#brightwindsbarony

"Nessa, he's here" Rose says, her mother almost openly excited. Being a centaur has been good to the woman, instead of burnt out from too many jobs, she seems energetic. She's healthier. And, she embraced her warrior side. Which makes her gushing over a kid almost... domestically adorbs

"Oh, bless it. Does Hope have his room ready? What if he's nervous about being in a new place? He can always bunk with one of us if he's scared. I know I would be at his age..."

"He's got a room ready near ours" She nods "Come on, he arrived hours earlier thann we were told. I've got to stop listening to pooka, literally anyway. Pepper sent word he was given a tour and fed"

Mother and daughter head to the hallway, and Ross grins "We have to be careful about coming on too strong"

"You are telling US not to come on too strong?" Rose shakes her mane at her husband "You know, I maybe the more aggressive of us, but you have had your moments of 'coming on strong'"

Nessa nods and follows along. "Do you think he'll like us?"

"When have I ever come on strong?" He protests, then looks at Nessa, "Well odds are he's going to like at least one of us"

Rose looks at nessa, "You're old enough to know, when your father was first dating me, he told me that he wanted to make out with me, but realized a girl like me deserved the perfect kiss. Then without missing a beat he said, 'And as Practice makes perfect, we should get in training'" A soft snort "Mr. doesn't come on strong""

Ross blushes "Worked, didn't it?"

"Yes it did" Rose smiles, then pats her daughter's shoulder "And Ganbold will open up in his own time."

"Mom! Daaa-aaad!" She protests, cheeks coloring.

"Come on," Her dad chuckles to her mom "I think we've appalled her enough" And he motions for them to head down the hallway to find the boy

She follows after, eager yet trepidatious.

"I have warrior braids!" A boy's voice can be heard!

A glance to her mom, brows up a bit in surprise.

She shrugs "Ganbold?"

"That's me" And out into the hallway leaps a young boy, his long black hair done just so...

"Oh! Hello there." Nessa blinks at him, and then smiles. "I see someone has been doing your hair..." She has a good guess who.

"Irene is helping me prepare to be a great khan! I like it here! When can I run outside? Did you know Burgers were mongolian?? HEY COOL BOW!" He looks at Rose's bow, and checks out each older centaur in turn "I like your beard, sir. Good hooves" to Nessa "Strong hooves make for long rides!"

Ross mutters "Remembered how we were ready that he might be a little shy and slow to open up?"

Nessa lowers down to rest with legs folded, closer to his level. "I'm Nessa, and these are my parents, Ross and Rose. And your prospective foster family, if you'd like us to be."

He looks her over, then to Rose and Ross, "Uhm.. you seem nice, and it's okay that you're kind of white, nice tans" he explains "but.. my heriage is important to me. I'm gonnna talk about it a lot. It might even get obnoxious. Is.. that okay with you guys?" A look at them "I have ambitions of being a great and powerful Khan, who rules fairly and wisely after I subjugate the lands"

"As long as you don't mind if I talk about plants, or my mom about her training, or my dad about... well, he'll get on about anything..." A smile.

"I'm a park ranger and guide" He adds

"Great Khan? With dreams of conquest?" Rose looks at the boy

"And wise rule. Otherwise the conquest isn't great" Ganbold nods to Rose, annd for a moment looks nervous

"Dreams are important, as they keep telling us." She smiles a bit.

"Well, heck, I'm just glad he's not a wimp! See, this is the kind of go getter attitude they say is lacking in Gen Z, and yet here he is!" Rose says approvingly "You chase your dreams honey. And you be proud of where your history comes from, we don't want to take ANYTHING away from you. We hope to give you MORE things to be proud of and enjoy in the long run. Think you'd like to glare menacingly as you grip a bow?"

"WOULD I!" the boy bounce trots in place

A bit of affronted look at that, her tail whisks in mild irritation. But she laughs it off. "Sorry to be wimpy, mom." A smile.

"You're not a wimp dear, you always try to do the right thing" Rose assures her daughter "You're just quiet about it"

"Damnn straight" Ross says, "And you kknow what, Ganbold, we'll be happy to try out some Mongolian dishes and the like. "

"I heard there's a new chef doing some catering for Sparrow - that's Baroness Derynwydd" She adds for Ganbold, "That does a focus on local native stuff. I wonder if he could probably do some research on what the Mongols ate and work out a dish or too..."

"That would be great!" Ganbold says enthusiastically

Then a pause "You guys do know Future Khans are too busy to do homework right?"

Ross breaks into a hearty chuckle "It's adorable you think that's gonna work"

"Drat" Ganbold sighs "I told Jack that wouldn't work"

"You were right" Rose comments "It didn't. So... interested in giving us a try?"

"You asked about going out... I bet we can keep up with you on a run out on the trails better than anyone you've met before."

"REALLY?" Ganbold looks at all of them, "I.. it's hard to choose. I mean, yes, I want to give us a try. I mean I don' know who to hug first!"

"I'm right here, and I like hugs." Nessa offers.

And Nessa gets to face the charge of the great khan... in training, as he almost gallops into her and HUUUUUGS!

“Oof!” Good thing she’s sturdy, and she IS a good hugger.

"You're a good hugger" he turns and hugs Rose, then Ross, each in turn

"It wasn't safe outside for a long time. First there were these land-sharks... the girls say they're tame now, but I don't quite trust it. I've seen nature films where crocodiles take down deer in the water, and let me tell you, if I see a fin, I'm booking it, and you should too." Firmly. "Then there were the hunters..." She covers her mouth with a hand in dismay. "Oh, but you know about that. I'm sorry, Ganbold. I didn't mean to bring it up so suddenly. It must have been a terrible experience for you."

For the first time, the boy's bold grin does waver, but he tries to be brave "it was...very scary" A nod

Now he's being hugged again, with Nessa initiating. "I am sure you were VERY brave. They tried to kidnap me, too, but Irene - you met Irene? She rescued me. You should ask her for the story! I was scared, but it was okay, because I knew that our friends here would never let anything bad happen to me."

"Irene rescued you?" he says "Piskies are bad ass!"

"You mustn't use that kind of language, though. There are small ones around who shouldn't learn it. Why, it would be terribly if my little Ivy were to pick up naughty language, and get banned from court."