Appalled...initially.

"How dare you sir!" Mr. Cooper bellowed, leaping to his feet. He stomped around the table, shouting "You come into our home, asking questions about our deepest secrets and now you wish to witness that most intimate of acts between a husband and wife? Well, I say to you sir, that you are most welcome to!"

I had shrunk back in my seat, preparing for a strike of lightning to his thundering, but his words suddenly became clear. "Beg pardon?" I blinked.

With a hearty laugh and the whites of his teeth gleaming through his smiling beard, he clasped my shoulders and took me in for a great hug. Through the muffling of his shirt, I heard him say, "Haha, we'll make a Madsinite of you yet!" That's the kind of daring that we so need here." Had he said anything other than that, I had not heard it, for my lungs were beginning to starve.

Suddenly, I was released from his grip and I saw Mrs. Cooper clapping happily. "Oh how exciting!" she beamed. "When shall we do it, when shall we do it? Oh look at this place, it is a mess! We can't possibly have you while the house is in such a state. There's clothes needs laundering, refreshments to prepare, the sheets, Dear Lord, the sheets! Wine, good wine. Have you a preference? Doesn't matter, we'll prepare a selection. Oh what to cook, what to cook?" Muttering to herself, she retreated into her kitchen, leaving myself and Mr. Cooper standing in her wake.

"Ah... You've made an old man very happy, Mr. McKay," he sighed, still smiling while we listened to his wife's lamentations as to how their larder is simultaneously full of food, yet also completely bare. Clapping my shoulder strongly, he said, "Now, if I know my wife, which I do because I raised her, I expect that you'll be joining us for the evening's meal tomorrow."

Still suffering the effects of pure bewilderment, I merely nodded. "Y-yes, Mr. Cooper. I, I look forward to sharing a meal with you tomorrow evening."

"Oh, hang that Mr. Cooper nonsense, Devon," he poo-pooed, waving his hand in front of his face. "Please, call us Thomas and Angela. For after tomorrow night, we shall call you Friend." Having escorted me to his door, we parted ways and I returned to my rooms, where again, with the assistance of ****, I put pen to paper. But as Thoughts are turned to Words, I began to have doubts.