Monotony is the Name of the Game ((OPEN))

"The one at the head, the one with the red hair and that pep in his step like he owned everything?" Lilia nodded, flicking her eyes towards Kyler's for a moment before looking down again. She'd seen him around before, acting like a complete ar--. Then again, most Peacekeepers were like that. She was finding it hard to listen as he carried on, the stuttering of it all breaking his strong facade again. Everything sounded so much worse coming from another person. Losing her own mother had messed up Lilia's own life more than she'd like to admit. Losing a brother as well… she couldn't begin to fathom what that would be like.

"There is just something about him that scares me, I can't stand it," he finished. She could vaguely remember it, the over-beating that had happened a few years before. A fair number of them could happen though, and they all seemed to merge into one. She watched as he awkwardly looked down, and that didn't help her own nerves that were suddenly rising up inside of her. She'd practically gotten him to confess, and she couldn't leave now. Not without something else.

After a moment of shuffling, Lilia slid further into the room and shut the door behind her, just as the sun moved behind the clouds. The atmosphere was ominous. "Well… at least… at least he wasn't around for the aftermath," she suggested. The words felt like they were clogging up her throat. She stumbled back against the wall before she opened her mouth again. "I- I was twelve, I think. I mean, I was. The beach was cordoned off for some reason- it might had been the weather or something." She swallowed. The scar on her back was tingling, the reminder of what had happened. "I was- angry, I guess. All I wanted to do was go for a swim. But the Peacekeeper- he kept saying no and-" she cut herself off. Her breathing was becoming heavier and heavier. It wasn't something she talked about. When people asked about her scar, she'd say she cut herself on a rock. It was easier that way. "I kind of… whacked him. Obviously that demanded punishment…" She swallowed, closing her eyes tightly and looking down. Just calm down, calm down. It was only fair that she tell Tyler, given what he told her.

"They didn't make a big deal about it, but it hurt. I couldn't move properly for several weeks afterwards. It was weird, I… I don't think I was really conscious for most of it." She fell back against the wall, looking down. A silence fell over the room again, and she let it. She closed her eyes, listening out for the sound of birdsong that sometimes appeared near the coast. Maybe it would have made sense just to leave and head straight to the beach, but chances were that she'd just run into Kyler there.


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