She joined me.She joined me. From where we were we had a magnificent view of the forest and mountains towards the west. There was still snow capped on some. One of the reasons I like this site is that it's one of the few places where you can actually see the curvature of the ring, if you look hard enough. The air is crisp and clear, bracing, and the cragged range extends for hundreds of klicks. It's beautiful. She leaned over and kissed me, then took off her jacket. She was naked under it, and her breasts, which were larger than P'nyssa's, swayed in their freedom. I reached out impulsively and stroked one. She cooed softly and said, "Lunch, first?" I agreed, and handed her an egg salad. She bit into it with real hunger and I watched her down it quickly, washing it down with ale. "Hungry, aren't you?" "For all sorts of things." I laughed. "Do you realize, Rainy, that of all the bad habits your mother and I tried to rid from you, you still have one of the worst?" "I still talk with my mouth full, right?" "Right." She shrugged. "I've tried to break myself of it, too. Its just that I seem to need to say things when I'm eating." "Seems to me you could use telepathy." "That's Mom's skill. That and her specialties. I ended up being nothing." "Oh come on, Rainy. That's not true. According to my sources, your one of the best damn PAS in the business." "I know. But that doesn't help me, Dad, when I know that I'm a minority among my kind. Do you realize that only a very small minority of Tindals have no psi at all? And that, percentage-wise, they have the highest suicide rate on all Pendor?" I nodded. These were all sad numbers to me. "But, Rainy, that doesn't mean you have to get upset over it." "Why not?" she asked, calmly. Her emotion was more intense discussing her bike. "Because you're still useful, sweetheart. And you don't have to be useful to be of value. Look at me." "Ha ha. Very funny." "No, I'm serious. Look at you. Independant scout, powered armor expert. Little Rainy, the warrior, while your brother lolls about." "Richard does not loll about." "Okay, Richard does more than his fair share of work. |