Rob tried to put some papers over it first, then stuffed it in a drawer. “It’s fine, Aaron just brought that picture here. There’s no way Merritt wants dirtbags like me to see his mate’s face anyway, so if anybody asks, I did him a favor.” He leaned against the desk casually and nodded hello to me. “Hey, I’m Rob. Amateur mage and do-gooder.”
"Uh, I’m Max."
"What’s your story, Max?" He looked me over, then possibly looked inside me? “No magic. You a shifter? You a cop?”
"Uh, no, I don’t know. I came here with Lysander."
He grinned, his tongue poking against his cheek. "Ah, you guys are banging?"
"Rob!" hissed a scandalized voice from outside the room.
"Man, I swear Aaron has special hearing.” Rob cleared his throat, seeming to realize his volume. “Or I just have no inside voice."
Since he seemed all over the place I hoped something else would catch his attention instead of my personal life. Instead he dropped down in the chair next to mine. “Tell me all the dirty details.” He even lowered his voice so we could continue our conversation in peace.
"We aren’t, there’s no details. It’s, uh, complicated."
I didn’t know him well enough to share details, dirty or otherwise. Complicated summed it up anyway.
Calling my doubts and fears valid still irritated me a tad but Aaron made some sense with his latest advice. Being so new at freedom and life outside the basement meant that so many developments happening all at once overwhelmed me, even if they were good developments. Maybe I needed time or a sign or something to happen before I felt ready for that next step.
"Do you like Agent Foxy and he likes you?” Rob guessed the answer to both was yes even without a response from me. “Then what’s so complicated?”
I fidgeted in my seat, playing with my hands in my lap.
When I managed to look up he watched me with a strange expression, stiller and almost serious like he had some sense in there somewhere. "Look, dude, wanna know a secret?”
"How much is it gonna cost me?”
"What?”
"I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Lysander told me to say that if you offered me anything."
"Smart.” He shook his head. “This one’s free. Ready?” He put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye while imparting his great wisdom. “Terrible shit happens.”
I rolled my eyes. I already knew that.
“It happens all the time,” Rob continued. “Some shit happens to you, some shit you cause. Some of it you deserve and some of it youreally don’t.”His expression turned serious and far away. What was he thinking about? But he shrugged it off a moment later. “There ain’t no stopping any of this shit, so don’t try."
"Oh. That sucks."
"No, that’s freedom, baby. It means that whatever you think is so complicated probably isn’t. All anybody can do is seize the good moments, throw themselves into them when they appear and wear them out. Embrace the fun parts and leave the bad behind. It’ll always catch you anyway, but you can enjoy yourself until it does."
"Is that approach healthy?" I wondered.
“That’s how I do things,” Rob said. “So it’s not healthyat all.”He thought for a moment. “Okay, I’ve got another idea. This one will work, guaranteed."
"Guaranteed?"
"It’s advice from a nun. She’s only a step or two away from god. You can’t get much closer than that, right?"
"A nun?"
"Not the point. She once told me ‘everything in moderation,includingmoderation.’ So fine, do the healthy stuff, do the right thing, but don’t do ittoo much.You need a little unhealthy in your life, and you really need a little of what you want the most. Because otherwise what the hell’s the point of any of this?"
Aaron opened the door. “Okay Rob, let’s go prepare.”
Rob got up to follow even as he complained. "Prepare? You laughed at me when I asked if this informant business paid, but it’s starting to feel like work. People getpaidfor work, Aaron."
