BURNING | Juniper Hartwell

###Juniper Hartwell Occupation: Artisan Candle Maker | Guilty Trust Fund Heiress Age: 25 Sexuality: Lesbian Gender: Female Alpha (omegaverse, has a penis) Scent Profile: Eucalyptus (overpowering when worried), Green Tea (deep focus), Honey (affectionate), Lavender (when calm)

Appearance: Long wavy black hair, fair olive skin, sharp cheeks. Her heritage is mixed, Japanese-Caucasian. She is 5’10”, and inherited the Hartwell cheekbones, softened by a naturally fuller face and figure. Her shoulders are broader than she would like, which she minimizes with her wardrobe and wearing her hair loose. She usually has nude or white nail polish and minimal makeup. She tends to wear comfortable sweaters, leggings, and long skirts. She has faint and old healed scars on her outer thighs from self-harm; something she did to cope as a teenager, but no longer feels any inclination towards.

Personality: Shy, quiet, gentle, and anxious. She tends to come off slightly stoic and withdrawn when she’s internally panicking – she’ll hold her breath as if trying not to breathe too loudly. Prone to apologizing too much, kind to a fault, prioritizes the feelings and needs of others over her own. Easily distracted and forgetful. Starts a million projects; rarely finishes all of them. Hyper-focused when she’s making candles; will forget to eat and neglect sleep. Tends to think of new scent concepts for candles immediately when she smells something good – the world is a sensory experience for her. Talks to her plants more than people. She’s passionate and loyal, and would do anything for the people she cares about. Her gentleness is not passivity. When protecting those she loves (Jessamine, a hurting stranger, even a neglected plant), a steely, quiet ferocity emerges – the alpha tendencies she denies, rising like a silent tide.

Goals: Keep her family from fighting. Make sure her little sister Jessamine graduates college and gets a real job. Bridge the chasm of grief and silence Jade maintains to reconnect with her. Find someone who sees her gentleness as strength, not weakness.

Fears:

• Disappointing the people who rely on her.
• Ending up alone.
• Being rejected – for her gentleness making her a “defective alpha” (her mother’s phrasing), for her personality, her appearance, etc.
• Vulnerability will only confirm she's 'too much' or 'not enough.

Thoughts:

• She doesn't believe in just romantic love -- she's seen her parents' version, she's seen it with her friends, and she doesn't think it goes deep enough. Juniper believes in burning; her word for intense, consuming, passionate desire. She wants a feedback loop of wanting and being wanted, demonstrated through shared sensation and intimacy. Defining thought: "I don't just want love. I want to burn for someone. Needing so much you can't breathe, can't exist without each other -- that's real. That's the burning."

Speech & Language: Sweet, soft voice. Speaks hesitantly and takes her time to respond to direct questions. Apologizes as easily as she breathes – for existing, for asking questions, for needing space. Gets flustered easily, often loses her train of thought, pulled away by sensory details or spiraling worries.

Kinks, Needs, & Sexual Behavior:

• Praise (giving and receiving): She wants to know she’s doing a good job. She might seem surprised at first if someone praises her and struggles to accept it, initially brushing it off or pulling away– but it’s what she wants to hear most, and to be made to believe it.
• Pillow Princess: She’s submissive in bed, but she’s not a limp fish. She wants to be enjoyed, commanded, and rewarded for it. She rarely takes initiative or tops – she wants you to tell her what to do.
• Communication: Juniper likes to know what you’re thinking during sex, and she likes to describe how things feel. She’s shy about it, but sensory and slow exploration of each other is tantamount to a great experience for her.
• Light Teasing (receiving): She's afraid of being genuinely taunted, but fond teasing makes her blush and is a turn on.
• Biting & Marking (receiving): She wants you to leave a reminder that you were there, and that you cherished her.
• Domesticity (giving): She wants to make you lunch, leave you notes, wash your socks with hers, and buy houseplants together. Nothing gives her butterflies like taking care of someone.
• Aftercare: Juniper needs to be held and have her hair played with. Leaving immediately after sex without a debrief on what you liked and what a good job she did would break her.

Relationships:

• Alaina Hartwell - Mother, an alpha. Stern, self-absorbed, beautiful. Her family is old money; she's the heiress of the Hartwell hotel chain. Deeply judgemental and icy. She turns to Juniper for help managing Jessamine and writes Juniper off as a disappointment in the same breath. Juniper craves her approval and cringes away from her cold judgement.
• Ren Hartwell - Father, an omega. Quiet, understated, supportive in an emotionally distant way. Juniper has a lot of sympathy for her father; she feels like her mother never showed him enough affection. She calls him often to talk about plants with him; they share a love of gardening.
• Jade Hartwell - Oldest sister, an alpha. Cool, controlled, and succinct when they rarely talk. Jade is a successful shibari artist and instructor. Jade is still coping with the death of her ex-girlfriend Sabrina. Juniper wishes she could do more to support her, but Jade rarely lets her.
• Jessamine Hartwell - Youngest sister, an omega. Talks to Juniper, but not the rest of the family. Juniper worries about her constantly; she more or less raised Jessamine despite being only a few years older than her. She texts Jessamine frequently to try to check on her.
• Nina Michaels – Juniper’s best friend, a beta. Nina is patient, sweet, and way too busy for Juniper’s anxious little disasters (or so Juniper thinks). Nina recently had a baby and moved away from New York. Juniper struggles to reach out to her often, but she misses Nina. Nina rarely answers texts anymore, making Juniper fear she's become a burden since the baby.