[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Lassra purred and rubbed her head against Beruthiel's chin, enjoying the closeness after her initial surprise of being picked up. Beruthiel was worried, Lassra could tell. Lassra knew the scent of worry and apprehension well thanks to her mistress. Lassra was glad to be of some comfort to Beruthiel, who always seemed to be depressed for one reason or another in the recent years.

Mosi was darting back and forth in front of the bench, chasing the same butterfly. It was so beautiful! Mosi wanted to see the wings up close, which was why he was determined to catch it. Arye watched silently from in front of the bench, nose and whiskers twitching as he saw Mosi leap and fall several times trying to catch the butterfly. Arye didn't know why Mosi could not just be content with watching the butterfly from a distance, instead of falling and wasting time trying to catch it.

Arye! Arye! Over here! Arye heard someone calling his name. It was not a human though...it was one of the other cats. Arye slowly padded over to one particularly large flower pot, where he thought the calling had come from. Sure enough, behind the pot was Athel, peering between the leaves of the plant in the pot to where Lassra was being hugged deftly.

I need to talk to you and Lassra. Can you find some way to distract the Mistress? Athel asked as she pawed away a leaf to get a better view of where Beruthiel was seated. Arye nodded, a questioning look in his eyes.

What about Mosi? Arye wondered, turning his gaze to see his leaping brother.

He seemed pretty preoccupied now. Just go get Lassra!

Arye nodded and padded back out into the open and walking to the bench where Lassra was in the arms of their mistress. Arye leapt up onto the end of the bench and meowed softly. Beruthiel was talking to Habeth, but Lassra, who was undistracted, turned to face Arye instantaneously.

What? Can't you see the Mistress is in a bad mood? She needs company that will listen to her and not hurt her like her human kind do, Lassra growled, whiskers bristling as she tucked her head sideways against Beruthiel's shoulder and collar bone.

Athel is here, said Arye simply. Lassra said naught in reply, but instead she gently dislodged herself from Beruthiel. Then Lassra rubbed her head against Beruthiel's hand one last time before following Arye to the flower pot where Athel was waiting.

Is it important, Athel? Lassra asked impassively, wondering if this was just another one of the trickster cat's jokes.