Black and White Chapt 11

As it may be guessed, the trap in which Isaac was caught in, was not the last. But to Jeff, whom had been previously trained to avoid such obstacles, they were very easy to avoid every one, thus keeping Crystel safely away from them as well.1

Isaac, on the other hand had no such luck. It seemed to him that if he were not being torn from his feet again, then he would be pulled up in a nets of great variety. There was once a time, in the night, that when he rolled over, he felt the ground shift an unusual amount beneath him, quickly, he rolled back off, and when he investigated, he found that he had nearly rolled into a large whole with a great many sharp stakes sticking just waiting for an unfortunate to fall in and meet their fate. 2

Slightly horrified by this knowledge he found himself spending more and more time staring at the betraying ground beneath him, and less and less time glaring at his hated enemies. And in conclusion to this, although the thought never left his mind, the sharpened intentions and feeble minded attempts to follow through also became nearly completely nonexistent. 3

Meanwhile, as the trio traveled for nearly three days, Crystel realized that she had spoken not a word to the large fascinating creature that carried her. So she decided that it would only be polite to express her gratitude by at least attempting to converse. She started the conversation in a way similar to how she had greeted Isaac when they first met.4

“Me and you are going to spend a lot of time together aren’t we?” She asked.5

Jeff, who was slightly, startled by this sudden noise from the girl in his arms, looked t her, then, not sure what to do next, nodded.6

“Then I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have some conversation then, would it? Do you care if I asked some questions? I think it would be important to know you considering the circumstances.” She frowned at herself. Did she seem rude? She hoped not, the last thing she wanted was to make him hate her. That could end up bad for many, many reasons.7

But if he was annoyed, he showed no sign of it, he simply shook his head in response to her question, this time without looking at her.8

“W-well…” Crystel said, trying to commemorate what it was that she had asked Isaac, “What’s your favorite color?”9

He remained as a look of deep conflict seemed to flicker in his eyes. It was a few minutes later, when Crystel was about to re-ask the question, that he finally answered, “I uuuh…I like Brown… I guess… never really thought about it…” he awkwardly cleared his throat, then looked at the sky.10

“Never heard that before,” Crystel said reassuringly, but the moment she said it a look of failure seemed to cloud over the goblins face. So, not sure what to do about it, she said, “I like… chartreuse!”11

Jeff desperately searched his mind, trying to summon up what that color may look like. When he found that it did not so much as ring a bell, self-disappointment filled him.12

“What’s your favorite food?” Crystel asked, deciding to continue, despite his awkward appearance.13

Jeff wondered if this was something that all humans did. All he knew was that Goblins did not, so in result, he was once again at a loss. What was his favorite food?14

He thought about it, then he thought again, trying to recollect everything he had eaten and what he like about it. But his results were sadly, for every item, he liked it because it was food. He knew he had to choose wisely, or she might not like his answer and hate him. 15

‘remember Jeff,” He thought to himself’ she’s just a human.’ But even though he thought it, he still desperately wanted to choose the right thing this time. Brown! How stupid! But what food? “Ham,” he said at last. Horror struck him. Ham!?! Ham was jut ham, nothing was special about ham! It was just meat! But even so, he anxiously waited for her thought on it.16

Crystel smiled, “ham’s good, I like Cheesecake.”17

Failure. 18

Crystel saw the look again then unhappily realized that he didn’t seem grumpy or reluctant like Isaac did, but down right uncomfortable. This, she found to be extremely discouraging, so, she decided to stop asking questions.19

Jeff immediately noticed this and began to panic. She stopped talking. That meant that she must not have liked his answer. Maybe she thought he was a hopeless goblin and that there was no point in talking with him about favorites if he didn’t try. He was about to ask her what he should have said when he stopped himself. What was he doing? He was a goblin and she was a human. He can’t grovel to her like that! Where’s his self respect? His pride? If she didn’t like his answers so be it, but she couldn’t stop him from asking questions. But what to ask? Goblins and humans aren’t the same. If they were to ask about favorites, it would be, ‘hey, what’s your favorite weapon?’ or ‘what’s your favorite way to kill, fast or slow?’ That would never do! What do humans like? 20

They like animals. He knew that. They also like books and fruit. But he never really read many books, and she asked his favorite food. So animals it was. Nervously, he cleared his throat, then remembering his goblin pride he looked down at her, square in the eyes and asked, “What’s our favorite animal?”21

Crystel was a grand mixture between beautifully surprised and wonderfully please by this and smiled, “I like jaguars! What do you like?”22

Jeff stopped to think, but for some reason, he realized it almost immediately, “Dragons,” he answered “by far. And my favorite color is not brown, it’s grey, and my favorite food is steak, ham is just okay.” He did not intend to add the last part, but as he recalled his favorite animal, he suddenly realized what kind of food and color appealed to him most as well. But if she didn’t like it then she would have to live, because, either way, at this point, there was no escaping him.23

But Crystel did like this answer, she liked it very much and returned it with a smile, “all right! What’s your favorite sweet?”24

The conversation of favorites grew as they took turns answering questions, and by the end of the day, Crystel felt perfectly comfortable laying helplessly in the giant arms that held her, and found her mind not caring in the least who it was that was going to hurt her. For while she knew it was not Isaac, she was completely positive it was not Jeff.25

Jeff meanwhile, sat by a tree that night, Boo Boo on his knee, and he found himself not looking at her as a human and himself as a goblin, and he found that his heart no longer felt fuzzy because he knew exactly what he felt, and the more he thought about it, the more he knew it was so. That no matter how impossible or ridiculous it seemed, he knew that he loved this girl.26