Ana sighed, hefting the large bag of food into its place on the shelf. She’d gotten used to hauling these things around after the first few months of running the shelter, but it was still more difficult for her than it would be for anyone else after a year and a half. She’d never been able to build much muscle mass—mostly because of the Everett’s. But even if she hadn’t had it, it might have been a bit tricky. Some people were naturally gifted by genetics with the ability to shape their bodies with the right regimens. For others it was a lot harder.
At least the weather was cool enough that she didn’t sweat much in the process. She wasn’t sure who was coming by to help her today, but they were due soon, so she put the rest of the bags where they belonged and stepped out of the shed, leaving it unlocked behind her. The rest of the chores for today consisted of cleaning out the pool, which was not a fun task but necessary, and mowing the lawn, so she’d prepared by moving everyone inside already. Thankfully they were used to the sound of the mower by now and wouldn’t be startled by it.
Approaching the pool, she reached out with a gloved hand and turned the handle that would drain it from the bottom. It ran into the island’s sewer system, and would end up at the water treatment facility like everything else. That was nice—one thing she could say in favor of Team Rocket was that all the codes they enforced for residential pokémon habitats saved a lot of energy and resources by making sure no special handling was needed for things like this. She shuddered to think of how much it would cost her to run the place if she needed to have all the dirty water hauled off by a truck every time. Having the right filter installed was more up-front, but a lot easier in the long run.
Turns out, it was Cyrilla who came to help. She was smiling when she approached the gate, opening it to let herself inside. "Hi Ana!" she called out, though there was a missing factor. Kenshin wasn't with her. He was usually with her and no longer restrained to his pokéball. He probably stayed behind. "Eryk wanted to come, but he had a business call to take care of. Otherwise, Mr. Grumpy would have been here instead," she spoke, as if explaining the situation. She glanced around the area, taking in the scenery apparently. Like it was the first time she'd seen it.
"It looks so empty without the pokémon in the yard," she spoke, though it was in a thoughtful tone. "So what's on the agenda for today? Ryk said something about the yard, but I wasn't paying too much attention. I was just happy to come in his place today," she admitted, a small grin forming on her lips like she'd somehow outwitted him in something.
Ana wasn’t sure what that something would be, but she smiled anyway, lifting her shoulders in a casual shrug. “Well, today I have to clean out the pool and mow the lawn.” She thought about it for a second, unsure she should really be asking for help with tasks that were quite this laborious. “If you wanted to help, I could show you how to use the mower, but cleaning the pool is really unpleasant, and probably much faster if I just do it myself.”
The last of the water drained away with a gurgle at the bottom of the pool’s tub, and she wrinkled her nose. “I’d really understand if you’d rather just go play with the pokémon, though—you really don’t have to do any of this.” Even just imagining any of this muck in Cyrilla’s gorgeous hair kind of made her feel vaguely guilty.
Cyrilla didn't seem to mind, though. She just raised a brow in her direction, and seemed to smirk a bit. "Really Ana? You think I'm going to leave you to do all of the work yourself? Eryk would get really mad at me if I did that, and I would get mad at myself for just coming over to play with the pokémon. I've done worse things than mowing a yard and cleaning out pools," she spoke, slightly amused at the fact Ana had suggested it, apparently.
"Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I did that? I'd lose my reputation as a nice person, and then I'd be dubbed the little Eryk of the group," she spoke, pulling her lips just slightly into a thin line. She must have been trying to pull her face into Eryk's. She couldn't hold it for too long, though, since she giggled at herself. "I'd rather not be called little Eryk, if you don't mind. Now, let me help you with this, or I'll have Gyarados restrain you and I'll do it all myself," she spoke, a hint of teasing in her voice, but also something quite serious.
Well, when she put it that way… “The lawnmower’s in the shed,” Ana said, leading the way over to it and pushing the door open. “It’s just a standard push one, though it will mostly move itself and just needs guidance around corners and things.” She honestly wasn’t sure how much experience Cyrilla had with lawn chores. One of the things that bothered her about asking her friends to help with this kind of thing was that they all seemed a little… above that sort of thing. Especially Eryk and Cy—maybe because of what little she knew about how they’d been raised? Kas seemed like the kind of person who might have been made to mow a lawn before, but the others were… different.
“Anyway, um… it has gas and everything already. If you have any questions about it, please let me know. I’m going to take care of the pool.” She pulled down a caddy of large scrub brushes and other supplies from one of the shelves, hefting it in her hands.
"Thanks," Cyrilla replied, moving to remove the lawn mower from the shed. Once she'd done that, she stared at it, and then back at Ana, smiling as she did so. "You know, up until a few years ago, I wouldn't have known how to use one of these," she spoke, her smile slightly disappearing. "You start out doing menial tasks as a Grunt, and sometimes that includes doing things for those with a higher rank. One of the members I was under, before I was moved under Ryk, had me cut his yard. I mean, I'm not resentful for it or anything. I actually enjoyed doing it because I learned how to do something on my own, you know?" she stated, pulling at the string to get the lawn mower going.
Once it was revved, she turned her attention towards the yard. "It's the little things we learn for ourselves that we have to enjoy, right?" she stated, giving Ana a slight wink before she went to work on the yard.
That was definitely one way to look at it. Pushing out a short sigh, Ana tossed Iris’s pokéball, smiling when the dratini appeared. “You know the drill,” she said, nodding towards the pool. “We’ve gotta make sure Bubbles and Glub have a clean house, so… Aqua Tail.”
She and Iris had a system for this chore: Iris would wet a patch with the move, Ana would scrub it down with specialized soap and elbow grease, and then while she moved on to the next spot, Iris would rinse. The hum of the lawnmower in the distance was a pleasant reminder of the fact that she wasn’t working alone, and before long, she’d settled into the rhythm of it, humming along with her work.
Including cleaning the mower and refilling the pool, the work took about an hour and a half. On top of all the other lifting and hauling she’d done early in the day, Ana’s muscles were aching, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. She considered it a reminder that they had the ability to help her do these things.
Not long after, she and Cyrilla sat at the table outdoors, drinking tea with cookies. Ana leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, stretching out the muscles of her back. “Were your early years with Team Rocket difficult?” she asked, cracking an eyelid to peer at Cyrilla from one blue eye. “I don’t really know what’s involved in being a grunt or anything like that, except that the rank is obviously lower.”
"I suppose you could say so," she replied almost immediately, leaning into her chair as well. She had a content smile on her face, and her eyes were closed somewhat. She cracked her eyes open, though, and turned her head towards Ana. "It took me a long time to climb my way up the ranks. Everyone I met, who were grunts like me, wanted to succeed in what they did. Me, being the silly person that I am, wanted to help them. And so, I spent most of my time helping out my fellow grunts, making sure they were taken care of and at least somewhat comfortable in what they were doing."
She turned away when she spoke, a melancholic expression crossing her face. "But then I realized I was losing Eryk, and by the time I realized it, he was already earning his first rank as a Beast. They called him Entei. I felt... left behind, sort of," she continued, taking a deep breath. It didn't seem easy for her to say this, but she seemed comfortable enough with Ana. "In the end, I started focusing on advancing myself, and some people, some of my closest friends in the organization, resented me for it. I don't blame them, I really don't. But... I was on a mission. If I failed it, then what use would I have been to them," she ended that note with a soft hum and scoff.
"They mean a lot to me," though who they were was left ambiguous. Maybe she did that on purpose, but she seemed to accept it with a slight shake of her head. "What good is having friends if you can't share your secrets, right?" she stated suddenly, glancing fully at Ana. "I'm sure you know, but I'm talking about Kas and Eryk. They really do mean a lot to me, and... I want to help them any way I can. I just don't know if I have. You too, actually. You're... kind of my best friend, now that I think about it," she spoke, laughing lightly at herself.
“You’re kind of my best friend, too,” Ana replied honestly. It wasn’t something she’d ever thought about in those terms; she just knew she had friends that she loved and cared about now. And if some people thought six months was too short a time to feel that way about them, well… Ana would simply have to disagree. She rubbed her thumb on the rim of her teacup; the small smile she wore faded a little as she considered the implications of Cyrilla’s words.
“It sounds like… you joined Team Rocket for the sole purpose of helping them,” she said, tilting her head to the side a little. It was quite an extraordinary thing to do, but Ana had no problem believing it was true of Cyrilla. She was the kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to do that. “I’m sure you have, for whatever that’s worth—but I thought you two didn’t really know Kas that well until you’d already joined?” There was a small discrepancy there that she didn’t know what to do with. To hear Kas tell it, he’d only really interacted with a couple of times before she joined, and both of those times were just because he happened to be with Eryk.
"I was in training when I met Kas. Eryk had already been with the organization for a few years, and he came home to visit the clan one day. Kas was with him and... well, um," she started, turning just the slightest bit pink. "It was that first interaction we had that I realized Kas was a little like Eryk. I mean, they're completely different people on the outside, but they were, are, good people. And... I... kind of have a crush on Kas," she spoke, though she must have realized what she said because she choked a bit.
"I mean, I had a crush on him. Not that it had anything to do with the reason why I joined, I just..." she laughed nervously and glanced away for a moment. "A-Anyway, after that, I just wanted to help them, you know? He and Eryk, I think, were just barely above Grunt status then, because when I finally joined, they were already close to being Executives. Eryk and Kas weren't really on good terms, exactly. Kas annoyed Eryk to no end, but... I think he's actually quite fond of Kas, now. Funny how time has a way of changing your perspective on things," she chuckled softly.
“It does,” Ana agreed. Somehow, she wasn’t exactly surprised by the fact that Cyrilla had—or was it used to have? The matter wasn’t clear—feelings for Kasimir.
She contemplated that for a moment, sipping carefully at her hot tea and feeling herself start to relax as her muscles unwound. “Do you… still have those feelings for him? I’d have thought that if you did, the two of you would be, well… together. It doesn’t seem to me like he’d turn you down, I don’t think?” She was careful to keep the words measured and her tone delicate—as often as things like that might be ultimately trivial, Cyrilla didn’t really seem to do unserious feelings. She gave herself wholly to whatever she decided she wanted to do.
Ana didn’t see any reason to believe relationships of that kind would be different. “Not… that I’m an expert,” she confessed, smiling sheepishly. “I don’t really have any experience to guide, in matters like those.” It wasn’t really the kind of thing you let yourself think about, when relationships, real ones, were meant to be long-term, and she just didn’t have any interest in short-term things of that kind.
Cyrilla looked like she almost fell out of her chair when she'd asked the question. She regained her composure, though, and smiled a little solemnly. "I do, but... I'm trying to put them away. Kas isn't exactly the type of person who has just one relationship. Actually, I've never seen him in one, so I can't say for sure," she began, sitting up properly in the chair and folding her hands in her lap. "But I know that even if I did tell him anything about it, he wouldn't... he wouldn't be with me. I'm not exactly his type. I don't even know if he has one. Also... please don't take this the wrong way, but," she paused and seemed a little hesitant to continue.
"Even if we could be together, we couldn't. It just wouldn't work out that way," she smiled, but it wasn't so sad this time. "Besides, my family probably wouldn't even allow it. It shouldn't matter, but it does," she added. Something like realization flashed through her eyes, and for a moment, there was a sort of sadness to them. She shook her head and smiled regularly. "I'm not one to talk, though. Someone else I know is having a hard time dealing with their own feelings and doesn't want to admit it," she spoke, glancing a little slyly at Ana.
"But they're a good co-worker so hopefully someone will help them sort it out. I think it'll be cute once they do," she spoke, laughing just lightly to herself.
“Well,” Ana said slowly, “I hope as your best friend I’m allowed to say this, but… it sounds like you’re making a lot of assumptions about him, and about how things would be if you were together. I suppose the family issue might be a real problem, but… I don’t know. I think it might not be impossible to get around. As for your… coworker?” It seemed like an abrupt change of topic to Ana, but she decided to go with it. “I hope their situation works out for the best, too. Life is… well, I suppose not every life is all that short, but… not even healthy people know what tomorrow’s going to be like. That seems like a good reason to do your best to be happy today, doesn’t it?”
Ana finished her tea, setting the cup down on the saucer with a soft clink, and reached for one of the cookies. Since it was just Cy and herself, she’d made them sweet this time—though maybe not as much as she used to. They were based on dark chocolate and orange. She hadn’t even thought about it—maybe her tastes had changed a little from eating so many not-so-sweet desserts recently?
She hummed a thoughtful tune in the back of her throat, and merely nodded her head. "Maybe. I'll be sure to let them know that," she stated, returning to a slouch in her chair. She took one of the cookies as well, and nearly chuckled when she did. "I see Ryk is rubbing off on you with all this not-so-sweet sweets," she stated, finishing off the cookie. "I suppose that isn't a bad thing, though. Sometimes sweets get a little over rated, right?" she stated, her smile turning into a wide grin. She blinked somewhat, as if a sudden thought occurred.
"You know what we need," she started, glancing up towards the sky. "We need to go camping one day, maybe make a make-shift camp in your yard. It'll be nice and we'd all get to have a nice day to relax," she suggested.
Ana chuckled. “Well, there are a few smaller, unpopulated islands around Cinnabar. Maybe we could go camping on one of those. It would be nice, I think…” She’d never really been camping before, but it seemed like a nice idea. Maybe she could ask her aunt to look in on the shelter for a day or two. “Might be good to make a weekend of it sometime, perhaps after the rainy season is over.”
It was a nice thought, at least.
At least the weather was cool enough that she didn’t sweat much in the process. She wasn’t sure who was coming by to help her today, but they were due soon, so she put the rest of the bags where they belonged and stepped out of the shed, leaving it unlocked behind her. The rest of the chores for today consisted of cleaning out the pool, which was not a fun task but necessary, and mowing the lawn, so she’d prepared by moving everyone inside already. Thankfully they were used to the sound of the mower by now and wouldn’t be startled by it.
Approaching the pool, she reached out with a gloved hand and turned the handle that would drain it from the bottom. It ran into the island’s sewer system, and would end up at the water treatment facility like everything else. That was nice—one thing she could say in favor of Team Rocket was that all the codes they enforced for residential pokémon habitats saved a lot of energy and resources by making sure no special handling was needed for things like this. She shuddered to think of how much it would cost her to run the place if she needed to have all the dirty water hauled off by a truck every time. Having the right filter installed was more up-front, but a lot easier in the long run.
Turns out, it was Cyrilla who came to help. She was smiling when she approached the gate, opening it to let herself inside. "Hi Ana!" she called out, though there was a missing factor. Kenshin wasn't with her. He was usually with her and no longer restrained to his pokéball. He probably stayed behind. "Eryk wanted to come, but he had a business call to take care of. Otherwise, Mr. Grumpy would have been here instead," she spoke, as if explaining the situation. She glanced around the area, taking in the scenery apparently. Like it was the first time she'd seen it.
"It looks so empty without the pokémon in the yard," she spoke, though it was in a thoughtful tone. "So what's on the agenda for today? Ryk said something about the yard, but I wasn't paying too much attention. I was just happy to come in his place today," she admitted, a small grin forming on her lips like she'd somehow outwitted him in something.
Ana wasn’t sure what that something would be, but she smiled anyway, lifting her shoulders in a casual shrug. “Well, today I have to clean out the pool and mow the lawn.” She thought about it for a second, unsure she should really be asking for help with tasks that were quite this laborious. “If you wanted to help, I could show you how to use the mower, but cleaning the pool is really unpleasant, and probably much faster if I just do it myself.”
The last of the water drained away with a gurgle at the bottom of the pool’s tub, and she wrinkled her nose. “I’d really understand if you’d rather just go play with the pokémon, though—you really don’t have to do any of this.” Even just imagining any of this muck in Cyrilla’s gorgeous hair kind of made her feel vaguely guilty.
Cyrilla didn't seem to mind, though. She just raised a brow in her direction, and seemed to smirk a bit. "Really Ana? You think I'm going to leave you to do all of the work yourself? Eryk would get really mad at me if I did that, and I would get mad at myself for just coming over to play with the pokémon. I've done worse things than mowing a yard and cleaning out pools," she spoke, slightly amused at the fact Ana had suggested it, apparently.
"Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I did that? I'd lose my reputation as a nice person, and then I'd be dubbed the little Eryk of the group," she spoke, pulling her lips just slightly into a thin line. She must have been trying to pull her face into Eryk's. She couldn't hold it for too long, though, since she giggled at herself. "I'd rather not be called little Eryk, if you don't mind. Now, let me help you with this, or I'll have Gyarados restrain you and I'll do it all myself," she spoke, a hint of teasing in her voice, but also something quite serious.
Well, when she put it that way… “The lawnmower’s in the shed,” Ana said, leading the way over to it and pushing the door open. “It’s just a standard push one, though it will mostly move itself and just needs guidance around corners and things.” She honestly wasn’t sure how much experience Cyrilla had with lawn chores. One of the things that bothered her about asking her friends to help with this kind of thing was that they all seemed a little… above that sort of thing. Especially Eryk and Cy—maybe because of what little she knew about how they’d been raised? Kas seemed like the kind of person who might have been made to mow a lawn before, but the others were… different.
“Anyway, um… it has gas and everything already. If you have any questions about it, please let me know. I’m going to take care of the pool.” She pulled down a caddy of large scrub brushes and other supplies from one of the shelves, hefting it in her hands.
"Thanks," Cyrilla replied, moving to remove the lawn mower from the shed. Once she'd done that, she stared at it, and then back at Ana, smiling as she did so. "You know, up until a few years ago, I wouldn't have known how to use one of these," she spoke, her smile slightly disappearing. "You start out doing menial tasks as a Grunt, and sometimes that includes doing things for those with a higher rank. One of the members I was under, before I was moved under Ryk, had me cut his yard. I mean, I'm not resentful for it or anything. I actually enjoyed doing it because I learned how to do something on my own, you know?" she stated, pulling at the string to get the lawn mower going.
Once it was revved, she turned her attention towards the yard. "It's the little things we learn for ourselves that we have to enjoy, right?" she stated, giving Ana a slight wink before she went to work on the yard.
That was definitely one way to look at it. Pushing out a short sigh, Ana tossed Iris’s pokéball, smiling when the dratini appeared. “You know the drill,” she said, nodding towards the pool. “We’ve gotta make sure Bubbles and Glub have a clean house, so… Aqua Tail.”
She and Iris had a system for this chore: Iris would wet a patch with the move, Ana would scrub it down with specialized soap and elbow grease, and then while she moved on to the next spot, Iris would rinse. The hum of the lawnmower in the distance was a pleasant reminder of the fact that she wasn’t working alone, and before long, she’d settled into the rhythm of it, humming along with her work.
Including cleaning the mower and refilling the pool, the work took about an hour and a half. On top of all the other lifting and hauling she’d done early in the day, Ana’s muscles were aching, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. She considered it a reminder that they had the ability to help her do these things.
Not long after, she and Cyrilla sat at the table outdoors, drinking tea with cookies. Ana leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, stretching out the muscles of her back. “Were your early years with Team Rocket difficult?” she asked, cracking an eyelid to peer at Cyrilla from one blue eye. “I don’t really know what’s involved in being a grunt or anything like that, except that the rank is obviously lower.”
"I suppose you could say so," she replied almost immediately, leaning into her chair as well. She had a content smile on her face, and her eyes were closed somewhat. She cracked her eyes open, though, and turned her head towards Ana. "It took me a long time to climb my way up the ranks. Everyone I met, who were grunts like me, wanted to succeed in what they did. Me, being the silly person that I am, wanted to help them. And so, I spent most of my time helping out my fellow grunts, making sure they were taken care of and at least somewhat comfortable in what they were doing."
She turned away when she spoke, a melancholic expression crossing her face. "But then I realized I was losing Eryk, and by the time I realized it, he was already earning his first rank as a Beast. They called him Entei. I felt... left behind, sort of," she continued, taking a deep breath. It didn't seem easy for her to say this, but she seemed comfortable enough with Ana. "In the end, I started focusing on advancing myself, and some people, some of my closest friends in the organization, resented me for it. I don't blame them, I really don't. But... I was on a mission. If I failed it, then what use would I have been to them," she ended that note with a soft hum and scoff.
"They mean a lot to me," though who they were was left ambiguous. Maybe she did that on purpose, but she seemed to accept it with a slight shake of her head. "What good is having friends if you can't share your secrets, right?" she stated suddenly, glancing fully at Ana. "I'm sure you know, but I'm talking about Kas and Eryk. They really do mean a lot to me, and... I want to help them any way I can. I just don't know if I have. You too, actually. You're... kind of my best friend, now that I think about it," she spoke, laughing lightly at herself.
“You’re kind of my best friend, too,” Ana replied honestly. It wasn’t something she’d ever thought about in those terms; she just knew she had friends that she loved and cared about now. And if some people thought six months was too short a time to feel that way about them, well… Ana would simply have to disagree. She rubbed her thumb on the rim of her teacup; the small smile she wore faded a little as she considered the implications of Cyrilla’s words.
“It sounds like… you joined Team Rocket for the sole purpose of helping them,” she said, tilting her head to the side a little. It was quite an extraordinary thing to do, but Ana had no problem believing it was true of Cyrilla. She was the kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to do that. “I’m sure you have, for whatever that’s worth—but I thought you two didn’t really know Kas that well until you’d already joined?” There was a small discrepancy there that she didn’t know what to do with. To hear Kas tell it, he’d only really interacted with a couple of times before she joined, and both of those times were just because he happened to be with Eryk.
"I was in training when I met Kas. Eryk had already been with the organization for a few years, and he came home to visit the clan one day. Kas was with him and... well, um," she started, turning just the slightest bit pink. "It was that first interaction we had that I realized Kas was a little like Eryk. I mean, they're completely different people on the outside, but they were, are, good people. And... I... kind of have a crush on Kas," she spoke, though she must have realized what she said because she choked a bit.
"I mean, I had a crush on him. Not that it had anything to do with the reason why I joined, I just..." she laughed nervously and glanced away for a moment. "A-Anyway, after that, I just wanted to help them, you know? He and Eryk, I think, were just barely above Grunt status then, because when I finally joined, they were already close to being Executives. Eryk and Kas weren't really on good terms, exactly. Kas annoyed Eryk to no end, but... I think he's actually quite fond of Kas, now. Funny how time has a way of changing your perspective on things," she chuckled softly.
“It does,” Ana agreed. Somehow, she wasn’t exactly surprised by the fact that Cyrilla had—or was it used to have? The matter wasn’t clear—feelings for Kasimir.
She contemplated that for a moment, sipping carefully at her hot tea and feeling herself start to relax as her muscles unwound. “Do you… still have those feelings for him? I’d have thought that if you did, the two of you would be, well… together. It doesn’t seem to me like he’d turn you down, I don’t think?” She was careful to keep the words measured and her tone delicate—as often as things like that might be ultimately trivial, Cyrilla didn’t really seem to do unserious feelings. She gave herself wholly to whatever she decided she wanted to do.
Ana didn’t see any reason to believe relationships of that kind would be different. “Not… that I’m an expert,” she confessed, smiling sheepishly. “I don’t really have any experience to guide, in matters like those.” It wasn’t really the kind of thing you let yourself think about, when relationships, real ones, were meant to be long-term, and she just didn’t have any interest in short-term things of that kind.
Cyrilla looked like she almost fell out of her chair when she'd asked the question. She regained her composure, though, and smiled a little solemnly. "I do, but... I'm trying to put them away. Kas isn't exactly the type of person who has just one relationship. Actually, I've never seen him in one, so I can't say for sure," she began, sitting up properly in the chair and folding her hands in her lap. "But I know that even if I did tell him anything about it, he wouldn't... he wouldn't be with me. I'm not exactly his type. I don't even know if he has one. Also... please don't take this the wrong way, but," she paused and seemed a little hesitant to continue.
"Even if we could be together, we couldn't. It just wouldn't work out that way," she smiled, but it wasn't so sad this time. "Besides, my family probably wouldn't even allow it. It shouldn't matter, but it does," she added. Something like realization flashed through her eyes, and for a moment, there was a sort of sadness to them. She shook her head and smiled regularly. "I'm not one to talk, though. Someone else I know is having a hard time dealing with their own feelings and doesn't want to admit it," she spoke, glancing a little slyly at Ana.
"But they're a good co-worker so hopefully someone will help them sort it out. I think it'll be cute once they do," she spoke, laughing just lightly to herself.
“Well,” Ana said slowly, “I hope as your best friend I’m allowed to say this, but… it sounds like you’re making a lot of assumptions about him, and about how things would be if you were together. I suppose the family issue might be a real problem, but… I don’t know. I think it might not be impossible to get around. As for your… coworker?” It seemed like an abrupt change of topic to Ana, but she decided to go with it. “I hope their situation works out for the best, too. Life is… well, I suppose not every life is all that short, but… not even healthy people know what tomorrow’s going to be like. That seems like a good reason to do your best to be happy today, doesn’t it?”
Ana finished her tea, setting the cup down on the saucer with a soft clink, and reached for one of the cookies. Since it was just Cy and herself, she’d made them sweet this time—though maybe not as much as she used to. They were based on dark chocolate and orange. She hadn’t even thought about it—maybe her tastes had changed a little from eating so many not-so-sweet desserts recently?
She hummed a thoughtful tune in the back of her throat, and merely nodded her head. "Maybe. I'll be sure to let them know that," she stated, returning to a slouch in her chair. She took one of the cookies as well, and nearly chuckled when she did. "I see Ryk is rubbing off on you with all this not-so-sweet sweets," she stated, finishing off the cookie. "I suppose that isn't a bad thing, though. Sometimes sweets get a little over rated, right?" she stated, her smile turning into a wide grin. She blinked somewhat, as if a sudden thought occurred.
"You know what we need," she started, glancing up towards the sky. "We need to go camping one day, maybe make a make-shift camp in your yard. It'll be nice and we'd all get to have a nice day to relax," she suggested.
Ana chuckled. “Well, there are a few smaller, unpopulated islands around Cinnabar. Maybe we could go camping on one of those. It would be nice, I think…” She’d never really been camping before, but it seemed like a nice idea. Maybe she could ask her aunt to look in on the shelter for a day or two. “Might be good to make a weekend of it sometime, perhaps after the rainy season is over.”
It was a nice thought, at least.