"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying, though you didn't have to be quite so mean about it," Major says, putting on a playful frown for good measure. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that if, given the choice, almost everyone would choose Minor over me as it is, and it's just a fact of life that I'm learning to accept. It's cool. It's not like I've got a damaged ego to contend with or anything. No big deal."

God, this dog is going to kill him. Major's never going to be able to yell at him or reprimand him or be anything but a big puddle of goo around him. It's terrible.

But it's a wonderful problem to have, in the grand scheme.

"Yeah, I do that. I should just learn to keep my mouth shut, probably, but where's the fun in that?"