The redhead counted out the coins - the boy had dumped nearly double what was needed. He was about to push it back, but the boy had already almost left the shop. The dire wolf was currently outside, staring back in through the broken door, and Nevin quietly slid the coins back, realizing he'd just use the money to pay for the repairs. Then he read the message the boy had scrawled in one lats patch of frost, and felt one red eyebrow twitch mightily.

"As I said, Child. I do not have a wife or a child. I am currently single, and have been both single and celibate for several years. Now, go. Get washed, and kill off those bugs before they drive the two of you mad." He waves the two of them off, shoving the frustration at that blasted rumor down into a deep, dark corner of the back of his mind. He would have to find the old lady who had started it and set her straight.

~Fin? ~