Aqua Springs ~ ART GALLERY OPEN! ~ Geezerville

[Cuwen]

One of the staff of the pet area heard the bell and came over to greet the neko. She wondered if he was a friend of Kits'.

"Hello, sir. Welcome to Aqua Springs' pet spa. How can I help you today?"  

[Zephit]

"Did Amy come by and check in any pets?" Zephit asked, politely. "I'm trying to find her, since she wasn't home when I got there."  

[Cuwen]

The staff member tilted her head to the side in slight confusion. He just must have been a friend of Amy's that had stopped by her house to visit.

"Yes, Amy came by and dropped off Thistle and Phoenix. They're still here, actually. Well, Phoenix is. Thistle followed Amy outside. I am sure Amy went to the gardens. She always goes there."  

[Zephit]

"Thanks, lady." Zephit smiled a feline smile, then dug into one of the pouches on his belt. He had tucked something away there that he'd forgotten about. Carefully he pulled out a small ball of white yarn, and placed it on the counter. "Could you give that to Phoenix for me? He'll know who it is from."

Then he headed off to the gardens. He remembered Amy showing him the way to get around, so he returned to that place they sat before. Luckily he saw her there, laying down on one of them. He fought the urge to shout out to her, instead walking over quietly and taking one of her hands in his.

"A-are you alright?" He asked her, nervously squeezing her hand. "I haven't seen you since last night. S-sorry for skipping out on dinner."  

[Cuwen]

{{Aww!!! Yarn for Phoenix. That's so sweet of Zephit! XD}}

The woman took the ball of yarn, her smile brightening, and nodded. "Sure thing, sir."

When he was gone, she sniffed the yarn slightly because she thought she had smelled something coming off of it. Indeed she had. Catnip was on the ball of yarn! How clever. Phoenix would love this.

In the gardens, Amy turned her head to the side when someone grasped her hand, not even jumping in surprise. She smiled when she saw it was Zephit, though the smile did not reach her eyes at all. She was very relieved to see him.

When she spoke, her voice was soft and a little raspy. She remained lying on the hammock as she responded to Zephit. "Zephit. I'm glad to see you. I'm... I'm okay. I'm worried about you, though. You and... Karrie. Are you alright? I don't know if you came home or not last night. You seemed so angry when you left. I was worried."  

[Zephit]

"I'm fine silly, don't worry about me. I'm more worried about you." Zephit responded quietly, trying to preserve the serene atmosphere. Amy didn't look well, like she usually did. She had one of those sad looks, like when he first met her the night of the Art Gallery being opened.

"Room for a cat on there, Amy?" Zephit asked in a lighter tone, producing a small smile and trying to make her believe that he was okay. The last thing Amy needed was to know he thought Karrie was some frustrating jerk. "Or an ex-cat, I guess."  

[Cuwen]

Amy stared at Zephit and tried to gauge if what he was telling her was the truth, but her mind just went fuzzy when she tried to do so. It was like she couldn't focus on anything right now. She couldn't think too hard about anything. Her mind was trying to protect her from the pain.

When Zephit asked if there was room on the hammock, Amy was surprised that she didn't even think twice about nodding and trying to scoot over to let him lie down. It'd be nice to cuddle up to someone again. She could really use that comfort right now.

"Yes, there is Zephit."

She braced her hands on each side of the hammock and tried to scoot over carefully, though the hammock started to sway quite a bit.  

[Zephit]

Zephit smiled and carefully climbed onto the hammock, eventually causing it to stop swaying. It was the first time he'd been that close to Amy before, and it made him wonder if it was okay. It certainly didn't feel like being close to Liada, who made his whole body warm.

"So what do you want to talk about?" He asked, pulling his tail out from under himself and letting it drape across his stomach. "I know you've got things on your mind, Amy. You can hardly hide them from me."  

[Cuwen]

Amy shook her head and turned on her side toward Zephit. She tucked her fists up under her chin and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I don't want to talk about what's bothering me... I don't want to think about it. I just want it to be blank. I want my mind to stop and just... not think."  

[Zephit]

"You know that isn't true, silly." Zephit honestly couldn't understand ever wanting your mind to be blank. If he didn't have all his worries and curiosities, the world would be a really dull place.

"Just think of something you really enjoy instead." He kept his eye on the sky before closing it. It was risky, considering that he might fall asleep again, but he had thoughts of his own that he selfishly wanted to think about.  

[Cuwen]

Tears started to form in her eyes. "No... I can't do that. Thinking of something I enjoy just brings me back to... well, to where I'm at now. Thinking of the happy things just hurts."  

[Zephit]

"Amy you can't..." Zephit opened his eye to look at her, pausing mid-sentence upon seeing her tears. He wrapped both arms around her lightly, draping his tail across her as well. Useless would not even begin to describe how he felt in that moment. This was all he could think to do.

"I wish I could help, somehow."  

[Cuwen]

Amy curled closer to Zephit when he wrapped his arms around her and she sighed shakily. "You are helping..."

Her voice was so soft and flat.

"How was your day?"  

[Zephit]

"I just kind of wandered around, before I ran into Liada." Zephit spoke quietly, closing his eye again and thinking.

"She let me cuddle her for a while because..." Zephit paused, not wanting to tell Amy that he was feeling bad at the time. "Because I was sleepy. Then she took me to the park for a nap. Probably because I insisted that I didn't want to leave her side."

"Liada is such a sweet lady." He nodded, unable to hide the smile on his face.  

[Cuwen]

[{Sorry. Company stopped but for a moment.))

Amy sighed and just let what Zephit said about Liada float away. She heard the happiness in his tone, so she was glad he was happy. She didn't need details on who with. That was a selfish thought, but dammit, she honestly didn't care right now. She didn't care about much.

"Did you find good stuff to eat?"