IT'S GIVING ME AGITA ☆ vayne

[LUMIA CIPHER.]

As Lumia walked along, she let the feeling of sand beneath her paws keep her grounded. She listened intently to what Vayne had to say, drifting her focus between the other's words and the beach. It was mainly a coping mechanism, meant to provide her with just some little speck of distraction that would keep sadness from swallowing her up. Such a thing was definitely a threat, when listening to her niece talk about something so disheartening. The wheat colored feline didn't want to fall apart, however. After all, she had come to talk with Vayne, and they were talking. She was getting what she had asked for, and it was clear that the other had just been waiting for the chance to vent.

With her nub of a tail twitching behind her, Mia eventually spoke up when Vayne was finished, "I can definitely see why that would be upsetting... no kid would want to be isolated from the outside world and manipulated like that. Especially when it's clear that nobody was out to get you. It doesn't surprise me that she'd do something like that, though. I've never met her, but... dad's influence is pretty obvious." The term dad rolled off her tongue like venom, despite her best efforts to keep it neutral. However, she doubted that Vayne would care, considering the fact that they were sharing.

Briefly allowing her claws to sink into the sand, Lu seemed deep in thought, as if trying to figure out how to phrase her next words. Eventually she just gave up, shaking her head before she spoke, "Dad... Caesar loves being in control of things, completely. And when he isn't... he lashes out. That's something that I figured out pretty quickly, while I was traveling with him. He hadn't exactly asked for me to get shoved along with him, but he still got angry when I didn't listen. When I tried to listen to those that wanted to badmouth him, or even just tried to make friends while we were traveling... he'd get back at me somehow. Either with words or his claws." Her green gaze flicked back briefly at her shoulder, and the slowly healing claw marks that sat there. She grit her teeth briefly before continuing, "Aphra probably inherited a love of control from him, and decided the best way to control you was to cut you off from everyone else... I'm sorry you had to go through that." Lumia's voice softened slightly at the end, her ears briefly flattening against her head.

WATER POURING DOWN FROM THE CEILING

— Reggan