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Pendour really did have a bad habit of loosing track of time. She’d meant to come up and talk to Caedus again a day or two after they’d first met, but in the end she’d ended up getting distracted by one little thing and then another. It was weeks before she made her way back up the hill to the dome at the edge of town.

They had back a nice three weeks, at least. The weather was turning crisp and cozy, the leaves were changing, cute little pumpkins were showing up in all the garden shops, and best of all?

The little crystal worked like a charm. Pendour hadn’t had a single nightmare.

She was refreshed as she walked up to the dome, certainly not half-asleep this time around. She hadn’t forgotten her promises, either. There was a canvas bag slung over her shoulder, one that had a cute cactus print on the fabric and all sorts of lovely helpful things inside.

She stood outside of the barrier for a while, not quite sure what to do.

Eventually, she said, “Um, hi?”

Pendour didn't mind waiting the few extra seconds. She went back to looking at the barrier, and exploring the strange surface of it with her fingertips, but when Caedus finally came through it, she smiled wide.

She did blink, though, when she saw how rushed he looked. "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your meal, or something," she said. "You can go back to that, if you want. I can wait."

While he was out here, though, she reached into the bag she'd brought and drew out a smaller pouch, one that was made of iridescent blue fabric and just big enough to hold Caedus's little crystal.

"This thing is magical, by the way," she said, holding it out to him. "I've been sleeping like a stone. No more bad dreams, and it should have lots of energy for you." She shifted a little, giving him a peek inside her bag. There were books there, and a laptop. "And I brought some other things for you, if you have time."

"Oh, a muffin sounds lovely as lovely," said Pendour, her soft smile widening slightly. Since it didn't seem like Caedus was in a rush or something, Pendour slowly lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the ground, making sure that her skirts were there between her legs and the dying ground. "A breakfast picnic," she murmured, half to herself. "I like that."

While he did some things she didn't quite understand with the crystal, Pendour started to unpack her little bag.

"The books are for you to keep, and to read when you get the chance," she told him as she pulled them out. "This one's about war trauma specifically. It's a little dense, but it talks about displacement, and captivity, some of the things that you and your people have been through that are hardest to endure, but it talks about how to endure them, about how to live after." Her fingers were gentle as she placed it in the grass at Caedus's feet. "This one's more about general mental health. It's written self-help style, and I liked the tips in it."

She laid a thinner book on top of the first one, then pulled out here laptop, and a phone, and she started to work on getting it all connected to the hotspot.

"For now, though, I thought I could show you something that's calming, but also, um, maybe a little fun?"

While Caedus went to get food, Pendour kept tapping away at the electronics. He wasn't gone for very long at all, but it was long enough to get everything pulled up. When Caedus came back, all there was to do was to take the muffin, gesture for him to sit, and press play.

"These videos do help me a lot," she told him as the introductory music began to play. "For winding down, and finding calm, but also with my art, sometimes."

The title, The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, flashed across the screen. When Bob Ross appeared, he wore a smile that was soft but warm, much like the one that spread across Pendour's face as she watched him. He gently described the colors and tools that he was going to use for his project, and then began to paint a sky.

Pendour unwrapped her muffin as the show settled into a rhythm that was familiar to her. She took a bite, and her eyes widened. "Oh, these are really good," she murmured.

"He was a soldier, you know," said Pendour, a few minutes later, when Bob was painting some highlights on some mountains. She was invested in the episode, too, and she didn't feel any rush to get words out. "Saw how awful it was. He chose to change his life, to spread peace and creativity through art instead."

Pendour took another bite of muffin before she added, "I think that's what I find most inspiring about him, his philosophy. He reminds me that art is supposed to make people happy."

For Pendour, art and design was work, and work was stressful, sometimes, so it was good to have that reminder.

"So my job is being a graphic designer, which is, um, art, but very different from this?" She leaned back, trying to think of a way to describe it to an alien who was new to these concepts. "It's all on the computer, lots of editing images. I like painting more, I think. I like mixing the colors together, seeing it come alive like this." She nodded at the screen.

That was the art that made her happiest.

Like a miracle, the soft blobs and shapes that had been on the canvas at first resolved themselves into a sky and a lake and mountains with a few extra paint strokes. Pendour hardly minded that most of Caedus's attention was on the video. Instead, she smiled a little wider at the fact that she'd brought something he seemed to enjoy.

"He did," she told Caedus with a small nod. "He reached a lot of people."

As he moved on to the details, Pendour kept as close of an eye as she could on his paintbrush, watching the effortless way he made trees and branches look smooth as smooth and wondering if she should try oil paints, some more.

"I have a lot of materials we could play around with if you want to try out art, and creating. Watercolors, a little paint like this, some leftover clay. I think we could make something nice, and make ourselves happy."

Pendour paused, and squinted at the laptop screen. "Um, if you're able to come into town? I don't know if I can bring it all out here."

Pendour's easy smile broke into a frown when Caedus started rubbing at his skin.

"It might be easier if you have a disguise, but that's only if you want," she said. "You can walk down the street like that, and I'll talk to anyone who looks at you like you don't belong."

Yes, Pendour might curl up and shy away from anyone who stared at her eye for too long, but it was easier for her, coming to the defense of her friends.

She wiggled the mouse on her laptop and looked at the clock on the bottom of the screen before she exhaled softly and said, "Although it can't be today. I should probably get some work done once this episode's over." That seemed like it was going to be soon. Bob was now just adding a few final tree friends, and clouds, and flowers.

"But, that's okay, isn't it?" she said, soft as soft, the smile returning. "That just means I'll have a good reason to see you again."

It was true that glamours were a normal part of life for a lot of people who Pendour knew. Hiding parts of your identity kept things simpler and kept people safer. It wasn't some awful thing.

She just didn't want to pressure Caedus into using some kind of disguise technology like it was the only option. He said it was fine, though, maybe even fun, and so Pendour nodded.

The episode they were watching finished. With a few final strokes on the canvas, the painting was done, and Pendour shut her laptop as the outro music played, before YouTube's autoplay could kick in and they found they found themselves sucked into another video while her work continued to not get done.

"Well, I'll go to the art store in the meantime, then," she said. "Make sure we have lots of colors and lovely things to play with."

She was excited the to think about it, even as she loaded her computer and phone into her bag.

"See you then, all right?" was her goodbye, and with a lot of waving and glancing back, she made her way down the hill.