Jack sat on the couch in his living room, half-listening to the round-faced girl on his left. She had been talking for some time, though about what Jack could not say. He was only waiting for a gap in the conversation. Petunia sat in the reclining chair, listening attentively. In the corner of the room, soft music emanated from a large electric screen, along with some vague geometric patterns representing the progression of a particular playlist, one the round-faced girl had chosen.
Jack eyes alighted on a comic book resting in a small, complicated display to his right. Picking it up, he found the pages of the comic to be covered in a translucent black slip, giving the impression that the viewer was wearing sunglasses. There was a small price sticker in the corner. Hmm, thought Jack, maybe I could afford this after all.
Jack sensed an interruption in the flow of speech and decided that he would speak.
"Uh, yes..." he began, his voice slightly and inexplicably slurred, "I just had two questions, or things, I guess, to say. The first is, that I think it's amazing that you have music from the battle with Giyga - "
"Oh yeah, Giygas!" interrupted Petunia excitedly.
"Yes, from the final battle with Giygas," finished Jack, pointing at the screen.
"Oh, that's really nothing," said the round-faced girl.
"The second thing is this. I like this." Jack held up the darkened comic book.
The girl's face widened into a smile. She slid over on the couch and nestled up against Jack's arm affectionately, where she pulled out a handful of photographs and began holding them up for the pair to examine. Great, thought Jack awkwardly. He'd been afraid of this. Somehow he'd led this girl on unintentionally. He'd have to put a stop to it.
