“I thought I heard him call you Skeeve when he went to fetch your drink,” she gushed.
“Probably because that’s my name,” I smiled.
Okay, so it wasn’t the wittiest thing I’d said. In fact, it was pretty lame compared to the usual banter that goes on within the team. You’d never tell it, though, from her reaction.
She covered her mouth with one hand and shrieked with laughter loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the room … in the town, for that matter.
“Oh! That’s priceless,” she declared.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I corrected. “Actually, my rates are rather high.”
This, of course, set off another gale of laughter. I caught Aahz’s gaze and winked. He rolled his eyes in disgust and turned his attention to his drink. That seemed like a good idea, but when I went to sip my wine, the goblet was empty. I started to ask Aahz to get me another, but changed my mind. That first one had disappeared with disturbing speed.
“So, what can I do for you?” I said, as much to take my mind off the wine as to get an answer.
“Well, everyone in town has been talking about you,” the girl chirped, “and my girlfriend . . . the cute one over there . . . has a real thing for you since she saw you in court when you first came back. Anyway, it would just make her whole incarnation if you’d come over to our table so she could meet you personally.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “There are things to be said for meeting people im-personally as well.”
“Huh?” she said, giving me a blank look, and I realized I had pushed beyond her sense of humor.