of. She grabbed both of the hatchling's hands in one of hers and then scooped him up and put him back on the floor. The one playing with her hair was fine as long as she didn't yank, and the other one just appeared fascinated with her uniform so she guessed that was okay.

Brevo promptly began crawling back into her lap, going straight for her chest again. "You better cut that out before you get older, you'll get in a heap of trouble," Trudy grumbled. She tried to pick him up and put him on the floor again but he had apparently learned from the first time and grabbed onto her jacket, refusing to be moved. "Chico, tu eres un mejor problema. I feel sorry for your parents."

Kang shrugged, "Or you can do that. If they get too out of hand, just let us know." He glanced over at Fonrar with a sigh. Hopefully Brevo's fascination with that part of Trudy's body wasn't an indicator of anything in the future, and just innocent curiosity.

That seemed to be the case as Yana's attention shifted to her chest as well. This time it was Fonrar that growled, in Nerakese, "No. Don't touch."