CRAVES

AN OFFER WRAPPED IN SILENCE

The rain returned before evening.

Not the heavy downpour of the night before.

Just enough to leave the streets dull.

Amelia stood by the kitchen sink, rinsing vegetables.

The apartment had become strangely quiet.

Bryan hadn't spoken in almost an hour.

Not because he was avoiding her.

Because he seemed perfectly comfortable saying nothing at all.

She stole a glance toward the living room.

He stood before the bookshelf again.

One book rested in his hand.

Its cover had faded with age.

He turned the first page carefully, as though afraid it might fall apart.

"You said you don't read fiction."

His eyes remained on the page. "I did."

"You've been standing there for twenty minutes."

"I have."

"And?"

Another page turned.

"...It's surprisingly good."

A smile tugged at her lips. "I told you."

Silence settled between them once more.

Comfortable.

Unforced.

The soup simmered gently on the stove.

Outside, thunder rolled somewhere beyond the city.

Amelia wiped her hands on a kitchen towel before opening the refrigerator.

Almost empty.

A bottle of milk.

Half a carton of eggs.

A few vegetables.

Nothing more.

She closed it quietly.

Bryan noticed. "You were looking for something."

"No."

"You hesitated."

She sighed. "I need groceries."

"Then buy them."

She laughed softly. "That's usually how it works."

"You don't sound convinced."

"I'm waiting until payday."

Bryan lowered the book. "When is that?"

"Next week."

He looked toward the refrigerator. "You'll manage."

"I always do."

There wasn't a trace of self-pity in her voice.

Just certainty.

As though surviving difficult weeks had become routine.

Bryan looked away.

A framed photograph rested on the shelf beside him.

He picked it up.

Two young women smiled at the camera.

One of them was Amelia.

The other looked younger.

Bright-eyed.

A little shorter.

Both held slices of birthday cake.

Behind them hung decorations made from colored paper.

Simple.

Handmade.

Happy.

"My sister."

Amelia's voice came quietly from the kitchen.

Bryan looked at the photograph again. "Hazel."

She nodded. "She studies nursing."

A softness entered her expression. "She's much smarter than I am."

"I doubt that."

The words came so naturally that Amelia looked up in surprise.

"You've met her for less than a second."

"I've met you."

She frowned slightly. "I don't understand."

"You underestimate yourself."

For a moment...

Neither of them spoke.

Amelia looked away first.

No one had ever said that to her.

Not so simply.

Not expecting anything in return.

She busied herself stirring the soup.

The wooden spoon circled slowly through the pot.

The silence returned.

Yet somehow...

It no longer felt empty.

The evening deepened.

Clouds swallowed the last of the sunlight.

Bryan closed the book and placed it back exactly where he'd found it.

"I should leave."

Amelia nodded. "I figured."

He reached into the inner pocket of his coat.

A black wallet emerged.

He placed it gently on the dining table.

She looked at it. Then at him.

"You spent money treating someone you didn't know."

"I would've done that for anyone."

"I know."

She frowned. "Then why..."

"Open it."

She did.

Her eyes widened immediately.

Inside lay several thick bundles of crisp banknotes.

Far more money than she'd ever seen in one place.

She looked up so quickly the wallet almost slipped from her hands.

"I can't take this."

"You can."

"No."

She closed the wallet firmly and pushed it back toward him.

"I helped because you were hurt."

"I know."

"I'm not selling kindness."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing this?"

Bryan looked at her for a long moment.

His answer came quietly. "Because debt should be repaid."

"You don't owe me this much."

"You don't know what you saved."

She stared at him.

The room grew still.

Rain tapped softly against the windows.

The soup continued to simmer forgotten on the stove.

Finally...

Amelia shook her head. "I'll accept enough to replace the medicine."

"Nothing more."

Bryan looked at the closed wallet.

Then at her. "You refuse wealth."

"I refuse what isn't mine."

A faint breath escaped him.

Almost a laugh.

Almost.

"You are unusual."

"I've been called worse."

Without another word...

He removed a smaller bundle from the wallet.

Enough to cover the medicine.

Nothing extravagant.

He placed it on the table.

This time...

Amelia accepted.

Not happily.

But without guilt.

Bryan slipped the wallet back into his coat.

He walked toward the front door.

His hand rested on the handle.

Then stopped.

Without turning around...

He spoke. "My driver will bring your groceries tomorrow."

Amelia's eyes widened. "No."

"They'll be a gift."

"No."

"A thank you."

"No."

He looked over his shoulder.

She folded both arms. "You've already thanked me."

Another silence.

Bryan nodded once. "As you wish."

He opened the door.

Cool evening air drifted inside.

Before stepping out...

His gaze lingered briefly on the apartment.

The books.

The tiny dining table.

The half-finished bowl of soup.

The flowerpots on the windowsill.

Then...

On Amelia.

Who stood in the middle of it all.

Small.

Ordinary.

Completely unaware that she had just refused the wealth of one of the most powerful beings in existence.

Bryan stepped into the hallway.

The door closed softly behind him.

Amelia remained where she was. Listening.

His footsteps faded.

Down the stairs.

Until...

They disappeared completely.

She let out a long breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

The apartment suddenly felt larger.

Quieter.

She looked toward the chair where he'd spent the morning reading.

A book lay there.

She smiled. "He forgot it."

Across the street...

A black sedan waited beneath the shadow of an old oak tree.

Bryan slid into the back seat.

Cassian, seated in the driver's seat, looked at him through the mirror.

Neither spoke.

The engine started.

Only after the apartment building disappeared behind them did Cassian finally break the silence.

"You stayed longer than expected."

Bryan's eyes remained on the rain-streaked window. "I know."

"And the human?"

Bryan watched Amelia's window grow smaller in the distance.

His answer came almost absentmindedly. "...She refused my money."

For the first time in years...

Something that looked remarkably like amusement crossed his face.

Cassian noticed.

He said nothing.

But in three hundred years of serving Bryan...

He had never seen that expression before.