Chapter 3: This is no rocket science… but.

The rune had run its course, and Edwin felt worse than before. Still, he did not want the fruit he had been picking for the better part of the last three hours to go to waste.

The answer to that was simple: first take the potions, then a thirty-minute power nap, and then some jam making.

But as soon as Edwin opened the pantry, he saw the first hurdle in the road before him. Namely, he had run out of sugar.

And sugar cost an arm and a leg.

"Well, ok, ok, I can still make something, right?" he asked himself, as he started washing the plumes. "This is not rocketing science, and the fruit is sweet already, right?"

Edwin took a pit removing straw, and went to remove the pits, one by one. It gave him something to do, and the fresh air coming from the open balcony door did make him feel better.

One pit out, next pit out. Edwin did his work, but he could not help but think about how his life was going to go forward.

Would he have to forget about the normal stores, and just do thrifting every time he needed new clothes? Was he really going to have to spend so much time cooking?

And most importantly, would he manage to survive until he got his paycheck?

Without thinking too much on it, he plopped the plum, which pit he had been removing, into his mouth. He chewed, and then he smiled.

That was just as good as the plums in the store!

"Ok, yeah, it is not all bad," he told himself, as he helped himself to another plum. "And the workout was good."

With a smile on his face, he placed the plums in his baking pan, for he was pretty sure that trying to boil them would take too long, and then went about removing the pits of the sour cherries.

Half of the cherries he places together with the plums, and the other half he placed in a pan with water on the stove.

And so, the only thing he had left, was to wait.

He stared out of the window, as the smell of freshly made jam wafted around the apartment. A smell he had not smelt ever since his grandparents moved into his parents' house.

It was calming, in a way. He relaxed in the chair, closed his eyes, and then thought about all the things which had happened to him during the last month.

The one thing he could not understand was, who would bother cursing him? It was not like he had done anything illegal or gotten into a spat with one of his neighbors.

Or maybe he had, for he had been pretty sure his neighbor from upstairs had heard him complaining about her children.

One of which was a baby with a healthy set of lungs, and the other a toddler so spoiled, one could use him instead of a bacterium to make yogurt…

The timer went off, as Edwin was thinking about ways to move to an apartment closer to the biggest park in the city, and he yawned.

His mouth was already watering as he went to see the juice. A lovely red color, it was. No sugar inside, so he was pretty sure that it was more tea than juice, but he still took it off the stove.

The jam, on the other side, made him forget the fact it was hot, and he just dipped one of his bread chips inside.

He felt the burning sensation on his tongue, moved the bread chip around, until he managed to cool the snack with his saliva enough, to taste the jam. It was tart, but still a tiny bit sweet, he supposed.

He licked his lips, placed the jam on the second cutting board to cool, and then smiled. Sure, he felt about ready to drop into bed now, but that was ok. After all, he had snack foods and juice now. That was still something, right?

0000

Orion paced in front of the summoning circle. Just one runesmith, his boss had said. Just one more runesmith, and he got to have his very first paid leave vacation time!

But the runesmith was not playing by the typical rules. Normally, when someone starts to live with a tighter budget, that someone ends up in debt to the gills by the end of the month.

But this runesmith had the gall to pick wild fruit, of all things, just so he would not end up broke and in debt.

Orion looked at the bag of rice he had talked the man into giving him and narrowed his eyes. Oh, he had thought, more than once, to just throw it in the trash.

It had been just a test for him. It was not like he needed to eat, or anything.

But the bag was still in his pantry, the door of which was now open.

Orion snorted, closed the door, and then sat down on his couch.

Surely, he could lead the runesmith down the path to ruin, somehow? If not by waiting and letting the natural order sort the man out, then by taking direct actions?

All was fair in love and war, after all…

0000

Edwin felt better the next morning, and he felt even better when he placed some of his homemade jam on a slice of toast and got to wash it down with the juice.

As breakfast went, it was pretty neat. He did not know if he was going to get in trouble for picking the fruit, but he had the full intention to pick some more, and making himself more jam for the winter.

Wait… did he need jars for that, or could he use plastic boxes? He had plenty of boxes, and he was pretty sure that he could spare the box which he normally used to carry his food to work.

As he mulled over the fact, he heard the doorbell ring. He sighed, thinking that one of his roommates had lost his key or something, and then made his way to the door.

Much to his surprise, the man on the other side of the door was a stranger, and not one of his roommates.

Still, he opened the door, for the apartment building had a panic button on all apartment doors, and Edwin did not get any bad vibes from the man anyway.

"Good morning! Are you searching for someone, sir?" Edwin asked, as he smiled. It was a strained smile, but he felt that he had to put one up for appearances anyway.

"Yes, a Mister Edwin? Sorry, but I was not told the last name," The man pulled out a visit card, and handed it to Edwin.

There was the answer to all of Edwin's problems. A quick loan, and he even got to get free internet for it. Why a telecommunication company wanted to do something like loan lending and insurance was not something Edwin could explain to himself, but he had heard about this new trend.

"Do you have a bit of time, Edwin?" The man said, flashing his pearly whites. Edwin was like in a trance. Free internet, for a whole six months. He could get his footing again in that time, and saving up the twenty gold coins per month would…

He shook his head. No, he could not afford to go down the loan road! He had not gotten any debt during his collage years, doing rune smiting to the side.

Why should he do so now, when he still had plenty of money in the bank?

"I know what you want to say," the man said, as he walked to the nearest chair, and sat himself down. Edwin noted how relaxed the man looked. So, as if nobody had ever told him no in his entire life. "But why should you live worse than before? I am sure that a small loan of 5000 gold coins would help you get your feet under you. Oh, did I interrupt your breakfast?"

Edwin sat down, as he looked at the hologram with the details of the loan. No payments in the first five months needed, and then he had to give back only that, which he had taken, with a modest 10% for the bank.

It sounded too good to be true. And so, Edwin just placed the visit card on the coffee table and looked the man in the eyes.

Such pretty eyes, Edwin could not help but think. Silver, like ice.

Still, he was not ready to get a loan only because the seller had pretty eyes, or a perfect haircut, or biceps to die for.

"Would you like something to eat?" Edwin knew that he should not invite the man to stay. Surely, he had other suckers in dire straits who needed to have hope waved before their noses.

And yet, he simply wanted to speak with someone. Just for a little while.

"Oh, a piece of toast with that lovely smelling jam would be lovely," the man said, and Edwin nodded. Soon, there was a plate in the hands of the seller, and Edwin finally got to share a meal with someone on the table.

"What made you go into such a business?" Edwin blurted out. He had never understood load lenders. The job sounded awful, and not only that, but it could get dangerous, if a client did not want to pay.

But for Orion, the question had a different meaning. He pondered on it, as he took a bite of the toast with jam. It was not too sweet, and he was pretty much sure that it could be even better had the jam been on a pancake.

What had made him go into the business of selling and buying souls? What indeed.

"It is a family business, of sorts," Orion said, absentmindedly. It was even the truth if he had to be honest. "My entire life, I have done nothing else. It is the only thing I am good at."

Edwin nodded, thinking they still were talking about the loan, and then bit from his toast.

"You know, I think I can make it without a loan," Edwin said, being honest in turn. "The thing is, that I think I can start to live more modestly. To tell you the truth, I was not happy with my life before. Money really can't bring happiness."

Orion blinked. The man was getting a paycheck for which the most of his countrymen could only dream of, and he was not happy?

"And what would make you happy?" It was a question which Orion often asked, not revealing why. The mortals wanted to sell their souls for a spark. Most of them were happy to tell him what sort of spark they wanted.

Edwin pondered on the question for a whole minute, chewing his food and not tasting it. When he swallowed, he just shrugged.

"I guess nothing at this point," which was sad, he had to admit, but he did not feel like lying. "But then again, such is life."

Orion had to resist the urge to growl. This was a mortal, not bound to hell, and free to change his life.

And he claimed that nothing could make him happy anymore.

Oh, Orion said in his own mind. Now, this is personal.

Orion made a small visit card manifest in his pocket, and he pushed it across the table.

"Thank you for the breakfast. It was nice of you to offer. Now I feel like I owe you one as well. But only if you have the time," Orion smiled, knowing full well that the runesmith was staring into his eyes, and trying to explain to himself how someone could have such striking gray eyes.

Ah, mind reading was the best trick in a demon's arsenal.

"No, thanks," the runesmith said, as he pushed the visit card back to Orion. Said demon narrowed his eyes, just for the split of a second, but Edwin saw it happen.

How could he not, when he was watching the man's, or better said, demon's, eyes like a hawk?

"Now, if you don't mind, I am a bit sick, so I need to take a nap," Edwin lied, for he felt great now, and yet, wanted the stranger out of his house.

There was something rotten about him. Something depraved and disastrous. Edwin had always been good about judging people by their eyes. The gray color was like a snowstorm. How could him getting lost in it do him any good?

"Yes, of course," Orion said, as he offered his hand. "My name is Orion, it was a pleasure to meet you, Edwin."

A final trap, but Edwin was on high alert. He smiled a strained smile and did not shake the demon's hand. Avoiding signing any contracts with the man.

Becoming Orion's new obsession, even if he himself did not know it at the time.

The only thing Edwin could be glad about, as he closed the door behind the stranger, was that he had enough food to not have to go outside.

Huh, maybe he could do it! Maybe he could survive for a week with only ten gold coins worth of food?