In My Defense

"And I am not the one who wanted to forego granite and use basalt in the flooring of..."

"Black basalt would have looked better!" the prim man interrupted.

I gave up, stood up, and walked over to the most bored guard. "I need food." I said, "I'll be back before they decide anything."

"Sarge?" he asked a weathered, one armed woman.

She sighed, smacked her gums. "They've got two, maybe three months of grievances yet to go." she decided. "Be about it, but waste no time and hurry back."

"And bring back snack pebbles, if you could." the youngest said.

"I gave up my bicep to bring you into this world, child." the sergeant said. She thumped her chest. "We are biology. He is escamology. Like us, but made of fragile animal materials." <1>

The young lad blinked at me. "How do you not collapse under your own weight?" he asked.

"Mostly bones." I said. "I can teach you about it when I get back."