Sorbet's death had hit the Glades as a whole particularly hard, as every death in the past had hit them with full force. Sorbet's death, however, had been a special case. It had been so sudden, and violent, and he had made a connection so strong with Medusa by that point... she had fallen apart. In fact, his death had led to her own sort of "death," in the end, although she had returned much more quickly. Albeit, not exactly in a great state.  She seemed so disoriented, as if she was barely able to remember where she had come from, or who her friends were. In fact, he had to wonder if Medusa even remembered who Sorbet was. He desperately hoped that she did, considering how close the two of them had been. He couldn't imagine Sorbet triumphantly – or rather, confusedly – returning, only to find out that the woman he had seen as a mother no longer remembered him. Hopefully, though, by the time she showed up on the scene, her head would be in a bit of a better place... Rhinestone could wish, anyways. If not, that meant he would have yet another person whose mental wellbeing he'd have to put on his own shoulders. Not that he ever regretted caring for all those around him, it just... weighed heavily on him, at times. He hoped that he didn't show it too much, considering he didn't want anyone else feeling guilty about putting their baggage onto him.

The sound of Sorbet's voice was what immediately drew Rhinestone excitedly over, relieved and overjoyed that the other had indeed returned. However, the slightly strange lilt to the other's words caused Rhine to move even faster, worried that the gladiator was still in an injured state. When the serval reached the place on the beach where Sorbet was, he found himself at a loss for words. Medusa had recently had a similar form change, but... at least she had shifted into something that was vaguely like her own body. In the case of Sorbet... it was just so wildly different that the legate couldn't help but just stare for a couple of seconds. Once he was able to speak once again, Rhinestone moved in a bit closer, questioning in a breathless tone, "You... Sorbet, that's you? You look so... different. I'm so glad to have you back, though. I'm sure Quasar and Medusa and everybody else will be so glad, I'm just... wow. Medusa recently changed forms too, but nothing quite so... drastic." Not that Rhine really thought that Sorbet's new form had been an intentional choice on the other male's part. After all, the feline himself hadn't had any input on what he came back as when he had died and taken up a new form. If he had, he certainly wouldn't have chosen his current blue serval body – not that he disliked it, the messed up eyes were just a bit of an inconvenience for daily life.

From a distance, Sorbet’s return looked like nothing out of the ordinary. Plenty of odd creatures joined the Palm Glades over the months Quasar’d patrolled the border—including an ice cream man. Rhinestonestar and Medusa looked to have the whole thing covered, so his presence wasn’t actually necessary… but his paws took him there, anyway. Probably because he didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts, being all moody and sad ever since Sorbet died disappeared under the waves.

However, as he ventured closer, he heard Sorbet’s name being spoken. His yellow ears perked forward, and his walk quickened into a trot. His crush friend returned? Came in another body, like Rhinestonestar had?

Accelerating to a sprint, the vaporwave mess exploded past the dry underbrush. His blue eyes squinted—the cold wind brought tears to them, somehow—and he could barely see his paws. Yet he ran and leaped past every obstacle in his path without crunching a branch or tripping over a stray rock. He raced so fast, his paws didn’t even feel the ground beneath them.

To an observer, Quasar wasn’t running at all. His paws had metaphorical wings, allowing him to run a few inches above the ground at any point.

Quasar attempted to tackle Sorbet, regardless of the maned wolf’s lankier height. So what, right, Quasar was a muscular dog, and he’d fought bigger opponents in the raids.

“Don’t you ever die again. Ever.” A growl rumbled in the back of his throat. He couldn’t lose Sorbet like—BRAIN GLITCH—the others.

Quasar’s growl broke in his throat. He understood the lanky gladiator hadn’t intended to die, of all things, and why was he looking so apologetic? Right. Because the pastel rainbow’d tackled and growled in his face. Oops. He licked his teeth.

When Sorbet touched their noses together, the centurion, eyes widening, froze. His face burned, and a fwoosh of air puffed out his fur. Quasar, still oblivious to his haywire new power, grinned like a goofball.

“Oh, yeah, you can get up now.” The sparkledoggo remembered the nonsense he’d done and scrambled off Sorbet. His paws levitated a good centimeter off the ground, but why would he notice a trivial thing like that? If his paws didn’t feel the ground, it was because his brain was occupied with dumb sappy shit.

“Sorry for tackling you and all. But I’m glad you’re alright. I was really worried, you know, after you… disappeared.”

He glanced behind him to Rhinestonestar and Medusa, remembering them for the first time in at least a minute. “Yeah! We’re all glad you’re safe.” He nearly bit his tongue to avoid mentioning Medusa’s breakdown; it seemed like a thing for her to tell Sorbet, not for him to blurt out the first time he saw Sorbet alive. “You, uh, doing okay? How’d you even… you know… do the musical bodies thing?”