Elizabetha huffed at him one more time, which he answered with a twitch of an ear. So she left the room with the door slightly ajar for when the cat needed to escape.
She turned back to Gizmo who was riled up in even more jealousy. He thrashed his tail and spun in circles animatedly. "Okay, Gizmo! Settle down!" The girl giggled at her dog's merriment, leading him into the kitchen for breakfast. She scooped a full cup from the large, plastic container labeled 'Gizmo' before pouring it into his tin bowl, sounding like rain.
Before she could even finish, Gizmo was nose-deep into his meal, scarfing it down as if he hadn't eaten in days.
Elizabetha pet his curly head as he ate, still in her jolly mood. Then she left to pull a container from the refrigerator labeled 'Lola.' When she popped open the container, a freshly cut array of greens greeted her. She took a handful and glided to her living room where a pen took a majority of the space. The inside was lined with shredded newspaper, and a large cage rested in the corner. Within that cage, atop a throne of newspaper, was a white rabbit whose fur was sprinkled with chocolate.
The rabbit's ears perked at the sound of Elizabetha's footsteps. "So light and carefree..." The rabbit thought, easily noticing how swell of a mood Elizabetha had finally become, but quickly pushed it out of mind.
"Lola! Breakfast!" Elizabetha sang out, placing the greens in her rabbit's food bowl. She turned to peek into the rabbit's cage expectantly, a large grin on her face.
Lola felt a shudder at the sight of her, and hesitated at the cage door, frozen.
It automatically shot arrows into the caretaker's youthful heart, and her smile fell from her lips. "Awe Lola... You still don't trust me?"
"Oh, no, Elizabetha! It isn't that!" Lola exclaimed, nose twitching in regret. "It's just that you're so... You haven't smiled in so..." Lola turned to the food, suddenly in a grouch for not finding the words to explain these feelings. "Never mind! Just go away and let me eat in peace...!"
Elizabetha gave Lola another hurt look, not knowing anything the riled-up bunny had said. But she knew when her pets wanted her to leave. "Oh, Lola... It's like you're still the newest pet around here. But you aren't." Suddenly, her eyes widened in terrorized realization. "Twink!"
She jumped to her clumsy feet and scrambled back to her room making so much racket that Gizmo looked up from his food bowl and ran after his caretaker. Lola was left blinking in surprise, eating breakfast alone again.
Elizabetha swung the door open, her gaze settling first on Spock. The cocky cat only gave her a sideways glance, knowing she'd be back for her newest pet sooner or later.
The girl then hurriedly turned to make sure the small cage atop her dresser remained untouched. Sighing in relief, she walked towards it with an apologetic smile. "Awe, sorry Twink. I was being so careless..."
Nothing moved within the barred cage.
"Twink?" Elizabetha called tentatively, automatically thinking the worst as she stepped closer. Had she come too late? Has the mischievous cat gotten to Twink before she could?
Suddenly, the wood chips lining the cage erupted, and a lilac tail peeked through.
Elizabetha gave an even larger sigh of relief, not realizing her breath had been held. "There you are Twink! You gave me a scare!"
A little nose dusted in fine whiskers poked out from beneath the wood chips, soon followed by round ears and a pair of large, black eyes. The little mouse took a sniff of the air, slightly remembering the girl's embracing, new scent.
Elizabetha smiled before opening the top of the cage and gently petting the tiny mouse's head.
Twink jerked back shyly, unused to the new feeling of comfort.
Elizabetha didn't take it personally as she pulled out a little bowl of pellets for her newest friend. "Here you are, Twink! Eat up!"
The shy mouse only buried her warming face in her palm.
The girl smiled bashfully for her pet. "How cute!" she cooed.
"No!" Gizmo barked in protest. "She is only a mouse! She cannot be as cute as me! No! No!! No!!!" He spun around frantically.
Elizabetha smiled at her pooch, giving him the attention he didn't deserve. Her gaze then traced up to the glass aquarium in the corner of her room.
"Elize! Abetha!! Elizabetha!!!"
"Shut. Up." Spock growled from where he slept.
Gizmo turned to him in an angered pant.
Making her way to the aquarium, she smiled at the sight of a stretching Kaa.
Kaa hissed in bliss, bathing in the glow of the artificial light. When she caught scent of her caretaker, she turned to her in delight. "Exceptionally perfect day as always, my dear." Kaa hissed again.
Elizabetha smiled back. "Looking good, Kaa. Tomorrow is your next feeding!"
Kaa went back to relaxing at that comforting thought. "Perfect."
The caretaker smiled at the picturesque scene of complete trust from one of her oldest friends. Then she turned and gave one last gleeful smile at her smirking cat before skipping out of her room.
She picked up her house key, and palmed a small handful of pellets from a container labeled 'Sushi.' Then she slipped on her shoes, waved goodbye to a grieving Gizmo, and locked the front door behind her.
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