"Sorry," he says, lifting his hands, palms open. "I'm not supposed to lie, and I suck at the nice social ones until I know people better."

Which is saying once he knows what people need to not here, he can sort of navigate it.

"The music's also new to me." He lets his hands drop, and his tail sways behind him, held low and easy for the time being. "I can carry it too. Have you ever heard of transgates? Or portals? We can use those to get to the music carriage faster."