Scientific Hooliganism

"But, Raimundo, it is very important!"

"I reckon that ain't the bit he's confused on, partner," says the tallest kid, who has a thick Texan drawl to match his cowboy hat. "He's probably wonderin' more about how we got here."

"Ah!" The bald kid rummages inside his robe before withdrawing a bracelet - one of those chunky ones Grace vaguely remembers seeing back on Earth in shopping mall outlets, only those were usually made of cheap plastic and this one's made of metal with swirling, intricate patterns etched into its surface. "The Bestie Bangle!"

"With the power to teleport its user to the matching Bangle, no matter where it is," adds the only girl of the group. "And I guess the other one is here? Somehow?"

"That's the part I don't get," Grace says. "I mean, you kids realize we're sixteen light-years away from Earth, right?"

Bafflingly, none of the kids seem bothered by this.

"You know how light-years work, right?" he tries next. He doesn't want to scare them, but he needs to know if they understand how serious the situation is.

"Yes," Omi says. "They go to infinity and beyond."

"He's talkin' about the astronomical term, Omi," says Clay. "Not the cartoon character."

"Oh. What is the difference?"

"Uh. Well. Basically, he's sayin' it takes 16 years for light from...wherever we are to make it back home to Earth. And light moves super fast - you know the Denshi Bunny? That fast."

"Ah." Omi nods. "I see. Then we are very far from home indeed."

Still no freaking out. Are they in shock? Denial? Or are these kids just...completely okay with this?

"Do you have a way to get back home?" he asks next, scratching the stubble on his lower cheek. It's kind of a silly question but, well. They'd gotten here somehow.

"Sure," Raimundo says, shrugging. "It'll be easy. We figured something like this could happen, so we brought the Golden Tiger Claws." He turns to Kimiko. "Kimiko, you wanna show him?"

She stares at him. "Uh," she says. "I thought Clay had them."

The cowboy puts his hands up defensively. "Don't look at me!" he says. "I gave 'em to Omi!"

The three older kids look as one to Omi.

"Oh, yes. One moment." Omi sticks one hand into the other arm's sleeve and rummages around, tongue poking out in concentration. After a moment he withdraws an oversized comb, frowns at it, and sets it down on the table. The comb is followed a minute later by a yo-yo, then a small silver blanket, then a...stick of ice?

"Omi?" Raimundo says as the smaller boy's movements become more and more frantic with each item withdrawn from his sleeve.

"Erm," Omi says, and glances up sheepishly at his friends. He gulps. "I must have...set them down before we left."