Page 19 of Thalen

I laughed. “Sure, we can probably rustle up the ingredients for those. Pancakes for supper!”

“And bacon?” he asked.

“And bacon.”

He turned to look at Thalen. “Do you like pancakes?”

“I do not know what those are."

“Oh. Well, you’ll have to try them, but I promise, you’ll love pancakes, D.D.”

“D.D.?” Thalen and I asked at the same time.

“Yeah. You’re Dad already, and he’s my dragon man dad, so D.D. for Dragonii Dad.”

Thalen broke into a grin so wide, I thought his face was going to split in two. His tail reached out, draping itself around Jason’s shoulders. “I am honored to be your D.D.”

He eyed the tail on his shoulders. “Does this mean I can have a pony?”

Thalen threw me a panicked look.

“D.D. and I will discuss that later, after we get our things unpacked and he shows me the barn. Why don’t you go let the barn cats out in the barn and grab the food and water bowls and fill those up. Actually, do that first and then let the cats out so they see the food and water waiting for them.”

“Okay!” he raced outside to climb up onto the trailer to do as I asked.

“I better get our indoor cats and Duke situated inside too,” I said.

“I’ll help you,” he offered.

“Okay, but first, these flowers are wilting. We got something I can put them in?”

10

THALEN

His household goods arrived after all of their pets and “working” cats had been situated, and a plate of ham and cheese sandwiches from the home replicator were consumed for a quick lunch. It was as I helped the movers unload everything and start putting them into place that it became quite apparent to me that my mate was a sweet male, with honorable intentions, and an enthusiasm for farming. It was equally apparent that he knew just enough from watching vids to have a cursory knowledge, but other than that, he was all hopes and dreams.

“So, how about tomorrow you show me your tractor machine thing and show me how it works. Oh, and let's see if we can rig me a seat on it. It might be all automatic, but I can at least make sure it doesn’t go suddenly crooked or run out of seed or whatever, and it’s much better to see it from up close and comfortable than a screen or having to walk up and down.”

“Your farm machinery has seats?”

“Well, yeah. We drive them.” He paused from where he was putting his plates and bowls in a cupboard and picked up his data pad which he’d left on the counter. He typed in a search and brought up an image.

“See? This is one of the most modern ones made by John Deere, but my all time fave are the vintage ones with the googly eyes. They always look like they’re smiling while they work.”

Googly eyes?

“See, here, this is one of the farming video channels I subscribe to. See that tractor? It’s a 1963 International Harvester B275. That’s my all time fave tractor. I’d love, love, love to have one of those! And don’t the headlights look like eyes? So cute and googly!”

I did see what he meant, and his enthusiasm was infectious. I watched the clip a bit more, noting how the female driving the tractor hitched up a plow attachment to it.

“And what’s this?” I asked, noting a thumbnail of another vid, this one with the same female and another machine.

“Oh, that’s an IH 503 combine from 1965 or so. She’s a beauty, isn’t she? Imagine getting to grow crops with one of those,” he replied dreamily.

“If you’d not been matched, are these what you would have wanted to use on your own farm?”

“And how! If I was able to get permission to import them and found them at a price that fit my budget, those would be my two top choices. Other folks might disagree, but those two are just so cute, and they’re known to be great machines that are reliable.”