"Discord in a nutshell."
"I thought you were just—" I wave my hand. "Violence and chaos."
"Violence and chaos are the symptoms." He steers us down a side street. "The cause is information. Knowing things. Using what you know to make people act how you want."
"So I'm living in a house of professional liars who manipulate people for fun."
"And turnip-based psychological warfare. Don't forget the turnips."
"I'm trying to."
"You can't. They have names now. They're family."
I choke on a laugh.
Horrifying.
This is all horrifying.
Why is it also a little funny?
We walk in silence for a few steps. The streets are busier now, late morning crowds moving through markets.
"He's really not going to hurt me," I say. Don't know why I say it. Don't know why I need to hear the answer.
Renan's step doesn't falter. "Not on purpose."
"Wow. That's incredibly reassuring. Thank you. I feel so safe now."
"You asked."
"I was hoping for a comforting lie."
"Wrong House for that." He smirks.
"Try Faith. They're great at comforting lies. It's basically their whole thing."
I snort. Fair.
"He's obsessed with you," Renan says, like he's commenting on the weather. "Obsession isn't safe. Isn't stable. You can't stop it. You can only decide how hard you're going to hit the ground."
"That's poetic. Do you write greeting cards in your spare time? 'Congratulations on your inevitable destruction, may your landing be swift.'"
"I'm considering it. There's a gap in the market."
Koshin's hands on my face this morning. The way he mapped my pulse. The shake in his fingers.
"He touched my hair yesterday. Like it was the most precious thing in the world. And then five minutes later he was promising to destroy anyone who looked at me wrong."
"That tracks."
"How is that—how do you live with that?"
Renan's laugh is unexpected. Genuine. "You're asking me? I'm not the one in his bed."
"You're his best friend. His brother, basically. You've lived with him for years it seems."
"Living with him and being the focus of his attention are very different things." Renan's smile has gone crooked. "I've been around long enough that he knows exactly how I tick. No mystery left. You're new. You're a puzzle he hasn't solved yet. That's not the same experience."
