“I’ve been thinking a lot about, like. The multiverse.”

I shoved another bite of cheesesteak in my mouth quickly, trying to make the sound that came out my mouth part of that. I shouldn’t have worried, though. B was looking pensively out across the green where the kids were playing, nodding slowly.

“Oh,” I said, when it became clear nothing else was coming. “Ok.”

“I just,” she let out a sigh, pained. Turned then and looked at me, watery blue eyes full of focus. “I wish we lived in the universe where, like. We are anime characters.”

I did not get the cheesesteak to my mouth fast enough, this time. B laughed too, though, and then sighed dreamily.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, finally, hysteria at the edge of my voice. “That sure is a thing you said.”

She didn’t catch on.

I told Husband literally as soon as was possible. We cackled.

Husband and I have the same sense of humor. This became clear with one of the first stories we exchanged—the thing-we-say-at-parties story. With him, it was that he’d talk briefly to someone and then stop and go, “Wait,” and back up slightly. Look at them consideringly and then ask, “are you an artist?”

Mine starts the same. Instead of ‘wait,’ though, I start with “Hey,” and then a silence. I look at them full on, and then ask, very quietly, “you hold a lot in, don’t you?”

I think we might be mean.

Too much fun to stop, though.

Oh well. There are worse ways to be.