Location: an unspecified, foreboding room in the Monster Temple. us, my dear readers, as I take you deep underground on a claustrophobic journey to a moment of calm uncertainty in Juno and Toffee's otherwise chaotic past.
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Juno raised: a three of clovers and an ace of spades. She still didn't quite know how to play this game, and had little interest in honing it as a skill. At least for today. If she knew herself well, there was a chance she'd be obsessed with it at an unsuspecting moment in the near future. But for tonight, she played her cards only for the motion of it, only for the peace and fun of sharing one of her husband's hobbies.
"So. From what I hear, Moat Jump is getting pretty popular around the Monster nations," Juno said.
"Oh? I hope so. My father would've been proud; he invented the game." Jester prodded at a two of hearts and smiled.
"No kiddin'?"
"Mm hm. Father used to own a card shop. Well, technically it was a magic trick shop, but his card decks were the most popular item. He'd decorate them based on themes and commissions, and taught all sorts of card tricks and games."
"Ooh, me like the sound of that! Do you wonder if the shop is still..."
Juno trailed off haphazardly, wishing she'd bitten her tongue. An awkward tension hung between her and Jester immediately, and they shifted in their seats at the memory of Hawking's fate. To think, she used to walk past his cell door every day and never realized.
Thankfully the baby's coos cut through the tension. Festivia's chubby fingers eagerly reached for Juno's hand.
Juno gasped in excitement. "You wanna play the next card, Tivi?" She held the hand in reaching distance, letting Festivia roughly grasp a two of diamonds and throw it at the pile.
"Aww. Maybe you'll learn this game quicker than your mother," Jester chuckled, reaching across the bed for a moment to poke their daughter's cheek.
Normally, he tried to take teaching a game or craft seriously; either stick to it fully or not at all, he believed. But for today, he wasn't interested in making Juno try to understand; he just enjoyed showing her the game from his childhood. Jester himself wasn't even interested in playing at the moment. It was little more than a way to the time, a distraction from the snoring red elephant in the room.
Jester put his hearts down and folded. Either that or ended the game completely. At this point, even he barely ed where they were. He looked over at the sleeping giant he could no longer ignore.
"Is there really nothing we can do but wait?" he sighed.
Juno shrugged. "Either that or drag him to the Realm of Magic. And we never know who's lurking around waiting to put him in a crystal or something." She squinted in annoyance at the notion of them.
"This is ridiculous. We can't just hide away playing cards day and night. What if it takes longer than just a day or two?"
"I get it. Who knows what mood Eclipsa was in when she cast that spell? He could be down for decades, for all we know." Juno noticed him clench his fists, and wished she could offer some comfort. "Sorry. I know you're worried about your friend."
Festivia's laughter rang through the tension again. Apparently she found the snoring and the movement of his cheeks hilarious. Jester picked her up and brought her over to the sleeping man, setting the baby onto his rising and falling chest as if to say,
"Hey, Globgor. Long time, no see. Look, I have a child now. Don't you want to meet her?"
As if the sheer power of family and friendship would wake his friend from his forced slumber.
Jester sat back down on the bed, carefully watching Tivi to make sure she didn't try to pull on Globgor's horns or do anything else dangerous.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "We can't stay in this room forever. Or even this temple."
"...One more night? We can try something else then? We can't afford not to take risks."
Jester nodded. "One more night." Cautious yet confident in letting the toddler roam around, he turned back towards Juno and crossed his legs on the bed. "Now..." He picked up his cards, half-heartedly looking through to decide his next move, knowing, though, that they'd probably just start again. Or play a new game entirely.
"...Where were we?"
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