"Do you have a phone or anything?"

"Nope.  The house technically has a wireline but there's nothing attached to it."

"Would you like a phone?"

"Solid pass but thanks."

"Anytime."

"Mmhm.  I assume you'll come knock if you end up wanting to buy the place and otherwise I have no reason to need a way to contact you.  And if you blow up my campground or look like you're going to I'll come visit again."

"I don't intend to but swing by any time."

"I surely will.  Ĝis la revido."  She turns and parts.

"I really like being able to talk to people out loud again," Felicity comments once Netra's gone.  "I didn't miss it while I was dead but maybe now I retroactively do."

"Estis bone renkonti vin!" Cam calls after the departing campground owner. "What's so great about talking aloud?" he asks Felicity.

"Maybe it's just having more reasons to talk to living people at all?  I don't think she or anyone like her would have bothered to have a conversation with me as a star."

"She doesn't seem very sociable. Did you get many people talking to you?"

"She really doesn't; I like her a lot.  It was mostly other star clouds; all of my living spouses have remarried except one and even he doesn't visit more than a few times a year anymore."

"He might be confused next time he trips, should you call him?"

"I'm really nervous to!  Probably I'll work up the courage at some point."

"I support you and him in whatever weird arrangement you manage to cook up together."

"I can't really see myself getting romantically involved with him again."

"Child custody?" he wonders.

"The relevant piece of me didn't have any."

"What about the others of you?"

"Some, all grown up now.  I don't think I would have been Nudge'd into this position if I had very many attachments."

"Makes sense. What is Nudge's deal anyway."

"Oh, all the summer solqs become psychic as stars, as cosmic balance for what I think you called their birthday curse.  But they lose it as soon as they merge with anyone else, and develop total amnesia covering the span between then and when they died.  So I don't really know much about what it's like even though I was ten of them."

"...that doesn't sound like very good birthday curse compensation."

"Balance and compensation are not necessarily the same thing, I would say."