Aqua Springs ~ ART GALLERY OPEN! ~ Geezerville

[Cuwen]

Amy sighed sadly but nodded. "Well, I guess that's not too bad, then. Maybe he'll want to come back in January. But I don't know why he'd want to go to a different school just for half of a year. It'd be cool, though, to have him back."

She rested the side of her head along his chest. She was still playing with his hair. "Even if Velcore goes with you, Karrie, are you going to be alright heading home by yourself? I know you'll be sad to say goodbye to Mitri and the rest of your family."  

[Chef_Karrie]

I don't know what he's planning yet. He said he's planning on coming back, though. *sighs* I just don't know when.

*pauses for a moment before answering Amy* I don't know. It's going to be hard, especially with Niiki's stepmother still in the hospital. *brightens a little* She might be released soon, though.  

[Cuwen]

Amy smiled brightly up at Karrie and slightly tightened the one arm she had around his waist in a half-hug. Her other hand was still playing with his hair.

"Really? Karrie, that's awesome! I'm so happy for you, for all of you."

She looked at a spot over his shoulder and spoke somewhat softly. "If you think it's going to be hard leaving them and then driving back home... I could go with you and drive you back. If you want, of course."

She glanced down at the ground.  

[Chef_Karrie]

It is.

*looks down at her for a moment, then speaks softly* I think I'd like that.  

[Cuwen]

Amy smiled softly and looked up at Karrie. She was still kind of nervous about this. She didn't know if Karrie really wanted her to go with him or not. She'd meet the rest of his family, and that could be a big step.

"Karrie, are you sure? If you don't want me to go, I'm not going to be insulted at all. This is about you and what you want, what's best for you."  

[Chef_Karrie]

*nods* I'd like you to come with me.

*before Karrie can say any more, Velcore and Gwee fly over the fence surrounding Aqua Springs. They had spent a day with Karrie's family, much to Gwee's distress. Velcore needed to speak more with Sai, though, and they had to wait until he was available. By the time they had finished, Velcore felt it was too late for them to fly home. The trip home had been slowed down by a sudden rainstorm that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Velcore flew straight into Karrie, knocking him away from Amy and nearly knocking him over* Karrie!

*Gwee follows Velcore over, then drops onto Amy's shoulder, exhausted from trying to keep up with the much larger Velcore all day*  

[Cuwen]

Amy gasped at the sudden commotion, but her face quickly broke out into a large smile when she saw that Velcore was back.

She laughed happily when she saw Velcore nearly tackle Karrie to the ground. She smiled up at Gwee on her shoulder and reached up to bring him down and hold him. She didn't know Gwee that well, but she was so happy to see him back, too. She hugged him closely and then walked closer to Velcore and Karrie.

She hugged Velcore and kissed the top of his head. "Oh Velcore! You're back home, safe and sound! We all missed you so much."

Amy then stepped back so that Karrie could hug Velcore again if he wanted to.  

[Chef_Karrie]

*happily nuzzles Karrie and Amy*

*holds Velcore tightly, smiling widely* I'm glad you're back! biggrin

*chirps at Amy, nearly going limp*

Gwee is very tired. Somebody will need to carry him back to Kits. *nuzzles Karrie again*

*holds Velcore's head away from him slightly* Where the hell have you been? mad Do you have an idea how much I've been worried about you?  

[Cuwen]

Amy looked down at Gwee in concern when he went limp, but when she heard what Velcore said, she sighed in relief.

Then, she saw Karrie start to get upset and demand to know where Velcore was. She wanted to know as well, but Karrie and Velcore needed a moment to themselves.

Amy looked back down at Gwee and tried to perk him up. "Come on, Gwee. We'll go over to Karrie's pet food area and give you something to replenish your energy a little bit."

She carried Gwee over to the pet food area and talked with the man behind the counter, trying to find out what he thought would be best to give Gwee.  

[Chef_Karrie]

*hangs his head* I am sorry, Karrie. I had to go talk to somebody. I will explain later. *looks at him hopefully* Is tomorrow all right? I am very tired.

*glares at Velcore for a moment, torn between concern and anger, then sighs* All right. Tomorrow then. *scratches above Velcore's eyes*  

[Cuwen]

Amy looked over and saw that Karrie was scratching Velcore, so she thought it should be a good time to come over. She thanked the employee, grabbed the small bag he had given her, and walked over to where Karrie and Velcore were.

"I have a small bag of high-fiber, high-protein chocolate flakes here for Gwee. I can feed them to him while we walk to Kits' house."

She smiled down at Velcore and then looked back up at Karrie. She pulled something out of her wrap that she had cinched to her hip. It was a small purple lollipop. She handed it to Karrie.

"I got this at the new store that's opened up near here, Karrie. I don't know if you've been to it yet or not, but this is a 'feel better' grape lollipop. I thought of you when I saw it."  

[Chef_Karrie]

*looks over at Amy* All right, sounds good.

*chirps softly at Amy*

*takes the lollipop from Amy with a small laugh* Thanks. No, I haven't been to the new store yet. I passed by it, but didn't go in. I'll have to go there soon.

Well, should we go, then? I think these two should get to bed.

Yes, bed sounds very good.  

[Cuwen]

Amy nodded and smiled. "Yes, let's go home. Well, to Kits' first. And Thistle will be so excited and relieved to know that Velcore and Gwee are back safe and sound."

She walked on one side of Karrie while Velcore walked on the other, and she was cuddling Gwee while feeding him the flakes. She almost felt like they were a family, and she liked that feeling.  

[Cuwen]

Amy sighed as she hunched over her paperwork on one of the small tables by the main building. It had an umbrella over it and made a perfect place to work on paperwork, but it was so hard to concentrate on it today. Her mind kept drifting to last night.  

[Chef_Karrie]

*walks into Aqua Springs. Seeing Amy sitting at a table, he sat next to her* Hi Amy.