“Still enmeshed from the knees down, Vayl flopped off the cabinet before we realized he needed a hand down, falling fast and hard like a penguin who hasn't bought the whole flightless scenario.”

“Jumping up and down is definitely sexy," Vayl assured me. "Would you like to do it two or three times right now before we get down to business?"Sterling and Cole groaned at the same time "Ewww!”

“The ArmfulFor every parcel I stoop down to seizeI lose some other off my arms and knees,And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,Extremes too hard to comprehend at. onceYet nothing I should care to leave behind.With all I have to hold with hand and mindAnd heart, if need be, I will do my best.To keep their building balanced at my breast.I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;Then sit down in the middle of them all.I had to drop the armful in the roadAnd try to stack them in a better load.”

“Oh, get down from your high horse before you fall off.”

“Flopping down in the chair I had been seating in only moments ago, I put my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands. What a fucking mess!“Women.” A heavy voice sighed from above me. “Who understands them?”

“In fact, I've essentially given up on the idea of flight altogether and accepted that I'm going to be an angel-blood who stays earthbound, a flightless bird, like an ostrich. Maybe, or in this weather, a penguin.”