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Started January 06, 2020 by @Fraust

tune

"Cool… is the creek gone?" He asked, still keeping his eyes firmly shut.

"It will be soon," Halm said. He picked up the barrel, shaking it and turning it back into a bag. He slipped it into his pocket, then bent enough to pick Cas up. He started walking away Cas's head against his chest instead of on his should so that if he opened his eyes he wouldn't see the creek.

Cas jumped a bit at first when Halm picked him up, but quickly relaxed and buried his face in Halm's chest, sighing. "What're you gonna do with the souls?"

"I put them in the creek to be taken to the final stage with one of the other gods," Halm explained, shifting his hold just slightly. Zia meowed once in Cas's hands.

"Ooh… what gods?" He asked, keeping his eyes shut for now. He'd keep them shut until he felt safe to open them.

"Marcos," Halm said simply. Cas would recognize the name as the god of the moon.
"His garden is like mine, but instead of individual flowers they grow on giant trees." He smiled at the thought.

Cas nodded. "That sounds cool… will I ever get to meet any other gods? Other than the nature guy? I didn't like him much…"

"I don't know," Halm admitted.
"We don't have a reason to go to them, and it's not likely any will come visit us." He paused at the mention of Derlik.
"No one likes him," he said. "He's the reason most of the feuds start in the first place. He's an asshole."

"Our reason could be that we want to visit." Cas shrugged. "And it makes sense that no one likes him… does he generally try to kill things as leverage?"

"He does it all the time. Usually, though, just for fun." Halm's voice took on a hard edge; he obviously didn't like what Derlik did with his free time. He stopped, looking down at Cas and his closed eyes.
"We're back at the house," he said, much more gentle.

Cas seemed to tense up when Halm's voice grew harsher, seeming nervous. He relaxed when Halm calmed down, though, and he opened his eyes when prompted.

Halm was troubled when he felt Cas tense up, though he didn't say anything about it. He'd have to watch how he spoke. He walked up the path to the house, opening the door and stepping in.
"Anything you want for lunch?" He asked.

"Whatever you want to make is fine. It's always good, so I don't much care." He shrugged and looked around from Halm's arms.

Halm nodded, heading into the kitchen.
"I think I'm just going to make a quick salad. I need to go finish collecting memories." He looked down at Cas.
"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to come with me for this."

Cas nodded again, laying his head back on Halm's chest. "Understandable… is there anything you want me to do here while you're gone?"

Halm thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"No, not that I can think of." He transferred Cas to one arm, beginning to fix a salad for the both of them.

"Alright… how long do you think you'll be gone?" Cas asked, sounding almost vaguely nervous again, though it wasn't clear why. He didn't think he'd be too bad off with Zia here and all, but he couldn't be sure…

"A couple hours at most," Halm said, looking down at Cas with slight concern.
"Why?" He asked.

"Um…" Cas considered for a few seconds, his thoughts swirling and troubled. "W-Well, I… uh… I kinda have pretty bad separation anxiety, and it tends to be… um… worse when I get… attached… to people…" He spoke slowly, shortly, and his voice faded to nearly nothing at the end.

Halm listened to Cas's words, growing even more worried. He didn't speak for a moment after Cas finished, thinking this new information over.
"Do you think you'll be able to be alone for two hours? Or would it be better for you to come with me?"

"Um… I might be okay?? I-I mean, on earth, I had a service cat who helped me with it… he's trained and stuff." Cas huddled a little closer to Halm, his heart racing. "Maybe we can get him from the closet? I'm just afraid that something might happen to him…"

Halm immediately set the food down, other arm going around Cas in an attempt to comfort him. He could sense Cas's racing heart, and was troubled by it.
"Okay, we'll go get him right now." He carried Cas out of the kitchen to the living room, stopping outside of the closet.

Cas kept himself mostly pressed against Halm, but tentatively reached out one hand to open the closet door after a few seconds. Once it was open, a fluffy black cat with bright, icy blue eyes stepped out and climbed up Halm's leg to get to Cas. "Nix! Thank goodness you're alright…" Cas sighed in relief and hugged the cat close.

Halm smiled softly as the cat climbed up his leg, closing the door with one hand before bringing it back to hold Cas again.
"Feeling better?" he asked, watching Cas hold Nix. Zia had climbed up onto Halm's shoulder when the other cat showed up.

Cas nodded, resting his head gently on top of Nix's as he held him. He seemed to visibly relax just by the cat being there, and Nix wasn't even doing anything other than being a Good Boi ^TM.

Halm relaxed as well, glad Cas was doing better. He carried them back to the kitchen, humming a little now as he finished up their food.

Cas seemed quite relaxed in Halm's arms now, all curled up and around Nix while Halm made their lunch. He honestly seemed close to falling asleep.

Halm held the two bowls of salad in his hand, bringing them all over to the table. He sat down, smiling.
"You think you can eat, or would you rather take a nap?" He asked in good humor.

"I can eat." Cas replied, his stomach rumbling angrily. He opened his eyes to look back at the food from Halm's arms.

"Okay then," Halm said, chuckling when he heard Cas's stomach rumble. He repositioned Cas so he was sitting up, allowing Halm the use of his arms again.