Blacktail Deer Plateau i told you i didn't want to go to this dinner

she shifted uncomfortably as meerkat's gaze burned upon her, and then it seemed that suddenly the adults were all speaking at once, and vesper watched the words fly from her dejected position, doing her best to keep up with the speed of the conversation and the underlying meaning. but something this newcomer said had stuck with the child, perhaps because it was the only thing she understood: you lied, directly leveled at father.

vesper waited, listened desperately for it, but neither parent refuted this claim as the heated conversation continued.

she carefully extricated herself from between mou's legs, confusion writ all over her face as she struggled to make sense of it all. her ears flicked backwards towards phox as he spoke the names of her siblings, but her eyes remained locked on her parents, shifting between them both. you... lied? she questioned them, pleading, desperate to hear them deny it. then, quieter, repeated their lessons back to them: lying is wrong.

vesper had no idea who niamh was, or phox's connection to her father— no one had directly told her that those she believed to be her parents were not, and she was too young yet to navigate and decipher the subtleties of the announcement and following exchange. but her little heart was breaking all the same at the revelation that her parents that she loved so fiercely, that had taught her right from wrong, were possibly doing wrong. it is a hard lesson when you first learn your parents are flawed; worse when you must learn it so young.