fragile roots
So, I got the apartment.  I've put down my deposit.  There's a big crack in the living room wall, and the bathtub looks fossilized.  There's only one data port.  But the back room is lovely, I can even see a tree and a bit of sky, and there's enough room in the kitchen to put a little table and chairs, and have people sit and chat while I cook.

It's scary to think about it.  I've been living independently in the dorm on Ko for ages, but this is different (apart from being thousands of miles from everything I know except Jackal).  I'm not used to being surrounded by strangers.  I don't know everyone on Ko, how could I, but they aren't strangers.

I'm going to finish up my systems eval of the Canal Zone subsidiary today or tomorrow, and then take a couple of days to clean and paint.  Jackal offered to help, but I think I want to do this myself.  It's...I don't know.  It's like a new beginning.  Beginnings are important.  It helps if they can be deliberate.  Cleaning is such a basic ritual, but a good one: a way of saying, This is mine.  And if Jackal's going to have her own life with me in it, then I better have my own life too.