suzy and cat: a cozy slice of life episode!

"Suzy, wait up!" Cat huffed, extending her arm to catch Suzy's hand in hers. "The crafts store isn't going anywhere!"

Suzy turned, a little pout arching across her lips. "Sorry, I'm just so excited! There's a world of yarn in there! How could you not be excited?"

Cat shook her head, a laugh bubbling up in her throat. It was so easy to smile around Suzy. She made it so easy. "Let's go, silly."

They walked hand in hand into the store and were greeted by the overwhelming smell of scented candles. "I think I've died and gone to heaven," Suzy whispered, immediately turning to the rows and rows of candles sitting on the shelves. Cat followed. She could appreciate a good candle.

They walked through the candle aisles, Suzy oohing and aahing whenever she saw a candle with an appealing smell. Cat made sure to make a note of the candles that Suzy liked. Her birthday was coming up, after all.

"Oh my gosh. Cat, look. Look at this."

They had reached the end of the last aisle. Suzy had her back to Cat, but was cupping one of the candles in her hands. She turned, revealing a light lemony yellow and shaped like a cat's head. It gave off a sweet citrus scent. Suzy smiled. "Here, put it in the basket," she said, holding out the basket she'd snatched as they had walked through the doors.

"Yes! Oh, this is going to make our bathroom smell so nice," Suzy gushed. "And it's like you!"

Cat nodded, lips curling up involuntarily, then took Suzy's hand again. It felt a little waxy. "Let's look at the yarn, shall we?"

Suzy smiled. "We shallmst!"

They headed off in the direction of the yarn, Suzy practically buzzing with excitement. Right before they saw the yarn aisle, Suzy stopped walking. "Wait. I need to make a list or I'm going to walk out of this store with one of every kind of yarn."

"Okay, I'm listening."

Suzy held up a hand to count with her fingers. "I want to get a thick pink yarn, a thin yellow yarn, and a medium white yarn. And I get to pick one more ball that I like that isn't on the list yet because I always see new yarn here that I desperately need. Please don't let me buy anything other than the yarn on this list."

Cat nodded and squeezed Suzy's hand. "Got it."

They went through and picked through the rows and rows of yarn. Their basket filled up with skeins and skeins of colorful yarn. Atop the pile of yellow, pink, and white sat a single ball of sparkling mint yarn. "As a treat," Suzy said firmly, and Cat nodded with amusement.

With one last longing look at the rest of the yarn, Suzy headed towards the registers with Cat in tow. To be completely honest, Cat had never completely understood the appeal of knitting. The few times she had tried it (with incredibly necessary help from Suzy), it had relaxed her, but she didn't exactly have the patience to wait for an object to be finished. She enjoyed watching Suzy whip garments together, though. So far, Suzy had made a pair of socks with heart cables, a chunky black sweater interspersed with purple strands that she'd gifted to Cat, and a few cup cozies. They were both fond of tea, after all.

They drove back home, Suzy balancing the bag of yarn on her lap. She pet the soft yarn absentmindedly for a few minutes before crushing the bag in her sudden embrace. "Oh, I totally forgot! We're going to the drive-in theatre today, right?"

"Yes, at nine PM." Cat flicked the turn signal on. "I thought you were excited for it?"

Suzy pouted. "I was, but I knew we were going to buy yarn today too, so I kind of forgot. You know this brain can't hold too much excitement in it." She knocked her knuckles against the side of her head. Cat reached over and knocked her own knuckles against Suzy's head too. "Hey!" Suzy giggled.

The rest of the drive home was short and silent. Suzy swayed to the beat of the song Cat had chosen. Once they got home, Suzy practically skipped to their bathroom with the lemon candle in her hands. She placed it reverently near the sink. They puttered around until dinner, Suzy eagerly unwrapping the yarn and settling in front of the television. Cat brought some of her work out to the living room, content to tap away on her laptop and sneak looks at Suzy's determined expression.

They reheated some spaghetti ("Napkin," Cat reminded, sinking into the couch to flip through the channels. "Oh!" Suzy exclaimed, pitching forward to grab a pink napkin from the table. She tucked it into the front of her shirt. "Thanks!") and flipped to a ghost-hunting show that was running on the TV. Ominous sound effects and screams filled the room. "This show isn't very good," Cat remarked to Suzy. She stabbed the last tomato on her plate and put it in her mouth. "Done. I win."

Suzy hurriedly scraped up the last of her noodles. "Hey! Not fair. You started eating first."

Cat went over to the sink and rinsed her plate. "Washed my plate first too."

Suzy huffed, but Cat could tell she didn't mean it. "Off to the theatre we go!" She washed her plate at light speed and stuffed her knitting into a tote bag.

The drive-in theatre was tucked away near a highway. Cat imagined that it would be a bit noisy during the day, but they only showed movies at night. They parked at a good distance away from the screen and rolled all their windows down. The cool evening air rushed in, cooling their cheeks and ruffling the box of tissues in the backseat. Soon enough, the movie started. It was a sci-fi film, following the crew of a tunneling ship and their adventures in space. Cat had read the book that the movie was adapted from, and was excited to see the book on the silver screen. The repetitive clicking of Suzy's needles and the beautiful orchestral soundtrack lured her into a different world, where work and troubles didn't matter. She sunk back into her seat. Her coat and scarf kept her warm even with the windows down. She let her eyes close. Just for a minute.

"Cat. Caaaaat. Wake up!"

Cat startled awake. "Suzy?"

"I'm right here!"

Cat turned, eyes bleary from sleep. So she had fallen asleep. Suzy was smiling gently. On her lap sat her latest project - an apron with a pattern of cat heads and strawberries. "You fell asleep in the middle of the movie, but you looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you."

Cat felt her face softening. "Thanks, Suzy." She hadn't been getting much sleep lately, and she suspected that Suzy knew and had let her sleep on purpose. "Oh, but I missed most of the movie."

Suzy made a sad face. "Aw, it's okay. We can come back and watch it again some other time! And you can take a nap beforehand," she teased.

Cat smiled at that. "How's your apron going?"

Suzy held her project up higher. "It's going okay! I thought I messed up halfway but I fixed it, I think. I'm so excited to use it. I'm going to cook for you so much. Just you wait." She brandished a needle in Cat's face. Cat held up her hands in mock surrender.

"I can't protest that," Cat said with a fond smirk.

The drive home was comfortable. They turned on some light jazz and left the windows rolled down. Suzy turned her head to watch the skyline blur into a line of light.

That night, they both slept well. Even Cat.