Scorp is DEAD pass it on

Vinny made a bit of a face, lifting Vinces arm up. Yep, more sand. "Vince..You need a bath. You're all crusty." That he was, he smelled dusty, and there was a light smell of old carnage that wasn't exactly pleasant.

Vinny tilted his head this way and that and his pupils grew wide with interest. He hadn't seen Vince's mouth until an hour ago, let alone his teeth. He found them pretty.Vinny lifted his hand to his mouth and pawed at his lips through the scarf.

Vinny bent down a little to watch him skitter off and pouted a little, disappointed that his friend was being a big baby. He sighed and flopped back on the branch, staring up at the fruit bats scatter around the trees. A few rays of sunshine filtered through the leaves along his face, and leaves cascaded down around him whenever something in the tree moved or the wind blew. It was peaceful, but unnerving for him. Now that he was alone everything came swelling back. With only fruit bats to distract him he felt sick to his stomach. The pain in his chest came back along with the thought of his late mate, making him clench his jaw and cover his face with his hand, while the other dug deep grooves into the bark of the tree.

Vinny didn't respond, he simply shrunk away, curling into Gate's side and staring blankly at nothing. Gate didn't need a response to know that he wasn't going to eat, or do much of anything right now besides mope, though he did need someone to keep an eye on him, in case he decided to wander.

Vinny calmed himself down as much as he could, snuggling in the blanket and staring at the sporadic movement of the flames in the fireplace. He listened as Gate scratched away at the paper with his pencil and the crack of the logs in front of him, filling with more and more nostalgia with every minute. "...Why are you always writing"

Vinny groaned a bit to himself, buried in the giant blanket, then stood up with it still wrapped around his shoulders. He wiped his face with it as he walked over to Gate, squeezing past his legs to hide under the desk like he used to, leaning against his shin. A small black feather fluttered down and caught his eye. "You're molting again."

Vinny rested his cheek on Gate's knee, nuzzling it a little bit and catching more falling feathers. He opened his mouth to say something but as he did something large and heavy fell out of the tube in Gate's ceiling, landing with a loud noise, causing Vinny to jump out of his skin and cling to Gate's leg for a second. "...Why do loud things have to fall.." He poked his head out from under the desk to investigate, only to see a boring old safe. He sighed and climbed into Gate's lap.

Vinny sat back a little and turned Gate's head so he looked at him more directly. "Are you okay?...Really?" He was starting to feel a little guilty. Gate had been checking up on and taking care of everyone all day, but he probably wasn't in the best condition either.

Vinny nodded, a little hesitant at first. "..Can I help," He didn't sound too particularly excited, but wasn't one to just sit around, depressed or not. He liked helping Gate in the kitchen quite a lot, just more things for him to learn, plus watching Gate in the kitchen used to look like magic to him.

Vinny helped with what he could but mostly sat back and watched. He cut a few vegetables, though he refused to eat them later, in small slices like Gate instructed but his mind was off somewhere else. Needless to say he cut his finger.

Vinny could see the look on his face, and suddenly wasn't feeling very hungry. "I'm sorry..." He took the fish anyway however and forced himself to take a bite and move on. It was delicious of course but it was hard to focus on just the taste, so he tried to change the subject with some mindless dribble. "Gate, where do you get so much of all of these ingredients, a lot of this stuff can't grow in a swamp."

"TLC? What's tlc, and why are you spelling it??" He took another bite out of his fish and moved over to the counter to stare into the boiling water, watching the vegetables dance around.

Vinny kind of liked the saying for some reason, 'tender loving care', it stuck with him. He was careful near the pot this time, peering over when gate dropped anything in, mindful of the splashes, even though it was unlikely for him to be burned by water. "Oh, I don't remember seeing it is it hidden?" The only reason he could really think of as to why Gate would hide his garden would be because of those prancing delicious deer things. Maybe they like nasty plant stuff.