“hey! it’s the sweetheart,” Odin said, cutting our conversation short, his voice all sunshine and gladness. and when i looked up, i saw that he was right.

            taking in her silhouette as it approached made me remember what it felt like to be awestruck, and the feeling only intensified until she was at our table and looking down at me with her sparkling eyes as if i were some poor creature she could pity or hopefully one day adore.

            “Hina,” i said, not really knowing why a sudden warmth had started to scorch its way down my prickling neck. “Hina,” i said again, since the one utterance didn’t seem to suffice.

            “hello darling,” she purred, and i wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or Odin.

            i stood up to greet her, an old-fashioned impulse driving my legs up, and she pressed an imitation kiss to my cheek, holding my bare forearms in her small, manicured hands to keep me still as she did so. i didn’t say anything, just acquiesced, and as i sat back down i watched her do the exact same thing to Odin, beat for beat, as if she were greeting two of many fans queued up to witness her.

            she took the seat next to me and opposite him, and then i was semi-trapped between the thick pillowy wall of the booth and her soft forgiving body and i was not the least bit upset by it.