Welcome to Gaia! ::

Bez laughs heartily, then flinches. "Ow... that smarts." he grumbles testily, then smiles at them. "I can see why he's so attached to ye. Ye keep him grounded." He looks down at Tam and swallows hard. "Ai... I'm sorry... all this is my fault... I know it now.... "

**such effluence.... pleasant dreams, dulcha... may the angels guard yer slumber....**

Shar uses his energies to do a seeking of her own, but neither one gets very far.

"He's recovering still. Perhaps it would be best to wait a bit and try again tomorrow. Sometimes time is the best healer." she sighs and yawns. "It's really getting late. Lord Bezernia, please, feel free to spend the night. Those injuries of yours need tending anyway. Mica might there be a room for Kerobian and his lady?"

Bez watches them leave with a gusty sigh. "youngsters..." he grumbles but there is laughter in his voice, sad laughter but amusement all the same. He looks up at Hopian. "Ye staying, too.... or ye heading back. How's that little one of yers anyway... she okay... and her mother?"

"They're fine.... told them not to wait up.... Sal's exhausted and I think she took a chill over all this... when Kero found Tam he was encased in a cavern of ice.... don't think she saw who or what was at the center though.... Tes snatched her out of there before we started tunneling through." sighs Hopian curling up by the fire. "I'll stay here if you don't mind, Lady Shar.... I still don't trust this flea bitten bag of bones."

Shar looks up from where she is, placing a thick gauze pad over Bez stitches, and frowns. "She's not sick is she. Yer desert creatures and not use to that sort of cold.... I'll go check on her tomorrow if you like... was he...was he trying.... to leave us?" she asks looking down at the tiny lion.

Bez shakes his head. "Don't know.... don't think so... but his personality was fragmented these last few days and incomplete.... how would ye say it... he... he lost his balance. It was as though he was at war within himself... I thought if I took myself out of the picture things would settle down for him. I kind of knew the only thing he was experiencing was .... what's the word... infa.... infatuation... that's it... and I think on one level he knew this.... but when the feeling side of him overtook the knowing side and became dominant.... ye see, he's been growing up... slowly... very very slowly... and the mind matured long before the body.... this... this is more like the Ai I knew and loved before I got the boot... only he was bigger, lots bigger, and well ummm, not red.... "

"Teen age angst.... " sighs Shar with a puzzled expression. "Aren't the two of ye beyond that by now?"

"Never went through it... wouldn't know..." says Bez sleepily. "But yeah.... if ye ask me, I'd say his body was doing the thinking fer him alright... it certainly wasn't his head... too bad he wasn't thinking about me... I would have welcomed the opportunity."

She shakes her head and binds the gauze pads in place with strips of cloth, then asks the dark furred cat if he would like a pain killer.

Bez shakes his head. "That would only make me fuzzy in the head and I have this feeling I may need to be thinking straight when Ai wakes up... Thank you for offering it though." He drops his head down to the bed, easing close to the smaller cat, but keeping a careful distance so as not to overwhelm him.

Shar retires for the night, lowering the lamps in the clinic and banking the fire.

The hours go by slowly, with Hopian's fidgeting growing increasingly more audible. Finally Bez grumbles. "If ye don't settle down and get some rest, I'm going to come over there and sit on ye.... I'm trying to sleep over here."

"Hasn't Ai taught ye how to storm dive yet? It was one of our favorite activities back home.... Lightning might singe us... but it doesn't hurt us... not really... none of nature's elements do, unless we forget to counteract them within ourselves." He looks down at Tam and sighs. "Which makes me wonder if he realized what was happening and let it take place... or iffin he set something in motion and then blacked out."

Bez sighs heavily. "Neither do I... neither do I... Listen, Sparky, climb in a bed and get some rest will ye... Ye sounds sleep ragged... I'm not going anywhere... Ai needs help and I can't help him on my own... Wouldn't take him from ye guys if I wanted to anyway... He's... he's found more purpose in his life since he's found ye than he's ever had before... and I'd never deprive him of that."

He simply hunkers down and shakes his head, giving the tiny lion beside him another gentle lick. "Ai... it seems ye have competition... " he whispers to the still tiny body. "In more ways than one..."


**am going into town... not sure when I'll get back... getting the H1N1 shot and going out fer lunch.... cya l8r g8r**