"This and that."This and that. Good and bad. Now that Furry and I are together again, I'm doing much better. That didn't look like you had any gravitics help at all." "Didn't," Skii replied. "Ever hear of the Shatha line of nanochine?" "Yeah," Nickolai said. "Didn't your dad develop those?" Skii nodded. "You remember! Pulsive, Kolya. Yeah, he did." "Aren't they dangerous?" "Only when abused. And I can't visit Earth. Gee, like I'm missing something." Skii gestured in the air, twirling one finger carelessly. "Meanwhile, I'm completely reinforced. I can jump nearly ten meters straight up! I can survive a fall from nearly any height as long as I'm ready to land. I can lift my powered armor as easily as it can lift me!" He grinned. "But you have to eat more," Nickolai said. "Only a little more if I don't use it, and a LOT more if I do. Speaking of which, I'm hungry." He glanced at Nickolai. "Are you game? Nickolai laughed. "We ate less than two hours ago." "So? No reason not to have more." "Why don't we just watch you," Nickolai offered, shading his eyes. "And we can head inside rather than baking under this sun." "It's nice out, Nickolai! How could you say such cruel things about our Pin?" Skii laughed. "Who are you friends, anyway?" "Oh, pooh," Furry said. "You know damn well who I am, you boy-crazy Felinzi!" She walked forward and hugged Skii. "It's good seeing you again." "You never left, lady," Skii said. "You could have always given me a call." "I had school. And you had trouble to raise." "Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses." "Are you still banned from driving?" "Nope. Who's this?" Skii asked, surprising Garth by pointing at him. |