The journey back to Elysium had been, well, uneventful. After the coyote attack that was. But you know, that could be their little secret. Not that Fia had told Stolas to keep his mouth shut about it. And honestly Fia's parents may not have worried about how capable she was to defend herself now. She was a part of them after all.

It was well past dark by the time they made it over Elysium borders. Fia didn't even make a call for anyone to announce their presence. She didn't think it was needed. They passed over the land bridge to make it over the island, Fia being considerate in her pace and glances over to Stolas to make sure he was keeping up okay. At least keeping his mind focused on getting back to her family den, they could explore more later. Or tomorrow. She was sure he was tired from the journey.

She stopped before making their way up the trail to their family den, turning to look at him and pausing for a few seconds. She wasn't really sure what she should say to him, if anything at all. She had never brought a boy home before, she had never even really showed interest in boys. And while she still saw Stolas as a friend, her growing adolescent mind went back and forth on the emotions she was feeling about him. "Uh, good luck." She giggled humorously at him. "You should be fine." Stolas was a distinguished young man at least. She was positive he at least wouldn't offend either of her parents. Her father though had that very typical Daddy's little girl complex so, she was sure he may have been a little intimidating. Oh well, time to rip the band aid off she supposed.

Making their way up the rest of the trail she entered the den to where her parents were waiting, maybe Manea getting the last bits of dinner set out just in time for them to arrive. "Hi mom." She spoke quietly, approaching her and gently pushing her cheek against her mother's before making her way to her father and giving him a tiny kiss on his cheek. She'd take a seat and gesture for Stolas to sit beside her, "This is my friend, Stolas." It may have been customary for him to actually greet her parents before making himself comfortable, but either way she felt like she was ready to get dinner over with now.

"Fiametta"

After the excitement of their unexpected coyote brawl earlier in the day, Stolas found himself quite thankful that the trip back to Elysium had been mostly uneventful. One attempt at being eaten alive had been enough, thank you very much! The two wolves' traveling had taken up most of the day, and by the time they crossed into Elysian lands it was already past dusk and well on into nighttime. The days were slowly getting longer as winter came to an end, but the nights still outlasted the days. The Klein lad did find it peculiar that Fiametta didn't bother to announce her presence or the arrival of a guest to anyone as they set off across the land bridge, but perhaps she had far more freedoms in Elysium than he did in Ashen. It wasn't a preposterous thought, he supposed, just unexpected.

Stolas crossed the land bridge at Fia's side, watching the dark ocean around them in fascination. Her home reminded him of the archipelago Ashen had owned, but Alias was massively bigger than any of the smaller islands that had once been his home! Stolas gawked at the towering forest of pine trees, the clear starry heavens overhead, the bands of aurora borealis that could be seen with how close to the north they were. Alias Island was beautiful, and he understood why Elysium had chosen to claim these lands as their home. He followed his friend every step of the way up to the mountain path that led into the high peaks of the mountain range, pausing only when she did. Stolas cast a curious glance to Fia. She suddenly looked a bit perplexed, like she had something to say but didn't know how to say it.

Eventually, when she did speak, it was to wish him luck and reassure him that he'd be fine. That certainly caught Stolas off guard! He blinked, gray eyes widening and mouth dropping open. "I should be fine? Fine against what?" he asked with a bit of concern growing in his voice. Fia didn't say any more though, simply setting up off the path. Stolas balked, but followed her all the same, suddenly wondering what he was getting himself into. That dread and curiosity was answered as they reached the Mendacium family den, the fire-marked teen leading him inside, where he was met with two massive dire wolves. One was a magnificent swirl of violet and black fur, and the other was so dark he almost blended into the shadows, only his blazing red markings making him noticeable. Stolas figured out by the matching marking between sire and daughter that these were Fia's parents. His suspicions were further confirmed when Fiametta greeted each adult with some affection and their names. Oh boy, it was time to meet the parents.

Swallowing back his nervousness, Stolas mentally recited all of his decorum lessons that his fathers had painstakingly taught him while trying not to panic. Fia gestured for him to sit, and so he came over to sit beside her, smiling to both Manea and Alastor while dipping his head respectfully to them both. "Hello Ma'am, Sir. I'm Stolas Klein-Destruction, from Ashen. It's nice to meet you both," he said when Fia introduced him, looking between the alpha couple while trying to hide his nervousness. "Uh, can I help you with set the table or put anything out?"

"Stolas"

As was her usual habit and tradition, Manea had begun setting out their family meal for herself, Alastor, and Fia. Mariah and Malico were already tucked into bed, the young pups still getting a far earlier bedtime than the rest of the family, and she had begun treating Saracyn and Avacyn's presence as a pleasant surprise rather than something she expected. Perhaps one day she would have to start expecting the same from Fia, but for now her daughter had made a deal to come to dinner each night and she was certainly going to hold onto that for as long as she could. Her children were growing up so fast and sometimes she wished she could just slow down time.

She was just about done getting their dinner prepped with Alastor when Fia finally arrived. She was just about to comment on how late it was and how she had nearly started dinner without her–but then she glanced past her daughter and spotted the surprised looking black and red boy that was following her. Surprise of her own crossed her features and she gave Alastor a quick glance as a little grin pulled at her lips. Well well, their little Fia had decided to finally bring the boy she had told her about to visit. "Hello, dear," she greeted in return as Fia came to press her cheek to hers before moving on to her father. Eventually she got around to introducing her friend Stolas, the poor lad looking shell shocked and clearly not prepped at all for meeting her parents.

Manea chuckled to herself as Stolas followed up with an introduction of his own, his family name tipping her off right away that her initial suspicions that was a relative of some sort to Venom had been correct. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Stolas. Isn't it, dear?" she replied, giving her husband a quick glance as a quiet warning to be on his best behavior. At the very least the star-speckled young man seemed incredibly polite–not that she had expected anything less from someone that came from Vanom's line. She waved away his offer of help, replying, "No no, go ahead and have a seat. Everything is just about ready." She started bringing out portions of food then, passing them around to the others before she settled in with her own.

"Manea Mendacium"

The smell of roasting meats wafted past the dire brute's nose, making his mouth water as he tended to the grilling of their dinner. For all his strange talents, Alastor had never considered himself a chef before, but Manea always seemed to enjoy his cooking, so he kept at it, finding various tasty herbs and spices with which to grill their meats and seafood with. As he watched the food sizzling above an open fire, Alastor would turn the food over via the sticks they were impaled on, making sure no side got too charred while Manea went about setting the rest of their dinner out. All they needed was their daughter's company and they would be ready to eat!

As if on cue, the sound of paws entering the den followed by Fiametta's voice called out to them. Alastor immediately broke into a smile, glancing over his shoulder to his fire-marked girl who so closely mirrored her sire—his little mini-me. "Hello, darling!" he cheerfully greeted Fia when she came over to him, the giant sized wolf craning his neck down so she could reach his cheek easier to bestow her kiss to him. It was only once Fia verbally mentioned a friend with her that Al realized there was a fourth present in their den. Turning around fully, he spotted the dark-coated boy, looking to be about Fia's age, seated beside her. "Oh goodie! You brought dessert home!" teased the dark dire wolf with a hint of demented humor, flashing a wide, tooth-filled grin to Stolas. "I do hope he's not as chewy as the last one!"

Alastor punctuated his dark jokes with his usual chipper laugh, going back to the fire to retrieve the cuts of meat from over the fire. Thankfully he had over prepared the amount of food they'd need, and they had extra to spare. Carrying the kabob sticks over to the dinner table, Alastor laid the seasoned and roasted meat out amongst the other assortment of sides Manea had set out. Stolas' polite greeting and offer to help was met with an amused chortle from Alastor, his wide grin ever present on his face. "Well now, a Klein boy! You're lucky, lad, we don't eat Kleins here. Manea says it gets too messy turning allies into meals." Was he trying to unnerve and disturb the newcomer? No, not really. But he couldn't resist torturing Fia's friend just a bit and maybe doing the dad thing of embarrassing his middling daughter a little bit as well.

"Alastor Mendacium"

She could be amused by how kind and a little outgoing Stolas was as he introduced himself. But as amusing as it was, she did find it a bit charming and cute. Silly. She just looked over at him with a near blush as he was focused on making his stance with her parents. Oblivious, or maybe not so much, to how she was feeling about him in this moment.

Her tongue made a quiet click though as her father had made a joke about chewing on him. Rolling her eyes and waving her paw she sounded a bit of a dramatic sigh, "Ugh, dad, please." She wasn't overly abrasive or defensive of his own interaction. She could expect it from him. A usual encounter for any dad to a boy his daughter brought home, but for her father? Definitely.  "Don't listen to him. He's mostly not serious." She stated almost dismissively to Stolas. Al wouldn't have buried him in the backyard without good reason. She thought. Though the stronger Stolas held against her parents the more she could admire him. Hopefully he was becoming a strong man because honestly that wouldn't fair well in this family.

With a raised and little annoyed brow to her mother, Fia pointed at her father as if Manea could get him to cut it down some. Though she knew at heart it wouldn't do much. And she supposed she could let her dad have a little fun at Stolas' expense.

"Fiametta"

Neither of Fiametta's parents seemed a bit surprised at the sudden appearance of a strange boy in their home. Fiametta must have told them ahead of time that he was coming, which of course made sense, since she would have had to ask their permission to have him over. Her violet dam, which her father would eventually introduce as Manea, welcomed him into their home and politely declined his offer for help. He nodded his head to her with a well mannered smile, then turned fearful eyes towards Fia's hulking black and crimson sire as he teased and made jokes about the Klein prince being their dessert du jour. Fortunately, both Fia and Manea were quick to snap back at him and cut short her father's more-than-slightly intimidating jests. Fia tried to reassure him that her father was mostly not serious, getting a chuckle from Stolas. "Oh don't worry, I kinda didn't figure he- wait... What do you mean mostly not serious?" he asked with concerned eyes turning to Fia for reassurance that his life wasn't actually in danger.

When Alastor began to set the food out for them making another joke about how Manea discouraged the eating of allies, Stolas gave a bit of a nervous chuckle and a smile, still wanting to make a good impression to his friend's parents while also trying to suss out if he really needed to be afraid. "That's good. I wouldn't make very good dessert anyway. I'm pretty lean," he remarked, gesturing down at his athletic build made up mostly of muscle with a disappointing lack of fat that a cannibal would desire. Graphite eyes dropped to the spread of food before them, and the smells rising up made the boy's mouth water. Everything looked so good! But as a guest, he would wait until his hosts had been seated and served themselves first. His parents had been very deliberate with their manners and decorum lessons. What sort of Klein would he be if he behaved like a heathen?

"Stolas"

Manea had to keep herself from laughing at Alastor's humorous half-threats toward Stolas. She had a smilier humor as her husband–which was probably one of the reasons they had meshed so well and so quickly–but she saw her daughter's pleading look of exasperation and their guest's slightly fearful look at the thought of becoming desert for the huge dire wolf that was her husband. "Alastor, behave," she said with a quiet chuckle as she nudged his shoulder with her own, giving him a mostly teasing glare of warning before she went back to preparing their meal. At the very least it seemed that Stolas was able to take a joke as he commented about how he wouldn't make for a good dessert anyway.

With their meal assembled, Manea went to take her place around the table and she gestured with a wave of her paw for everyone to dig in. She took a couple of bites of food, humming happily as she tasted a bite of Alastor's kababs. "You get better and better at these every time you make them," she commented with a grin to Alastor before she turned her attention back to Fia and Stolas that were sitting across from them. "So, how did you and Fia meet, Stolas?" she asked curiously, glancing between the two young wolves. While she had known about him from Fia's request for him to visit, she didn't know much about him or how he had come to befriend their mostly independent and aloof daughter.

"Manea Mendacium"

Alastor was quite pleased with his own jokes—what sort of dad wasn't?—and had found himself quite the comedian in the moment, especially when he caught Manea smiling and stifling her giggles. The giant wolf lived to bring his family happiness, and making them laugh made him feel accomplished in that task. But when Manea nudged his shoulder and instructed him to behave himself, he shot an overly dramatic look of betrayal at his wife. A black paw clasped over his chest with a silent gasp, making a show of reeling back like he'd been struck by her comedic treachery. Surely this moment had to go down in history of greatest betrayals of all time! Julius Caesar and his senators, Jesus and Judas, now Alastor and Manea. Oh, he would remember this... and when he got her alone tonight... he would give her the most merciless tickle war of her life.

Despite his wounded pride, Stolas was quick to quip back with him, commenting on how he wouldn't make for a good dessert with how lean he was. Alastor beamed at the Klein boy with a wide, tooth-filled smile and glistening eyes. An ally that recognized his comedic genius! Alastor gave a barking laugh to Stolas' quick wit, shooting his wife a smug smirk as if to say "See? I was funny!" He was liking this new boy already. He'd just better not have any untoward ideas about his little girl... Dinner began proper then, and as everyone helped themselves to the food and Manea complimented his cooking, Alastor shot his mate a proud grin. "Thank you, my darling! It's my job to make sure you stay full and satisfied, after all!" With no acknowledgement made to his overt double entendre, Alastor proceeded to dig into his own meal, chowing down happily on the roasted meats while Manea started conversation up with the kids. Alastor did have to admit, he was also curious how his homebody of a teenage girl found herself a friend over in Ashen.

"Alastor Mendacium"