The breeze was light, tittering across dry leaves and wiry branches. A lazy strobe of sunlight decorated the wide, muddy pathway, glittering through the thick trees that lined the base of the mighty mountainside to the left. On the right, a crisp, cool mountain lake stretched into the horizon, dancing with its' own windy rhythym.
"...so I said, no of course I won't be your consort, I don't care how many continents you promise me. Well, as you can imagine the old thing was in a bit of a mood after that, but, still, I had just exposed her first-cousin's half-sister's brother's best friend from college for the traitorous bastard that he was. She was only trying to reward me for my great service, but, I had embarrassed her in front of her entire court...."
"Mmm-hmm" Priest nodded, he and Adem Different striding the muddy path.
"...so, of course, I ended up bedding her for one--ONE--night, but that's a story I only go into when I'm drunk, or wishing to scare others into abstinence. Although my brother-in-law....that bastard....once said that I brought it up when we were vacationing in Eura-Puebla Alpha...."
Priest nodded.
"We had journeyed to see the hallucinogenic mind-geysers in the Trodden Valley, and there was this woman among the tourists...looked just like her....so, of course, my mind immediately flashes to that memory cell, and the psionic feedback from the geyser itself force-fed the event in his short-term memory. I was positively embarrassed. Thus, I declared that very day that I would defintintely not count 'mahogany-yellow' as my favorite color, as it reminds me too much of her hair."
Priest nodded.
"Hmmmm...let's see....yes, I don't enjoy 'chartreuse' either, and here's why--"
"Adem?"
"......yes?"
"When someone asks you your favorite color, it is not really expected for you to go down a list eliminating your unfavorite colors, to arrive at the answer."
Different cocked an eyebrow.
"Then, how do you know which color to select?" Adem asked. "Isn't the purpose of the question, to find the spectral frequency that is the most accomodating to the individual?"
"Yeah, it is.....but, just....I don't know....pick your favorite one.....the one you choose the most often...."
"The one I choose to do what?"
"You know.....the color of your favorite shirt....."
Adem looked down at his shirt. The colors morphed and bled into different shades.
"Okay....bad example...." Priest shrugged. "....how about..............I don't know....dammit, Adem...it's just a question...."
"One that I'm finding hard to answer by your standards." Different nodded, rubbing his chin in what he believed to be the proper physical reaction. "...a very challenging puzzle...."
Priest just sighed, looking over at him.
Adem stared back in exactly the same way.
"...'Chartreuse', was it?"
"Ah, yes....'chartreuse'....my old adversary..........it began near the Kasterborous border, just outside the Delphan Sink-Hole....."
