Well… I’ve almost gotten used to him.
“Hi, Aahz. Have you heard about the card game?”
“About two hours ago,” Massha supplied from a nearby chair where she was entrenched with a book and a huge box of chocolates. “He’s been like this ever since.”
“I see you’ve done your usual marvelous job of calming him down.”
“I’m just an apprentice around here,” she said with a shrug. “Getting between you two in a quarrel is not part of my game plan for a long and prosperous life.”
“If you two are quite through,” Aahz growled, “I’m still waiting to hear what you have to say for yourself.”
“What’s to say? I sat in on a game of dragon poker….”
“WHO’S BEEN TEACHING YOU TO PLAY DRAGON POKER? That’s what there is to say! Was it Tananda? Chumley? How come you’re going to other people for lessons all of a sudden? Aren’t I good enough for the Great Skeeve any more?”
The truth of the situation suddenly dawned on me.
Aahz was my teacher before he insisted that I be elevated to full partner status. Even though we were theoretically equals, old habits die hard and he still considered himself to be my exclusive teacher, mentor, coach, and all-around nudge. What the real problem was that my partner was jealous of someone else horning in on what he felt was his private student!
Perhaps this problem would be easier to deal with than I thought.
“No one else has been teaching me, Aahz. Everything I know about dragon poker, I learned from you.”
“But I haven’t taught you anything.”
“Exactly.”
That stopped him. At least, it halted his pacing as he turned to peer suspiciously at me with his yellow eyes.