[Solo] Playing Pretend (Euno & Ignatious)

[one over three]

Euno giggled as her brother knelt down before her. While he’d never really had proper training he always loved acting out the part of a knight. Once or twice, she’d caught him fighting an imaginary dragon, or other such monster, though she’d never told him that she knew. Sometimes she wondered if he would ever seek out a real warrior to train him, or if he would prove to be better suited for a world of exiting stories. She really, really hoped it would be the second.

He’d told her a few of the stories he’d composed now and again, mostly to help when their father was away. It had taken him longer to open up about the fact that he liked acting out his stories, that it helped him work out the details and get the space of it all just right. The space was important. She wasn’t quite sure why but he insisted so she took him at his word.

Today she was acting out the part of a human princess. She wore a simple gown made of rough fabric and, as proof of her station, a flower crown on her head. He’d asked her to sit on an old stump in a clearing and wait for him. So she did, weaving a few loose flowers into a small bundle to pass the time. She wasn’t at all sure what his plan was but she would probably be able to work in some excuse to bestow a small reward.  

[one over three]

Ignatious peeked out from behind a nearby tree, then smiled. His younger sister was always so patient when it came to playing these little games of his. She was lucky to have pure blood, he would have loved to act out his stories in the body of a big strong human knight. He couldn’t turn human like she could though, and so he had to rely on his imagination to fill in the gaps.

He stepped out from behind his tree then cleared his throat before announcing his presence, “Fair princess! I have returned from distant lands with news from the front lines!” He walked forward with as much grace as he could manage before kneeling before her. He blushed a bit at her giggle, glad that his dark fur would obscure it from her view. He knew she wasn’t laughing at him, just that part of her loved being treated like a princess, just like how he liked pretending to be a knight.

As he rose he caught sight of a bundle of flowers in her hands. What was that for? He wondered. They’d already made her crown and they almost never decorated the throne. His eyes moved up to her face, making a mental note to ask about the flowers later.

She watched, bemused, as he told her about how the war was going, updated her on the status of the supply lines, and how while the troops were in high spirits they really, really hoped to be home before the first snowfall.