There's a synergy that develops when Napalm and the Cherub and I all hang out together. It's a really relaxing but energized thing, made up of each of our collective energies, plus the energies that each pair of us creates in interaction. Cherub's longtime friendship with Napalm has a whole different set of nuances, of course, than my longtime relationship with Napalm, and both of these differ remarkably from my highly charged interaction with the Cherub. Sort of like a family with three siblings, we are contantly re-aligning ourselves, two to team up on one, only we aren't really at conflict, it's just the thrust and parry of conversation and affection.

For instance, Napalm asks today what we should get for lunch. Cherub says something like, "I could [sushi] possibly go [sushi] for some fish maybe [sushi]."

I say approximately, "Well, you [sushi] know I can [sushi] find something I like [sushi] to eat just about [sushi] anywhere."

Now, Napalm does not like sushi. Furthermore, he does not like Japanese food in general, cooked or uncooked. Few sushi places go all the way to offer hamburgers for the poor suffering drag-alongs that must invariably wind up within their doors, so Napalm resists the sushi cry whenever it arises, and with good reason.

So we start looking for some other place to eat. Meanwhile, I am playing my ever-raging game of Punch Buggy, which Napalm sucks at. Probably he only sucks at it because he is usually driving and needs to keep an eye out for the crazy fucks that far too frequently come diving out of parking lots and no-turn median gaps trying to take us out in a fiery blaze, whereas I am a passenger and my primary job, helping keep an eye out for said fucks, is a lot easier since I am not actually DRIVING the car. So I punch him for a yellow punch buggy that just came flying right past his left ear, whereupon he looks at me with affectionate mock annoyance and says, "Poke Miata white, no pokebacks," or some such, poking me in the arm.

Scandalized, I say, "Ok, that's it. No concessions for the cheater. Sushi it is."

And yet Napalm and I gang up on the Cherub too. I could make a list of the various issues and who aligns with whom, but that would get dull quick. It's fun, it's very fun, to be in this dynamic. It's fun to spend time this way. 

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