Act Natural

“Nice place.” He was surprisingly polite for an intruder, wiping his feet on the doormat before stepping into the kitchen. “Hey there, I’m Neil. I’m guessing you’re Glenn’s kid.” He made his way to Tay. “Well, ain’t she a looker. Spit of her pa in the best ways.” Lore took the opportunity Neil was affording them to button their shirt and lock down their arm. “Looks like I just missed the kettle.” His smile faltered for a moment before regaining its strength. “Never mind.” He was already filling the kettle before Lore or Tay could stop him.
Lore looked to Tay, eyes wide in confusion with a twinge of fear before shouting at her in Welsh. “Go get your mother. I need help.” Tay looked back at them confused and replayed the command in her head before running off to find Char.
“So, you just move here from… Wales was it?”
“Yeah. I got offered a promotion and with the economy… We couldn’t say no.” Despite their limited knowledge of this time period, they had been taught that the economy was always a good excuse for anything on Earth.
“Times have been tough. Where you working? Anywhere interesting?” He had been prepared for this, pulling a coffee filter complete with already crushed beans from his jacket.
“I’m with the government. Afraid I can’t tell you any-more.”
He dropped the filter over his mug and held his hands up. “Or you’ll have to kill me?” For a moment, his feigned fear startled Lore but the accompanying laughter reassured them. “Say no more. I spent a few years with the CIA. Left after the incident. I work nights at the bar down the street. You should come some time.” He went back to his coffee.
Tay re-entered the room, Char in tow. Char gave a slight jump as she saw a rather large man in their kitchen making himself at home. Lore sidled their way around him and proceeded to explain the situation. “This is Neil. He’s apparently our neighbour and is under the impression that we’re from Wales.”
“I wondered why Tay said you were speaking some form of Eastern Quatarri. Why’s he here?” Char took the hint responding in Welsh.
“He’s welcoming us. All he knows is that we’re married. Oh and he worked out that Tay’s our kid faster than either of us did. So there’s that.” Char buried her face in her hands.
“Hi there.” She had been aiming for Wales but her accent landed somewhere closer to Yorkshire. “Charlotte.” She held out her hand. He stood, pulled her in closer and gave her a hug.
“Welcome to the neighbourhood! Neil but I’m guessing Glenn filled you in on that.”
“Glenn? Glenn… Oh Llên! Yes. Sorry!” Char shot a glance at Lore. “So I’m guessing there’s something other than the warm welcome that you wanted to talk about.”
“You read my mind. Us folks round here have a few rules and I get the pleasure of going through them with you.” He seemed genuinely excited to be discussing rules. “First off, let’s get you all sat down and comfortable.” They all obliged, looking at the mountain of man and muscle ordering them about. “How old are you sweetie?” His eyes fixed on Tay.
“I’m… Seventeen. Eighteen soon though.” Lore looked at her then back to Neil.
“Well, normally you’d have to go by the kids rules but since you’re only a few months off, we’ll count you as an adult.” He marked the exception in his book. “Right, we try keep things quiet around here so we say no parties or loud music after nine unless the whole cul-de-sac’s invited.” He scanned through the list looking for the next major rule. There was a vibrating coming from his end of the table. “No cars so parking rules aren’t necessary… Here we are, the neighbourhood watch asks that while you’re in our little corner, unless you’re at home, we speak in English. No offence to you, it’s just for safety reasons.” He checked his phone then pulled three sheets from his bookbinder. “The rest of the rules are here. I’m really sorry, I’ve got to dash. Thanks for the coffee and… Welcome to the Neighbourhood!” And as unexpectedly as he had arrived, he left.
“Well, glad that’s over.” Lore got up and put Neil’s mug in the sink. “I guess I should leave my arm for now, just in case.”
“Since when did you start speaking Welsh?” Char looked to Tay who shrugged her shoulders.
“We had to learn at least three Earth Languages as part of our training. I speak English, Welsh and German.”
“Funny. You happened to choose the two languages that the Quatarrians inspired.”
“That’s why it sounded familiar!” Tay nearly fell out of her chair as she swung on its hind legs. “Early Quatarrian travellers came to Earth and tried to teach the natives our languages. They were perceived as gods by the Germanic tribes and the Welsh nearly killed them. Each group took half of our language and made it their own.”
“Nice to know.” Lore grabbed the sponge and began rinsing the mug. “Anything else in those rules we need to be wary of?”
Char skimmed the first page while Tay took the second. “Not really. Just petty grievances like: ‘Be sure to maintain your bushes properly. An improperly trimmed hedge could lead to narrower pathways.’ Wow…”
“This may be a problem…” Tay pointed to the corners of the pages.
“What is it?” Lore broke their neck trying to wash up and look at the others.
“It’s not the rules we have to worry about. It’s the people enforcing them.” Char got up and took one of the pages to Lore. They immediately put the mug back in the sink when they saw what they had been talking about. “Did you know about this?”
“Hadn’t a clue. I don’t actually remember buying this place, only setting it up.” Lore checked the logo once again. “Do you reckon he knows or do you think he thinks we’re just a normal family?”
“Only one way to find out and I’m not so keen.” Tay sipped at her tea.
“Well, I had a feeling we’d run into The Guild at some point, being on Earth and all but not this soon, and certainly not here.” Realisation set in. If white could get whiter it would have, Lore’s face was now completely devoid of colour. “Disclosure time. I know where Alodrass is and none of us are going to like it.” Lore slumped to the floor. Training Days.