Jaden occupied herself for an entire day mining for gems with little to no breaks, which wasn't unusual for her as she always worked herself to the bone. Wiping the sweat from her brow and feeling the stickiness of her shirt that was drenched in sweat, Jaden leant down and pulled out from the ground the final gem that she needed. Breathing a noticeable sigh of relief, she placed the gem into her satchel along with the others, where she finally collapsed onto the ground in the plaza by Mickey's house.
Of course it was at that particular moment that Mickey decided to leave his house, only taking a few steps outside when he caught sight of Jaden on the ground, panting heavily from what appeared to be complete exhaustion. He ran over to her side, calling her name in fear to see if he would get a reaction out of her.
He did thankfully, albeit not a verbal one, but could relax easy knowing that she was okay. He saw Jaden glance up at him as she pulled out her small flask of whiskey that she always kept with her.
"Have you been here all night?" Mickey asked her worriedly.
Jaden replied by shaking her head. Only after she took a long swig of her whiskey did she speak. "No, I've been all over the valley mining for stupid gems and right now I'm bloody knackered." She told him breathlessly.
Mickey held out his hand for her to take, to which he noticed the inner battle that Jaden was having inside of herself before she reluctantly took it as Mickey helped her to her feet. "Breakfast?" He asked her hopefully, not at all wondering if maybe now wasn't the best of times.
Jaden couldn't help but chuckle slightly. He was a cheek, good ol' Mickey. Any other time she would have been annoyed by the question, but her exhaustion made it so she couldn't find it in her heart to be mad at him. "Yeah, why not? But we're going to Remy's. I don't think I can cook right now."
Mickey agreed, not wanting Jaden to further exhaust herself. The pair walked in silence across the plaza to Remy's restaurant. Jaden attempted to let go of Mickey's hand but found herself in a vice grip, her struggling only made Mickey grip her hand harder to the point Jaden could feel the first stirrings of pain. Thankfully the walk was only a short one, and only when the pair had stepped inside the entrance to the inviting pleasant smells of cooking food coming from the kitchen, did Mickey let go.
As the pair looked around for an empty table, Jaden was brought to the attention of a couple sat across the far side of the restaurant at one of the bigger tables. Seated there was a young blonde woman and a sandy-haired young man that Jaden didn't recognise, which was strange as by now Jaden knew almost everyone in the village.
She tapped Mickey on the shoulder, pointing them out to the mouse and whispered in his ear, asking if he knew who the mysterious couple was. But Mickey just shrugged his shoulders. Now Jaden was really starting to get interested. If Mickey didn't know who they were, then that really was strange.
Before Jaden realised what was happening, she noticed that Mickey was no longer by her side and had gone walking up to the table in question. Jaden jogged to catch up to him, stopping once they reached the table. Upon further inspection of the couple now that they were up close, Jaden managed to get a good look at the pair in question. The bloke was nothing really special, with his average good-boy looks that any man of his age would already possess, but the woman sitting next to him? She was nothing short of stunning. Her glossy looking blonde hair fell graciously over her shoulders, and her luminous blue eyes were so beautiful that Jaden had a hard time standing on her own two feet. Even though the woman was sat down, Jaden could tell that she had a striking thin figure, with nicely curved hips and spectacular long legs.
All in all to Jaden, she was the perfect woman, and Jaden could already feel the attraction this woman was bringing her. She was trying her absolute hardest not to stare, but found she couldn't look away.
Mickey, noticing the change in Jaden, broke the awkward silence. By now the expected couple had noticed their presence and was starting to stare back at them, waiting for somebody to address them. Mickey was the first to break the silence. "Hi there! I'm Mickey Mouse and this here is Jaden, our leader." Mickey introduced them in an overall friendly way, which was greeted by smiles and small waves. Mickey had even taken it upon himself to sit in one of the empty chairs opposite the couple.
Jaden sat down in the chair next to Mickey, a puzzled expression on her face. "I don't think that's official, is it?" She murmured to Mickey. Leader huh? I like the sound of that myself. She kept that smug thought to herself, not wanting to give these two new people a self-righteous first impression.
Mickey shrugged from where he sat. "It is now."
The couple opposite them gave a small chuckle, the man speaking first. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Ken Carson and this is Barbie Roberts." He gestured his hand towards Barbie, who uttered a friendly hello. "We're new to the village. We were just checking the place out when we came across this restaurant. I had promised Barbie a date anyway, so here we are." Ken grinned, happy to show off his apparent good luck with this girl.
Barbie on the other hand, was not enthralled by Ken's statement. "This is not a date. We came here looking for someone in charge so we could speak about housing arrangements, but we kinda got hungry." Barbie explained, giving Ken a pointed, disapproving look.
"Well, you're talking to the right person. I can help you with your housing problem." Jaden offered immediately, already liking the spunk of this woman.
Barbie looked relieved. "You would? Thank you so much!" She happily exclaimed.
Jaden's next words came tumbling out, not thinking clearly before she properly thought about them. "But, you've got to go on a date with me." She said automatically with a playful smirk. She was only messing around and not being entirely serious with her remark, thinking Barbie would just reply with a nervous laugh.
Therefore Jaden was completely taken aback when Barbie said, "Sure, I'll go on a date with you." She agreed with a frisky grin of her own.
Ken's face was like thunder, his voice rising in uncontrolled anger at the thought of a complete stranger trying to take his girl away from him. "Wait, what!? You're going on a date with a woman who you've only just met!?" At this point, all the other customers had turned their heads to stare at the four of them, making Barbie and Mickey visibly uncomfortable. But this still didn't stop Ken from interrogating poor Barbie. "While you're dating me no less?" He asked, both outraged and clearly hurt.
Barbie sighed tiredly, a clear indicator that this wasn't the first time that something like this had happened. "Ken, for the last time, we are not together."
Seeing how uncomfortable this Ken was making Barbie, Jaden stood up and walked over to where Ken was sitting. She had only known the bloke for less than five minutes and he was already starting to get on her nerves. How Barbie had managed to put up with this hassle for Maker knows how long, Jaden had to admire her for it. "Tell you what Ken, how about we swap seats? You take mine and sit with Mickey, and I'll take yours and sit with Barbie?"
She knew that the man would never agree with it, but she was thankfully saved by Barbie's agreement, who smiled at this proposition greatly. "That sounds like a great idea Jaden."
Ken hadn't moved from his seat, but judging from the frowned faces of the two woman, including Mickey himself, he knew right at that moment that he was beaten. Letting out a long-suffering sigh that Jaden noted to get used to and Ken doing his best to act as the charming gentleman, he hesitantly rose out of his seat. As Jaden brushed to walk past him, he leaned his head down to whisper in her ear. "If you do anything to harm her…"
The threat was hanging in the air, and although he hadn't meant for Barbie to hear it, that notion was thrown to the imaginary pack of dogs as Jaden answered back to the threat with a retort. "Like I'd do anything. I'm only sitting with her for Maker's sake! So calm your tits, but feel free to use the mouse as a punching bag."
They both took their swapped seats and once seated, the two groups ordered their separate meals, not really taking the time to properly look through the menu due to the tense atmosphere around them. Jaden attempted to make light conversation with Barbie, but she could see that Barbie's heart wasn't really in it. She was obviously extremely nervous and on edge with Ken glaring at her from across the table.
When they finished their breakfast an hour later, now with their bellies full, the four individuals pushed their chairs underneath the table, ready to leave the restaurant in a hurry. That's when Mickey suggested that Jaden should pay for all the meals as after all, he noted, she is the village leader. This caused Jaden to flick a small flame at the mouse for even daring to suggest that possibility, but regardless, she paid the bills with no more fuss nonetheless.
Jaden couldn't help but notice as she watched Barbie rising from her seat to tuck it in just how tall the pretty blonde woman was. Jaden wasn't necessarily what you would call short, if anything she thought she was at your average height of five foot, four inches. And that wasn't to say Barbie was by any means a giant. She wasn't the tallest woman Jaden had ever come across, but when compared to Jaden herself? Then there was a definite height difference.
When everybody was heading towards the entrance of the restaurant, Barbie glanced up at Ken, who was walking beside her with his arm wrapped protectively around her. "Hey Ken, could you tell the others that I'll catch up with them later?" Barbie asked as she shrugged herself out of Ken's embrace, desperately grasping Jaden's hand in the process. "Jaden and I still have to discuss housing and stuff." Barbie gave him her winning grin, something that he could never say no to, displaying all her even white teeth. This was a tactic she had learned to abuse over the years whenever she needed to get away from his overbearing protectiveness and insistent manner that they're a couple.
Ken looked unsure of himself. "Uh, sure…" He trailed off, scratching his head as he tried to come up with some sort of excuse to not let Barbie go.
He was aware he was defeated when he saw the dirty look that Jaden was giving him, as if she was daring him to challenge her. Already Ken had decided that this Jaden was going to be a problem towards him. He had only known this woman for a little over an hour and she was already laying claims on what he saw was rightly his, his Barbie. He knew he should stand his ground and say something, but couldn't find the words that accurately expressed his feelings of anger and rage. He would have to sit this one out, as much as that disappointed him to admit.
The four of them all walked together out of the restaurant, with Ken and Mickey going their separate ways, whilst Barbie and Jaden watched them leave.
When Barbie knew Ken was out of earshot, she turned to Jaden, giving her a genuine smile. "Thank you again, Jaden. That sure was a wonderful date."
She sounded sincere and pure, something that confused Jaden, who raised a brow at Barbie. "Wait, that was a date? I thought I was just helping you, I wouldn't call that a date." Her dating standards must be pretty low. Jaden thought with a mixture of sadness for the poor woman and an urge to laugh at just how simple it all was.
Barbie shrugged in response. "Who's to say the date is over!? After all, we still need to talk stuff over!" Barbie declared rather excitedly.
Jaden, however, was much less optimistic about this situation. "Right…uh, can it wait? I have a sea witch to free and I don't exactly want to make her wait for too long. She isn't exactly the type to have massive amounts of patience." An image of Ursula shouting Jaden's ear off roused in her mind, alongside Jaden getting blasted with a nasty magic spell for pissing her off. If it was something Jaden could afford to avoid, then she was going to do everything in her power to evade it.
Barbie looked at her innocently, her eyes sparkling with the sense of adventure. "I can help, or at the very least come with you." She offered helpfully.
Jaden let out a small chuckle. "Sounds more like to me you're just trying to avoid Ken." This was said with surprising fondness, Jaden discovered privately.
Barbie sighed resignedly, closing her eyes in distress. "It's that obvious huh? Don't get me wrong, he's a great friend when he isn't trying to be my boyfriend. But, I'm not just doing this to avoid Ken, I…" Barbie looked up at Jaden shyly, a bright red blush spreading across her cheeks that Jaden had to admit looked cute. "I generally do want to spend more time with you Jaden. That date really got me intrigued with wondering what type of person you really are, and I'd love to get to know you better. I really appreciate for what you did for me back there, even though you've only just met me. I know I wasn't really co-operative back at the restaurant, so I'll understand if I've ruined any chance of a proper date." Barbie said dejectedly, worried that Ken's actions might have lost her an opportunity to make a new friend.
Jaden could feel the first stirrings of anger threatening to rise to the surface. It wasn't Barbie's fault that Ken was being an unreasonable shit-bag. She could see just from their first meeting alone that Barbie was just putting on an act back at the restaurant of playing the good, doting girlfriend. This Barbie in front of her, however? This was the true Barbie, who had the sense of adventure and fun in her sights now that she was away from Ken. Who was Jaden to deny her a second chance? If anything, this will give Jaden a proper chance to see what Barbie was really like now that she was away from any prying, judging eyes.
So, with a cheeky smirk, Jaden lightly squeezed the hand that Barbie was holding onto. "Well then, let's go free a sea witch."
