Aqua Springs ~ ART GALLERY OPEN! ~ Geezerville

[Cuwen]

Amy walked into AS to help with any last-minute things that might need to be done for the exhibit tonight. Her eyes were just a little red, but she looked nice and professional. She just had to kind of put herself out of her head for a few hours and pretend she was someone else, someone who was happy and sociable.

Thistle wasn't at her side like normal. Amy had barely been able to get her out of the house, but she had needed Thistle to come with her because she didn't have anybody to watch her. Thistle was in the small pet house that was outside by the pet pool. When Amy had left her, she had just curled up on the pink couch without making a sound.

Now, Amy was in the lounge making sure the sound equipment was working.  

[Zephit]

Zephit had seemed to shuffle in an abnormal place for him. A lot more public and nice than the usual places. Still he glanced around hopefully, peeking his head around corners and looking through doorways for someone of interest. Anyone really, interesting or not.

"Hello? Anyone hanging around?" He shouted, ears perking up at the sound of his own voice. That was louder than he intended, but at least it would probably be effective.  

[Cuwen]

{{Crap... I forgot to change my own outfit. Will do after this post!}}

Amy heard someone's voice and looked up from her spot at adjusting the mic on the small platform. She saw a young man by the door to the lounge and Jessi hurrying up behind him to help.

Amy smiled at Jessi and held up her hand briefly to show that she had it. Jessi nodded and went back to behind the desk while Amy stepped down off of the platform and walked over to the young man. She nodded to him and smiled softly.

"Hello. Welcome to Aqua Springs. My name is Amethyst, though you can call me Amy if you want. Have you been here before?"  

[Zephit]

"A-ah~ Hello, Ameth... Amy. Nice to meet you." Zephit scratched at his cat ears to keep them from twitching nervously. When he came seeking people, it must have slipped his mind that he wasn't good with talking to people at all. Not really, but he'd try anyway.

"No, can't say I've been here before. I'm sure I would've met you," The first words came out normal, but his voice started trailing off, "Or someone... Anyone..."

"The name is Zephit... By the way," His eye fell to the floor sheepishly, "But call me whatever you want to."  

[Cuwen]

Amy's smile softened slightly at the young man's nervousness. She hoped he'd become comfortable here.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Zephit. And it's good to have new people here. You picked a great night to come. We have an art exhibit tonight right here in this lounge. We display the art that's been submitted before now, and people can also recite pieces of work they've written or composed while they're here tonight if they want."  

[Zephit]

"That sounds nice. I've never really been to something like this. I don't have to participate do I?" Zephit's fingers clawed nervously at the book he was holding, tucking it tighter under his arm. He wrote a lot of things, but they were all private things. No way he'd survive anyone else reading or hearing the words.

"So I'd like you to..." He paused, looking around the room to gather his thoughts. It was bad start to a request.

"Would you like to keep me?" There was a soft smile, which grew bit by bit until her realized his sentence ended short. "A-ah~ Keep me company that is. N-not keep me. That would be silly."  

[Cuwen]

{{lol!! So cute!}}

Amy quickly shook her head. "Oh no! No, you don't have to participate if you don't want to. You're more than welcome to, and we hold this about once a month. You can always participate in the future if you want. But no, you don't have to do anything if you don't want to tonight. You can just sit back and enjoy!"

When Zephit first asked if she wanted to keep him, her eyes widened and she was about to call security. What the hell?!

But then Zephit quickly corrected himself and she calmed down. In fact, as she thought about it, she nearly started laughing. Poor guy. He was so nervous, but he seemed very polite. He was trying. She only felt like laughing because of what she had originally thought he had meant.

"Of course I'll keep you company. When things pick up and more people come in, I'll have to spend time with them, too. You can always tag along, though, if you want. Hopefully you'll meet more people and get comfortable speaking with them, too. Everyone here is so nice and fun."

Amy looked over at the bar toward the back corner of the lounge. "Are you thirsty, Zephit? Wine is the only alcohol we serve, and it's only at exhibits. Other than that, we have just about every other drink you can imagine."  

[Zephit]

"Yes of course. I wouldn't expect a pretty woman to devote all her time to me." Zephit nodded his head in confirmation to his own statement, but then quickly started shaking it. She probably didn't want him just throwing words around like a fool. He was doing so terrible at this conversation thing.

"N-not that you are pretty. Well I mean not that I find you pretty. Well I mean I find you pretty of course, b-but..." Zephit couldn't help his ears twitching now, getting frustrated by the warmth flooding his face. He was just embarrassing himself now, maybe it was time to leave. There was consideration to just run away, but she hadn't yelled at him yet.

"Let's just get something to drink. I'd like milk~" At the thought of drinking milk his nervousness seemed to melt away, a quiet purr following his request.  

[Cuwen]

Amy's smile quickly faltered when Zephit called her pretty. Then, when he tried to correct himself, her smile lessened even more, though it wasn't his fault that it was a bad time for her to hear this.

Amy quickly shook her head. "No, no it's alright. I understand what you're trying to say, Zephit. I appreciate it, but I... I just got out of a serious relationship. Very recently. Like just last night. Hearing even a simple compliment like that just kinda gets to me right now, but that's got nothing to do with you. It's not your fault. So if it seems like I don't respond happily at some point tonight, please don't take it personally. I'm just... Well, yeah. So, milk it is?"

She started to walk toward the bar and slowly got a small smile back. "So, are you a neko? I have a couple of friends that are."

She ordered a milk from Tommy behind the bar.  

[Kits Rose]

((Change of plans, I won't be here for a few hours. Will be later on, though.))

Kits Rose

The Gallery

Artist: kieodd









Artist: I Love You Deerly (name changes frequently, so may not be the same sweatdrop )

 

[Zephit]

"O-oh... I'm sorry. If I say anything out of place, feel free to be upset. I'm kind of used to people being rough with me anyway." Zephit's ears drooped down to his head after learning about Amy's relationship problems. While he'd never officially been in a relationship himself, it was easy to understand losing someone important. He had a lot of friends and family, a long time ago. Both eyes, too.

He took a seat at the bar, still feeling pretty bad about what he said. It was easy for people to say it wasn't his fault, but he said it after all. Zephit sat his book down on the counter, and propped his cane up against his seat. It would at least be easier to think with something in his stomach.

"I guess that is what they call it. I used to just be a cat, once upon a time. Cats are much easier to talk to than people." He sounded a little sad, but he wasn't trying to be. There were just a lot of bad memories of the people who used to take care of him. If that is what you could call it.

 

[Cuwen]

{{Aww. That sucks, Kits. I might miss you tonight, then. sad Hopefully not, but if I do, hopefully see you another night!}}

Amy looked confused at what Zephit said at first. People were rough with him? But how? Sure he seemed timid, but his build made him seem capable of taking care of himself. She wouldn't think people would just go up to him and be rough.

But then when he said he used to be a cat, things started to make sense... oddly enough. She was really thankful she was so close with Kits and knew of someone who could switch between being a cat and being human.

"Yeah, one of my friends can switch between both human and cat as well. I don't know if the other neko I'm friends with can or not. We hadn't really talked about it before."

Amy frowned slightly when she thought of people treating Zephit poorly in the past, probably while he was a cat. "I can't stand it when people are mean to animals, either. Animals are pretty much defenseless compared to humans. There's no rhyme or reason for hurting a creature if they're not attacking you."

Amy looked down the bar and saw that some of Karrie's food had been placed at the end for the start of the exhibit. She frowned slightly as she saw this, and her throat caught painfully. She blinked her eyes rapidly a few times and then looked at Zephit with a somewhat forced small smile.

"There's some food here now if you'd like some to go along with your milk. We have great food here..."

Almost as if on cue, Tommy brought the glass of milk over to Zephit and sat it down in front of him with a friendly smile.  

[Zephit]

"Thanks." Zephit tried to pep himself up a little, accepting the milk with both hands. There was a smile on his face, wide and toothy, before he took a long drink. It felt weird to be served by someone else, person to person, but it was something he thought he could get used to.

"You don't have to worry about me, Amy. People can treat me however they want, I don't really feel like I have the right to stop them. Besides, I've still got a good eye, so sometimes I see danger coming." He was trying to tell Amy a joke, to cheer her up. Maybe it didn't come out that way, but that was his intent. Zephit wasn't exactly blind to the hints of emotion in her actions.

"You should sit with me and relax for a bit. You are supposed to be enjoying this too, right? For today you should be like me." He turned in his seat, still cupping his drink with both hands. Zephit gave a wide, closed-eye smile to Amy. His tail swished back and forward in thought, another nervous habit of his.

"I try not to think about yesterday, when today is being enjoyable." He nodded at his own comment, staring at Amy with hope she'd agree.  

[Cuwen]

Amy frowned slightly. "Zephit, don't say or believe that, please. No one has a right to treat you however they want. No one should do that to anyone. It'd be a lot better if everyone treated everyone else with respect, how they wanted to be treated themselves. That might sound completely corny, but it's true. They don't call it the Golden Rule for nothing."

When Zephit smiled that wide, closed-eye grin, she couldn't help but not smile slightly as well. It was infectious. She also sat down on the stool next to him at the bar.

"You make some good points about trying to just relax and only focus on today... But that is very hard. I am definitely trying not to let my emotions affect tonight, though. It is nice meeting you, and I'm enjoying talking with you. Just please don't take it personally if I'm not completely joyful. Something... Something as long and serious as what I just got out of yesterday takes a long time to get over. It will just take time."

She sighed softly and smiled at Zephit. "So, what brings you here, Zephit? Do you live here in town?"  

[Zephit]

"I don't really live anywhere. I just kind of wander around either by ear or by nose. Occasionally by heart, when I'm feeling bold." Zephit smiled again, honest and small. Amy was the nicest person he'd ever remembered meeting, and it was getting easier to talk to her. Maybe he'd have to visit here a few more times, to see her.

"Never really thought about living anywhere again. A whole place to myself would be kind of lonely, I think. I'd rather wander the streets than be lonely all the time by myself." Zephit took another drink of his milk, swishing his tail some more. Part of him felt like he was rambling about it, but it was rare to have someone to listen to him. He was starting to like it.

"What about you, Amy? Tell me about yourself." His ears perked up, waiting to learn all about his new friend.