Tortured Love

Chapter 14 - Men and Deception

In one swift motion, Daison had taken two more of Pepper's game pieces from off the Checkers board. She gazed down at the red and black squares and their respective black and red pieces. Although they really were more brown than they were black. She then thought about whether they were originally brown or if they were black and the color simply faded. How easy it was for something to fade away. But was it really easy? Did it really fade brown? Or maybe someone didn't like the color black so they painted it brown. Maybe nothing ever faded, maybe the truth was always just concealed, painted a different color so you would believe it faded. Maybe if she chipped away at the brown pieces then they would peel off the paint and she would see a glistening black Checkers game piece.

"That one too hard for you?" His voice waved into her subconscious like the ocean suddenly crashing onto a rock after centuries of distant tides. She couldn't tell if it was him that was shaking her or an earthquake or perhaps she was having some kind of a breakdown. She could feel air being captured and escaping her lungs as per usual but it still felt like she wasn't breathing, like she wasn't thinking or living. It was as if the only thing she was doing was existing. "Babe?" His voice was now like a splash of water to her face. "Did you hear mine?"

"You're what?" She inquired, completely lost of thought.

"My 'what would you do'." And then she remembered. They were playing a game wherein they would ask each other what would you do if... after each one of their plays. She looked up at him, certain that her eyes revealed confusion. His eyes only showed concern. "Are you alright? You've been zoning out a lot these past few days."

"Hm?" She contemplated telling him the truth. That since he and Poppy went on a joy ride in another realm, she'd been pondering what had really happened between them. Did there exist a faded love between them that she need not to regard as important or was it all just painted over and Poppy had returned simply to chip away at the paint and unmask an undying love?

"Exactly like that." Daison stated with a sigh. "Pepper, what's wrong?"

And then she stared into his eyes. Before she wouldv'e mistaken it for a loving gaze and be felt with warm and her doubt immediately erased. But now it seemed more like traces for Poppy swirling in his violet iris. Her mind was made up. "It's nothing. Just tired I guess." She replied. Lie. Lie to him and you'll end up convincing yourself. And that's the only way. Lie.

"Okay. Well... Do you want to continue?" He asked, observing her eyes like an experiment, uncertain if she was simply tired. Pepper nodded and plastered on a smile.

Tapping her nails on the desk, she urged him to go on. "Repeat your question, please." She requested, making an effort to sound chipper.

Daison squinted, obviously not fully persuaded by her act of content and fatigue. He let long and slow pauses drown them both in a tense atmosphere through which they tried to subtly decipher what was really going on in each others' minds. Does he still think about Poppy? Does she still think about our encounter with Poppy? Is she keeping secrets? Is he keeping secrets? Oh how honesty was like a foreign country calling out on an anonymous number. Do you answer the call or ignore it and let it ring out? She didn't dare to ask again for him to repeat so as to avoid sounding too nervous and he kept his mouth shut in case she was on the brink of breaking from the torture of silence and tension.

"What would you do if I was still dangerous?" He finally asked again. But the silence was only re-born in his question and glared at him suddenly considering the possibility that he was the bad guy, the one that caused all the problems. But then that would be impossible. He was also suffering from the problems that tortured their love. Maybe that only increased the chances of him being the bad guy. Maybe people were not trying to destroy something that was good but instead extinguish a flaming fire of danger. To protect Pepper.