Witness Protection ✔

All Fun And Games

If Nathalia had to spend another minute staring into the fireplace she'd go mad. And it hadn't even been 15 minutes.

Sleeping also wasn't an option, as Nathalia knew there was a chance she'd snore. Snoring in front of Darius had to be among the most embarrassing things she could think of right now so she decided to stay awake as well.

Looking around the room for what had to be the hundredth time, her eyes landed on a small cabinet beside a bookcase. From what she could remember the cabinet held a variety of board games, and the hearth would provide just enough light to play a game.

She looked back at Darius, who was still sitting in that chair with his arms crossed and deep in thought. And she looked back at the cabinet.

What games were in there again?

She remembered seeing a chessboard, Life, Trivial Pursuit, and some cards and chips.

Looking back at Darius she tried to size him up, what game would he like? Was he a poker guy? Or perhaps he liked to boast his knowledge in a game of Trivial Pursuit?

She knew the cabinet had to hold more games than she could remember at that moment, but checking would turn his attention to her. She was afraid he'd say no if she approached it the wrong way.

I think there also was a game of Clue... And maybe Monopoly...

Looking back at Darius she suddenly found him looking right at her, startling her.

"Are you going to ask me something," he asked monotonically, almost bored even, "or were you planning on looking back and forth between that cabinet and me the whole night?"

She felt totally busted right now. Of course he'd notice her creepy stares, she wasn't exactly what you'd call subtle.

"Well... I was just thinking, and you can totally say no! No pressure, you shouldn't do things you don't want to be doing. I don't want you to feel like you have to, because you don't. I know not everyone likes to--"

"Kat," he cut her off, "you're kind of rambling? Get to the point."

The fact he used her fake name irked her, yet she didn't know why. Perhaps it felt too impersonal. Like he was trying to distance himself from her emotionally. She didn't like that idea but he was right, she was rambling.

"Right." She cleared her throat. "Do you maybe want to play a board game with me? Or a card game?"

"Sure," was his simple answer, like he was expecting it. Which he probably was, since he knew the ins and outs of the entire house. Including the contents of that very cabinet.

She had to admit she didn't expect this answer. For the whole week they'd been in the house, he seemed to avoid being around her at all. So him agreeing to do an activity with her was surprising. But not in a bad way. Nathalia was delighted to hear him agree and immediately jumped up to rummage through the cabinet.

But upon opening it she found it too dark to make out any games. The fireplace was positioned between the couch and the cabinet, casting it in a very dark shadow. That is, until a very bright white light suddenly flooded the cabinet.

Darius had aimed his phone, with the flashlight on, at the cabinet as he squatted down beside her to inspect the contents. She'd been right, there were a lot more games in there. But a lot of them she didn't know or had never played before.

"Which one do you want to play?" she asked him.

As he turned to look at her she suddenly became aware of just how close together they sat.