Chapter Text
It took her a while to notice that her apartment was being invaded. There was almost no evidence of it, at first, except for the scratched couch in her living room. She even wondered if it had been her; maybe she had walked around with something that messed up the furniture. But she was sure she would have remembered something like that if it had happened.
So the obvious answer was that someone was getting inside her place and ruining her couch.
Lyra wasn’t even mad, to be honest. She loved animals and it was probably her fault for leaving the windows open for so many hours. At this point, she was even excited to meet the intruder—which she was 99% sure was a cat. It had to be.
So one day, when she got home early from work and saw the little tabby cat sleeping on the same couch they were destroying, she contained the scream so she wouldn’t scare the kitty away. Instead, she carefully closed the door, took off her shoes and left her bag on one of the hangers on the wall.
She walked slowly to the couch, but that wasn’t enough. The cat heard her, letting one ear up and one eye open, the other being hidden by one of their paws. She took that as a good sign, figuring that if the cat were scared of her, they would leave immediately. Since that didn’t happen, she approached the new guest and petted the space where their right ear met their head.
That seemed to do the trick, and the cat was hers now. Alright, she was kidding, since she could see the black collar around the cat’s neck. But she felt like it would be okay for her to spend a little time with the cat before calling their guardian.
Except there was only “Vhagar — she/her” engraved on the little pendant hanging from the collar. Lyra furrowed her brows, trying to understand the reasoning behind putting pronouns on the collar and not a phone number. Not that knowing the cat’s pronouns wasn’t something important—she thought it was, since she had been referring to Vhagar as they, not only because she didn’t know anything about her intruder, but also because she refused to call the little being it. She was so much more than that!
But if Vhagar were her cat, she would’ve added her phone number as well. Maybe not having someone to call was for the best—if they didn’t put their number there, it probably meant they weren’t interested in getting Vhagar back. It also suggested that perhaps Vhagar could be hers, after all.
On the way to the pet store, Lyra left the window open, just in case Vhagar wanted to go back to her previous home. There was a good chance of that, considering she had been doing that for the past few weeks. Lyra felt her heart ache at the thought, but she came to the conclusion that if Vhagar was meant to be with her, she would be there when Lyra came back.
If she weren’t, at least Lyra would have food and treats for her when she returned to wreak havoc on her furniture. She was aware that way of thinking wasn’t the best and that she shouldn’t reward that behavior, but she was kind of desperate for a companion, and she really wanted Vhagar.
To her surprise, Vhagar was still there. I guess I’m a cat mom now, Lyra mused with a smile on her lips.
Aemond’s place was a mess. To his defense, it wasn’t usually like that. He was much more organized. Everything had a designated spot and he liked to keep things that way. But he couldn’t find Vhagar anywhere. He turned the apartment upside down on his quest, and still nothing.
He looked at her favorite spots first: his bed, his bedside table—he always found it weird how she would lay there, but she didn’t seem to mind that the hard surface—the reading chair in his office, the living room couch, every single chair under the table—she sometimes made her way there just to mess with him. When he hadn’t found her in any of her usual hiding places—his closet, under some kitchen cabinets or the bathroom sink—he started to worry.
He checked all of these spots at least three times, considering that maybe—just maybe—she was aware that he was looking for her, and decided to play hide and seek. When it became obvious that she wasn’t doing that—he’d started to move fast, thinking that if he did so he would outrun her eventually—he moved on to places she didn’t go as often and then to spots that she hated, like the closet where he kept her carrier or the little bed he’d bought for her that he put in his office—she preferred the chair, his lap or even his keyboard when she was there.
After that, he wasn’t sure how he’d manage to make a mess of everything. He checked every spot he could think of—even places that he knew there was no way she would be in, like drawers that were too small for her.
He then started to consider that she must have found a way out of the apartment, and he started to check every window and door, but everything was closed or locked—she used to be able to jump and open doors when she was younger. And that made him tremble. Vhagar was almost 14 years old, she wasn’t a young lady anymore. If she had escaped, something could have happened to her.
Some part of him still wanted to believe that she was hiding—maybe she’d become invisible, who could tell, really? But the rational part of his brain just knew she had left. And when he saw that the small bathroom window was slightly open, he was sure she had used it as her way out.
He wanted to bang his head against a wall for being so stupid. How could he be so careless? Vhagar meant everything to him. He was 11 when he’d found her meowing outside his parents’ place. It had been raining so hard he almost hadn’t heard her. He even thought he was imagining the sound, but when he went to the front yard, there she was, trying to hide under one of the trees—she hadn’t been successful, since the rain was falling sideways.
Despite his mother’s wishes, he went in the rain and picked Vhagar up, shielding her from the rain and the wind, and they both entered the house completely wet. She’d been only three months old, according to the vet, who told Aemond and his mom, Alicent, that if he hadn’t helped her, she would have probably died in the storm, considering she’d been dehydrated and probably lost herself from her mother.
They’d been inseparable ever since.
And now he had lost her.
Lyra had been sleeping soundly when something woke her up. Or someone. She could feel claws delicately touching her arm, so she moved the comforter up, hiding herself from Vhagar. Yep, that would do it. She would never imagine Lyra was under there, and Lyra would go back to—"meow.”
Okay, she knew Lyra was hiding. And she started meowing, making it impossible for Lyra to sleep again. What if Lyra just let her meow? She would stop at some point, right? Wrong. She kept meowing for at least five minutes—Lyra wasn’t really counting—and it was breaking Lyra’s heart, ‘cause she wasn’t even being loud, she was just being cute. Her meows were so soft that Lyra felt bad for trying to deceive her cat.
She moved the comforter down, grabbing her phone to check the time: it was three in the fucking morning. She was about to scold Vhagar when she felt her head bump against her arm.
“Are you kidding me?” Lyra asked, not sure if she was talking to Vhagar or to herself. “I’m such a monster,” she addressed Vhagar. “You just want to cuddle and I ignored you. I’m so sorry, I’ll never do that again.”
She made an opening with the covers so Vhagar could get inside, and was surprised when the cat got really close to her, resting her little head on Lyra’s arm. She stood still, afraid to disturb Vhagar with the tiniest movement. After a while, she drifted back to sleep, with Vhagar purring next to her.
Being a cat mom wasn’t always that easy. Cleaning the litter box was disgusting, she was not gonna lie. But she put herself in Vhagar’s shoes: if she were a cat, she would want to use a clean litter box every day.
She had also taken Vhagar to see a vet, and learned that she was about 14 or 15 years old. Apart from being a cute old lady, she seemed to be fine. She was also relieved when the tests came back clear, but she was advised to change the food she was giving Vhagar, since she needed other nutrients, and the one Lyra had bought wasn’t as good for a cat of Vhagar’s age.
Because of that, Lyra had also bought two ramps: one for the couch and another for her bed. She didn’t want Vhagar to be jumping around. But of course Vhagar had despised them at first: she would look at them with disdain and then proceed to jump, losing a bit of balance, which made Lyra’s heart race every time with worry. Vhagar got tired of it, though, because a few days later, when she wasn’t near, Vhagar finally used the ramp. Lyra fist bumped the air, counting that as a win.
She also called someone to install screens on her windows in order to secure them so Vhagar wouldn’t run away. She was aware that it probably meant she wouldn’t be able to go back to where she was originally from, but she figured that Vhagar would learn to stay inside instead of wandering around.
But that day wasn’t today, Lyra thought as she entered the living room and saw Vhagar staring out the open window, with her left paw on the screen, as if she wanted to tear it apart.
When Lyra approached her, sitting behind her on the arm of the couch, she meowed.
“I know you wanna leave, but it’s dangerous out there,” Lyra explained, earning another meow. “Yeah, I get it. You’re used to coming and going, but that’s not how it’s going to be anymore. You were doing so well. What’s gotten into you?”
Vhagar meowed again, turning her little face so she could keep staring out the window. Lyra followed her stare, facing the side of the building next to hers. She could see another window and a plant standing next to it. When she squinted, she saw a man sitting on his couch.
Vhagar let out a really loud meow and weirdly enough the man seemed to hear it, looking around his place until his face turned into Lyra and Vhagar’s direction. He opened his mouth and Lyra read Vhagar! on his lips. Then his eye met hers and she was almost sure if looks could kill, she would no longer be there.
She was so shocked that when he opened his window and started to talk, she couldn’t register his words. Vhagar kept meowing and that left Lyra extremely confused. Yes, she knew that meant Vhagar was his cat, but what was she supposed to do now?
“Hey,” he was calling her. “You need to give her back,” he said, as if he wanted to jump from his window to hers and snatch Vhagar from her apartment.
“Wait,” Lyra said. “Calm down! You should come over so we can talk properly instead of shouting from our windows,” she suggested and that seemed to stop him from trying anything too dangerous. “I’m in apartment 303.”
He nodded and disappeared from her view. It took him a little while, but when he buzzed in, she let him in. Another few minutes and he was knocking on her door.
Her heart was beating so fast she was kind of afraid he would kill her for keeping Vhagar, but she figured he was probably a decent person and would do nothing of the sort. So she opened the door and he stormed in, not even looking at her and going straight to Vhagar who met him along the way.
“You’re okay,” he said after he picked her up, hugging her gently. “I’ve missed you so much,” he told her.
Lyra felt her heart ache. She only knew Vhagar for a few days but if that had happened to her, she would probably be exactly like this.
She took the opportunity to study the stranger. His silvery-white hair was up in a low bun with a few strands out in the front. She noticed he vibed a lot with the color black, which worked for him, she had to admit. He was wearing a black turtleneck with black jeans and black shoes. His eyepatch was also black, probably made of leather.
When she closed the door, he finally looked at her. “You kidnapped my cat,” he said while he tried to keep Vhagar as far from her as possible.
“I didn’t, though,” Lyra said, trying to stay calm. “She entered my apartment, which she had been doing for a while, mind you, and she was sleeping so comfortably on my couch I didn’t have the courage to throw her out,” she explained. “Plus why the fuck did you not put your number on her collar? I would have called,” she told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Because it didn’t fit,” he declared. “And I didn’t want people to misgender her.”
“I would never!” Lyra confessed, almost offended that he would think she would do something like that. “I was referring to her as they/them before I saw the collar, okay? Still, you must have left something open ‘cause she got out, what does that say about you, huh? I even put on screens,” she gestured to the window, which he turned to inspect. “I took her to the vet, bought her old cat food. I got her ramps!” Lyra exclaimed, pointing at the damn ramp next to the couch.
“Does she use it?” He asked with a mix of surprise and curiosity in his voice.
“She didn’t at first,” Lyra replied, glancing at the ramp again. “But she does when she thinks I’m not looking, so when I see that she wants to go on the couch, I just leave the room for a bit,” she added as if that was a normal thing to do.
But the look he gave her made her think she was insane for doing that. “She never uses the ones I got her,” he complained, staring at Vhagar with reproach in his eye.
“Maybe if you leave the room like I do, she will,” she suggested and he glanced back at her.
“Maybe,” he agreed in a tone that suggested he did not agree at all. “I’m gonna go now.”
He started to make his way to her door. With Vhagar in his arms. He was going to leave her apartment. With Vhagar. Vhagar was going to leave. She would be all alone again. With no cat.
She stepped in front of the door, blocking the way. “Wait,” she said. “You can’t just leave with her. She’s kind of mine now, plus I don’t know your name.”
He looked at her with disbelief. “No, she’s not. She’s always been mine,” he said matter-of-factly. “And it’s Aemond,” he revealed. “My name.”
“Hi, Aemond,” she said, testing his name out loud. “I’m Lyra,” she gave him a little wave. “I don’t care,” Lyra continued. “I took her in when she had no one else. She likes me. Maybe she left because she doesn’t like you anymore.” Lyra crossed her arms against her chest.
“Did you see how she greeted me? Of course she likes me,” he said, rolling his eye. “Please, excuse us, we need to go home.”
Lyra’s heart was almost out of her chest. She couldn’t let Vhagar go. “You can’t do this,” she tried again. “I love her!”
“You barely know her,” he told her with an incredulous look in his eye.
“And?” Lyra asked like it didn’t matter in the slightest. ‘Cause it truly didn’t. “I would let her eat me if I died so she wouldn’t starve!”
“You’re being ridiculous,” he pointed out, staring at the door, as if trying to find a way to leave, and Lyra was sure he was only doing that so she wouldn’t see it in his eye that he would, too, let Vhagar eat him if he died.
She was getting desperate. She didn’t know what she could possibly say to this man—Aemond—that would make him let her keep Vhagar. He was set on leaving with her and Lyra really didn’t want him to. Maybe if she started crying? No, that probably wouldn’t work, ‘cause he seemed to be heartless. But not really, ‘cause he also seemed to care about Vhagar.
Lyra bit her lip, trying to think of something to say. “I get it, okay? You’ve missed her and now you found her,” she started. “I bet these past few days have been hell to you,” she said and he nodded. “But they’ve been awesome to me. She’s so… I don’t even know, she just gets me, I guess. We cuddle at three in the morning ‘cause she likes that specific time. She even purrs when she’s next to me.” She gave Vhagar, who was staring at her, a soft look. “This might sound crazy, but I think we have a bond.”
The look Aemond was giving her was no longer a hostile one. Her heart was filled with hope that maybe he would let Vhagar stay for a few more days, at least. “I understand what you’re saying,” he cautiously started. “But she’s been in my life for almost 14 years and I couldn’t possibly let her stay here with someone I barely know. For fuck’s sake, I don’t even let her stay with my family when I have to travel or something like that.”
She looked down. Okay, it was over. She had lost this one. She had to let them go.
“Right,” she nodded, turning to face the door so she could open it. “Can I just say goodbye to her?”
She looked up at him, and he nodded, handing Vhagar to her. He seemed surprised by the fact that Vhagar started purring the second she came in contact with Lyra, and that made Lyra want to cry. “Bye,” she said, holding Vhagar as if she were a baby. “I’m gonna miss you, okay? I know we’ve known each other only for a few days, but you’re very special to me,” she told Vhagar, fighting the tears forming in her eyes. “I’ll even take one of the screens out so you can come back if you want, alright?” She fake-whispered that part, hearing Aemond let out an exasperated sigh. “I love you, okay?” She closed her eyes and felt one tear roll out as she gently kissed Vhagar’s forehead.
She then handed her to Aemond, who was watching Lyra closely. “Thanks,” he said. “For taking care of her.”
Lyra just nodded, looking away as they left.
She started crying the second the door was closed.