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It was cold inside the cave Letho had huddled in for the night. He had been chased out of the last village and was forced to find shelter from the autumnal rain. It shouldn’t have been this cold already, the temperature more fitting to the middle of winter. He’d have much rather stayed at an inn, bundled in a blanket, however lackluster it was.
His body ran naturally colder due to the mutations and, while he wouldn’t be as sluggish as his school’s namesake, he felt the cold far more keenly than any other witcher. Still, he was struggling to keep his eyes open, exhausted after doing back-to-back contracts for the last week.
He straightened up from the slouch he’d unconsciously fallen in as he heard someone coming up to his cave’s entrance. He bared his teeth, his hand falling on the hilt of his sword. He’d been generous enough with the villagers, letting go as they chased him away but if any of them had followed him, they wouldn’t be as lucky.
He didn’t relax when a witcher stepped through the opening, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer, and tasting the air. Blood. Not enough for the other man to bleed out but enough to leave him out of it for a while, until his body started fixing itself while he was unconscious. The dazed look in his yellow eyes and the mud covering his armor confirmed that the stranger just woke up, probably in a ditch somewhere.
Letho decided that, even without the edge surprise would give him, the man was no threat. He shifted slightly, the noise drawing the other witcher’s attention. As he turned, the light of the fire shone on his medallion. A cat.
He wasn’t as wary of him as a wolf or a griffin would be, the vipers not shying away from contracts on people either, but still. The man was disoriented and most likely in pain and he might lash out. Letho did not fancy getting stabbed today. The cat dropped to his knees when the other witcher bared his teeth, his dagger in hand.
“I’m sorry. Fuck! I didn’t know someone was here already. I… I can go away?”
The viper looked dubiously at the blood covering the other’s armor, noticing the slight tremor in his hands. He looked like a drowned kitten, barely out of the rain. He sighed and nodded to a spot beside his slowly dying fire.
“Sit, you’re gonna bleed out before you step a foot outside.”
The cat hesitated for a few seconds, his eyes darting between the man, the fire and the mud brought a few feet inside the cave by the rain. He slowly got up and walked slowly before sitting down, never once turning his back to the other witcher.
“Don’t you have a potion for that mess?” Letho asked, looking at the wound.
“Hah!” the cat scoffed. “Ran out over a week ago. No more vials too, they broke when that fucking griffin threw me against a cliff.”
“And you didn’t get more? In over a week?”
“I can’t go in any city, my lovely mug’s plastered all over Redania.”
Letho hesitated an instant, but his potions were well stocked, and he could understand what it felt like to be hunted, to be alone. He sighed, getting a vial of swallow from his pack and threw it at the wounded witcher.
The cat caught it, looking at him with wide eyes. The viper turned his eyes away, knowing it would make the other uncomfortable. He heard him open and smell the mixture, hesitating a few seconds, and finally drinking it, deciding that it was either getting poisoned or bleeding out. He heard a sigh of relief, the feline feeling his wounds slowly starting to heal.
“Gaetan.”
Letho turned his eyes on the cat, remembering the name from a contract he refused a few years ago. He didn’t have many rules, but he wouldn’t be hired against another witcher. He knew what it felt to be the last one, to come back one day and realize that no other would come up Gorthur Gvaed this year. And none of the following years either.
“Letho.”
Gaetan turned his head, looking at the viper intently.
“So, you’re the famed Kingslayer then? I heard about you.”
“Seems everyone has these days,” he sighed.
“I also heard you were dead. Look pretty alive to me though.”
The viper looked up from the embers, staring at the cat. The man’s lips were drawn in a smirk, looking very happy with his little joke despite the paleness of his skin. His grin stayed on his face even when the only answer he got was a huff.
Letho rolled his eyes, settling down to meditate, unwilling to sleep with the other witcher in the same space. Yet his body was so tired, the cold slowing his thoughts. Somehow, his instincts weren’t screaming at him to stay awake. He usually would be wide awake with a stranger near him, yet the cat didn’t seem to register as a threat.
He could hear the other man shivering in the cold. He could also hear the whimpers of pain he suppressed every time the tremors coursing through his body jolted his wounds.
Just as Letho was about to lose his battle against sleep, somehow trusting a cat not to stab him in the back, the man moved. The viper tensed, his hand straying towards one of his swords.
“Calm down big guy, ‘m not interested in killing you. If I was, I would have accepted a contract months ago.”
“You were offered one?”
“Sure, times and times again,” his words had a lilting tone to them, almost like singing. “I refused them all but, really big guy, you pissed of lots and lots of people.”
Letho sighed, finally opening his eyes to look at the man, scowling when he got a look at the smirk plastered on that stupidly attractive face. He startled at his thoughts. Sure, the man was pretty, but he was still a threat. He quickly put his brain back on tracks.
“Why did you refuse? Probably would have made good coin.”
The cat scoffed.
“I know what it’s like to be hunted. Plus, us witchers gotta stick together, right?”
The viper opened his mouth to say something but closed it before a single word could escape. It was right. It was the same thought process that had him refuse to hunt the very cat in front of him. It was also the same one that had him accept to share his shelter with him.
“Speaking of sticking together…” There, Gaetan’s words trailed off, hesitant.
Letho hummed softly, encouraging the other to finish his sentence.
“Well, it’s very cold right, and, hm, the fire isn’t all that warm. I mean no offense to your fire building skills, I’m sure they’re great! But, uh, yeah, it’s dying.”
Despite himself, Letho chuckled. The cat looked so confused, not knowing how to get to the point he wanted to make and rambling instead.
“Stop laughing, you asshole! I just, I mean… It’s very cold and it’s not gonna get warmer so it would make sense to share body heat, right? I mean it’s what works the best to get warmer right it’s not weird.”
Gaetan snapped his mouth shut cutting off his rambling. He huffed, looking the viper in the eyes.
“My point is. We should share body warmth?”
His words, which he definitely intended to be an affirmation sounded more like a question. Letho sighed, knowing it would be true with anyone but him. He was a viper and as such, his blood ran cold. He wouldn’t be able to provide any body heat to the other.
As he was about to say so, the cat apparently decided his lack of answer meant he agreed. He’d gotten up and scurried across the cave, plopping down right in front of Letho, still wrapped in his blanket. Letho chuckled, amused despite himself by the other man’s cheek. Nonetheless, he tensed when the smaller man wiggled to get comfortable, ending up with his chest against the viper’s. It was rare for someone to be willing to get so close to him.
“Come on big guy, stop being so tense, it’s just some cuddling.”
The cat managed to extract one of his arms from his blanket. He went to poke at Letho’s cheek but gasped as soon as his finger made contact with the other’s skin.
“What the fuck Scales! Why are you so cold? Are you dying?”
Before the viper could say anything, the cat had opened his blanket and thrown it around Letho as well, in addition to the one already covering him. He’d also thrown an igni at the fire, bringing the embers back to life.
“It’s alright, I’m fine.” He protested.
“No, you’re not, you’re freezing, you dumb fuck! Were you planning on freezing to death? Caus’ it feels like that’s what you were doing.”
While the cat had been yelling, his last few words were oddly subdued, his amber eyes glinting worriedly. Letho shrugged, shifting slightly to accommodate the worried cat trying to climb half on top of him, spreading his limbs around to cover the bulk of the bigger man.
“Gaetan,” he called out. “Gaetan stop. You’re gonna reopen your wounds you dumbass.”
The other witcher narrowed his eyes at him before a mischievous smirk bloomed on his face. He suddenly flopped back down, shuffling slightly to get comfortable, no doubt thankful for the layer of blanket still wrapped around Letho, keeping some of the cold at bay.
He then proceeded to close his eyes, dropping his head against the other’s chest, their proximity as well as the now roaring fire slowly warming the viper.
“If you’re worried about me stabbing you,” the cat started, “don’t be. First of, you’d feel me moving before I even touch a weapon, second my instincts like you.”
“Your… instincts? How can your instincts like someone?”
As he said that, Letho moved slightly, trying to get more comfortable on his bedroll despite the whole grown man sprawled on top of him. The cat growled slightly, poking him in the chest in silent admonishment. The bigger witcher settled with a sigh, resigning himself to becoming a mattress.
“Us cats are taught to follow our instincts in most things. Like sure we’ll still try to be logical, or at least some of us will,” he snickered. “But yeah, that’s why there are more mad cats than any other school.”
“You’re taught to listen to your instinct so it’s easier to lose yourself in the process,” mused Letho.
“Hmm, yeah. And my instincts like you. So, it’s fine. You’re not gonna hurt me.”
And with these last mumbled words, the cat fell asleep, still on top of the viper. The bigger witcher stayed awake for a while more, his mind more alert due to the warmth shared by Gaetan.
He could barely believe anyone would trust him enough to be so close to him. Yet, the smaller man had barely hesitated before clambering all over him. He startled when the cat started to purr softly, nuzzling at his chest. The light sound quickly lured him to sleep.
When Letho woke up on the next day, he realized that he’d wound his arms around the purring witcher, holding him tight against his chest. He hadn’t felt this warm in a long time. It wasn’t so much that his own body had heated up, his blood still ran cold in his veins. But the warm body against his was also a balm to his touch-starved self. Not that he’d admit it out loud of course.
Even though he was awake, he didn’t move nor say anything. He didn’t want to lose this. It was ridiculous, he barely even knew the man, and yet, he couldn’t help but feel this was the most comfortable he’d been in a long time.
He felt the other wake against his chest, and waited with bated breath, expecting the cat to get away from him as soon as possible. Yet, once again, the man simply shifted slightly, burying his head against his neck.
“Mmmm… I don’t wanna get up,” he mumbled. “You’re like, very comfy.”
Letho couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped form his throat at that. He wasn’t used to anyone wanting to be close to him, but with the smaller man plastered against him, he thought that he could get used to it.
It was almost twenty minutes later, the sun warming the stone at the mouth of the cave, when they got up. The viper took a look at Gaetan’s wounds, dressing them with care and giving him another Swallow to finish healing properly.
He then got up, gathered his things, and left, resisting the urge to look at the cat. He knew that if he turned around, he’d see the man staring at him.
Letho went on with his life, not seeing the other witcher for months. Yet, the man often wandered in his thoughts, the viper imagining his presence on cold, lonely nights, longing for his warmth against him.
He ignored the little voice in the back of his head, telling him that the cat might not even be alive. He needed to focus on his hunt anyway if he wanted to eat tonight, not pine after some random witcher he met once. The man was too much like him. He was a survivor. They’d both been hunted down for years, and yet they were still kicking. He suddenly released the bolt from his crossbow, downing the deer he’d been tracking.
He hoisted it up on his shoulders, walking slowly back to his camp. He froze, right before walking through the tree line, tasting the air. Someone had been here. He thought he recognized the scent. But why would the cat have been here?
He slowly put the deer down on the forest floor, and then, he warily walked over to his camp. It should be fine to do so. If Gaetan had wanted to kill him, he would have done so months ago, when his guard had been down, and the cat had literally been laying on top of him.
His camp looked exactly the same as he’d left it except for one thing. There was a blanket dropped on top of his bedroll. He got closer and crouched, lightly touching one of its corner. It felt just as soft as it looked, and it also seemed very warm.
He looked around but there was nothing else attesting of the other’s presence. Even his scent was starting to fade. It seemed like the man had been here right as the viper left for his hunt and left immediately after. Letho could follow him. His trail couldn’t be older than an hour or two, it would be easy to track him.
And yet, the witcher didn’t move. If the man wanted to be found, he would have left a sign of it. He put down the blanket carefully and walked back to prepare his deer.
He did not pay attention to what he’d tentatively call a gift any more this evening, not until he went to sleep. He sat down on his bedroll, removing a few pieces of his armour in order to be slightly more comfortable. He rarely ever removed it entirely these days.
He picked the cover back up, bringing it up to his face. It smelled like Gaetan, an earthy, slightly spicy scent. And for some reason there was also a hint of lilac. It was a pleasant smell and, Letho found himself unconsciously burying his face in the soft wool. Hidden behind the cat’s perfume, he could detect the faint smell of blood.
He looked the fabric over, turning it around in his broad hands. He found some blood stained on a corner of the blanket. The spots were nearly invisible and the material there was thinner, more used than anywhere else. It looked like the other witcher had spent a long time trying to get it all out of the fibres. It made him smile.
He knew what the blood meant. Honestly, he’d known where the cover came from as soon as he’d seen it. There was no way a witcher would be able to afford such a nice thing, let alone someone agreeing to sell it to them. It would have to have been stolen or taken from a dead person.
He didn’t mind.
The last few nights had been cold and if he was gifted a dead man’s blanket, he sure was going to use it.
And so Letho slept, wrapped in a faintly blooded blanket, surrounded by the smell of the cat that had plagued his thoughts for the past few months.
The next time something similar happened, Letho came back to his camp, after going to the river for a wash, only to see a dead deer dropped next to his fire. Once again, the earthy scent of the other witcher was floating around. It didn’t seem to be as old as last time but, once more, the viper decided not to go after him. If he wanted to show himself, he would, there was no need to track him.
That night, Letho went to bed fully sated for the first time in a long while. He noticed as he lied on his bedroll that Gaetan’s smell was stronger on the cover than it has been since he first found it.
A smile made its way on his face as he imagined the cat picking it up, making sure to renew his scent on it. It was warmer these days and yet, he kept putting the blanket on his bedroll as he set up camp. And every morning, he woke up tangled in it.
It kept happening for a while, Letho walking into his camp and finding a gift from his cat. The cat. Sometimes it was blades, sometimes food, once even a bracer for his armour, his own being worn down to the extreme.
It was this last one he like the second most. It was something he needed and somehow the other witcher had noticed.
His absolute favourite though was still the cover. It had been almost a year and a half since it had appeared on his bedroll and every time a new gift showed up, Gaetan’s smell on it was stronger. On these nights, it smelled like both of them, their scents entangled until one couldn’t say where one ended and the other began. It faded in barely over a week, but this was a thing the viper looked forward with every present.
He'd probably never admit it, but he’d gotten attached to the other witcher. He didn’t know much about him, mostly that he was a cat, was hunted down pretty much in the same way himself was.
Yet, even though they had only interacted once, every gift was showing some sliver of the man’s personality. He didn’t shy away from murder, which wasn’t surprising coming from a cat. He also liked shiny things, the viper sometimes getting a shiny rock or a polished coin – sometimes not even in circulation anymore.
All these were little glimpses that endeared the other man to Letho, more and more with every passing day. If he thought that the cat was too present in his mind before, it was nothing compared to these days.
Still, his patience was starting to run out with every month passing with a new gift and yet not a glimpse of the cat.
He almost regretted his wish to see the cat a scant few weeks later. The small village he entered seemed peaceful enough, yet the sly looks people sent him made him nervous. He didn’t bother leading his horse in the stables, instead, he went directly to the alderman, inquiring about the contract he got a glimpse of on the notice board.
“Not to worry sir witcher, the issue was… dealt with accordingly.”
Seeing the smug smirk on the human’s face, Letho suddenly seemed to realise that the faint scent of the cat he’d been noticing since he stepped in this place had not been coming from his pack. It lingered in the air of this town.
He could also smell blood. A lot of blood. It might be faded but as soon as he realised its presence, it was all he could notice.
Worry seized him, he hadn’t worried when he hadn’t noticed the cat flitting in and out of his senses in the last month. Gaetan would usually make his presence know around every two weeks. It had been a little over a month, but he hadn’t worried. It happened, every now and then.
But the alderman’s words and the smell of blood that seemed overwhelming to the viper painted a very different picture. Letho had been a witcher for around a century and he knew how people were.
He could think of at least ten times, off the top of his head, where the townspeople had decided trying to murder the witcher would work better for them than paying him. Hells, people had tried to kill him to save the meagre 20 crowns they’d been offering for a fucking royal griffin. Humans were not to be trusted and it was a rule that had been hammered in his head for the past hundred years.
He knew, just looking at the man in front of him, that the cat witcher had been tricked. The man had looked pretty wary of other people when they’d met though. After all, he’d admitted that he avoided going in cities due to the bounty on his head.
And yet, he got caught.
The viper took a step towards the alderman, towering over the man who cowered, suddenly much more aware of exactly how massive the witcher was.
“You’re gonna tell the truth. And you’re gonna tell it right now.”
“I- Sir witcher I have no idea what-”
“Shut it. The witcher that came to this town before me. He’s a friend of mine you see.” As soon as he pronounced these words, the acrid smell of fear became overwhelming.
The alderman tried to scramble backwards, to get away from him, but Letho matched him step for step. At some point while he was talking, his dagger had ended up in his fist, held up at the smaller man’s throat.
“So, tell me, little man. What did you do to him.” It was phrased like a question, but his tone made it clear that it wasn’t one.
The coward ended up telling him everything before the witcher even had to resort to threats. Letho looked at the whimpering man, his eyes cold despite the rage he felt.
He didn’t smile as his blade pressed against the other’s neck, splitting the skin as easily as butter. At this point, he didn’t even care about what killing the man would do to witchers’ reputation as a whole, his own was already a lost cause and Gaetan’s was too.
The man had hurt his cat and Letho killed him for it. It made perfect sense in his eyes.
Leaving the man to die on the wooden floor, the viper stepped out of the house. He didn’t bother closing the door behind him, not interested in hiding what he’d done. Maybe, seeing the consequences of their foolishness, they would think twice before they ever acted on their prejudice again.
He wouldn’t have been opposed to slaughtering the whole village at this point, but he didn’t have time. According to the alderman, Gaetan had been mortally wounded and left to die in the forest. Letho felt fear grip his heart, seemingly filling his insides with ice. He rationalized, telling himself that humans had a skewed idea of what would be deadly to a witcher.
He looked around, tasting the air, and tried to figure out where the man had gone. He took a minute getting his breathing under control, struggling to ignore the overwhelming scent of blood that filled his head with the worst images he could conjure. And he could think about a lot, his habit of seeing mangled corpses pretty much every day, for over a century, giving him much material. He could already see himself going after the cat, only to find his pallid body just laying there on the forest floor.
He breathed deeply, getting himself to focus on the task at hand. He knew better than to start panicking before he’d even found the other.
Finally getting a clear idea of where Gaetan had gone, the viper started following the trail. He walked briskly, half jogging at times, not running, out of fear of losing the path. After a few dozen minutes of tracking, the smell of blood became stronger, and he started actually seeing some.
Amidst the greenery covering the floor, he could see old blood tracks where droplets had fallen on the leaves, dripping until they fed the dark soil. He started following them just as much as he followed the smell.
It was almost twenty minutes until Letho stumbled into a clearing, the air getting knocked out of his lungs at the sight in front of him. He’d found the cat.
The man was on the floor, back leaning against a tree, the grass around him slick with his blood. The viper hurried to his side, releasing his breath as he noticed the faint movement of the other’s chest. He didn’t seem fully unconscious, his eyelids twitching due to the movement of his eyes underneath.
When Letho reached to touch him, his large fingers brushing against the other’s cheek, smearing the blood on it, amber eyes opened suddenly. Gaetan instinctively tried to scramble backwards.
“It’s alright, kitten, it’s me, you’re alright.” Letho’s voice was little more than a whisper, only audible to another witcher.
The smaller witcher inhaled, his eyes still wide in panic. As soon as Letho’s smell hit him, he half threw himself forward, although it was more like falling, shaking as he buried himself against the bigger man’s chest. His eyes started to close again, all his strength leaving him now that he wasn’t alone, now that there was someone with him that he trusted to keep him safe.
Before he let the cat fall into unconsciousness, Letho managed to feed him a Swallow, hoping it would help long enough for him to go get their stuff from the town.
It did and Letho returned as quickly as possible after glaring the townspeople into submission. They had found the alderman’s corpse and had been terrified when the big witcher strolled back into town, still covered in blood. They had quickly brought both his horse and pack as well as Gaetan’s stuff.
He stopped back in the clearing, dropping to his knees beside the pale body of his cat. He got to work immediately, unbuckling the feline’s armour to get to his wounds. He used some white gull to clean the gashes on the other’s chest. He took out a few supplies from his pack, starting to sew the man back together. As the needle went in, Gaetan squirmed, unconsciously trying to escape the slight paint.
The viper shushed him, humming softly under his breath to try to soothe the wounded man. After a few minutes, the cat settled and Letho carried on.
He finished his last stitch some time later, putting his med kit away. He took another Swallow though, lightly shaking the other witcher awake, the man barely conscious enough to drink it before falling back into oblivion.
Letho moved the other slightly, putting his own back against the tree and laying him next to him. He stayed there for hours, not moving as to not jostle the cat, keeping guard. He smiled softly when the other’s head fell in the crook of his neck, nuzzling at the soft skin there.
The night had fallen, the clearing bathed in shadows with the stars for only light when Gaetan finally woke up.
“Scales?” His voice was barely audible over the rustling of the leaves.
Letho looked down to the cat. He didn’t smile but his features softened. He was relieved that the man hadn’t tried to move away, comforted by the warmth against him.
“Gaetan,” he replied. “I hoped we’d see each other again in better circumstances.”
“Heh, I won’t say I’m not glad to see you. I’d have bled out if you hadn’t shown up.”
“The stitches and the swallows should make sure you don’t then.”
“Hmm, thanks scales.”
The cat burrowed in the viper’s side fell back asleep. Letho got up, now knowing that his kitten would not die if he looked away for a second. He laid him against the tree trunk, making sure he wouldn’t fall nor be too uncomfortable.
He took out one of his fangs, leaving the clearing, his feet barely making a sound on the forest floor. He didn’t go far, uneasy with the idea of leaving Gaetan alone too long.
He quickly found a few rabbits and killed them, bringing them, as well as a few wild berries, back to camp. He built a fire, getting the flames going in barely a few minutes. He set to skin and prepare the animals, then setting them to cook. The meal took about an hour to be done.
The viper woke the other witcher to eat. Still baffled by the trust that was being shown to him. The cat smiled at him, revealing sharp teeth. The expression, which should have seemed threatening, only made the burly man feel warm.
They ate in comfortable silence, leaning against each other. They didn’t feel the need to speak with each other. They would, later. But for now, sitting close to the other, enjoying the presence of a companion they could trust, it was enough. Gaetan shivered slightly. It was not winter yet, but the nights were already starting to get cold.
Letho got up, ignoring the cat’s grumbling as he had to hold himself up, what with the source of warmth beneath his head leaving. The viper chuckled at the pouting feline.
He went to his pack, not having to look for long before he found what he wanted. He came back to Gaetan, the soft blanket that was the first and most precious gift the man had offered him in his hands. He sat back down, the other witcher scrambling to get as close as possible.
Somehow, Gaetan ended up sitting on his lap, turned sideways, and nuzzling at his throat. Letho let himself relax, knowing he could trust the other not to turn against him. He wrapped the both of them in the cover, sighing happily with the simple comfort of the gesture.
He felt the cat’s body going slack against him. The man had fallen asleep, still buried against the viper’s torso. Letho smiled softly, unseen in the night and with only the sleeping witcher present.
He was happy, Letho realised. For the first time and in the company of a cat he was happy. They were not hiding their thoughts and feelings. They could share themselves without fear of retribution, without fear of betrayal.
Yes, with his cat sleeping against him, Letho was content.