Juniper

a/n: jesus when will thirty days actually not take three years. i will try diligently.

…

move

"Are you really going to go?" Arriane asked one morning during breakfast. They were walking through the town, picking up food from a stand.

"The whole guard is going, so if I want to keep my job, I must." Roland replied. "We are also traveling South for a few months. Perhaps I will find someone I know there."

"You think the others would have been looking for us." It isn't a question.

"Have we been looking for them?"

Arriane sighed. "I have a family here. I don't scrounge for food, nor do I have to find shelter. I don't want to leave."

"You can't pass as a young adult forever," he countered, although Arriane was already well aware of this. "They will all age and you will remain."

Arriane shrugged, as though it was something insignificant.

"I'll come back soon," he continued. "Half a year at most."

"I'm going to miss you."

Roland chuckled—then, though he'd deny it, Roland found himself blushing for the first time in centuries—and rubbed his neck. "That's very honest of you," he said honestly, "don't you have any humiliation?"

"Please," Arriane waved her hand. "You're my closest friend, I like being with you." She shook her head and smiled to herself, stopping only when she realized Roland was no longer walking beside her. When she turned back, he was a good two feet behind, giving her a long look.

"Ro?"

There was a beat before he blinked a few times and then smiled.

Arriane bit her lip. It was a look she'd seen before on some humans. Merlot had it often, and more recently Maeda as well. Arriane herself had been the receiver of some looks by others, but none of that mattered. It was the first time she'd ever seen that expression on Roland's face. Much less that expression directed at her.

(perhaps that very private thought that had passed through her mind on one too many nights was reciprocated?)

"Anyway," she continued, attempting to appear unaffected. She wasn't supposed to have—much less enjoy—that warming of her chest. "You should come back quickly."

"I'll do my best," he muttered.

They continued on in silence until they reached the end of the street and had to turn back.

"Arriane," he said then, hands stuffed in the pockets of his shirt. "I like it too. Being a knight. Having a steady relationship with people; a place to sleep and food to eat. Before…" Roland paused and cast his eyes westward, "I had to steal, usually. But sometimes I'd do other, worse, things. I'm sure we all have. Like I said before, you were lucky. It would be nice if you could stay here forever, but you can't. I can't. Someday soon, we'll have to leave."

Arriane said nothing until they reached the castle walls. "I know," she said slowly. But she wasn't ready to accept that, and so neither of them mentioned it again.

...

if you have a chance go read the new tsaf chapter.