Chapter 39: Recovery
Paula shifted, groaning as she slowly regained consciousness and sat up. She looked around, frowning when her surroundings didn't match up with what she remembered seeing before she was knocked unconscious. She was still in the cave, but Laura's energy had apparently knocked her back several feet—evidenced by the fact that she couldn't see the flower symbol any more. Just when she decided to get up to try and find her two companions, she heard a low moan to her right and looked over to see Mason getting to his knees.
"Mason!" she called out. "Are you all right?"
Mason groaned again before nodding slightly. "I'm fine," he assured her. "But what about—?"
A sudden bout of sparking from the back of the cave cut him off, and he gasped, "Laura!" before zooming off towards it with Paula hot on his heels.
When the two approached the area with the Treasure's Desire symbol painted on the floor, the sparking increased slightly, preventing them from moving forward. They could see something in the middle of the design, but it wasn't clear what that something was. But soon enough the sparking died down to reveal the now-healed—and possibly even better-than-ever, judging by how brightly they were shining—Time Gears and… a treecko.
Mason and Paula were stunned. "L-Laura?" Paula called uncertainly. At the sound of the name, the treecko's eyelids fluttered open briefly to reveal a distinctive pair of eyes. "Laura! It is you!" Paula gasped in joy before she and Mason rushed towards her.
Mason gathered Laura into his arms—pausing momentarily to frown when her bracelet didn't react to his presence—and gently caressed her cheek, murmuring, "Oh, Laura… You had us worried."
Laura's eyes fluttered open again and she gave him a small, only slightly remorseful, smile. "Sorry, Mason… Paula…" she whispered before falling unconscious.
Paula frowned at the sight. "That's… that's not a good sign, is it?"
"No," Mason agreed, sporting a frown of his own, before turning his head and scanning the area. He gave a low, disappointed exhale when he didn't find what he was looking for and muttered, "Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's anything we can do about it."
"What do you mean?" Paula asked, worried by his cryptic tone.
"Just look around… I don't see any Aura Crystals, do you?"
Paula inhaled sharply as she realized he was right. There was a distinct lack of Aura Crystals in the cave. Based on what Relatia had implied back at the guild, Paula had expected the cave to be filled with the things, just like it had been when they came here a few days ago…
"Um… Is that a bad thing?" Paula wondered, shifting over as Mason moved to get up, Laura still in his arms.
"Possibly," Mason muttered distantly. "I'll have to consult with Relatia about it and see what she thinks." He paused and glanced down at the precious bundle in his arms. "…I'll also need to ask if she has any idea why Laura turned back into a pokémon."
Paula blinked. She hadn't really thought about it earlier in her mad dash to see if Laura was all right, but now that he mentioned it… that was really strange. "Do you think she'll know why?" she asked.
Mason hesitated, looking slightly doubtful, before shaking it off. "Well, as soon as we collect the Time Gears and get back to the Guild, we can find out. Besides… Laura needs to rest."
"Right!"
When the three made it back to the guild, everyone was shocked by Laura's transformation, but the feeling was outclassed by their worry over her unconscious state. They wanted to put Laura in her old bed to rest, but Relatia—who had immediately grabbed her out of Mason's arms the second she saw her—refused to put her down. Considering the fact that the Spirit Trio hadn't stopped whimpering and cringing from whatever she had done to them—which no one else had witnessed since Relatia had pulled them into some sort of alternate dimension/ time bubble after they'd confessed their crimes, and neither the Spirit Trio nor Relatia was inclined to explain once they finally returned—no one was really too eager to try and force the goddess to relinquish her.
"…then she collapsed," Paula finished explaining.
Mason nodded in agreement and added, "I tried to find an Aura Crystal to help her, but there weren't any in the cave."
"Mm. The Time Gears must have been in worse shape than I'd thought, then," Relatia nodded, matter-of-fact, as she stroked Laura's cheek. "From the explosion of power you described, it doesn't seem like she was exerting very good control over how much aura she was releasing, so the fact that she didn't release any excess means… well, I suppose we're just lucky that Dialga caught the problem when he did."
"But… that still doesn't explain why she turned back into a treecko," Paula mumbled, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"'Back?'" Relatia repeated, turning towards her in surprise before glancing at Mason, hoping for an explanation.
Mason sighed, looking up as his Mistress from where he'd been rubbing gentle circles into Laura's palm. "As I said, we have a lot to discuss…"
Relatia frowned, glancing down at Laura and feeling sensations of unease settle in her stomach.
"I, uh… I believe I might have an explanation," came a quiet voice from the corner. Everyone turned in surprise… and the surprise only increased when they realized that Uxie was the speaker. Given how he and his siblings had been acting since Relatia had done… whatever it was she had done to them, no one thought that they'd be up to speaking in coherent sentences for a while.
"Yes, Uxie?" Relatia asked.
Her voice sounded mild enough, but Uxie still flinched at the attention. But then he took in a calming breath and nodded. "Laura turned back into a human after absorbing aura, correct? So it stands to reason that giving up aura would cause her to revert back to this form, probably to conserve what little aura she has left."
"But… that's not what happened to her—to the Rainbow Child—the last time the Time Gears were charged," Mason said, a puzzled frown adorning his face.
"Well, last time the Rainbow Child didn't need to expend as much aura, correct? Also, given that this is the first incarnation where the Rainbow Child has spent time as a non-human…"
"OH! I THINK I get it," Loudred exclaimed, looking at his unconscious friend with a mixture of worry and pride.
"Still… it's hard to believe that the time-flow in our world is dependent on Laura," Chatot murmured, trying to wrap his mind around the concept. "I mean… it's Laura!"
"But that's why it makes so much sense!" Wigglytuff suddenly exclaimed, causing everyone to look at him in confusion. "Think about it… everyone loves Laura! We all need her, and we miss her when she's not around." He suddenly paused, his eyes lighting up as he thought of something else. "Oh! I bet that's why time stops when you remove a Time Gear! It's because the area misses Laura's presence, right?"
"I suppose that makes sense," Cresselia mused, turning towards Relatia and giving her a warm smile. "If I recall… I think that the world did feel a bit darker after you two left."
Relatia blushed slightly at the comment, but before she could reply Chatot interrupted.
"Squawk! But even so!" he punctuated his words with a fluttering of wings, "To find out that we've been in the presence of someone so vital to our existence this whole time, and that no one even knew…!"
"…Primal Dialga probably knew," Paula suddenly said. "I bet that's why he had her kidnapped in the first place."
There was a pause as everyone thought that over. But then Bidoof slowly came to the conclusion, "Well I… I reckon it doesn't really matter." When the group looked at him in surprise, he continued, "Even if she is the one keeping time flowing properly… she's still Laura. She's still our friend… no matter what happens. That's what I think, yup, yup!"
"…Well said, Bidoof," Relatia complimented, giving him a brilliant smile that made him blush deep crimson.
But then Relatia completely broke the mood by abruptly switching topics and asking Mason, "What do you intend to do with the Time Gears now?"
Mason blinked at the sudden attention before settling back. He thought on it briefly, then decided, "As long as certain people don't forget what they were created for, I see no reason not to hide them again."
Mesprit furrowed her brow, confused by the conflicting feelings of annoyance and reluctance Mason was giving off before her eyes widened at the implication of his words. "Wait… are you saying that you want us to take the Time Gears back to our lakes?" she asked incredulously. "Even after everything we did?"
Mason crossed his arms, avoiding her gaze. "…Apart from the fact that you didn't give Grovyle the Time Gears the first time he tried to collect them, you did your jobs well," he admitted. Then he scowled, muttering, "Actually, the fact that you didn't give them up easily just proves how dedicated you were to the job."
He stole a brief glance at Laura before sighing. "Also… as much as I loathe to admit it, Laura did have a point about your primary jobs," he said reluctantly.
The Spirit Trio's jaws dropped. They felt deeply touched by the sentiment… but then Mesprit and Azelf cringed when they felt a sudden surge of anger and forcefulness emanate from Mason as he informed them, "But you're on probation! If you ever do something like that to Laura again, or step even one toe out of line… the instant I hear of it…well, I think I'll just leave it up to your imagination what will happen. Do I make myself clear?"
The trio didn't miss his brief glance towards Relatia, and they shuddered, remembering what they had just gone through at her hands.
Uxie gulped. "Cl-clear as crystal," he assured, his siblings nodding fervently in agreement.
"Excellent!" Relatia declared, happy at smoothly that had gone. "Go ahead and take them, then. The sooner they're safe, the better."
Despite how positive her dismissal sounded, the three siblings still cringed at hearing her voice. But they quickly heeded her words, each of them grabbing a Time Gear and disappearing in a flash of light.
Before anyone had a chance to comment on their swift escape, Relatia snapped her fingers. A second later, they all found themselves crowded into Team Rainbow's old room.
"Mason, we should take the remaining two Time Gears back to their old hiding places as well," she said as she gently laid Laura in bed and carefully tucked her in.
"Wha—? You mean right now? While Laura is still unconscious?" Mason asked, surprised at Relatia's willingness to just abandon Laura when she was vulnerable like this when a few seconds before she had been so possessive.
"Time and space are stable again, so it's not as though she's in danger anymore," Relatia offered, snapping her fingers again and causing the two remaining Time Gears to appear in the room, which she then immediately placed in the bag at her waist. "Besides, she'll be left in capable hands/paws/wings/leaves/etc."
"B-but," Mason protested, feeling unhappy at the prospect of leaving, "if she wakes up and… that has happened to her again…. If we aren't here to—"
Relatia gave a nonchalant wave of her hand, as if banishing the thought for being too silly. "Oh, I doubt that she will wake up for a while. Besides, it will give us time to catch up… and you said you had something to discuss with me, yes?"
Mason nodded, still feeling reluctant. Relatia saw this and gave an exasperated sigh. "Mason, aren't you forgetting who I am? If she does awaken before our return, I can simply take us back to a few moments prior."
"That's… true," Mason agreed, feeling abashed. "Forgive me, I…"
"It's all right," Relatia assured, waving him off. "I know you're worried." She turned towards Wigglytuff. "I trust you will take care of her until our return?" she asked, a brow raised expectantly.
"Of course! Laura is our friendly-friend!" Wigglytuff answered, feeling slightly aghast that the goddess would even think to presume otherwise.
"Good! Then we'll be off!" she exclaimed happily, grabbing Mason's hand and disappearing with him into a flash of light.
All was silent until Drowzee commented, "Well that was… unexpected." When the others turned to him, hoping for clarification, he obliged, "Given how much she was fawning over Laura and saying how much she'd missed her, you'd think she'd want to stick around and wait for her to wake up."
"…I would assume that she simply felt her responsibilities as the goddess of time and space were more important than her personal feelings at the moment," Dugtrio offered.
"Yeah, RIGHT," Loudred snorted in response. "She's a GODDESS. Why should SHE care about 'responsibility?' She can do whatever she WANTS!"
"Well, I don't know about her… but I know that Laura seemed pretty serious about her role," Paula said, glancing at her friend's unconscious form in worry. "Even to the point of… gulp!"
Everyone else glanced at Laura's deceptively peaceful form, sharing Paula's sentiments…
A few days later…
Everyone at the Wigglytuff Guild was stuck in a state of wary anticipation. Laura was slowly recovering, and they were both eager and fearful for the moment she would awaken. The eagerness came from the want to finally be reassured that she really was all right, because despite Relatia's claims that time and space were stable and Laura was safe now, the more days that passed, the more it began to feel like the aftermath of the "Cave of Reflections" fiasco when they thought Laura would never reawaken. The fearfulness came from their uncertainty of how they should act around Laura once she finally did wake up, given everything they now knew about her and what she'd done for them.
The fact that Relatia and Mason had immediately taken up a vigil at Laura's bedside after returning from their errand didn't help matters either, since no one was quite sure how to react to the goddess and her… interesting personality. Mason and Cresselia seemed comfortable enough around her, but given that Relatia still refused to explain what she'd done to the Spirit Trio to make them so terrified of her… the others were wary of her powers. Chatot's insistence that the apprentices stay out of Laura's room created further problems.
Relatia never left Laura's side and Chatot felt that too many visitors would hinder Laura's healing process, so he decreed the only members of the Wigglytuff Guild who were allowed to enter the room were Wigglytuff (since he was the guildmaster), himself (since he was Wigglytuff's second-in-command… and also because, quite frankly, he felt the need to act as damage control in case Wigglytuff got any of his "brilliant ideas" and accidentally offended the powerful deity or something), and Chimecho (since she had excellent nursing skills). Not that his decree really made that much of a difference, of course. Since he didn't have any authority over Paula, Drowzee, or Cresselia's actions, nothing prevented them from visiting any time they pleased… and the apprentices often ended up ignoring his orders most of the time anyways. Case in point:
"How's Laura doing?" Bidoof asked. He had just returned from the day's exploration, and when he hadn't seen Chatot hanging around anywhere near the crew rooms he decided that it would be the opportune time to sneak into his young friend's room to check on her.
Relatia, Mason, and, surprisingly, Chimecho looked over at him when he poked his head into the room. Chimecho had been there for about an hour, now. She originally came in to ask if Relatia or Mason needed anything and, despite feeling slightly nervous, had ended up staying when Relatia admitted that she'd like a little more company. Cresselia and Paula were busy with their jobs and hadn't come to visit yet that day, and Drowzee had basically been kidnapped by Marill and Azurill once they found out he was in town after Paula returned the letter she'd borrowed from them, so he hadn't been by yet either. Mason, as always, was there with her, but he seemed determined to spend all his time staring at Laura and brooding. He, of course, had blushed fervently at this and tried to deny it… only to go back to brooding about three seconds later once Chimecho made herself comfortable.
"She's the same," Chimecho answered. "She's still asleep."
Bidoof frowned in worry. "Oof… Are you sure that—"
"Bidoof!" an annoyed voice cut him off.
Bidoof froze as Chatot came into the room, a scowl on his face.
"What have I told you about sneaking in here?" Chatot demanded. "You're going to disturb Laura… and our guests!"
"Oof… I'm sorry," Bidoof apologized, shuffling nervously. "I just…"
Chatot dropped his angry look and sighed. "I know you're worried," he said, his voice becoming gentle. "But I'm sure that Laura will be fine. Now go on! Out with you!"
Once Bidoof left—after saying sorry one more time and giving a longing glance in Laura's direction—Chatot turned towards Relatia. "I apologize for the apprentices' constant interruptions," he told her.
Relatia merely shook her head in amusement and smiled. "I don't mind," she assured him. "It just shows how much they care about Laura. I'm glad she's found such good friends…"
Chatot ruffled his feathers, feeling slightly awed by the dazzling gleam of her smile. "N-nonetheless," he managed to stammer out, "they should know better than to—"
"Is Laura awake yet?!" Wigglytuff demanded, rushing into the room.
"Squawk! Guildmaster! How can you set a good example for the apprentices when you come in here acting like that?" he scolded. "Out! Out!"
"Aw… Meanie Chatot…" Wigglytuff pouted as his partner all but pushed him out of the room.
Relatia giggled at their antics before turning her attention back towards Laura. She sighed at finding her still unconscious and began to gently stroke her face, hoping to coax her back into the waking world. But then a warm and almost… maternal look overtook her features, and she quietly began to sing:
"Dream, my precious child,
Dream of joy,
Plot and scheme, dear one,
For the world is your toy.
Oh, my precious child,
Look, behold,
The world that is around you
Is yours to mold.
Plan, my precious child,
That what you give
Will allow all creatures
Good lives to live.
So dream, my precious child,
Dream of bliss.
Know your worthy plans
I will bless with a kiss."
"…That was lovely," Chimecho murmured once the goddess had finished.
"Hm?" Relatia asked, sounding a bit distracted.
"That lullaby you were singing; it was lovely," Chimecho clarified.
"Oh… Thank you," Relatia said, smiling a small smile tinged with sadness and… regret?
"It reminds me of a lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was a child," Chimecho said, sighing nostalgically. "I think she said it was a hymn of some sort…"
Relatia quirked a brow. "Does it?" she asked. "How odd… Given who composed it, it shouldn't be a common tune."
"Well, the lyrics aren't exactly the same," Chimecho admitted, "but…" she trailed off, noticing how despondent Relatia suddenly looked and becoming rather alarmed when she noticed tears beginning to form in the corners of the deity's eye. "Um…. Miss Relatia? Are you all right?"
Relatia wiped her eyes and nodded, "I… yes, I'm fine," she said, sniffling slightly. "I just… my husband composed that lullaby shortly before…" she trailed off, wiping her eyes again and taking in a few shaky breaths. "I'm sorry. Thinking about the circumstances usually leaves me slightly… emotional."
"Your husband?" Chimecho asked, genuinely surprised by the information.
"…Yes," Relatia replied, still looking sad but also slightly… nostalgic? "He was always more artistic than I was… though, truth be told, while his songs are all excellent and heartfelt, if you really want to get a glimpse of his true essence, you have to look at his paintings."
"Huh. Just like Laura," Chimecho mused, looking down at her friend and remembering all of her artwork.
Relatia blinked, seeming startled by the thought, before looking speculatively down at the girl in question. "I… suppose that's true," she admitted after a moment.
Mason, who had been pulled from his intense focus on Laura by the sound of his Mistress' singing and had his attention captured by her subsequent conversation with Chimecho, was just about to add in his thoughts on the matter… before he was interrupted by a commotion coming from outside the room. It was so loud and unexpected that all three of them abandoned their posts and peeked out into the hallway to see what was going on.
It appeared as though a fight were brewing. Everyone was clustered around the entrance to the crew room hallway, with the apprentices on one side and Chatot, Paula, Drowzee, and Cresselia on the other. Wigglytuff stood on what appeared to be the "sidelines" of the event, looking upset. The noise was apparently coming from Loudred, who seemed to be arguing with Chatot.
"Why do THEY get to go into Laura's room when none of US can?" he demanded.
"For one thing, Paula is Laura's partner… and also—"
"That's not FAIR! We're ALL worried about her! Besides, that still doesn't explain DROWZEE and CRESSELIA!"
"Well if you hadn't cut me off then I could have—!"
This, of course, sparked even more argument on the apprentices' side, and the volume just got louder and louder. It also got more and more interesting. In fact, it got so interesting that none of the three who were in the room with Laura noticed when the treecko's eyes began to twitch. Nor did they notice when her rainbow-colored eyes slowly opened and she finally woke up from her deep slumber.
Laura felt… confused, to say the least. She couldn't figure out where she was, or why there were people yelling nearby. She slowly turned her head towards the noise, blinking in surprise when she saw that her mistress was in the room with her. She hurriedly sat up, planning on greeting her and asking her what was going on, but a wave of vertigo stopped her in her tracks and she had to close her eyes momentarily. She put a hand to her temple, trying to dispel the dizziness, and when it finally receded and she opened her eyes, lifting her hand away… she froze.
Her hand… it was green! It no longer looked like a human hand, but instead it looked exactly like it had when she was a treecko!
Laura began trembling in distress… and she barely even heard it when she whimpered in fear and confusion.
But Relatia heard it just fine, and she immediately whipped around. The instant that she saw Laura's eyes were open, she cried out, "Laura! You're awake!" in joy and lunged at her for a hug.
This exclamation immediately put an end to the fight in the hallway, and everyone stampeded for Laura's room.
"LAURA!"
"Oh, thank goodness!"
"Golly, we thought you'd never wake up!"
"Yippee! Oh my gosh… I can't believe you're finally awake!"
"We were so worried!"
But Laura, still stuck in her emotional turmoil, barely noticed them, and only began to tremble harder. The lack of verbal response worried Relatia, and, in her most authoritative voice, she demanded, "Laura, what's wrong?"
Her Mistress' tone finally snapped Laura out of her shock, and she stammered out, "I… I'm a… a t-treecko again…! B-but… h-how did this happen?!"
Relatia frowned, pulling back slightly to look Laura in the eye. "What do you remember?" she asked.
Laura paused, taking in a few gulps of air to calm down enough to think. "Uh… You had just arrived in the guild… and we showed you the Time Gears," she answered slowly. "Then… uh… then…" Laura's eyes widened as she realized something horrifying. "Th-that's all. I can't… I can't remember anything else!"
"What?!" Paula demanded, incredulous. "You mean you don't remember taking the Time Gears to the Eastern Forest and—"
Mason glared at her, and it was so unexpected and harsh that Paula's words immediately died on her lips. Then Mason gave Relatia a sidelong glance, and a silent thought passed between them.
"I… see," Relatia said. "When that wave of energy knocked you against the wall, you must have hit your head harder than I originally thought… it seems to have given you amnesia."
Everyone whipped around to stare at Relatia, unable to believe that she was actively lying to Laura like that, but Laura didn't notice and merely furrowed her brow in confusion. "Amnesia again?" she asked. "But… I can still remember my life in the paralyzed future… and… wait, if I hit my head, why doesn't it hurt?"
"Well, each case of amnesia is different, you know? I mean… last time you got amnesia, it was because you were attacked while time travelling. This time you merely got bumped on the head," Mason perpetuated the lie, shocking everyone further. "As for why it doesn't hurt… well, you have been unconscious for a few days, so you probably just slept off the pain."
"Oh… But that still doesn't explain why I turned back into a pokémon…"
"Hm… I will admit that it's unexpected, but if I had to guess… I would assume that it was due to that energy blast," Relatia began. "You see, when you and I went back to that cave in the Timeless Forest—you know, the one from the legend?—to recharge the Time Gears, the process caused a huge surge of energy which knocked you against the wall. You must have absorbed some of it, and that—somehow—caused you to transform."
Laura frowned, puzzling through Relatia's words, but then she nodded, seeming to buy it. "So… the Time Gears are okay now?" she asked, needing to make sure.
"Yes!" Relatia affirmed happily. "They're all good-as-new! We sent them off with the Spirit Trio to hide again… hopefully this time they will remember their purpose. In fact, given how they reacted to our little… 'chat,' I suspect the memory is almost completely assured.
"That's… good?" Laura replied, the smug grin on the goddess' face and wicked grin on Mason's making her slightly wary. But then she yawned and her eyes began to droop.
"Are you still tired?" Mason asked. At her nod, he gently said, "You should get some more rest, then."
Laura nodded again and lay back down. She drifted off the instant her head hit the pillow beneath her, and then she immediately curled into a ball. The sight of it was a relief to everyone present, since she had spent the past few days of unconsciousness lying motionless and straight as a board. Relatia sighed at the sight, stroking the girl's cheek briefly before softly snapping her fingers and bending space so that everyone ended up back in the main room. Then she shared a glance with Mason and turned around, anticipating that the others would want to comment on the tale she and Mason had concocted.
As if on cue, Dugtrio opened his mouth and questioned, "Why did you lie to her?"
"Because that's what's best for her," Relatia replied evenly.
"How is LYING to her a GOOD thing?" Loudred demanded.
"Loudred! Your ridiculously loud voice is going to disturb Laura!" Chatot reprimanded… before sighing and admitting, "Still, I have to agree with you… shouldn't we let Laura know what she did for us?"
Relatia shook her head. "No," she answered, this time seeming a bit regretful. "It's better for her not to know. If she doesn't know what she did… and exactly what she had to give up in order to do it… then it will prevent her from endangering herself by doing it again," she explained. But then she dropped down to a mutter and added a worried, "Hopefully, at least."
"Oof… Gosh, I didn't think of it like that!" Bidoof said, shuddering at the thought of what almost happened to Laura and dreading the idea of something similar happening again.
Drowzee saw the wisdom in it as well, but he couldn't help but mention, "But it's sad that we'll never get to thank her for what she did."
Personally Relatia agreed, but her response to Drowzee's statement was a mere shrug. There was simply no helping it. "Laura didn't do it because she wanted gratitude," she offered, as if it would somehow improve the situation. "She did it because she cares about you and wanted to ensure your survival. If you want to honor her, then do it by remaining her friends and continuing to treat her the way you always have. That's… that's what Laura—not the Rainbow Child, but Laura—really needs. Friends…"
There was quiet as everyone soaked in her words, and then Wigglytuff said, "…I don't like lying to my friends… but if you really think it's what's best for Laura… then okay. I promise that your secret is safe with my guild."
The other members of the guild nodded in reluctant agreement, and Relatia gave them a grateful smile before turning towards the non-guild members in the room.
"I… okay, I promise as well," Paula said, still seeming a bit uncertain.
"Me too," Drowzee assured.
"I will do what I can to make sure she remains unaware," Cresselia promised.
Relatia nodded once more in satisfaction before standing up. "Thank you. Now I should probably go swear the Spirit Trio to secrecy as well," she said… before pausing as she was hit with inspiration and instantly cheered up. "Ooh… and this would be the perfect chance to go see how much the world has changed since my last visit!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and abruptly disappearing in a flash of light.
Everyone stared at the spot, their eyes twitching at yet another display of the goddess' weird mindset, before Cresselia sighed in fond exasperation. "Well, I can't really speak for the world… but she certainly hasn't changed a bit."
Their eyes only twitched harder when Mason nodded in agreement.