The Simulacrum ~Chapter 57~ Part 1

"Oh great, and now it's raining too…" I mumbled under my breath as I held out my hand and felt another small droplet hit my palm. It was barely a drizzle, but considering how dark the clouds were before the sun went down, I had a feeling it was going to get worse, so I hastened my steps on the sidewalk.

I could've certainly Phased over to my destination if the weather truly turned for the worse, but for now, I decided to walk. Mainly because I was already feeling the side-effects of manipulating the magical substratum setting in, and I was afraid that taking the shortcut might make them worse, but also because I've eaten one gyro too many in the company of Mountain Girl, and moving like this helped my digestion. It wasn't like I was late from anywhere anyway, and the open air never hurt anyone. Well, except those silly aliens from War of the Words, but that's beside the point.

It had been just about a quarter of an hour since I finally managed to separate myself from my temporary hunting partner, which was unusually tireso this ti around, as she was quite insistent about inviting to another hunting trip, this ti to the Congo to find sothing called a 'mokele-mbembe'. I naturally declined her offers just as insistently, and she gave up after her second super-sized gyros. As for the rest of our ti in the restaurant, we only talked about small, inconsequential things, like the weather, or the food, or how to clean blood stains out of fabrics. In the end, we said our farewells on amicable terms, and only then did I realize that I completely forgot to unambiguously tell her about how I was already in a relationship and that she should look for greener pastures.

Oh well. I'd do it next ti, I figured. Or better yet, I'll avoid her until she leaves the island, so there won't be a next ti. That would probably work too, and it would be definitely less awkward. Hurray for procrastination!

While I was considering all that, I continued walking until I unceremoniously arrived back at the spot where I left the body of the disabled Chira. The place was still a ss, with the fallen tree and the bloodstains and everything, but the creature was nowhere to be found. Good. Brang and co. were really efficient as usual.

"[Did the disposal of the lifeless at proceed without any unforeseen circumstances?]"

It might have looked like I was only growling to myself, but after a long second the dirt next to was kicked up by the impact of a heavy body. When I glanced over, I was t with the cloaked, bowing figure of Karukk. I had no idea why he was sitting on a tree branch until I called out to him, but it wasn't exactly important in the grand sche of things. I waited for him to finish saluting, but when he kept his head down, I prompted him by lightly clearing my throat and uttering a subtle "[So?]"

"[Oh, excuse , my lord,]" he sputtered in a hurry as he straightened his back. "[Yes, sir. We've taken the carcass of the Chira to the base, as per your instructions.]"

"[Good man.]"

"[Thank you, my lord. Your kind words are wasted on .]"

The Faun kept beaming at even under the scrutiny of my most skeptical look, and in the end I was forced to stifle a groan and turn in place to face him.

"... Okay, ti out," I said as I switched to normal speech. "What's the deal?"

"[What could you possibly an?]"

Karukk's ears swiveled around in the way I've long since learned to associate with embarrassnt. It was an amusing little tic all the Fauns shared, but seeing it in this context only made even more confused.

"I'm talking about how polite and courteous you're acting right now. It's creeping out a little."

"[My apologies, my lord. It was not my intention to make you uneasy.]" At this point he finally noticed how I was frowning at him, so he hastily added, "[I-I an… Seeing your battle with the Chira finally opened my eyes. I apologize that it took so long.]"

"… Co again?"

"[The way you've slain the Chira with a single strike; it opened my eyes and I realized that the general was right about you all along.] Karukk paused for a long mont, then he lowered his head and added, in a much quieter voice, "[Please forgive the disrespectful ways I've addressed you in the past.]

This was yet another one of those head-scratching monts, where it took a long ti to figure out just what the heck was going on, but then I finally managed to put together a working hypothesis.

It was easy to forget about it, due to how friendly and goofy they acted lately, but the Fauns were sothing of a magically engineered super-soldier race with a warrior culture ethos built into them. They've been following my lead mostly due to Brang vouching for and because I was acknowledged as Snowy's brother (and regent, for so reason that was still entirely unclear to ). If my hunch was right, seeing actually 'defeat' a Chira might've made Karukk re-evaluate , and then the whole 'honor-bound-retainer' thing kicked in, and so he started creeping out. Quite elentary, and annoying, my dear Watson.

Now, there was only one question remaining: how do I nip this in the bud before it spreads to the others?

"For the record, I didn't actually 'slay' the Chira," I noted as I pointedly faced the blood-stained walkway again.

"[I'm sorry, my lord, but don't understand.]"

I glanced back at him and stated, "I an that I couldn't slay the Chira because it was not really alive to begin with. It was just an empty body puppeteered by magic."

"[Are you certain, my lord? I don't think that should be possible.]"

"Well, it is," I grumbled as my brows furrowed once again. "I simply turned off the magic, and the Chira with it. It wasn't nearly as impressive as it might've looked like from the outside."

Karukk stayed silent for a long while, and for a mont I almost thought I got through to him, but then he shook his head.

"[So you've accurately grasped the weakness of the creature and neutralized it without suffering any injuries in the process. I fail to see how that is any less impressive, my lord.]"

"Oh, co on. Please don't twist things like that."

"[I'm not twisting anything, my lord,]" he answered, accompanied by a genuine smile. "[If anything, your modesty makes admire you even more.]"

I sent the friendly Faun a flat look, but he was entirely serious, so in the end I let out a sigh and asked, "So, for the record, does that an that you fully acknowledge right now?"

"[Yes, my lord.]"

"So if I gave you an order right now, you would follow it?"

"[Certainly, my lord.]" He responded without hesitation.

"Without any question?" Karukk gave a determined nod, so I firmly told him, "In that case, I order you to stop being polite with . Oh, and also, stop tagging 'my lord' at the end of your sentences. It's annoying."

"[But…]"

Whatever protests he might have had, he imdiately swallowed them back after noticing my glare.

"[If that is you wish, then…]" I lowered my brows even further at his words, so he hastily corrected himself. "[I an, sure, my…. um... boss?]"

I kept staring daggers at him for just a little longer, but at last I eased it up and comnted, "I give that a passing grade." He was entirely too relieved by my words, so I shook my head and kept the conversation rolling by asking, "When I said that the Chira was controlled by magic, you said it was impossible. Why do you think so?"

The Faun was seemingly taken aback by my sudden question, and it took him a fairly long ti to formulate an answer.

"[Chira are very resistant to the mystic arts.]" That was sothing I already knew, so I gestured for him to elaborate. "[As far as I know, trying to forcefully wrest control away from one's master would be impossible even for a Lord of the Abyss.]"

"What if the thing was already dead, and a complex enchantnt was operating the body?"

There was another long beat, and then Karukk told , in an unsure tone, "[I'm sorry boss, but I'm not an expert when it cos to Chiras or mystic arts. I have no idea.]"

"Don't worry. I already have a theory about what's going on, I was just curious if you could give another clue." While we talked, the weather was getting even worse, so I ultimately told him, "I think I should get going soon. Make sure the Chira arrives at the secret base in one piece. I'll head over later to examine it. Until then, keep an eye on it."

Instead of answering, Karukk only gave a quick salute, and then he imdiately dashed away. He probably found the whole discussion about as awkward as I did, so I didn't bla him. As for the Chira, I wasn't really worried about it getting up any ti soon the sa way I wasn't worried that a car with its ignition cables cut would start up on its own. I also made sure to disable any tracking or surveillance magic I found inside its magical operation system, so I wasn't worried about soone following the Fauns back to the base either, but taking another look at the enchantnt inside it couldn't hurt anyone. Well, except my head, but that was unavoidable.

That said, the drizzle was getting thicker by the minute, so I hastily buttoned up my coat and left the scene of the battle while trying my best to ignore my throbbing head. Because I had to concentrate on that, I walked slower than usual, and it took a solid twenty minutes to get ho. It was already dark outside, and the weather went from 'the air is a little wet' to 'it's going to start pouring down at any mont so hard that even Noah would be freaked out'. Because of this, and since I could see the light in the living room from the outside, I opened my front door without even bothering with the keys.

"I'm ho," I announced my arrival by reflex, only to freeze in my tracks because of the rumbling noise of multiple people rushing towards . I glanced in the direction of the sound, and I was t with the bewildered faces of the entire gang staring at from the other side of the door leading into the living room, all of them looking as if they just saw a ghost. After a long beat, I closed the door behind and uttered a suprely confused "What?"

That single word seed to have drained all the tension out of their air, and my friends let out a collective sigh of relief at my expense, followed by Angie slapping Josh on the shoulder and declaring, "You owe five Jen now!"

"We didn't actually bet!" my friend objected, only to be literally swept aside as a blonde missile sailed past him, with its targeting reticule firmly set on .

My otherwise well-honed girl-catching reflexes may have gotten a little rusty due to the rain, as the princess's charge completely blindsided .

"You see? I told you he would be all right!" my girlfriend declared as she glomped , and then followed it up by a ribcage-creaking hug that pushed all the air right out of my lungs.

"Elly, I just ca in from the rain," I tried to warn her, but she completely ignored and continued to bury her face into my chest with extra vigor.

"I knew you didn't explode!"

"What? Explode? What exactly is-" 'going on?', I wanted to ask, but I swallowed the end of the sentence down as I noticed Judy also coming my way.

Her approach was less bombastic than the princess's, but her expression, which was even harder to read than usual, imdiately put on edge.

"Um… hi, Dormouse? How's it going?"

"Hush, Chief," my deadpan girlfriend chided while maintaining her inscrutable expression. "I'm currently contemplating whether I should hug you because you're all right, or kick you because you made us worry."

"... Normally I would prefer the forr, but as I was just saying—"

I got exactly that far before my dear assistant ca to a conclusion and she stepped forth to embrace by the waist. Well, so much for my unheeded warning about my coat being drenched to the point I felt like I was wearing a small lake. Oh well, I tried. Let's look on the bright side of things; at least she didn't kick … though considering her track record, I doubt it would've been more than a tickle anyway.

While my girlfriends indulged themselves in holding onto as if they were afraid I'd run away, I turned my attention towards the rest of our group still clustered around the doorway leading into my living room. On a cursory glance, they appeared fine enough. They were still wearing their school uniforms, with only a few small scrapes here and there they probably deed too minor to bother Angie about. Speaking of our resident Celestial, she was gazing at us with affectionate eyes, but with a smile that told that if she had a bowl of popcorn, she'd be chomping down on it like she was in the cinema.

Aside from her, there was a slightly annoyed Josh shaking his head at the sight (I would've bet my left kidney that he was jealous of my current situation, like the self-awareness deficient nincompoop he was), a considerably more annoyed class rep (she was even doing her nacing thing with her glasses), and my relieved sister, whose expression told she also wanted to co over and hug , but considered the situation too crowded already. Note to self: give her a suitably brotherly head pat once I was free, for being such a considerate little sister.

Once I completed my observations, it was ti to address the elephant in the room.

"For the record, I still don't understand what's going on. Could you please tell why you guys are so worked up right now?"

"We're not 'worked up', we're just relieved because we thought you were dead."

Ammy's answer was surprising enough, but the way the rest of my friends nodded along with her words only made more apprehensive.

"Why would I be...?" I began, only to stop and then change my original question into, "You know what? How about we discuss this once you let sit down first? I'm wet, tired, and my head hurts."

"Sure," Josh stepped back and gestured for to co into my own house, but before I could take the first step, Judy also put so distance between us and began to deftly unbutton my coat. Once she realized what she was doing Elly imdiately let go as well and stood behind to help out of my outerwear. I was thankful for their attentiveness, but the mont my wet coat was off, my dear assistant began to pat down from head to toe. She completely disregarded my wryest of looks, and once she touched every PG-13 nook and cranny of my body, she stepped back and declared, "He's uninjured."

Elly and Snowy let out a relieved breath in unison, but I ignored them, and instead I deftly slipped by my girlfriends, kicked off my shoes, and entered the living room without any further incidents. I walked over to my usual comfy chair and unceremoniously plopped down onto it. The rest of the group followed my example, though not by literally sitting on my chair. That would've been just plain weird.

"It's a little narrow here..." Elly stated on my left as she tried her best to sit on my armrest.

"It can't be helped," Judy added on my right, almost losing her balance and falling into my lap in the process.

I've spoken too soon, haven't I? Well, at least the rest of the group was slightly more reasonable, as they picked the couch instead. It wasn't designed for four people, so it was a little crowded over there, but they didn't seem to mind it too much.

Once my girlfriends finished their balancing act and everyone settled down, I took a deep breath and decided on a blunt approach.

"Okay, so as far as I can gather, you guys thought I exploded or sothing. Care to explain what you an by that?"

"Precisely what it sounds like," Ammy huffed while crossing her arms.

"And I'm asking you to please elaborate a little on that already. I still have no idea what you are talking about."

The peanut gallery shared a look between each other, and at the end of the day, it was Josh who proverbially stepped forth.

"Before the battle with Doctor Robatto, he claid that you were also with us. He called you out." He paused for a mont, so I gestured for him to proceed, as so far I haven't heard anything new. "We thought he was bluffing, but then the woman with him pointed her hand at a building and the whole street corner exploded with a 'KABOOM!'"

"Personally I think it was more of a 'KRAKADOOM!'" Angie chid in, only to be summarily ignored.

"Oh, right. That happened," I noted with a belated realization. "But I told you I would be off Chira hunting, so why did you make such a fuss about it?"

"We didn't at the ti," Ammy cut in with a frown, "But then after the battle, we found your spear at the scene."

"Oh, I get it now! Because it was there, you thought I was also at the scene and got vaporized!"

"Don't smile while you say that," Judy chided while simultaneously pinching my shoulder.

"Right!" my other girlfriend seconded as she pointed a nostalgic accusatory finger at my nose. "We were really scared when we found it in pieces between the rubble, you know!"

"What? It's broken?" I clicked my tongue and whispered, "Damn, it was a perfectly good spear. I didn't even get to properly try it out yet..."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but could we stay on topic?" Ammy interjected again, her fingers already playing with the fra of her glasses. "Were you really in the Restricted Space with us?"

"No, of course not," I replied with the utmost sincerity. I an, I wasn't lying, as I only dropped by for a mont, so statistically speaking, I really wasn't. She was still giving a critical glare, so I took a deep breath and began to explain myself.

"I had one of the Faun act as a lookout in the area. Labcoat Guy thinks that I can use illusions, so when they detected soone there with Snowy's Sigil hiding them, they thought it was ."

"And why was he holding your spear?" ca the next logical question from the class rep.

"Due to a long string of inexplicable coincidences," I vaguely told her with a toothy grin, much to her frustration.

"Is he all right?" Snowy inquired in a low voice while Ammy was busy silently glaring at , so I sent her a considerably more natural smile and nodded.

"Yeah, Vurrok's fine. Don't worry."

My sister let out a relieved breath, but before she could add anything else to the conversation, Ammy cut in with the words, "And how exactly do you know all that?" I sent her a small smirk in return, telling her to figure it out on her own, and then a second later I could see the proverbial light bulb light up over her head. "Oh, right. That was a silly question."

I wanted to tell her that it indeed was, using my most mysterious and inscrutable voice, but I was beaten to the punch by Angie suddenly raising a hand high. I turned my attention to her, but she kept trying to raise it even higher. I figured she was waiting for to give her the green light, which I did with a small gesture, earning an impish grin in return.

"Question: does that an that you went Chira-hunting without a weapon?"

I let out a small groan and responded in a flat voice.

"Yes, Angie. It ans I did just that."

"And? How did it go?" the Celestial girl pressed on with sparkling eyes, and while the others were less blatant about it, they also seed just as curious.

"Fairly well. The Chira showed up on schedule, and it went down with only minor collateral damage. A tree got cut down by accident, but hopefully it won't make the news."

"Collateral damage?" Josh asked while demonstrating his mastery of single-eyebrow-raise-fu. "Didn't you fight it in a Restricted Space?"

"Things kind of developed too quickly for that…" I answered just a touch sheepishly, yet it was enough to satisfy his curiosity.

"What about the hunter woman?" Judy inquired as she clumsily entwined her arm around mine, probably to stabilize herself on the armrest. When Elly realized this was an option, she hurriedly followed suit as well, so I waited for them to finish fidgeting before I gave them my answer.

"Well, there's nothing to hunt here anymore, so with so luck, she should be leaving soon to the Congo."

"Good. That ans no more moonlit dates with her, I presu."

"They weren't dates to begin with, but yes, you are correct."

My ever so slightly exasperated tone fell on deaf ears, as Judy and Elly glanced at each other with a knowing look. I had a feeling I was left out of so kind of inside joke, but before I could ask, my attention was drawn to my dour best friend crossing his arms on the couch.

"So at least you managed to achieve your goals, huh? I suppose that ans this day wasn't a complete bust after all."

Josh's grumbles made raise a confused brow, but then a realization suddenly hit like a runaway bullet train. The gang was a little down even after they learned that I was fine (except for Angie, but she was Angie, so it ant nothing), but I wrote that off as just combat fatigue. However, if I had interpreted his word's right…

"Please don't tell Labcoat Guy got away."

The frustrated groan escaping Josh's mouth was answer enough, but I still waited for him to spell it out.

"He did." There was a long beat of downcast silence after his declaration, and only then did he explain what exactly happened. "Pascal and I got him cornered for most of the battle."

I already knew that, but I figured it would've been rude (and suspicious) to tell them that, so I waited for Josh to continue. Unexpectedly enough, it was Elly who chid in instead.

"I took care of the big one and the small ones."

Based on the combination of the proud grin and the expectant eyes, I figured she was fishing for complints, so I didn't let her wait for long.

"That sounds amazing. You did well."

Her proud smile imdiately turned into a smug one (it was a small yet very profound difference) and she snuggled even closer to . Well, at least no one could say she was hard to please.

"I took care of the anchor point as planned," Ammy cut in with a tired voice, and when I faced her, the Celestial girl by her side also spoke up.

"I was there too! And Lili also helped when that Galatea woman showed up! We flew all around the buildings and stuff!"

"I… I did my best," Snowy concurred, so I had no choice but to praise them too.

"So it was a team effort. Good job."

"So, as I was saying…" This ti it was Josh who raised his voice to get the reins of the conversation back in his hands, and once everyone cald down, he continued with, "We had him on the ropes for a while. We climbed to the top of this nearby building, and then…"

Josh continued to explain what I've already seen with my own ethereal eyes, and a few small details notwithstanding, he did a pretty good job. The only thing that made raise a brow was when he described the top half of the office building crumbling down as 'We also had so minor collateral damage', but I didn't call him out on it.

"… and then, when it looked like we finally got him for good, he fused with the big thing."

"The Biochanical Gigant," Judy noted on the side.

"Yes, that," Josh acknowledged with a nod.

"Please elaborate," I requested, as this was the part where I wasn't present anymore.

"Right. What happened was that he flew into the air and then he rged into the big thing's chest."

"Wait, that's not right," Elly cut in with a frown. "He didn't 'rge', the chest part opened up and he just flew in."

"Yes, but the inside was filled with this transparent goo or what have you," Josh countered.

"I thought that was just a force field and the inside was empty," my sister added her five cents, and Josh imdiately snapped his head to her.

"Was it?"

"I think so too," Angie further agreed. "At least that's what it looked like from the air."

"Well, maybe, but…"

"Can we get to the important bits?" I asked in a low voice, and they all seed to agree.

"You're right. Either way, Doctor Robatto entered into the thing—" Josh began to explain; only to get cut off by my assistant pointedly clearing her throat, so he quickly corrected himself. "The Gigant. He flew into the Gigant, and then it transford."

"… I'm afraid to ask, but what exactly did it transform into?"

"It was weird!" Angie cut in again as she began to wildly gesticulate while trying to illustrate her description. "It grew even bigger, and it sohow grew a lot of these blocky tal plates all around!"

"Those looked kind of like Robatto's armor, didn't they?" Josh spoke up again, and her childhood friend readily nodded.

"They sure did! And then the arms grew together and even those got a lot of blocky plating!"

"It looked like if a giant was wearing a costu made of cardboard boxes," Ammy noted, only to get literally booed by the enthusiastic Celestial.

"Boo! It didn't look like that at all! It was much cooler!"

"To be fair, it looked and moved like it was too bulky," my sister supplentary the description next, much to Angie's shock and horror.

"You too, Lili!? I thought we agreed that it looked really neat!"

"I-It looked neat, but… Maybe not 'really' neat?" Snowy floundered for a mont, so I decided it was a good mont to cut in myself.

"So the Biochanical Whatchamacallit turned into a blocky tal monster and it was dium level neat. Got it. What happened after that?"

"After that, the robot woman with the big breasts ca flying back." That comnt made his entire entourage send him so pointed glances, so he imdiately went on the defensive and added, "What? That's what she is! She is a robot, a woman, and she has big—"

"So, before you dig yourself even deeper," I interrupted with a sigh, "What did she do?"

"She flew to the top of the blocky Gigant," Snowy answered in a hurry, trying her best to move the conversation away from the previous tangent.

"You know how those things don't have heads?" ca the entirely rhetorical question from Angie, and I promptly nodded in the affirmative. "So, she flew to where the head was supposed to be, and then a bunch of tal plates grew around her, and then there was suddenly a head! A robot head, with a big helt! With a huge gem in the middle, and horns!"

"Wait, hold on for a mont," I requested as sothing finally dawned on . A huge, blocky robot, with bulky limbs and an inexplicable horned helt. That… sounded entirely too familiar. "I know this might sound dumb, but did any of you take a picture?"

The whole group shook their heads, but then Snowy weakly raised her hand and proposed, "I could try drawing it for you."

"You could?"

"Didn't you know?" Josh gave an odd look and explained, "Lili's drawing skills are amazing. Her sketches alone are ten tis better than the best thing I can make."

"First ti I've heard about it," I admitted without any reservations and sent a questioning look at my sister in turn.

"I-I'm not that amazing. I just… had a lot of practice because of my Sigils."

"Co on Lili, don't sell yourself short!" Angie encouraged her even further, and I couldn't help but notice the way she was addressing her. Calling her 'Lili' once could be a fluke, twice a mistake, but three tis in a row?

Anyhow, while I pondered whether or not this was significant, the childhood friend duo successfully convinced my sister and she left the room to get a pencil and so paper. My girlfriends also let go of and headed for the kitchen (which they already treated as their own territory) to get so drinks, while Ammy left for the toilet, and the childhood friends began bickering about whether the color sche of the big robot was la or not.

Using this impromptu break in the conversation, I decided to collect myself a little. First and foremost, I closed my eyes as I leaned back in my chair and began to gently massage my temples. The headache from before was still getting worse, but for the mont it was still manageable. It wasn't like I could do much about it, so I moved on to the next point on the agenda: Labcoat Guy.

Considering that I just got the opportunity handed to on a silver platter, I decided to capitalize on it by using Far Sight on him, knowing full well that doing so in my current state would only make the pounding in my head even worse. I took a deep breath, and a mont later the darkness of my closed eyelids disappeared as I found myself staring at the familiar ceiling of the commons room inside Labcoat Guy's secret headquarters.

"… and we have to do it now!"

If I could, I would've blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst near , and so I quickly reoriented my field of view and found the three people I was expecting. The escapee of the day was in the process of power-pacing up and down in front of the large aquarium, while Peabody and the, at the mont casually dressed, fembot were both sitting on the large beanbag chairs nearby.

"Please calm down, Friedrich. You shouldn't jump to conclusions like that," the portly nurse attempted to chide his nephew, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"I'm perfectly calm!" he exclaid from to top of his lungs before coming to a halt and stomping his feet. "I tell you, we were deceived by the Arch-mage! They set a trap for us!"

"I still think it was a great big misunderstanding…" Peabody whispered, prompting Labcoat Guy to shake his head.

"Impossible! Think about it, uncle! Leonard Dunning knew about things only the Arch-mage could've told him about, and Pascal was there too! They must have conspired to entrap us!"

"The probability of that is less than twenty percent," the android spoke up, only to be dismissed right away.

"I don't want to hear any more probabilities from you after what happened today, Galatea!" The Fembot averted her gaze with a very human 'Hmpf.', following which Labcoat Guy began pacing again.

"I tell you, we have to cut our losses and leave while we still can! They already know about this place, so first we have to move to the backup workshop in the docks!"

"If you think it's necessary…" Peabody mumbled in a disheartened tone that didn't escape the mad scientist's notice.

"Yes, I think so, and we have to do it ASAP!" he snapped, and then pointed a finger at the fembot and ordered, "Galatea, go and have the Mk-III Sprockets pack everything that can be moved! Also…" At this point he paused for a while as he deeply considered sothing, then he concluded with, "Make sure our guest is also ready for transport."

Now, I didn't need to be a genius to figure out the implications of that line, but before I could further look into it, my break ti was cut short by soone grabbing my arm again. I opened my eyes, which also cut off my Far Sight, and looked at the princess awkwardly trying to sit on the armrest again, an endeavor made considerably more difficult by the fact that she was holding onto a steaming mug with one hand while doing so.

Without further ado, I reached out to take it from her before she would accidentally scald both of us, and only then did I realize that it was my mug. I directed a questioning glance at my blissfully grinning girlfriend, and she readily told , "It was my turn to make your tea. Go ahead, give it a try!"

She didn't need to say twice, as I was just starting to get a little parched anyway, and I took a sip. It was slightly different from the tea I would make, and slightly sub-par compared to Judy's Annoying Butler™ blend, but it wasn't bad by any ans of the imagination. I sincerely thanked her and took another gulp, only to pause when my eyes swept over the table and noticed the sketch Snowy was making under the questionably constructive oversight of the childhood friend trio.

I blinked once, just to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on , then I calmly swallowed the warm drink in my mouth, because I would sooner die than to do sothing as clichéd as a spit-take. Then, and only then, I let out a long sigh and calmly noted, "Goddammit, it really was a gazord after all, wasn't it…?"