" "Let's start with the basics." "Let's start with the basics. Everybody knows what you do. I drive atmospheric shuttles when I want to, paint when I want to, and tend the Rhysh gardens when they need it." We stepped out onto a wide road on the other side of which the path continued. The smell of horses was in the air. "You're the gardener?" "Just one. There are others. Borodir tried to get me enrolled into cooking school, but I told him to forget it. And as for the physical department, I'm not a trainer. I could only serve- as a good example, of course." "Of course," I said. I reached out a hand, and he took it. His paw felt warm clasped in mine, my fingertips curling around it and touching the short fur on the back. He reached out with his other hand and hugged me, like we had been at the dance, only out here there was no pretense, no "reason" to be this close, other than because we wanted to be. "Aaden," I said into the fur ruffled at his neck, "I think I'm falling in love." He chuckled again. "You do that all the time." I laughed briefly. "Yeah, guess I do. The funny thing this time is who it is." "Why is that funny?" "Because I'm really straight, I think," I replied in a wistful sort of matter-of-fact voice. |