Page 27 of The Lost Art of Seducing a Mage Warrior

She stared at him suspiciously, body stiff. “Why did you ask how I am?”

Perian stared at her, nonplussed. “Because that seemed like a polite way to start the conversation? I mean, maybe it’s just adults, and we all lie about it, but typically you’d say you were fine, then ask me, and I’d say I was fine, then we’d probably start talking about the weather or something.”

She continued to stare at him so long that he was sure her next words were going to be to tell him that he was an idiot and he could pack up his basket and go away. Only then another one of those almost smiles tipped up her lips, and she relaxed.

“I’m fine, how are you?”

Perian couldn’t help but laugh, because now the conversation seemed truly absurd, even though it really was the way many conversations started.

“Also fine, thank you so much for asking.”

Her lips twitched. “So, if you weren’t fine, you would still tell me that you were?”

“Um, it depends,” Perian admitted, continuing to unpack the basket. “We don’t know one another very well, so I’m sort of saying I’m fine to the degree that I would tell a perfect stranger about how I was doing. Maybe if it was really terrible I might blurt that out. Or, you know, if I were visibly wounded or something, then maybe we’d talk about that instead of just saying we were fine.”

“How absurd,” she said.

“It is, rather,” he agreed. “I hadn’t really thought about it before. Let’s try it again.”

“How are you?” she repeated, eyes sparking with a brightness that hadn’t been there when he found her.

“I’m doing pretty well, but to be honest, it’s been a weird few days,” he admitted. “I came to the castle unexpectedly when I was injured. I’m thankfully healed, but then I was invited to stay longer. I don’t know how long I’m going to be here now, but I’m really enjoying it so far. I’m happy to be here but maybe slightly disconcerted by the uncertainty.” He made himself stop rambling. “How about you?”

Renny hesitated again before finally admitting, “I’m a little tired. And a bit annoyed that I’m tired, because it happens a lot. I’m very grateful to be out here in the fresh air. I’m… less annoyed about someone floundering into my secret space than I thought I’d be.”

This surprised a laugh out of Perian, which made her smile.

“Did you want me to flounder off again?” he offered, pretty sure he already knew the answer.

She shook her head, the little braids that had been left free bouncing against one another. “You’ve gone to the trouble of laying out all that food.”

“I could leave it all for you, if you wish.”

She shook her head again. “I’m not hungry.”

Only it appeared she actually was, at least a little, because she soon slipped off her bench and came to sit beside Perian. Periodically, she would pick up an apple slice or a piece of bread and cheese, and she would eat as though she didn’t really notice what she was doing.

To his amusement, they did indeed talk about the weather next. Renny said it was the only option since he’d declared it the next great conversation gambit with strangers. It wasn’t long before they were talking about the clouds in the sky and Perian’s childhood wish to jump on them and climb all over the cloud animals.

After a pause, she asked, “Animals?”

There were occasional slightly odd gaps in the conversation, where Renny took a little too long to answer, but she always seemed engaged when she did respond. Soon they were lying on their backs on the ground so they could point up through the small gap at the top of the evergreen surrounding them and argue about the shape of the clouds. The sun shone down on their faces, but most of their bodies were shaded by the large bushes surrounding them.

“Only an idiot would think that looked like a dog,” she told him authoritatively. “It is most definitely a turtle.”

“A turtle monster that looks like a dog?” he proposed.

She made a face at him that made it clear she thought he was completely wrong, but they were both laughing, and Perian liked it. He might not have encountered a lot of children, but he thought this one was pretty all right.

When he noticed her shiver, he said, “Oh, you’re cold.”

Renny looked immediately mutinous. “I’m fine.”

She was definitely shivering. Perian shrugged out of his coat and laid it over her.

She looked more annoyed.

“Your shivering is distracting,” he told her.

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