Annalise, at this point, can only be labeled as June’s best friend.

After all the near-death experiences, highs, lows, and shoulders leaned and cried on, there is no way in hell they could be anything but. June would die for Annalise, and while the ranger would never admit it, she’d likely do the same. What June would never admit is that she relied way too heavy on the other girl.

But after that damn report… annalise henderson was going to be left on read for a day or two. If she didn’t, then who knew what terrible thing she’d say. Another regret to add to the pile, one that didn’t need to get any higher.

Now Freya was knocking at her door. Of all the people to do it, the head of the military (or whatever her role was) for the League was one of the last people she expected or wanted. She fell firmly into the category of ‘slam the door on their face and escape through the back door’.

Yet as June excused herself into the training room, where Freya attacked fake people with the intensity of a trained killer, she knew that this was also the person who’d break down her door the second she tried to run. “Freya. You wanted to see me.”

“Not interested. Can I go now?”

Didn’t mean she wouldn’t try.

---

freya morningstar

June flinched. Slightly. A sudden, small recoil away from the path of the arrow. It wasn’t fear that emerged, or necessarily anger. Acceptance was the first emotion shown. She crossed her arms and sighed as loud and exaggerated as humanly possible.

“That’s all you got? Nearly kill me and ask me if I’ve eaten? Of fucking course I–”

Her own stomach rumbled. Louder than her attempt to show obvious annoyance.

“... haven’t. Fine. You wanna talk? Buy me lunch. And not some shitty fast food stuff– I know you have cash.”

If she couldn’t get out of it, then she’d milk it for all its worth. June moved out of the way of the door out and motioned for Freya to lead the way. “And if you pull that shit again, I’m walking out of this building and never coming back.”

---

freya morningstar

June rolled her eyes, the many scars of Freya Morningstar ignored for her blatant ignorance. “Let me blow your mind with a real crazy idea: Someone asks you for a meeting, there’s probably about 10 people where it’s not an option. Someone asks me for a meeting, and there are about 10 people where it is an option.”

“Position of power, duh,” she grumbled. “You asked me, anyway. I either come here of my own free will or find out what happens if I don’t.”

Odds were good it would involve her getting some basic need taken away, or her being forcibly dragged and shoved into Freya’s company. She’d been through the process enough to know it only made things harder in the long run. Something Freya likely hadn’t realized. Or didn’t care about.

“Anyway, if you're done getting ready, can we make this quick? I still have deliveries to make today,” she said. Time to find out what a ‘beignets’ were.

---

freya morningstar

“I’m saying to walk in my shoes for a while.”
-

Fancy place. Nice decor. The absolute last place she’d visit– at least, of this specific variety. Looked more like a standard cafe than a dedicated coffee place. The kind she knew better. Here, looked like they specialized in the idea of ‘Kalos’. Certainly reeked of green and ‘home’.

But the menu gave her pause. So many words she didn’t know, and little time to decipher. But what she did know was numbers, and a lot of them looked very high. June pointed to the first one that sounded vaguely familiar, “I’ll take one of those, I guess. Oh, and the best espresso you have.”

Once the waiter started, the idle small talk began. June sighed, then stirred her lemon water with a spoon, head resting in a hand, “Not really no. Bigger fish to fry on my end.”

Grief. Work. Having any semblance of a social life (all of her two friends). Many things kept her out of the blogs and quite frankly insane deep dives into Freya's history.

Oh, and Regieleki too.

“But, I assume it’s relevant,” she followed up. “And has something to do with either my current or past situation. That, or you heard that I wasn’t interested earlier, and you aim to bore me for as long as possible.”

She was missing work for Freya’s past? Peachy.

---

freya morningstar

June raised her eyes to Freya as she assumed a similar pose after she relayed her very brief but very supposedly sad story. Believable? Enough. Sucky? Absolutely. Did she care?

Her attention returned to the glass, and then to the side. Towards the massive espresso machine, which came to life and promised bitter, delicious coffee.

It was only when Freya asked about her intentions that she returned her gaze to the military leader. With a long sigh, she finally let go of the spoon and let momentum carry it around the rim. Its ugly noise got a glance from the next table over. “Cause my Dad died, and I thought it’d help me move on. It didn’t.”

It hurt to say, but not as much as it had before the fated encounter. Baby steps.

“Doesn’t matter now,” she turned to the waiter who returned with her cup of espresso and muttered a thanks. Now, she turned her attention to the steaming cup and smelled in its deep aroma.

“Much like how your past doesn’t. Cause right now, you reside in one of the top government positions with a family name worth something in both prestige and wealth. All mine got me was a million in the red and cost me my future and the family business.”

No, she did not.

---

freya morningstar

June did a double take as the thing was set in front of her. The… sandwich? Abomination? Disappointment? Whatever it was, it looked stupid and dumb and only something rich Kalosians would ever consider food. Unfortunately, before she could get the waiter's attention, they were sent off by Freya.

All that was left was the military officer, the delivery girl, and a food item better left in the mind and away from reality. As Freya relayed the offer, June picked up the fork on the right and carefully slid the egg off. It plopped onto the expensive dishware like a bomb, and yolk spilled all over the pristine white.

Gross.

“That’s a high price, surveillence and loss of privacy, for an undisclosed amount of money,” she said. “And protection from the people that can’t even get Rocket out of the region.”

It was a surprise, though, when her mouth bit into the hot food and her tongue didn’t recoil from a terrible sensation. An unexpected pleasantry, unlike the current meeting. Even worse was the assurance of the current status quo being maintained.

“And I even get to keep my shitty twenty-four-seven working-hour job? Your generosity knows no limits,” the strange sandwich was returned to the plate. At least she wasn’t wasting the councilwoman’s money on bad food. “Seriously, I've heard better bullshit from used car salesmen. Sold it better, too.”

---

freya morningstar

June smiled. “Well, of course I fucking don’t.”

“But, let me ask you a question, war-monger-slash-prestigious-dragon-tamer,” she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, “because I’m absolutely curious. Just dying to know.”

“Am I a person to convince, or an asset to obtain? An obstacle to overcome?”

---

freya morningstar