#renona

Josie was strange, at least Renona thought so. She was quite a skilled fighter.Not to mention her mothering ways and usually happy-go-lucky attitude.

“I think I love you.” The first time she had whispered it and Renona had barely heard her. Josie’s hands flew to her mouth, covering it before any more words could spill out as she rushed to the other side of the rocky ship. At first, Renona had thought she misheard. It simply couldn’t be.

But the second time she said it in a more outgoing voice. Her smile wide, skin glistening with sweat as she jogged up to Renona after the battle. Well after checking to make sure Jasper was okay. She cared deeply for the bard after all. Renona felt the raven haired girls hand in her own golden hair. Josie pulled her into a tight hug. “I was worried that you got hurt. That fall looked rough.”

“Why?” Renona asked she didn’t understand.

“Why?” Josie echoed, her bluish black braids sliding over her shoulder as she pulled back. “Because I love you, why else?”

Renona eyed her with confusion as Josie rushed off to check on Travis, who didn’t seem hurt at all, more annoyed than anything about getting all muddy. In Renona’s mind, it really didn’t make sense. They were very different, and Josie barely knew her. How could she say something like that so easily? then again, they were just words.

But the more they traveled, the more the words became real. The more they became actions that would throw Josie into the line of fire to protect something that didn’t need protecting.

And somehow, Josie who was already a playful person got even more playful. Silly actions to try to get the blonde’s attention would often be how Josie started a conversation. 

“Renona watch me one shot this dire wolf.”

“Renona wanna join in self-defense training with Jasper?”

“Renona do you have a marker? I’m going to put a kiss me sign on Travis’ back and see if Jasper falls for it.”

And every time Renona asked why she was always met with the same answer. “Because I love you why else?”

“She’s only playing you, Renona.” Her sister, Famine, chirped at her through her small compact mirror. “There is no heart beneath all the wires that make you function. Besides, aren’t you in love with the traitor? What should this person’s feeling matter?”

“I do not love the Traitor,” Renona said with the straightest face she could muster. It wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. From the very little she understood of love, what Josie had shown her, she wasn’t in love with the Traitor like her sister and Jasper though. She merely admired her.

But Josie... 

The admiration that Renona felt for her was different. There was a pang that echoed through Renona’s chest when she acted flirty with Travis, even if it was just to throw him off guard. There was a heaviness that she couldn’t explain whenever the older woman patted Jasper on the head and looked at the kid with those soft eyes.

“I don’t understand it when she claims to love me,” Renona admitted in a soft voice. 

“Things like us aren’t meant to know the meaning of that word. That’s just how it is.” Famine said. “Go now. It’s time to wake up your companions, I will try to calm our big brother down.”