Léan wheeled himself in, then shifted. He studied all of the buttons, not that familiar with English numbers, and then hesitantly reached his arm out. Thankfully, he managed to press the correct button, for the fifth floor.

The elevator got them to the fifth floor quickly, and Glory held the doors open again so Léan could go out first. She knew exactly where her mother's apartment was, and she walked straight towards it. When she got to the door marked 5G, though, she hesitated.

Léan followed her, wordlessly, until they reached the door. He saw her falter. He knew she might have been trying to talk herself out of it. Quietly, he reached his arm out and knocked on the door for her.

Glory looked at him when he knocked on the door.

"Thanks," she said softly before the door opened. Clarissa stood in the doorway, not looking much different than Glory remembered her.


"Gloriana? Clarissa asked, looking a bit hopeful. For a moment, Glory couldn't force herself to say anything.

"We need to talk," she managed to say. Clarissa nodded and moved aside, gesturing for them to come in.

Léan politely waited for Glory to go in, first. He would follow her. Shy of other humans, he kept his eyes downcast and didn't say anything. Glory was an exception. But, he still wasn't fond of other humans, particularly those he hadn't met or spent time with, yet.

Glory went into the apartment, not glacing much at her mother. The apartment had obviously been renovated at some point, since it all looked newer and nicer than what she remembered.

"Please, sit down," Clarissa said. Hesitantly, Glory sat on the edge of the couch. She wasn't exactly uneasy, but she definitely wasn't comfortable, either. "You've grown so much..." Clarissa sighed. "And I take it this is one of your... friends?" Clarissa put a bit of emphasis on the word 'friend,' and Glory knew what she meant. Glory nodded, a bit stiffly.

"He's more than a friend," she said. "Mom, this is Léandre. Léan, this is my mother Clarissa."

Léan nodded, slowly, as a sign he'd heard what Glory had said. He wasn't comfortable speaking just yet. He would take a bit before he became comfortable. He shifted, uncomfortable having his tail tied up when he knew that both humans in the room knew what he was.

Glory and Clarissa looked at each other for a moment, silent. Neither knew how to start the conversation.

"Why?" Glory finally asked.

"Why what?" Clarissa replied.

"You know exactly what," Glory said. "Why didn't you say something before?"

"Would you have believed me?" Clarissa asked. "My own mother didn't believe me at first. Hell, I didn't want to believe me." Glory froze.

"Nana knew?" she asked quietly. "What, did everyone know except me?"

"Of course not, don't be dense," Clarissa said shortly. She'd definitely mellowed out over the years, but Glory could still hear the steel in her voice. "I asked her not to say anything."

"What, to protect me or something?" Glory snapped. "Great job! I got to live with Aunt Cassidy until the higher-ups decided I'd run away too many times!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Clarissa reprimanded. It was obvious where Glory got her temper from. "I couldn't do anything else, except suggest that maybe living on the shore would be best for you and your grandmother. Okay, yes, maybe I should have said something earlier, but until recently, I couldn't be sure you would take it seriously."

Glory didn't say anything else in favor of trying to get her temper back under control.

Léan didn't feel like getting in the middle of their conversation. He figured both of them needed to work it out, and that he should leave them alone until everything seemed to be in order.

When he noticed that Glory seemed a tad unhinged, he hesitantly reached out and slid their hands together, eyes on the wall on the other side of the room. He was tense, after all, being near an unfamiliar human. He would calm down soon, but until then...

Glory felt him take her hand gently and immediately calmed down a bit. It was nice to know that she wasn't alone. She knew he was uneasy, and was glad that he'd still offered a bit of stability for her. Taking a deep breath to steady herself a bit more, she looked back at her mother.

"I deserve to know who he was, at least," she finally said, keeping her voice as even as possible. Clarissa paused for a moment before nodding.

"Alright," she said. "His name was Azilis. He didn't tell me much about himself, but he and I were about the same age. It was one of those summer romances."

"Right, which is why you never found anyone else," Glory couldn't help but jab. She felt that she deserved to be a bit prickly, after everything that had been said.

"That's enough, Gloriana," Clarissa said firmly.

Léan held her hand, then rubbed it gently with his thumb. He didn't want them to fight, but he was still too uncomfortable to tell them to cool it. In fact, he was fairly sure they wouldn't listen to him--if they wanted to go at it, there was barely anything that would stop them, he surmised. He closed his eyes, then wriggled around in the chair again.

Glory ground her teeth a bit, trying to keep a hold on her temper.

"You know what," she said finally, "I think that's about all for now." She couldn't stand to be in her mother's presence for much longer. "Maybe we can finish this conversation another time."

"I think you're right," Clarissa replied coolly. It was obvious she was at the end of her patience, as well. "We can talk again later." Glory stood up.

"We can show ourselves out, thanks," she said.

Léan finally spared a glance up. It wasn't at either of them. Instead, it was at the ceiling. He looked tired, displeased. He himself couldn't understand why they couldn't just sit down and toss their tempers aside. Then again, he had no mother at a young age, and would have given up anything and everything to bring her back.

Léan simply followed Glory once she began walking, and didn't say a word.

Glory didn't say a word until she was out of the apartment with the door closed behind them. Out in the hallway, she leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor with her knees up to her chest. She rested her head on her knees and tried not to get any more upset than she already was.

"Sorry," she said finally. "You shouldn't have had to see that."

"You should try to put the past behind you," Léan hummed. "I would if I could. But since my father is so insistent on deliberately trying to make my life a living hell--I think he's still out there; now that he knows where we are, he's going to plot--I can't."

"She and I have never gotten along all that well," Glory said. "I guess we're too much alike. Neither of us likes to be told we're wrong, and redheads are famous for having explosive tempers. I just managed to her temper without her hair color. Probably a good thing, I'd look terrible as a redhead."

"Then, for now it would probably be better for you to speak with her from a distance...phone, perhaps? I did isolate her scent, so...I will be able to go searching for a match when we get home," Léan revealed, pleased.

((Have to eat--I'll be back.))

"I don't know whether or not she and I are going to be speaking for a while," Glory said. She wasn't feeling much better, but she stood up anyways. Going home sounded a lot better than staying where she was. "Come on, if we hurry, we can beat traffic heading home."

Léan nodded, understanding, and then tentatively waited for her to start the trek back to the car. He wasn't sure he remembered the way...and he'd half-forgotten how to work the elevator.

Glory went and pushed the button on the elvator, waiting for it to come back up from the ground floor When the doors opened, she held her arm in front of one of them to keep them from closing. Once they were both in, she hit the button for the ground floor and waited for the elevator to move. Once the doors opened on the ground floor, she waited for Léan to get out before heading out to the car. She felt better once she was out of the building.

Léan could feel the tension dissipating at once, as soon as they stepped out of the building. He seemed pleased that her bad mood was slowly flitting away. Quietly, he wheeled over to the proper door and waited for her, reaching up to run a hand through his hair absently.

Glory helped him into the car and then got into the car herself. The radio was still quiet when she turned on the car, but she didn't touch it. She gradually relaxed as she pulled out of the parking lot and started towards home, though she didn't speak at all.

Léan, glad to see she was looking a little better, relaxed as well. He began to doze off on the way home, leaning against the seat, chest rising up and down slowly. He would have to rest and eat before he set out to see if he could locate Glory's father.

The drive home was quiet, and it gave Glory some time to calm down. She knew that she and Nana would need to have a talk, but she also knew she couldn't be angry at Nana for long.

Pulling into the driveway, she turned off the car and reached over to gently shake Léan.

"We're home," she said quietly.

Léan blinked, shaking his head a few times. "Oh...my apologies, I dozed off," he chuckled, scratching his head sheepishly. He then paused. "Are you feeling better...?" he asked, softly.