The room’s dimensions measured ten by eight feet. Stretching two thirds of the length, on the right side was the bed, such as it was. Term bed was a...misnomer, it was more cot than bed, six feet long and just twenty-four inches wide. It hung suspended from the ceiling, perhaps a foot above the floor. Suspended above the bed itself was a second horizontal tier of equal width and length. Lying across the top of this upper tier was metal grate, a grate of narrow metal bars, each roughly three. He wasn’t dating yet - the lack of a car being a major obstacle (Daffy had moved on to another boy, one with a car) - but had been out on some ‘walks’ with a classmate from a couple of blocks over, Tracy Helder. Those walks had gotten fairly intimate, with stops in a few nearby wooded copses, involving plenty of kissing and petting, but hadn’t quite made it into the realm of fluid transfer. Jessica had volunteered to relieve any anxiety generated by these walks, saving her son from the dreaded. He said, “I’d feel a whole lot safer in Afghanistan facing the Taliban than being here facing Tripp.”“Damn! Tripp is going to orgasm when I tell her that,” Wally said slapping his thigh and busting out in laughter.“It wasn’t that funny.”Between bouts of laughter, Wally said, “You really do know how to sweet talk an Ables woman. I’ll let you through the gate and then give her a call to let her know you’re coming.”Jim leaned forward and rested his forehead on the top of the steering wheel. He. He was too busy to fret for most of the stay, but now he was getting antsy. Where was the adventure? But they weren't done here yet.Druan was going to attempt his first masterwork, without any help from his master. He had the wooden version of Vedeya's weapons as models, and he took the time to look at her hands, and see how they gripped the wooden hilts. He had John modify the wood, and had her practice with John again. He took the rest of the day for meditation, sitting in the charcoal cave.