Through the rest of his brief interaction with Kotori as the Fatalis man accepted him into Valta and exchanged pleasantries with him, Ciná smiled and nodded politely, agreeing to the spar that the alpha requested and promising to speak with him again once he was more settled. His thoughts weren't really focused there though. Instead, all he could think about was how Satira had pointed out how he had taken Ignis' ear and named the red brute by name. He kept combing back through their interactions, picking them apart and trying to remember if he had ever mentioned Ignis' name to her before–first or last. He knew for certain that he had been incredibly careful to avoid mentioning his last name in their very first meeting and he was almost certain that he had only referred to the attacker that had tried to take his tail as his father. While he couldn't be entirely sure of that given the drugs that Tira had given him, he was pretty sure and that meant that Tira somehow knew and that unsettled him.

Once Kotori walked away and they had begun to move further into the territory, he waited until he was certain the brown-furred male was out of ear shot before he let his smile drop with a concerned furrow of his brow and he stopped, using one paw to catch her shoulder and stop her. "How do you know it was Ignis?" he questioned uncertainly while still trying to figure out where he might have slipped up or what might have given it away. He had no reason to believe she knew Ignis or would have had any contact with him, but what if she did? It didn't seem like Ignis or whatever group he was with these days were welcome around here, but how could he know for sure? He bit his tongue before he could ask anything else, instead just waiting for her answer and internally kicking himself for whatever it was that had given it away.

"Cináed & Satira"

Their meeting was over and Cináed had officially been welcomed into Valta as its newest member! Her handsome hobo was now no longer homeless and instead was her roommate! Already Satira was planning on how she would rearrange her den—sorry, their den—once they got back to give him some space for his meager belongings. It wasn't much, but Tira knew the importance simply having a home to call his own could impact one's mental health. First, she supposed she should give him a basic tour of the lands so he knew where everything was, then she could show him to their dwelling at the top of the Sunset Falls. Although thanks to her incessant heat, Tira was already eagerly looking forward to getting Ciná back home so she could more intimately introduce him to their expansive bed. The little wolf-dog turned a smug smile up to the giant ruby and onyx dire wolf at her side, waiting until Kotori had gotten far enough away before she gave his thigh a cheeky smack with her fluffy tail, leaving little to the imagination of what she had in mind for him.

"Well, shall I show you around your new home?" the sable-furred fae offered, rising to her paws to begin to trek around Valta's lands. Before they could begin in proper, however, Ciná stopped her with one large paw to her petite shoulder, and when she turned a confused glance up his way she saw the look of concern painting Cináed's face. He was no longer smiling, no longer his confident and laidback self. It looked like something had really rattled him. Ciná demanded to know how she knew it was Ignis he had maimed, and Tira's head which had been cocked into a curious tilt straightened up again, her folded ears bobbing gently with the movement. Ah, so that's what had him so spooked! A knowing smirk crossed Tira's lips while she lifted a tiny speckled paw to pat his paw still holding onto her shoulder. "Ciná, you might be fucking my brains out on the regular now, but that doesn't mean I'm brainless. I'm a clever girl."

Satira wouldn't keep Ciná waiting for his answer, and she began to explain her cryptic response. "Back at the Hot Springs, you mentioned you'd lost your first pack because your father dissolved the pack. Well, up until Fenmyre, only two packs have disbanded: Abaven and Incendium. And I know you weren't a part of Abaven, which means you were an Incendium wolf, and your father was the alpha." Tira didn't think she needed to explain how she'd reached her correct conclusions any further, but she also knew Cináed wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed when he wasn't thinking clearly. "All it took was a bit of putting the pieces together. Ignis was the alpha of Incendium. He let the pack fall. That means Ignis is your idiot father who lost his pack. It also means he's the one you fought and maimed down in Auster. It's really all elementary, my dear Cináed!"

An airy giggle escaped the little hybrid girl, her fluffy curled tail wagging behind her as she enjoyed the moment of blowing Ciná's mind with her sleuthing skills. "Ignis also hasn't exactly been subtle about being in the pirates since he showed up and started a brawl at a public pack challenge, so it was easy to suss out that you maimed a pirate." Her smirk grew into a proper, toothy grin as she smiled up at the dire brute, giving him a playful toss of her head to bounce her floppy ears and shoot him a sly wink. "Aww, don't look so scared, Cinny! You should really be thanking me for being so clever! I just bought you a whole lotta credibility with Kotori and my family without outing you." Tira waited a moment, then waved a paw in front of her, gesturing to Ciná to speak. "This is the part where you say 'Thank you for making me look good in front of your powerful alpha uncle, Tira'. Or are manners not a language Praetors understand?"

"Cináed & Satira"

Ciná's frown deepened a bit with a hint of irritation as Tira patted his paw and smirked as she insisted that she wasn't brainless despite what he did to her on the regular now. He knew that she probably didn't know or understand why it bothered him so much, but the flippant way she addressed it irked him. He stopped himself from saying anything else though and instead forced himself to lower his paw and sit back on his haunches while she began to explain how she had come to that conclusion. Luckily it seemed that there was no real connection between her and his father, but she was far more in the know about pack events and the like than he had really planned for. As soon as she mentioned what he had said to her in the hot springs he understood where he had slipped up. If Tira hadn't known about Incindium's fall then he would have been in the clear, but she was obviously much more in touch with that kind of thing than he had given her credit for. He had been too caught up in his own emotions back at the hot springs and he had slipped up. That's all it seemed to be.

He let out a slow breath and made himself release the tension in his shoulders with a little shake of his head as she declared that it had all been elementary. She seemed awfully pleased with herself, but it really just told him how much he had allowed himself to relax and share with her. These were things that he had never told anyone. It was likely that the only other wolf currently in his life that knew who he was related to was Chimera and even with his former alpha he hadn't really discussed his past that much. That wasn't all Tira had to share with him though as she brought up how Ignis had started a brawl at a pack challenge and had made it well known that he was a part of the "pirates". Ciná had admittedly been quite removed from the going ons in Boreas while he was living on Fenmyre's island so he wasn't entirely sure who these pirates were, but context clues told him pretty easily that this was another pack that Satira's family at the very least took issue with. If they were the kind of wolves that Ignis would run with then he had no doubt that they were not the most savory of characters.

Tira grinned and tossed her floppy ears, clearly proud of herself and her investigative skills, and Ciná gave her a doubtful look as she mentioned how she had bought him lots of credibility with his knew alpha without giving away who he was related to. He sighed again as he tried to gather his thoughts and figure out if there was any damage control he needed to do, but before he could come to any kind of conclusion on that Tira gestured and told him he should thank her for making him look good in front of Kotori and made a poking remark about manners not being a language that Praetors understand. He bristled a bit and shot back firmly, "I am not a Praetor." His ears flicked back and he glanced away uncomfortably, hating that he had to be so defensive over something that he had never had control over. He hadn't asked to be Ignis' son, he hadn't asked to be a member of this family that everyone hated and no one trusted. He rubbed a paw over his face and sighed, giving his head a shake before he brought his golden gaze back to her again.

"Sorry," he muttered, glancing down at the ground between them. "It's been over two years since I left them and I've done everything I can to distance myself from them. You're the only one that's called me by that name in years... I'm just Cináed. Nothing else. I disowned my father... not that he was ever much of one. I want nothing to do with any of them–even if it's credit for ripping off Ignis' ear." There was a pause as he gathered his thoughts and his ears flicked back again. This was not at all how he wanted his first day officially living here to go. He didn't want these ghosts to keep following him everywhere he went, but he didn't know how to get away from them without trying to leave Boreas and Auster entirely. "Thank you for trying to make me look good in front of your uncle," he finally added as he began to relax again, bringing his gaze back to hers. "I know you didn't mean anything malicious by it, I just... I didn't realize you knew and it caught me off guard."

"Cináed & Satira"

The bristly, defensive nature Cináed took on as she began to explain how she made the connections of who he was caught Satira way off guard. She hadn't expected such a volatile reaction from him around something as basic as knowing who he was. It did make her begin to question if she really knew as much about Ciná as she thought she did. For one, this unexpected anger was not something she had ever seen him display before. What would he behave like when he was truly angered? He didn't scare Tira, but it sure as hell made her much more wary of him, especially when he glared at her and snapped back that he was not a Praetor. Tira recoiled a bit, but remained where she was, fixing him with her own narrowed gaze as her confident smile slipped from her face. "Okay, jeez. Settle down, testy..." she muttered in reply, folded over ears turning back a smidge. Gods, if he got this defensive over his family, what else would he get triggered over? Satira watched the giant red brute while he composed himself again, remaining quiet and giving him the space he needed while he settled himself down again. When he looked back up at her, his golden eyes would not find fear, but he would definitely see the apprehension she looked at him with. Her walls were back up again.

Ciná apologized, but Tira said nothing in response. She hadn't decided if she was going to accept it yet or not. She did permit him to speak and explain himself, however, listening while he told her how he'd spend two years trying to distance himself from his toxic family. It was why he hadn't given her his full name when she'd asked him for it during their first meeting, or why he never explained where he had come from or who his family was. She understood, but that didn't really make it any better. Her family life had been shit too, but she didn't get upset when it was brought up. She had long since accepted that her family was seven flavors of fucked up and had come to terms with knowing that was just how things were. Granted, she wasn't considered a social pariah because of her family, so she couldn't fully understand where Ciná was coming from. Maybe that was for the best. Eventually he did thank her for standing up for him, but by now the mood had been soured. Tira was, for better or for worse, her mother's daughter, and that meant she was stubborn and headstrong. Forgiveness did not come easily from her. "Don't mention it," she remarked, her voice passive and indifferent as she turned her gaze to look out over the land instead of at him. "Just don't make me regret it. My family isn't very big on the whole second chances thing."

Satira fell quiet for a few moments, brooding on her own thoughts and family. "Y'know, you're not the only one with a messed up family dynamic. I get why you're trying to hide that part of you, but you know it's never going to go away, right? Not until everyone who knows who you really are is dead." It was a grim matter of fact, but it was the truth. Ciná could do all he wanted to try and hide his past, but all it would take was his father waltzing up to the pack borders and calling him out to undo all of his efforts. Ciná was living in a house of cards praying that it didn't collapse around him. Tira almost felt bad for the brute. Rising to her paws, Satira finally looked back up to Ciná, a small frown tugging at her lips while she looked him in the eye. "You know that I know now, so you have a choice to make, Ciná. You can either stay and trust that I wouldn't use this to hurt you, or you can leave and try to cover your tracks to protect yourself." Staying would require Cináed to put all of his trust in Satira and believe that she'd never use this information against him. This was an exercise in trust—the only question was whether he trusted her or not. Still frowning, Tira gave a nudge of her head back into the wild lands of Boreas. "If you wanna go, I'll come up with some excuse for my uncle so he doesn't start asking questions."

"Cináed & Satira"

Cina's brow furrowed a bit as Tira pointed out how no matter how much he tired to hide his lineage it was never going to go away. Of course he knew that to be a fact, but it wasn't something he liked to think about. Maybe that was one reason why he had enjoyed living in Fenmyre so much. They had been secluded on the island and he had been free to live there with Chimera and his family without any kind of recognition or judgement. However, even that had run its course when Ignis suddenly found him on the land bridge. He tried not to think about the fact that he had been looking for Tira at the time when he had gotten into that fight with Ignis. Given their current conversation it felt a little bit too much like fate was forcing him to face what he had been running from and that wasn't something he was prepared to fully process right now. He knew he wasn't the only one with a fucked up family, but his was certainly the worst he had encountered and the more he could do to separate himself and make his own place in this world the more comfortable he would be.

He didn't respond right away, still reeling a bit from suddenly being forced to share this side of himself he hadn't been ready to address, but when Tira gave him an ultimatum over whether or not he wanted to stay now that he knew that she knew it was easier for him to respond. Trust wasn't something that came easy to him. Everyone in his life until he met Chimera had betrayed him in some way and it had been far easier to keep everyone well outside that outer persona that he created. It was the reason he had been the way he was when they first met. But Tira challenged him in a way no one else really had and if he was going to have anyone know his secrets he would rather it be her. "No. I don't want to leave," he told her as he started to get to his paws and looked to her apologetically. "I know you don't intend to hurt me. If you did you would have outed me to Kotori already. And I know you're right, I know I can't run from it forever, but I'm just... I'm not ready for that yet. I just want to be me and not have to think about what I came from while trying to make a new life for myself for the third time." His ears flicked back and he gave her a pleading glance. He wasn't the kind of wolf to apologize or ask for help, but Tira had already seen right through his outer shell on more than one occasion at this point so he wasn't sure if there was even a point in trying to piece that bravado back together just yet. "Can we just pretend this didn't happen for now and revisit it later? Please?"

"Cináed & Satira"

Although she still wasn't exactly happy with how this situation had turned about in mood, Satira wasn't one to hold onto bitterness for the sake of being vengeful either. So when Cináed eventually began to simmer down and relax enough to begin making his apologies, she took it with a grain of salt, but also decided to let it all go. She still held her hard gaze on him while he explained his emotions away, but relented when he asked if they could pretend this conversation didn't happen and come back to it later. The little wolf-dog pursed her lips, staring with scrutiny up at the giant dire wolf that dwarfed her, but did concede with a sigh and a nod of her head that bounced her ears somewhat. "Yeah, sure. I don't wanna start things off on a bad paw if you still plan on being my roommate and all," she said, getting to her paws as well and giving her fluffy, downy coat a bit of a tousle. "But you should really stop thinking of yourself as a victim, Ciná. Yeah, your dad's fucked in the head, but just because he did you wrong doesn't mean you can't use him to make yourself look better. I mean, it's the least he could do for being a shit father, right? Let you use his failures to boost yourself up. You don't even have to admit family connection when you talk about ripping his ear off."

Satira gave Ciná a reassuring smirk and lifted a speckled paw to playfully jab at his foreleg. "You don't have to admit anything to anybody, but you might as well make yourself look more badass if it gets you further in life, right?" she pointed out with a roguish smirk. "Now c'mon, stop being such a self-loathing sad sack and let's show you around your new home." Tira started to lead the way to give Ciná the grand tour of Valta. There were quite a number of places to see, and of course she was eager to get him back to their den so he could get settled in and she could give him a real welcome home celebration to help break in the den together.

"Cináed & Satira"