"Thora! He's here!" Thora already knew. She had heard the knock on the door. "Down, girl!" She pulled Lola away from the door, opening it and smiling at Arjaan. Lola stopped barking when she saw him, jumping up and putting her paws on his knees. He bent over to scratch her behind the ears before hugging Thora. "Hey. Alright- woah, why is everyone here now? Oh, geez. Alright, uh, Arjaan, this is my mom, that's my dad, and that's my brother, Cal. My sister Lidy is at a boarding school. Everyone, this is Arjaan." He nodded. "Nice to meet you." Dad reached out to shake his hand, nodding in approval. He'd told Thora before, "I always judge a man first by his handshake. Squeeze too tight, he's controlling, overambitious, too loose and he's got no spine. Now, you get a nice, firm handshake, he's going to be bold and direct, well-raised, polite. That's the right kind of handshake." Thora thought that was a silly way to read people, but if it made Dad like Arjaan more she was fine with it. He was friendly and polite and offered to help Mama set the table when dinner was ready. He talked and laughed and carried an easy conversation with both her parents and even talked about videogames and guns with Cal. It wasn't awkward at all, not for a moment, and Thora was proud of him. There was no way that her parents could say no to this. He was wonderful. He helped them clean up dinner and afterward, when they sat back down at the table to talk, Arjaan said, "I'm sure Thora already told you this, but we really like each other and we'd like to have your approval for us to date." Dad and Mama glanced at each other, communicating silently, and then Dad cleared his throat. "Yes, now that we've had a chance to get to know you, you're a very nice young man. We're alright with you and Thora dating. But there need to be some ground rules, to get started." "Of course." "We always need to be told when you're coming over. No hanging out without telling us. And no hanging out after ten or before seven," Mom said. "Yes, and no locking doors or going places where there won't be other people around nearby." "Those are obvious ones," Thora grumbled. "Why would we do any of that?" "Yeah, I'm not dumb enough to go anywhere alone with Thora- I know she's plotting to kill me as soon as there are no witnesses." Arjaan elbowed her and she giggled. "Of course I'm okay with those rules, sir. I care about Thora and I want to respect what you think is best for her." Crow nodded. "Good. Good. Then, we have a deal!" Thora beamed. She officially had a boyfriend now. Arjaan came over again on Saturday, as promised, to watch Lola while Thora tried to meditate. Even with her bedroom perfectly still and quiet, she still struggled. It felt like she'd been cut off from her power. All she could decipher was a whisper of "You will become your own worst enemy." "Well, that's not freaky at all," Arjaan said, when she told him. "Guess what Arjaan was telling me, Thora? He has Daddy's ship. In Warbird. The Radiant Accipter. It's one of the rarest ships in the game!" Cal said enthusiastically. "Oh, cool," Thora said. She was confused, but hey, at least Cal liked Arjaan, and he didn't seem to be so mad at her anymore. "You're my lucky puppy," Thora murmured to Lola that night as she scratched the puppy behind the ears. Lola sniffed Thora's ear enthusiastically before licking the pillow. "A lot of good things have been happening to me ever since I got you. Thanks, girl." Lola poked her nose into Thora's neck, closing her eyes. Thora giggled. "Yeah, I love you too."