and how he was going to turn out just like her .
“It’s awful,” he said after another moment, although the candy itself was starting to grow on him.
“Yes, well, you will be too if your whole life is about being alone.”
Adam regarded him suspiciously, rolling the squishy thing around in his mouth as it disappeared. God, some people chewed those things. The thought boggled him. “You say that, but I don’t see you parading anything hot through the hallowed halls of Candy Heaven.”
Darrin’s smile was perfectly self-contained. “ I could be entertaining an entire brothel of sweet young things for all you know. I find that the more people know about my personal life, the less people are apt to listen when I am giving them perfectly wonderful advice. Now keep sucking your lemon, Adam, and I’m going to go into the back room and do paperwork.”
“You don’t do paperwork. You watch Carolyn do paperwork.”
“Yes, well, that will be fun too.”
And with that Darrin disappeared, leaving Adam in charge of the counter, feeling strangely bereft now that the candy had gone.
“He’s right, you know,” Joni said from the chocolate counter. “Finn’s a great guy. I mean, at worst you get to spend an evening out. What’s the harm?”
“I got nothing to offer him,” Adam muttered. “What kind of candy was that? Can I get a few?”
Joni sighed, moved to the appropriate barrel, and took out a handful, which she thrust at him. “He seems to think otherwise. God knows why, because right now you are irritating the fuck out of me . But then, I’m not all that crazy about things with peen.”
Adam couldn’t decide whether to glare at her or thank her. He popped a candy in his mouth, closed his eyes and squinched up his face, and decided on option B.
When he could see again, he said, “Well, thank you—and I promise to keep my peen to myself.”
She nodded in her particular “no bullshit” way, and together they turned toward the customers who had made their way up to the counters.
Bad Habits of Sweets
F INN TOOK him out to an animated Christmas movie, which delighted Adam to no end. He’d forgotten why he’d gone to animation school, the particular blend of art and storytelling that he could lose himself in forever.
But that didn’t stop him from breaking down the component parts of the animation and explaining them to Finn as they left the building.
“See, the water? That’s stop-motion animation, so the action looks really sped up, but it’s not, you know, computer G or pen and ink. So they had to do something mechanical for that, and I think it was like, two layers of painted glass and flickering lights, and between that and the skipping every tenth frame, it looked like real water, right?”
Finn nodded, smiling at him, a little bemused. Adam realized he’d been talking from the time they left their seats to the time they got back to the minivan. Finn probably didn’t know Adam knew that many words. “That’s amazing that you know that. How far did you get through your program?”
“Only a year. I had two more to go and—” He was tired of whining about his fucking grant. “I’d sort of been counting on that money.”
“Yeah. That’s really unfair. Have you thought of other ways to get through school?”
“Through that one? No. It’s pretty expensive, even though they have one here. I could probably get a BA at the state college, but I might need to retake some of my general education. It doesn’t always count when you transfer, and they usually don’t have degrees in animation, so it would have to be art or art history or something.”
“What would a special school get you that a state college wouldn’t?”
Adam shrugged, trying not to let this hurt. “You know, internships, connections. I mean, I could get the degree in art and even be really good, but generating that whole network thing you need to get your dream job…?” He shook his head and summoned
“It’s awful,” he said after another moment, although the candy itself was starting to grow on him.
“Yes, well, you will be too if your whole life is about being alone.”
Adam regarded him suspiciously, rolling the squishy thing around in his mouth as it disappeared. God, some people chewed those things. The thought boggled him. “You say that, but I don’t see you parading anything hot through the hallowed halls of Candy Heaven.”
Darrin’s smile was perfectly self-contained. “ I could be entertaining an entire brothel of sweet young things for all you know. I find that the more people know about my personal life, the less people are apt to listen when I am giving them perfectly wonderful advice. Now keep sucking your lemon, Adam, and I’m going to go into the back room and do paperwork.”
“You don’t do paperwork. You watch Carolyn do paperwork.”
“Yes, well, that will be fun too.”
And with that Darrin disappeared, leaving Adam in charge of the counter, feeling strangely bereft now that the candy had gone.
“He’s right, you know,” Joni said from the chocolate counter. “Finn’s a great guy. I mean, at worst you get to spend an evening out. What’s the harm?”
“I got nothing to offer him,” Adam muttered. “What kind of candy was that? Can I get a few?”
Joni sighed, moved to the appropriate barrel, and took out a handful, which she thrust at him. “He seems to think otherwise. God knows why, because right now you are irritating the fuck out of me . But then, I’m not all that crazy about things with peen.”
Adam couldn’t decide whether to glare at her or thank her. He popped a candy in his mouth, closed his eyes and squinched up his face, and decided on option B.
When he could see again, he said, “Well, thank you—and I promise to keep my peen to myself.”
She nodded in her particular “no bullshit” way, and together they turned toward the customers who had made their way up to the counters.
Bad Habits of Sweets
F INN TOOK him out to an animated Christmas movie, which delighted Adam to no end. He’d forgotten why he’d gone to animation school, the particular blend of art and storytelling that he could lose himself in forever.
But that didn’t stop him from breaking down the component parts of the animation and explaining them to Finn as they left the building.
“See, the water? That’s stop-motion animation, so the action looks really sped up, but it’s not, you know, computer G or pen and ink. So they had to do something mechanical for that, and I think it was like, two layers of painted glass and flickering lights, and between that and the skipping every tenth frame, it looked like real water, right?”
Finn nodded, smiling at him, a little bemused. Adam realized he’d been talking from the time they left their seats to the time they got back to the minivan. Finn probably didn’t know Adam knew that many words. “That’s amazing that you know that. How far did you get through your program?”
“Only a year. I had two more to go and—” He was tired of whining about his fucking grant. “I’d sort of been counting on that money.”
“Yeah. That’s really unfair. Have you thought of other ways to get through school?”
“Through that one? No. It’s pretty expensive, even though they have one here. I could probably get a BA at the state college, but I might need to retake some of my general education. It doesn’t always count when you transfer, and they usually don’t have degrees in animation, so it would have to be art or art history or something.”
“What would a special school get you that a state college wouldn’t?”
Adam shrugged, trying not to let this hurt. “You know, internships, connections. I mean, I could get the degree in art and even be really good, but generating that whole network thing you need to get your dream job…?” He shook his head and summoned
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