Hope: Ah, I completely know what you mean! I don't know the characters as well because I'm almost never on Toucan Island, and I knew it was a stretch when I casted it. But you'll soon see why I did what I did. I hope? (Was that a bad pun?)

Thanks for reviewing, guys! It means so much. It's been a couple hectic months, but I'm back to finish this. Thank you for your patience. And thanks for reading, of course!

Also, awkward – I kept calling Toby 'Basil' in this chapter. Believe it or not, I'm really trying to get him back into character. Though that sort of botches that… I'm trying, I promise! I just hope I can get a hold of him and still get him to do what I need him to before the end of the story… Oh, sigh.

And speaking of people getting out of character…

Rebellion

"I don't like it. I just don't like it."

Toby huddled deeper into his chair, holding his tea cup close on his lap. His thumb tapped the rim in a nervous tick. The fisherman used to pride himself on how calm and easygoing he used to be, but ever since Gill Gray entered his life, he had been put on the edge. Even now, Toby recalled how the high-backed armchair he was sitting in was the same he had painted all those weeks ago.

Julius crossed his legs in the chair across from him, smiling devilishly as always. "I don't see any harm in—"

"No harm?" Toby interrupted.

"The boy's doing some living for once," Lord Wotton replied, spreading out his hands as if to lay all his cards on the table. "And is that not exactly what we should all do in the end?"

The fisherman stopped tapping his tea cup and sighed. "Fine. That's all well and good, but the girl is so… out of his class. I can't imagine what people will say. He's throwing his life right out the window."

The Lord clicked his cane against the wooden floor of the fisherman's cottage. "It makes me wonder Mr. Hallward. How much do you care?"

Toby blanched and sipped his tea. He shook his head. "Anyone would advise him to end this charade. Any friend at least. And I like to consider myself a friend of Mr. Gray's."

"Of course," Julius nodded.

"I can't imagine Gill being tied to some… some… nobody. She'll ruin his future."

"Mr. Gray is wise enough for folly, Toby," Julius smiled.

Toby shook his head, ignoring the paradoxical sentences always coming from the lord. "Have you met her? Seen her? What is she like?"

Lord Wotton clicked his tongue and languidly sank back into his chair. "Ah, I've yet to see the maid, but I'm sure of her beauty. He says she is beautiful, and Gill Gray is seldom wrong in terms of the kind."

"So you approve of all of this?" His voice was rather small before he sipped his tea.

"I never approve or disapprove of anything," Julius decided offhandedly. "Such a trivial thing to waste one's time with in this world…"

The answer was expected, and it made Toby sigh again. The clock on the wall thrummed with the passing seconds. The two men harbored thoughts of their own in the dim room. The fireplace blazed against the cooling weather outside, temperatures slowly dropping until the frost would come. Toby stared out the window, and Julius lazily passed his cane between his hands.

Toby Hallward leaned back and closed his eyes. "I miss the sun soaked days by the river…"

Lord Wotton looked curiously at his old friend.

"Time was an illusion. And all I ever cared about was fish."

Julius smiled and flicked the purple hair off his shoulder. "You still eat too much sashimi."

"Have I changed, Julius?" He asked, opening his brilliant green eyes. In the darkness, they almost looked feline with their light.

"We all change. Change is variety. Though I find change most distressing sometimes," Lord Wotton admitted, waving his hand with a flourish. "So busy and difficult."

"It would be easier to stay the same," Mr. Hallward nodded in agreement. "Sometimes, I wonder if—"

The door was suddenly thrust open. Light and cold air pouring into the room behind him, Gill Gray came like a whirlwind. Hatless and coatless, he approached the two men in the living room who were on their feet in surprise.

"Gill! What on Earth—? Where's your coat, boy? It's nearly winter!" Toby was quick to scold.

The door still wide open in his dramatics, Gill folded his arms with haughty confidence. "I've no need of such things, dear Mr. Hallward! Honestly, you worry too much."

"The boy is right," Julius gave a wide smile in greeting.

Toby Hallward frowned. He ignored the urge to reprimand Gill for not referring to him on the friendly terms he requested and instead focused on the young man's strange and completely uncharacteristic attitude. "Gill, are you mad?"

"Terribly sorry for the rude interruption," Gill Gray said, taking long strides until he was before them. "I've been searching relentlessly for Lord Wotton here, for he has yet to fulfill his oath."

"I did make a sort of promise, didn't I?" Julius mused. He stroked his chin with interest and tapped his cane on the floor with finality. "Very well."

"Tonight then!" Gill clapped triumphantly.

"What are you two…? Is there something I don't…? Oh, dreadful secrets…" Toby sighed, rolling his eyes and cleaning up the tea things.

The fisherman was quickly taken aback when Gill slung a jovial arm around his shoulder. "Why, Toby, I'm surprised at you! I thought this would be the most interesting thing in the world!"

"I'm afraid that our fishing artist is quite ill-informed, Mr. Gray," Lord Wotton interrupted. He shook his head sadly. "My apologies! But explanations are so distressing. So much wasted repeating and retelling."

Mr. Gray certainly didn't mind retelling. It was the only topic he ever regarded with enthusiasm these days. "The beautiful goddess of the stage – Selena Vane! My perfectly perfect fiancée performs the love of Rosalind this night!"

"Remind me of my vexation…" Toby Hallward attempted not to look too enchanted with Gill's vibrant eyes and quickly put up his easygoing front. "But if she suits you, Gill, I'll be glad to wish you both good fortune."

"I knew you would! I can always count on you, Toby," Gill smiled wide. "What a friend you are to me."

Lord Wotton chuckled that the fisherman was becoming so flustered from the praise.

The noise alerted Gill who gave him a reprimanding look. "And what a friend you are, Lord Julius! Your words are captivating, but I must denounce them for good. Your selfish ideologies are naught compared to Selena – I would gladly sacrifice everything for her."

Toby's eyes widened in surprise – he had never seen someone so passionately in love before.

"Just you wait, Julius. When Selena comes upon the stage, you too will be converted. She represents all good in this world, and you will think your own ideas of pleasures are void."

Julius found this interesting. He tipped his hat. "I have known and experienced everything at some point. Though I doubt any fawn of yours could change my mind, the notion is extremely intriguing. There is still so little you have learned, but I suppose all things must be learned on one's own for one's own in the end."

Gill Gray frowned but suddenly laughed. "It is impossible to be angry with you, Julius! I think it is a jest that I finally know something you do not. To love another so fully above one's self… But you will soon see – very soon!"

And with that, the storm of Gill Gray swept from the room with a slam of the door.

Still holding the tea tray, Mr. Hallward turned to Lord Wotton. "I… I do think he's right."

"Oh?"

"In some respects…" Toby nodded. Before he entered the kitchen, he looked over his shoulder. "Living for one's self is so full of suffering and loneliness and… consciousness of your sins. That future is so dark… Are you not scared?"

The mischievous smirk grew as Lord Julius turned his back on his friend and reached for the door. "Certainly not, my dear friend. For I am not the one you must worry about. Am I?"