Agnos, now perched on my shoulder, blinked slowly as if this was the most natural greeting in the world. "Zhuanlun, it's been a while," he said coolly, flicking his tail.
"A while?" Zhuanlun bellowed, stepping down from his elevated seat with a grin so wide it practically split his face. "It's been eons! Ages! I thought you were scattered to the winds!"
"Well, technically, I was," Agnos replied, his tone dry.
Meanwhile, I was standing there, completely lost. My head ping-ponged between Zhuanlun, who looked like he was about to hug the cat, and Agnos, who acted like this was a casual reunion with an old buddy at the grocery store.
Zhuanlun's gaze finally flickered to me, and his grin softened into something more scrutinizing. "And who's this mortal with you?"
"Oh, that's Carl," Agnos said dismissively. "He's helping me retrieve my fragments."
