"Drunk poetry is the best poetry, as long as nobody else gets to read it," Dane said. He took that last bite and swallowed it. "He does the same thing," he mused, setting his bowl down. Looked at it a moment longer, and then said, very lightly, like it didn't matter, "Though in this case, the new one definitely started as a way to cheer me up. But now he's taking it all seriously."

He wiggled his fingers.