Soon, the conversation takes the group on a leisurely stroll as they get to know these strange girls in their cozy little galaxy, and the teens find MK’s words to be true that you can hardly tell there was once a disaster here from how well-kept everything is, and from how happy the people are. The walking and talking go so well that no one even notices that Faye’s gone missing. That is until her green friend goes to whisper a pun to her, only to meet a boring audience of none.
“Faye?” He looks around and is about to say something to the others when he notices her walking around a tree, seemingly shook up about something. He figures she’ll be fine, but decides to at least quickly check on her. He doesn’t want to approach too closely as his kind intentions reacted too quickly before wisdom had yet to think of reasons why he should wait for her, or send Gigi. Nonetheless, here he is, so Elf handles this carefully.
As he begins to speak, he notices the scent of a gorgeous perfume that he’s never smelt before, making him wonder why Faye’d bother with bubblegum when she’s got this stuff. This wonderful experience is cut short, however, as his friend is heard complaining, “I hate bubblegum! I don’t know why I can’t wear this all the time, but whatever. That was so stupid of me to be so careless like that!”
As her rant has taken Entoni off guard, she easily detects his presence, instantly turning her perfume scent back to bubblegum without even reaching for anything. Now, as familiar as you are with SG tech, this shouldn’t seem odd to you, but to Elfie, it’s a different story. Something about this scene is very off. “What are you doing, spying on me like that? I know I’m your girlfriend and all, but it’s inappropriate to be so invasive! Now, get over there until I’m done!”
“Done doing what?” Elfie asks, too caught up in this mystery to pay attention to typical common sense. “All I’ve heard you do is complain about hating bubblegum. That’s silly. If you don’t like it, then change it.”
“I can’t change it. I love bubblegum and you heard wrong, you spy. Now, please wait. I’m fine.” Faye turns away, obviously anything but okay.
“Alright,” Elf agrees, just in case he’s overstepping his bounds, “but I’m sending Gigi over here to make sure you’re okay. Surely, that should be fine.”
“I’m FINE!” she angrily insists.
“Hey, what’s with the attitude? And why are you beating yourself up over what you said out there? Are you talking about how you made comments about girls owing you money, even though we both know you’ve never been to Juniper?”
Seeing her opportunity, Faye drops her shoulders in disappointment and agrees, “Yeah, and I wish you’d let me scold myself in private, please. I shouldn’t have lied….” Faye realizes the hypocrisy of what she’s about to say. She then stares at Elf as she absentmindedly mutters, “Now, what do I do?” Elf hears this, but doesn’t know whether to answer or let her think for herself, and it’s these seconds of hesitation that leave the scene quiet enough for Elfie to hear a very familiar sound in the distance. It’s the sound of Faye’s voice, and she’s very upset.
“DUDE! ARE YOU THAT IGNORANT OF MY LIKES AND DISLIKES?! USE YOUR HEAD!! WHAT SOLAR SYSTEM ARE WE IN?! WHAT DID YOUR MOM’S NOTE WARN US ABOUT?!!”
As Elfie searches for the source of this screaming, he sees three figures moving away from his location, and one of them is a captured Faye.
Inner Man Theatre 