Where Nerves End

points for that.” I laughed. “You were robbed.”
“I was! Seriously.” As he kept playing, oblivious to the way his forearms rippled with the rapid movements of his thumbs, or how oblivious I wasn’t to that effect, he said, “My kid would seriously have a fit if he knew I played this when I dont let him.”
“Not until hes old enough to beat you?”
“Oh, fuck that. Never mind. Hes never playing it.”
“Good call,” I said. “You know, my cousin let her kid play this until she found out about someof the sexual content.”
“Oh for Christs sake.” Michael gave an exasperated sigh. “If youre going to shelter your kid, at least be consistent about it.”
“No kidding. I couldnt believe she didnt mind the violence and crime, but the minute theres anything suggestive…”
“Sounds like something my ex-mother-inlaw would do,” he muttered.
“Is that right?”
Rolling his eyes, he nodded. “My folks are conservative, but Dainas?” Michael whistled, shaking his head. “Fuckin-A. I mean, they still freak out that Im going to raise my son as a Buddhist who shuns modern medicine.”
“Are you?”
“I wasnt planning to, but if itll piss off Dainas mom, Im tempted.”
I laughed. “Sometimes its worth going to those lengths to piss off an inlaw.”
“Been there?” He glanced at me again.
“Well, not technically an in-law,” I said. “But I had an ex- boyfriend whose mother hated my guts. So I kind of milked it and antagonized her a bit.”
He snickered. “Im sure your ex loved that.”
“He stopped trying to convince us to try to get along,” I said with a shrug.
Michael laughed. “Shit, my ex-wife still tries to convince her mom and me to get along. Not gonna happen, Im afraid.”
“Cant blame her for trying, right?”
“I suppose not.” He paused the game and picked up a mug off the end table.
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said. “You dont drink tea while playing Grand Theft Auto. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Michael choked on the tea in question, but managed to recover before he spit any of it out. “Very funny,” he muttered, and set the mug aside.“I didnt realize there were drink requirements with this game.”
“Well, the two dont exactly go together, you know?” I gestured with my beer bottle. “GTAs a beer game, not a”—I wrinkled my nose—“ tea game.”
“Would it make a difference if I said there was weed in the tea?”
I blinked. “You…what?”
He chuckled. “Kidding.” He picked up his controller again, but then set it aside. As he leaned forward, I realized that he had four needles sticking out of his ankle and foot.
“Bringing your work home with you?”
“More like bringing home a damned sore ankle,” he muttered, furrowing his brow as he messed with the needles.
“Its not…weird? Working on yourself?” I asked. “I mean, I guess its no worse than someone giving themselves injections, but…”
“You know what they feel like,” he said. “Its actually a little easier on myself sometimes because I know exactly where it hurts. And it isnt like I havent practiced on myself before. Hell, when I was in school, I practiced on anyone I could get my hands on.”
Lucky bastards. I wasnt sure if I envied them the free acupuncture or the “hands on” part. On second thought, if he was still learning at that point, maybe Id have passed on the needles. “You know, it took a lot of arm-twisting to let you put needles in me in the first place. I dont think I could handle being a practice pincushion.”
“My ex-wife felt the same way, believe me.” He tweaked one of the needles in his foot. “She changed her tune when she found out acupuncture helps morning sickness.”
“Does it?”
Nodding, he leaned back against the couch. He gingerly flexed his ankle a few times, then let it rest on the ottoman. “It helps a lot, and she had it pretty bad. I think she spent almost her entire pregnancy with at least a couple of needles in her skin.” He picked up his game controller. “When she was pregnant with her daughter, she kept joking about having me move in so I could treat her on demand.” He grimaced. “Lee didnt find that too funny.”
“Big shock.” I brought my beer up to my lips, but paused. “So whateverpossessed you to become an acupuncturist, anyway? Im pretty sure I never saw that career listed on anything in my guidance counselors office.”
Michael glanced up, the corner of his mouth raised in a faint smirk. “And you saw listings for