Chapter 4

“Ugh, that is a topic for next time. I don’t want to bore you too much.” I sighed, wiping tears away. Firalia extended a vine with soft, large leaves, allowing me to take some to clean my face and nose. Her eyes were understanding and oh so proud. It felt good, yet horrible at the same time. I had been, basically, venting for the past hour, getting pats and ‘good pups’.

I was still stuck in my head when a flower got held under my nose, and I breathed in deeply. An overwhelming smell short-circuited my brain, emptying it. A second later, I snapped out of it and looked up, a little bit dreamy. Slow thoughts bringing me back up to pace, I realised where I was again.

“Oh, ohhhh, hiiii Firalia. Were we already doneeee?” I drawled, smiling up at her. Her gentle nod answered me, and she led me to the door. Waving that flower under my nose one last time, giving me a gentle whiff, she nudged me forwards. I followed her directions and exited her office, heading back towards the lobby, slowly walking with that dumb smile.

“Hoi,” I looked at the nameplate in front of the spectrum jelly, “Sisivu, I hope you are doin goooood! I’ll see you next time!” Waving my paws, I smiled happily, turning around and walking out. Not knowing what I wanted to do, I floated along by smell. Following my nose, I just went.

My nose in the air, I sniffed, and the world exploded in scents. My view almost changed as I intuitively felt where all of them led. I saw the reds of that metallic smell. Some people were probably having a bit of SM fun, pulsating pink of need, ever so sweet and alluring. I shook my head. Nope, not now. Focussing on my surroundings again, I smelt a tangy, floral scent. It was ‘spicy’, a weird way to describe the smell. Maybe musk was more appropriate? It became stronger. Trying not to think about it, I quickly moved on. 

A cheesy smell, lovely and perfect, entered my nose. It made me growl. The browning of veg and beans, mixed with pasta, permeated the air. Lasagna was what I smelt. I followed my nose traipsing along. That ‘spicy’ musk still followed me, it was familiar, but I couldn’t place my claw on it. I tried putting it out of my mind as I saw the source of the lovely cheesy smell coming into sight.

I entered and searched for a seat somewhere in the corner, yet with the entrance in sight and ordered some cassis lemonade. It was a flavour that was almost extinct, but the affini managed to bring it back. I loved it about as much as I loved my iced tea. The waiter returned later with a steaming hot piece of lasagna, the cheese on top crisped. I started drooling, the smell bombing my nose.

Then they entered. It was Scinthi and Firum who was that lovely musky combi! Firum sniffed with their nose up before looking straight at me, their ears perking. I waved them over. Firum, of course, immediately dashed towards me whilst Scinthi just calmly flowed, letting her vine extend, not to pull back on Firum’s collar. Firum hopped onto my bench, nuzzling as I scritched their head. Their head rubbed against my growing chest, causing light fizzles of pleasure.

“Ciffieeee, I missed you!” they said excitedly, “I thought I smelt ur lovely scent from a while ago, and I was right!” They continued to nuzzle and hug as I waited for my lasagna to cool. Scinthillus had ordered drinks for herself and Firum at the same time, looking at us with four loving eyes. Such lovely, big, beautiful eyes.

Scinthillus moved her vines to the big bucket of pinkish-blue liquid, slowly absorbing it as she began. “So, petal, how did your first session go?” I wanted to say that it wasn’t my first. Instead, I just nodded and said it went alright. Her vine moved over and patted my head, Firum calming down in my lap, having a straw led to their mouth so they could sip.

“It’ll take a bit before we get to working through emotions, but I trust Firalia.” I smiled at her as my mind slowly began working again. I moved towards my lasagna and blew on it, cutting off a small chunk. Stars, it smelled good. I nommed it and immediately let out a content growl, the cutie in my lap mirroring me. They looked up with large eyes, so I fed them the next chunk. Stars and vines, they were adorable.

I continued eating and feeding Firum, occasionally scritching behind their ears. Scinthillus looked calmly, enjoying her drink. Sometimes she moved her vines to scritch our heads, but the vine around Firum’s collar stayed. It was good. All was good. No worries. No bad things, just a good time with Scinthi and Firum. After finishing up my meal, my mind was back to normal. I looked up and ordered another drink. Then I turned my attention back towards Scinthi. Firum was already so deep in pup space that they weren’t paying attention to the surroundings.

“So, Scinthi,” I began, hesitating, whether I should ask what I wanted, “I kinda would like to, ehm, have a hunt with Firum, only if you’re okay with that, though. Of course, also only if Firum is okay with it too!” I finished rambling before being silenced. Looking up at Scinthi, she pulled her vine back and nodded.

“Of course, you’re allowed to, do let me know when okay?” She almost sang, calm returning. I wagged my tail happily, letting out a couple of excited yips and sipping my lemonade. I already thought how fun it’d be. Nuzzling Firum, I got a whiff of their tangy, floral musk. I smiled, and my tail swished even more excitedly through the air. I began thinking about my plans for today, causing a light crease.

“What are you thinking about, petal? You look so worried.” Scinthi asked as she looked towards me with a light worry. I wanted to answer truthfully but didn’t know, for sure, if I should. I began with something completely unrelated whilst still thinking. Then, I flopped out how I didn’t know what I wanted to do and how it worried me. Dirt.

Scinthi reassured me. After all, I was a brilliant, good, kind, and so on, pup. She was right. I didn’t have to know what I wanted to do. It would come to me eventually. I calmed a little. She patted me and scritched under my chin before commenting on my softened features. Immediately a red flush enveloped my face. She continued with how lovely I looked, causing me to become more blushy, and I started shrinking.

“Ehmm, thanks,” I mumbled, “I’ve been feeling a bit more andro, so I asked Firalia for my normal class G regimen.” She seemed happy for me, so I relaxed a little bit. Firum stretched, looking up at me with sleepy eyes, then mumbled something before closing them again. I think they mumbled: ‘so adorable, wanna smooch.’ I want to as well.

I became aware of her simple waves of rhythm and their complexity. The awareness grew the longer I sat talking with Scinthillus. It was a lot calmer compared to Casc’s rhythm. Also, it flowed more, whilst Casc was staccato-like. The powers were most different, Casc’s tended to take up the room, whilst Scinthi’s was gentle and existed where it could without overpowering. Soothing was how I would describe it.

I closed my eyes for a second, my nose taking over, and I breathed in Firum’s musk again, noticing another scent in the distance. I opened my eyes. I asked Scinthi if it was okay for me to go as I wanted to play that game I got. She saw that it wasn’t the real reason. I thought she was going to ask me what was up for real. However, instead, she just said goodbye.

I kissed Firum’s cute little face and wished them a good day. Moving, I only got whiny sounds of protest from the half-asleep pup. I got off the seat and went to the exit, that scent becoming stronger. Not worrying where I went, I got out of there. Moving away from that scent, I noticed that I was heading towards Meti, so I sent them a quick message. I quickly got a yes and headed over to them.

I ran, feeling the wind flow through my fur, which had thickened a bit. It was getting a bit cold. With that in mind, I ran on, glad I didn’t have to wear more as it got cold. Dashing past others, I eventually arrived at Meti’s house, an attention-grabbing building that looked like a stable.

Knocking on the door, I heard the hooves on the wooden floor. “I am right there, Ciffy,” Meti yelled from the other side. She probably was getting a dress as she usually wore nothing at home. The door opened and showed the lovely lil unicorn. Her horn was a perfect pink, sleek white manes and two cute lil hooves. I always enjoyed chilling with her.

I quickly moved to hug her, dragging her inside. “Sorry that it’s been so long. Stuff had been a bit sucky.” She hugged me again, reassuring me it was alright, before leading me to her couch. We sat down, and her eyes went down to my floral cast. I explained what had happened, which led to some shock. I reassured them, snuggling, and they calmed.

We chatted about our past weeks. Meti took out their tablet and showed me pictures of the park they finished with Galië. It was beautiful. I wanted to go there! I started getting so excited, which was eventually mirrored by her. Within minutes we decided to head out.

I ran on all fours whilst Meti galloped on her two hooves next to me. Her dress flared out behind her, which caused quite a few sophonts to look towards her with eyes of wonder. It took a few minutes for us to reach the Seventh Field. Once there, we saw a big leafy mess trawling around, tending it.

Meti galloped as fast as she could, jumping into the mass. “Galië, hiiiii there, how are you doing?” she said excitedly. The mass quickly shifted into a human shape, turning around to catch her just in time. Long dreads, with small leaves, hanging next to his face and two bright green, hypnotic eyes. It had been ages since I saw him.

“There’s the unihorned, lovely girl.” He said, gently rocking her in his arms. Supernovas, those two liked each other. “Don’t think I missed you, little pup.” A vine wrapped around me and pulled me into him. The three of us hugged. It was nice. I really should’ve spent more time with them.

“So, lovelies, how come you’re leafing around here~” Galië joked, I rolled my eyes, but somehow Meti thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. She laughed so hard that she started crying. A minute later, she wheezed and barely caught her breath. It felt odd to see that.

He held us into our vines as Meti began, “We just came because our lil pup here,” she poked at my ankle, “hurt themselves and wanted to see some greenery.”  Galië looked sympathetically and gave lots of pats, not pitying me, which was nice. I nuzzled into the pats as Galië continued with us in his vines. I spaced contently, the surrounding park moving past. It had greens and blues, oranges and reds. It truly was a work of art.

“Those plants are green us.” Galië laughed as we went through an arch. It had a plant with large, bright green leaves waving in the wind. Once again, Meti found it hilarious, whilst I found it a bit dumb. Luckily I didn’t have to think as I got viny pats. Relaxing and wagging my tail, I was happy.

He continued joking as we saw more of the garden. Meti continued laughing at his jokes. It was not fine. No thinking, just relaxing. Enjoy the pats, and don’t think. Sudden rises and movements made me stay aware of the surroundings. The bond between Meti and Galië became more apparent as they slowly started syncing. First, their laughs, then their talking and lastly, their movement.

I kept looking, seeing the vistas, one after another. However, after a bit, it started to blur. I knew that lines began to form on my face. Those wet lines were not noticeable unless you knew where to look. I kept myself from shaking by breathing deeply. I wasn’t going to ruin this for Meti and Galië. Receiving more pats, I knew that Galië was noticing. However, he let me be, for which I was grateful.

‘Did Galië know? Did Casc tell him?’ I wondered. I hope not, but I wouldn’t be surprised. We flowed onwards with those sudden surges, almost reaching the other side. I needed a distraction. So, I got my tablet, unlocked it and began looking at some videos. That did not work.

I started writing, knowing that Galië paid attention to me. “Could I please head home? Not feeling good.” It took a little bit, but I noticed we changed direction, my focus on getting somewhere safe. With small lurches, we were moving through the garden towards my home. The distance to comfort was slowly decreasing. Eventually, I couldn’t handle their presence anymore and tapped Galië. I knew he’d be faster, but I was about to break down. I couldn’t wait any longer.

“Bye Meti, bye Galië, I forgot I had to do something at home. I’ll catch up later, okay?” I said, barely managing not to croak as I said it. Reaching the ground, I waved towards them, smiling as they said their goodbyes. Meti didn’t seem to notice much, enamoured by Galië’s rhythm, but he did. I turned and ran, those small, wet lines becoming wide, wet lines. Speeding on, on all fours, I got home in record time and snuggled Nimco.

The comfort of Nimco gave me an idea. I grabbed my tablet and sent a message. Now to wait, sooner than I thought it’d take, I heard a bonk as something smashed into my door. I laughed and told it to open, those lines having dried a lil.

“Those dirty doors! They should open for me!” a lovely voice yelled in faux anger. How could someone I met only two days ago soothe my heart so much? I yipped and opened my arms. Then they dashed into my chest, and we quickly snuggled. Dirt, that was good. I hugged Firum, digging my nose into their fur, taking in their scent. And let out more tears, glad to have them here.