The woman's voice echoed down to Quinn like it was moving through deep water, almost hard to hear over her heart thundering against her eardrums. Having a panic attack. Breathe. She watched the woman's deep, exaggerated breathing as though from very far away, and started to follow suit, trying as best she could to stop the fevered pace of her breaths and bring them in line with the woman—Besca. 

She started to feel better—not a lot better, but a little better—and the faraway look in her eye slid away some as she focused on Besca's own. She was nice. She was really nice. She'd never heard anyone talk to her so gently, and for some reason she couldn't understand, it made her heart hurt. 

"[color=gray]Where are your folks?[/color]"

For just a moment, she was caught between concern and dread, and her breathing hitched. Something really was wrong with her. Mom and Dad loved her. Why was she so scared thinking of them all of a sudden? It didn't make any sense. They loved her. She knew they loved her. They told her they loved her, and they kept her nice and safe. She loved them too. But for some reason, the thought of them coming home made her feel like she was going to choke. She screwed her eye shut as she tried to answer. Her voice wasn't shaking as much as it had moments before, but it was still a long way from steady.

“[color=FFE63D]I—they're scientists. They went to...[/color]” Where were they going? “[color=FFE63D]They went to do a...science...thing. I don't remember where. Or they didn't tell me.[/color]” They didn't tell her. “[color=FFE63D]I—[/color]” She was all alone. “[color=FFE63D]I—[/color]” She was a bad daughter. “[color=FFE63D]I shouldn't—[/color]” Her breaths started to catch—

She remembered what Besca had said, and forced her breathing to slow down. 

Deep breath in. 

Deep breath out. 

It really did help, didn't it? But still, the words tumbled out faster than she could stop them.

“[color=FFE63D]I shouldn't have snuck out, and I know that, and they're going to be [i]really[/i] mad at me if they find out, but they left the door open and...I guess I just wanted to see what was outside.[/color]”

Her eye opened, and she looked down at her hands again. They were still trembling, but they were relaxed now. She felt a little better, not so much like the walls were closing in on her. In. Out. She tried smiling. Her lips twitched, but it didn't quite work. She felt the rising tide of panic gripping at her legs again, but she ignored it as much as she could.

“[color=FFE63D]...Your name is pretty too.[/color]”