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Andi and Robin become fast friends. Andi picks up a secondhand drum set for a steal on Craigslist and wheedles Renée into paying for lessons, and soon drums merrily away to Robin's guitaring and singing.
Trouble makes dessert for the Swans once or twice a week, demonstrating both the stability of his peculiar motives and his diverse baking abilities. Souffles do not transport well, but all sorts of cakes, pies, muffins, tarts, brownies, and cookies do just fine on the bus trip from an undisclosed location to the Swan household. He misses a lot of school without explanation.
The second Monday of October, Andi (followed shortly by Bella) plops down by Robin at lunch and says, "Hi! How was your weekend?"
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"I have no idea what it would be like for something to hurt in a good way."
aeskhyne
He shrugs.
"It hurts but it's not bad that it hurts. I mean, pain really gets your attention, you know? It's intense. I like intense."
"It hurts but it's not bad that it hurts. I mean, pain really gets your attention, you know? It's intense. I like intense."
aeskhyne
"Sure. But there's damage and there's damage. Like, it hurts when I hug you but that doesn't mean I'm making anything worse, it just means I'm already pretty busted up."
"It's not a perfect signal of damage. It's not like anyone designed us."
"What would be - perfect damage signals or someone having badly designed humans?"
aeskhyne
"Somebody having designed humans. I'd hate it if pain didn't work the way it does, that would be terrible."
"A lot of other people would be much happier if pain didn't work how it does."
"If you got a magic button to press that would make it work as a neutral damage report for everybody, would you refrain from pressing it so you could keep it how you like it?"
aeskhyne
"I mean - okay, what's a food you don't like very much? Something you don't hate but you could happily just never eat it again, it's not awful but it's not any good either?"
aeskhyne
"Okay," says Trouble. "Now imagine you could do the pain thing, but it also makes all the food in the world taste like turnips forever. To everybody. Everything you ever liked about food, gone. It's turnips from here on out. And everybody else who liked a food that wasn't turnips, they'd be fucked too. You'd think twice, wouldn't you?"
"I'd do it if the number of people who enjoyed non-turnip food was very small."
aeskhyne
"Do you know the numbers? 'Cause let me tell you, I am not even close to the only masochist in the world. Sure, okay, the way pain works makes more people unhappy than happy on balance, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be losing anything if you just got rid of it. Like, I'd just about die. I would miss it a lot."