As had become her routine of late, Dema stopped in at home after work to freshen up before going over to Cern's place. She went in the sitting room to visit with Sedna for a bit before she left.
"How was your day, Grandma?"
"Same as always. How was yours?"
"Same as always."
"Lately your life seems to revolve more around your nights with Cern than your days on the job."
"Lately my job with the DEA is mostly routine. My time with Cern has been anything but."
"You are still exploring his shaman talents together?"
"Yes, we are. He's known for years that he's unusually perceptive about people. That's what made him good at civil law. But now he knows his perceptiveness was an aspect of his shaman talent. And it has increased tremendously now that he understands what it is and can focus it better.
"He can almost always resolve the differences between his clients and their adversaries without ever going to court, because he senses what really drives them, and isn't misled by what they might say about it themselves. That was true to a degree before, but he's gotten better at it. And if there does have to be a court appearance, he always seems to know exactly what to say to help the judge resolve things equably."
"That sounds similar to your experience, before and after you found out what you are."
"I told him that."
"What about the torc? How does that play into it?"
"We think it is mostly symbolic. For a while, he would wear it if he had to handle a particularly difficult case. He said it helped him stay focused. But lately, he hasn't needed it for that. He thinks his natural ability is just about fully developed."
"Do you think so too?"
"Pretty much. But he still puts on the torc when I'm with him. And the antlers still appear for me when he does. There's something about wearing it that brings that out, but what or why is still not clear to him."
"So you are trying to help him solve that?"
"To be honest, not really. I don't have much more to go on than he does. We just talk about things in general, and explore some of the deeper aspects of his awareness together."
"There is something special about this relationship you have with him." Sedna was stating a fact, from her own observation.
"I'm comfortable with him. At peace. I don't feel I have to hide anything from him. It's like it was with Ryan in Seattle, but deeper."
"The connection you share is not new."
"Maybe that's it. With Ryan I learned how to share his selkie nature, and we connected on that level. With Cern it feels more like awakening my forest dream, the connection I already had with the forest spirit. Being in the shaman dream with him is like being in the forest, with forest creatures all around us. It's a wonderful experience."
"Well, child, I'm glad you have that."
Dema smiled. "So am I, Grandma, so am I."
