#fourwordmeme

[youcannotaffordme]

“I can’t do this.”

Four Word Prompts

"You can.” The Queen’s voice was sure-sounding, her words laced with smoke as she took her cigar from her lips. The clock in the dress shop told her that she was cutting it close; her appointment was in another hour, but the travel time to the preferred meeting place would put her in a rush. Not to mention traffic, and other components that may cause interference--

She turned her attention back to the young woman. “Now look, lapochka - look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me, what do you see?” Her free hand rested upon her shoulder as she turned her to face the full-length mirror in the shop. In it she could see both herself and the girl in question, the latter sporting a gown that was just a couple inches too long.

It was not of her personal taste, but it was what could fit the girl’s budget, and thus her recommendations had led them here. A distant memory brought them here ultimately, but what it was exactly Valentina couldn’t pin.

@eliminate-zaun-gray

[youcannotaffordme]

“You look really tired.”

Four Word Prompts

Whether it was the hallucinogenic drug shimmering against her skin or some sort of fantastical reality, Valentina couldn’t tell for the life of her. What appeared to be an small, white beast stood before her, with another smokey, midnight coloured creature circling it with its maw agape. 

For all her years on Shimmer, the Queen had never been met with such vivid, life-like visions. It almost brought her to smile.

“I am,” she answered, her perky tone of voice contradicting her agreement to the observation. “Always am, really, but there is not much time for rest in my day...”

Lolling her head back against her couch, the Queen hummed as she stared at the ceiling. “I cannot really tell how you look, what with your masks. Who are you?”

@askthewolfandthelamb

[youcannotaffordme]

“You can trust me.”

Four Word Prompts

“Pretty words, those are,” the Queen said, her tone somewhere between amused and condescending. She waved a hand, blowing a ring of smoke from between her painted lips.

“But enlighten me, sir,” she continued, her eyes flickering in his direction. “Why is it you say that? Hmm?”

@verum-exsolutus

[youcannotaffordme]

“So, it was you.”

Four Word Prompts

The Queen gives a look that is somewhere between innocence and curiosity, her brows raised as she tilts her head and regards the masked figured before her.

“And what makes you say that, hmm?”

@thesableseraph

[youcannotaffordme]

"Will you help me?"

Four Word Prompts

“It depends.” The Queen exhales and from her lips spills a cloud of smoke, the sight reminiscent of the dragons of old. Through the fog she eyes the stranger, cerulean hues scanning him head to toe. He was hardly the most threatening figure to enter her castle, but still - she needed to be cautious, if only for her girls’ sake.

“What is it you want me to do?”

@summoner-renzus

[youcannotaffordme]

“Let me help you.”

Four Word Prompts

Her body aches in ways she is both familiar and unfamiliar with, the latter giving reason to worry but the Queen resists. She is stronger than this - and she knows it - so she picks herself up off from where she’d been sat along the curb of Rosemary Avenue, rejecting the offered helping hand.

“I’m quite fine, thank you,” she says in her trained Piltovian accent, feigning a smile as she dusts off her dress. Whether or not this woman accepts her response isn’t up to her, but she hopes that she simply takes her answer and allows for Valentina to return to her hotel in relative peace. 

This stranger needn’t worry for her; this was just another hazard of the job.

“Good night, and thank you once again.”

@edesonsclinic