"Here. I promised you a bonus, right?"He took it, but frowned. "Not what I had in mind."I chuckled. "You'll get that too. Use that to go buy a video g...ame or something."An idea seemed to strike him. "Yeah, ok. I can think of a couple toys we could use around the house."I shook my head and turned back to West and Paul. "He's actually my tech geek. Boy's an amazing programmer." He's one of them?" West asked. It was a bit early for wine, so he and I were sipping scotch."My boy toys? Yeah." I. " "Wh- hey! Shoo! Get off you me you oaf! Lummox!" She swatted the captain with her fan fruitlessly. Still clasping her foot, Tsharles looked up, insulted. "What? And go back on my word? Never!" Through a wide smile poked his gleefully-wetted tongue, which was sent weaving in between Amelia's toes. Eyes bugging out, she gasped even deeper. Tsharles' men were really losing it, leaning on each other to keep from tipping over for laughing too hard. The lad who had spoken up before clutched his. . and it felt like a steel gauntlet had clamped down on his heart. He shut his matriarchs out of his mind, not wanting to disturb them with his mournful thoughts, and lay there in silence for several minutes. He’d felt full of energy after waking, but being crushed by grief had left him feeling weary and depressed once more.After taking a deep breath, he carefully untangled himself from Alyssa’s and Calara’s clinging grasp, then climbed over the brunette and used telekinesis to slide her into. We washed up in an ice cold waterfall that ran across the corner of the plateau and turned into a small stream for a short distance before falling off of the edge. The water was too cold for me after such a light workout, but I did soak towels in the frigid water and ice down my shoulder.I chased her off with a light pat to the back and wished her a pleasant night's sleep. The night air was cold and dry, and gave me a beautiful view of the sky. I watched the stars and the moon for a while.