Andy took them to the local superstore. Both Pt’this and Emeton wore Andy’s clothes although Pt’this’s pants were too short. Tylan wore clothes they had bought for Sapphire the last time she had been there. Ann’s clothes were too small for her. It had taken a while to get past the clothing department. Tylan kept stopping and asking Ann if she had worn some of the “scandalous” summer clothes she saw. Ann had to reassure her mom several times that she had worn similar to what she currently wore or a proper dress. Andy found the darkest pair of sunglasses he could. When they finally reached the food, Pt’this was just dismayed to learn beef was the only type of meat he felt was acceptable. All the rest came from too small of animals. He did relent when Sapphire pointed out he wouldn’t be taking true form, and so he didn’t need as much meat. Then, it was mostly questions about what different foods were. When they returned home, they found Shunati sleeping in the hammock in the backyard. Ann noticed Nim looking out a window from her bedroom and waved. He turned away. ‘Is something wrong?’ She sent but received no reply. They unloaded the food from the van. Heading to the kitchen, they passed Joanne sitting in the living room. They greeted her, but she didn’t respond. In the kitchen, Tylan took the bags from the others. “Your father and I can figure out where the food goes. You guys see what’s wrong.” Ann and Sapphire joined Joanne in the living room while Andy and Pt’this went to talk with Nim. Andy and Pt’this headed up to the third floor. The door was locked, and Nim refused to acknowledge them. Pt’this was going to get Sapphire to pick the lock, but Andy produced the key. Nim was sitting at a table with his drawing stuff. There were several crumpled sheets of parchment on the floor. His hands were covered with charcoal smudges, and so was his face. He was crying, causing the charcoal to streak. He was working on an image of a horrible looking man reaching for him. It was not the type of man you’d want to meet in a crowd much less alone in a dark alley at night. There were several other copies of the same image on the table. Pt’this had seen him draw the man before. It was a sign that he was quite upset. “I messed up,” he told them as they entered. He explained what happened with Joanne. “You haven’t told her about bonding yet have you?” Pt’this asked. Nim shook his head. “There’s just been so much to talk about, and we’ve had so little time to talk.” “So, why are you up here instead of down talking with her?” Andy asked. “I was trying to think, to figure out what I did wrong, how I can fix it.” “And what did you decide?” Andy asked. “I don’t know.” “I’ve known Jo for years. I can tell you that right now, she’s probably down there blaming herself. Her parents disowned her because of her choices but not before they gave her a load of crap about it. Now, she’s quick to blame herself when anything goes bad. “This isn’t your fault or hers. It’s just a misunderstanding. Ann and I have had lots of misunderstandings, and she and I aren’t as different as you two are. There are going to be some difficulties, but if this is going to work, you can’t keep running and hiding.” “I’m not hiding.” “Sure looks that way and from what you said the other night, it seems like you’ve done that most of your life. Now, some of the time it was probably a good idea, but this time it’s not,” Andy said. “Nim, what did you tell me about Sapphire?” Pt’this asked. Nim smiled a little. “Stop being so human. Ask her to be your mate.” “Maybe you should follow your own advice.” “If I were acting human, I would have slept with her,” Nim pointed out. “If you’re not acting human and you’re not acting like a dragon, who are you acting like?” Nim didn’t answer. It didn’t matter. “Go wash up and then go talk to her,” Pt’this said. Nim nodded and did just that. *** “Did something happen between you and Nim?” Ann asked coming straight to the point. “I don’t know. I think I messed everything up.” She explained about the drawing and that she had thought it had meant he wanted to sleep with her. At first, he had seemed willing but then he pulled away. “He said he wanted to be my mate but couldn’t now and that I didn’t understand then he went and shut himself in your room and refuse to talk to me or... What’s the elf’s name again?” “Shunati,” Sapphire said. “Jo, Nim has trouble opening up to people, yet he told you his problems. He went from only leaving Baj-tisk once a month to traveling to another world in hopes of spending time with you. He loves you. For him to say he wants to be your mate is the same as him saying he wants to marry you. Dragons don’t get married like humans do. In the thousands of years Baj-tisk has existed, Pt’this is the only dragon to actually, officially, get married and that was only because Sapphire is human,” Ann explained. “Nim doesn’t follow human customs. A dragon’s mate is for life. There is no marriage, no divorce. There’s no sleeping around ahead of time, no cheating. When a mate dies, the surviving dragon needs to be watched constantly to make sure they don’t die too. Many will try to kill themselves,” Sapphire added. “Others, like Nim’s mom, will simply die of a broken heart. Most of those who do survive never take another mate. You saw what I was like from losing Kith almost a year after his death and we hadn’t even mated,” Ann told her. “Nim’s not going to make a commitment until you understand what you two are getting into. Not just for his sake but for yours too.” “How is that going to happen when he won’t talk to me?” Joanne asked. “Give him time. He’s not used to dealing with people. He’d go for decades without seeing anyone, even before becoming a hermit. There were times they’d send someone to find him just to make sure he was still alive.” “Joanne,” Nim said coming into the room. “Would you like to go for a walk? There are some things we need to talk about.”