A/N - Phew, my updates really aren't supposed to take this long. Sorry! I
don't even know how good this chapter really is...I don't like it as much
as the first one.
Hmm..oh well, read and enjoy (hopefully) anyway.
Oh, and thanks for the reviews!! I was so happy! Replies to a few are at the end of the chapter....the mistakes I made from earlier are fixed now. (Unless I missed some...I *think* I fixed them) ::smiles::
D-i-v-e
The air felt cool and fresh on Jack's face as he left the clinic, a smile on his face. It had been three days since he had passed out on the top of the mountain, and it felt good to be on his feet again.
Elli had, of course, told him to take it easy, but he wasn't about to follow her instructions. His farm, for all he knew, had been neglected for the past few days, and although he had asked the harvest sprites to take care of it for him, there was still going to be a lot of work left over for him.
Jack nearly skipped down the path, just barely restraining himself. As a child, he had hated keeping still, and not much had changed since then. His last day in the clinic had been spent awake and bored out of his skull as Elli lectured him about pacing himself and not going out in the cold without proper clothing ("You nearly died! What if Gray hadn't been there? What if the clinic had been closed?")
A blush tinged Jack's cheeks as he thought about Gray. Apparently, he had carried him all the way down the mountain, *and* brought his dog back...speaking of Koro, where was he, anyway?
"Jack!" As he passed the poultry farm, Popuri's voice shook him out of his reverie. He turned, seeing the pink-haired girl running towards him.
"Hi!" he grinned broadly at her.
"You're all right! We were all so worried! Mom especially..." she said, smiling back at him. Jack usually visited the poultry farm every day to buy chicken feed. During these visits, he usually spent a while talking to Lillia. She and Jack had gotten very close.
"You didn't have to. I wasn't *so* bad."
"Yes you were," Popuri said, "Gray passed right by our farm on his way to the clinic, and you looked really bad! And there was this big lump on your head...what happened, anyway?"
"Koro got lost. I went out to look for him, but then on our way back, I slipped and I guess I must've hit my head. By the way, do you know what happened to Koro? Did you see him?" He asked, worried again about his dog. He really did have a soft spot for animals.
"He was tagging along behind you guys, last I saw. Gray looked really annoyed at him." Popuri made a face, "I don't think he really likes animals that much...he might still have your dog, though. You might want to check there, if he's not at the farm," said Popuri, thoughtfully. Jack frowned. If he and Gray ever got together, they'd have to work on that.
What if the reason he didn't like Jack was because he had so many animals? Nah, Jack thought, Gray was completely straight, as far he knew. He doubted that Gray's dislike of animals had anything to do with it.
He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts.
"What?" asked Popuri.
"Oh.nothing. I gotta check on my farm now. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye!" she waved as he retreated. Jack smiled, seeing the gate to his farm. Hopefully Koro wouldn't be there and he'd have to check at the blacksmith's.no, but he didn't *want* to see him. Gray was probably angry with him, too, for causing so much trouble.
The farm was still covered in snow, but it looked pretty good. Jack headed over to the barn first, sliding the doors open. Spot mooed at him. He sighed in relief. Everything looked fine. He moved on, past the horse stables (Snowflake was sleeping) and checked on the chickens. One of the eggs had hatched, and a little fluffy yellow chick was wandering around. Jack named it Sunshine, and then went outside again.
"Koro!" he called. No dog. His heart sank and rose at the same time. This meant seeing Gray...which was good, but then.he also just wanted to avoid him.
Jack forced his feet to move, heading purposefully through the snowy fields and back towards the farm entrance. All the while he was mentally preparing himself, telling his brain that seeing Gray was *good*...and why couldn't the blacksmith be farther away?
He reached it too soon, steeled myself, and entered. Gray was the only one there, working attentively on something. As soon as Jack entered, he looked up, blushed, and shoved it hastily to the side. Jack raised both eyebrows, surprised.
"Hi..." Jack said. Gray straightened, pulling his cap down. Jack wondered how he didn't get warm with it on all the time, and constantly working by the fire.
"Jack," he said.
"Um..." Jack said, growing uncomfortable, "I just wanted to, um, know, if you had seen my dog..." Jack scratched his head uncomfortably. Gray frowned at the mention at Koro, and stood up.
"In the other room," he said. Jack paused, remembering Saibara telling him to never enter the room.
"It's okay. You can go get him." He said, seeing my questioning look.
Jack opened the door apprehensively, and as soon as it was opened halfway, a golden ball of fur came hurtling out at him, yapping enthusiastically. He tried, in vain, to hold the little thing away from his face, which it was currently covering in wet, slobbery kisses.
Jack managed to subdue him eventually and turned, grinning.
"Thanks for taking care of him," he smiled. Gray just stared. Jack grinned more broadly, then waved.
"Bye..."
And he was out. He dropped Koro, heaving a big sigh of relief.
"He's really gorgeous, you know?" Jack commented happily to the dog. He sighed again.
Jack heard a noise behind him. He whirled, his eyes widening in horror.
"You forgot this," Gray said, his expression unreadable. Jack was frozen, shocked. He had *heard* him? Oh, God, what would he think? What did he think?
He held Koro's collar out to me. Koro barked. Still, Jack was unable to move. He had heard him. He knew.
He hated him.
Gray dropped the collar by Jack's feet, and went back inside. Jack squeezed his eyes shut, his ears roaring.
Why hadn't he said anything? He must've heard; there was no way he could've missed that. That, and the dream Jack had been having in the cave...
"You dropped something." He looked up to see Cliff. He bent down and picked up the collar, handing it to Jack.
"What's up? You look really messed up.I heard from Popuri that you got out of the clinic okay...but, you don't really look okay."
Jack was silent. Cliff continued merrily, "I always thought Elli was the type to really keep you there until you were better...guess not."
Jack shook his head weakly.
"No? Yeah, I know. They really should take better care of their patients there. Although when I was there, it seemed pretty good. That happened in the wintertime, too, didn't it? What's with all the accidents happening in the wintertime?" Cliff went on. Jack shook his head again, this time managing to open his mouth and talk.
"I'm okay, really. Um...I gotta go back to the farm...see ya..." he mumbled. Cliff looked concerned.
"Wanna go for a drink later tonight? You look like you need it."
"Some other time? Bye." He turned, and ran. Koro yipped and bounded along behind him, concerned that he was leaving him again.
_ _ _
The next morning, when Jack woke up, he felt terrible. He tried to recall his happiness from the day before. It was a sunny day, the birds were chirping outside his door.but he didn't notice any of it.
"Uughh..." he groaned. He yanked the heavy quilt off of him. It was...warm. Today was the first of spring.
Stupid spring. There was no way he was going to the spring goddess festival today. Jack wasn't about to get within a mile radius of Gray, not for a *long* time. Stupid sunshine.
Koro barked.
Stupid dog.
Jack dragged himself out of bed, shoving his cap onto his head (he had neglected to change last night) and headed for the door. He didn't feel like eating; Jack figured that today he would just feed all the animals and then weed for the rest of the day.
Work took his mind off of the problem; after he had weeded nearly half the field, he decided to take a break and take Snowflake out for a bit.
Jack clipped the lead onto her halter. As they exited the stable, she tossed her head and whinnied happily. He grinned. Animals really helped him forget all of his problems. Well, nearly.
He let Snowflake graze and sat down underneath the apple tree, surveying his work. He had gotten a lot done.
Jack sighed. Normally, he would've been enjoying himself at the festival. Last year he had taken Popuri, because Kai was only there for her during the summer time. Jack wondered who she had gone with this year. Elli had gone with the doctor, as usual. Cliff and Ann always went together, as did Rick and Karen...Jack buried his face in his hands as his mind once again flew to Gray.
He was jealous, as usual, every time he thought of him with Mary, but this time his embarrassment completely overpowered his usual feelings.
("He's really gorgeous, you know?") ("You forgot this.")
Snowflake whinnied. Jack looked up to see a figure approach.
--- A/N - replies to some reviews...
KiT-Girl: Thanks for the tip on Mary - I don't have my BTN game with me right now and I had completely forgotten her name. I make a lot of mistakes ^_^
Inari K: I think that you're talking about HM 64. BTN, I think, has basically same characters, but they have slightly different roles. I'm pretty sure their personalities are the same, though (I've never played the N64 version...I've only read fanfics from it). I'm glad you like the pairing, though. I've only ever found one Jack/Gray pairing and Gray's so cute! Hee.
If I made any more mistakes, please correct me. My BTN game is still missing, and I'm doing it all from memory, really. Oh, and about this chapter...I wrote it all in the first person first...then realized my mistake and fixed it all. So if there's a me or something stuck in there, that's why.
Thanks to the other reviewers! I will try and update faster now.
Leave some more reviews, now! (Is never happy.)
Hmm..oh well, read and enjoy (hopefully) anyway.
Oh, and thanks for the reviews!! I was so happy! Replies to a few are at the end of the chapter....the mistakes I made from earlier are fixed now. (Unless I missed some...I *think* I fixed them) ::smiles::
D-i-v-e
The air felt cool and fresh on Jack's face as he left the clinic, a smile on his face. It had been three days since he had passed out on the top of the mountain, and it felt good to be on his feet again.
Elli had, of course, told him to take it easy, but he wasn't about to follow her instructions. His farm, for all he knew, had been neglected for the past few days, and although he had asked the harvest sprites to take care of it for him, there was still going to be a lot of work left over for him.
Jack nearly skipped down the path, just barely restraining himself. As a child, he had hated keeping still, and not much had changed since then. His last day in the clinic had been spent awake and bored out of his skull as Elli lectured him about pacing himself and not going out in the cold without proper clothing ("You nearly died! What if Gray hadn't been there? What if the clinic had been closed?")
A blush tinged Jack's cheeks as he thought about Gray. Apparently, he had carried him all the way down the mountain, *and* brought his dog back...speaking of Koro, where was he, anyway?
"Jack!" As he passed the poultry farm, Popuri's voice shook him out of his reverie. He turned, seeing the pink-haired girl running towards him.
"Hi!" he grinned broadly at her.
"You're all right! We were all so worried! Mom especially..." she said, smiling back at him. Jack usually visited the poultry farm every day to buy chicken feed. During these visits, he usually spent a while talking to Lillia. She and Jack had gotten very close.
"You didn't have to. I wasn't *so* bad."
"Yes you were," Popuri said, "Gray passed right by our farm on his way to the clinic, and you looked really bad! And there was this big lump on your head...what happened, anyway?"
"Koro got lost. I went out to look for him, but then on our way back, I slipped and I guess I must've hit my head. By the way, do you know what happened to Koro? Did you see him?" He asked, worried again about his dog. He really did have a soft spot for animals.
"He was tagging along behind you guys, last I saw. Gray looked really annoyed at him." Popuri made a face, "I don't think he really likes animals that much...he might still have your dog, though. You might want to check there, if he's not at the farm," said Popuri, thoughtfully. Jack frowned. If he and Gray ever got together, they'd have to work on that.
What if the reason he didn't like Jack was because he had so many animals? Nah, Jack thought, Gray was completely straight, as far he knew. He doubted that Gray's dislike of animals had anything to do with it.
He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts.
"What?" asked Popuri.
"Oh.nothing. I gotta check on my farm now. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye!" she waved as he retreated. Jack smiled, seeing the gate to his farm. Hopefully Koro wouldn't be there and he'd have to check at the blacksmith's.no, but he didn't *want* to see him. Gray was probably angry with him, too, for causing so much trouble.
The farm was still covered in snow, but it looked pretty good. Jack headed over to the barn first, sliding the doors open. Spot mooed at him. He sighed in relief. Everything looked fine. He moved on, past the horse stables (Snowflake was sleeping) and checked on the chickens. One of the eggs had hatched, and a little fluffy yellow chick was wandering around. Jack named it Sunshine, and then went outside again.
"Koro!" he called. No dog. His heart sank and rose at the same time. This meant seeing Gray...which was good, but then.he also just wanted to avoid him.
Jack forced his feet to move, heading purposefully through the snowy fields and back towards the farm entrance. All the while he was mentally preparing himself, telling his brain that seeing Gray was *good*...and why couldn't the blacksmith be farther away?
He reached it too soon, steeled myself, and entered. Gray was the only one there, working attentively on something. As soon as Jack entered, he looked up, blushed, and shoved it hastily to the side. Jack raised both eyebrows, surprised.
"Hi..." Jack said. Gray straightened, pulling his cap down. Jack wondered how he didn't get warm with it on all the time, and constantly working by the fire.
"Jack," he said.
"Um..." Jack said, growing uncomfortable, "I just wanted to, um, know, if you had seen my dog..." Jack scratched his head uncomfortably. Gray frowned at the mention at Koro, and stood up.
"In the other room," he said. Jack paused, remembering Saibara telling him to never enter the room.
"It's okay. You can go get him." He said, seeing my questioning look.
Jack opened the door apprehensively, and as soon as it was opened halfway, a golden ball of fur came hurtling out at him, yapping enthusiastically. He tried, in vain, to hold the little thing away from his face, which it was currently covering in wet, slobbery kisses.
Jack managed to subdue him eventually and turned, grinning.
"Thanks for taking care of him," he smiled. Gray just stared. Jack grinned more broadly, then waved.
"Bye..."
And he was out. He dropped Koro, heaving a big sigh of relief.
"He's really gorgeous, you know?" Jack commented happily to the dog. He sighed again.
Jack heard a noise behind him. He whirled, his eyes widening in horror.
"You forgot this," Gray said, his expression unreadable. Jack was frozen, shocked. He had *heard* him? Oh, God, what would he think? What did he think?
He held Koro's collar out to me. Koro barked. Still, Jack was unable to move. He had heard him. He knew.
He hated him.
Gray dropped the collar by Jack's feet, and went back inside. Jack squeezed his eyes shut, his ears roaring.
Why hadn't he said anything? He must've heard; there was no way he could've missed that. That, and the dream Jack had been having in the cave...
"You dropped something." He looked up to see Cliff. He bent down and picked up the collar, handing it to Jack.
"What's up? You look really messed up.I heard from Popuri that you got out of the clinic okay...but, you don't really look okay."
Jack was silent. Cliff continued merrily, "I always thought Elli was the type to really keep you there until you were better...guess not."
Jack shook his head weakly.
"No? Yeah, I know. They really should take better care of their patients there. Although when I was there, it seemed pretty good. That happened in the wintertime, too, didn't it? What's with all the accidents happening in the wintertime?" Cliff went on. Jack shook his head again, this time managing to open his mouth and talk.
"I'm okay, really. Um...I gotta go back to the farm...see ya..." he mumbled. Cliff looked concerned.
"Wanna go for a drink later tonight? You look like you need it."
"Some other time? Bye." He turned, and ran. Koro yipped and bounded along behind him, concerned that he was leaving him again.
_ _ _
The next morning, when Jack woke up, he felt terrible. He tried to recall his happiness from the day before. It was a sunny day, the birds were chirping outside his door.but he didn't notice any of it.
"Uughh..." he groaned. He yanked the heavy quilt off of him. It was...warm. Today was the first of spring.
Stupid spring. There was no way he was going to the spring goddess festival today. Jack wasn't about to get within a mile radius of Gray, not for a *long* time. Stupid sunshine.
Koro barked.
Stupid dog.
Jack dragged himself out of bed, shoving his cap onto his head (he had neglected to change last night) and headed for the door. He didn't feel like eating; Jack figured that today he would just feed all the animals and then weed for the rest of the day.
Work took his mind off of the problem; after he had weeded nearly half the field, he decided to take a break and take Snowflake out for a bit.
Jack clipped the lead onto her halter. As they exited the stable, she tossed her head and whinnied happily. He grinned. Animals really helped him forget all of his problems. Well, nearly.
He let Snowflake graze and sat down underneath the apple tree, surveying his work. He had gotten a lot done.
Jack sighed. Normally, he would've been enjoying himself at the festival. Last year he had taken Popuri, because Kai was only there for her during the summer time. Jack wondered who she had gone with this year. Elli had gone with the doctor, as usual. Cliff and Ann always went together, as did Rick and Karen...Jack buried his face in his hands as his mind once again flew to Gray.
He was jealous, as usual, every time he thought of him with Mary, but this time his embarrassment completely overpowered his usual feelings.
("He's really gorgeous, you know?") ("You forgot this.")
Snowflake whinnied. Jack looked up to see a figure approach.
--- A/N - replies to some reviews...
KiT-Girl: Thanks for the tip on Mary - I don't have my BTN game with me right now and I had completely forgotten her name. I make a lot of mistakes ^_^
Inari K: I think that you're talking about HM 64. BTN, I think, has basically same characters, but they have slightly different roles. I'm pretty sure their personalities are the same, though (I've never played the N64 version...I've only read fanfics from it). I'm glad you like the pairing, though. I've only ever found one Jack/Gray pairing and Gray's so cute! Hee.
If I made any more mistakes, please correct me. My BTN game is still missing, and I'm doing it all from memory, really. Oh, and about this chapter...I wrote it all in the first person first...then realized my mistake and fixed it all. So if there's a me or something stuck in there, that's why.
Thanks to the other reviewers! I will try and update faster now.
Leave some more reviews, now! (Is never happy.)