GRIM REAPER¹, bellamy blake

075 ━━ making it weird

━━━✦━━━

"WHAT ARE you doing here?" Iona stares over at the man casually roaming the graveyard. He's completely nonchalant, crouching over some random woman's grave and reading the engravings wordlessly.

He shrugs, "Watching my queen get murdered; you know, the usual."

Iona crossed her arms, raising a brow, "You don't appear too upset by your nation's loss."

Jakob grinned. He stood up, putting his hands on his hips and bulging his arms, showing off his tattoos- Iona didn't even glance at his arms, eyes remaining purely on his face, which made him sigh.

"I don't think anyone will be upset," He said simply. "Just because I'm Azgedan does not mean I have to like my leader. If anything, I think she deserved to die."

Iona hummed.

Deep down, Iona felt a bit inconsiderate. When she left the summit, she hadn't even asked what happened to Jakob. She didn't wonder if he was alive or dead, nor did she ask if Lexa even captured him alongside her.

Instead, she simply took her leave with Bellamy and didn't look back. He was, at one time, her best friend, and a part of her ached knowing those feelings were long gone.

"You know, that cousin of yours made me a bread baker," Jakob said, disbelief in his voice. It was- yet again- as if he read her mind, and she chuckled at the idea of the ferocious warrior baking bread in a silly apron.

"What an image."

He rolled his eyes, "Not as glamorous as it sounds- trust me. When I told her I was a warrior, she seemed pretty hesitant to let me near any of her important soldiers; or the kids, for that matter. Didn't seem to want me to head back to Azgeda, though."

Iona grinned, "Is this the beginning of your conversion to Trikru, my dear Jakob? Are you joining the dark side?"

"Are you considering Azgeda the light side?" He raised his brows.

Iona let out a small, genuine laugh, and tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear. "Certainly not."

It was a sweet sight for Jakob. He knows they aren't particularly close and probably never will be again, but he still enjoys the sweet moments when he can steal a glance at the best friend he used to have.

The precious little girl that wished so badly to be a princess and have Jakob be her royal guard, despite him having little-to-no interest in anything related to weaponry- ironic, considering his current career.

Still, she looks just as she did then. Looking down, a colorful rose tint to her cheeks as she giggled quietly, a hand by her ear as she tried to hide the hairs threatening to find their way into her mouth or her nose because of the wind.

"Visiting Eyvana?" Jakob said, sounding far more serious and genuine than he did before. Slowly, he approached the grave where Iona stood. "She deserved better, Iona. I truly am sorry for your loss."

"Don't need your pity," She said. It wasn't rude, nor was it said with any shred of anger or sadness. It was purely the truth, and it was genuinely how she felt. "She did deserve better, though."

Jakob sighed. Looking down at Iona's hands, nervously toying with her fingers, he furrowed his brows.

"What's wrong?"

Iona chuckled, "Other than everything?"

He slowly shrunk until he was sitting down on the ground, facing away from the tombstone and out at the forest beyond the clearing. Patting the dirt beside him, he gestured out to the forest, "Sit. Talk with me."

Hesitantly, Iona did as she was told, taking the empty spot beside him.

"You heading back to the summit?" Jakob questioned. He looked at the ground near him, finding the smallest of daisies amongst the green grass. Picking it, he held it up and twirled the stem between his fingers.

"Why?" Iona asks, watching the flower intently. The spinning was somewhat hypnotic. "You work there now or something?"

Jakob shrugged, "It's not awful. Lexa didn't imprison me and she's yet to threaten to kill me. With the queen dead, I don't have much to return to. Azgeda's probably in shambles."

"So... yes?" Iona smirked.

Jakob looked over at her and rolled his eyes at her teasing smile. Tossing the flower at her chest, he playfully said, "Shut it."

For a brief second, it was quiet, merely a bird chirping in the distance. It was peaceful and gave Iona a few moments to process her answer to his initial question.

"Well?" He questioned, "You coming back with me or not?"

Iona shook her head.

"I've got to get back home. I've got something I need to do."

Jakob coughed, "You mean someone you've got to do?"

Iona rolled her eyes, "What are you on about?"

"Oh please, as if you can deny the puppy dog looks that boy gives you. You've got him wrapped around your katana as tight as could be; he wants you bad," Jakob said shamelessly, and Iona instantly looked at him with an awkward tint covering her cheeks.

"Can you stop talking already?" Iona coughed, "You're making everything... weird."

He shrugged, "Merely speaking the facts."

Getting off her spot beside Jakob, Iona prepared Athena to ride back to Arkadia. Patting her horse for behaving so well during the journey, she glanced back at Jakob who watched her intently.

"See you soon?"

"We always run into each other," Jakob grinned, "I'm sure it'll happen again soon enough."

Iona nodded, speaking her final goodbye before heading back to the camp she considered home.

━━━✦━━━