Welcome to Orongo

[cityship]

Once those who decided to go along on the mission were gathered on the Obs Deck and had time to go over the mission briefing, the detachment procedures began.

As with the missions before, the doors to the Obs Deck closed before it detached itself from Stacy, tethered by a massive umbilical cord. Those who had been on missions before would find the

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[we_deliver]

Trudy was back on the planet.

Trudy was so very not happy about being back on the planet.

She hadn't seen Luis on her way down, so she hung around uncomfortably, tugging at the silver-striped cuffs of her dress uniform out of nervous habit. If Leon thought he was going to get her to marry anyone - even Luis, who she could probably stand and not murder - he had another think coming. Not happening.

She did scan the crowd for Kang, though, the recording cube stuffed into one pocket.

[governorkang]

Spotting Trudy, Kang headed over to her, grinning, "So where's the groom?"

[we_deliver]

"That's not funny," Trudy said immediately. Her life was tragedy and the Captain was ruining everything. "I don't think he can order me to get married. Can he?"

Actually, she was pretty sure he could if it was in the course of the mission. Dammit.

[governorkang]

"Normally? No. However, for this mission, Stacy did tell us we were required to follow their customs," Kang shrugged, still grinning. "And if he needs you inside those walls..."

[we_deliver]

"Oh for fuck's sake," Trudy said, hunching her shoulders like she could ward off the looming possibility of matrimony. "Why doesn't he just get fucking married? He practically lives with his girlfriend."

Bitter? Never!

[governorkang]

Kang laughed, "He's the Captain. He can get away with it. So what's this thing you have for me?"

[we_deliver]

She was happy for the change of subject. Privately, she thought that marriage was a little much to ask just to get this artifact, whatever it was. Most of their missions had been notoriously unsuccessful, though - they needed a win.

But she let those thoughts get pushed away to the back of her mind and pulled the cube out of her pocket. "I went to Engineering and had this made for you - it's a hologram recorder." She handed it over briskly, a little embarrassed. "Sorry for being a jerk, I guess. Press play."

[governorkang]

Kang tilted his head to one side slightly, looking at Trudy, and then the cube. "You'll have to refresh my memory. I don't recall being mad at you for anything." He took the cube and examined it a bit closer, then pushed play.

[we_deliver]

Trudy just shrugged. She felt bad, even if he wasn't mad.

The image that projected from the small holo-cube was one that Trudy had painstakingly set up in the Sensoriums. She'd had to be pretty stealthy since, in most simulations, the young draconians were climbing all over her within seconds of seeing her. But she'd finally managed to capture about two minutes of the four of them together - wrestling, chasing dust, and generally being adorable.

[governorkang]

"No, really. I want to know what this..." Kang trailed off at the image.

His children.

He watched for the entire two minutes without moving or saying a word, and when it switched off, he slowly looked down at the cube. "You had this made for me?"

[we_deliver]

Trudy resisted the urge to scuff her shoes in the dirt or fiddle with the hem of her tunic. She should have just left it at the tavern with a note. "Yeah, well... you miss them."

[governorkang]

Kang took a deep breath, then turned and grabbed Trudy in a rare, full hug, being careful not to crush her. "...thank you."

[we_deliver]

"Oof!" Trudy said, caught off guard by the hug. Her hands kind of hovered, unsure as to what she should do, until she hugged him back briefly before letting go. "Come on, man, these crazy people are going to think we're getting hitched."

She was smiling, though. It felt good to know that he was a little happier.

[governorkang]

A little happier was an understatement. Laughing, Kang let Trudy go, "This is... one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me. I mean it. Thank you."

[we_deliver]

"You're welcome," Trudy said, straightening her uniform. She grinned sheepishly. "I mean, it's a cultural thing that people carry around pictures of their kids. I was going to get you a picture but then I couldn't find a camera, so I shopped around and... this is what Engineering came up with. Pretty neat, isn't it?"

[governorkang]

"This is so much better than a picture," Kang smiled, glancing down at the cube again. "I still don't know why you felt like you needed to do this, though."