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Day 2. Just like us!
One sunny but cold winter morning young Sylvain wakes up to three kittens and their mother sleeping next to him on the bed, apparently having decided it to be a warm safe place for them. He blinks a few times and rubs his eyes, even pinching himself just to make sure he’s not dreaming. He’s not, and the cats are still there.
“Hi there,” he whispers, petting the mother cat and scratching her under the chin and around the head. She meows once and starts purring. The kittens are curiously sniffing and swatting at his hand. One of them even climbs up on it and does its best to slowly scramble up his arm to sit on his shoulder. He laughs as it licks his cheek.
“Aren’t you a friendly one?” He picks down the kitten and sets it on his lap to look at it as it squirms in his hold. It’s a cute little thing, with large ears and soft red fur. It meows at him as he studies it. “Red fur, huh? Kind of like me, aren’t you?” The kitten meows again, wiggling in his hold until he puts it back down on the bed with the other kittens and their mother.
Looking at the small red kitten playing with its siblings, he already knows exactly what to do with it.
The next time Sylvain visits Felix, he has the now more grown kitten firmly held in his arms. He remembers how Felix is always so sad whenever Sylvain has visited and has to go home, so surely having a kitten that’s a bit like Sylvain to keep him company will help him, even if just a little bit? Even the kitten seems to know something is about to happen, as he sits quietly in Sylvain’s lap, curiously looking at the strange new place he has been brought to.
As he arrives at Felix’s home in Fraldarius, he and his father (they’re really here for official business, after all) are greeted by Felix’s father, who informs Sylvain Felix is in his room, which is essentially permission for him to go find his friend while their fathers discuss official things.
“Hey Felix!” he greets the slightly younger boy with a wide grin as he enters the room (after knocking, of course). Felix is sitting on his bed, seemingly occupied with something, but Sylvain can’t quite see what.
“Hey Sylvain,” Felix greets him, but barely looks up from whatever he’s occupied with. Sylvain can see he’s smiling though. “Sorry I wasn’t at the door. I’ve been a bit busy with this.” He hisses sharply and yaks his hand back, as if stung by something.
“What is it?” Sylvain asks, curious about what could have Felix this occupied. Normally he’s always been waiting at the door when Sylvain arrives, practically jumping at him. Must be something pretty important, he decides. The kitten is his hands squirms a bit, and Sylvain pets him to calm him down. He was going to surprise Felix with the kitten immediately, but he’ll have to change his plans just a little bit, as this mystery of what Felix is up to is more important right now.
“I found it, and no one else wanted it, so - OW” Felix almost falls off the bed with a startled yelp in the middle of explaining. Which allows Sylvain to get his first look at what has gotten Felix so busy and distracted.
It’s a cat. A tiny, black, half-feral looking kitten, to be precise. Its fur is messy and sticks up at all kinds of angles, it has huge glaring yellow eyes, and small tufts of fur at the tips of its ears. Apparently, Felix had been in the middle if trying to clean it, judging by the damp cloth on the bed. Something the kitten clearly isn’t appreciating the effort, judging by the scratches on his hands and arms.
“You found a little friend,” Sylvain says, with a grin. The kitten is kind of cute, in its own way. Felix taking in the little feral kitten nobody else wants because it’s not friendly and cuddly is a very sweet thought.
“Hey, wait!” He’s so distracted by Felix having a kitten already, the one he is holding manages to squirm free and hop down on the floor. The kitten looks around for a moment, then makes a beeline for the bed, where both Felix and the black kitten are looking at him with matching surprised wide-eyed expressions.
Before either Sylvain or Felix have time to react, the red kitten has jumped up on the bed, coming nose to nose with the black one. A tense moment follows, as the cats stare at each other for a few moments, both boys wondering if they’re going to have a fight on their hands.
Luckily, no such thing happens, as the red kitten licks the other one on the nose, then starts purring happily. The black one sits frozen for a moment, before carefully nuzzling against the red kitten. Soon both kittens are purring, playing on the bed, rolling around and occasionally stopping to meow at each other and the humans.
“Well, that went well,” Sylvain says. He will never admit how nervous he was just moments ago, holding his breath when the kittens first came face to face.
“Luck,” Felix says, visibly relaxing as he watches the kittens. “And surprising,” he adds after a few moments. “My kitten has not let any other cat get so close before, without attacking them.” He looks at Sylvain, then asks “Why do you have a cat with you anyway?”
“Well, I thought I’d give him to you. He’d remind you of me, when I’m not here, you know? We both have the same hair colour and are both social, and stuff,” Sylvain explains, suddenly feeling a bit silly. They aren’t little kids anymore, after all, even if they’re still not adults yet either. It had seemed like a good idea at the moment, but maybe it was just stupid.
“Hmm...” Felix hums thoughtfully, looking between the kitten and Sylvain. “Well, as long as it doesn’t start flirting with the staff,” he concludes, reaching to pet the red kitten. “They’re kind of like us, aren’t they?” he adds after watching them for a bit.
Sylvain quietly agrees. Looking at the small creatures, it’s like watching him and Felix turned into kittens. It’s a strange thought, that makes him grin happily.
“Since they’re so like us, we should also name them after us,” Sylvain suggests, nudging Felix in the arm. “We could call yours Feli, and mine Sylv.” Not the most creative names maybe, but they could work, he thinks.
“That’s stupid,” Felix says, looking almost offended at the suggestion. “And mine already has a name. It’s Gray.”
“Huh?” Sylvain looks closer at the cat, noticing it’s actually not pitch-black as he first thought, but a very dark shade of grey. “Guess that fits pretty well too.”
“Besides,” Felix continues, now looking back at Sylvain. “You’d have to name yours Sylvia, because she’s a girl.”
“She is?” Sylvain asks, surprised. Sure, he probably should have actually checked instead of assuming, but he really did think the kitten was a male. “Well, Sylvia it is then,” he decides. It’s a good name, anyway.
“You’re so weird sometimes, idiot,” Felix mutters, but doesn’t protest when Sylvain reaches over and pulls him into a side-hug. Or even when the red head presses a quick kiss to the side of his head.
Some years later, Sylvain and Felix find themselves in that same room, on that same bed, with the same two cats right there with them. But several things have also changed.
The war has just ended a few weeks ago. Fódlan is at peace once again, other than the several political, economic, and other issues that still need sorting out. Many people are dead, including Felix’s father, and several of their old schoolmates from Garreg Mach. Dimitri is the king, officially crowned and everything. Gray and Sylvia are no longer small, fluffy kittens, but fully grown adult cats.
Also, Felix and Sylvain have been married for three months.
“It’s nice to be back here again,” Sylvain murmurs against Felix’s hair. He’s cuddling with his husband on the bed, with Felix’s face nuzzled against Sylvain’s neck. Sylvain has wrapped his arms around Felix, and is slowly stroking his hair with one hand, untangling the strands.
“Hmmm,” Felix sleepily hums, pressing a kiss to Sylvain’s neck as he’s too sleepy to move anywhere else. “Nice to be back here without having to worry about the war.”
“Right,” Sylvain agrees, remembering Felix had spent time here during that time. “Now it’s just us, the cats, and some well-deserved peace.” He tightens his grip on Felix, pulling his as close as possible.
Next to them on the bed, Sylvia curls herself around Gray and starts grooming him with little licks, while Gray purrs quietly and almost unnoticeably. Sylvain laughs as he watches them from the corner of his eye.
“They really are just like us!”