Balloons and Death

Johnny V's house is decorated in pastels and balloons, and every room has a lot of ice cream in it, because Johnny V is obsessed with mourning and he needs something in his life to balance it out.

"What's this?" I asked him this afternoon, when I went to visit him for tea.

( It was a doodad, but I wanted to ask more. )

Before he could answer, we got distracted by something else.