What was she afraid of? Losing her? There was no reason to fear that; it was absolute certainty.What was she afraid of? Losing her? There was no reason to fear that; it was absolute certainty. When Nickolai arrived, nothing Kiza could do would tear her away from the mel she loved, and if she tried, Furry's wrath would be more than enough to make sure they never spoke to one another ever again. The agreement had been, two years ago, that when Nickolai showed up, Kiza was going to back off, and Furry was damned sure that was how the agreement was going to work even now. Why did everything have to hurt so much? She twisted in the couch, leaning her head against one of the cushions, wishing the dreams and the fantasies would all congeal and give her a clear picture of what she was going to do, what she wanted. She wanted Nickolai, and she wanted Kiza to be happy. She wanted those two desires to be mutually compatible. "You did a lot of growing up in the past two years, Furry," she commented to herself. Her reflection, distorted in the glass, stared back at her. More than she was willing to admit to herself; to admit that much change meant admitting that she might have changed away from the fem Nickolai loved so. Kiza's door opened, and she walked through the living room. Furry noted that she was fully dressed to go out on a date or dancing, complete with purse. "Kiza?" Furry asked. Kiza didn't answer, but instead reached the door to the apartment and walked out, slamming the door behind her. "Kiza!" No answer, no return. Furry stared hard at the door, trying to will the Marten back into the apartment, but Furry was no mage and no psionic, and she merely stared, helplessly, at the solid, unmoving green door. "Damn," Furry said aloud. "Now what do I do?" "Might I suggest studying?" Kerry asked. "No you may not," Furry snarled back at the AI, wishing that Kerry didn't have to be so bloody single-minded all the time. Still, she did need to get her reading done in historical vacuum-archeology, and she picked up her PADD and dialed in the lesson her teacher had assigned. A sound startled her. The PADD wasn't where it had been a moment ago; instead it was on the floor, and Furry realized she must have dozed off. |