Ethics
This is extremely unethical, Sarah decided.
She and Jareth were at the park—Sarah had promised to take the boy, and Jareth was "coincidentally" there as well—and playing Go Fish. Such a childish game, but one both participants delighted in as they kept an eye on Toby. The kid was too preoccupied with the play set to sit down for cards, so if they each kept one eye on Toby, it made a pair, which was just as good as Sarah watching him by herself, or so Jareth claimed.
The game was getting rather intense, since they'd quickly established a few new, made-up rules that allowed for stealing cards back, dealing a new hand to the opponent, and rotating out previously made pairs. All in all, the two were having plenty of fun until they noticed Toby hanging precariously from the climbing wall, apparently stuck. Jareth was half-way to the playground before Sarah could even stand up, so she let him handle it and studied her cards again.
Jareth's cards sat on the bench, hastily tossed there as he'd leaped into action.
She was losing by two pairs right now. Sarah worried her lip as she considered the hand lying innocently beside her. She jiggled her knee and swung her foot, glancing up at Jareth, who was still extracting Toby from the wall (it appeared he'd caught his jeans on one of the handholds). Taking a deep breath, she reached over and flipped two of the cards.
A three and a king, go figure. Well, she didn't have any kings, but she had a three… Sarah quickly flipped the cards back over, carefully rearranging them to their previous state. She looked up again and saw Jareth lift Toby off the wall, set him on the grass, and nudge him towards the swings before the Goblin King came striding back to their bench.
He sat down beside her as she remarked, "You're really good with kids, aren't you? I didn't think you were that type."
"Occupational hazard," he teased, swiping his cards off the bench with exaggerated flair. "Sarah Williams, it is your turn." His eyes sparkled with mischief as he watched her debate her next move.
Call for the three now? No, that's too obvious. Next round, maybe… She ended up asking for sixes, but he didn't have any, nor did she draw one when she went Fish. His turn came and Jareth threw her for a loop.
"I call shuffle hands," he declared, drawing a card from the deck. "Four of spades, four cards, fork 'em over," he gloated as he discarded four from his own hand. She reluctantly handed him the majority of her cards and watched him take the eight cards and shuffle them back into the deck. They drew the same amount back and Jareth took her turn.
With this hand, though, she did have a king—clubs—and called him out on his, certain that he wouldn't have discarded it. It seemed he had, though, because he made her Go Fish, again.
He deliberated, propping his chin in his hand, before he drawled, "So, Sarah, do you have any… threes?" She gaped at him for a moment, then looked down at her hand. She did, blast him, and handed it over, looking at the knowing glimmer in his eyes.
Jareth reached out and patted her cheek. "Someone has to keep you honest, little crook." Sarah started sputtering, but Jareth just snickered.
Oro: I'm not dead, I'm just a high-school senior... Is there a difference? Blech.
Quill: College essay are tedious and exhausting. Are we returning to storywriting now?
Oro: Yup. I have another two, three stories I'm working on... hopefully they'll be up soon! (ducks to avoid the Disclaimer as it whizzes overhead)