I stared at the empty space where Apollo had vanished, still feeling the ghost of the gacha energy tingling against my skin like static electricity. The room seemed strangely silent after his departure. The only sound was the soft, wet sucking noise of Bartholomew's journey up my pant leg.
"Okay, little guy," I sighed, carefully detaching the surprisingly strong snail from my ankle. His body was stuck fast. "Let's not get carried away with this whole 'animals love me' thing. There are boundaries in every relationship."
Bartholomew's eyestalks quivered as I placed him back in his terrarium. He immediately changed course and began climbing the glass wall again, eyestalks pointed directly at me with an intensity that was frankly unsettling for a creature without eyelids.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm irresistible. Tell me something I don't know," I muttered, watching him leave a glistening trail on the glass. "At least you're not asking me to sing while you help me get dressed or something."
