Chapter Text
Lucanis was about to finish their shopping trip through Treviso market together and turned around to inform his companion about it, but she seemed to have vanished. It wasn't that Lucanis was scared or surprised, no, he was already used to it. If Rook saw something interesting, she would silently touch his shoulder, he would nod, and the girl would disappear into the crowd for a while. She usually returned quite quickly on her own, either with some small purchase for one of their companions and with a barely noticeable smile on her lips, or with some information and a sparkle in her bright eyes.
This time, Lucanis either didn't feel her touch, or Rook had moved very close. The second assumption turned out to be correct: he only had to turn his head to the right, and saw her squatting at one of the counters. He came closer, intrigued. Surely she couldn't have picked up a random coin?
"What is it?" He asked curiously and looked over Rook's shoulder. The girl looked back at his voice and moved a little to the side.
There was a cat sitting on the ground. Slightly grimy, gray with dust,, she squinted at her with yellow eyes and seemed to purr. Lucanis listened, and yes, he heard a purring sound among the other sounds of the market. And the cat was so round that it resembled a ball.
"She's pregnant," Rook confirmed his thoughts and ran her palm from the top of the cat's head to the base of its tail. The cat got to its feet and stuck out its tail like a pipe, obviously asking for more affection.
"Is this your cat?" Lucanis turned to the seller, who was watching the exchange of favors between the animal and the girl. The seller, a man in his sixties, shrugged his shoulders.
"She's nobody's cat," he said, "I feed her sometimes, but she walks around here on her own whenever she wants."
"And no one's trying to take her home?" Rook asked. The cat nuzzled her fingers and squeezed her eyes shut. Lucanis caught the ghost of a smile on his companion's lips.
"And who will take her pot-bellied?" the seller asked in a reasonable tone. Rook snorted softly and folded her hands in her lap. The cat followed. Obviously, she missed being petted, and Rook's hand has always been gentle to any animals.
The replenishment at the Lighthouse was greeted very cordially, albeit with a note of amazement. At first, no one even realized that Rook had brought a cat. She was holding her in her arms, hidden under a wide scarf, and Lucanis even thought that he was worried about what everyone else would say. Like a child carrying an animal home, hoping that her mother won't scold her, he thought and suppressed a grin.
All the way to Eluvian, Rook didn't say a word. She only asked if there was almond oil or lavender oil in the kitchen, Lucanis remembered almond oil, but that was fine with her. Then she cooed exclusively with the cat, and the latter was happy and continued to purr loudly.
Bellara was the first to found out. As if sensing that Rook and Lucanis were about to return, she passed by the corridor with Eluvian and, noticing them inside the corridor, immediately went to meet them. At first, she was surprised to see that Lucanis was carrying all the purchases alone (after all, Rook usually did not miss the opportunity to help everyone she could reach), and only then did she notice the animal in the girl's arms.
Bellara gasped.
"Oh, my goodness! Oh my, is that a cat? The cat! In the Lighthouse! Are you serious?"
"She's not alone," Rook smiled and threw the scarf off the cat.
Both Lucanis and Rook were sure that if it hadn't been for the bag in her hands, Bellara would have buried her face in her palms and squeaked. Rook hurried to say:
"Don't hurry, let's show her to the others together!"
"We're setting the table! Everyone should gather in the dining room!"
Rook glanced at Lucanis, who just raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. Like, what? Then Rook smiled back (Lucanis involuntarily exhaled), and the three of them moved on.
Assan jumped out to meet them. The young griffon adored Rook — it was absolutely mutual — but when he saw that her hands were busy, he stopped, bent down on his front paws to the floor and tilted his head to the side. The expression in his blue eyes became questioning. Rook didn't greet him with hugs. How often did it happen?
"Be careful, Assan," Rook slowly squatted down again and, holding the cat from a potential frightened jump away, showed her to the griffon. "She might be scared of you."
It's not that Assan understands human speech, but he's already turned on curiosity and exploration mode. With extreme caution, both animals sniffed each other's faces. The cat, which had initially pressed its ears to its head, quickly relaxed. Rook set her on her feet, and then the new acquaintances were able to look and sniff each other normally.
"Wow," Davrin said, watching the exchange of pleasantries. "Well, he's just a model of behavior today."
"Really?" Rook asked curiously, brushing off her palms and straightening up. Davrin snorted.
"Of course not. It's just that you're back."
"Is that a cat ?" Neve came into the hall and instantly forgot why she had come here in the first place. Her legs turned her around on their own toward Rook and Bellara. "That's something new! Oh..."
"Yes," Rook nodded when Neve examined the round feline belly. "Well..."
"You don't have to explain yourself," Neve grinned and lightly touched Rook's shoulder. "I'm not surprised you brought her."
"I wonder what month she's in?" Rook glanced at Bellara, who had also stood next to them and was now examining the cat and the griffon. They had clearly become friends. Well, okay, they weren't chasing each other, and no one was trying to bite or scratch anyone. However, Lucanis answered, already unloading the bag on the kitchen counter.:
"Judging by the size of the belly, little ones should be born soon."
When everyone looked at him, Lucanis looked over his shoulder at the silence and shrugged.
"What? Look at her! She's like a barrel, walking and waddling."
Rook and Bellara giggled together. Lucanis, catching Rook's amused gaze, gave her a slight smile and nonchalantly turned back to the table and continued his simple occupation. There was a pre-cooked meal warming next to the fire, and he didn't have to think about cooking at the moment.
For dinner, both pets got portions of meat (Lucanis was very prudent and bought more so that everyone could have enough), and water was poured into one of the wooden bowls for her. Everyone else, having pulled themselves into the dining room, responded about the new tenant no less positively. Emmrich was most fascinated by the cat and was constantly distracted from his portion if the cat passed by and rubbed against the legs of his chair. At some point, the cat became interested in Manfred. He was standing next to the fireplace, and when the new resident of the Lighthouse came up to him to get acquainted, Manfred hissed something in a high key and bent down, holding out both hands toward the pet. She simply sniffed them, rubbed her side against one skeletonized palm, and walked on.
After washing the dishes, Rook changed the habit of sitting with everyone over a cup of tea. Instead, she went to the bathroom, beckoning the cat to follow her. She enthusiastically got up from her seat by Emmrich's chair and trotted after the girl. Rook wasn't entirely sure if she would be able to bathe the cat. If it doesn't work out, then she will just wipe its fur with a damp cloth and check the ears, having previously grabbed almond oil from the kitchen.
In fact, calling this room a bathroom was an understatement. Based on the layout, Rook and her companions could assume that the baths were shared with hints of privacy. In the huge hall, lined with pale green shimmering stone, there were a huge number of small semi-enclosed rooms. Inside these rooms, the walls were covered with vines, and soft moss sprouted on the floor around round deep baths. It all looked truly magical and reminded Rook once again of the amount of magic that powered the entire Lighthouse.
Picking up a wooden tub, she scooped up water from the pool, which was always hot, and diluted it with cold water to an acceptable temperature. Then took a small towel that she had prepared in advance, which could be used to wipe the cat's fur. All this time, the cat was patiently waiting for her "savior" at one of the long benches, where there was also a tub of water. Rook knelt on the floor and sighed. So, how does she do all this?
The animal refused to get into the water. Sticking out her fingers on all four paws, she did not appreciate the offer of Rook to dip her front paws into the tub, but she did not run away when they let her go. Then Rook shrugged her shoulders and soaked a towel abundantly in clean water, squeezed out the excess water and sat down closer to the cat. She looked at her with round, curious eyes.
"Look at the new arrivals," she heard Varric's voice behind her and smiled, looking over her shoulder. "Hey, kiddo. The others said you were here."
"Here I am, helping a damsel with her looks... Did you have dinner in the infirmary again?" Rook asked, returning to cleaning the cat.
"Yeah," the dwarf replied, and walked a little closer, his gait unhurried, almost lazy. No wonder, considering his injured leg. "Harding keeps fussing over me."
"You're letting her," Rook said reasonably, and they exchanged grins.
With a sigh, Varric sat down on the bench, examined the concentrated Rook, then the cat. A hearty laugh burst from his chest.
"And there's more than one new member of the team! Rook, when I said look for new contacts, I never imagined that you would include a whole squad of mousetraps in the list!"
The girl couldn't help but laugh. A certain vision came to her imagination, and she hurried to share it with Varric:
"We will make them a personal cat armor. These will be real warrior cats!"
"We'll have to wait for their feline adulthood," Varric chuckled one last time and coughed softly. A tired sigh rang out, forcing Rook to look up at her friend.
"How are you feeling?"
"A-ah. 'M alright, I'm not sugar—coated," Varric seemed to wave it off. But he always did that, not digesting the excessive self-care. "I just thought I'd check on you, because you've been really sour lately. But I see it's more fun here without me."
"She's coming to visit you soon," Rook said in a jokingly warning tone. Varric smiled heartily, but did not reply.
Gradually, Rook sank back into a kind of trance. It wasn't like it took a long time to clean the cat with a wet towel. But she has checked a lot of other things. She parted the fur in different places, looking for possible wounds or flea bites, examined the ears and carefully cleaned them with the very edge of the towel (as far as she was allowed), washed the pads of her paws black from dirt and the places between her fingers... All this has greatly distracted the tired girl from the events of the last few weeks. It's amazing how much one such tiny creature could help...
"...Rook?"
Her own nickname came to her ears as if from under a column of water. The girl slowly looked over her shoulder and then around her. Lukanis was standing at the entrance. Varric was nowhere to be seen. She must have gotten so carried away that she didn't notice him leave. She'll have to apologize.
"Yes, I'm here."
But Lucanis was in no hurry to enter. Not hearing the expected footsteps, Rook finally threw the towel into the tub and allowed the cat to begin an independent bathing procedure — with the help of the tongue. Crow continued to stand in the doorway, propping the door frame with one shoulder, a crease between his eyebrows. Rook finally gave him a proper look.
"What?"
"Spite wanted to take a look at the cat."
"...Oh. Just like that, from afar?"
Lucanis shrugged and shook his head.
"Let's just say: He was too insistent, and now he's bombarding me with questions about why she's so round, and what the word "pregnant" means."
Rook couldn't help laughing and, remembering the somewhat sarcastic dialogue between Lucanis and Davrin, said:
"Well, actually, if Spite promises not to eat her, I think we can give him a little biology lecture." And she added, turning to the demon himself, "If that's what you want, Spite! And if you won't hurt her!"
"I don't think she'll come to me at all," Lucanis said thoughtfully. "She's probably can sense Spite."
"Or she needs time to study you both," Rook suggested, and smiled faintly. "Give it to her, this time. I'm sure she'll thaw out at you."
Lucanis couldn't help but smile back a little at these words. He nodded, agreeing with her words.
"As you say, Fiore."