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The green and white surface of the Lupine homeworld stretched out before a small military shuttle craft as it made a decent approach towards one of the densest city centers. The white peaks, blue oceans and green forests broke open wide for a sprawling city: Point Landing. As one of the oldest settlements on the northern continent of Alurius, it was heavily populated; about half a billion Lupis in the greater region, and one of the most historically intrinsic to the Federal Republic of Alurius for which the greater Republic is based upon. The shuttle touched down at a proportionally massive docking complex and landing field that filled most of what had once been the city's ocean-bound port. Of the shuttles three passengers only one was actually accustomed to the crowded madness of the urban biome just outside the landing field gates.

The shear size of the city from the air did no justice to the shear chaos that was this dense urban center. Within 5 minutes of passing the perimeter fence of the port the trio was greeted by a dozen streetside merchants hawking wares, from the mornings news periodicals to cheap tourist knicknacks. The line of speeder cabs waiting at a nearby stand to haul passengers off to wherever, the scents of the small restaurant tucked in a converted warehouse across the avenue, the speeders whizzing by overhead at high velocity, the wail of sirens, all of it above the scent and sound of the thousands of lupis within eyesight.

"Mother of fucking Lupis above, this place is busy." Dev stated the obvious.

Lucian couldn't help but laugh a bit, "well you can't get a proper welcome to the Point without a nasal aneurysm. I almost forget that cities on the colonies aren't nearly as crowded as Alurius. Rufus is like this too, you know, I'm sure Rorick is fine, right buddy?" Lucian turned to the taller lupis.

"Rufus? Divines no, it may be just as populated but Rufus is far more spread out of a city, this is like a city folded in over on itself. I never did get why all these Southern style cities are so close and tight, there's barely any street between here and the other sidewalk!" The native of further north in the Federal Republic defended of his home city.

Lucian scoffed, "That's what the airspeeders are for! There's no need to have a street, in fact this is here more for historical purposes than practicality." Lucian gestured the grey stone slabs that made the street, a harbinger of a distant technological era. "And what's wrong with being close to your neighbors like this? We're Lupis, community is all important, right?"

"As much as I'm loving the community of Point Landing so far, I'd really feel alot better with less crowds, so can you show us to your place soon, Lucian?" Dev was noticeably beginning to fidget around, the orbital bombardment of stimulus probably wasn't good for him.

"Oh yeah sure, let me check where the speeder is..." pausing and giving a few swipes of his wrist mounted tablet, Lucian looked up again and proceed to a speeder a few meters down the road that was idling unoccupied. "Ah ha, Mom already had a speeder waiting for us. Of course she did." The trio boarded their ride, a fairly small, but averaged sized civilian passenger car.

Fully autopiloted and accommodating up to five lupis, the speeder had ample paw room, their bags were stowed under the seats. Unlike more archaic designs, this speeders front two seats faced the back as to allow the passengers to see each other. The autopilot was driving after all. A small control console sat between the "front" two seats, to input destinations and climate controls, among other features. The speeder was preset with the Iceheart residence, another convenience undoubtedly from the clan matriarch. That isn't to say Lucian needed a navigator program to find his way home, more that the Iceheart residence wasn't one you walked up to from the street.

Lifting off the, the speeder made for the skylanes of Point Landing and joined tens of thousands of other speeders in air around the central port.

Dev had his muzzle glued to the window most of the trip, while Rorick skimmed through missed Outernet messages. Lucian took in a deep breath, and leaned back in the reclining seat, glad to be home.

With his eyes closed, Lucian could hear the wind howl past the reinforced glass of the speeder, it was very comforting having an atmosphere outside the glass once again, one does not miss such luxuries until they've stared out at the void for months on end. The center dashboard gave a chime, indicating the short flight was almost over. The speeder descended into the Historical District of Point Landing, dense with museums, governmental structures and smaller towers built centuries ago and now designated landmarks. Several large parks and open air plazas broke the otherwise solid canyons of skyscrapers and mega-towers.

The speeder made its way to what appeared to be a parade plaza from the distance, but as they neared they could see it was actually several large fenced in estates, in the middle of the city, none more than 5 or 6 floors tall, made of brick, stone and wood. Vast gardens and groves of trees filled the rest of the terrain, a few dozen or so city blocks worth of a green hole in the urban landscape. Veering towards one of the larger estates on the edge, the speeder touchdowned on the balcony of a modern 3 story side structure of the property.

The three military dogs exited the craft and took their bags, the balcony was large enough for at least a few more of these speeders and had a large hangar bay door along the wall. Lucian led them towards an arched doorway instead, a small lobby room with a lift to the ground floor. By the time they were on the soil of Alurius proper, they could hear the large hangar door above them opening and some kind of automated system moving the speeder they had just arrived in into what was truly a three story auto-storing garage.

"So Lucian why are we meeting your mother at a Members Club?" Rorick Inquired, "I thought we were going to your house."

Ears tilted, Lucian looked puzzled "What do mean Members Club? My mother hates those, says she's not one of those elitist snobs. She isnt by the way, if you so much as imply that much I'm sure she'd be happy to kick your tail herself. She's far more interested in what you do rather than the company you keep."

Leading his squad across the well manicured grounds towards the largest, and oldest, building in view, Lucian reiterated his earlier notes about his family. "The Icehearts are wealthy as a clan, yes, but we aren't snobbish. My Mother is a Senator for the Republic, but she doesn't attend any of the galas or lavish balls most other Senators throw for fun. Charity events, sure, formal state functions, sure. The parties thrown just for the sake of spending wealth? The Iceheart's won't be caught dead at those. Its either an event on behalf of the residents of Point Landing as their Senator or to put our hereditary wealth to use bettering the same constituents. We're a very old clan, we have alot of business ventures and my mother isn't the first Senator in the line either, but we've never been preening snobs."

Concluding with a stern look at both, Lucian ended the reminder that expectations would be stowed. The pathway to the main house was lined with short brick walls, covered in decades worth of moss and dwarfed by the massive trees behind them, the gardens and grounds practically spilled out of their designated areas in an austere and picturesque way.

They came into earshot of what seemed to be an argument, turning the corner of the garden walls they could see a squad a black clad security troopers and a middle aged female.

She was dressed in a simple red blouse and black business slacks, a simple gold chain and necklace being the entirety of her accessories. Her plain black belt had a magnetic clasp system built in, as she had a datapad attached to her hip, as if it were a pistol in its holster. Both her paws gesture wildly as she argued with the head security guard, the dark black coat waving gently with the action, blue eyes tearing into the guard alongside her words.

"That is simply unacceptable, they are my guests, and I will have them here without this harrassment. Every time I look to have guests in my private residence, I WILL not tolerate this absurd invasion of privacy. Who I keep as personal company will not be recorded in some official record or log." She practically yelled.

"Ma'am, this is just standard safety procedure, we have to presume all potential guests are a threat, this is the standard protocol for all Senatorial residences" the male countered in the well trained manner of Republic Security Division agents.

"This is not a Senatorial residence, this is my clan home, and I will not be challenged in it by you, by your supervisor, by the damn Alphate of the SD, this is my home, and I will have who I wish here. Now you are dismissed captain. Get out of my face this instance." The tone was clear, that was not a request but an order. Despite the Security Divisions zealous adherence to protocol, their agents were at the very least able to follow orders to the letter.

Lucian looked to the two soldiers at his side as they approached, they were cowering. Tails tucked, ears low and shoulders held low, the Senator had clearly shown she was the Alpha of the estate as the instinctual reaction was palpable.

Having been distracted by her argument, Trisha Iceheart had finally taken notice of her son and his guests. Her scowl immediately melted into one of joy the moment she saw Lucian. He himself couldn't help but chuckle at the reunion.

"The SD still have their tails up their asses? Don't mind them, Mom, they'll never figure out it's not supposed to go there. All I that matters is we're together again." Lucian embraced his mother.

"Oh my dearest pup, how I missed you." letting go of the hug, she clasped her paws on his shoulders "And look at you, an officer in charge of your very own unit! I couldn't be more proud! My little pup. Oh I can't wait till your father can see you in uniform like this."

Blushing through his coat "Mother! You've both seen me in uniform, at graduation and like two other times!"

"Yes but I still can't contain my pride, dear, you know that." setting one paw one Lucians own and the other outstretched, she turned to her guests "And I suppose your Devius and Rorick! It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Taking the crook of her arm in his paw and her his, in the traditional lupine pawshake, Rorick held his ears back in submissive posture, "Yes, Ma'am, I'm Corporal Rorick Torrens, it's an honor to meet you ma'am. It's truly a privilege, really, that you would offer to let us stay with you while on leave."

Repeating the gesture with the atypically silent Dev, Trisha cocked her head at Rorick, "Honored to meet me? Absurd. If anyone is privileged it is myself and my mate for receiving the opportunity to meet Lucians friends and to provide you a place to stay. From what I understand this leave wasn't exactly planned on anyones calendar, it would be awful to make you stay in the barracks just because you didn't have somewhere lined up already. We have more than enough space in the main house, most of it is empty in fact. Here come, why don't I show you all around? We can get something to drink along the way."

The two Icehearts led the two new arrivals towards the mains house. "Dinner will be ready in a little over an hour, I hope that's alright, I wasn't completely sure what time you'd arrive. Chavar rarely gets to cook for guests, you should have seen the light in her eyes when I told her we'd be having company. Be prepared for a treat!" Trisha gave a little squeal.

They passed into the house through a rear patio door, the back foyer had two large rooms to either side with a staircase along the far wall. Past the stairs was a hall presumably to the front of the house and front foyer. They continued to the eastern room attached to the foyer, a well lit sitting room, with couches, chairs and side tables arranged in different configurations.

"This is one of the more formal sitting rooms, get far more use than the other in the house simply because its adjacent to the main dining room, through here." The matriarch motioned to a pair of double doors along the north wall, "the kitchen is right through here" she said of a single door in the north east corner,

"I'm going to have a quick look in to see if Chavar has any appetizers ready, and of course get you all something to drink. Preferences?" She looked to her guests.

Rorick politely declined, however Dev couldn't have been more of an embarrassment to Lucian at the time.

"I'd like a Iced Feywiinian, just a dash of sugar and make it an extra chewy." Dev made the order to one of the most powerful beings in the known galaxy as if she were a take out window operator. Lucian failed to comprehend the next few moments because by the time he had processed this fact his mother had disappeared into the kitchen, alone, as not to agitate the persnickety genius that was Chavar more than need be.

"I... why... what could you... you are so dead, I don't even know..." Lucian could barely string a sentence together as he began to yell at Dev as loud as he could without disturbing the whole house. "What the actual fuck?!?"

He begun shaking Dev by the shoulders at that point, the dog in question remained with the same mostly blank expression he had since they got off the airspeeder.

"What? I haven't had a good Feywiinian in like two years! Your house master chef has to have a mixer in there, right?"

Luckily for him, Trisha emerged from the kitchen carrying a small tray of drinks, one of which the bonemeal and animal fat shake the corporal had ordered. Lucian released his hold and resumed a semi-normal composure.

"Here you are Devius; Lucian I have your favorite, the tea brew you'd drink by the leiter. Are you sure i can get you anything, Rorick?" Taking his head shake for a negative once again, she took a sip of the third drink on the small platter, one that smelled faintly of a root-based caffeine brew.

"Mmmh, shall we continue with the tour? I can shorten it to just the highlights, alot of it gets repetitive after a while. Only so many times I can describe an empty wing of the manor."

Sure enough much of the estate was empty. While dust was minimal, the rooms retained a scent of disuse, or lack of regular occupation. Trisha explained along the way a brief history of the manor, having been built about four and a half centuries ago after the original burned down. The land had been with the family for the last five, and the city of Point Landing once marked this as the edge of its limits. The few other neighboring estates come from the same period, the city expanded and rather than demolish the architectural relics these estates were, most were modernized while retaining as much of the original structure as possible. The Icehearts once numbered in the dozens with many more in the cadet branches of the clan, however time had dwindled their numbers to a smattering: Lucians mother was the oldest of three, her younger brother died in a speeder accident well before Lucian was born, while her younger sister and her own three pups managed most of the family business holdings. With Lucians father and aunt often offworld, he grew up in a particularly empty clan house.

Of the five floors this grand residence had to offer, less than half of it was really inhabited. Lucian made note to point out the large two story library room on the west end of the house, one of his favorite rooms. The large entertainment room on the second floor was well stocked with the most modern gaming and video devices, Trisha informed Lucian that his youngest cousin had taken up gaming far more devotedly. The third floor was initially intended as the guest wing of bedrooms or overflow for the main clan, however it was entirely unused, as was most of the fourth. The only room on the fourth to receive frequent traffic was the shrine; situated along the south wall, it boasted the most impressive view of the grounds and the sky. As the fifth floor wasn't quite the same dimensions as the lower ones, the fourth floor shrine had floor to ceiling stained glass windows that curved around to become the ceiling, with what must have been paw-forged wrought iron lattice work holding it together.

"The Shrine is a bit of step into the past, based on some of the southern cathedrals to Lupa. The glass work is original to the house, we've actually had some art curators make extensive records and renderings of the designs. The whole things got a miniature shielding system tucked below it, so this room is technically bullet proofed, though it would be sacrilege to test that." Their hostess said of the ornate window wall. Scenes of lupine history and mythology were proudly intermingled in the stories imaged in the glass. On nights Alurius's two moons shone full, this room must have been truly inspiring to be in.

"The housestaff, and of course guests, are free to pray or just sit and contemplate here whenever they feel like, it's a very relaxing place, there should be some boxes of incense in the cupboard over there. Your both welcome to the Shrine whenever. I want you two to feel at home here."

Dev had heard little of what she had said, the dogs eyes had not left the glass mural since they first made contact. Rorick bowed his head, tail held down and ears down respectfully, "You truly honor us, madame Senator."

As the group made way to leave to finish the tour, Dev remained fixated on the glass wall, he had moved to the east corner and began a more detailed look at each of the scenes depicted.

Lucian looked back, "You coming Dev?"

"Uh, no, I think I'll hang back here for a bit, some stuff I want to... contemplate, I guess."

Concerned for his friends strange behavior, "Alright, we'll send for you when dinners ready, we've got plenty of time here, and the intercom panel is just outside the door, so if you need anything, just howl on down, ok?"

Not showing much of a response, Dev dove right back into his trance, taking a single step to the right as he moved his way through the translucent scenes.

The tour concluded with the brief showing of the fifth floor, the personal rooms of the living Iceheart clan members where of course off limits as to respect privacy. Two rooms at the end of an unoccupied hall had been set aside for Dev and Rorick, Trisha informed them their luggage would be brought up later.

After briefly showing Rorick the spacious suites he and Dev would be staying in, Trisha received a notification on her hip-mounted datapad, a digital tone in need of her attention. As she stepped out of the room, Lucian inquired of his friend, "So I hope the giant manor isn't too terribly intimidating."

Rorick chuckled, "If I said it wasn't would that be more polite than the truth?"

"Heh, you know what, I probably should be used to it by now." Lucian grinned.

Trisha returned, eyes down on her datapad, typing a response, "Dinner is almost finished and your father is almost here as well. Lucian, I'll leave it to you to find your friend and then we can enjoy the fine meal Chavar has prepared for us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Locating Dev proved simple enough: He hadn't left the Shrine. Lucian was sure that anything short of food wouldn't have broken his erie concentration on the mural, however. Good thing the smell of Chavar's much anticipated cooking had drifted to the upper floors by then.

Prim and proper in their formal uniforms, the trio of soldiers met the Senator again in the main dining hall they had passed at the beginning of the tour. A red-furred Lupis of some 40 years in a white cooking blazer and her two assistants were busy setting the appetizer course at every place setting, the main course already sizzling in the center of the table.

"The kastra Fish go next to the spiced herb! Must I do this all myself!" Chavar the genius cook barked at her young assistant. Lucian had known her for years, although the two aides must have been recent hires.

"Oh the setting doesn't have to be perfect Chavar, our 'guests' are family this evening, your under no obligation to be stressed." Trisha turned to the young aides "Your doing fine, dear, Chavar yells because she knows you have plenty of talent and wants you to truly perfect the craft."

Taking the Senators words well, the two aids finished up their tasks, then scurried back to the kitchen, the head cook glaring down their retreat. "Ma'am, I am proud to say we are ready to seat and serve".

"Excellent, thank you, my friend." Trisha waved Lucian and company over to the large table, now that it was socially appropriate to take their seats "Don't be shy, come get seated. Your father just landed, dear, we'll be set to eat in a few minutes."

Taking a seat on his mothers left, Rorick then Dev to his right, Lucian noted two other places had been set. He understood his father's setting across from his mother, as was expected of the male and female head of households seating, but the setting beside that didn't seem to be needed. Before he got a chance to ask, his father entered the far end of the dining hall, coming from the front entrance of the manor.

The elder soldier, Andros Iceheart was an older dog, with a mostly grey coat, and piercing yellow eyes marred by a large scar. Starting at just above the eye, crossing it, and ending halfway down his muzzle, the furless patch of damaged skin brought about a grizzled, battle-harden look to the officer. His fleet command uniform undoubtedly added to the air of power he expelled, however.

Following at his heels was a female of maybe 30 years, tall, moderate build, light golden coloring with a face that might be considered pretty if it weren't held in a scowl. She wore the rank of Commander, but beyond that Lucian couldn't figure much.

"Dinner is ready sooner than I expected, I hope you are as hungry as I am, Commander. Ah my dearest, I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner" Trisha quickly got to her paws and hugged her mate, lips briefly meeting each others.

"No need to apologize, my love, I just finished giving Lucian's guests a tour." Turning to the last minute guest "In fact there was just enough time to prepare a place for...?"

"Rear Commander Mavis Cessino, It is a pleasure to meet you Senator Iceheart. Please excuse my unannounced arrival, I had urgent need of the Fleet Commanders time. Pressing military matters, I hope you understand. He offered we finish our meeting here."

"Oh of course, I appreciate the gravity of whatever classified matters you have to attend to, but first please sit and eat."

Courteously slipping into the exchange, Lucian stood, followed by his friends, and hugged his father. "Dad, it feels like it's been forever since I've seen you. Your looking well!" Lucian looked over his father, he could smell the stress and anxiety of his work on him, but nothing indicated the patriarch was anything less than healthy.

"Lucian, it's wonderful to have you back home. I read your report on what happened above Arct Palintine, I'm relieved you're alright. When the fleet received the alert, it took all my will not to make an immediate jump to the system. I heard the Praetorians were involved, is that true?"

"Yes, Dad, they were already in-system, one of the outer gas giants, doing some sort of weapons test. I don't know anything about that, but my team and I were doing a check on a ship between them and the station. They didn't like how close this merchant freighter got, turns out there wasn't anything but we got lucky being where we were" Lucian worked just enough truth into his retelling to hide his scent of the truth. Lies on a digital report was one thing; face to face to his father took a mountain of self control.

Andros Iceheart narrowed his eyes, his decade old scar flexing with the undamaged muscles around it. "I also saw the recommendation to the Kyber ASML Center. We need to talk about with your mother later tonight. I don't think she will approve of where I think that is going."

Nodding acknowledgement, Lucian was relieved he had seen that. It would make breaking the news to his father fairly easy; it would also be easier to explain if they had access to the non-doctored report, but that was classified even to lupis of his parents status.

The gathered lupis took their respective seats, with this Commander Cessino beside the elder Iceheart male. Chavar explained the full course, giving mouth watering explanations to the already tantalizing spread before them. The appetizer course featured primarily grilled vegetables glazed in a fruit sauce. Lupis did not consume many vegetable items, however several native to Alurius were still palatable to the carnivorous race and had excess nutritional value.

The primary dish was Wild Tarrack, a furless, quadruped beast fairly slow of gait and extremely weighty. In times past they served as a staple meal to the early Divine Imperium, originally traveling between valleys and tundra in great herds. A breed of domestic Tarrack eventually formed after the need for controlled food sourcing became to great. The domestic variant tended to be more fatty, being bred more for speed of growth than fitness in the wild, and to this day were a common product on every shelf of every lupine marketplace. The "wild" variant, if it can be considered that, is from small herds of the beast, allowed to roam isolated, contained valleys that have been cordoned off for the purpose; a finer cut well worth the added price in manys opinion.

The side dish was kastra fish, a species from the northern continents wide rivers, breaded in a fruit-paste base and seasoned in a multitude of fine spices. Dessert simply consisted of a small cut of bone. Large beasts had large bones, and the femurs of Tarracks held especially sweet marrow. Cut into 5 centimeter discs, the bone acted as both a dessert treat and a breath freshener, naturally cleaning the sharp lupis teeth.

The Icehearts and their guests ate through their first course with little conversation, it wasn't until everyone had begun wrapping up their primary course and starting dessert did the discussion begin.

"So, has the Senate convened on what actions to take after the bombings?" Andros as one of the evenings hosts took it upon himself to start the conversation, deliberately on a topic all present would have interest in.

"No, an emergency session was called but not every Senator was on the homeworld, very little we could do vote wise, altho the Military Committee Senators did receive a briefing from a few of the Alphates. My colleges on the Finance Committee are already drafting measures to rebuild the spaceport and fund any necessary clean up. It's a bit premature until we get more details on what needs to be done, but it's good to start something. Ever since Military Command dropped the request for those new Cruisers, we've had all sorts of clamouring to have the funds rerouted to other projects. Ideally, I would put those saved credits to some of our Revenue Return programs, but this attack makes it clear where its going." The Senator explained. This sort of abrupt attack on such a major Republic target was unprecedented in recent memory, so it followed the Senate wasn't prepared.

"I'm still surprised Command dropped that Cruiser order, first time I think that's ever happened. I wonder...?" Andros trailed off.

Lucian guessed at his father's line of thinking, "If they would have made as difference? Almost certainly not. If they had even been finished by now, which would have been a miracle, the odds of those ships being close by would be slim, nor would it made a difference: the bombs were inside merchant ships and smuggled onstation as cargo crates. No number of warships could have prevented that. It's better that we have the funding free now."

"And thankfully civilian casualties were low, and the space elevators are still salvageable, still up in orbit. Just have to rebuild the station, which is far less of a price than if it had been a populated target." Rorick politely interjected

"Reconstruction will also be a big, if temporary boost to the local economy, everyone from mineral refineries to space-construction laborers will be getting paid to help rebuild. Out of system shipping will suffer, but everything in system will benefit." Lucian added, noting the economic impact the attack had.

"So like if it wasn't a bunch of leonians, you'd figure our number one suspect would be someone on Arct Palintine who stood to gain from reconstruction, then? Maybe they were hired by a local? OHHHH, that would make sense with the one that...." Dev's prattling on was interrupted by Rorick dropping his utensils loudly on the table, clattering on the fine dishware.

"My bad, my paws are a bit numb from the cold, it's been ages since I've been planetside." Rorick was a great marksman, loyal friend, skilled medic, but horrid at secrecy; Lucian suppressed an groan of exasperation at his friends poor attempts to hide Devs blunder.

Seeking to make some kind of correction to the conversation, Lucian changed it all together "If you don't mind, the news is sort of dark for such a wonderful meal, and I don't believe we have been properly introduced to your guest, father." He inconspicuously went back to finishing the marrow from his dessert.

Lucian knew that Andros knew he was keeping something secret, the younger soldiers clearly knew too much about the attack for not being on station, however he played along with his sons redirect. "Yes, Mavis, truth be told I don't know much about you myself."

The females persistent scowl only deepened, "Fleet Commander, you know well that I can only speak in broad terms as to my duties, and even less so to those without any sort of clearance rating" she said the last bit eyeing Chavar and her staff, who stood dutifully to the side of the dining hall.

"Trisha my love, this one here would give your friends over at the Security Division a run for their credits when it comes to Grey Operations. Or are you full fledge Black Ops, Cessino?" Andros poked at the depths of what her job entailed.

"I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such "Grey or Black" operations, nor my involvement in them if they did exist." Lucian was taken aback, never having intended to jump from one classified subject to another like that.

I thought she was just a staff officer or maybe a subordinate of dads. Does she work for one of the Alphates? I'm pretty sure the Alphate of Counter Intelligence runs agents like her. What does she need with Dad?

Sensing things quickly spiraling out of control, the hostess reeled thing back in, "Well, it seems most everyone is finished with their dessert, please give you compliments to our fine cook Chavar and her staff on the way out. Lucian, please help get your friends situated in their rooms, their luggage should be up there by now, and then come find me in the library. Thank you my sweet." Trisha began collecting plates with Chavar, Andros and the mysterious agent slipped off towards the downstairs study, probably to finish whatever discussion she was here for in the first place.

Lucian was grateful for the abrupt dismissal of the meal, but thoroughly dreading meeting his parents two on one this evening.