Chapter Text
It had been two weeks.
Two weeks since Espresso had gone missing.
Madeleine had been beside himself, leading each and every search party. It wasn't normal for the mage to go missing. Hole himself up in his house for days on end, yes.
Completely vanish from the entire kingdom, no.
He was exhausted at this point, barely eating or sleeping himself (habits he'd been trying to break Espresso of, ironically) but he soldiered on. He couldn't shake the idea of Espresso, locked up in a dungeon somewhere, having who knows what done to him.
But here he was.
Home.
Sitting on his couch.
Gingerbrave had teamed up with the others, and, worried about his health, put him on home arrest.
For a week.
He'd managed to argue it down to 4 days.
He was full of nervous energy, bouncing his leg as he stared at the wall.
Watching the clock only made time pass by slower. It was still only the first day
He sighed, shifting before standing up and starting to pace his house.
Again.
He hated this, hated being stuck inside. He wanted to find Espresso.
The mage may hate him, but he had to make sure he was ok. No one else watched over him. No one else made sure the mage was eating or sleeping regularly. No one else made sure he was doing ok mentally.
Yes, Espresso may hate him for interrupting his work, but no one else would. Even if it was a thankless job, Madeleine would do it.
He would watch over the mage he felt so deeply about.
So he paced, prevented from doing the one thing he wanted to.
And then he paused.
What was that noise? It sounded like a soft scratching?
He waited a moment, then heard it again.
It sounded like it came from his door.
Curious, he went over and opened it, only for there to be no one there.
Confused, he paused, then heard it.
A meow.
He looked down, and there was a cat.
They were a dark brown, with a lighter brown swirl on their head and both lighter and darker brown markings on their body.
Their eyes were also mismatched, one a lovely gold where as the other was milky, an old slash mark scar going down over it. Blind, or close to it.
"Oh, buddy, where did you come from? Did you run away from your owner?"
He asked softly, crouching down and holding out a hand to the cat.
The cat hesitated, meowing softly before sniffing the outstretched hand.
Then they tentatively rubbed their head against the hand, causing Madeleine to smile softly.
"I don't see a collar or tag, are you a stray? Will you let me pick you up? Is that ok?"
He asked softly, letting the cat continue to rub against his hand.
The cat sat down and mowed softly at him, watching him with big eyes.
Madeline smiled and gently scooped up the cat. The cat made a startled mew, but didn't fight.
Madeleine smiled a little wider, turning inside and closing his door. He walked to the kitchen and set the cat down on the counter.
"Are you hungry? I think I have some tuna jellies."
He asked, but said cat turned up their nose.
"Don't like tuna then? How about regular protein jellies?"
The cat seemed ok with that, and he sighed in relief. He was worried he wouldn't have food for the cat.
Said cat started to groom himself, making Madeleine chuckle a little.
"You remind me of someone I know. He's always trying to keep up appearances. He also dislikes tuna, if I remember correctly. His name is Espresso,"
He said softly, then sighed.
"He's been missing for a while. Gingerbrave told me to go home though, since I've been working nonstop since. Once we find him, I'd like to show you to him. I bet you two would get along so well!"
He said, trying to sound happy, but his smile was now sad.
The cat looked worried at him, and went over, rubbing against his hand and purring softly.
Madeleine started to pet them.
"He might be better suited to watch over you actually. I'm such an active person, I'm out all the time helping others. He likes to stay at home, likes to work on his, well, work. Maybe having you there, he'd actually take better care of himself. You'd meow at him for meals, right? Keep him on a schedule. If he's feeding you maybe he'd eat himself."
He said softly, scratching behind both the cat's ears as he talked. Clearly, it was enjoyable, because the kitty was purring back at him. Louder than before.
Madeleine's smile became softer as he petted the cat.
"I'm sure he'd be annoyed at first, but he'd warm up to you. You're so cute, how could he not? Then he wouldn't have to deal with me anymore huh? I don't think he likes me all that much, but that's ok. I annoy him, afterall. And I drag him away from his work."
Again, the cat looked up at him, but the emotion used wasn't describable. It confused him, but not for long.
They licked his nose, causing Madeleine to chuckle.
"Ok ok i'll stop talking and finish getting you that food, alright? And I'll eat myself as well, ok? We can eat together, so that you can make Espresso eat with you,"
He chuckled.
"Oh! I should name you, shouldn't I? Huh, are you a boy or girl?"
He asked
"Meow once for boy, two for girl,"
He said
And surprisingly, the cat responded.
Meowing once.
"Boy it is!"
Madeleine chuckled.
"How about,,,,,, uh. Beans. Cuz coffee beans. I don't want to call you coffee, that doesn't feel right. Beans is weird too though. Hmm."
He said, thinking as he finished preparing the bowl of food and setting it next to the cat.
The cat shook his head, not liking either name, then watched him, waiting before eating.
"Oop! I forgot already!"
He laughed, then started to prepare a quick sandwich for himself. He started munching on it, and watched as the cat started to eat his own food.
"Mocha?"
A head shake
"Frappuccino?"
A head shake
"Latte? Ah, wait, I know a latte,"
He mumbled
The cat still shook their head.
Madeleine paused
"You,,,,,, kinda seem like you understand me more then a normal cat would. You're acting like a cookie might. Are you a cookie?"
The cat paused, cocking their head to the side.
"Hmm, maybe. Anyway, how about lungo? Means something with espresso, I can't remember what. Espresso pops out all these coffee terms and I try to remember them but I can't always,"
He said
And surprisingly, the cat paused before nodding.
Madeleine beamed from ear to ear
"Great! It's settled then! Your Lungo!"
He said, excited.
Lungo almost seemed to smile before going back to their food.
...
He wasn't sure who he was, or how he got here. He wasn't sure if he truly was a cat or not.
But here he was, with four paws and a tail.
Lost
He wandered around, keeping to the shadows, before stopping in front of a house.
Home?
No, not quite.
Safe?
Maybe. It felt safe.
He went up to the door and lightly scratched against it. Then again. And soon it opened, a cookie standing there.
They spoke, but he wasn't paying attention.
They'd reached out their hand.
That scent, it was familiar.
It was,,,,,,, safe. Home.
He rubbed against the hand happily.
Yes, he didn't know who he was, or why he was here.
But he knew he found shelter and safety.
And so he was scooped up, and brought inside.
Home.