Lioness of Prideless
Played by Swan

JunRef

Her heart sent terrified pangs through her. Despite his teasing manner, her chest squeezes with guilt. A bitter, burning feeling. “No! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.” Juniper chuckles sheepishly, as that little voice in her head tells her not to take things so seriously. She’s rusty, real rusty at this apparently. As rusty as the crumbling Titanic. Definitely rustier than the necklace the stupid rich lady threw into the water at the end of the movie.

He was stoic, well…not stoic. More like…a statue! Yes, beautiful and graceful but so still or at least distant that you sometimes wonder if they have a heartbeat. Is there anything at all encased in that cold, perfect marble?

Juniper stared blankly at the mention of his last name. It was a cool one, certainly. Much better than Kingsley. Though the question of who’s better between kings and fire still stands. “What sort of legend? What did you do?” Half of it is curiosity, the other half is to make sure he does most of the talking. Because, again. Titanic. And well, who wouldn’t want to hear about Arodion’s epic travails? Maybe if she listened hard, if she closed her eyes, she could imagine going on those adventures with him. They were whispers, ghosts, the gossamer wings of long-gone butterflies. How long had she lived with a pit in her stomach instead of butterflies? Forever, forever…that’s all she could think.

It’s been forever since she felt something good.

And if only he could tell her, describe in beautiful and excruciating detail whatever forbidden love story got him thrown out. If he was thrown out. Maybe he walked out? A righteous knight, a savior of his people…painted in a terrible light. Oh, the drama!

His solemn yet goofy bow was returned with a similar clumsy curtsy, her head falling forward and her limbs bending slightly before she sprung up again. Never met a doctor? Well, perhaps she was in the right place. It made her giddy, yet frightened. Imagining them coming in droves, caked in blood and filth. They needed someone better than her, right? Someone like…

“I guess I just…it was time for me to find my own place,” she smiles. That’s putting it lightly. But I was chased off by my mother due to a pandemic doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. And it definitely isn’t a worthy icebreaker.

“What do you do?”

"Speech"

@Arodion


And I will try to fix you