43rd Winter, 515 A.V.
Recently, Karin had realised, that the amount of time she spent at home had reached the perfect levels. That is, she was hardly there. Winter's mild climate didn't necessitate staying at home for warmth, and so like always, Karin took advantage of it.
Plus, it didn't really feel like home. It was a place to sleep, somewhere to catch the occasional bite to eat. But that was it.
It wasn't as if she had deliberately avoided the place, well- not entirely. The added factor of her parents didn't necessarily encourage her to be around much. But it was the renewed sense of belonging with the sea front that really drew her attention elsewhere, she thought.
That is, until she'd come to realise that the reason the ocean was so appealing was because she was avoiding talking to her mother, who always looked so hurt whenever she left the house, or because the thought of making conversation with her step-father churned her gut to anger and apprehension more than she'd ever felt.
The home situation, as she'd started to call it, meant that she stayed out as late as possible, and left sometimes even before the first morning light, or in that short gap between her father leaving for work and her mother getting up to make breakfast.
It was a tenuous way of living, and since the start of the season now, she'd felt a growing tension building in the house... another added reason for not being there much. However, tensions usually end in an explosion of some sort. This one started with a word.
"It's locked."
She'd been about to go out, early in the morning of the 43rd. In fact, her hand was on the door handle, about to turn it as silently as she could. Turning around, she saw what she had been hoping not to.
Her father and mother ready and waiting, a trap they'd laid. Nervous apprehension in her mother's eyes, and a dark, confrontational something in Jovern's.
Petch.
She looked back at the door again, and saw a new lock, just like her father had said. Petch again. "Why?" Without meaning to, she tinted her words with insolence, but from the souring of Jovern's expression it was worth it.
"Karin, you know full well why there is a lock on this door. Because you are avoiding us, and it's going to stop, whether you like it or not." Jovern crossed his arms, and inclined his head, as if directing Karin to the ring.
Well, she was going to take it. An unexpected burst of passion made her say, "And do you know why that is? Because I've been lied to. I have a right to leave." She would never once say it of herself, but in that moment she stood proud and unbent. If Jovern wanted an argument, then there would be an argument.
