It's The Place To Be

When her paw laid gently down on his own, it was probably the first time he realized the sense of care she had for him. Easily he could just say it was the way she was, he was the same. But he felt something shift in him as she made contact with him. Saying she was sorry for the loss. He wasn't quite sure what to say next.

The silence that followed wasn't awkward, but he was feeling some kind of tension between himself and her. A good tension, like maybe he should reach back to her. But he didn't. Instead keeping his soft gaze and warm smile in her direction or sometimes on the waters and grasses in front of them.

He chuckled a bit as she had asked what his mother was like, maybe not the best response when talking about someone who died. But maybe that was show for how much he saw a greatness in her. Kept to the good about her. "Very unlikeable." He humored, but turned just a tad more serious for his next word, "Misunderstood." Viper wasn't an easy woman to explain, and he was so young when she had died. He wondered how he would view her today as a grown adult or how she may have changed in time. If she ever would have. "She wasn't a mother." Mariah may have thought it was noble of Cerberus to be so open about something so vulnerable, but it was easy for him to be comfortable around her. They didn't know each other too entirely well, but he trusted her. "Siren is who raised me." There was never a time Cerberus felt like he was missing something when Viper was gone. He was with Siren pretty much since his birth and saw Albion and Scylla as if they were his littermates. It's probably why family was so important to him. He could have been outcast, but he was part of their family like he was never anyone else's. Siren did well by him.

His gaze returned more intensely back to hers as he had finished whatever he could say about Viper. It wasn't much but at least he could remember she was real. Everyone aside from his father could probably forget she ever existed. It did hurt just a twinge, but he could forgive them. "Mariah," he lifted his paw to carefully caress over her back and shoulder, "Thank you for asking."

"Cerberus"