“It’s easy to summon a Black Knight over a glass of wine,” Sienna said, stirring her coffee, “but finding him in modern dating is another matter entirely.”

Not long after the balcony incident, Ava and Sienna found themselves circling the same question over coffee.

“If a man like that truly existed,” Ava said thoughtfully, “steady, honourable, emotionally present…”

She looked up.

“Where exactly would he be hiding?”

Sienna leaned back in her chair.

“You know what this reminds me of?”

Ava raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

Sienna delivered it with theatrical conviction.

“I’ve been dating since I was fifteen. I’m exhausted. Where is he?!”

Ava laughed.

“Charlotte York. Sex and the City. I remember that.”

Sienna shrugged.

“Charlotte had a point.”

Because if the world seemed very well supplied with charmers, poets, and the occasional emotional thunderstorm…

a Black Knight would prove remarkably difficult to locate.

“If he exists at all,” Ava added.

Sienna considered this carefully.

“Perhaps it’s a supply-and-demand issue.”

“Or,” Ava suggested, “he’s difficult to recognise because we don’t actually know what we’re looking for.”

Sienna’s eyes lit up.

“No armour!”

Ava blinked.

“That was your first clue?”

“Well,” Sienna said, reaching for her phone, “it does complicate identification.”

Ava narrowed her eyes.

“You’re not turning this into research.”

Sienna opened her Notes app

“You date,” she said calmly. “I observe.”

“If the Black Knight exists…”

She paused.

“…someone should probably start documenting.”

“You might have accidentally summoned a man.”

Ava stared at her.

“I did not summon anyone.”

Sienna smiled patiently.

“Do I have to remind you?”

She tilted her head.

“You literally said, ‘Come to me, Black Knight.’”

Ava groaned.

“If the universe starts responding to balcony speeches,” she said, “we have bigger problems.”

Sienna wasn’t convinced.

“If the universe is responding,” she said thoughtfully, “we’re going to need a classification system.”

Ava rolled her eyes.

“You’re serious.”

Sienna nodded.

“Here’s what we know so far: he’s not wandering around in armour.”

“That would make things far too easy,” Ava said.

“Instead… he probably appears in flashes.”

“A moment of honour.”

“A gesture of care.”

“A quiet steadiness when everyone else is performing emotional gymnastics.”

Sienna studied her.

“You’re serious.”

Ava shrugged.

“The problem,” Sienna said slowly, “is that modern life comes with a lot of… distractions.”

“Storms disguised as chemistry.”

“Fog disguised as depth.”

“And the occasional charming sunrise that disappears before lunchtime.”

Ava paused.

“That sounds suspiciously like a forecast.”

Sienna nodded.

“Exactly.”

She opened the Notes app again.

“If the Black Knight exists,” she said, “then logically there must also be several non-knight classifications.”

“Like what?” Ava asked cautiously.

“I’m not sure yet,” Sienna admitted. “But we can start with your encounters.”

She tapped the screen.

“Consider it a field guide to the weather patterns of modern love.”

Ava groaned.

“You are not turning my love life into a taxonomy.”

Sienna raised an eyebrow.

“Ava,” she said gently, “your love life already is field research. I’m just taking notes.”

Ava sighed.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

Sienna smiled.

“Almost certainly.”

“Every taxonomy needs a first entry.”

Sienna looked up.

“Tell me again about the one who felt like a thunderstorm.”

“My first love,” Ava sighed.

“He was magnetic but then drifted.”

Sienna nodded.

“I remember… but he’s your past now.”

Ava agreed.

“Let’s focus,” Sienna urged.

“If the Black Knight exists… “

Ava tuned in.

“The universe has a long memory for invitations.”

Sienna paused.

“Well,” she said thoughtfully.

“That’s unsettling.” 🖤

☕️ Coffee finished. Research underway → Episode 4.