"Well, Quinn," Andrew manages, "I need to go back home. And I think my brother is pissed at me. Do you live in the Village, or..."

"Umm.. no, I don't really live here at all." Quinn looks down at a piece of pink moss in their hands, tearing it into strips. "My parents have decided to live here a week, try it out, but given what it's like I don't think-"

"Oh, trust me, they'll decide to stay." Andrew tries to smile, but it doesn't come out right- too crooked, too angry. "They always do."

"Oh- um, okay." Quinn looks up. "So, uh, what's the Village like, anyway?"

"Well..." Andrew scratches his head. "There's a lot of rules, and some of them are really weird- like, you can't go outside alone, no singing after midnight and before 8- who actually wants to sing that late anyway? But then there's also boring normal ones or whatever. There's a Mayor that makes laws and stuff, but they aren't elected, they're just... there, I guess. Sometimes the old Mayor disappears and we get a new one, but I don't really get how?" He shrugs. "Depending on how close you are to the mayor, which is really just luck, you get a house closer or farther from town. The houses are all the same," he rushes when Quinn makes a face, "the farther ones are just a less convenient walk to the shops."

"So, do you move every time there's a new mayor?" Quinn inquires. "Isn't that a pain?"

"Not really." Andrew shrugs. "We're not allowed to have a bunch of stuff anyway, and we're kinda used to it." He starts walking down the trail. "C'mon, we should be back soon and I need to talk to my brother."

"So, what are the people like? Forget the structure, I guess I'll learn that." Quinn skips quickly to catch up with him. "How do people act?"

"Well..." Andrew thinks for a moment. "I guess in some ways it's better than other places. Nobody hates you for looking different- although it might take some time for people to get used to purple people- and they don't really care who you date. But..." He pauses.

"What? What is it?" Quinn jumps forward. "C'mon, I can handle it."

"They're pretty hard-line on gender. If you're born a girl, you're a girl, boy a boy, and I don't even want to think about what it's like being intersex." Andrew shudders. "You, uh, know what I mean, right? And what are your pronouns, anyway?"

"Oh! Thanks. Well, I guess I'd prefer they, but if they're gonna have a problem with that I'll use she around most." Quinn shrugs, lifting their hands up in slight defeat. "What do you use?"

"Uh..." Andrew twists the earring in his left ear. "He, I guess."

"Alright, happy to meet you."