Chapter 61

“Why didn’t you come to the door?” Orion growls, glaring at Anton with his arms crossed.

“And what,” Orion says, raising his hands in the air, twiddling his insubstantial fingers, “would you have suggested I do when I got there?”

“You can walk through doors, Anton,” Orion snarls.

Anton drops his hands, his brows raising. “I can?”

Orion rolls his eyes, moving on. “Where is she?”

Anton just points to the bathroom door. “In the shower.”

“How long is she going to be in there?”

“Probably as long as it takes for you to go away,” Anton says, his eyes going wide as he stares at Orion, willing him to figure it out. “She doesn’t want to talk to you, ‘Ri Guy. And frankly, I don’t blame her.”

Orion sighs and drops his head, lifting a hand to cup his forehead. “I listened while she played, all right?” he growls. “I just…also had a conversation while I was listening.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Anton says, his voice dry and flat. “So, to go along with that line of logic, do you also bring a yo-yo when you escort wailing souls into the afterlife? Bring a friend along to chat with when you take a girl to bed, just in case you get bored?”

Orion’s head snaps up and he just stares at Anton, incredulous.

“It was intimate, Orion!” Anton shouts, angry for June’s sake, even if his wolf sits unperturbed in his soul, not at all displeased to see Orion again in the doghouse. “It deserved more of your attention! Playing the piano was an intimate act for Juniper – she doesn’t do it publicly for anyone! And yes, you did have enough context clues to figure that out last night! Your actions were dismissive and rude – you basically communicated to her that whatever dim-witted thing Blondie said was more interesting than ten minutes of listening to a skill that June has taken a lifetime to perfect. You owe her an apology. And, beyond that, better behavior in the future.”

Orion scowls, looking to the side. “Yeah, well,” he mutters. “If she doesn’t play for anyone why did she play for the whole city last night, letting her music rain from the rooftops?”

“She was playing for herself, man,” Anton sighs, aware that Orion is just deflecting while he grapples with his guilt. “If others happened to listen, that was their luck. It wasn’t a performance like in the auditorium. She did that – all of that – for you.”

A little piece of Anton’s heart sinks because he knows just how true that is. That Juniper really did go into that trial hoping that Orion would see that part of her, admire it. That she is starting to open to this Prince and that he really did some true damage in his choice of actions. Anton’s wolf bares his teeth in his soul at the idea, but Anton just ignores him.

Orion sighs again, long and deep, looking mournfully at the bathroom door. And then he turns to Anton, shaking his head.

“Can you…can you help me, man?”

Anton sits quite still, staring at the prince. Because…what?

“I just…I keep fucking up with her, Anton,” Orion says, casting a hand out towards the door. “And you, apparently, are like the Juniper Whisperer. You always know what to do and say.”

Anton rolls his eyes a little. “I just pay attention to her.”

“I pay attention too!” Orion says, pressing a hand to his chest. “Or – I try! I just…” His whole body slumps, looking like a scarecrow hanging from its pole by a single nail. “I’m so fucking bad at this. All of this.”

“Oh god, come here,” Anton says, his heart going out to this weird prince who is far too good looking to misunderstand women this completely. Or…Anton purses his lips, wondering if Orion’s being so good looking is the problem – if he’s never had to try with a woman before. Anton pats the couch next to him, indicating where Orion should sit.

Orion does as he’s bid, walking around the couch and then slumping dramatically next to Anton.

“What, really, are you asking me for here?” Anton asks, crossing his arms and frowning at Orion. “Because if you’re just going to ask me for tips and tricks to seduce June, I’m definitely not going to help you with that –“

“No,” Orion sighs, a little petulant, shooting Anton a glare. “I – I want to be better, man. I want to be a better person. I want to be the kind of guy who notices when a girl is terrified about a performance, and who wants to listen to her. I don’t…I don’t know why I’m failing so hard at every interaction with Juniper. The other girls are…way fucking easier.” He groans and covers his face with his hands.

Anton smirks. “Yeah, because all the other girls are faking it.”

Orion starts and then pulls his hands halfway down his face, peering at Anton. “What?”

“Yeah, man,” Anton says, leaning forward towards his buddy. “All those other girls are being just as fake with you as you are with them! They’re just saying all the things they think you want to hear because they’re trying to get you to marry them! And also, not kill them!”

Orion lets his hands slip all the way from his face. “Do you really think that’s true?”

Anton just laughs and shakes his head at the spoiled Prince, who has been catered to so much that he doesn’t even realize people are doing it. “If you were a girl with your life on the line, and you thought a guy was ugly, would you tell him? Or would you smile at him like he was the prettiest Prince in the whole Realm of Darkness?”

Orion scowls. “I’m not ugly.”

“It was an example, you idiot,” Anton sighs, reaching out to smack Orion on the arm. “I’m saying that everything interaction you have with all of these women is tinted. Except June, who…can’t hold back. And, by the way, you do it too.”

“What?” Orion says, sitting up straight, frowning at Anton. “I do not!”

“Everything you say is a line!” Anton accuses, laughing, casting out a hand. “You haven’t opened up to these girls an inch about who you really are! You’re comfortable with them seeing you as the Perfect Prince, and so you just say all your Perfect Prince lines and let them fall all over you!”

“I am a Prince!”

“It’s boring!” Anton bursts out, leaning closer to Orion, begging him to see. But then seeing the real offense on Orion’s face, Anton backs off a little, shaking his head. “Look, man, I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just saying that if you want to be better at understanding these girls you have to connect with them. Which means letting them see who you are and learning who they are too. It means running the risk of having people not like you, which is something I think you’re deeply uncomfortable with.”

Orion turns more fully towards Anton now, narrowing his eyes at him. “Were you like…a therapist? When you were alive? A weirdly young therapist?”

Anton laughs, lounging back against the pillows and shakes his head. “Nah, man, I was training to be an assassin.”

Orion’s eyes go wide. Anton just laughs.

The prince shakes his head to clear it. “So,” he says, considering Anton more closely. “Why are you so…good at this people stuff?”

“Because,” Anton replies, shrugging, holding his gaze. “I was…a really angry kid. I was a lot like June – pissed off and insecure and afraid that no one would love me. I flipped out a lot, and spent days as my wolf, refusing to shift back. It took a lot of therapy, and one very patient nun, to help me figure some things out.”

“Oh,” Orion says, nodding a little, studying Anton anew. “Well that’s…good.”

Anton shrugs and moves on because, even if he has gotten better and has some pretty good insight into other people now, vulnerability isn’t his strong suit. He doesn’t like to talk about himself – not really. Sharing details of his own life feels...dangerous. At least, until he truly comes to trust someone and lets them in.

Orion? He’s not there yet.

“Okay, so, what’s with you and girls,” Anton says, leaning forward and smacking Orion on the knee, turning the conversation back where it belongs. “Clearly, you know how to be around women. Have you ever had a girlfriend? Been close to someone?”

Orion just shakes his head, looking down a little. “It was…frowned on by my parents. We always knew this was coming.”

“All right, but…I mean you never fell in love with your maid? Had a best friend?” Anton pushes here, searching for any sign of connection.

Orion just twists his mouth to the side and shakes his head. “My dad arranged a lot of my dates in my teens, wanting me to be…” he sighs, looking down, “’proficient.’ With women. And…growing up my friend group was…small. There aren’t a lot of living kids down here to begin with, and dad was picky about who I could be around.”

Anton’s wolf reaches his nose towards Orion, feeling for him, and Anton nods with understanding. “All right, so…” he shrugs, “maybe it makes sense that you’re not great with the connection part, yet. So you can’t beat yourself up about it. June can beat you up for it,” he says, gesturing towards the bathroom door. “But you should give yourself a break.”

Orion huffs a little laugh, still looking down at his hands like he’s not quite sure he believes he should.

“Next question,” Anton says, a little cagier than he was before. “Why do you want June so bad? I mean, clearly you two have…ish.” He grimaces a little as Orion looks up at him. “Why not leave her be and go for one of the other eighteen rare beauties at your fingertips?”

“Why, Anton” Orion asks, a little cagey in turn. “You want me to step aside so you can have her all to yourself?”