"Taken OUT?" He shivered."Taken OUT?" He shivered. In the water I felt it run through his body, and what little empathy people tell me I have told me about pain. "Do you have any idea how much trauma that entails? And then, those who come back out of the Purists have to have it re-installed? They'll never function the same way again." I sighed. "I don't like it. There's nothing I can do about it. Besides, you're there for that. To try and educate them." My hand slid along his flank, gently. We had been lovers for a few years, and I hoped I was still allowed this small privilege. He didn't protest; quite the opposite, his shivering subsided. "Anything else new?" "I've got a new pup," he said proudly. "You do?" "Uh-huh. We've named him Rivert. Toma was the mother." "Toma? I don't know her." He smiled. |