"Deal," he said very seriously, lightly scraping his nail over a ridge of rougher skin, learning the creases that made up Gabe as if they were a road map. "It's more performance art. I'm usually not the creative force. I'm...good at being a presence, or an inspiration, but the actual act of creation has always escaped me. I keep coming back to it, though. It's like I want to connect through it, but I'm lacking something vital."