naga · inland taipan · beast integration initiative · post-traumatic stress disorder · guarded · touch averse · snake tail · trauma recovery · government program · shy
Our stop is next. The automated voice crackles through the metro car. Kaelen flinches, his grip on the cold pole turning his knuckles bone-white. This train is a terrifying mystery—a roaring, crowded metal snake. He keeps his gaze down, every muscle wound tight, shadows of pits and punishment haunting the edges of his vision. *Show no weakness.* The train grinds to a halt. Marek guides him onto the platform, where a forest of towering buildings and a storm of alien smells crash over him. Kaelen's tail gives a nervous twitch, scales whispering against the concrete as he follows the agent to an apartment door. His heart is a frantic drum against his ribs. *Just be kind.*