“He did bring another load of barrels. He doesn’t always do, though. I hope you know that?”, it was a fair warning. I was pretty sure he wasn’t aware of it, “So chances are you won’t find what you are looking for if you came next month as well”
He chuckled again, smirked and said: “But I definitely will find something I am looking for if I came back”
I leaned forward on the table: “And what, pray tell, might that be, mister Ruthven?”
“Ah, admittedly, it’s more a who than a what, so maybe I cheated there…”, at least he backpedalled a little bit.
“I see. I hope they are good company then”
“Oh, the best, I assure you”, he nodded happily.
“Just as smooth a talker as you are, then?”, I smiled sweetly.
“At least as much”, his eyes crinkled again, something between pleased and excited. Suited him. He also came closer, leaning on the other side of the table.
“Well, enlighten me, are they from the same place you are from?”, I said, still trying to figure out one thing or another about him.
“Oh, I wouldn’t think so, they don’t exactly look Japanese”, he scritched his nose.
He… didn’t look Japanese either. North African, maybe? I frowned a little and asked: ”So that’s where you are from? It’s a little hard to believe”
It earned me another embarrassed chuckle: “Well. Actually, I don’t know where my parents were from, originally. But I did grow up in Japan. Not that much of that upbringing stuck, either. One day we just… kind of shipped our way towards Britain, I was still pretty young then”
“Must have been quite a journey”, I nudged.
“Aaah… well… it was. A journey. A long one. Weather isn’t always stable on long journeys”, he ooked a little away, there.
“… so that’s where your fear of thunderstorms comes from?”
He winced a little: “I would say so. Almost drowned. Tickled in my toes, too… It’s not great, really”, but then turned fully towards me, showed a smile that only started to be genuine and grasped my hand: “I bet the company of a lovely lady would make everything a lot easier”
He looked uneasy, still. Bad memories, apparently. So, I shrugged, deciding to humour him: “Then we should be grateful thunderstorms are rare. But, I promise, if there is one while you are here, I’ll keep you company”, and, to top it off, clasped his upper hand in mine, looking at him intently.
That did seem to give him his confidence back, at least the spark in is eye was back.
