Myth-Ing Persons By Robert L Asprin

Matt, incidentally, turned out to be a thoroughly unpleasant individual with a twisted needle-nose, acne, a receding hairline, and the beginnings of a beer-belly. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what Luanna saw in him.

“But that was when you thought he was in a jam,” I said, resuming the argument. “Aahz and I have already promised to help defend him and Vic when they go before the Merchants Association. There’s no need to stand by him yourself.”

“I don’t understand you, Skeeve,” Luanna declared, shaking her head. “If I wouldn’t leave Matt when he was in trouble, why should I leave him when things look like they’re going to turn out okay? I know you don’t like him, but he’s done all right by me so far . . . and I still owe him for getting me away from the farm.”

“But we’re making you a good offer,” I tried again desperately. “You can stay here and work for Aahz and me, and if you’re interested we could even teach you some real magic so you don’t have to….”

She stopped me by simply laying a hand on my arm.

“I know it’s a good offer, Skeeve, and it’s nice of you to make it. But for the time being I’m content to stay with Matt. Maybe sometime in the future, when I have a little more to offer you in return, I’ll take you up on it … if the deal’s still open.”

“Well,” I sighed, “if that’s really what you want….”

“Hey! Don’t take it so hard, buddy,” Matt laughed, clapping his hand on my shoulder. “You win some, you lose some. This time you lost. No hard feelings. Maybe you’ll have better luck with the next one. We’re both men of the world, and we know one broad’s just like any other.”