"My mom raised me by herself for the most part and we moved around a lot," Senna started, nursing her drink as she let Sting in a bit more. "My dad, well... remember how I told you I was born without magik?"

"Yeah?" Sting leaned back, keeping his attention on her.

"Well, that wasn't all there is to it..." Senna tapped her glass nervously. "I'm the only non-magik-user in a family of wizards."

Sting's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah..."

"Shit, no wonder it felt like a touchy subject..." Sting felt like an idiot, but it wasn't something that he could have known.

"Yeah... which meant that I was the black sheep and treated as such more often than not..."

Sting sighed. "That must have been hard on you growing up."

"That part was easier than the other stuff I had to deal with," Senna said, taking a few sips of her drink before continuing, "By the time I was five, and still hadn't shown any sign of magik- not even the teeniest bit of magik power- my dad got really pissed. He'd yell at me and my mom all the time, he'd hit Mom, and he'd put me through these ridiculous tests and exercises to try and force my magik to awaken, but nothing helped. That's when the physical abuse started for me."

Sting could sense that this was really difficult for her to talk about, so he scooted closer to her and reached forward to hold her hand. He gave it a squeeze, nodding for her to continue if she was ready.

Senna was grateful for that reassuring bit of contact and offered him a small smile before downing the rest of her drink and pouring herself another glass. She offered the bottle to Sting when he finished his drink as well, continuing while he poured himself more of the Culerra. "My mom used to tell me that she could handle him hitting her, but when he took his hand to me it was the last straw for her. She began desperately trying to get us away from him and she couldn't have had better timing."

"What happened?"

"My dad wanted to start experimenting on me, force a lacrima into my body, and see if that would do the trick. I found out years later that he had done the same thing to my brother, but my brother would have handled it better than I could have because he at least had magik power."

"That's horrible."

"Mom was skilled with concealment-type magik, which she used to keep us hidden from my dad, and we were finally safe from him. We moved around a lot, too, so I never got to stay in one place for too long."

"Sounds like your mom really just wanted to protect you at all costs."

"Yeah, and it was until that last year I had with her that we were able to settle down for more than a few months."

"What happened to your mom?"

"She got really sick one year and couldn't move around, so we were forced to find a more permanent place to live until she could get better. We found ourselves a small apartment and I started working at a local diner to pay for Mom's medicine. It was there that I met Amelia and her family, actually. Amelia and I became really good friends, and we'd help clean dishes or sweep the floors- anything that would help her parents out at the diner. I worked with them for a few years, and really got to know them to where they became like family to me."

"They sound like wonderful people."

Senna smiled at that. "I owe them so much. They even took me in when my mom died, they helped me with funeral arrangements and taking care of her affairs, and they even helped me find a good place to start a restaurant."

"That was pretty nice of them."

"My mom left me a decent inheritance and I used that money to start The Rocky Grove and build a life for myself here."

Sting smiled at that, setting his empty glass on the table. "You've been through hell but came out on top, you should be very proud of yourself. I'm sure your mom would be proud of you, too." He grabbed a small handful of the candied nuts and munched on them. "You said you have a brother, right? What happened with him?"

"Nothing," Senna said with a shrug. "As far as I know, neither he nor our grandfather have had contact with our dad aside from briefly during the Grand Magik Games."

"Oh? Were they spectators or competitors?"

"My brother competed, Gramps was a spectator." Senna popped some candied nuts into her mouth, then finished her drink. "Want some more?"

Sting nodded, thinking a moment while she poured them each another drink. "Wait, so if your brother was a competitor, what guild was he representing?"

Senna handed him his drink. "Fairy Tail."

Sting took a sip of the drink, then started connecting the dots. When he realized who her brother had to be, he choked on his drink.

"Sting, you alright?" Senna moved to sit in front of him, taking his face in her hands and looking him over as the coughing subsided. "You need to be more careful, silly."

Sting wheezed, the alcohol having burned his nose for a moment, and when Senna took his face in her hands, his cheeks erupted with heat. He was hoping that he was drunk enough that she couldn't tell that he was blushing.

Senna smoothed his hair away from his face. "You good now?"

Sting nodded, clearing his throat. "Y-Yeah."

Senna sighed with relief and stood. "Let me get you some water." She brought the glass over to him and sat down. "What made you react like that?"

Sting downed the water, setting it on the table before looking at her. "Senna, who's your brother?"

Senna looked away, grabbing her drink and settling back into her corner before answering. "My brother is Laxus Dreyar."