The Fateful Heart

Victory.

She grinned and gingerly sat next to him, legs folded behind her as she brushed her skirt clean.

As the perfect cherry on top, his shirt slid up, almost like his belly button was inviting her to come poke it.

She reached out to touch him, but then stopped halfway. "Any last words?" she teased.

She was having way too much fun with this.

James wished he could relax. Now that he was lying down, things felt a little better. But, of course, he was now subjected to Evaline's teasing. He didn't exactly look forward to being poked.

He sighed, his chest rising and falling with a little growl in the back of his throat.

"Just put: 'Death by bellybutton stabbing' on my grave," he said, closing his eyes.

It wasn't even that funny of a joke, but given the mood, Evaline let out a humorous laugh at his response.

"Will do," she said through the laugh.

And then she poked his belly button.

James ended up flexing his abs in apprehension, even though the poke was gentle. Unfortunately, the tension wasn't exactly voluntary, and it pulled on a cut - still healing - in his side. His breath hitched for a moment, and he kept his face frozen in place, with his eyes closed.

Maybe if he just breathed out slowly, the tension would release?

He opened his eyes, looking up at Evaline.

He didn't really want to ruin the moment for her.

A pained wheeze escaped him as he exhaled, though he quickly smothered it.

"Any moment now," he said tensely. "My guts will spill out. Just watch."

Evaline stared at James, noting that he looked tense. It was understandable, really; she was sitting over him, poking his belly button when he said he had a fear of it.

"Hmm. That's odd. Looks like nothing is happening."

She flashed him a quick smile before turning away to unfold her legs and sit beside him. He didn't seem to make an indication that he was going to get up, so after a slight pause, she laid down too.

She could see why he didn't get up; it was rather comfortable to be laying on the grass after sitting for so long without back support.

"Congratulations," she said thorough a smile. "Looks like you can cross off 'belly button poking' on your list of fears."

Maybe it was a good thing he couldn't see her full face because of the angle and darkness. Laying under the blanket of vivid stars, she found herself feeling awestruck with Nye's beauty once again.

James closed his eyes again for a moment.

Would this be the moment that someone sprung upon them? While the two of them were lying down?

His eyes sprung back open, and his mind urged him to get up, but his body protested loudly. He tried focusing on the sounds around them. Elliot, still grazing. The loud bubbling of the waterfall. The trickling water down the river. The occasional, faint shuffle in the trees when a bird or some other creature moved from one branch to another.

"I guess so," he said, looking up at the stars.

That truth didn't end up leading where he expected it to. But, it wasn't his turn anymore.

"Now you go again," he said.

The wind lightly tugged on their open skin, and Evaline was a little chilly, but grateful that she was wearing long sleeves and pants. A loose hairs flew to her face, and she reached up to push it behind her ear.

It felt wrong to ruin this magical moment by going back to the game, really. Or maybe she was just saying that because it was her turn. She couldn't decide.

Still, she quietly sighed as she thought of new answers. The vast night sky seemed to dull any perpetual anxiety she had been feeling, clearing her mind so she could think.

"Okay," she said after a long pause. "I am a leader. I can put someone in a chokehold. I know how to use a gun."

It felt odd to say such macabre words after a silly gleeful moment, but after everything that happened tonight, she was determined that today will be the day that she revealed the secret to him.

James didn't know if there were guns in Evaline's world, but he felt like that question was answered by the fact that she knew what they were. He wondered, though, if guns were obsolete, in some ways. Maybe there were powers people had that made people not really need guns anymore.

But just because guns existed, didn't mean you knew how to use it.

As for being a leader, James... well, he felt like he could see that. She joined a rebellion, and she had vision for it.

For some reason, he didn't even question the chokehold. That just sounded correct. She seemed like she knew self-defense techniques enough to know that.

"My guess..." he said, a little hesitant. "Is the gun. I don't think you know how to use one."

Evaline let out a little smirk. "I do know how to use one, actually. How else am I supposed to defend myself against people who can literally throw fireballs at me?"

It was supposed to a humorous retort, but it was a bit deceitful. There was also a lot of other details she glossed over, like how guns were considered a rare illegal contraband item, but she was too tired to go over the details unless he asked.

"The lie is the leader," she admitted softly.

She paused, debating in her head if she should say the next bit for free, but her walls haven't yet been brought up, and the better side of her won.

"But I was a leader, at one point. Not anymore."

"Oh," James hummed.

He wasn't quite drifting off to sleep, but he could feel the clarity of his mind fading. His stomach was cold, and his headache was strong, and he didn't quite know what would be the best questions to ask anymore.

"What happened?"

With her plan to be more honest and everything tonight, she didn't really have a reason to dance around his answers anymore. But he asked a vague question, and she still wanted to avenge herself from when he gave her a one-word response.

"I suppose you can say that I wasn't qualified to lead anymore," she said blankly with a hint of stubbornness in her voice.

James knew that could mean a lot of things, but he decided to simply ask the first question that came to mind.

"You didn't get hurt... did you?"

Evaline had to repress a smile.

"Nope," she said. "Your turn now."

Well, James was glad to hear she didn't get hurt to the point of necessary demotion, but he could hear in her voice a certain smugness. She was probably trying to get back at him for his short answers earlier.

Gods, now he had to think more, though. Fine.

He sighed. Again.

"I like to read books about history. I was at the top of my class when I graduated from military school. I wish I was taller."

Evaline thought this through carefully, but she found it distracting staring at the twinkling stars above. Still, she tried to focus.

She actually had no idea what military school teaches. If it was like anything on Earth, it wasn't anything to be proud of. But there were powerless humans in Nye, and James even said he enlisted, so it probably didn't have the same negative connotations that she was used to.

James was a smart guy, especially in survival and tactic. That would be what they'd teach him, right? Plus leadership, authority, and of course, fighting. Hmm.

Okay, it was believable that he'd graduate top of his class. She also assumed they would learn core skills like math, language, and history. He must have had history classes, and if he excelled in school, that meant he excelled in history class too.

He did carry a journal around, so maybe he did like to read. But did he like to read history books? She wasn't too sure.

His last remark about wishing to be taller stood out the most, and she had to think about whether this would be a lie. She was a tiny bit taller than him, but it wasn't particularly uncommon for her to be taller than other men, so she didn't exactly have a reference point here. Still, he didn't strike her to be someone who was insecure about looks. Then again, he did say he liked fashion, so...

She fought between the two answers before deciding to just go with her gut instinct.

"Wishing you were taller is the lie," she finally said.