what a strange being you are / private

[Luca]

Luca wouldn't consider himself raised well. His father had surely tried, but he didn't have much time to ingrain his policies into Luca before the child was taken away to live with the church. Perhaps if his mother had been able to gather enough resources, he would have been able to stay with his family and grow into those "honorable men" that his father was always talking about, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. All his father managed to do was plant the seeds of his son's insecurity. He had criticised Luca's soft body, his bad work ethic, his femininity, all things that the canine still felt insecure about now. His mother had never done anything to help; he had received his cowardice from somewhere, after all. At least his father hadn't been outwardly cruel to him though. He had never raised a paw against Luca nor any other member of his family, and for that the hellhound could be thankful. For that and that only.

The church was worse, far worse. Even the brief mention of it before made him feel a little sick. He swallowed thickly and tried to focus on Junji, allowing the pale feline to distract him from some of his more disturbing thoughts. The concerned glance would be met with a smile, one that melted from his face as soon as the attention was back on his wounds. He honed in on the sting of herbs against raw flesh, his eyes narrowing slightly with concentration. Soon the rush of fear would pass, it always did, it wasn't a rare event for Luca to misjudge how well he was dealing with things and send himself into a panic.

The half-angel's presence definitely helped him with calming down. As he listening to Junji speak, his heart rate slowed until it reached its usual rhythm. Growing up alone sounded sad. Luca hated being alone, the one thing he missed from his early years was the constant bustle of a full household, knowing that he could always count on his brothers (and single sister) for entertainment or advice. The feline before him didn't seem all that upset though, and Luca continued to watch him curiously as he spoke. Junji's reason for liking storms was valid, he supposed, although he couldn't quite agree. Perhaps he might have been able to like them if it weren't for the thunder and lighting, but the sudden loud noises and the bright lights didn't mix well with Luca's already fragile mental state. It made him jumpy and on edge, and he hated people seeing him like that.

Luca noticed Junji step back, and glanced down at his herb-coated wounds. He blinked and looked back up at the sweet feline, already missing the contact between them. He managed to smile back though, allowing his body to relax now that he wasn't in such close proximity. He followed Junji's gaze out towards the ocean, staring out into the rolling waves. He had only been there for about a month or so, but he had to agree. "Ah... yeah," he said quietly. He glanced at the feline beside him, a smile dancing across his lips. "Not as lovely as you though," he added, the faintest hints of a teasing laugh lacing his words.