Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

Friends in Tumble Town

           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!"