Checkmate

26. Date

Joel/Felix was dressed smartly, with a freshly pressed navy shirt and black jeans that seemed like trousers until up close. He held a small basket in one hand and a red checked blanket under his arm with ease. His eyes flicked to meet mine and he grinned widely when I approached, but looked a little warily at my heels.

"It's quite a walk." I smirked and lowered the heel with a wave of my hand. "You're prepared then."

I tilted my head and scrunched my nose. "Whatever I need, I can fix." I waved my hand to make a visual point, causing us both to release nervous laughs. He tilted his head towards the forest and I followed, the two of us walking closely together.

Joel escorted me through the trees and into a small clearing near a well with a view overlooking the entire town, the setting of the sun causing the little dots of the streetlights to pepper the streets. We had spoken only of our day on the way up; him telling me about his job and a little about his life. This included a brief mention of the car accident that took his and Thomas' adoptive parents. I asked no more on the subject, fearing it to be too sad. Despite that, not having been the truth.

Together we sat on the red picnic blanket he laid out for us and tucked into the food from the basket, the boy having kept the contents secret until we got to the clearing. He picked apart a sandwich, separating the crust to throw for the early morning birds. I felt his gaze linger on me for a moment as I popped a grape thoughtfully between my teeth. "So, apart from magic, what do you do for fun?"

I took a moment as I chewed the fruit. "Well..." I swallowed before pausing as my mouth opened and shut, my mind racing through the various activities I could remember. As well as thinking of the countless ones I couldn't.

"You don't know what you do for fun?" He laughed breathily, the sight of his smile from the corner of my eye causing my heart to stutter in my chest. "You don't, I dunno, write stories? Fish? Play video games?"

I bit my lip and released a breathy laugh before shaking my head. "I... Um.... I dance?"

He laughed, his smile stretching wide once again. "Are you sure?" I playfully tapped his arm in false offence.

"Don't laugh at me, I don't remember!" But his laugh was contagious, and I found myself smiling too. Soon though, the laughter faded, and we fell silent once more, our eyes on the town below. My thoughts went to my mother and the life I had before the shadow came for me. "My mother insisted I do a lot of self-defence classes, swimming lessons, archery, sword fighting."

"She expected you to need them?" Joel asked, his brows furrowed as his head snapped to look at me. From my peripheral vision, I saw him turn his entire body towards me, a clear sign that he was listening. It was the most attractive thing he had done all evening.

I turned my body and my gaze to face him, a second grape between my fingers. I sighed, as my fingers lazily peeled the skin of the fruit. "I think she hoped I would never need them." I finally admitted. I cleared my throat and took a breath.

"I danced, and I played the piano like she taught me. And I was allowed to read every book I could get my hands on." I smiled at the memory of me as a child with a pile of books twice my height that made my mother laugh proudly. "I could sew and make things. Perform first aid, climb, swim, fight, shoot, craft weapons and armour, read, sing, dance, laugh, play...." I drifted off, catching my feelings before they could spill. I cleared my throat once again and gulped hard as I turned my gaze back to the town. "Sorry."

"All of those things sound like fun. What happened?" He asked gently, his gaze still fixed on me. I took a deep breath and licked my lips, tasting the lipstick Regina had magically put on for me.