“No, Joanie.” He shook his head and wrenched his attention back to reality. “But first, is whatever I’m doing really a mind-block, and is it really holding?”
“Yes—to both—curse it! And ‘Joanie’, eh? You did get in. How did it go?”
“Not so good. Barely a touch. It didn’t spread after we got it started. Just one flash and it went out.”
“Hm . . . m . . . m. That’s funny. . . . Not the way it worked with me at all. However, I don’t see that it makes any difference whether you get it by drips and driblets or all at once, just so you get the full ability eventually. What was it you picked up the first time, Storm?”
“That’s one thing you’ll never know, if I have to hold this block forever.”
“Oh.” Joan blushed, vividly. “I know what it was, then, I think. But don’t you see. . . ?”
“No, I don’t see,” Cloud interrupted. “All I see is that it’s worse than being a Peeping Tom in a girls’ dormitory. I don’t like it. I don’t like any part of it.”
“You wouldn’t, of course—at first. Nevertheless, Storm, you and I have got to work together, whether either of us likes what happens or not. So let’s get at it. Bring it out and look at it—let’s see if it’s so bad, really. It was just that I was afraid maybe I was going to fall in love with you and get burned to a crisp around the edges, wasn’t it?”
“That was part of it. You were wrong in two things, though. No matter how much I loved Jo—and I really did love her, you know. . . .”
“I know, Storm.” Her voice was very gentle. “Everybody knows you did. Not only did—you still do.”