“Speaking of bloodbaths, what happened at the meeting?” David”

“You’re apologizing? Seriously, what happened to you? Have you been taken over by a pod person?”

“Growling, Marcus put all of his strength behind his next swing, deflecting the blow meant to sever his head and snapping Roy's blade in two.Dumb ass. That's what happened when you puchased weapons off of cable shopping networks.”

“What....are you high? You just told me my hair is beautiful.” Seth”

“What did you think I would do? Ask her if I could braid her hair after we gave each other facials and painted our toenails? Marcus”

“You still aren't screaming.""Is that the usual reaction you get when people realize you're, um...""Different? Yes, generally."Marcus stepped up beside him. "We also get shrieks, curses, pant wetting, bowels releasing"--Sarah grimaced--"religious recitations..."Her eyebrows rose. "Religious recitations?""You know--Get thee back, you, ah..." He nudged Roland. "What was it that priest called us?"Roland rolled his eyes. "Which one?""The one in London.""What century?""Eighteenth."Sarah's mouth fell open."The one with hair like Albert Einstein?""Yes.""Spawns of Satan.""Right." Adopting a raspy elderly man's voice, Marcus shook his fist at Sarah and intoned dramatically, "Get thee back, ye spawns of Satan. Return thee to the bowels of hell where ye belong!" Lowering his fist, he proceeded in a normal voice."Then he hurled numerous biblical versus at our heads as we walked away...But screaming is by far the most common reaction, from both men and women.”

“Reordon,” a male voice came over the line.“Chris, it’s Marcus.”“Hey, man. How’s it going?”“Not that great. I wrecked my bike.”“Ah, hell. Not the Hayabusa.”“That’s the one.”“Please tell me it’s just a scratch.”Marcus studied the wreckage. “I’m sure if you sort through the debris, one or two pieces will have scratches on them.”