Company

Where do you sleep?

When do you sleep?

What do you sleep on? With?

Do you sleep in company -- like, I'd suggest, a civilised person -- or alone?

I'm at Hearthstone, listening to Jacob and Altaen breathing as they sleep near the hearth. We've finally had that dinner I'd promised -- threatened? -- if Altaen worked his security status up to the point where he could bring a ship into Pator, and now, instead of going to rooms and beds, we're curled in nests of blankets and furs on the cushions in the flickering light. Sleep will take me soon, too.

We're so different, the three of us. It's a surprise and often a delight. Something that will have one or even two of us ready to call on the spirits of conflict will have the other calmly saying "Should I care?"... and suddenly the perspective shifts.

There have been some hard times for me lately. They say the only way you can break podders is to break their morale...

... but lying here in the dim, dancing light, fed and warm and in the company of these two very special people, I want so much to help make a space where they can flourish.