The Fateful Heart

A joke?

James didn't often keep many pre-written jokes in his mind, but there were maybe a few he could remember. He was more used to just making jokes on the spot, using current situations and context to draw content from. But he could think of one...

He could just try to braid his hair. But his hair was pretty short, and it would be pretty difficult, and he didn't want to take the time to wrestle with it.

"Well... okay. So I don't know if this is my favorite joke ever, but I'll be honest. I don't know that many. And this one's a little dark, but -- oh, I'll just tell it."

He sighed.

"So a woman's husband passes away, and one of his friends comes to the funeral. The friend asks the wife if he can stand up and say a word, and she says yes. So he gets up, walks to the front and says: 'Plethora.' And the wife turns to him and replies: 'Thank you. That means a lot."

There was a long silence after the joke ended, and James kept looking at Evaline expectedly for a response that he wasn't getting right away. Her face was resting blankly, almost like she just didn't understand what he was saying at all.

That was, until, she suddenly sprung into a fit of laughter. "Oh, I get it now!" she said through a giggle. "Plethora. Means a lot. Hah."

James, for a moment, thought she didn't get it, or that she didn't think it was funny - which would be fair, not all people appreciated puns. But then she started laughing.

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, and James broke into a smile. Something about being able to make her laugh with a stupid pun made him happy. He laughed a little too.

"What can I say? I like plays on words," he said through a smile.

"Yeah, yeah," Evaline said with a lingering smile, rolling her eyes. "You're so hilarious."

James put his hands up defensively, though he was still smiling. "Hey, you ask for a joke. I deliver."

He put his hands back in his lap and shook his head.

"Okay. Back to you again. Let me think." He hummed for a moment and looked around the campfire. He wanted to keep things lighthearted. He liked seeing Evlaine laugh - which didn't feel like a very common occurrence between either of them.

"I dare you to... do a handstand, or at least attempt to do one. If not that, then you have to tell me one thing that you're thankful for."

"Oh, that's easy," she said with the same smile that hasn't quite left her face yet.

She turned to face him. "I'm thankful for..."

But she trailed off, unable to finish, and for a brief moment they made eye contact before she quickly looked away, feeling her chest tightening up.

Somehow, she couldn't say that simple three-lettered word out loud.

"...I'm going to do a handstand," she murmured instead, getting up on her feet in a hurry with her face still turned away from him as she felt the slightest bit of warmth already enter her face even though she hadn't flipped upside-down yet.

Evaline was no gymnast, but she was a kid that had wild friends who would run around and roll down hills. Could she do a headstand? No, but she knew how to cartwheel, and that was basically half a headstand, right?

She probably should have voiced these thoughts out loud as a precaution that she wasn't entire sure what she was doing, but she got too caught up in the moment and was too committed to play this cooly.

After standing up, Evaline looked off to her right and noticed there was a small clearing with no trees, and so she stood up straight with her arms in the air, leaned to her side, and moved with momentum so she would be able to do this half-cartwheel-slash-headstand.

Unfortunately, she was used to the appropriate level of momentum needed for a cartwheel instead. When she forced herself to end all movement as she stood on her arms, physics decided to not listen and she hovered there for a split second before toppling over the side with a thud.

Okay, so that could have gone a lot better.

When Evaline met his eyes, he felt like he could almost hear the next words coming out of her mouth, but then she tore her eyes away and got up.

And then she fell.

James quickly got to his feet and hurried over to her, holding out a hand to help her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked, with a little bit of laughter seeping back into his voice.

"Yeah," Evaline grumbled, sitting up and scratching the back of her head while making sure that no burrs got stuck to her braid. She then reached out and took his hand, pulling her to stand up. "Thanks."

A timid smile crossed her face as she realized just how ridiculous she must have looked. "Well, you could say that was an attempt. It played out better in my head."

James laughed a little, holding onto her hand just a few seconds too long and then pulling away quickly, sitting back over on the other side of the fire.

"It was a good try. Handstands aren't easy," he said, averting his eyes to the ground. He didn't like that his cheeks were starting to burn, just a little, for no good reason. And he couldn't quite blame it on the fire.

Evaline didn't quite follow James the few steps back across the fire as she was left there with a lingering feeling, like her stomach was upside-down. Maybe it was from the attempted headstand.

She looked down at the hand James took and noticed how her fingers rubbed her palm like it had just lost a second half of itself. Or maybe it was from the attempted headstand.

They finished playing two rounds, which was the most she suggested they played a day. But... a part of her didn't really want to stop.

"That's two rounds," she said, echoing her thoughts carefully. She clasped her hands together and lightly fidgeted as she looked off to the side to look like she was scanning the area.

"Do you want to stop for today?"

Oh? It was already over?

James looked into the fire, and glanced over at Elliot - who, by this point, was totally unfazed by their running around.

"If you want," James said. "I wouldn't mind if we kept going for a little bit."

Evaline let out a hint of a smile before slinking back to the fire across from James.

"Okay," she said as she sat down. "We can stop whenever we want. But since it's my turn..."

Her mind raced through possibilities. She wanted to keep things light and airy, but her insides were still in knots from almost having a sappy moment admitting what she was most thankful for in front of him, and she wanted to balance that off with a different mood.

She smirked. "I dare you to eat a spoonful of black pepper, or tell me your most embarrassing memory."

James thought this would be a good idea. That it, until he was presented with these new options.

His eyes widened, staring into the fire, and he leaned forward, with his palm against his forehead, and his elbow on his knee.

"Oh, gods," he muttered.

So - it was either a day of indigestion or reliving his most embarrassing memory. He wasn't sure which was worse. The effects of both would fade with time, but James didn't look forward to either. Now he could see where this game could become... difficult. But he'd signed up for it.

He groaned and shook his head, looking over at Elliot. Why waste that much black pepper on a dumb dare? They only had so much.

But his pride...

No. He couldn't do it.

James got up, dug through his bag, and pulled out a spoon, and the little pouch of pepper. He dipped the spoon in, filled it, and tied the pouch shut before stowing it away, walking back to the fire carefully with the spoonful. He cupped his hand underneath it as he sat down.

"Well. Cheers," he said, lifting the spoon like one would lift a drink. Then he put it all in and swallowed before his tongue could register anything.

Of course, it did burn going down. And his mouth started to burn.

His face tightened and he closed his eyes, making a sour face. He shook his head side-to-side in a quick shake and coughed quite a few times, before muttering a curse under his breath and getting up to grab water. He drank liberally, and still found himself coughing.

But the water did help.

He bent over for a moment, with one hand on his knee, and one holding the canteen.

He hissed out a groan and returned to the fire with the canteen, just in case, but he had a feeling the burning sensation wouldn't leave anytime soon. And, of course, it would burn just as much coming out. He wasn't looking forward to that.

When James sat down and lifted his spoonful of black pepper to eat, Evaline almost, almost told him he didn't have to do this. She found herself leaning forward with each passing second, eyes staring at him in disbelief. Telling an embarrassing story wasn't that easy to do, but he must have been one proud man to jump right into swallowing that much black pepper without complaints.

"For the record," she said slowly after he let out a fit of coughing, "you did have a choice to not do that."

She did feel a little bad and wanted to ask if he was okay, but she didn't let it show it through the faint sly smile.

"But it didn't surprise me you picked that option since you did lick the ground a little bit ago."

"I know," James rasped, before pounding his chest a little and clearing his throat. "It's not going to kill me. I'll be fine."

He took another swig of water and swallowed hard before screwing the cap shut and sighing.

"Now it's your turn."

He swallowed one more time, trying to get his voice somewhat back to normal.

"Okay. Either you have to do your best animal impression, or you have to tell me the weirdest dream you've ever had."