#poor anduin

How about we let Jaina own it instead? Tbh, I’m not into the whole trend of having her constantly humiliated. I hope you don’t mind a more confident alternative!

“And as for the matter of firepower, I can provide an additional escort of two frigates. That should satisfy the need for any heavy guns if you have need of cover fire during this pass,” Jaina said as she moved the marker for Anduin’s royal fleet and added two of her own markers of Kul Tiran green to flank either side of it.

But the young king wasn’t looking at the map. Or at the tokens that she was pushing across it. In fact, he wasn’t paying much attention to their discussion on naval strategies at all. “That seems fine,” Anduin muttered as he cast his eyes from her and back down to the floor again.

“Is something the matter, Anduin?” Jaina asked. 

She worried about him. She always had. Such a young man with such big shoes to fill. She couldn’t imagine ruling an entire faction at just nineteen years old. Hell, her apprenticeship in the Kirin Tor had almost been too much for her to handle when she was just nineteen. 

“It’s nothing,” he blurted out again, eyes still firmly on the ground. “If you feel that’s insufficient, then just tell me. I can see if I can manage to get another frigate, but I think three would be slightly overkill,” Jaina offered.

She could see that wasn’t it even before he answered her. No. He was having a hard time looking her in the eye.

“Two is fine,” Anduin told her. “You’re right. Three would be too much.” This time, he made an effort to look up at her, if only for half a second. His eyes immediately fell from hers and hovered lower, before he flushed a bit and looked down again. Jaina tugged at the collar of her robes, finding it looser than it should have been. But really, the high collars were hardly enough anymore. She saw little reason to bother with them. People talked enough already. Let them have something real to talk about, rather than their wild rumors.

“It’s an elf thing, as I understand,” Jaina offered in explanation. “Something about claiming what is theirs. They’re very into outward displays, as I’m sure you know.” “Jaina it’s just--” “I mean, Valeera is always covered in bites, or have you not noticed?” 

“Regretfully yes, but--” “If anything, you should take it as a sign that Sylvanas and I are getting along very, very well and be thrilled about that.” “It’s just that there’s so many, auntie,” Anduin said as he gestured toward her neck.

There were. A lot. She remembered the sting of every bite from the night before. And the night before that. And before that.

A thing she was now very much used to. A thing that Sylvanas clearly was very much not over yet. “I suppose that they might be a bit excessive,” Jaina relented, feeling her cheeks warm, not from embarrassment, but from the memories of those nights, and the thought of what might be waiting for her when she returned to her wife later that evening.

“I’ll get over it, I promise,” Anduin offered, still looking away. “Keep talking about boats.” “They’re ships, Anduin. My ships,” Jaina scolded.