Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-28970644-20190320050452/@comment-36855838-20190320170447

"Come on in, my good man!"

I stand aside, and he rushes in, cowering on the kitchen floor.

"Coffee, tea, hot cocoa? Or perhaps you'd like milk, or lemonade?"

He looks up, the wild terror seeping slowly from his eyes.

"W-what kind of milk?"

I lean in.

"The good stuff, my local Oberweis just started carrying the stuff, so I've been ordering it all month. I never went through milk so fast."

He finally seems okay, excited even.

"Can I have some holstaur milk hot cocoa, then?"

I nod, and start up the stove.

As I'm stirring I have him get the powder from the cupboard, and a minute before the milk should be hot enough, there's a gentle knock at the door.

"Could you stir this for a minute?"

He takes my place.

"Sure," he says as I walk away.

I open the door to the most adorable sight, a Jinko with snow-white fur, piercing blue eyes, pale skin, and grey stripes.

She stands shorter thsn me, so she can't be much older than sixteen.

She does a low, low bow, practically lying flat on the porch.

I don't know how to respond, other than to wait.

"Sir, please, I come seeking the man who is to be my husband, and as our agreement states, in exchange for an amount of money I shalt not disclose to you, I am allowed two years to give chase and claim his hand in marriage by apprehending him."

I think to the man who had come into my door, ragged and unkempt, this was not a rich man.

"What was the money for, if I may be so bold?"

She bowed lower, if that was possible, so I knelt and gently grasped her wrist.

"Come, let's sit outside."

I see the man brewing the cocoa, three cups instead of two, and wait to sit down until he comes out to join us, tears in his eyes.

All seated, at last I felt we could talk freely.

"To answer your question," the Jinko began, "this man was running out of money, his mother was on life support, and her chances of survival were slim, so he came to us seeking money to save her."

He had begun to sniffle, and sob quietly.

The Jinko continued, sipping her cocoa.

"We are a wealthy family, and we gave him a very large amount, enough to keep her alive for quite awhile, and he spent it all trying to keep her alive, but the doctors confirmed that she was truly dead, nothing could be done."

He was practically wailing, his body wracked with every sob.

She sighed.

"I suppose we should have been more delicate with him, but as it was, the warmth had come, and I was eager to claim him, I began pursuit as soon as his mother was dead, and he did not take it well at all."

Through clenched teeth, "I should have given him time, he would have accepted me if I had waited, if I had offered, perhaps, to help him through his grief, but of course!"

She was doubled over, tears at last in her eyes as well.

"I had to be greedy, I had to scare away the only man I wanted, and now he'll never want me."

She held her head and continued to sob.

I moved their chairs closer to mine, as I had sat between them, and gently guided them to their feet.

Into the house nt then to the guest room we went, I gently nudged him into the bed, and her to the chair beside it.

"Don't get in, nothing with sex. You must take hold if his heart, not his body, only then will you have his love. Right now, that means being here for him."

I walked to the door, dimming the light low.

"Breakfast is pancakes and sausage, see you at 8:00."