Trigger warning: Body dysmorphia, Sexaul Assault, Drug addiction
His mother, Sinead, was a moth drawn to all of the flames that burned. She obsessed over her reflection, picking apart at every imperfection even when none were there. Baol, Belfast's father, tried to offer safety and security. He provided protection, love, and passion. But it wasn't enough. Sinead was tortured by feelings of inadequacy, low self-worth, and nightmares of the sexual assault and slavery she endured as a young girl. Although she projected an image of self-confidence through her sex work, Sinead had ended up just dressing up her cage in ribbons.
By the time she became pregnant with her pups, she was already dissocating. She lacked direction. She lacked a desire to stay alive. Baol and their aunt Brynn were able to hold the pieces together... long enough at least for Belfast and Anaca to be born.
Belfast's earliest memories are of Sinead sleeping. Always sleeping. He was mostly groomed by his aunt and visited by his mother's friend from the north. In the mornings, he would call out to his mum or nurse from her slumbering, unresponsive body. In the middle of the day, he'd go out or entertain himself. Come evening, he'd be crawling back into the nest and nustling up to brown fur that, while it lacked luster, was still warm.
At times he resented Sinead for not being present... but he always loved her. On her good days, she'd smile and rouse the pups. They'd go on adventures and she'd tell them the most delightful stories! But these little blips were never the beginnings of a new, better pattern. She'd always slip away... often for longer and longer periods.
Baol started coming around less.
Brynn stopped coming entirely.
And Belfast and Anaca were alone.
When at last Sinead died, the poppies were not what killed her. Allegedly it was an old lover that had killed her. A paramour that had known her when she had once been full of life.
... Anaca left. It was in this moment that the siblings which had, up until this point, understood eachother better than anyone else, diverged. Anaca could not forgive her. If anything, she seemed relieved.
And Belfast was shattered by it.
...
Time drug on. Belfast decided to head north and try to find his mother's old friend. When at last he arrived in Rionnach, he struggled to provide for himself and was taken into the Thieves' Guild after helping an old ex-criminal realize that the drug dealer in front of him was trying to con off some false poppyseeds. Recognizing that Belfast was without any other options, the ex-con introduced him to a branch of the Thieves' Guild's drug syndicate.