One Thing To Another

Surprises In The Garden

Deepak met Elvira and Deidra at the spa as planned. Preparations were complete and he was keen to get started. For Deidra, it was an anxious feeling in spite of looking forward to doing this meditation session with Deepak. It's been so long that she had ever been out of her home without Elvira. It will be her first since the day the two met.

She was now putting her trust in Deepak, and she wasn't the only one.

"Ok guys, I'll see you later in a couple hours, have fun!" Elvira said, waving them off as they turned back where Deepak had came. Though putting on her usual smile, her lower energy was evident in the way she waved slowly, indicating her own nervousness and fear in not being by Deidra's side. Both Deepak and Deidra could sense it, and both returned a smile and wave to reassure her as well before leaving.

"Alright Deidra, follow me." Deepak said.

"Where are gonna do this at?" Deidra asked curiously.

"At our house." Deepak answered.

Deidra froze.

"Y-Y-Your house?" She stuttered.

Deepak gave an assuring smile, though got a bit nervous when he realized he should probably not have started with those words.

"Don't fret, my family isn't home right now. Dolly and Dylan took everyone out to the park so we could do this without disturbance." Deepak explained.

Deidra'z body loosen and eased up enough to keep walking, but was a bit shaky in her steps, indicating her fear. Deepak felt nervous and guilty, hoping this he wouldn't regret the decision on the location.

Finally they arrived at the Dalmatian house.

"Well.....here we are." Deepak said.

As they both walked up the steps to the door, Deepak noticed Deidra giving her front paws a rub before leaping onto the steps, looking like it took some effort to do some.

"Hmmm, strange." Deepak thought. "Perhaps it's because she's nervous."

He opened the doggie door for them and went inside first, holding the door open for her. Deidra slowly and cautiously went inside, breathing deeply and a bit rapidly. Once inside, Deepak allowed her to take in the environment, her twitching nose indicating she was smelling the air.

The scent of many dogs.

Thankfully the rare extreme quietness of the house seemed to eventually calm her down and expressions of fear became looks of curiosity, cueing Deepak that he could continue leading her to the designated place of relaxation.

"Your home.....it's very nice, so....colorful to." Deidra said.

"Thank you. I do apologize it's a bit messy in some places. I tried to clean it up a bit, hard to do with a big family." Deepak said.

"Oh no, I think it's lovely, and gives the house a lot of personality." Deidra reassured.

He was glad she wasn't bothered by the mess. Before they were to start, Deepak figured showing Deidra around a little might help her feel more at ease and gain familiarity to the place, before leading her to the stairs.

"Right this way Deidra." He said.

Walking up the stairs, despite being calmer than earlier, Deidra once again seemed to express discomfort walking up the stairs, especially after the halfway point. Deidra wasn't much bigger than Dorothy, but as a cat, walking up steps shouldn't seem like an issue. It was kinda unusual.

She stopped briefly.

"Are you alright, Deidra?" Deepak asked, his voice filled with concern.

Deidra was visibly wincing, but opened her eyes suddenly at the question.