2.30 Freeze Dried Romance

It wasn't a fluke. The ice continued to thaw. White faded from the mountains around Hidden Springs and the green reappeared. It started in the valleys and crept its way up towards the highest peaks.

Nights were less chilly.

And the garden grew back.

It seemed a little strange to the kids... but they got used to it.

"Why is there a cop car always watching your house?"

Reve shrugs. "Beats me."

"The cop beats you?"

"Hey. There's only room in this friend circle for one smart-ass."

Awwww, best friends forever.

"Don't be nervous," Sonia whispers to her sister.

It's Friday, and many of Sonia and Parley's schoolmates have been invited to Colby's to watch them sing.

Reve is among them.




The clumsy little girl has blossomed into a teen with mad skillz.

Thisbe contemplates the lyrics. The song is called "Freeze Dried Romance", and Sonia wrote it herself. It goes surprisingly well with the famous guitar solo from "Death from Alpha", despite its radically different subject matter and mood.

"They're very good, don't you think?" Thisbe fishes for a response.

"They're hot," Reve responds. He's no music critic, but he knows exactly what to say to make Thisbe clam up awkwardly and leave him alone.

"Thanks for coming!" Parley takes the time to say, once the singing is done with.

"Well, you invited me or whatever," Reve responds. "You were fantastic by the way."

"So this was a date, right?"

Parley blinks. "Um... er..."

"No?" Reve blows her a kiss. Complete with red sparkly heart magic.

(No worries, it's just a light trick.)

"H-how'd you do that?"

"Magic."

Cheesy flirting may not work on Sonia, but after a few minutes Parley is giggling and blushing and practically tripping all over herself.

Reve and Parley take things upstairs.

Sonia isn't thrilled about this development.

"Made out for the first time," Reve brags. Newton only grunts in response. Reve frowns. "Yes, I want a medal."

"I didn't say anything," Newton mumbles.

Junpei pretends to hear nothing but the dishes screaming to be cleaned.

Finley spends a lot of time at the gym. She's feared running into Timmothy, naturally, but it hasn't happened before today. Today, her psychic powers tell her he's closeby far too late for her to dash around the corner and escape.

"Stop following me!" he yells.

"I'm not following you," Finley stammers, once she finds her voice, once she decides to respond instead of not respond.

"You follow me everywhere," Timmothy complains. "You're at the laundromat and the grocery store and on the moon. You come into my dreams at night and tell everyone I'm crazy."

Finley looks away, refusing to meet his eyes now. She doesn't want to provoke him. A quick mental scan reveals he doesn't think she's more than a delusion anyway; he's decided she's an inhuman thing sent to torment him. A hunger for violence brews just under the surface of his thoughts. A desire to lash out and end something. He was trained for combat, once. He remembers.

"Leave me alone," he growls, unwilling to give in to those violent compulsions.

Finley says nothing.

It's only after Timmothy slinks upstairs that Jag Alto approaches Finley and asks if she needs any help regarding... the situation.

"I'm fine," she reassures him.

No matter how hard Timmothy tries to focus on other things tonight, thoughts of the family lost to him continue to swim through his mind. He wonders if he'd even recognize his son today.






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 Etc.: Don't worry Timm, the pink hair would probably be a dead giveaway.