Key To A Goblin's Heart

Jake's POV

"Um… what are you doing?" Maland cleared his throat, puzzled by my attitude. His face egged me further to continue with my facade. I knew what I was doing, irritating him cause I am still pissed off about my screwed up memory. I know it was not his fault, but I didn't know whom else to unload on. 

Also, why was he here? Everything was over right? No more connection to the world of Goblin's. 

"I'm just admiring your biceps. It's not my fault you have such a God like body" I tried my best not to burst into laughter. His reaction, his awestruck expression was just too priceless for me to not continue with my facade. 

"What". After much difficulty that's all he could blurt. 

"Yeah, I mean… I go to the gym daily, but damn!" I added. Not being able to take it anymore he tried to distance himself from me. I, on the other hand, wrapped my huge arms around him and pulled him closer to me. "Why are you getting so worked up for? I just touched your bicep. It's not like I touched your dick or something." Maland's face paled, as if he choked on his own spit or something. "Don't worry I won't do that. I know that's crossing the line". I nodded and patted his back assuring his poor self.

I have never ever seen him this shaken before, although I barely remember what I saw. All I have is flashes of him wearing his uniform with his sword on his left hand while his right hand was covered by a glove. Yet, something tells me he never behaved like this in front of me. 

He avoided my gaze and tried to pull away from me as much as possible. The teacher wasn't here yet, so I decided to tease him even further. "What's wrong with you?" I asked. "Ahh, you must be stressed about the lecture. Don't worry, the teacher can be bore at times… lucky you got me right?" I smirked. 

"What?" He looked as baffled as ever.

"You know, cause I'll keep you company." I gave him a giant flirtatious smile. He gulped. He actually gulped. God it was so fun to screw with him, I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. Or did I? I mean, he is hot, it's hard to believe I didn't flirt with him at all. I wanted to continue with my teasing but the teacher arrived. I could tell how unfocused he was, which made sense considering he was not actually looking to pass here, (Or so I assume). I noticed him stealing glances at me a few times, perhaps considering my sudden behaviour and I smiled internally.

When the class was finally over, I was looking forward to some more teasing, but he was so swift that he ran away before I had the chance to turn. I considered following him, but decided that for a day he had had enough. I didn't spot him after that one encounter at all. He literally disappeared after that. What a bummer.

I returned home to my usual empty apartment. Mike's classes were so filled that I had hours left till he actually showed up. I decided to watch a two hour movie until my plans were cancelled as Mike stormed in. "Whoa… you're back here early" He pursed his lips as if he had seen a ghost or something. Wait… if Goblins existed… Did ghosts exist too?

"I ran into her," He mumbled.

"Cassie"? I widened my eyes. "What did she say"?

"Nothing much. She tried to make small talk but I ignored her. When she wouldn't give up I finally talked to her" Mike sighed.

"You… you didn't let her find out that you… that you remember right"? I deadpanned.

Mike simply shook his head. "I didn't think it was a good idea." Mike sighed. "Why the hell is she here? After everything we have been through. She is a Goblin Princess, I am half human. She made it pretty clear she doesn't want anything to do with me. Then why? Why is she back here? What more does she want from me"? Mike groaned before he dropped on his back. "I am so sick of feeling like this".

"Maybe she just came to check on you. I mean, like you said, wiping memories was the queen's idea, not hers." I shrugged. "Maybe she feels bad for tampering with your memories. You are after all, her key" I shrugged. At times like this, when I noticed Mike suffering so much made me wonder if being capable of forgetting was a blessing in disguise or something. Then again Mike told me I made great friends with his sister, and I know for hell I would have loved that. I am quite the friendly guy.

"It doesn't mean anything." Mike sighed as he finally looked up. "Being her key… it doesn't mean anything anymore" Mike shook his head.

"Maybe" I shrugged. I wasn't exactly well versed with such stuff. "Maybe not. Look, maybe she just cares about you. Forget the Key stuff" I added.

"I wish I could believe you," Mike sighed.

Unable to add anything which would cheer him up, I added something else. "Guess what, I ran into Maland" I smirked. 

"So"? He raised his eyebrows. I shook my head before getting into explicit details on how I annoyed the crap out of him. Mike, who was grumpy a while ago, couldn't stop crackling up no matter what when I told him. "Well done! Maybe that's how I should have behaved with Cassie. To catch her off guard." Mke mumbled.

"Hey, don't steal my mojo man. Get your own thing to do with Cassie"! I scowled. "Besides, if we both behave like that they might get suspicious. You have a reputation for being an outcast. So the fact that you weren't willing to talk to her, a supposed stranger, is totally in sync with your personality." I added. 

His pout confirmed how being called an outcast pissed him off. Nevertheless I continued, "While I have a reputation of being a flirt and overly friendly. I can get away with teasing him" I nodded my head to support my argument. "It's like one of those stunts. Don't do it without supervision" I shrugged. 

Mike gave me a blank stare before shaking his head. "Okay so now what? What do we do now?" He asked. 

"We figure out why they are here? They are here to keep an eye on us, let's keep an eye on them" I suggested. 

"For what" Mike shook his head.

"What do you want to do"? I asked him instead.

"I dunno...I just. I want you to have your memory back. I mean as much fun as it is to share everything with you and talk to you about it, it's not the same." Mike shrugged.

"For what it's worth, I want my memories back too." I sighed. "It's frustrating having holes in your memory".

"I really wish I learned how to return your memory charm" Mike shrugged. "If only I could access any spell book. But I know that's not possible without giving away the fact that I didn't forget" shrugged Mike. "You told me you want to keep an eye on them? How? Like you said you didn't spot Maland the whole day"?

I thought for a moment before a tiny smirk appeared on my face. "Give me a minute". I got up from the bed and dug something out from the closet. It was a box with two sets of tiny microchips, "Can we wire them? That way we can hear whatever is happening with them" I suggested.

"No" His eyes widened. "That's an invasion of privacy"! He tried to appeal to my moral compass.

"No Mike, messing with my memory was an invasion of privacy" I added. He was about to say something, but guessing his train of thoughts I cut him off. "Yeah I know it was the queen who did it, but this is nothing personal. We just want to know what is happening out there. I mean… don't you"? I whispered.

"Of course I do… but-"

"But what? You found your sister after so many years, aren't you curious how she is doing? Or what prompted Cassie and Maland to come here"? 

"I am…" Mike trailed off.

"Then let's do this, cause there is no way we can trick them into revealing. There is no casual conversation between humans which includes Goblins. I'll tell you that much." I scoffed.

"Okay… let's say this will work, how will we get it on them"? Asked Mike. "I mean, if they change their clothes or something, it'll be gone" He pointed out.

"Not if we don't attach it to their clothes" I smirked. His brows furrowed. "We can attach it to their hair. These are waterproof, so they won't be bothered by a hot shower" I shrug.

"Their hair" He looked disgusted.

"Yeah, just pretend to take off something from their hair and attach it." I shrugged.

"God" He looked really shaken now. "Why do you even have these in the first place? Are you…." He lowered his voice and whispered, a secret spy or something"? 

"Maybe" I shrugged. I wasn't. But it was just so fun messing with him.