landscape

[isthisart]

Linya avoids haring off to do things much while Miles's arms are unusable. Once he can feed himself comfortably enough to prefer to do so, though, she makes plans with Ekaterin to go with her and little Nikki on a hike in some nice woods of mixed-origin fauna. She packs a picnic and takes the lightflyer and flies out to pick up the relevant subset of Vorsoissons.

Comments

[isthisart]

"He's going to be so adorable but Miles doesn't want to look at the simulations."

[first_loyalty]

"Did he say why not? If it were me, I might prefer to be surprised... it seems backwards to have the baby pictures before the baby."

[isthisart]

"I suppose that could be it. He was willing to compare my simulation pictures against actual pictures of me as a child, but then, I am not surprising in the relevant respect..."

[first_loyalty]

"Yes. Your case is definitely one of baby pictures after the baby, by now."

[isthisart]

"I keep looking at the simulations myself as a layer of error-checking - I'm done with everything that has cosmetic effects, now, so if something changes I'll know I've made a mistake - although in almost every case one of the software safeties would catch it first, it doesn't hurt to be careful. And it is a little annoying that nobody else wants to see them. I suppose I'll be insufferable once I have photographs of the actual baby actually babying."

[first_loyalty]

"Pictures, whether before or after, are definitely no substitute for an actual babying baby."

[isthisart]

"Not a bit," agrees Linya.

[first_loyalty]

"So pictures of an actual babying baby are probably better than pictures of an imaginary computer-generated baby, just because they get you that much closer to the real thing."

[isthisart]

"I suppose once I have an actual babying baby I can just show him to people in person."

[first_loyalty]

"Yes. Well, some of them might prefer the pictures. Especially if he babies very loudly."

[isthisart]

Linya giggles.

[first_loyalty]

So does Ekaterin!

[isthisart]

"We should be at the picnic spot I found on the map in about fifteen minutes," Linya mentions.

[first_loyalty]

"That's a long time," Nikki says doubtfully.

"It's not that long," says Ekaterin. "But I'll pick you up anyway, if you want."

He holds out his arms. His mother picks him up, oofing slightly.

[isthisart]

"Is he heavy? He doesn't look very heavy."

[first_loyalty]

"He's heavier than he was last year, that's for sure. But he walks around on his own more often, so it all works out."

"I like walking," Nikki announces. "Just not too much walking."

[isthisart]

"How much is too much?" wonders Linya.

[first_loyalty]

"Too much is too much!" says Nikki, tautologically.

[isthisart]

"Aha. I am enlightened."

[first_loyalty]

Nikki nods at this entirely reasonable response.

Ekaterin manages not to giggle.

[isthisart]

"Are you all done walking for the day, or just a little while?"

[first_loyalty]

"Dunno," he says.

"Well, when my arms get tired, I'm going to have to put you down," says Ekaterin. "But I can carry you until then."

[isthisart]

"I can carry him too, if he wants."

[first_loyalty]

Nikki peers at Linya, as though to evaluate her carrying capacity.

[isthisart]

"I'm stronger than I look."