...bright like a fantastically annoying firefly. Was it a firefly? I couldn't see any wings. I took a step back. It floated forward. I thought: I am … - Idlewild

And love, with a cursive capital 'L,' is merely sleight of hand, doled out by genetic edict in order to keep DNA flowing. It's all genetics. And beyond that, it's all just zeros and ones. But friendship, with an unpretentious lowercase 'f,' is real and right and valuable.

'Tell me who I am.'
'Halloween,' she said.
I'd been rooting against it, but when the word came, it was almost a relief...Hell, I thought. A rose by any other name.
'And who is that?'
'You are my Lord Halloween, Prince of the Marshes, King of Kadath, High Sovereign of the Orange and Black.'

I felt like taking on the world. I felt more in control than I'd ever been.
My partner in this endeavor: the psychotic who just broke my nose.