I Think We're Close Enough

Relm didn't so much as give any sort of reaction beyond a turn of her head when he approached, not that he had expected her to. The girl was cool at all times; nothing fazed her. Alastor kept black eyes turned out over the silver surface of the placid lake until Relm began to speak, answering his question. She spoke the name of her father, then hesitated, then finished by telling him Kefka had killed her mother Agria here. The dark brute gave little reaction, jaw tight while he just stared at the lake. He hadn't known Kefka had a mate, or that he'd murdered her out here. It must have been before he met the clown man when he came to join Lurid, but Relm had been so young then. What could have transpired to cause a cold and calculated murder of his own daughter's mother? "Why did he do that?" he asked simply, as neutrally as if he were discussing the weather and not the killing of her mother.

There was quiet between them for a beat afterwards, but it didn't feel uncomfortable to be around her like it had been before. They'd fought out the awkwardness, released all the bottled up feelings so they could coexist. Like her, Alastor was not good with emotions. He knew love from Manea and his children. He knew anger and hatred like the back of his paw. But everything in between those two polar extremes was a difficult enigma for him. Some things he didn't feel right, others he didn't feel at all. Talking about them was even harder. After some time, Relm admitted that she couldn't look at herself without seeing Kefka. At that, Alastor slowly turned his head a few degrees to peer down at her. Aside from the matching coloration and facial markings, he didn't see any of the fucker in her. Not in her posture, not in her behavior, not behind her pale gray eyes.

Alastor didn't respond right away. Instead, the dire brute rose to his paws and stepped closer to the water, walking until the cool liquid flowed over his toes. He gazed down into the clear water, staring at his reflection rippling in the darkness. "My father abused my siblings and I from the day we were born. He beat my brothers and I mercilessly and he raped my sisters violently. One by one, he killed them until I was the last one left." Alastor's words were hard and terse, and the strain in his voice betrayed how difficult it was for him to talk about his history with Relm. Besides Manea and Lurid, no other soul alive knew where Alastor had come from, what had made him the way he was. Now Relm would know as well. "He was a monster. After I killed him, every time I'd look at my reflection, I kept waiting to see that same monster looking back." Alastor's expression hardened the longer he gazed at himself in the water, eyeing the fresh scars over his left eye and cheek. Finally, he turned back to face Relm, gazing at her illuminated by the silver moonlight.

"Do you think I'm a monster?" he asked, eyes as dark as onyx searching her face while he waited for her response.


"Alastor"