Chapter Text
"Oi, Magic Man, got somethin' for y' to Identify!" the purple tiefling called as he knocked on the shimmery amber door that marked Caleb's Tower. He waited a beat or two before shrugging and entering, taking advantage of the human's open door policy as all the Nein did. "Caaaaleeeeb~!" he sang, prancing a few steps into the main floor, readying to levitate up the central column to go on a wizard hunt.
"Ah, Kingsley? What brings you by?"
He turned with a mischievous grin to the newcomer. Even though it wasn't the wizard he'd been looking for, Essek was still a quite close second. "Hey, Hoity Toity! Found something new for you two!" He held up the newest trinket he'd picked up, a glittering circular pendant on a silver chain.
The drow's eyes went wide as he reached for the necklace. "Where did you find this…?" he murmured as he floated towards the table Caleb had set up near the entrance for various knickknacks, weaponry, or cold weather wares. It had also become a makeshift magic space when their friends inevitably brought things to Identify. Sure enough, Essek cleared the few items on it and laid the amulet down, focusing intensely on it.
"Off the coast of Urukaxyl. Fjord seemed real iffy about heading there, but we only got attacked by fish people four times on the way, and none on the way back, so whatever the two did on the island seems to have helped."
Essek made a vague noise of agreement but didn't look up from his work.
The tiefling smirked, knowing he'd lost the drow and turning towards the central column with an exaggerated stretch. "I'll just go have a look for Caleb then, shall I? Think he set up the--?"
"Spa's attached to your room," Essek mumbled, waving a hand to pull his spellbook from his Wrist Pocket.
"Ta, love! Up!"
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The tiefling stretched extravagantly as he exited his hot tub after probably two hours of lounging. A rumbling mrowr came from the doorway, and he turned to grin at one of the hundred servant cats Caleb had roaming the Tower, though this one in particular didn't look quite the same as the rest. "Athena, great timing!" He bent to run a quick hand across the spine of the Bombay currently looking like a black and tan Shiba Inu. According to Jester, after Beau and Yasha's date in the Tower, this particular cat refused to consistently change back from her dog form, leading to a lot of teasing from Beau and exasperation from Caleb, who couldn't seem to understand why one of his cats actually preferred being a "subpar creature".
The dog-like cat merely sat, glancing up at him and murring for him to elaborate.
"Go grab whoever's up for some cuddles, yeah? Seems my wizards are busy, so I'll need a kitty cuddle pile instead."
A loud purr answered him before the dog-cat turned, swished her curly, fluffy tail, and took off into the aqueducts the cats used to get around the Tower.
The tiefling meanwhile headed through the door into his room, not bothering with clothes as he flopped onto the large, Ank'harelian King bed Caleb had set him up with and stretching his limbs out as far as he could with a deep sigh. "Damn, Magic Man, for someone who used to be a scruffy, dirt wizard, you sure know how to make a comfy bed…."
He must have dozed off for a bit, because between one blink and the next, he was surrounded by Mittens, Benji, Rudi, Cupid, Artemis, and Athena, all of whom were gently purring and curled in various places on the bed. He smiled around at them, scritching those close enough and starting his own rumbling purr in reply.
The whole group just lazed about for a while, enjoying the simulated moonlight Caleb had put in his room, shifting occasionally and rumbling away at varying levels. At one point, Mittens nibbled a bit on the purple, pierced tail in front of her, causing the tiefling it was attached to to yelp at her and tug it back into his body, wrapping around his own ankle to avoid being nipped again. Mittens' curled ears tucked back as she mrowred apologetically and tucked her squat head back down, wide yellow eyes locking on him.
He sighed. "Oh, it's fine, sweety, just try to avoid teeth, yeah?" He gave her a consolatory cuddle and burrowed a bit deeper into the bed himself.
A creak came from near the door, and every cat and tiefling had turned and perked up to see the orange tabby approaching. Red eyes went wide as a grin was aimed at the new arrival. "Frumpkin! I was wondering where you'd got off to!" The tiefling patted a spot next to him, smiling as the bengal joined him and started kneading the spot. "I'm glad you're still around," he murmured, stroking the orange fur and sinking down into the mattress once more. "I know the girls all enjoyed having you around, pets are lovely to have and to give." He sighed happily. "Plus, our Magic Man always seemed so much happier and calmer with you scarfing around his neck. Fjord can just fucking deal with his allergies, y'know?" He chuckled, nuzzling his face into the cat's. "The whole lot of 'em need looking after, and without all that asshole's eyes and powers, I can't exactly see all of 'em at once. So you'd best take care o'that wizard'a yours. They all may've gotten stronger, but something tells me he's still a bit squishy." He sighed, running a hand through the fluffy fur. "I'm sorry I ever called you an asshole cat, by the way," he murmured, "Caleb's right, you're the best cat."
There was a split second where everything was fine, then suddenly there was a poof and Caleb was lying where Frumpkin had been.
Red eyes went wide. "Uh, M--Magic Man?"
"You have never called Frumpkin that," the Zemnian mumbled. Then blue eyes narrowed at the tiefling. "Kingsley never said that. But… Mollymauk?"
The violet tiefling winced. "Well, shite. Lasted longer than I thought it would, but should've figured if anyone would find out it'd be you, Mr. Caleb."
Another long pause echoed through the room, then Caleb twisted his hands a bit and vanished, the vaguely familiar arcane word for a Teleport slipping from the human's lips.
Once again alone in the room with a variety of still-purring cats, Mollymauk Tealeaf flopped back on the bed, palms digging into his eyes. "Fuck me."