Tet's mere presence in that small town made ripples, intentional or not. He was like a lightning rod with all that raw power he exuded as he stood like the obvious alpha he was. Mira could not help but be distracted by him, the way he moved and held himself like no other. There was no doubt of where he stood and if Nolan himself were there, there would be no doubt that Tet could challenge the very foundation in which he stood upon.

Mira's inner wolf seemed to recognize it strongly even though she saw so much more when she looked at him. But for now, despite the gravitational pull toward her boyfriend, she greeted her mother and sister with an unmistakable fondness. The only being that was off was her father's peculiar behaviour with his purposeful isolation that felt almost cold... especially after everything. Was he not at least a little happy to see her?

Those greetings and introductions hardly took long. With Tetradore introduced to the pair of women, he remained silent but present. To her, he appeared observant of every little detail he could soak up, she could only be curious about what he thought. Of this home, she had grown up in and this town she had so narrowly escaped.

Yet one thing was for certain, familiarity slunk around her like a cloak as her golden gaze scanned and soaked it all in, noting the differences from the last time. Everything seemed a little older, a little different. She hardly felt like that same person who would sneak out in the middle of the night to set up her inexpensive telescope to lose herself to the stars. She wondered if it was still here... just as she wondered if her room still remained intact. If those astrology books that used to fascinate her were still there. But why would it be?

Clara seemed content enough to fire away her questions at Tetradore, the man not once breaking his stoic demeanour. But then again the she-wolf had yet to ever see him truly rattled. Surely it would not happen here underneath her sister's curious scrutiny. Mira could hardly help how strange it felt to see both worlds collide. A symbol of her past and a symbol of her present intermingling for the first time. Those two worlds could not be any more different. It was Clara's question that broke her current thought.

"What's it like?" Clara pressed on about the pack as if trying to start a conversation with the alpha, although part of it had been spurred on by a certain kind of curiosity. It was an attempt that would unlikely yield any results that the social young girl would have wished to prompt from him. It caused Mira to slightly smile as she walked side by side with her boyfriend. It was then that she noticed that the front garden seemed overgrown, the bushes were too big and growing out of bounds and into the path and choking out the much smaller plants. Just how much had been forgotten in this place besides herself? Regardless, this paled in comparison to Dorain's luscious garden. The house was so much smaller than most things on the Ark. Was that what Tetradore expected to find here? She knew it hardly mattered to him where she had come from and yet to see that sparkling expensive car in the cracking driveway.... It seemed almost startlingly obvious to her now. Yet it was strange how as life changed so did a person's perspective. Her home looked very much the same... but it was Mira who had changed. Perhaps not at the core.. But by her own experiences. Bad and good. It had been so many years since she saw it with fresh eyes.

She bet the inside of it remained exactly the same too. The memories were still clinging to the sad light grey brick walls. Tetradore had asked if she was ready in the exotic car and yet now she wasn't so sure. Not that she would allow it to step in her way.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Clara's friendly voice which chimed again, inquiring about Tet's work. All normal questions that even Mira wasn't quite sure how to reply to. Tetradore's response was skillfully vague, a cautious reply. Yet how he worded it. Was it for her benefit that he chose that? Or was it for the sake of simplicity? But that mere answer alone made it perfectly clear that, in his own way, he was trying. How there was absolutely no shame from Mira of her current life or her old one for that matter (for the most part). But she would have embraced any answer he chose all the same. But this certainly made things less complicated. Fewer questions. Mira turned a little to eye her emerald-eyed boyfriend as she offered him a near-imperceptible nod.

"Can I come to visit?" the young girl eyed Mira and then Tet as if looking for approval from them both, dark brown eyes filled with exuberant hope.

This time Mira spoke up, in an effort to save her boyfriend. "Of course, you can, but it's not what you think. The ship where we live is off-limits to all but shifters. Which is honestly for your safety. That many shifters in one place is not good for any human... But if you come to visit, I can still show you around the city." She wasn't exactly lying. It was truthful.

"You mean it?" Clara burst with clear joy. The answer satisfied her enough. Despite that explosion of excitement, Mira knew that day would likely never come. Her sister was one of those beings who existed where she was. Soon, it would be school, then her career and likely a family. But Mira kindly nodded, despite the truth of the matter as she smiled with a genuine fondness at her sister all the same. That seemed to please Clara enough before she turned her complete attention back onto Tetradore, hardly giving up on engaging the man again. "I love your car, my friends will not believe it. Do you mind if I take a picture to show them on my insta?" The young girl questioned.

Finally, the group entered the small but inviting home as they were blasted with delightful scents from her grandmother's cooking. Or so she deduced. This place hasn't aged a day.. Maybe a newer tv. But the furniture remained the same save for the glass coffee table that used to be there and was replaced by something wood reminiscent.

Her father was nowhere in sight and her mother's quiet voice could still be heard from within the kitchen, along with another familiar, thickly accented voice of her grandmother.

It wasn't long before the short, aged Brazilian woman emerged, pigmentless long hair pulled into a long braid down her back.. Sharpened, cunning, assessing eyes narrowed upon Tetradore first and then to Mira. That gaze used to be intimidating as a child. How she never wanted to be under such scrutiny by her! "Ah! It is what I thought." The old woman uttered gravely, shaking her head in clear disappointment, voice thick with a Brazilian accent. Just as dramatic as she remembered.

"What is it you thought, vovo?" Mira could not help the slight tug of a grin upon her lips as she fought back that smile. Mira cast a glance at her boyfriend, handsome and likely aloof as ever.

"Too skinny!" That accented voice return both arms thrown into the air. "You are too skinny and he is too skinny. Do you not have food to eat?" Her gaze held heavily on Tetradore, like it was his job to ensure it. "Bonito, mas... (Handsome but....)"

"Yes, vovo.. We got it. Too skinny.." Mira interjected with a hint of exasperation.

Mira's grandmother eyed Tetradore then, waiting for some kind of confirmation about the food.

"I am making food, you come and you eat....Uma horas, sim. (one hour, yes)"

"Okay, one hour... what are you cooking?" Mira questioned, but the old woman looked about ready to leave, only to repeat. "Uma horas!" as she turned, surprisingly agile for someone so old and short as she disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Some things never change." Mira sighed with a chuckle. "But I can almost guarantee that it will be at least two hours. So you and I have some downtime." She leaned into Tet and lowered her voice as she added conspiratorially as if her grandmother would take great offence for hearing a contradictory statement.

Clara's nose was already lost to her cell phone a hint of a smile on her lips as she meandered off in her own little world. Did Clara have a boy? She was at that age. That did not look like just a usual smirk. That only screamed trouble and yet Mira pushed those thoughts away.

"All of that could have gone worse." Mira admitted as she turned to face her boyfriend. "I was expecting worse.... I am surprised she didn't try to shove food at us yet... Her cooking is worth it. But don't worry about the food comment. Ever since my first growth spurt, I've always been too skinny. I really don't know what just right in her opinion really is..... Honestly, I am not sure if she knows. People are either too fat... or too skinny and she has no problem in sharing her opinion on it." Laughter shone within her molten golden eyes.

"Want to take a look around?" After all, they had time to burn and truly, Mira was curious about the state of her once room.

mira ramos