Page 42 of Madness

“I don’t understand,” she picks at the edge of her nail.

“I don’t take what I want in these games. It has to be freely given.”

“What if I have nothing?”

“Then what about a question?” I suggest.

“A question?”

“Yes, Red. A question and only one.”

“Ok.” She nods her head, “A question.”

“Great, then let’s play.”

“What are we playing?” Red sits straighter, her eyes gleaming with a competitiveness I didn’t know she had.

“Rummy.” I say, shuffling the cards once more, “Do you know how to play?”

“I’ve dabbled,” she smirks.

“Mmhmm, sure.”

We shuffle enough that we are facing each other, and the table soon becomes filled with scattered cards as the game continues.

Red’s eyes light up with excitement every time a card is drawn, and I’m far too lost in the happiness in her eyes and how they shimmer like a diamond in the light that I forget we are even playing.

It's not like I’ll be winning this one anyway, not unless she’s a genuinely terrible player.

She needs this more than I need another meaningless win, and I can’t bear to see the hopeless look in her eyes ever again.

“Des?”

“Yeah?” I lay out another card, a red queen of hearts.

“What would your question be?”

“Giving up already, Cridhe?”

“Never.” She laughs, “but curiosity and all that.”

“Have you never heard of the saying, curiosity killed the cat?”

“Counter that. Have you ever heard that saying be finished?” she smirks playfully, “Satisfaction, in fact, brought the cat back.”

I laugh, and so does she, “I’ll tell you if I win.”

Removing a card from the deck is easy. Removing a card meant for my deck is even easier when she doesn’t take her eyes from her own.

And losing this game is the sweetest loss I’ve ever had.

“I win!” Red shouts happily, shuffling on the spot.

“You do,” I laugh, collecting the cards and wrapping the elastic band around them to keep them from falling out of my pocket. So what supplies do you want?”

“You were serious?” she pauses, eyeing me warily, “And you want nothing in return?”

“Deadly and no. Not everything has to be transactional, Cridhe. Now, what do you want?”

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