Tommy asked Jschlatt to go for a walk after their meal, back to the spot that they first met. Schlatt had his hand on the boy's shoulder as they slowly walked there, talking about the things they saw and admiring nature. They stopped at one tree. "Isn't it refreshing to see the trees with no leaves?" Schlatt sighed, observing a bare, scrawny tree. Tommy tilted his head, "I wouldn't say that. It looks kind of... dead." Tommy commented. Schlatt nodded his head understandably, "Maybe, but I like to think of it like this: the tree shrugs off the old leaves that were holding it back and deadening it. The tree eventually grows its leaves back, and it continues to the cycle until it does eventually die," he looked at Tommy, "I think humans can learn from trees too, shrugging off the things that hold us back and growing over time." Tommy nodded thoughtfully, partly understanding, partly confused.

They continued to walk, following the stream up to their spot. "Ah, here it is," Schlatt announced, walking through the bushes and looking at the tree he had seen Tommy for the first time. They both grinned at each other before they seemed to almost skip out of their ecstasy over to the tree. They leaned against it, resting after their journey. A burdened but soft breeze swirled around them and brushed past the fingers of the trees. The stream nearby quietly lulled them as a snow-capped mountain watched them from its spot over the heads of empty trees.

Jschlatt spoke, gently breaking the quiet, "I wanted to apologize-" he stopped when Tommy huffed loudly. "Not you too!" Tommy yelled, startling Schlatt for a moment. The businessman then turned his face into a puzzled smirk as Tommy continued, "Everyone has been apologizing the heck out of me lately," he made eye contact with the man, "It gets frustrating." Schlatt nodded his head, knowing well what he meant, "That's understandable."

Tommy explained his struggle, "Y'know..." Schlatt started, looking up to the sky through the branches of the tree, "As a businessman, it doesn't matter who's at fault, if it's me or the client who makes a mistake, I always need to convince them it's not their fault, but at the same time hint that they are completely wrong to make them feel bad and buy into whatever I'm trying to sell. I convince them it's not their fault, even if it is, and use some crappy evidence or an opinion that 'proves' it, but drop little bits of info that makes them in the wrong." Jschlatt continued, in detail, his advice. Tommy listened, nodding his head whenever he agreed with something the man said. "But here's the thing," Schlatt said, looking down at the boy casually, "I don't want you to do that unless you're going to be someone like me." Tommy looked perplexed, so Schlatt finished, "I want you to be genuine, no matter what." The young blonde nodded his head slowly, processing the words.

~~~~~

The sun was setting on another day, but the calming way the birds sang from their place under the clouds illuminated by the many colors from the sky did nothing to soothe Wil's mind. He was getting worried; Tommy and Schlatt still weren't back. What if something happened? Wilbur rushed out of his room and headed straight for the front door, tugging on a coat he had snatched along the way. He swung the door open to hear Tommy's laughter. Schlatt and the boy turned their heads to see Wilbur, smiles slowly turning into concern when they saw his face.

"Wil, is everything alright?" Tommy asked. Wilbur just pulled him into a hug, crying from relief. "Yeah, Tommy. I'm good." Schlatt chuckled, following them into the house after their greeting. Philza and Techno had come a bit slow to the door after seeing Wilbur's panicky mood, but they found nothing wrong with anyone. They set up another game of cards, playing all through the night and straight into the morning, making jokes and laughing at the stupidest things.

~~~~~

Helloo. I wanted to thank you for reading this; I really rushed the ending, so I'm glad that you stuck through it. The advice that Jschlatt gave Tommy was useless to the story since it never came up again. I think I need to start on a new story so, finishing this will hopefully be a good thing. I love you all, and thank you once again for reading <3 :))))