Gratuitous Epilogue : Touchstone Extras Read Free Page B

bit
afraid, but did get stressed by there being so many people, and
went and hid behind Nils, which everyone thought was hugely
funny.
    Zee leaned down and
said something to him which actually made him go pink, and Ketzaren
and I exchanged amused glances. I'm not the only person pleased and
fascinated by Nils and Zee. First and Second are full of plans for
the future, of adjusting to being 'planetary' Setari instead of
constantly working in the Ena. And of the details of Lohn and
Mara's upcoming wedding, and First Squad Island, and the question
of how they felt about some of the children at the talent
school.
    I must admit I invited
Squad One not only because they're fun to talk to, but because I
suspect Sonn (I still haven't reached the point of calling her
Fiar) of being more than a little interested in Arad Nalaz, and
trying not to let herself be. Fourth, like most of the younger
squads, haven't thrown themselves into a welter of romance and
plans for houses, but they seemed to enjoy the party well enough.
Mori's been down lately because she misses both her family and Ro
Kanato from Eighth, but otherwise Fourth has been rather focused on
not 'losing their edge'. They've been pathfinding through the Ena,
charting courses from Pandora to places without working platforms,
like Oriath and Arenrhon. This leaves Kaoren rather tired in the
evenings, but I was fairly successful in keeping the bulk of my
party-planning from landing on his head as soon as he dropped down
onto the patio.
    I haven't just been
playing house and planning parties, but my day job has been
relatively stress-free. KOTIS Command has kept me to light
training, irregular visualisations, and enhancing the Setari
assisting the Mesiath construction. The only thing which I'm
currently annoyed about is my hair, which is growing out
super-slow. At the moment I have all these feathery wanna-be curls
and look like a fuzzy duckling.
    I'm up in my eyrie
right now, with the wind blowing the super-sheer gauzy curtains
about. Jeh and Grif are guarding me by sitting down on the patio
chatting. Kaoren is at Kalasa, and the kids at school, so there's
no-one else in range of my senses. The kittens are chasing the
curtains, which I should probably teach them not to, but I think
it's too cute to stop. The next important task on our schedule is
voting on names for them.
    Guess I'll go make Jeh
and Grif some lunch.
     

Chapter 3
    February
Friday, February 6
    Stood Over
    The kittens are getting
leggier and more mobile, and I'll probably have to find some kind
of bells to put on a collar, because they've definitely got strong
hunting genes. They're called Mip and Tick-tock. Mip was Sen's
suggestion. I suggested Tick and Tock for names for both of them,
but Sen liked it better as a single name. For the moment family
votes are mostly still boiling down to Sen's preferences, but I'm
glad to see that Ys and Rye are being positively influenced by
Lira. Lira likes Sen, but she doesn't put her whims above things
she really wants, and just occasionally Ys and Rye at least
consider doing the same.
    Lohn and Mara's house
will soon be at the fit-out stage, and Jeh, Grif and Ketzaren's
won't be too far behind them. The rest of the Setari aren't moving
so quickly, though most of them have taken their land grants to
ensure the islands stay Setari. But for the moment barracks are
just easier, and houses are something that the senior squads want
more for family than for privacy. Lohn's fretting about the
question of adoption, and Mara says it's because he likes so many
of the children he's been tutoring at the talent school. They've
included a lot of extra rooms in their house design, but that's
mainly because they have tons of relatives back on Tare, and want
them to visit or stay. And they're going to try to have a baby
fairly soon after their wedding.
    I had a fair bit of
stress a week ago. I've been on-and-off discussing being a
touchstone with Lira (who still won't admit to being able to