Phoenix Maplewood daddy

Oh - it was a loud one. Pointedly, Alya did not draw parallel between the boy and herself as a child. She did, however, compare him disfavorably to his fellow urchin child. Kasatka had been annoying with her big, inquisitive eyes and what Alya took to be mocking silence, but at least she'd been quiet and a good listener.

"It's your fur," she replied, still looming over him. She was not currently trying to be scary, so she did not consider that she might be frightening to the boy. If she'd known, however, she would have been quite pleased with the reaction. For now, she merely took his bristling as the sort of insolence she expected from Morningside's vast army of dirty children. "Why are you pouting?" she asked him. "And don't tell me you aren't. I can smell pouting, you know. I can smell lies, too."