How You Play the Game

The sea is calm, the ship effortlessly making its way north across the flat surface. Dinner is long over, and the others have left; still, Jessica and Angelo sit on opposite sides of the table in the main cabin, in a silence which is not quite comfortable, not precisely uncomfortable.

They haven't really spoken since the night before. Jessica isn't entirely sure where things stand with them; they've agreed that the rules of their elaborate game have changed, but not on what those new rules are.

She doesn't want to stare at him, isn't sure she wants to meet his eyes, so she watches his hands as they effortlessly shuffle and reshuffle a deck of cards, as graceful and sure with the thin slips of pasteboard as they are with his bow or sword. He's done this a lot, she thinks; the deck is soft and worn, and she wonders if it's from playing or fidgeting.

She suspects the former. Angelo is...selective...about what he shares, she has learned, more likely to go still and quiet than reveal the state of his mind through nervous habits. It makes the previous night - both his temper, and his honesty - more difficult to fathom, makes her wonder why the cards are out tonight.

He sees her watching and smiles. "Want to play?" he asks, and slides a card toward her.

"Hardly." She picks the card up - four of diamonds - and hands it back to him.

"I can teach you, if you don't know how."

"I know you cheat."

"You have my word of honor." He catches her eyes. "In this, as in all things."

"And I know what that's worth, too," she says dryly, still holding out the card.

He falters just a bit, then plucks it from her fingers without touching her, and she curses herself for playing by the old rules when he was obviously playing by the new.

She reaches across the table, rests her hand atop his. He stills and looks up; his expression is more guarded than before, but at least he's still willing to meet her gaze.

"I think," she begins, and stops, because this isn't fair to either of them if she isn't sure she trusts him.

His gaze doesn't waver, and his hands don't move as he waits for her to decide.

She takes a deep breath. "I think I'd like you to teach me the rules."