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The Hideaway was lively and things seemed to finally settle down from the uproar of finding and building this new place. A lot would still have to be done, but at least the place was livable now. Blackthorne had his smithy, Harpocrates a steadily filling library, Charon a place for her new shop and many more areas with different activities in mind.
Returning from another mission Clive, Jill and Torgal made their way to the Tub and Crown, where Gav and Otto would be awaiting them. Gav had already promised that they would celebrate their accomplishment, even when the others didn't think they had accomplished enough for that. But then again, who where they to stop Gav.
Arriving at the alehouse Clive got his typical report from Otto and mentioned how the mission went. Torgal went his way to who knows where; maybe to Charon to get a snack, a silent corner to nap or maybe even to search for the twins and play with them. Meanwhile Jill was trying to convince Gav to postpone their little drinking party for later. Her and Clive wanted to take a small breather, perhaps freshen up a bit while they had the time.
Finally getting away from a pouting Gav, Clive and Jill made their way in the direction of Clive's Chambers. Giving Charon's Toll a quick glance while walking past Jill noticed some new merchandise and stood still. There, on top of the counter lay a jewelry set. It wasn't necessarily impressive or anything, but it did remind her of something.
"Jill?" Clive looked back and she broke from her thoughts.
"It's nothing." Jill smiled, continuing to walking to his chambers.
"Jill," Clive sat next to. After getting a bit of a break, he had decided to confront her "did something happen? You looked fine when we arrived."
Hesitant Jill opens and closes her mouth, trying to decide how to start until she looks up "Do you remember when you and Joshua gifted me that necklace?"
With a confused face he answers "How could I forget?" slowly smiling as the memories came floating back, he looked forward "Me and Joshua got our ears pierced since it was part of a matching set of earrings." A fond expression graced Clive's face as he reached for the old piece of jewelry hanging on his left ear. Gently tracing the symbol on it. "Heh, mother got so mad when she saw that her ''beloved son'' had such a ''cheap piece of metal'' hanging from his ear." he laughed dryly.
"And Joshua took the blame to protect us from her rage. Like he always did." smiled Jill fondly.
"Sadly that did not spare us from her hateful glare. Like always..." he sighed. Jill put a comforting hand on his thigh, looking at him with a sympathetic expression on her face. The corners of Clive's lips lifted slightly in a thankful gesture. Seeking to lift the mood he continued "It was a birthday present if I recall correctly. It was the first present we made to you, so we must have been, what? 7 and 9 summers old?"
"8 and 10 to be correct" she chuckled.
"8?" he asked in disbelieve.
"Don't you remember? When I turned 7 you and Joshua did not know it was my birthday. You only found out moons later when the duchy celebrated Joshua's 5th summer. Both of you were so disappointed that you promised me to do something big for my 8th birthday." Jill shook her head laughing "It took me forever to convince you otherwise, since I did not like having that much attention on me."
"Right, now I remember." Clive joint her laughter. "Joshua didn't want to except your gift back then, out of guilt."
Calming down from their little outburst, Jill wondered "Where did you even get the matching jewelry set? I remember you telling me that you searched wide and far for a good present for me, but I could always tell that there was more to it than just that."
Caught of guard, Clive glanced away "Well... ah..." Peering back he noticed her awaiting gaze and sighed "The thing is, Joshua still felt bad for your missed birthday; so we decided to put a lot of effort into your present instead, as you did not want the concentration of others."
Jill lifted an eyebrow in question "So?"
"You see, we had the idea to gift you something you could always carry with you and have it match something me and Joshua could carry with us as well. We wanted you to feel like you were a part of us." he started, slightly embarrassed "So, we did search but couldn't find what we were looking for. One night Joshua had a plan to sneak out of the castle and search for a blacksmith, that would not recognize us under cloaks and make a custom jewelry set."
"Wait." she stopped him with an incredulous look "If it was a custom made order, then why did you chose a necklace-earring-set and not a bracelet- set or something that would not have required for you and Joshua to get your ears pierced?"
Clive avoided Jill's face again, clearly uncomfortable "Well... we might not have been very specific with our order... I do not know much about jewelry, so I did not anticipate this kind of outcome."
"And Joshua? He's usually more attentive to such details, even back then."
"You forget how he might have been a clever boy, but even he could forget important details when he got to exited." Clive smiled.
"... right, we did get in trouble thanks to that little flaw of his on multiple occasions." now it was Jill's turn to sigh. "Let me guess, was this what got Joshua bedridden days before my birthday and made you so remorseful?"
"I should have paid better attention to him while we went to receive your present..."
"Clive-"
"But thing's worked out in the end and Joshua was well by the time we celebrated your 8th summer. Besides, he already told me to stop blaming myself for that incident, on multiple occasions..." he explained quickly to keep her from worrying.
A relieved expression creeps over Jill's features. She had feared that he would blame himself for the littlest things again, like he always tended to do. But far to quickly did her smiling face disappear into a pained cast. Her hand feeling where the aforementioned necklace once laid, but was now a desolate neckline.
Noticing the mood shift, Clive rested a hand on her back "Jill?"
"And I let such a precious gift be taken from me..." she confessed, clutching her hand.
Clive's eyes widened "(So that's why...)" he had not fought of that. "The Ironblood, I presume...?"
"Mhmm" she confirmed "They were of the opinion that... a ''simply whore'' did not deserve such luxuries..." she breathed, irritated.
Swallowing his own anger, Clive's hand slid over her back until it hesitatingly rested on her shoulder; slowly pulling the woman against his side. What could he say to comfort her? He could only imagine just what horrible things she had to go through. Lightly stroking her arm, he could feel her form shaking.
Tears stung in Jill's eyes, but no, she would not let them fall. Those horrible memories were in the past and she would no longer let them control her. Especially not when she was with Clive. Besides, they had other things to worry about. Inhaling a trembling breath, she calmed herself, suppressing the discounting echo of the past and instead concentrating on the reassuring warmth radiating from Clive.
Once her breathing soothed and the quivering ceased, Clive begann softly "I understand that, while the necklace didn't have the highest materialistic value, that it was still imported to you as a dear memory" he searched her eyes "But we can always make more memories like those. Together."
"Clive." the smile returned with a glimmer in her mesmerizing eyes.
Slowly letting the hand glide back to his side, he backed off. He did not want to take advantage of her vulnerability "Besides, if it is a necklace you want, we can always buy a new one."
Smirking, Jill shook her head "There is no need. I have all I could want right here." standing up, she walked a few steps before turning around to face him again "Shall we go? I am sure that if we don't hurry Gav will see to it that either all the ale is gone before we make it back or he barge in and drag us back there."
"Or both." cackled Clive.
"Or both." agreed Jill.
On their way back, Clive scanned Charon's shop for the ornaments that started their whole conversation. Spotting it he stopped, gently grabbing Jill's arm, so she would halt by his side.
"Are you sure you don't want a new one? I'm sure Charon has more than just this one or if you want one that looks similar to the old one, I'm certain that Blackthorne could make a replica."
Shaking her head, Jill smiled "I really don't need one. Besides, even a replica could not replace it."
"Right. I guess it wouldn't really be a matching set then anymore either." he looked away.
"Still, I-"
"Why not ask Blackthorne for a matchin' set of rings instead?" interrupted Gav, smirking. He might not have known what took them so long, but he had always had a good nose for such things. They were looking at jewelry and saying something about a ''matching set''. How could he not make such a suggestion?
"Rings? Why rings?" ask Clive, confused. Jill couldn't help but hide a grin behind her hand at Clive's obliviousness. After seeing all the knowing smirks he put thing's together and shouted with wide eyes "Gav! You know that I- we-" Clive kept stumbling over his own tongue, not knowing what to say, until he finally gave up and followed the others to the alehouse, sitting down begrudgingly. Gav, happy that their little celebration could finally commence, toasted.
And thus ended another day in the new Hideaway.