Slowly, as the sun rose in the sky, Russell decided that the morning would not be complete until he had eaten, so he got up carefully, so as not to disturb Charlie, and he tiptoed over to the carrot vendor. As quietly as he could, he pressed the button on the vendor and nibbled the carrot delivered. He crept back over to where Charlie was sleeping, and lay down, on his front, facing Charlie, watching as his best friend slept.

Charlie was a little older than Russell was; in fact, Charlie was only a little younger than Russell’s mom was; but Quientia was an early breeder as she had, although she hated to admit it, some Essex norns in her ancestry. Russell, now nearly one, was only six months younger than Charlie was; and yet Charlie exhibited the symptoms of being a mature adult.

As Russell lay there, watching Charlie’s chest rise and fall, he slowly realised that he too was changing, becoming surer of himself, and surer of his feelings. Russell knew that he was supposed to feel attracted to other norns, monogamy being rare and frowned upon in Albia, to have a desire to kiss them, to caress them, to enjoy their company. And yet no one in Albia fulfilled Russell like Charlie did.

Charlie was fun to be with, was a good laugh when times were good, and a good comfort when times were bad. When Quientia was pregnant with Russell’s younger sister Rona, Charlie would help to relieve her pain by fetching her feverfew from the stone bridge, and Morning Glory to help her stay awake when she was too tired to go on. When the egg had finally been laid, it was Charlie who had stayed with it, for two days and two nights, until one morning, it had hatched. Quientia, quite recovered from her ordeal, had thanked Charlie, but had then taken Rona away and Charlie had not seen her since. "Never mind" thought Charlie, as everyone treated Russell’s friend this way.

Gently, the sun filtered through the palm leaves and onto Charlie’s face. The small creature turned over, and Russell watched as Charlie’s face slowly screwed up in an attempt to keep the light of morning at bay. As Russell watched, Charlie slowly awoke, and gazed back at him. For a moment, everything was perfect, Russell gazed into Charlie’s eyes, Charlie gazed back into his; but whereas Charlie was simply groggy with sleep, Russell was in love. "Charlie can never know," thought Russell, as he caught himself gazing at Charlie now fully awake, and with that, the two friends went to the carrot vendor to get some breakfast...