I have almost a dozen boon companions, for whom I'd lay down mylife and who would do the same for me. I have a commandingofficer whom I would follow into Hell itself without question orhesitation. I have a woman whom I love with all my heart and allmy soul and all the fabric of my being, and who loves me just asstrongly. I am almost as privileged as a man can be, with allthese wonderful people enriching my life.But since I lost Jack to the machinations of Arcanum and thatabomination of science and magic he called the Servant FactorVirus, I have not had, I have not *dared* again to have, a bestfriend.Not until Lisa.It's odd. We didn't do "buddy" sorts of things, and over the previous few weeks we had seen little of each other. Our friendship was, all told, less than eight months old. But to my surprise I found that I did consider her a best friend. (Well, kind of a cross between a best friend and a little sister. At least, an idealized version of what I imagined a little sister ought to be like -- having been an only child, I had only second-hand experience with the real article.)I'd been almost as close to Delandra, back in Haven -- after two and a half years of almost constant contact, it would have been impossible for me not to be -- but Delandra had lacked the cultural matrix that she needed to really understand me and where I was coming from. MegaTokyo and its version of Earth weren't home by any measure, but they were close enough that Lisa could make that last conceptual leap.I was, therefore, understandably reluctant to part ways with herat the end of lunch. I think she sensed that, because as wecrept back toward the lobby entrance of the Cone she wrapped herarms around me and buried her face into my coat. I tried to gether to tell me something of what she was feeling, but she onlyshook her head, her face still pressed against my chest.We stood like that, silently, on the corner across the street from the tower, for several minutes. Neither of us really wanted to let go of the other, so it was a while before, with an unspoken but mutual agreement, we loosened our grips and moved back from each other about half a step. My hands had slid down to rest on her upper arms, and Lisa's were around my waist still. Looking down at her, I saw a glint of moisture under her eyes. Had she been crying? I wasn't sure; if she had, the dry winter breeze had sucked away the evidence before I could notice it.We gazed at each other, again silently, as smiles broke acrossboth our faces. Then she reached up, pulled my face down to hers,and graced me with a soft, sweet and very brief kiss.After a moment she broke the kiss, laid her cheek against mine,and whispered into my ear, "Take care of yourself, okay?" Thenshe whirled out of my hands and ran back across the plaza,scattering a flock of pigeons which had just come to rest on thewet, cold pavement. By the time they had settled themselves backdown, she was gone.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
