The blunt insinuation in Kuram's words left Juniper speechless. The two of them had flirted seamlessly before, the words easily slipping into place like the fragments of a puzzle, but their verbal dance had always been subtle, never anything as overt as what he was saying or implying now. It frazzled her. The thought had crossed her mind twice or thrice but they'd never gotten heated enough for her to consider it seriously. Despite the seriousness of Scythe life, theirs had been a chaste spring romance... handholding, flirting, and the occasional kisses.<br/><br/>Originally, she'd thought of his brashness in the arcade as merely a step up the proximity ladder, but now in the frightening isolation of the back alley, she realized what was happening. The heaviness in the air was the work of the monster, and it was clearly putting Kuram underneath it's disgusting spell.<br/><br/>The fight was over before it began. She was lifted into the air and the air was promptly knocked out of her with the hilt of his blade. She sputtered helplessly, held in place as steel sliced through fabric. "Kuram," all the confidence had fled from her voice. "It's the monster, it's using its magic." She twisted and kicked as hard as she could but found that it was utterly useless. "You need to focus!"  Cold air whipped at her bare skin and her movements grew desperate.<br/><br/>His eyes shine dark then and something in the pit of her stomach tightened as she felt his rough fingers grabbing at her chest. The situation sunk in. "Kuram! You need to stop!" And if he didn't, she would kick at him in hopes of knocking some sense into him. "It's messing with your thoughts and emotions!"