Shady

“Can’t wait.” Ky smiled a little. “Seems there’s tons about up here for me to learn about… provided I’m allowed to stay for a little.”

"I'm not sure I've ever had that," Ky said thoughtfully. "I've had lots of fish -- but those live where it's cold, right? Don't really come down South much?"

Ky nodded. Still seemed like there'd be a lot of inbreeding going on if they let them breed themselves. But she wasn't going to argue. "How do you train them ...

"Huh... interesting concept."

"Lichen bread?" she questioned.

"... so they're terribly inbred by now?" Ky concluded.

"I'm easy to please." Ky smiled a little. "... a bit of a wimp about spices, as I mentioned. But most anything else." That was a lie, too. There'd been ...

"Oh, wow! Do you breed them often?"

"Of course," Ky inclined her head. "Sammie seems perfectly healthy and happy."

Ky nodded. "I'm excited to see it!"

Ky smiled a little. "Couldn't you farm them? Compost and such?"

"What are those?" she asked.

"I love both," she said with a little smile as they started for the stairs. "Is that what the artifacts are? Art?"

Ky blinked at him. She couldn't imagine that , either. But old people tended to get offended when she expressed how shocked she was by the length of time they'd ...

Ky dipped her head and followed him. Gods, that had been awkward. She needed to get her act together. He'd clearly been joking; why had she insisted on making it ...