lifeline ⇾ kai parker

45┃not all monsters

Mila turns back towards her with a false smile and crossed arms. "Yeah, well, that was before he tried to stab me to death."

"I admit, very good argument, but you're no stranger to violence. That's not why you're leaving," Zera noted nonchalantly, as if her remarks were the most obvious thing. It admittedly sparked some frustration from Mila because the last thing she wanted to do was explain herself to a creature that looked as if she stepped out of a storybook, but it looks like she was going to.

"You want to know why I'm leaving? I'm leaving because... it's not just about me now."

"Ah, yes. You're with child."

"Yup. Got knocked up. The timing isn't great. It's the absolute worse, actually, but... I'm not going to put this baby in harm's way. Staying here in Mystic Falls is too dangerous," Mila told her, thinking that finalized everything between them. She moved around towards the driver's side of her car, but Zera only followed her with calculated strides and an envious posture.

"But you've lived here half of your life," the Seer countered. "You grew up here."

Mila spun around suddenly. "And then I left. I left."

It was shocking to even Mila how riled up she got over one short conversation, but this mythical creature was acting like she had all the answers. She probably did, in total honesty, but that didn't cause Mila to feel any less defensive. Her mind was already made up, her old life with new opportunities was waiting for, and she didn't need some stranger preaching to her about her own life decisions.

"Why are you bringing up the past? Aren't seers supposed to be all about the future?"

"Yes, but I dabble in the past also. How can I not? The past is the starting point to every future. It's why we do what we do. We act from previous experience. Right now, all you're thinking about is the future. You've forgotten almost as much as your husband."

"Forgotten what?"

"What got you here," Zera answered, compassion spilling from her face and bleeding into her words.

"Oh, I remember what got me here," Mila disputed. She chuckled bitterly at Zera's claim. "I remember everything. Every stupid, little thing."

The Seer frowned, an act of sympathy that made Mila wonder how she had gotten herself condemned to Malivore in the first place. She was proving herself to be no heartless, perilous fiend despite her powerful and gifted abilities. "Is that really how you feel? That everything you've done is a mistake?"

A sigh tumbles out of Mila while she rests her arms on top of the heated roof of her car. She allows her eyelids to close for a moment, composing herself from the emotional aspects of this confrontation. She tilts her head towards a patiently waiting Zera without the hostility she encompassed before.

"I don't know. All I know is that I could've saved myself a lot of trouble if I didn't care as much as I did."

"Now you really sound like your husband," Zera replied with a quirk to her painted lips.

"Well, maybe that jackass is right, then." Mila almost smiled back genuinely, but the amusement to her gaze spoke for herself.

Zera laughed, quartz eyes glinting with something pure and benevolent. "You admitting Kai Parker is right? That's a rarity."

"Listen, I get that you just got out of Malivore and you're ready to get back to work, but I don't need your help," she spoke sincerely, shaking her head side to side. "No offense, you seem nice, but we just met and I'm not even completely sure that you're not evil incarnated, so I'm just gonna get going and-"