Interchange *'I… would… like you to go to the…' *
Rowan frowned as he tried to *sound out* the unfamiliar word in the book he was attempting to read. He shook his head and looked to Cloudie for assistance.
*'Supermarket'* the tinkerer smiled, signing the word as she *spoke*.
*Oh!* Rowan grinned happily - he knew what a 'supermarket' was! - he'd just never tried to read the word before. The young psi smoothly re-read the sentence to his sister and she laughed and cuddled him.
*Well done, Row! You're doing very well!*
The boy looked inestimably pleased with himself and Gorey, his little mongrel dog, wagged his tail enthusiastically.
*It's easy.*
*Uhuh,* Cloudie agreed, *you already know all the words, you've been signing them for years, now it's just a matter or recognising them in print.*
*And learning how to *say* them.* Rowan added with a grimace. *That's hard.*
*But you've come on amazingly quickly in the past few weeks, you should be very proud of yourself.* the woman ruffled his shaggy blonde hair. *I'm proud of you.*
*Thanks, Cloudie, for help me.* he wrapped his arms around his sister's waist and nestled close.
*I love doing it, Rowan, I just wish I could spend more time helping you.* She put a subtle emphasis on the correct form of the word.
*'s ok, sis, I got lotsa people… help-ing me.* Rowan's grin was cheeky, then he yawned hugely.
*I think that's enough for now, baby brother, time to brush your teeth and off to bed!* The boy nodded, yawning again, suddenly too sleepy to react as he usually did to being called a baby. *Do you want me to come and tuck you in?* Cloudie *called* after him as he shambled off to the bathroom.
*No.*
She almost didn’t catch his drowsy reply. Rowan's limited telepathic range was normally enough to cover the area within her - their - quarters, but when he was tired even that small reach diminished considerably. After a minute or two, and appropriate teeth-brushing noises, the boy emerged from the bathroom.
*G'night, Cloudie.* he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pecked a kiss on her cheek.
*Goodnight, Row,* Cloudie hugged him back, *sleep well.*Once her brother's bedroom door was shut, Cloudie flopped back onto the couch with a sigh; she knew Rowan was having a hard time adjusting to his new life. True he was making fantastic progress with his 'pathic skills, he enjoyed the time he spent in the Agency's nursery with the other children and had thrown himself into the challenge of learning to read and write and *speak*, but he wasn't happy. Cloudie could understand how he felt, sort of. When she'd left the clan she'd been a traumatised mess, not really caring what happened to her, as indifferent to leaving as staying, but her brother hadn't had any problems like that, he'd been happy and content. This had been a huge wrench for him.
Fortunately the satisfaction Rowan got from mastering his emerging psionic abilities was doing much to ameliorate his unhappiness. His tiny amount of telepathic talent had broken through first, and even before the boy had had a chance to get used to that another unsuspected and much stronger talent had surfaced. Cloudie smiled fondly, remembering the chaotic morning when Rowan, and Gorey, had tumbled into her room, both of them bouncing off the walls with excitement. When she'd calmed her brother enough to make sense of his garbled mix of signing and *speech*, she found out he'd woken up knowing what Gorey was feeling...
Rowan, it appeared, was an animal empath.
Initially he'd only been able to read his own pet but it had rapidly spiralled out from there until, at this point in time, Rowan could detect any animal in a fifty metre radius. He was already the hero of one of the little girls in the nursery for having tracked down her missing hamster! Of course being able to sense animals was one thing, blocking them enough so he wasn't constantly distracted by random urges for food or sleep or mates was something else entirely - and it wasn't known yet if Rowan could actively influence an animal empathically.*Hey, Goldilocks, you busy?*
James' deep *voice* sounded in Cloudie's head.
*Not so you'd notice,* she grinned. *Come on up.*A few minutes later James quietly let himself in to Cloudie's apartment.
"Hi, honey, I'm home."
The tinkerer chuckled at the old, old joke between them, bouncing off the couch and straight into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck and bestowing a lingering kiss on his lips.
"Hot chocolate?" Cloudie murmured, snuggling closer as his broad hands slid down her back to cup her buttocks. The 'path looked bemused.
"Is that some sort of code word for sex now?"
The tinkerer giggled against his mouth.
"No, I was going to make some hot chocolate, but the sex is available too."
"After the hot chocolate."
"'k…" Cloudie nipped gently at James' lower lip then peeled herself away from him.
"Been busy?" she asked from her little kitchen.
"Yeah," James flopped down onto the couch, relaxing his head against the top of the backrest, "and no, it's nothing I can share with you."
"Figures," she mock-grumbled, "no one ever tells me any of the interesting stuff." Walking carefully, Cloudie came out of the kitchen and handed him a mug. James arched an eyebrow at the aromatic, but lukewarm, liquid in his cup.
"It's not very hot." he commented.
"I want you to drink it quickly." Cloudie grinned unrepentantly before emptying her own cup in several quick swallows. Sighing happily, the tinkerer set the empty cup down then made herself comfortable on the short couch, stretching out along it, her head pillowed on one of James' strong thighs, her legs dangling from the knees over the armrest. The 'path shook his head ruefully and sipped at his drink, resting his free hand lightly on Cloudie's abdomen.
"How's Rowan doing?" he asked in between mouthfuls. The tinkerer sighed.
"Okay, I think. He's slowly catching up academically but it's taking him a while to adjust to this lifestyle."
"He'll be fine, Cloudie," James rubbed soothing circles over her stomach, "he's a bright kid, and adaptable."
"Yeah, I know." she smiled fondly, twinning her fingers with James' and lifting his hand to her lips to kiss his palm. "Can you stay?" she guided his hand slowly over a full breast and down her body to the waist-band of her loose cotton trousers.
"Do you want me to?" James wriggled his fingers beneath the elasticated material, stroking over smooth flesh to fiddle with the soft cotton of her underwear.
"You have to ask?" Cloudie tipped her head back to look into his face, at the same time opening her thighs a little and canting her hips upwards to invite further exploration.
"Call it erring on the side of caution." There was a wry quirk to his lips the tinkerer didn't understand.
"Yes, I want you to stay." She reached up to stroke his cheek, his neck. "Please?"
James smiled, slipping a broad finger past the brief barrier of her panties.
"I'd be delighted to…"Rowan was in bed, but not asleep. He lay curled on his side, despondently watching the city's lights glow through his curtains - it never got dark here, ever. Rowan sighed and flipped over on to his back to stare at the ceiling; between the everpresent light and the subsonic hum of the air-conditioning thrumming in his bones he always had trouble getting to sleep, no matter how tired he was. He glanced at Gorey, deeply asleep beside him, and sighed again. He wished he were a dog; dogs didn't worry about things they couldn't change, they just accepted their lot and got on with it.
He hated it here. He hated the city, hated the crowds and the noise and the smell. The air was foul... Inside the Agency building it was stale and flat, but outside it was pure poison! It burnt his throat and made his eyes water, made him feel like he was choking. And there were so many people in London! He and Cloudie and James had gone for a walk a few days after he'd first arrived but they'd had to turn back after only a few blocks because he was freaking out at the crowds. Rowan had felt like a stupid little kid then, but he couldn't help it, he was being crushed by the sheer number of people in the streets. How could anyone live in this hell-hole? He'd challenged his sister about it and Cloudie had smiled almost wistfully and said you can get used to anything in time.
Well, he had no intention of getting used to it – as soon as possible he was going home.
When things are bad – make a list of all the good things you have.
Daisy's favourite bit of advice floated unwanted through the unhappy boy's mind. Rowan scowled... then shrugged. He might as well try, doing something so boring might help him get to sleep.
He was seeing more of his sister than he had for years. That was a good thing, he loved Cloudie, she was like Mum, soft and warm. And he liked Cloudie's friends. He'd known James for ages, of course - he was fun! One of those rare adults who treated Rowan like a grown-up but was still able to muck around with him like a big kid. Devon was pretty cool, though Rowan sensed the TK had no idea how to relate to him, and Stephan was just funny, the way he flapped about all over the place.
He and Cloudie had also spent a little time with Angel, the woman who looked like a cat, and her girlfriend Adelaide. The tall brunette psi was kind of spooky, her ice-blue eyes seemed to look straight through you, but Angel was nice. Rowan had stared and stared the first time he'd met her. She was very pretty and her fur was fascinating - he'd asked if he could touch it... Rowan immediately knew he'd done something wrong; Angel's eyes had gone very big, like she was scared and Adelaide had glared death at him, her presence suddenly seeming to fill the room. He froze, not sure what to do and then Angel had smiled and said yes, it was all right, he could touch her fur.
Rowan's fingertips tingled with the tactile memory. The delicately striped pelt covering the back of Angel's hand had been soft and silky and he'd wanted to go on petting her for ages. But the cat-girl had trembled under his fingers and, not wanting to upset her, Rowan reluctantly stopped. Later, a solemn Cloudie had told him why Angel had reacted the way she had, telling him how she'd been kidnapped and made to look like a cat against her will. The boy guessed there was more, and worse, that his sister wasn't saying and despite her assurances that Angel was safe and happy now, he'd been shocked and angry, and deeply disturbed that such a thing could happen to anyone. That night he'd crept into Cloudie's bed, needing his sister's loving comfort, and cried himself to sleep like a baby.
He'd seen Angel a few times since then and while she did seem to be happy, Rowan was always extra careful to be polite and gentle; the thought of the pretty cat-girl being upset because of something he'd done was oddly distressing to him.Rowan was making his own friends at the Agency as well. Generally speaking he liked all his teachers and most of the other kids - though he avoided the one or two shitty ones - and he had a couple of firm friendships forming amongst his peers, but his favourite person had to be Ox. It was strange, Ox couldn't use sign language very well, and Rowan wasn't able to speak to the big blocker telepathically, but somehow they seemed to understand each other. Ox was relaxing to be around too, he didn't expect anything from the traveller boy, and didn't tease him about things he didn’t know. Rowan liked being with him; he felt safe with the child-like man. He was even happy to go out exploring the city if Ox was with him, and if for some reason Cloudie needed someone to stay with her brother, Ox was always happy to oblige…
Rowan yawned sleepily: what else was good?
Oh yeah, he loved being a psi, that was brilliant. It was like he was a jigsaw puzzle that had always had a piece missing, then suddenly, the piece'd turned up and he was complete. Weird, but really… good. And he got a buzz out of having a talent that not many other people did; there was so much to learn about it! So far he could only sense ver-ter… something - he frowned as he tried to remember the word his 'pathic tutor had used - animals with backbones anyway, but not things like frogs and lizards. Rowan was determined to expand his skills, he knew there was so much more he was capable of.
He yawned again and rolled onto his side, snuggling down under his bedclothes - what else was good?
The food here was really interesting. Traveller meals were robust but quite plain; there was lots of different foods available here from all over the world to try… The swimming pool was great, he was learning how to swim properly… He was learning some martial arts, which was fun... And he and Gorey both enjoyed the indoor park, though Gorey didn't like that he wasn't allowed to chase the ducks…
The young 'path drifted off to sleep at last and beside him, the little dog's paws twitched as he dreamt about galloping after rabbits in an open field…
© 2003 August 17th Lutra
Darkside