Jimena could barely wait until False got home. For one thing she was ready to surprise her with the stuff she'd done in the bunker and she also really didn't want to be alone with Herodias. Even if she didn't really know False's other personality yet, Jimena thought that the she liked her better than hers. At least the other False didn't threaten to kill her...
Without the familiar ticking of the multiple clocks in False's house, time seemed to pass by painstakingly slowly. She kept glancing at her copper watch but it seemed to have slowed down too; only passing a minute or so everytime she looked. Eventually Jimena had enough and she flew to Tumble Town herself. She wanted to visit Jimmy anyway.
"False! Sheriff!" Jimena called, landing near the gunpowder farm. They would surely be there because of the trade deal, right? "Hello?" "Hello!" Jimena jumped and whirled around to see Scar standing there, waving. "Oh, hi, Scar." Jimena said. "Have you seen False?" "Oh, the crazy murder lady is over thataway." Scar said jovially, gesturing with his left hand. Jimena frowned at his choice of words but left without saying anything.
Soon enough she found False standing by the sheriff with a big sack of gunpowder in her hands. "False!" Jimena shouted joyfully, practically tackling her down as she flew into her to hug. False carefully distangled herself from it and dropped the bag so she could hug properly. "Hi, Jimena," She said. "Is everything all right?"
"Well..." Jimena said, and then she felt an uncomfortable prickle in her brain. "Nothing." She said quickly. False raised an eyebrow. "You're a terrible liar." She pointed out. "What happened?" She pressed. "Nothing." Herodias spoke up. "We did some decorating in the new room and had a nice friendly chat with each other, nothing more." False stared into her eyes as if willing herself to read thoughts.
"Uh, hi," Jimmy waved awkwardly, and Jimena bent down to wave to him back. "Hi, sheriff. How's Norman and Flick?" "Oh, they're doing great," Jimmy said, a smile immediately brought to his face at the thought of his cats. "Grian came by with a canary toy that they're really fond of now and they've made incredibly good friends with Jellie."
"Jellie?" False frowned. "Who's Jellie?" "My cat!" Scar said, bounding happily in with the comically long scroll trailing behind him like a tail. "The queen Jellie!" "You have a cat?" False asked, eyes shining. Scar caught the look and his eyes widened in surprise, mouth agape. "Hey, I didn't know you were an ailurophile!" He said. "Ailu-what?" Jimmy sputtered, trying to make sense of the foreign word.
"Oh, an ailurophile!" Jimena recalled, grinning. "Fancy term for cat lover." "How do you know that word when you didn't know what lemonade was?" Jimmy demanded. Jimena felt her face go beetroot red. "Sheriff, can we not talk about the embarrassing parts of my amnesia?" She sighed. She paused. "Speaking of lemonade, I suddenly crave a glass or two."
"It's a hot day today." Scar pointed out. "How about we pour ourselves some drinks? Kid-friendly of course." He added with a wink at Jimena. "Hey!" She protested. "I'm older than you!" "You are?" The others asked. "Watchers are immortal. Or at least I don't remember any dying or aging." Jimena said. "So... how old are you now?" Scar asked expectantly. "Uh..." Jimena trailed off.
"You've forgotten your age, haven't you?" False said like she wasn't surprised. "Stop bringing up the embarrassing stuff!" Jimena groaned. The others giggled. "Saloon for a drink?" False suggested. "Not the saloon," Jimmy said quickly. "Yeah, there's a new guest who doesn't really want to be disturbed right now." Scar added.
So they went to Jimmy's house instead. Jimena offered to make the lemonade for everyone and did so, although it took her a while to find the juicer. She eventually found it under the couch. "Sheriff, why is there a juicer under the sofa?" She asked. "Is the radio under there? I lost it last week!" Jimmy replied instead. Jimena peeked again. "No, the radio was in the cup cabinet!"
"Scar!" Jimmy shouted. "Yes?" Scar asked innocently, walking in with an adorable gray and white cat on his shoulder. "Oh, is that Jellie?! She's so adorable!" Jimena squealed, drilling whatever she was holding to immediately start letting her.
Jellie meowed sweetly and nuzzled her hand, making her squeal again. Soon False came in and started petting her too. Flick and Norman came trotting in and looked unhappy that they weren't the center of attention. And they made it very clear how they felt; rubbing against everyone's ankles and meowing loudly to get some pets.
"Don't get jealous," Jimmy told them, steoking them with both hands. "They just haven't met Jellie yet, that's all." "We should have all our cats meet each other," Jimena said. "I think Ginny will like Jellie." "Ginny?" Scar's ears perked up. "Like False's cat?" Everyone looked at False until they realized which one he meant. "Hermit False used to have this Siamese cat named Ginny but then she vanished and no one knew where." Scar explained.
"That sounds a lot like our cat." False said. "Wow, weird coincidence." Scar said. "Hey, False, for a serial killer, you're actually quite sweet." No one said anything for a few awkward minutes. "Okay, I guess I can take that." False said at last, and a few people let out breaths they didn't know they were holding. Scar looked around expectantly for a few seconds before he realized. "Wait, was I about to die?"
Somehow Jimena managed to stop laughing hard enough to crawl away and actually squeeze the lemonade that she promised she would, and some time later she was pouring everyone drinks and chatting gaily. "I could get used to this." False said, sipping slowly. "Used to not having to watch your back all the time?" She suddenly replied back to herself.
"Other personality." Jimena explained to Scar and Jimmy. "Of course." Scar said like he wasn't surprised at all. "Don't forget about the third False." False muttered to no one in particular. "False won't hurt you." Scar said optimistically. "There's the deal where none of the hermits are even supposed to see you." "You're a hermit, Scar." Jimmy pointed out with a sigh.
"Oh." Scar said. "Right." He shifted uneasily. "Should I go?" "No, I like you." False said. "I'm fine with you around." "Oh, okay." Scar said, getting comfortable again. "Are there any other hermits that you're fine with?" "I think it's just you." False frowned as she tried to remember. "Does Grian count? I trust him now." Jimena said. False considered. "Okay, I'm fine with Grian." She said.
"Aw, you two are such sweet friends." Scar smiled. "What?" Jimena asked, glancing from herself to False. "I mean she's immediately okay with Grian after you tell her that you're okay with him! This is such a sweet and cute friendship I'm crying." And sure enough Scar was smiling sloppily with a few tears welling up in his eyes.
"Ah don't cry!" False said immediately, panicking for some reason. Scar just giggled and pet Jellie and Jimmy threw him a hanky that he blew his nose with exaggeratedly. "You okay now?" False asked him cautiously. "Okay? I was always okay. People can sometimes cry of joy, you know." Scar said.
"They can?" False asked blankly. "Yeah, it's like when you laugh hysterically even though there's nothing funny about the situation at all! It's just a natural response to the body feeling too many strong emotions at once so it feels the need to release pressure." Scar explained like everyone knew that; leaning back in his chair and sipping more lemonade.
"Oh. Okay." False said. "If it helps I didn't know people could cry when they're happy either." Jimena said. False smiled and poured her another cup of ice cold lemonade. Then Scar spilled his drink all over Jellie and she pulled a fit and knocked the rest of the lemonade over. "Scar!" Everyone shouted. "Jellie!" He shouted at the cat at the same time. There was a long pause before everyone started laughing again.
---
Gem stood in the room, taking it all in. Tumble Town's wild west aesthetic was quite contrasting with Dawn's and Gem's mega base in the hermit world and she would have to get used to it if she was really staying here. But it was evident in the decor that Scar had been adding on a touch of his theme park pizzazz.
A fireplace had been installed despite the fact that mesas were incredibly hot, although maybe it got cold at night like deserts. Presumably fake swords and pistols hung crisscrossed on the wall, framing a small mirror. Cowboy figurines were scattered about and a red Indian-themed rug with tribal patterns drowned away the oaken floor.
Gem ran her hand over the riot of earthy colors and dancing animals that was her duvet, smiling as a picture of Scar knitting it himself flashed through her mind. It seemed like something he would devote his spare time to do. And then she smiled again at the thought of the scarred hermit. He didn't seem that hostile to her when they'd accidentally ran into each other earlier. Maybe they could still be friends. Then again, what were the chances.
A light noise on the creaky floorboards behind her informed Gem that Scott had entered the room. "Quaint place." He said, his accent making him seem so out of place in this wild west world. "Scar likes decorating to the theme." Gem said with a grin. "I figured." Scott said, eying the decor.
"You're really going to stay here?" He asked, drenching the mood a bit. "Hermitopia is out of the question and Dawn feels wrong." Gem recited like she'd planned this. "And I leave this world for another one just yet. Not with three other Watchers here for who knows what reason."
Gem sighed and sat on the soft woolen bed. Scott silently padded over and sat down next to her. "I think your choice runs deeper than that, Gem." He said. "I think you've finally made real friends in this world and you don't want to leave them." "You're sure about that?" Gem asked. Scott shot her a crazy glance. "I'm here, aren't I? With you in Tumble Town where Jimmy has so nicely let you stay."
Scott had a point. Gem felt something like hope well up in her chest but she didn't acknowledge it yet. She'd felt it before only to just get betrayed again. Hope was a fickle thing; it made you feel happy and lift you up only so that you had a higher place to fall down from. Gem had long since learned that hope wasn't something to be trusted.
"Also, what about your bear?" Scott asked. "Apollo can take care of himself," Gem said with certainty, thinking of the lovable old bear. "And without me around he can eat all the honey he wants." "I'm still getting Lizzie to watch Dawn for you while you're here." Scott said, making for the old-timey telephone sitting in the corner.
Gem laughed. "You're making it sound like I'm actually going to stay in this world." She said with a forced laugh. Scott paused and turned to look at her seriously. "You really think you're going to leave?" He asked softly. Gem nodded. "I think," Scott said slowly, "You've gotten so used to lying that you're even fooling yourself." And with that he went back to phoning Lizzie.