"Ocean! Ocean! Ocean!" Tomo escaped the confinement of the vehicle and sprinted toward the water, clumsily stripping off articles of clothing as she did so, nearly falling on her face several times.
"I wish she'd stop wearing her swimsuit under her clothes. It's so childish." Yomi shook her head and Chiyo patted her shoulder.
"It... looks like you got your wish. Maybe more than one of them." The prodigy pointed toward the ocean where a completely naked Tomo was only feet from the water. Yomi almost fainted. She blushed as the genius raised an eyebrow at her. She went to the bags and dug out Tomo's swimsuit and ran after her friend.
"Tomo you moron this is a public beach! You can't just go skinny dipping any time you want!"
"You can't go skinny dipping at all! Hahahaha!" Yomi ground her teeth as she skidded to a stop several yards away from the water.
"Come get your swimsuit."
Tomo looked at her in confusion.
"But... You're still over there. I'll have to get out of the water. I'm naked, Yomi!" Tomo objected. The taller girl grinned mischievously.
"It didn't seem to be bothering you a moment ago. Where did this sudden modesty come from?" The bespectacled girl asked. Tomo blushed and sank until only her eyes and hair were visible, glaring at her friend. "Well after the fat joke, I'm not coming any closer, so either you wait for the tide to come in, or you get your bare butt out of the water and come here."
"Fine! But I will remember this." Tomo slithered closer, staying underwater as long as she could, then leaping out and sprinting the last few yards to her friend and snatching her swimsuit, pulling it on in record time, her face red to the tips of her ears.
"Don't worry, you're not alone." Nyamo patted Yomi on the shoulder, holding a skimpy bikini in her hands as Yukari glared at her from the water. Yomi laughed at the ridiculousness of it. She and Tomo were so much like their old teachers that it was scary sometimes.
"Watermelon! Watermelon! Watermelon!" Tomo exited the water and ran at the tanned athlete carrying the fruit in question. Kagura quickly sat the melon on the sand and prepared to be tackled. She was not disappointed.
"Watch out Tomo! You could have broken the watermelon!" Kagura scolded her energetic friend as she struggled to get up. Yomi stepped up and lifted the wildcat around the middle and carried her back toward the ocean.
"Come on you. If you go tackling people I'll have to strangle you." Yomi warned. Tomo went limp in her arms, sighing in defeat.
"Fine. You sure you weren't just jealous of me being all over Kagura?"
Yomi dropped her friend on the spot and walked away, leaving the wildcat confused but triumphant. Chiyo had opened the door to the summer house and the other three had followed her in.
"Wow Chiyo, I didn't know you had a summer house!" Three sets of eyes turned to the Osakan girl.
"Osaka... You've been here three times before..." Chiyo said, slightly worried. Osaka blinked at the prodigy.
"Oh yeah. Thanks for inviting me again!"
"Alright Maya, have a look around, but don't go making a mess, alright?" Sakaki set the animal down gently. He looked around and sniffed his surroundings, then walked over to Kaorin and put his front paws on her shin.
"Mrow!" Kaorin giggled and bent over, picking him up and holding him close to her chest.
"Hey there Maya! You are so cute, you know that?" Kaorin touched her nose to Maya's. Sakaki shivered as she watched the two. She was thrilled that she'd found someone to take care of Maya, and the combined cuteness of the kitten and the girl were almost giving her fits.
"Oh, Osaka, could you help me make beds?" Chiyo asked from the stairs. Osaka nodded and followed the shorter girl.
Kaorin sat on the bottom stair and let the cat curl up happily in her lap. Sakaki sat down next to her to adore her pet. The steps were narrow enough that she had to sit with her side pressed against the smaller girl's.
"So... Where are you going for college?" Kaorin asked. When Sakaki answered, the smaller girl stared in awe. "R-really? Me too! I didn't know you had an interest in animal medicine too! That is so cool! We'll actually be going to school together again!"
"Yeah, that is pretty cool. I thought you were interested in astronomy though?"
"Oh, yeah, but all the profitable careers related to it involved a lot of math that I wasn't interested in. Being a veterinarian was my second choice, and I think I made a good decision!"
"It will be nice to know someone there. Maybe we'll have some classes together." Sakaki said. Kaorin closed her eyes and imagined another four to six years with Sakaki.
"Yeah... That would be amazing..." Maya meowed for attention from the two girls, walking from lap to lap and rubbing against them in turn.
"Oh Maya, do you want to go down to the beach now?" Another meow. "Kaorin, i'm going to go change. Could you keep an eye on him?"
"Mhm! No problem!" As her tall friend walked up the stairs, Kaorin gently lifted the cat to eye level. "So... Maya, do you think I have a chance?"
"Mrow." Kaorin smiled.
"Well I hope you're right." She sat him down on her knees and continued petting him. "I must be crazy, talking to a cat. Chihiro will never let me hear the end of it if she finds out." Soon, three girls came down the stairs. Kaorin's eyes fixed on Sakaki. She checked to make sure she wasn't drooling. Her idol was wearing a bikini the same stormy gray as her eyes, with thin black trim to accent her curves.
"You look... Wow..." Kaorin stared, open mouthed. Chiyo giggled quietly as Osaka wandered past without seeming to notice anyone. Kaorin closed her mouth, took a breath, and assembled a complete sentence. Quite a feat, given the situation. "Sakaki, you look absolutely beautiful in that swimsuit!"
"Th-thank you... I brought two new ones." Kaorin almost melted, thinking about Sakaki in yet another revealing outfit. "Do you have a towel to sit on?"
"Oh no! I forgot to bring one!"
"You can share mine. It's really big. We can both stretch out on it. If you don't mind. Maya will like it that way." Kaorin nodded rapidly and grinned.
"That sounds wonderful to me! Come on Maya, lets go get your paws wet!" Kaorin followed Osaka out the front door, as Sakaki and Chiyo followed after.
A few minutes later, Chiyo had joined her friends in the water while Sakaki and Kaorin had stretched out side by side on a large beach towel with the small cat nestled comfortably between them. Kaorin closed her eyes as she sighed in contentment. She felt this trip could already be called an unqualified success.
"Hey Kaorin, what are your living arrangements for college?" The tall girl looked over at her friend, idly petting Maya.
"Oh, Chihiro and I are splitting rent on a medium apartment. Neither of us could afford a small apartment on our own, so this was the next best thing. What about you?"
"I'm going for a small apartment. I'm going to be working part time as a vet's assistant to help pay for it, and my parents have agreed to help as well. You're very lucky to have a friend close enough to share an apartment with. I wish I did."
"Really? But you're friends with everyone here! And isn't living on your own better?" Kaorin asked. The long haired girl shook her head.
"Tomo and Yomi are already rooming together, Kagura is going several cities away, Chiyo is going to America, and Osaka is going to stay at home since her college is very close. And I will get lonely, even with Maya. I'd never had friends before high school..." Sakaki said. Kaorin rolled over on her side to look at her friend directly.
"That can't be true. You're beautiful, and smart, and kind, and athletic! You're amazing! You should have been wading through potential friends your whole life!"
Sakaki blushed, and upon replaying her statements over again in her head, so did Kaorin.
"Thank you... But I was always too shy to make friends. And since I'm so big, people where afraid to come and make friends with me. Chiyo was the first one to actually bring me into a group." Sakaki looked out at the water where their friends were enjoying themselves.
"Well you have friends now." Kaorin smiled at her crush and then rolled back onto her back. From beside her, she heard a small laugh.
"Kaorin, you really brighten my day. You're really easy to talk to. I'm glad you came on this trip." Sakaki stretched and closed her eyes as well.
Maya looked at the two content girls on either side of him and decided to go investigate the noise coming from the people in the water. Before he could reach the source of the commotion, a gentle wave rushed up the sand and forced him into a retreat. He remained amused for hours playing tag with the water's edge.
"Alright everyone! It's getting late, lets go inside!" Chiyo called to her friends. Everyone but Tomo and Yuakri had already retreated to the sand and dried off by that time, but those two would have spent the night splashing around if no one called them in.
The girls took turns running through the shower, washing the salt and sand from their bodies before changing into their pajamas. While Kaorin and Sakaki were cleaning Maya's paws, the shorter girl's phone rang.
"Hello? Oh hey Chihiro. What's going on?" Kaorin's face fell slowly. "But... what am I supposed to do? I can't afford an apartment on my own! Grrr... I know, I know... Thanks for telling me as soon as possible. See you later. Bye." She hung up and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Sakaki was worried about her friend.
"Chihiro just got a late acceptance letter from her preferred school, but it is quite a distance from mine, so we won't be able to share an apartment. I'll have to find someone else or I don't know what I'll do..." Kaorin groaned. Sakaki watched her friend turn from cheerful to depressed and knew she had to do something.
"We're going to the same school, I'll share an apartment with you. It's the least I can do since you're taking care of Maya for me." Sakaki offered. Kaorin was stunned. She felt dizzy with excitement.
"Do... do you really mean that? Would you really do that for me?" Kaorin asked. Sakaki nodded and smiled.
"I'd prefer it actually. I don't like being alone. Does your apartment allow cats as well?" The taller girl asked. Kaorin nodded.
"Maya can stay, but I am letting my cats stay with my parents. My mother would really miss them."
"So it will be the three of us. I'm really looking forward to it." Sakaki was imagining a whole year living with her cat and a real friend. It was heaven.
After all of the girls and the cat were clean, they gathered in the main room in a circle. The table had been moved and they were each sitting on a pillow or a pile of dirty clothes.
"Hey Chiyo, what happened to the furniture?" Nyamo asked the host.
"Oh, my parents are doing a little remodeling, but it isn't finished yet. That reminds me, I have something to tell you all that you might not like... There are only six beds, so some of you will have to share." Eight blank stares and a small meow.
"It's only for a few nights, and they are pretty big beds. By next summer, there will be three rooms with two sets of bunk beds each, and three rooms with singe beds, but right now, we only have six single beds. Any volunteers for bed sharing?" Chiyo looked at her guests nervously.
She had planned a great many things to try and drive certain people closer together, but this was unforeseen. Her parents hadn't told her the remodeling wasn't finished. Maybe they didn't know she was bringing more than five friends? Whatever the reason, she needed to manipulate the situation to her will.
"Nyamo and I can share. We did several times in college when one of us would get too drunk to make it to the top bunk." Yukari said. Nyamo gave her a glare. "Alright, when I got too drunk. Happy?"
"Yomi is the only one who could put up with Tomo for that long, so I don't think they should get a choice!" Kagura pointed to the two, who were currently trying to strange each other.
"What?! No way! Tomo should get her own bed! I'd kill her!" Yomi glared at the athlete.
"Hmmm... Does any one have any sort of reason they need to sleep alone?" Chiyo asked, reluctant to let the two in question split so easily.
"I sleep walk some times." Osaka informed the group. Yukari eyed the girl suspiciously and inched away.
"Just so no one else gets woken up with a knife, maybe she should sleep alone." Chiyo nodded at her old English teachers reasoning.
"I think Chiyo should get her own bed since she's hosting us." Kaorin said politely. Sakaki smiled at her.
"That is true. I would sleep with Kaorin, since she doesn't mind Maya. If that is alright with you?" Kaorin nodded vigorously, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"Alright, so there is only one more free bed, and Kagura, Yomi, and Tomo are all contestants. How about a race?" Chiyo was met with two grins and a raised eyebrow.
"I accept!" Kagura and Tomo yelled together. Yomi just shook her head.
"I forfeit. Just please try to win this time, Tomo." Yomi said hopelessly. The wildcat laughed and jumped to her feet.
"Of course I'll win! I always win!" Tomo said proudly. Kagura did a few stretches and stood before her competitor.
"I've never seen you win anything." The swimmer said. Tomo stuck out her tongue.
"You are just looking at the competitions wrong. I won second place with Sakaki and she is way faster than you." The wildcat proclaimed. Kagura almost started foaming at the mouth.
"That was a two person race! And it doesn't matter that she is faster than me, because you aren't!" The two took off out the door. A few minutes later, Kagura returned, looked around and then threw both of her hand in the air. "I won!"
Moments later, Tomo came in, panting heavily and objected.
"No, I won!"
Kagura looked at her as if she were insane.
"I came in first, I get the bed. I have witnesses!" Kagura demanded. Yomi reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah, but I got second, so I won Yomi!" Tomo grinned. The bespectacled girl sighed in defeat.
"Fine, but I will tie you to the bed posts if you fidget." The taller girl threatened her friend. Tomo grinned and tackled her.
"Alright, now that that is settled, lets play a game!" Chiyo cheered.
"What game?" Yomi asked, trying to sit up with the wildcat still hanging off of her.
"How about truth or dare?" Yukari suggested. Chiyo hid her grin. Perfect.
"Okay, but we should make sure we all understand the rules first." Nyamo said with concern.
"Right, first rule, if you do two truths in a row, you have to do a dare next. Second rule, obey the first rule." Yukari laughed at her excuse for a joke.
"How about we add, nothing beyond pg-13 since Chiyo is here?" Nyamo proposed. She received nods from everyone except a grumbling Yukari.
"Hey Yukari, could you help me make some kool aid? It's an American drink I tried and it is really good." Chiyo asked. The woman nodded.
"Sure, we used to have that at parties all the time in college. It was really good. Are you going to mix it a cup at a time, or make a whole bowl full?"
"Oh I bet it would be easier in a bowl! They're on the top shelf, can you get them for me?"
The two went into the kitchen leaving the others to think about the questions and dares they might give or receive. Nyamo was suspicious of how helpful her friend was being, but knew the prodigy would keep her in line.
In the kitchen, the two were throwing colored mix, sugar, water, and ice together in a large bowl and mixing it with a wooden spoon. Chiyo went to grab some cups and turned back just in time to catch Yukari's hand before she splashed a large shot of alcohol into the mix. The teacher stared at the young girl as if she'd bee caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
To her surprise, Chiyo dipped one cup into the mix, sat it to the side, and then let go of the older woman's hand. Yukari stared at her in shock.
"Not much, please?" The prodigy mouthed. Still in shock, Yukari nodded and only put in half of what she had intended. The pigtailed girl gave her a mischievous grin and nodded. The two brought the bowl and a stack of cups out to the others. Yukari sat down next to her friend and took a drink out of the bottle before setting it behind her bag by the wall.
"Only one drink? I'm impressed." Nyamo commented.
"I only want to be a little tipsy for this. I fell like it'll be memorable." Yukari said idly. Nyamo felt a small amount of concern at that, but shrugged it off.
"So, how do we choose who goes?" Kagura asked.
"You usually spin a bottle, and either go in a circle, or the last person that got pointed to goes. It's up to you though. Some people just go when they have an idea, but it can lead to only a few people going." Yukari supplied. Nyamo nodded at her friends words. It turns out Yukari knew a thing or two after all, even if it was only about party games.
"Are you two playing too?" Chiyo asked. Nyamo looked at her friend and blushed. Yukari noticed Chiyo's tiny shake before matching the physical education teacher and shaking her head.
"Nah, we'll just watch and be the judge if something is out of line."
Nyamo nodded yet again, her mind trapped back in her college days and a particularly memorable game of truth or dare she'd been involved in.
"Okay, so lets go. Kagura won the race, so she can go first." Chiyo produced an empty bottle from a large bag by her side and sat it in the middle of the group of girls. Kagura grabbed it and spun it. It stopped pointing at Sakaki.
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"How many stuffed animals do you own?" Kagura asked. The taller girl blushed but began counting on her fingers, muttering to herself.
"Twenty seven." The others stared at her in amazement.
"Woah, your room has got to be the cutest place in the history of forever!" Tomo was in awe. She'd only ever owned two stuffed animals, and they'd both gone missing over the course of her lifetime of messy room.
"Alright Sakaki, your turn." Kagura slid the bottle across to her. Sakaki spun it and it landed on Tomo.
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare!" Sakaki thought for a moment.
"I dare you to stand on your head in the corner until it is your turn again." Everyone laughed, including Tomo, as she went over and propped herself up in the corner.
"Could someone spin the bottle for me?" The wildcat asked. Yomi gave the empty container a good spin, landing it one Chiyo. "Truth or dare?!"
"Uh... Truth. No, Dare! No, truth! Definitely truth." She shifted uncomfortably.
"What do your parents do for a living?"
Chiyo was surprised by the innocent question from the rarely innocent girl. She was also surprised by the large number of curious stares.
"My father is a neurosurgeon and my mother is a research scientist in the medical field." Several nods of understanding at where the girl got her money and her brain. Sakaki was lost in thoughts of the strange orange cat holding a scalpel. Chiyo spun the bottle and it landed on Kaorin. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare!" Kaorin knew she should take her dare with the kind and innocent Chiyo, rather than wait for someone like Kagura or Tomo.
The small prodigy gave the unsuspecting girl her second mischievous grin of the evening and pulled something else from her bag. She slid it across to Kaorin. "Please go to the bathroom and put these on, and wear them for the rest of this trip. Including when you sleep, but not when you shower." Kaorin looked at the small bag as if it might contain scorpions, but picked it up and did as commanded.
A few minutes later, she returned, with her face red to the point of being comical. She was wearing a pair of very realistic cat ears that blended perfectly into her hair. And a matching tail dangled behind her, stitched to a pair of panties she was now wearing over her own pair. Sakaki stared in adoration at her new roommate.
"So cute..." She murmured. No one heard her, but Chiyo saw her staring and grinned. Just as planned. Kaorin sat down and spun the bottle. It landed on Osaka.
"Truth or dare, Osaka?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to put your hair in pigtails, just like Chiyo's." Kaorin said, waving her hands in demonstration. Osaka looked horrified.
"But... But what if they take over my brain?! What will I do then?"
"You'll be fine Osaka. Chiyo's brain works better than all of ours put together. Maybe we all need pigtails." Kagura pointed out. Osaka swallowed and complied.
"How's that?"
"They're moving! They're moving!" Kaorin pointed and shouted, fixing a look of terror on her face. Osaka jumped to her feet and began tugging at her hair as the cat-girl fell over laughing.
"Wow Kaorin I didn't know you could be so devious!" Tomo laughed right along with her. Kaorin pulled herself together and, with Sakaki's help, calmed the panicked girl.
"Alright Osaka, your turn." Chiyo said, slightly confused by what had just happened.
Osaka spun the bottle, still trying to eye her new hair style warily. It landed on Kagura.
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth!"
"Do you know what my name is?" Osaka asked. Kagura laughed.
"What kind of a silly question is that? You're Osaka!" Everyone who had been in the girls class their first year stared at Kagura.
"Her name isn't actually Osaka, Kagura. She's from Osaka, and that is just what Tomo called her." Yomi patted the surprised athlete on the shoulder.
"What? Really? Osaka I never knew you had another name! What is it?!" Kagura asked. A sly grin spread across the osakan girl's face.
"Have one of the others tell you."
Kagura looked around at her friends as they slowly looked away.
"None of you know it either? You're awful!"
"Hey, at least we knew she had another name!" Tomo snapped back. "What is your name, Osaka?"
"It is Ayumu Kasuga." Osaka sighed. Kagura bounced in excitement.
"That's so cool! If I was your sister, my name would be Kagura Kasuga! That's almost the same!"
"Oh, yeah I guess it is." Osaka soon became lost in thought, considering the similarity of their names, or maybe sea slugs. Kagura spun the bottle and it landed on Kaorin again.
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth!" Kaorin was horrified about what the girl might ask. Undoubtedly something embarrassing.
"Have you ever taken advantage of Kimura's weird obsession with you in any way? Like a picture for an A, or maybe holding hands to get out of detention?" Kagura asked. Kaorin stared at the athlete.
"No, I have never been that desperate for a grade or for my after school freedom. My turn." She was mentally thrilled and appalled by the question. On one hand, it was easy and not embarrassing to answer, but on the other, the fact that she would ask that made her wonder how these girls looked at her.
She spun the bottle and it landed on Sakaki. She asked for her decision and then took a long drink from her kool aid, hoping to buy some time to think. She felt strangely confident suddenly. The consequences of her actions seemed less important now than the actions themselves. The action being, take advantage of the situation.
"Dare." Sakaki said clearly and waited. She was staring at the cute cat girl intently, taking in every detail, from the way she fidgeted, to the way the ears moved with her, as if showing her emotions.
"I think I need some whiskers to go with my outfit. I dare you to come over here, take this marker, and draw me some." Everyone stared at the normally shy girl in amazement. No one, including herself, could believe what she had just said. Sakaki swallowed and tried to steady her breathing. She didn't want to scare away her roommate and cat sitter by being creepy.
She stood up and walked across to the smaller girl, kneeling down face to face with her and taking the marker. She carefully traced thin delicate lines arching from Kaorin's nose out over her cheeks, careful not to smudge them while they were wet, and even going so far as to blow gently on the lines.
"Wow, nice job Sakaki, she looks just like a cute little cat girl from an anime!" Tomo commented loudly from her place upside down in the corner. Sakaki smiled at her handiwork and then spun the bottle without moving away from Kaorin, instead sitting next to her. It pointed to Chiyo.
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare." Chiyo hoped for mercy from the girl she respected so much.
"I dare you to remove your pig tails and put your hair in a pony tail for the rest of the night." Sakaki said. Chiyo blinked then did as she was commanded. As soon as it was done, combined with her more mature outfit, she was beginning to look like she was on her way to college. It was amazing the difference that a few small changes could make in the small girl.
"Chiyo, that really is a good look for you." Yomi complemented the kind young host. Chiyo spun the bottle and it landed on Yomi who immediately blushed, looking as if she was trying to butter the girl up for her own benefit.
"Truth or dare, Yomi?"
"Dare." Yomi shifted nervously. Chiyo smiled again. Her friends were beginning to wonder if there was a larger game afoot that was bringing out this mischievous side of their normally innocent friend.
"May I ask how bad your eye sight is without your glasses first?"
"Oh it is freakin' terrible! I lost them once and she couldn't even make it out of her room to strangle me! It was hilarious! I bet there are still dents in her walls from where she ran into them so much!" Tomo squealed gleefully from the corner. Yomi glared at her, but didn't deny it. Chiyo smiled kindly.
"I dare you to please turn your glasses over to me for the rest of the night and allow Tomo to be your sole source of navigation." Chiyo giggled. Yomi almost threw something at the prodigy. That was just downright cruel. However, not one to back down from a challenge, especially from her one academic rival, she complied, passing her glasses around the group to the host.
"Oh Chiyo, I will get you for this one." Yomi glared very threateningly two feet to Chiyo's left. Kagura slid the bottle to Yomi's hand. The blind girl spun it and waited for an update on its status.
"Oh looks like revenge hits fast tonight! It pointed right back at Chiyo, Yomi!" Kagura cheered and the prodigy shrank in her spot. Yomi almost knocked her cup over, and drained it so it wouldn't make a mess, then she turned er gaze in the vague direction of the genius.
"Truth or dare?"
"T-truth..."
"Last Friday I saw you checking a very interesting looking book out at the library. Would you like to tell us what it was?"
Chiyo turned very pale and then blushed very bright.
"Uh..."
"Yes?" Yomi smiled triumphantly. It was a little mean of her to embarrass the girl like this, but she was in a very vindictive mood, looking forward to the trip up the stairs with her hyper friend as her eyes.
Chiyo took a breath, steadied herself, and bowed her head in defeat. "It was a comprehensive guide to sex and sexual references in popular culture. It was just so I would understand what was going on around me in college..."
"Chiyo! Do you still have it out? I bet that would beat Nyamo's story time from two trips ago!" The teacher in question tried to vanish into her seat as Tomo shouted across the room yet again.
"No, I returned it before I came her with you all." Chiyo was surprised by the lack of judgmental looks she received. She smiled shyly and spun the bottle again. It landed on Tomo. "Okay, I guess you can come back here and sit right side up again. Truth or dare?"
"Dare of course!" Tomo rolled gracefully to her feet and then stumbled to the ring of her friends, collapsing into her spot. Her cup was long empty and she'd just spent quite a while on her head, so she was more than a little affected.
Chiyo reached into her bag yet again and pulled out a roll of thick, wide, dark tape and tossed it to the girl.
"Just to make it a little more interesting with you helping Yomi, I dare you to tape your mouth firmly shut until Yomi removes it. You'll have to write down your dares and questions. Yomi, I hope this means no hard feelings?" Chiyo asked. The blind girl laughed and nodded. She got to decide when Tomo got to speak next? Well that was going to be a while.
Tomo laughed one last time, then proceeded to apply layer upon layer of long strips to her mouth, sealing her voice away completely. She then spun the bottle and it landed on Osaka.
Before she could try to mime out her next dare or question, Nyamo stood up and stretched.
"I'm exhausted, and it is getting pretty late. I think we should call it a night and pick up tomorrow." Several drowsy nods greeted the sensible woman's words.
