Date: Sun, 15 May 1994 00:23:27 -0400 Counterpoint: a Duet for Women's Voices by Robin Carroll-Mann "Ah, so you decided to come after all." "Did you think I wouldn't?" "What is it that you mortals say? Discretion is the better part of valor?" "I'm not in any danger here." "How very... trusting." "I think you realize how Nick would react if anything happened." "Does he know you are here?" "Nick doesn't need to know everything I do." "He would have tried to prevent you from coming." "I'll bet he would. He can be real pigheaded sometimes." "Nichola has always been stubborn. Like a hawk fighting against the jesses." "You've known him a long time." "Since the beginning; since before the beginning. Does that bother you?" "I'm not here to discuss my feelings." "Will you have something to drink? . You will excuse me if I have my breakfast. And no, it isn't cow." "Why don't we get down to business. You asked me to come and I'm here. What do you want?" "I told you when we first met that we needed to talk." "I remember. So, are you warning me off?" "! Such foolishness. Do you think you're the first mortal he's dallied with?" "You're afraid of losing him, aren't you?" "Oh, you flatter yourself, . If it that, I need only wait. A few decades, a century perhaps... Time is my friend, not yours." "But if I bring him back across..." "Impossible!" "I don't think so." "Do you think immortality can be tossed away like an old coat that no longer fits? Can your science put the hawk back into the egg?" "It can analyse physiological abnormalities and find cures for them." "I begin to see why he finds you so amusing." "Oh, we mortals are a real bundle of laughs. You ought to get to know us -- as something other than breakfast, that is." "By playing `let's pretend' as Nick does? Trying to be human?" "Nick's a damn sight more human than a lot of `mortals' I've known." "And that is the problem! You have been encouraging this mad obsession of his, this delusion that he can somehow become mortal again. Nick is human; he has not human for almost eight centuries, and his only chance for happiness is for him to accept what he is." "Nick was unhappy with his condition a long time before he wound up on my lab table. You could probably tell me -- just how many centuries has he been looking for a way out? All did was give him some new hope." "! Stop promising what you can't deliver and he doesn't need." "Oh, no -- I don't intend to give up until Nick does, and maybe not even then." "Such arrogance!" "I just want what's best for Nick." "How can you know what's best for him?" "It's not my opinion that matters -- or yours -- it's what wants." "What he wants is , and the longer you keep filling him with false dreams, the more painful it will be for him when he collides with the truth." "Have you talked to Nick about this?" "He's a stubborn fool!" "You won't get any argument from me about . But there are worse things than stubbornness, you know. Despair. Apathy. If Nick weren't the pigheaded idiot we both waste too much time yelling at, I think he would have walked into the sunlight a long time ago. His hope of mortality is keeping him going." "His hope is keeping him weak." "Just because he has human feelings like loyalty and compassion-- oh hell, this is pointless. There is no way we are ever gonna agree." "So it seems. You are almost as stubborn as Nick." "Thanks for the compliment. Truce?" "For now, at least. And-- Natalie?" "Yeah?" "Be careful with your little brews and potions. Very careful. If you hurt him, I'll rip out your heart and drain it dry while you watch." "Sheesh, do you people all get your lines from the Late, Late Movie? Whatever happened to `have a nice day'? Never mind. I'll see myself out. Oh -- Janette?" "Yes?" "If Nick ever needed some kind of help that I couldn't give him, I'd call you. For his sake. Would you do the same?" "Close the door quietly when you leave. The others are still sleeping." --- END ---