p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"Charlie Bone's life was on the rocks. He'd just had a rather tempestuous break-up with an old friend he'd been dating for the past few years, then been fired from his admittedly hated job as an accountant. When Maisie died, which was inevitable but sad nonetheless, it felt like the final straw. It was lucky for him, then, that he found a new passion, and that his best friend's life was in shambles, too. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""I'd never tried to write a song before, Fidelio," he said a week after his breakthrough. "I'd never tried to really sing, either. But I did for the funeral and something just…clicked. If Grandma Bone had known, she probably would've forced me into opera."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Olivia was in an opera, last I heard, but it took her years of practice to even carry a tune. It's a gift, Charlie, a real gift, to just start singing like that." /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""emHe/em had an amazing voice, the best I've ever heard. It was like a fallen angel's. Or like a half mermaid's, which I guess is what he was, though I never really understood that and never really wanted to. He almost never sang—said it reminded him of his mother."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""emYou/em need to move on from emhim/em, and emI/em need to move on from emher/em. And we both need jobs."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Maybe we could start a band."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""A band? Who would be in it?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Just us. I'd sing and write the lyrics and you'd play the instruments and write the music."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""That's not a bad idea, actually. Why not?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Why not?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"Just then, Gabriel Silk walked over. It was the Bone School reunion, so they shouldn't have been surprised. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Did I hear one of you mention starting a band?" Gabriel asked./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Charlie just did. I think we should try it."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""I think you already have. Decades ago. You were quite famous for a bit, too. We'll have to find the Time Twister to take you back, but that shouldn't be too hard. In a way, we've already done it."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"Gabriel had always been Gabriel, thought Charlie. Gabriel had always been odd. This wasn't that out of the ordinary for him, really. Then again, it was patently bonkers. Perhaps the gerbils had been a bad sign all along./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Did you get that vest from Douglas Adams? Because that sounds like something out of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"In response, Gabriel showed them the music video for West End Girls. The singer, striding along in a coat which looked like a hand-me-down from Uncle Paton, looked uncannily familiar, as did the musician, who all three knew was capable of playing much more than synthesizers./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""You'll have to change your names, obviously. You'll also have to fabricate evidence for your existences, which might be more difficult, but it will work. We have proof."/p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;" * * * /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"A few weeks later, Charlie Bone, soon to be Neil Tennant, and Fidelio Gunn, soon to be Chris Lowe, said their goodbyes to the family and friends they'd never again meet on that timescale. A surprising number of their childhood friends had stayed in town, probably due to the city's seemingly magnetic effect on the Endowed. Billy Raven Bone was the first to arrive, followed by assorted other relatives. Benjamin came in disguise, with muffins. Lysander and Lauren Sage came together, with their daughter. Tancred Torsson and Emma Tolly came separately (but left together). Asa Pike came but left somewhat early, afraid of unleashing the Beast. Olivia Vertigo came to say goodbye to Charlie but never met Fidelio's eyes. Lord Dagbert Endless stayed away, which was probably for the best, though he hadn't done an accidental drowning in years. Three cats watched over all./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"Right before taking hold of the Time Twister, Fidelio asked Gabriel one last question./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""I know that it's already happened and we can't change it, but I can't understand why we gave the band such an odd name. It's a little unfortunate, really. I'm sure we could have thought of something better than 'the Pet Shop Boys'."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Well," said Gabriel, "'the Pet's Café Duo' just doesn't have the same ring to it."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""I'd never tried to write a song before, Fidelio," he said a week after his breakthrough. "I'd never tried to really sing, either. But I did for the funeral and something just…clicked. If Grandma Bone had known, she probably would've forced me into opera."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Olivia was in an opera, last I heard, but it took her years of practice to even carry a tune. It's a gift, Charlie, a real gift, to just start singing like that." /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""emHe/em had an amazing voice, the best I've ever heard. It was like a fallen angel's. Or like a half mermaid's, which I guess is what he was, though I never really understood that and never really wanted to. He almost never sang—said it reminded him of his mother."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""emYou/em need to move on from emhim/em, and emI/em need to move on from emher/em. And we both need jobs."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Maybe we could start a band."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""A band? Who would be in it?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Just us. I'd sing and write the lyrics and you'd play the instruments and write the music."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""That's not a bad idea, actually. Why not?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Why not?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"Just then, Gabriel Silk walked over. It was the Bone School reunion, so they shouldn't have been surprised. /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Did I hear one of you mention starting a band?" Gabriel asked./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Charlie just did. I think we should try it."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""I think you already have. Decades ago. You were quite famous for a bit, too. We'll have to find the Time Twister to take you back, but that shouldn't be too hard. In a way, we've already done it."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"Gabriel had always been Gabriel, thought Charlie. Gabriel had always been odd. This wasn't that out of the ordinary for him, really. Then again, it was patently bonkers. Perhaps the gerbils had been a bad sign all along./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Did you get that vest from Douglas Adams? Because that sounds like something out of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"In response, Gabriel showed them the music video for West End Girls. The singer, striding along in a coat which looked like a hand-me-down from Uncle Paton, looked uncannily familiar, as did the musician, who all three knew was capable of playing much more than synthesizers./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""You'll have to change your names, obviously. You'll also have to fabricate evidence for your existences, which might be more difficult, but it will work. We have proof."/p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;" * * * /p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"A few weeks later, Charlie Bone, soon to be Neil Tennant, and Fidelio Gunn, soon to be Chris Lowe, said their goodbyes to the family and friends they'd never again meet on that timescale. A surprising number of their childhood friends had stayed in town, probably due to the city's seemingly magnetic effect on the Endowed. Billy Raven Bone was the first to arrive, followed by assorted other relatives. Benjamin came in disguise, with muffins. Lysander and Lauren Sage came together, with their daughter. Tancred Torsson and Emma Tolly came separately (but left together). Asa Pike came but left somewhat early, afraid of unleashing the Beast. Olivia Vertigo came to say goodbye to Charlie but never met Fidelio's eyes. Lord Dagbert Endless stayed away, which was probably for the best, though he hadn't done an accidental drowning in years. Three cats watched over all./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;"Right before taking hold of the Time Twister, Fidelio asked Gabriel one last question./p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""I know that it's already happened and we can't change it, but I can't understand why we gave the band such an odd name. It's a little unfortunate, really. I'm sure we could have thought of something better than 'the Pet Shop Boys'."/p
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana;""Well," said Gabriel, "'the Pet's Café Duo' just doesn't have the same ring to it."/p
