“Yes!” Tarquin pulled his hand down and nodded eagerly. “Yes. Friends. We’re friends.”
Edonay’s smile was somehow warm and disbelieving all at once. “Oh yes. I can certainly see how he’d let himself near freeze to death for hours on end for you. Purely out of friendship.”
Tarquin smiled weakly back. “Well, I don’t, uh, actually remember him doing that.”
“You’ll have to ask him, then,” Edonay said primly before she spoiled it by winking. “I’m sure he’d be happy to show you. As a friend.”
Tarquin drank more tea so he wouldn’t have to answer. Edonay seemed to find that terribly funny, too.
After all the tea, Tarquin definitely needed to use the nearby water closet, and he tried not to worry about how much he had to lean on Edonay simply to get there. He also did his best to ignore her ho
