"I knew you'd stay for tea," Karen, the help, said, her grin broad.
"I forgot my pack," Sanria said. Still, Throm simply looked weak. "Are you alright? You don't look quite your old self just yet."
"I am alright indeed. Feels good to be...myself again. Looking and feeling are to separate things. I'd rather look like hell and feel better than the opposite."
Karen, the help, held out a cup of tea, already poured, for Sanria. "Well, drink up the both of you. If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen." Karen, the help, seemed to nearly skip out of the room.
Throm looked too cold to Sanria. "Do you need to be closer to the fire?"
"I somehow think I could lie upon the coals and it wouldn't do the trick. Ever had those days?" Even with her coaxing, Throm wouldn't get up. Sanria did the one thing she had learned to do well in the past few months. She levitated Throm over to the fire, surprised by how light the man was. She set him on the floor before the fire and seated herself at his side.
"Come. Drink your tea or I can't leave."
Karen, the help, called from around the corner, "There's a whole pot."
Sanria finished her tea with a tinge of regret. "Well, if you'd like for me to drink the pot, I shall. Otherwise, I'll let you warm up by your lonesome. Or with Karen..."
"I wouldn't be opposed to you drinking the pot, I shall not I think," Throm said.
Before Sanria could even formulate a response, Karen, the help, whirled in from the kitchen, pot in hand, refilling both cups. A grin was perpetually on her face, and Sanria knew the woman was scheming. Still, she would have to end the visit at some point...no matter how accommodating and like his old self Throm was behaving. "Hang about infinitely if you will," he said, and Sanria's girlish heart soared.
They spoke more about his situation, Lithanus, the tea... it all seemed so right. As though the man Sanria found herself beside was the one she had met many years ago, and the green glow that came from his eyes was even more proof. Could she dare hope... Sanria looked down, her cup finished. "I think I've finished all my tea," she whispered, trying to avoid another refill.
"Would you like me to call for Karen?"
"Do we need more tea?" In a flash, Sanria's cup was full.
"There will be no empty cups in this house."
"I appreciate the tea and the conversation," Sanria said, finally getting up to leave.
"As do I. I can't tell you how relieved I am you stopped by."
"Relieved?"
"Things left unsaid and all that. I'm just glad we were able to have tea."
"Indeed. I suppose if we're speaking of things left unsaid, I should tell you the rest of what hasn't been said, then I can leave with a clear conscious?"
"I can't speak for your conscious but I would imagine it to be the truth yes."
Sanria leaned to Throm's ear. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to tell him how madly in love with him she was, just how long she had been, just how happy she was that he seemed like his old self, just how elated that at long last they could be together - the sky was the limit... but she chose instead to employ his own methods. She would not rush this. She would not ruin what she had waited so long to have. She would savor every moment with this old Throm. Getting to know him all over again. She whispered simply, "The tea was exquisite."
Sanria left the manor without even knowing how she got home. After so much doubt, she knew... at long last... she had her Throm.
