FIGHT TO THE FINISH! || Entrance Ritual

[daniel]

Danny jumped a little bit when Lumia joined the duo, now trio, with all the energy she always expressed. He hadn't heard her coming, probably due to his own exhaustion, but there she was, voicing her concern in an endearing scolding. A tiny laugh escaped him, amused by the almost maternal attitude the other Cipher girl had, despite them all being around the same age. "Sounds like you're getting grounded." He joked, aiming to lightly thunk Lumia on the back with his tail. He'd already expressed [i]his relief over the safe-ish return of the fellow Privateer, so didn't feel the need to do so again, besides, he didn't want to come off as too obvious. "I'm always worried."

He wasn't sure what he was expecting as the answer to his question, perhaps not actually expecting anything, but one thing was for sure, he was not expecting nor prepared for the reality. Danny blinked without another word, as if he was either processing the answer or refused to believe it, it wasn't quite clear which direction his brain was taking when his face had yet to betray any emotion. "Aphra." He repeated, voice quivering slightly towards the end of the word, the name, but tone otherwise flat, flat in a way it shouldn't have been. Danny was always quiet, that was just a fact generally well known by now, but his voice was never dull or laced with any negativity or malice. Never had been, not even when he was being actively ripped apart by Caesar or when he had to discuss handing off the corpse of his mother to Roan for preparation and burial. But then again, neither of those were anger inducing. Just fear, or misery or something of the like.

Danny closed his eyes, inhaling sharply as he felt his own heart beat roar in his ears, picking up speed until he felt dizzy. Adrenaline, surely, something that reacted differently with how his brain was wired, or perhaps just too strongly. What he wouldn't do, under any circumstance and no matter what caused his stomach to twist in his abdomen, was get enraged before Vayne. Even though something raged away in his soul and echoed back the desire to skin Aphra Cipher alive. The conversation they'd had about the woman was still quite vivid in his head, make no mistake, the damage that had been done from her...less than adequate parenting broke his heart. But to think she would return after so long and bring physical harm to Vayne enraged him. Which of course was an emotion he was not used to, and did not know how to respond to. It was the only thing to nearly override his anxiety. His jaw was clenched shut, corners of his mouth twitching until the contrasting white of his sharp teeth were visible about halfway. "Don't get mad, don't get vicious, don't freak her out. But i'll kill that bitch. I'll make Roxanne look like a saint."

Then he groaned, only a hint of the growl he was trying to contain edged his reaction, visceral rage morphing into sympathy and misery at the idea of what would happen should Aphra ever succeed. He'd rather not live a life without his closest friend, it didn't feel natural and it didn't feel complete by now. "Oh, Vayne..." Danny's shoulders sank, one of which popped gently after the tension he didn't realize he was putting on them was finally relieved, attempting to gingerly drag his tongue over her injured ear, hopefully to clean off the drying and what little fresh blood there was. "The f-face heals quickly, trust me." He slid his paw over his own face, where the long scratches that Caesar left used to be, a sheepish but genuine smile replacing the previous angry twitching completely. Perhaps it was better to be lighthearted for both their sakes, and for poor Lumia too, wouldn't want to drag her down too, huh? Not to mention, extreme emotion lead to anxiety attacks, and Vayne had it bad enough right about now. "You're alright, don't worry. i, uh...[i]we'll protect you, she'll have to get through us, yeah, Lulu?" A nervous laugh to offset the beating against his sternum, though not anger this time. "I-I can go get Roan if it hurts any."

[glow=black,2,300]— ❤ —[/glow]