*points* noob!

silver silence

"okay, so what do you want to do?" leafy asked gently. teardrop looked up at her and started gesturing with their arm in a wavy motion. leafy wanted to spend some time with td, and the two of them were standing near the lake.

"let me see... wiggle? dancing?" td shook her head, and altered her movements slightly.

leafy glanced at them and sighed. "wind? you want to go... flying? with jet flying ruby? i'm sorry," she concluded. "i can't really tell what you mean..."

teardrop patted her back in forgiveness.

"it must be really hard for you, huh? to have to communicate without talking," leafy looked around. "wait a second! gelatin and lollipop know you better than anyone else, right? maybe i can get them to help me figure out what you mean."

td nodded absentmindedly as leafy beckoned towards the two of them. gelatin and lolly came over, as well as firey, who had been hanging out with them at the time. 

"you know, a day like this really calls for a plate of twigs and a good book," firey told gelatin.

"we could just stick you in the fireplace back at home. there's plenty of wood in there."

"better not put the book in there, though. oh hey, leafy! hey td! what's up?"

"hey guys!" leafy smiled. teardrop waved, and lolly and gelatin waved back.

"i was wondering if you two could figure out what teardrop is trying to tell me - you know them so well, after all," leafy said. "sorry again, td."

teardrop shook her head and then did a series of gestures, different than before: motioning to her own mouth as if zipping it, then tapping her wrist. they smiled and looked up at lollipop and gelatin.

leafy blinked. "what is she saying?"

"oh! little teedster wants us to play the quiet game," lollipop responded. "i assume this isn't what they were trying to tell you before."

td nodded.

"sometimes when gelatin and i wouldn't be able to tell what little droplet is saying, we'd play the quiet game - we'd have to go about our day without speaking, and instead have to use nonverbal communication to get around. having to do it ourselves helps us better understand what she's trying to tell us." lollipop patted her little sibling's head.

leafy smiled. "that makes sense. are we going to start now?"

"sure," gelatin put his hands on his hips. "it's not the easiest for me not to talk, but it's a fun challenge!"

"okay!" firey grinned. "starting.... now!"

and the silence began.

teardrop started walking towards the lake and sat down on the bank among the reeds. lollipop followed her over there and picked a cattail reed. after tapping teardrop's shoulder, lolly pointed to the reed and then to herself. td smiled. lollipop looked like the reed!

firey noticed and joined them. after picking a reed himself, he pointed to himself and pointed to the top of the reed. lollipop shook her head. firey didn't look like the reed, what was he on about?

not knowing how else to convey his message, firey rubbed the top of the reed on his head, setting it ablaze. td's face lit up. the reed didn't look like firey, it looked like match!

leafy watched them and frowned. it seemed so easy! she looked over to gelatin, who was busy fumbling in a bush.

she was about to open her mouth to ask him what he was up to, but she closed it again. leafy knew she had to try! she padded over to the bush gelatin was caught up in. he rustled around a bit more and then emerged, covered in leaves and holding a handful of twigs.

gelatin waved at her and waved the twigs in the direction of firey. leafy cocked her head, confused. gelatin then pretended to eat the twigs and then licked his lips. after thinking for a second, he proceeded to actually eat one of the twigs.

leafy jumped back in surprise. gelatin then waved to her again before running over to the lake and presenting the twigs to firey. firey smiled at him and started chowing down on his kindling.

lollipop thought for a second, before putting her hands together then opening them like a butterfly's wings. gelatin shrugged. he didn't know where to get a book.

firey traced a circle in the air with his finger and did the book motion again, chuckling. leafy knew what he meant and came over, elbowing him in the side. only the two of them really knew about who stole donut's diary all that time ago.

gelatin then jumped and stepped back from the bank of the lake. lollipop put her hand out. what happened? he pointed to the lake, where the water was rippling in the center. then he raised his arm and bent his elbow, creating a point.

then he moved his arm like a wave and ran away - leafy looked towards the water and noticed some movement! it looked like a fin was emerging!

the friends huddled together in anticipation for whatever aquatic behemoth was about to attack them. they heard a splash, and...

teardrop was standing on the bank of the water, a puddle underneath them. she did the wavy motion with her arm again and grinned. leafy smiled. now she knew what td meant at the beginning! 

leafy took td's hand and the two dove into the lake, swimming around and creating ripples.

as the sun shone down upon them, refracting in the water, the two friends enjoyed themselves in silence. relieved that no monster was upon them, gelatin returned to the side of the lake with firey and lollipop.

for the rest of the day they all spent time together without a word. sometimes silence is golden, but more often it's silver - tarnished sometimes, in need of a bit of polish, but just as valid and beautiful as any other form of communication.