A/N: Hey! I'm back! :)
Thanks to Ma dara-Sara da for the review on last chapter, as well as to all who gave this story a favourite, a follow, or simply read. Your support is much apreciated.
Disclaimer: I own squat.
Why do you like me so much?
That's what Jill had asked me, and what made me ask myself the same question.
Why did I like her so much?
The answer lay somewhere I wasn't sure I wanted to venture. I wasn't sure I wanted to admit that I loved Jill more than I love myself, which is by the way, a lot.
Yes. That's what it was.
Jill had made me face the truth that night. She discovered my feelings before I even discovered them myself.
I blame it on my charming, good looks.
Lots of girls had claimed to love me, but I'd never loved a single one of them, except for maybe my own mother, which I can't say I remember meeting in the first place. I'm absolutely positive that every woman I have ever met has loved me in some way. Somewhere along the way, I stopped trying to find love.
...until Jill stumbled onto the scene.
It was ironic really. The one girl I truly loved didn't even love me back, and I had tried to make her fall for me, even if I wasn't fully aware that that was what I was so obviously doing.
I attempted to make her spicy, red curry because she seemed to favour red grass while forging in the mornings, wore my nicest clothes up until the Witch Princess blew up my house, flirted like I had never flirted before, and made her a cake with all the trimmings. To get all obstacles out of the way, I even gave up thievery.
I hadn't stolen since meeting her.
Okay, that was a lie. I stole according to her terms. But according to mine, I had a squeaky clean record. It practically shined like a diamond. I was obviously perfect boyfriend material, so I didn't get why she hadn't fallen for me.
Sitting next to her by the flickering warmth of the fireplace, I had the modesty to feel the tiniest bit exposed. (How puny that I was also shirtless.) I hadn't prepared for the situation of unrequited love.
In fact, I had just recently discovered that that was what the mysterious feeling was. The situation wasn't even planned for.
We had long since stopped shivering. The water had stilled in our hair and stopped leaving bothersome droplets everywhere.
It was also slightly more awkward, because we were both warm enough to know we weren't going to lose a finger any time soon but didn't want to leave the quilt because it was freezing outside of it.
"Feeling any better, love?" I teased in an attempt to break the silence.
"I could be worse," Jill replied without looking up.
"Aw. I can assure you I would find you beautiful even if all your fingers fell off."
"Great. Nice to know," she grumbled, the cutest little pout making itself known.
We sat there for a little while longer, just staring at the fire. It was quite dreadful, and I'm sure there were about a million things Jill would rather do than sit freezing next to me.
...like play a friendly game of blackjack or strip poker.
And because I highly doubted suggesting the second option would allow me to keep all my gorgeous fingers, as well as my life, I brought up the first option.
"Hey," I prodded, earning myself a questioning stare. She no doubt thought I was going to say something as disagreeable (in her beautiful mind of course) as the second option. "Do you by any chance have a deck of cards?"
"One's at the bottom of the ocean. The other's in my sock drawer," she mumbled in response.
"Here?"
"Yeah," she replied, looking up at me in curiosity. "Why?"
"I figured a game of blackjack might help pass the time."
I mischievous glint flickered in her lavender eyes, making me wonder if it was a good idea after all. "Ohhhh…! What are we betting?"
Jill has always had a love for gambling. It is a bit unhealthy, but I'll support whatever brings her home smiling ear to ear.
I didn't know then that while any game could rile Jill's competitive spirit, blackjack was a double-edged sword. She liked any game well enough, but it was blackjack that sent her home broke at the end of the day.
I couldn't exactly follow Jill into an oversized sprite tree, so I had no clue then why Jill was in such a bad mood when leaving the sprite tree on occasion. On the other hand, she came out most days with little sprites clawing at her feet and begging for mercy.
Of course, I didn't know at the time that blackjack was her least favourite game, a tempting one, yet always her downfall. I just knew she liked to gamble, so I suggested it to pass the time. There was no telling when we'd be able to get off the island, though I'm sure we both hoped it would be soon. Jill had animals to care for and crops to tend…
I answered Jill's question with a sly smirk. "Our hearts."
One of us was broke already. It wouldn't do any good for Jill to lose all her money and leave me to starve.
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
"Of course, princess."
"Alright," Jill huffed, brushing a strand of damp hair out of her eyes. "But we'll have to play for I-owe-yous. I don't have much here… and I'm too broke for hardcore gambling."
In other words, Jill kind of had a bit of a gambling problem, but had enough sense not to risk owing gold she didn't have in the first place. Gambling was a risky hobby, but it wouldn't be her downfall.
As for me, I didn't have a thing to call my own anymore but the clothes on my back, which weren't even mine in the first place.
And no, I'm not into murder. I stole them from an unsuspecting, rival farmer of Jill's. Yes, that's where I got my food. They really need to start locking their windows. It's a bit unsettling that everybody in the valley has such lax security. That's how people really get murdered. Again, it has never been in any shape or form, been performed by yours truly. I was just the slightest bit concerned over how the valley was the perfect setting for a murder mystery.
They even had things that went 'bump' in the night, a witch/part-time arsonist, a passive-aggressive goddess, and devious sprites who were more like leprechauns. Although I wasn't aware of the closeness of the fact at the time, I was told much later by Jill that there's a very real, very bald Harvest God in the sky somewhere with very serious anger issues, leading to anything from book burning to trips to hell.
So when I think about it more, Forget-Me-Not Valley was more of a reality TV-show verging on a horror movie.
Getting back to things not yet known at the time of my impending love story, I was at the time, a broke, yet sophisticated former thief, who should have been surprised that he hadn't been killed in a miserably painful way by supernatural forces.
I was also unaware that if I ever accidentally hurt Jill in any way, I would have every single supernatural force of the valley after me like bloodhounds. That meant I had no clue what I was getting into… not that I regret it. It's just scary to be hiding in Jill's dog house, fearing for my life.
I naively told Jill, "It's a deal then."
"Yeah, I suppose it is," she confirmed, before bringing a finger to her lips in thought. "I'll get us something warm to drink… Not sure what's there. I'm sure you can find the cards? The left bottom drawer of my dresser is the sock drawer. Don't go snooping."
She then clambered away, using her quilt as protection from the cold, while simultaneously leaving me to freeze.
While it was tempting to snoop, I complied with her wishes. I had already almost died once that day.
Once was enough.
Leaving Jill to get the drinks, I went to the dresser and found a rather weird set of cards that fringed at the edges, held together by a flimsy elastic band. It was obviously a very old deck, but it would do.
I met Jill back by the fire, two piping hot mugs of tea in front of her bundled form. She had also ever so kindly brought over another more frayed quilt, likely annoyed with our constant bouts of subtle tug-of-war.
"I hope you like chamomile tea," Jill murmured uncaringly. She reached for her own cup, cradling it on her lap. Sitting down beside her, I reached for it. She grabbed my wrist before I could bring it to my lips. "Careful. It's still hot."
I nodded, and she lowered her hand back to her lap.
"I got the cards," I informed her.
"Oh, great," she enthused, placing the mug beside her so as to not spill its contents all over herself. She then held out her hands expectantly. "Gimme."
I complied.
She smiled. "Thanks."
"You're okay with blackjack right?" I asked again.
Jill furrowed her brow in concentration, as if she was deciding whether or not blackjack was a wise idea. She then smiled assuringly. "Yeah. Sounds good."
I soon discovered that Jill absolutely sucked at blackjack. Now, I'd played my share of card games, but I had doubts I had much experience.
Luck never came in Jill's favour when it came to blackjack. I was winning nine to three rounds, having only one round to go before earning my favour. Poor Jill looked about ready to shred the feeble scraps of paper.
...And she did.
"Argh! Screw it!" she cried out, ripping her held card in two and throwing it up in the air in a display of childishness, though I'm assuming she just didn't want to owe me of all people a favour.
I wasn't disappointed by her poor sportsmanship. It was mildly amusing how she was so adamant on winning.
"Aw, princess. You've ruined your card."
"Oh, it's alright," Jill chirped, flinging a slightly mouldy card at my forehead. "Besides, you can't win now, and you've lost your victory, so ha ha ha…!"
"Oh, no, princess," I said with a sly smirk. She took it as a hint that nothing good was coming, and pouted in anticipation. "I win by default. My prize is your heart."
Jill crossed her arms over her chest. "You're not stealing my organs."
"Just your heart. I bet yours is beautiful. I'd like to keep it… right next to mine," I added to her joke, while adding a bit of flirting for good measure.
She flushed a bit, yet swiftly regained her composure and gave me a taste of my own medicine with her next words, "Maybe I'll stick your decapitated head on a pike as payment. It's only right if you're planning on stealing my organs."
I placed a hand upon my heart in mock pain. "You wound me, angel."
"Did you hit the ground yet?" she chuckled.
"Oh, princess," I sighed. Teasingly, I brushed a strand of her damp brown hair out of her face, before getting my hand swatted away. "The Prince of the Stars can never fall, ever."
Jill then took a long sip of her tea, long since having cooled. It may have cooled a little too much for her taste, as she grimaced.
"Cold tea?" I guessed.
She nodded.
"How very disgusting..." I couldn't help but agree.
"Very," she agreed, before placing the mug by her side so she could remove her blanket and get up. Jill then reached down to grab our semi-empty mugs. "I'll clean these up… unless you want more?"
I gazed at my own lukewarm cup. "I'm grateful, but I've had enough."
"Okay. I'm going to get some sleep now. There are some pillows and extra blankets in the closet, so help yourself. The couch is yours," she spoke, before pausing a bit in thought. "And there's some food in the kitchen, so if you're hungry, I suppose you can find whatever's worth eating. There's not much there, but for goodness sake, don't trash my kitchen. I'll find out."
I smirked at the fire in amusement. "I promise. Goodnight, my lovely."
"Night, Skye. I'll see you in the morning."
I heard feet padding across the threshold, then the creaking of a bed, the lifting of sheets, and a heavy head hitting a pillow.
I got up from my spot by the fire. The warmth was nice, but there was no longer anyone to share it with. Leisurely, I walked over to the closet to grab a pillow and snagged a couple of stale cookies from the kitchen.
Nonchalantly, I munched on the cookies on the couch, all while staring at the not-so-distant fire with a sense of longing. I remember wishing I could play blackjack with Jill just a little while longer.
A/N: I hope this chapter was up to par. Jill has a complicated relationship with blackjack. She does hate the game, but is too competitive to outright refuse a challenge. Just thought I'd clear that up a bit in case she seemed out of character. After all, it wouldn't be like her to back down from a challenge. She's a 'kickass farmer'. As for next chapter, it is currently being edited, but will not be posted for a while yet. Due to school, I need to hoard a bit. Don't worry! When I say I am timing my updates, it just means I'm trying to post every month or two. Thanks for reading and please leave a review! :)
