There was no reason for it. After all, the cat was doing nothing wrong- it was simply being a cat. Alice loved cats, and she certainly had nothing against this one in particular.

Usually, at least. Right now… she wanted to toss it out of the room.

There it sat on his lap, purring and getting affection and attention without having to do a single thing but be cute. And sad to say Alice was irked at it for that.

Probably the fact that she had spent the past few time periods working and consequently was tired, much more tired than usual, had a lot to do with this odd reaction. But the fact remained that Alice was jealous. Jealous of a cat.

'This is completely ridiculous,' she told herself. 'A cat is a cat, and just because it's sitting on his lap does not mean that he likes it more than he likes me. It's being a cat and he's being himself by giving it love.' These were thoughts that she never wanted to voice, particularly the added thought thatshewanted that love and attention.

Heat crept up her cheeks but was ignored as Alice turned her back on the cat and on Gray, telling herself to work and pay not attention to this distraction. Gray was on his break time and had every right to spend it as he chose, and just because he usually spent it with her didn't mean he had to every single time.

To be accurate, he WAS spending his break time with her. That was why he was here at all in the first place and not somewhere else in the Tower of Clover. They had been conversing lightly with Alice finishing up her work so that she could take a few time periods off… and then the cat had come in, meowed for attention, and gotten it.

Alice sighed. She couldn't blame Gray for picking up the cat; she'd have done the same if it had come to her. Therefore, she had no reason at all to be jealous.

No reason at all to want to be the only one sitting there in his lap.

"… Alice, is something the matter?" His deep voice cut into her thoughts and made her jump.

The Outsider shook her head hard, hiding a blush. "No, there's nothing wrong. Why do you ask?"

"You've been staring into space… If there's anything bothering you, you're more than welcome to tell me," Gray answered. "Or are you not feeling well?"

"I'm not sick, and- there's nothing that I'm bothered by." That was a lie. "I'm simply lost in thought."

"Truly?"

"T- Truly." Alice turned away before he could see her face. Her slight hesitation had surely clued Gray in already, however.

'If he's not completely distracted by the cat, at least,' thought Alice with a long mental sigh. 'Why I'm so jealous of a cat makes no sense at all. I like cats as well, and they're easy to share. I don't have to work- I should just go over and talk to him, or pet the cat, or…' And now not even her thoughts were making sense to her.

She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't even notice when the cat landed on the floor with a complaining meow and when footsteps approached her; in fact, it took until she was embraced from behind and Gray's chin rested on the top of her head before Alice was snapped back to reality. "What are you worrying about?" he asked once more, voice stern this time.

Alice started at the contact- thankfully she didn't jump, or her head would have collided with his chin. "I'm not-" she began, only to be cut off when his finger touched her lips.

"You're either worrying about something or you're overthinking something again, or both." Gray's voice was steady and gentle but pointed.

"…"

"Alice. Your heart rate has picked up. Please don't think about lying." He only knew that a person's heart rate would go up when lying because she'd told him; maybe she shouldn't have.

Alice sighed. Without turning her head, she mumbled, "It's… the cat."

"The cat?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to hold it too?"

"… Not right now."

"Then what is it?"

Her face heating, Alice forced the words through. "I… don't like… when it takes… your attention off of me." The last few words came out in a mumbled rush; she wasn't even certain that he had heard.

But Gray had, and he hummed a note of surprise and what may have been amusement. "Hmmmm…?"

"Why do you seem to find that funny?" asked Alice a little sullenly.

"Because it is funny," was his matter-of-fact reply. "Or rather, it's cute. You needn't be jealous, you know."

"I- I'm not jealous!"

Continuing as if he hadn't heard her squeaked response, Gray went on, "You're far more relaxing to hold than any cat." He heaved a sigh and buried his face in her hair, saying, "But you're working, so I can't bother you… as much as I want to…"

… Apparently he'd forgotten that she was techinically on break time. Alice tilted her head to look at Gray upside down. "I'm done with work now."

"Then you're welcome to take the cat's place."

"On your lap? … Maybe another time."

"I'm going to hold you to that." He held her closer and sighed once more. "Instead of being jealous of the cat, simply speak to me."