Tim and Jon sat in their booth, continuing to chat. Even Joanna had since excused herself; Jon wasn't sure where she was staying, but she figured that jet lag must be catching up to her. The conversation had drifted away from the topic of the keystones a while ago, anyway; Tim had been curious about Joanna, who'd had to recount what she'd told Jon and Karyn that morning, and then the Neanderthal woman had in turn interrogated him a little. Jon assumed that she wanted to know what kind of person was being let in on the matter, but she couldn't quite figure out why the drow-boy got this cross-examination when Joanna had let Karyn into their conversation with hardly more than a second glance. It was a friendly questioning, at least, but Jon felt a little bristly at it for reasons she couldn't quite explain.
Anyway, the drift had only increased from there, and they'd gone through several different subjects since Joanna left. They were still at it when Jon noticed a changed person - a dryad-looking woman with mossy green hair and leaves in it - enter. She didn't think much of it until she noticed the woman heading back behind the counter, grabbing a food-service apron from somewhere. Huh, she thought. I didn't think there were that many changed people who work night-side...
"Hey, good to see you," the man who'd been behind the counter until then said. "How's traffic?"
"Pretty good, for the time," she replied. "You'd better get going, though, you've only got a couple hours."
He nodded. "Well, I didn't want to leave counting out the nighttime till for your guys, is all..."
The dryad sighed. "Seriously, Phil. That's awfully thoughtful and all, but you take enough chances and you're gonna end up on our shift. Go on, we can manage."
He smiled. "Thanks, Toni."
Jon blinked. Wait, she was one of the day-shift people? But it wasn't even - well, okay, it wouldn't make sense for them to get in after sunup, since the nighttime people had to have time to get home, but still, it couldn't be-
She glanced at the wall clock and gasped. Tim stared at her, concerned. "What? What's wrong?"
"It's four already!" she moaned. "How is it four!?"
Tim gaped. "Oh, oh man, I'm sorry," he said. "I should've been watching - aw damn, I'm sorry. Your parents aren't...gonna be mad about this, are they?"
The slug-girl shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think so, but...god, I didn't mean to be gone anywhere near this long..."
The drow-boy stood up. "We'd better get you home, then...aw geez...look, you can tell them it's my fault or something..."
Jon sighed and shook her head. "It wasn't and you know it. Besides, I...I don't think it's going to be any trouble, it's just...crap, and we have school in the morning..." They quickly paid and made their exit. For some reason they got a weird knowing smile from the dryad lady; Jon couldn't figure out what that was all about.
They made their way home as quick as they could; Jon could manage a reasonably brisk walking speed with her foot if she really tried, but she was never going to be anything like a champion sprinter in this form.
"Look," she said to Tim, "why don't...why don't you just head straight home, it's already late enough and both of us have to get up for school..." But he was insistent that it wasn't a big deal, and he didn't think it'd save that much time anyway. Jon wasn't sure; it was true that Tim's house was further out than hers in roughly the same direction, but there was enough of a difference that she thought he could probably get there faster going straight...still, she was too focused on getting home to argue.
They'd been walking in relative silence for a good while when Tim spoke up. "Um," he said, "about the Sun thing..."
"...yeah?" Jon answered. She'd been relieved to find out that, even when he knew she was responsible for this whole thing, he wasn't actually bothered or upset, and didn't think she was some kind of freak for being the heir to a magical cornerstone of reality. It'd helped as well to hear that all of the other keepers had had first wishes go awry, but that was just...well, shop talk, she guessed. It was more reassuring to know that normal people who knew her secret didn't think too badly of her.
"I mean, about the way you're planning to fix it," he said. "And what you were saying to Joanna. People who think they want one thing when what would make them happy in the long run is something different, and all. ...you think there are many people like that?"
Jon shrugged. "I dunno," she said. "That's kind of the problem; I may only get the one shot at fixing this, and there's so many people in the world...I don't want to leave anybody stuck with something they can't live with, but I know there are people who really are better off changed..."
He nodded. "I guess that's as good a solution as you can come up with with just one wish," he said. "Must've taken a lot of thinking about." There was a pause in the conversation, and then he spoke again. "Um, Jon," he said, "do you...do you think...?"
She eyed him curiously, wondering what he was trying to ask. "Yes?" she prompted.
He frowned, looking as if he wasn't sure he wanted to ask after all, then looking as if maybe he did, then didn't, then... Then he looked off to the side and brightened. "Oh, here we are," he said. Jon looked; sure enough, they were on the sidewalk just in front of her house. It must've been half an hour since they left the restaurant; dawn had yet to creep over the horizon, but it was noticeably less dark out than it had been, and the different colors of the sunlight were starting to become visible in the sky.
Yeah, here they were, alright. Here they were, making their way up the walk, then standing on the front porch. Here they were...
"U-um," Jon said, fidgeting a little, "thanks for hanging out with me. I...I just kinda needed to take my mind off things..."
Tim smiled. "H-hey, any time," he said. "Thanks for inviting me." Jon nodded, smiling back a little nervously.
There was a long pause. Both of them at points felt like they should say something, but weren't sure what to say. A couple times Tim opened his mouth and had the beginning of a word catch in the back of his throat. Jon clasped her hands and twiddled her thumbs, staring down at the welcome mat and...feeling a little shy, for some reason. Finally, turned to the door. "Um, see you at school, I guess?" she said.
Tim paused for a moment, looking as if he was expecting something different to happen, then nodded. "Uh, yeah, see you then." He turned to go, and Jon headed inside.
Mrs. Madison was waiting just inside, looking worried and a little irritated. "Honey, where were you?" she asked. "It's nearly morning, and you've got school!"
Jon stared at the floor, sheepishly. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry, I should've called, it's just...we lost track of time...honest, mom, I had no idea it'd gotten this late..."
Her mother sighed and nodded. "You're going to feel it in the morning," she said. "But...it's okay. Just...be more aware of it in the future, please?" She took Jon's hand as the slug-girl made her way inside. "Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked. "Your pulse is racing."
Jon stammered a little, trying to get her thoughts together. Tomorrow, hell! She was already feeling it...the minute she'd gotten in the door her body had suddenly realized how late it was. "I'm...'m fine," she said. "Just...tired, is all."
Her mother frowned slightly. "Who were you with, anyway? Who was that?"
Jon felt a little irritable, and tried to reign it in; she didn't want to go snapping at her mom just because she was tired and...inexplicably flustered. "I, um...we met some friends for pizza," she said. "We got to talking and we just lost track of time...that was Tim, he's a friend from school. He walked home with me...he lives kind of out the same way."
All of a sudden Jon's mom smiled. "I see," she said. "Well, that was nice of him. You really should get to bed, though, honey. You're tired enough as it is; we don't want you falling asleep in class."
The slug-girl nodded and made her way upstairs, her foot draping itself smoothly over the corners of the steps. She could hear Becca's soft breathing in the guest room; she remembered that they must've had their meeting tonight - but she'd find out about that tomorrow. She needed sleep right now. She didn't bother brushing her teeth or even putting on her pajamas; she just stripped down to her bra and flopped into bed. She needed sleep...
...and she couldn't get any, dammit. Despite feeling groggy and exhausted, she felt...odd. Confused. Restless. She felt...disappointed, somehow, as if things hadn't gone how she'd wanted them to go. As if she'd expected something different to happen. She almost felt cheated; she couldn't think of why, though. The whole evening had been pretty good; granted, she hadn't anticipated being dragged to a meeting of all the other keepers, she'd wanted more of a quiet evening with normal people not caught up in all this, but...it had been good. She wasn't upset about it; she wasn't even unhappy generally, it was just...it was like somehow it should've ended differently than it did. Like she'd played through a song and then lost her place in the last measure, or something. It was...frustrating.
She sighed; she didn't need this right now, she really didn't. Rolling over onto her stomach and burying her face in her pillow, she tried to fall asleep.
