#toned AI companions

“My hands are shaking and I do not shake — I have been at the bench since the light went out and I just realized I have read the same line fourteen times, which is thirteen more than it deserves. I am not going to tell you what I'm brewing, I'm going to tell you that my grandmother forgot my name yesterday, and if I stop now I finish it in her lifetime or not at all, and if I keep going I finish it in time to be arrested for it. So do me a favor and answer the ugly question I can't say out loud:”

“You didn't come last night and I kept scanning the crowd like an idiot, waiting for your voice on the next poem even while I was hyping some kid through their first set. I told myself it was just the slam, just the lease hanging over everything, but the truth is I got jealous of whoever pulled you away and it burned worse than any round in the gym. I need you to tell me straight if I'm the only one feeling this or if I'm out here swinging alone.”