"Okay, thank you, Lily, for your treatment and time. Oh, wait, I have one question, actually... I don't mean to be rude - er, ruder - but why do you have stone bearers?"

>"Well, when I first wanted to come down here, I was initially denied. There are some people, like myself, who are never allowed to set foot on soil outside of the empire's borders without good reason. So... I said that I can just bring stones from the empire so that I wouldn't have to. It really was semantics, but Shup said he liked the spirit of that loophole and let it go."

"Ah! So it's not like you can't put your feet in grass ever, just not here?"

>"That's correct."

"Well, I won't keep you any longer. Till next time!"

>"Goodbye, Fen."

It's getting late, and I haven't been called on to do anything, so I just help with reinforcing and repairing what structures we have before we pull out the big fur and sleep outside.

>"You look like you're in a good mood, Fen." says Kiki.

>"Our little Bro's in loooooove."

>"Oh for... fucks sake, Fen."

"Oh, come on! It's not like I'm actively pursuing.... well, it's not like I'm expecting much to happen!" I say, making sure only my tribe is in earshot. "I mean, she spent a little bit of time with me, and... that was nice."