Song: Lemon Boy by Cavetown.

(With some slight adjustments to the lyrics to avoid as much repeating and make it more accurate to characters in certain places)

Characters:

Garvin, Therin/Rinny, Clancy/Mouse, and Fredenand/Ford.

Context:

How does this song make sense at all with these characters? …

Basically, when Jamie gets back, he eventually asks about Garvin because, well– He’s heard that Garvin’s the reason the group’s together. Which, okay, he can understand Mouse and Ford deciding to help. He can understand how those two ended up in the group. Garvin doesn’t make as much sense to him. So, after Garvin’s already left, he asks.

Admittedly, the timeline doesn’t change up too much, at least not age wise, but I’ll still give you approximate ages. When I give you Garvin’s age, keep in mind that he doesn’t actually know what his age is.

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*When Garvin and Rinny met, it was because Garvin spotted him walking around the city that he was currently in and decided to talk to him. In retaliation, Rinny first tried to walk away from Garvin, who only continued on and decided to try and pickpocket Rinny’s necklace that Jamyron had given him. Which had been successful, kind of. Rinny noticed quicker than most did, because the necklace was incredibly important to him and he tended to fidget with it often, and was able to call Garvin out in time that the two ended up talking instead, and Garvin promises Rinny to help find Jamie. That’s not where we are in the timeline though. Where we are in the timeline is while Jamie’s asking Rinny about Garvin.*

Rinny (12), recounting how he met Garvin; “There once was a bittersweet man and they called him, "Lemon Boy". He was growing in my garden and I pulled him out by his hair like a weed… And like weeds do, he only came and grew back again. So, I figured this time I might as well let him be…”

*Now we shift in the timeline, to a few days after having met Garvin, while Rinny is getting closer to him. They had just recently hitched a ride on a train Garvin’s very cheap way. Rinny very quickly got attached to Garvin, seeing him as an older brother figure.*

Rinny (12), to himself, smiling almost smugly; “Lemon Boy and me started to get along together. I helped him plant his seeds, and we'd mow the lawn in bad weather… It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him… So, I got myself a citrus friend.”

*Shift up the timeline back to the conversation between Jamie and Rinny about Garvin. Mouse ends up hearing them talking about Garvin and decides to put in his own experience with him.*

Mouse (13), joining the conversation about Garvin; “But soon his bittersweet started to rub off on me… You'd think smelling like lemon zest would be pretty neat. I found out that my father was more of the savory type, and he wasn't too keen on compromising with a nice lemon pie…”

*Shift the timeline back to after Mouse has joined the group. After a small moment where Garvin intimidated him, Mouse got close to all three in the group. Most of the time though, he followed Rinny, who mostly followed Garvin.*

Rinny (12) and Mouse (13), following Garvin down the street, speaking with each other about said shared friend; “So Lemon Boy and us, we just gotta get along together. I helped him plant his seeds, and we'll mow the lawn in bad weather… It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him… So, we got ourselves some citrus friends.”

*Shift the timeline up to around the same time that Achilles Come Down would’ve taken place, when the group (minus Garvin himself) got extremely concerned about Garvin.*

Mouse (13), referring to how Garvin can seem to stick around only due to the stable food source; “But what if I run out of fertilizer?”

Rinny (12), referring to how Garvin has mentioned in the past to him that as soon as Jamie’s found/back then there’s no reason for him to be there; “What if the clouds run out of rain?”

Ford (14), started smug and mocking before actually being concerned, first referring to how inconsistent/how big of a jerk/how prideful Garvin is and then referring to if they run out of ways to help (in multiple different ways); “What if Lemon Boy won't grow any longer?... What if beaches dry of sugar cane?”

*Shift the timeline to when Garvin left the group. Basically, how he’s doing at the time of the conversation with Rinny, Jamie, and Mouse.*

Garvin (16), staring at the stars from a roof in a whole different city, definitely not doing well; “Well the whales start to beach themselves, and tortoise shells tear away from their spines, it happens all the time… It happens all the time…”

*Shift the timeline to a time the group was all together, having one of their outings and they’re all following Garvin, who’s a bit ahead of them. Usually, he’d be talking to at least one of them but this time he’s rather quiet. So, the three take this time to make little promises amongst themselves.*

Ford (14), surprisingly being the first to speak, trying to mumble it to himself; “Lemon Boy and I, we're gonna live forever.”

Rinny (12), hearing Ford and saying his own little promise; “Like Snufkin and Little My, we'll get around wherever.”

Ford (14) and Rinny (12) looking at each other, repeating the first promise Ford had said to each other; “Lemon Boy and I, we're gonna live forever.”

Rinny (12), Mouse (13), and Ford (14), repeating Rinny’s promise to each other; “Like Snufkin and Little My, we'll get around wherever.”

*Shift the timeline back to the conversation Jamie, Rinny, and Mouse are having about Garvin. Ford overhears them and decides to share his own experience with him.*

Ford (14), joining the conversation; “It's actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him… 'Cause we were the bitterest boys in town. Yeah, we were the bitterest guys around…”

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And that’s it. We don’t get another citrus friend because Garvin left, haha…