She shook her head, her brow furrowing as she looked up at him. “You can’t stay with someone because you think they’re the only one who will have you, Zerras,” she replied quietly. “That’s not good enough. You’re better than that.” She gestured vaguely, pressing her lips together. “You’re not doomed. You will find someone else. God knows you have time.”
“Well, you were given it,” she replied fiercely, her brows furrowed. “And I’m not going to have you take away 70% of your life just because you did some bad things when you were younger. When you think that you’re doomed, you see a long lifespan as a curse, but I know many elves who would have given everything just to have a little bit more time.”
"And I don't want to live for so long," he said with a frown. "So suddenly.. I'm giving something up because other people wanted to live longer. What am I supposed to do about that? Cherish life? Juniper, my mother hated me and my father killed himself. Civilians held so much distain that I was tortured and left to rot in isolation for 200 years. Forgive if I don't have the best outlook or want to live so long."
She fell silent and judging by the way her shoulders hunched, he could tell that she was hurt. “I’m sorry you don’t think that there’s anything to live for,” she replied coldly. “I’m sorry that you hate this world so much that you’d prefer to die that to live in it.”
"I don't know what to tell you, Juniper," he said tiredly. "I feel I am just destined to have the same fate as my father."
He became silent again. Despite his generally perfect posture, she would be able to sense there was a melancholic gloom to him at the moment. He walked a little ahead of her, every muscle tense.
She watched his back before looking away, her ears back and her arms crossed protectively as they walked. It seemed inconceivable that she had been holding him and kissing his skin only an hour previously. She kept her distance from him, slowing down so he was walking a few feet in front of her.
After about 30 minutes he looked back at her. His eyes weren't holding the usual fierceness. "You know you could go home now, if you're tired of travelling with me. You could go back to your family." His voice wasn't unkind. If anything, it was resigned.
She glared at him, her brow furrowing in irritation. “You must think pretty poorly of me if you think I’d do something like that,” she replied quietly, her voice bitter and cold. “If you want me to go, just tell me.”
He didn't say anything, only watching her for a moment before looking ahead again. His shoulders were slightly hunched.
The walked awhile longer. They had gone through the desert and reached sandy stone areas. An enormous, looming mountain was clear in the distance. Eventually he stopped and set his things down, going to camp for the night.
She seemed less angry now, and now just held a resigned expression, her brows furrowed sadly. She began to assemble the fire pit, her shoulders hunched.
She noticed that he was setting up two spaces and she frowned, looking up at him. “What are you doing?”
She blinked and he would see a flash of hurt cross her face before she looked back down suddenly, trying to hide it from him.
