A short while after John finished his breakfast he heard the door to the waiting room open. He walked out the door and saw Rene exchanging pleasantries with Andressa, a small hat held in front of his chest.
John smiled at him. “Rene! It’s been too long. You can co on in.”
“Thank you,” said Rene with a smile.
“When you’re done I want you to let know what you thought of that lizardman restaurant I recomnded to you last month,” said Andressa.
“I shall,” said Rene, giving her a nod as he went into John’s office.
He didn’t need to ask if Rene wanted tea, he knew that he did and he knew what kind and how he took it. He made a cup almost automatically as Rene got settled and handed it to him along with his customary two sugar cubes and small spoonful of honey.
“Thank you,” said Rene as he took the mug and slled the rich tea within. He preferred a strong blend that left the hot water as dark as coffee. He set it down to let it steep a bit more.
“Oh, I also got you a little sothing.” He went back to his desk and pulled out the small pouch he’d bought from the kobolds earlier that morning. He handed it to Rene, who took it and looked at him questioningly.
“It’s a gift,” said John with a smile.
“Oh, thank you mon ami,” he said, placing it gently to his side.
“I think your translation enchantnt is starting to wear out.”
He nodded. “I know, I’ve been aning to get it looked at.”
“You can open the gift now if you’d like.”
“Oh, is that how people do it in the future?”
“I think it’s how Aricans always did it, but you can wait if that’s what you’d prefer.”
Rene chuckled and shook his head. “No. It’s important to rember my Maman is not actually here to smack on the back of the head for breaking etiquette.” He picked the pouch up and pulled out the dragonscale pendant by the strand, smiling as he saw it. “A fine gift. Thank you very much. Was there an occasion?”
“Just thought of you when I saw it.”
“That is very kind. Thank you.”
John moved from his desk to the chair next to the couch. “So,” he said, “Last week we mainly talked about Es. Are things still going well with her?” Es was the dwarven chanic that Rene had been dating over the last few months. He’d t her at the ‘hourglass courtship’ event that he, John, and Ben had attended together. John had a vague recollection of an attractive dwarven woman in tan overalls who seed to be wearing more grease than makeup. Not his type, but he could see the appeal for Rene.
Rene frowned a bit, gently moving his teacup. “They are.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’?”
Rene shook his head. “There’s not really a, ‘but’. She’s a fantastic girl. We have a lot of fun together. She likes hearing talk about planes and I like hearing her talk about her workshop. She actually… she actually asked if I might consider moving in with her.”
“Wow, that’s a big step.”
“It is.”
John paused to take a sip of his own drink and Rene took a mont to stir in the sugar and honey for his tea before taking a sip himself.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Is it one that you want to take?” asked John.
Rene paused for a mont, looking into his tea. “Yes, but that scares .”
“How?”
“It feels like… it feels like if I took this step it would be giving up. Accepting that I’d never see my family again. That I’ll never return to France. That I’ll never rejoin my brothers on the front.” He shook his head and placed his teacup back on the tray in front of him. “It makes feel like a coward.”
John looked at him for a mont. “You’ve had so trouble adjusting, but I don’t think you ever shared these particular feelings with before. You never asked to add you to the lottery for returners.”
There were a number of otherworlders that wanted to return to Earth, and John would, whenever an item or person was found that could return so of them, draw from the lottery of those that wanted to return and choose one. Sotis there would be a special case that got priority, but they were rare. Last ti it was a three year old who got to jump the line, he was very proud when everyone else unanimously agreed she should get to. Rene had never asked to have his na in the lottery, and it needed to be ahead of ti as often the opportunities to go back were short and required the selected person to drop everything and go imdiately.
Rene sighed. “I can live here. I have made friends, many of whom are native to this place. If I go back, there’s a chance I’d just get blown out of the sky, or even executed for desertion.”
“But there’s a difference between not actively pursuing a way to go ho and actively building a life here.”
Rene nodded.
“If it makes you feel better I can tell you that what you’re feeling isn’t all that different from what everyone feels when they think about moving in with soone.”
“Oh?”
“It’s a big decision that locks you into a new situation. When you take that fig and eat it, you’re deciding not to eat all of the others.”
“Fig?”
“Oh, sorry. ‘The Bell Jar’, ca out quite a bit after your ti. The point I’m trying to make is that sotis it can be hard to make a decision because we feel we’re giving up on other possibilities. In your case though, it seems more like you’re in stasis. What will happen if you tell Es no?”
“She will end our courtship.”
“And the alternative is actively pursuing a return ho, which you didn’t sound too enthusiastic about.”
“No, but-”
“But it still would feel like giving up. Really giving up?”
“Oui.”
John nodded. “There’s a third option.”
“Oh?”
“Could you ask Es for more ti to think about it? Explain to her why it’s a hard decision to make?”
He frowned. “To drag out a courtship is… not good.”
“Is it another of those things your maman would hit you on the back of the head for?”
He chuckled. “Yes, it is.”
“I can’t tell you what to do, but you seem to really like this girl and if she’s soone you like then I imagine she’s reasonable and will at least hear your concerns with an open mind.”
“She would. She’s a kind girl.”
“The only thing I would ntion is, you yourself said that she’s a fantastic girl right?” asked John.
“Yes, perhaps the most fantastic I’ve ever t.”
“Well, fantastic girls don’t wait around forever. They have their own figs to choose, their own doors to open, and their own lives to live. It sounds like she may give you so extra ti, but keep in mind it’s limited.”
Rene nodded as he sipped his tea again. “Oui, you are right mon ami.”
John found himself looking closely at a bright red napkin on his desk, his thumb coming to his mouth where he absentmindedly started to gnaw on his nail.
“Mon ami?”
John shook his head. “Sorry, I was lost in thought for a mont. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about today? How have your things been with trying to get a flying permit from the Departnt of Magical Verifications?”
“Oh, much better with that help you gave . I think if I can show them that my plane can make it into the sky then they’ll be willing to grant at least sothing conditional.”
“That’s great… can you make it into the sky?”
“Well… lets just say it’s another reason I don’t want to lose Es any ti soon.”
John smiled and they spent the rest of the ti working their way through Rene’s issues before the session was over. When he led him out to say goodbye and heard him chatting with Andressa as he went back to his desk he found himself absently fingering at the red napkin on his desk as he wrote down his session notes with the other hand. He took a deep breath and shook his head, then tossed the napkin in the trash and went to make so coffee.
Reviews
All reviews (0)