Work Text:
You moved to Dormont for a change. You had lived in Jouvente your entire life, until that point. It was a big city filled with all kinds of things. You loved living there, but you didn’t want it to be your entire life. So, that’s how you ended up transferring to the tiny town of Dormont.
Unlike Jouvente, which has several fire stations throughout the entire city, Dormont has one fire station, which is almost never used. The town is just big enough to need an official fire station instead of running off of volunteers. It was, frankly, a little boring. It was a huge step down from Jouvente, where you regularly dealt with residential fires. Dormont, on the other hand, hadn’t had anything more extreme than a small kitchen fire in years.
Most of your work in Dormont was actually dealing with medical emergencies. Since there wasn’t a large deal of fires, you were often called in to deal with first aid and traffic accidents. Of course, those were not all that common in Dormont either, a town small enough that most people just walked rather than drove. There was work to be done, though, be it inspecting local businesses to make sure they were up to the fire code or making sure the station is in the best possible condition. But right now, you don’t actually have anything to do, so you indulge in a hobby.
Today was another boring day. You’d gotten pretty good at biding your time. You sketched away in your sketchbook. Fashion design was a hobby of yours. You didn’t have the degree to pursue it professionally, nor did you have the time to go back to school right now, so just a hobby it would remain. But you quite liked it. You had a lot of time to indulge in it. Today was another boring day, or so you thought.
You hear your phone ring. Not the work phone, but your personal one. You bring it up to your ear, answering it with a simple tap of a button.
“Isabeau speaking!” Your tone was cheerful. You weren’t really supposed to take personal phone calls during work, but nobody particularly cared.
“Hello Isabeau!”
“Mira, hey!”
Mirabelle, or Mira as you called her, was one of the volunteers who managed the local emergency services. Technically, she worked out of the House of Change, but being a housemaiden meant a lot of different volunteer work. She was often the one you dealt with when there was an actual emergency. But, you doubt that’s the case right now, because she can hear her giggling into the phone.
“Something going on?” You ask this casually. She wouldn’t be laughing if something was wrong.
“Nothing serious. Hehe… Just, there’s a cat stuck in a tree.”
Ah. “Peaches again?”
“Peaches again.”
Peaches belonged to an older lady in town. She let him wander where he wanted. Unfortunately, he was named Peaches for a reason, being the shade of a peach. Like many cats of that shade, he has the unfortunate reputation of getting himself into trouble. In particular, he is prone to climbing up the Favor Tree and getting stuck there, yowling for help until someone manages to get him down.
Mira’s not quite done. “The problem is that someone decided to, hehe, try and get him. But their cloak got stuck and now they, hehehe, they can’t get down either.”
Oh, so there’s actually a person stuck in the tree too. “And how come you didn’t call this in on the official line?”
“They seemed pretty embarrassed. I told them that I would just get a friend, instead of alerting the entire station.”
“You know I am still working, right?”
“Ah, if it’s really trouble…”
“No, it’s fine, Mira. I’ll be right over.” Your boss won’t mind. She’s pretty used to Peaches being Peaches. Besides, it’s not like anyone has something to do right now. “See you in a bit.”
“Thanks Isabeau!”
You hang up and start putting your sketching supplies away. It’ll be quickest tif you take your car, but you should probably tell your boss first. You find her and Nille in the break room, eating their lunches. Your boss, a woman prone to daydreaming, is currently gazing out the window.
“Hey guys. We got a Peaches incident.”
Nille looks up from her meal. “Another one? Didn’t he get stuck on a roof just three days ago?”
“Yeah… Well, apparently someone tried to climb after him this time, and got stuck up in the Favor Tree.”
Nille laughs, and this seems to get your boss’ attention. “You want to go and get them down…?”
“If that’s alright. I know we’re not supposed to leave the station without permission while on shift.” You rub the back of your neck. “But this is kind of work.”
Your boss yawns. “It’s fine. Today is slow anyway…”
“Thanks! I’ll be back in a little bit!”
“Feel free to grab lunch while you’re out.”
Right, it is about lunch time. You don’t normally take your lunch at the same time as everyone else, so there’s always someone around to answer the phones. But you probably should eat. You don’t get this buff by skipping meals!
You grab one of the folding ladders and set it up in your car. It’s a quick drive to the Favor Tree, but much faster than actually walking there with the ladder. You park at the parking lot set up at the end of the path and start making your way down to it. When you get close, you see Mira standing in front of the Favor Tree, looking up at something currently hidden by the leaves.
“...right here, I promise,” she says to whoever is in the tree.
“Waiting for someone?” You smile as you approach, ladder in hand.
“Oh! Isabeau!” She turns to you, with a bright smile on her face. “That was fast.”
“There wasn’t much traffic.” You say that like that’s ever any traffic in Dormont. Your words get a little laugh out of Mirabelle regardless. “So, what’s the situation? Anything change while I was making my way here?”
“Ah, well, Siffrin tried to get down again, and he got even more stuck.”
Someone makes a sound of embarrassment up in the tree and you finally get a look at this would be cat rescuer. They’re a rather small fellow with a mix of darkless and lightless hair, in the strangest outfit you’d ever seen. They look like they’re getting ready for a convention of some kind, being dressed as a wizard. A one eyed wizard, based off the rough eyepatch they have over their left eye. You can see exactly what happened. The back of their cloak is tangled in the branches, giving them just enough room to sit on a branch, but will certainly knock them down if they try to untangle themself. Peaches, for his part, it currently curled up happily on the stranger’s, Siffrin’s, lap.
“You okay up there, Siffrin was it? Peaches not bothering you.” You call up to him.
You catch a momentary smirk on his face before he replies, “Just peachy!”
He winks to you with his uncovered eyes, and you can’t help but laugh. That was awful! You love it! You clutch your gut and try not to drop the ladder. You’ve always been weak to comedy, especially a well timed pun. You take a minute to catch your breath, and when you look up at him again, you can see that he’s grinning. Oh, they’re clearly fine up there.
“I’m Isabeau,” you continue. “You cool if I climb up and untangle you?”
“I guess. I think I can get it-”
“No! You almost fell last time!” Mira’s tone is stern. “That’s why I said we had to wait until Isabeau got here!”
“If I-”
“No!”
You chuckle a little. They’re stubborn. It’s kind of cute. You get the feeling that they don’t want to be a bother. “If it helps any, I have to climb up to grab Peaches anyway. Untangling you will be no problem.”
“...If you’re sure.”
“Of course! No worries!”
You stretch the ladder out the appropriate height and set it down against the tree, at such an angle where it’s not a risk of falling. With the practiced ease of someone who regularly climbs ladder for drills, you make your way up to him. Oh… Now that you see them up close, they’re actually really cute. No, do not get distracted by a cute person, Isabeau! You have a job to do. You force yourself not to blush.
“No moment, I’m just gonna untangle you. Is it alright if I touch you?”
He seems a bit nervous. “Yeah, of course!”
You reach out behind him to where the cloak it caught. Ah, it’s worse than you thought. Some of the cloak is caught in a break in the bark, and the main reason why it’s tangled. The threads are frayed a little too. You feel bad. It’s a nice cloak.
“Okay, just one second.” You have to tug a bit, causing some of the tangled threads to rip free. You hear Siffrin take in a breath. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Still, he sounds sad though.
“Let’s get you down, then we can access the damage.”
He picks up Peaches and offers him to you. “If you take him, I can get down on my own.”
You assume he means using the ladder. You nod and take the cat, tugging the purring little bundle under one arm as you climb down. You are quickly proven wrong in your assumption as Siffrin deftly climbs down the tree, using the different branches for leverage. It’s incredibly graceful. You blink in surprise. He actually gets to the ground before you do.
“Impressive.” As you say this, Mirabelle claps a little at the display. “Explains how you got up there in the first place.”
“It’s not a hard climb,” they admit. “If you know what you’re doing.”
“I don’t think I could manage that.” Mira makes her way over. “Do you climb trees often, Siffrin?”
They seem a little shy, not that they’re the center of attention. They nod. “They’re comfortable. And if you are really careful, they make a great place to nap.”
“Well, try not to nap in the Favor Tree. Technically, we’re not supposed to climb it at all.” There was some local law about that, after one of the neighborhood kids fell off a high branch and broke their arm. That actually reminds you. “You’re new in town, I’m guessing.”
“Just passing through.” They seem nervous about that.
“Are you staying at the House then?” Dormont doesn’t really have anywhere else for travelers to stay, except the old clock tower, but that was condemned last year.
Siffrin looks awkward, and shakes their head. They must be staying with a friend instead. You hope. For some reason you get a bad feeling about that.
“Well, if you need somewhere to stay, we have a free couch down at the station.” You offer anyway. You see Siffrin’s look of guilt. Yeah, you figured he didn’t have anywhere to go. “It’s not as nice as the House, but it’s always open.”
You’re sure that Nille and your boss won’t mind you inviting a stranger to stay the night there. You are all Vaugardian, after all, and offering whatever you can share is your nature.
“...Thanks. I shou-” Siffrin is interrupted by the sound of their stomach growling. They look away suddenly. You force yourself not to laugh, and feel Mira doing the same.
“If you don’t have plans, why don’t you both join me for lunch? I was about to go and get something anyway, and the more the merrier.”
Siffrin looks like he’s about to refuse, but Mira answers first. “Oh, I would love to. And it would be a nice chance to get to know Siffrin better. We don’t get many travelers in Dormont.”
“Ah…” You feel bad, because it’s not hard for them to refuse, but you’re a little worried about this stranger. Based on the dirt on their outfit and the way their hair is tangled, you get the feeling that they probably don’t have anywhere to go. If you can offer them at least a good meal and a night’s sleep indoors, you’ll feel better about yourself.
“...Alright.”
You smile. “Let’s get going. But first, we gotta take a certain someone home.” You scratch Peaches behind the ears. “Mira, can you get the ladder?”
“Of course!”
A few minutes later, you’re heading into town with two people, a cat, and a station ladder all in your car. It’s not how you expected your day to go. Little did you know now, this would start a domino effect that leads you to getting a new roommate.