Season 2 - Episode 67: Cheesy Moments

## Synopsis

Bjorn, Sammie, and Oliver arrive back in Thornvale after spending some time away from the island. They meet up with Stanley, Miguel, and Henry at the Fort and catch up about their Christmas breaks. Henry gives Bjorn and Sammie their Christmas gifts and Sammie brings cheese for everyone. Bjorn checks in on Ben and Masa and finds that Masa's condition is stable. Ben and Bjorn play some Halo together. After they've caught up, Stanley gets an email saying there are two teenagers in the hospital crying themselves to death that the need to investigate.

## Episode Description

After a relaxing (?) winter break, the team is back together in the newly-refurbished Fort Lagarto.

## Key Events

* Sammie finds out from Helena that Jadis was definitely not a fae, but she is old enough she may have known some, she guesses the Empty Man may even be one.
* Stanley is notified that there are two teenagers crying themselves to death in the hospital that Bjorn, Henry, and Sammie should investigate.

## Summary

Although recorded much earlier, the events of The Story of the Spoon, The Story of the Sheep, and The Story of the Footprints take place directly before this arc and are referenced in this episode.

Bjorn arrives back at the Fort to check in on everyone after going home for Christmas. He walks into the kitchen to find Stanley sitting at the table wearing a pair of reading glasses as he does some research on his laptop. Bjorn asks how his Christmas break was and Stanley says that James came to stay for a few days and spent time with them and Henry. Stanley asks how Bjorn's break was and he briefly explains how they found a baby bigfoot and returned him to his mom. Stanley tells Bjorn that Henry has something for him and Bjorn heads down the hall.

Bjorn walks down and greets Henry, saying Stanley told him to come down. Henry rummages through his room and then presents Bjorn with a small box haphazardly wrapped in camo paper. Bjorn opens the box to find a pair of what looks like normal sunglasses. Henry urges him to try them on and when Bjorn does so he can tell the glasses give him thermal vision. Bjorn thanks him and gives him a pat on the shoulder before sheepishly admitting he didn't get any gifts for anyone back here. Henry then tells Bjorn about his run in with the Yule Lad Spoon-Licker and Bjorn says he saw a baby bigfoot.

Speaking of monster encounters, Bjorn tells Henry what he's learned about how none of the monsters they've fought have come from Rifts, they've all been things that have already existed here. Henry is intrigued by this but neither have any ideas on what it could mean. Henry gripes about not finding any information the Empty Man and Bjorn tries to encourage him that they'll find something soon.

On the flight back from England, Sammie gets an email from her dad. All it says is 'Merry Christmas.' Sammie deletes the email. Oliver notices this and after Sammie presses him further, Oliver admits that it's good he at least sent something. Sammie says she noticed when they were at his family's house that his dad wasn't there or talked about at all. Oliver tells Sammie that he was always an imaginative kid, but when he was 9 his dad disappeared. He didn't understand why he was gone so he convinced himself it had to have been a monster that took him away. So he started researching cryptids and venturing out into the woods around his house. Then, when he was 19, he accidentally found his dad in a bar. There was no supernatural force that took him, he just left. And he's never sent an email or tried to be involved.

Sammie apologizes and Oliver brushes it off, saying it was a long time ago. He adds that he should thank him if he ever sees him again as he did sort of decide which way his life would go. Oliver then asks if Sammie has talked to her dad lately and Sammie admits she hasn't seen him since everything that happened with the hydra at the Fort and that she doesn't have a desire to speak with. Oliver says that he understand and they toast to terrible dads. Sammie then says she's excited to tell the rest of the crew that she saw a sheep and snow. Oliver laughs and sarcastically comments that those were definitely the most exciting things they saw in England.

Henry catches Bjorn up to speed on how the move went, that Ben, Salem, and Masa are all here too. Bjorn goes to check on Ben and knocks on his door. Ben says his Christmas break was uneventful and then asks if Stanley got mad at Bjorn for using his liquor during what happened with Masa. Bjorn assures him that everything was fine, he just paid back Stanley with more than what he took. He asks Ben how Masa is doing and Ben says Masa is totally fine. Ben swings the door open wider and Bjorn sees Masa looking at him sleepily from a large dog crate. Masa looks sleepy and says he's been cold but otherwise okay. Bjorn comments that Masa has been letting him see him more and Masa calls him "friend." They chat for a bit before Masa grabs a blanket and disappears back into his crate. Ben asks Bjorn if he wants to play some Halo and they sit down together for a match.

The next day, Sammie calls Helena to see how she's doing. Helena says she's doing fine and says that Anthony went back to 'wherever he goes back to.' Helena says she's back on the island and says her and Oliver can come visit and Sammie agrees. Helena is renting a house on the water on West Thornvale. When they arrive, Helena seems alright just tired. She invites them in and starts to make them tea.

Helena asks how Sammie is doing after everything with Jadis and Sammie admits she's still getting used to the 'quiet' in her mind. Sammie asks Helena about Jadis and whether she's human or fae. Helena says that Jadis was human but Sammie explains that the last thing she did was try to offer her a deal for information with the Empty Man. Helena says that Jadis was very old and Celtic, that maybe she knew a fae. She says to her understanding, fae aren't from the Rifts they're either from here or somewhere else. Sammie asks if the Empty Man could be a fae and gives a short explanation and Helena says it sounds like the Empty Man could be a fae and that they should be careful as the fae are extremely powerful.

Oliver goes to meet with a rich friend of his and Sammie heads to the Fort to catch up. She has brought a large wheel of sheep cheese from Oliver's family farm to share with the crew. She walks into the kitchen to find Miguel sitting at the table. She puts the wheel of cheese down and tells him 'merry christmas.' Miguel asks how her break was and Sammie tells him a little bit about what happened with the pixies. Stanley walks in and is very excited that Sammie brought cheese. He pulls out some meat and crackers and starts to fix them all a snack. It's not long until Henry walks in and joins them. Seeing Sammie is back, he goes back to his room to get something for her. When he returns, he's holding a small package with colorful starburst wrapping paper. Sammie says thank you and then tells him she brought cheese.

Bjorn walks into the kitchen as Sammie is opening her gift from Henry. Bjorn asks how her break was and Sammie says she saw snow and sheep. Miguel adds that she also saw pixies. Bjorn notes that they all saw something weird on their break then and Stanley and Miguel turn to look at Henry - who he hadn't told about the Yule Lad. Sammie opens her gift and finds a box of blue hair dye. She thanks Henry and he says he got some help from River picking it out.

They all hear a beeping from nearby and walk down the hall to the situation room. Stanley has an email from someone that says two teenagers at the local hospital are crying themselves to death - crying so much they're getting dehydrated. His contact at the hospital says they should look into it. Bjorn says he guesses vacation is over then.

## List of Appearances

* Bjorn Olafson
* Stanley Marlowe
* Henry Marlowe
* Sammie Overbrook
* Oliver Allen Evans
* Ben Lasky
* Masa
* Helena Overbrook

## Trivia

This is the FIRST episode in the entire show where there was not a single roll made.