[Setting off fireworks. He remembers, despite his fury, Ernesto. He remembers when they were young, seeing the other boy's delight. He remembers the two of them nearly setting themselves on fire after stealing one for themselves and trying to light it.

It's something else to hear of Coco, and to hear of these wild adventures at once. She's met the same wild sorts that he did, it seems. Running into magic, into beings that shouldn't be but simply were.]

Sounds like she grew into a knack for trouble. Wonder where she got that from. [He laughs.] My friend, where I last came from, they used to say I sucked at lying too. I'll have it known, I've gotten better.

[He thinks he's probably supposed to say something about Cliff and Coco rooming together. It's what fathers are supposed to do. He can't muster it.

We didn't have that before, Cliff says. We. He looks Cliff over and he starts to see something there that he didn't catch on to. He looks down again, smiling at the ground as he draws another breath of smoke.]

You'd be surprised, the chances people are willing to take on those who mean so much to them. It's hard sometimes, to find someone you really trust or care for like that. When you do, it's even harder to think of ever losing it.