You were there, you would take care of us.”“I didn’t do anything,” he said. “You did everything.”“I feel safe with you, Jack. Like I fel...t with Dad.“Thank you, Johanna.”“But you’re not my dad.”“No, I’m not.”I put my arms around him and held him tight. I held him till my nipples perked up and became obvious against him, hard nubs that indented his skin through our clothes. I rubbed myself against him, my mouth partly open, my eyes partly closed. I really wanted him to want me.“You can’t have. Shhhhhh!" James repeated urgently."Don't worry, lad," the middle aged Timicus said smiling broadly as he patted his freshly trimmed short hair. "These dragons..."A third Timicus, this one looking much older and completely bald, poofed in and said in chorus with the second, "Are all dead." Dead?" Eric and the bald Timicus echoed as the bald Timicus sat down on a dead dragon's midsection with a bored expression."My HAIR!" the original Timicus exclaimed as the bald said it in a monotone voice.The. With exquisitecare she laved the mud from her, then pulled her back up on the moss andbegan massaging her lover's shoulders and arms dry with clumps of moss.Holly wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, hands moving slowly upand down her body. Exhausted, Dandelion lowered her head and let theministrations continue leaning into the hug. After a few moments,Dandelion quickly realized that Holly's touches felt really good,magically warm, and almost therapeutic. Dandelion's breathing. .. a chemlight.A chemlight? Seriously? Who do I even carry those with me?Probably because safety conferences give them away for free and I'm a natural scrounger. And because, technically, they're part of the seventy-two hour kit I feel naked without lugging around.Well, fine. Punching someone with the end of a glowstick will hurt me less and them more than my fist will. And light could be good.The inner fly my tent peeled open with a quiet hiss, and I saw the silhouette of a head start to duck.