Kira struggled to make sense of what he meant now.

"What was he talking about again?" She asked herself before asking him. "Remember what?"

Dave's response to that initially was his face softening, as if he was savoring a private, twisted memory. Then there came a slow, affectionate smile that spread across his lips as he raised his hand from her arm, and reached up to gently caress her cheek.

"My sweet," he murmured.

Kira instinctively turned her face sharply away from his touch in disgust, ...