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Arno was lying on the couch when Roman walked into the room.

By then, the poodle was used to their friend trying to drag them into all kinds of plans that usually involved his interests, not theirs. Not that Arno had many interest of their own to begin with. Aside from the last trends in fashion, the only thing they were mostly interested in was being left to chill in their house, but Roman had always been more active.

It looked like the fisher had other plans for today as well.

"What are you doing there?" he asked as he saw Arno, his ears perking up in surprise. "Summer isn't gonna last forever, you know. Do you want to wait it out inside or what?"

Arno sighed and looked away from their mobile phone.

"I don't know. I'm not feeling like going out today."

"What? But the weather's perfect!" Roman exclaimed. "Not too hot, nice breeze outside. You could go to the swimming pool, you could go hiking. You could visit a theatre, a park, a restaurant."

"Hmm, yeah, I know. I'm just not in the mood."

Roman crossed his arms on his white-furred chest. All about his non-verbal language seemed to indicate he didn't think that was enough of a reason - and his verbal language didn't fall behind.

"That's not right," he said. "Anything the matter?"

Arno moved a hand to their black mane and thought about it for a second.

"I don't know. I suppose I feel like_doing stuff_ but at the same time I don't want to do anything?" they explained. "It's like I'm considering the possibilities and I'm 'Oh yeah, that sounds right' but the next second I'm like 'Uh, actually, better not'."

"I can help you fix that," Roman said confidently.

Arno raised an eyebrow.

"You sure? You're not simply going to force me into doing something you want to do?"

Roman smiled mischievously for a split second, but he quickly changed his expression once Arno raised their paws in protest.

"Of course not, of course not! I just think you're stressed as usual, is all," the fisher said, chuckling nervously.

"Is this going to be another of your weird relaxation exercises?"

Roman frowned.

"Hey! They help, don't they?"

"... well, yeah. I suppose they do."

"Then stop doubting me!"

Roman sat next to Arno with a big smile and grabbed one of their wrists. The sudden touch almost made Arno flinch, but he was used to their friend's shenanigans by then, so they managed to remain calm.

"Remember when we went to that theme park a few weeks ago?"

Arno scoffed.

"Of course I remember. You were begging me to go for a week until I gave in."

"Great!" Roman seemed to have decided to ignore the last part of the reply. "I want you to take a nice, deep breath in for me."

"Yup, definitely another relaxation exercise."

"Ssshh!! Breathe deep. Now."

"Okay, okay."

Arno felt their chest rise as they took a deep breath, just like Roman had requested. The fisher was right - those exercises had helped before, so perhaps they would now. Just as they breathed in, the fisher lifted their arm in the air.

"And now breathe out," Roman asked.

Well, what am I supposed to do? Hold it until I choke?, the poodle thought to themself.

As they breathed out, Roman lowered their arm slowly. Arno had to admit it was relaxing, at least.

"Let's think about the theme park again," Roman said, his voice a bit softer. "Do you remember when we rode the hypercoaster?"

"The what now?"

Arno breathed in and Roman lifted their arm.

"The very tall coaster. The one with all the hills."

"Oh. Yeah. I remember."

Arno breathed out. Their arm was lowered down.

"Remember that weird feeling we felt when we were at the top of the hills? The zero-g feeling, like our bodies were floating. When you asked me about it, I told you it was called 'airtime'."

"I remember."

"Well, I want you to think very hard about it now. Can you imagine it?"

Arno tried hard to remember how it felt. They remembered the train getting to the top of the hill and then their body sort of floating, stopped only by the strong restraints of the car. It had felt nice.

Roman lifted their arm and, in response, Arno breathed in.

"Yeah, I can."

"Good. And now I want you to think about how it felt when the train passed the hill and your body sank again onto the seat, the airtime fading. Can you do that for me?"

It was an easy thing to do now that they'd remembered the first part. Plus, it hadn't been that long since they'd gone to the theme park. Arno remembered the feeling clearly, their body returning to their natural position, bound by gravity, resting on the seat. Heavy.

Roman lowered their arm and Arno's chest sank.

"Now think about the airtime again. Good, just like that."

Arno did. They imagined their body floating, lifting from the seat even if just for a second, as Roman lifted their arm and they took a nice, deep breath in. The fisher hadn't mentioned them so far, but Arno's eyes had been closed for some time now.

"Yeah..."

"And down the hill. Sinking. Feel that."

Their body grew heavy again, resting comfortably on the couch. As they breathed out, Arno thought idly about how good Roman was at doing that kind of thing. Perhaps he could open an office or something. They were definitely feeling more relaxed.

"And up again, up the hill. Airtime. Floating. Feeling light and loose and nice."

It was easy, so Arno followed. They didn't even have to worry about lifting their arm, for Roman was doing it for them. The poodle stood there, light and relaxed, waiting for the opposite movement, but the fisher seemed to take slightly longer this time. It was a difference of a second, but still noticeable in Roman's state.

"And now, getting ready to go down, ready for the?"

There was a sudden yank at their arm. Arno fell forwards, limp and heavy.

"?drop."

Arno didn't stop thinking per se, but suddenly they felt like everything was much simpler, much easier - and also further away, like they could distance from whatever was going on outside the darkness behind their closed eyes. As their body rested on their knees and they breathed out nice and slowly, their arms dangling at their sides, they could still hear Roman's voice next to them.

"That's right. Getting deep and relaxed. Just like that."

The poodle didn't need to be told. They were already sinking into that mindset naturally.

"Now, we're going to contemplate plans we can do together. And we're going to do so without getting too bound by worries, insecurities or your pesky, annoying nervousness. I want you to be yourself as we choose." Roman asked. Arno felt a paw gently petting their head and they let out a soft growl. "It's going to feel easy and natural, and you won't overthink at all. Does that sound good? Is that something you want?"

It took Arno a few seconds, but they managed to nod.

"Good," Roman said, a big smile on his face. "Now, let's see. Summer's still not over, as I was saying earlier. And there are still plenty of things I'd like to do..."