Undiagnosed Conditions

Since taking the shot that enabled me to finally heal like everyone else, and get around without the limp that plagued me almost my entire life, I've been getting around. Not in that sense that some might take that to me, but there is that as well.

I planned another trip to the ruins, and had taken Portia with me. The very next day I received news that one of the school professors had unexpectedly met his end, after a tavern fight involving a Physician, a bowl of kalda, and a tarsk. I didn't want to know more than that, and managed to stay ignorant on most of the details, save that the fellow had to be buried with the tarsk's head still attached to his anatomy. I won't even bother to write where it was attached. I still plan to go back to the ruins though, and still intent on dragging Portia along with me. She has skills in plant knowledge and how to trap things, fascinating hair, and an even greater ass.

I'd gone to Cos for awhile once the school issue blew over, because the slave was needed in the city pens again, and I had promised a few friends I would not go alone. Not to mention I wanted to see my son. He will be having his first birthday at the end of the next turning, and has come along way. I worry about him, however, because as much as I care for him...I'm only one person. Yes, he has "aunts" and uncles, but they're not a mother. Even Madaline, mother that she was, was better than none. What will happen to my son without a consistent, feminine figure of free status in his life? I don't want to take another companion, Kings know it, but I am concerned with this issue.

I took the Builder's slave with me to Cos, Mare. She is very good with my son, and except for one instance of friction with someone else, we had a good time. She made friends with Therise's daughter, Casta, and the child drew Mare a picture that was very careful with when we returned to the suite where I was staying. I washed her hair one evening, and kissed her, but respected the Builder's wishes regarding no one else using her. Since our return, his ownership of her has ended, and I have yet to see him again. I suppose the ahns he keeps are erratic and/or the work schedule of a Builder is grueling.

On a positive note, Madeline's behavior has improved. I'm not sure why, but I suppose it might have something to do with Skirt's influence. I was in the shop alone last night when the blonde came in, and I directed her to take my cloak because she was cold. The Winter is going to be a brutal one this year I think, but I was warm enough indoors. Evidently, Skirt was missing physical contact with her owner, and Madeline made a few suggestions about how to renew his interest in his prooperty.

The conversation included myself, Skirt, Portia, and Madeline. By the end of it, I had the feeling I was missing some important detail. They had discussed the auction block, and how Mads will be upon it soon. Portia talked about the doddering man she had been serving these two hands. As a group, they talked of how hard it is to keep a man's interest. Honestly, I was baffled. I got the impression they'd believed I'd lost my mind, because I asked if it really is that hard to keep a man interested in them. Each beautiful, in her own way, spirited, intelligent, and did I mention beautiful?

I'm jaded I suppose, because no matter how I have acted -kind or otherwise- my female companions ultimately seem to drift into boredom or apathy. Always, looking for the next new thing, the grass being greener or something like it. This is no doubt the chief reason I have been back to my solitary existence, borrowing and renting as necessary to fill absolute needs for myself and Julian. At some point, however, I suppose I will have to try again for something else. No man is an island, after all. Even me.