Compassion looks up. "We don't feel love. Spirits. We don't feel anything. We are. I am, was, am compassion. I care about everyone and everything, not because it deserves it, but because I do. It hurts because I care."

He closes his eyes as a lizard climbs up his back. A small bird flutters over to land on a knee, another two land on his shoulder, one a male who waves luminescent eye spotted plumes.

"Cole loved. Cole loved his family. But he was never in love. It feels... all encompassing. Like jumping off a cliff into a river and landing in the warmest, softest pile of pillows."