Repayment
Atlanta is already lying down again and sound asleep, when I rouse myself from my contemplation, about to inquire if she has a counter-question for me. It is relieving; but, somehow, I also feel… bad, that I have once more taken from her more than I give her – than I am willing to give her.
The give-and-take situation really bothers me, by now. – I have never received charity like some poor commoner, and I would rather never experience that, but Atlanta keeps giving. Worse, she has never indicated how I might repay her. The little trinket that I mate an eternity ago might pay for my luncheon on the first day of our acquaintanceship, but it surely cannot repay all that she has done for me ever since. Meanwhile, this latest conversation could have been deemed some kind of repayment, at least in part, if I did not end up benefiting more than she did.
The problem, in addition to our earlier conversation, keeps me awake and stirring restlessly in my bedding on the floor. Æsir do not need to sleep this often, but my seiðr is still not fully recovered, so–.
`Ah. Seiðr. Yes. She ought to know….`