“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I just... it’s a little hard, right? To come in and just be like, ‘hey, Mama, I know I was gone for a bit, but I went off and found the lost warlord who was responsible for Marlys dying, and now I’m in love with him and he’s going to stay with us for a while.’” She shrugged. “We just need to approach it carefully.”
She frowned at him before her face grew blank as she realized her mistake. “Oh. I’m a wiener. I didn’t mean to say that.”
She seemed very nervous, her brow furrowing. “Well... Marlys was my mother’s aunt. She lived with my mother when she was a child. There... there was a raid on their village and my mother and her immediate family got out, but... Marlys didn’t.”
“She won’t remember you,” Juniper said, shaking her head. “She doesn’t even remember what Marlys looks like. She was pretty young. But... you know. The situation requires delicacy.”
“Please don’t give up on this,” Juniper pleaded, sounding like she was panicking a little. “On me. I think I can get this to work.” He would feel her fingers curling in his shirt nervously. “Please don’t go.”
She fell silent and he would be almost be able to hear her panic manifesting in her head, her limbs stiffened and her body rigid and tight against his.
