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Kitty was tired. She had been running back and forth between the kingdoms all day. Either getting chased out of Blue or having nothing to do in Red. Everyone else was busy building, not even his own kingdom had time to play with him. Dull times like these were when they missed their knight the most. He would spend as much time with Kitty as they permitted; petting them, and playing with them. It’s knight was gone now though, so Kitty had to find someone new to play with. Which proved to be a harder task than it had originally expected.
As night fell, Kitty found herself back in the Blue Kingdom. Everyone seemed to be out or asleep, so no one stopped her as she made her way through the tall stone walls and down the path. The end of his long yellow scarf dragged through the coarse dirt of the path, as he had long given up on jumping around everywhere. It was a waste of energy when he was already so tired. Plus, there was no one to run from anyway.
Kitty found themself in the center of the future training grounds that they had seen many of the Blue Kingdom’s knights working on. It slowly crept towards one of the towers that bordered the grounds, hesitating just before it reached the door. The inside of the tower was cramped, the first floor mostly filled by barrels and furnaces that Kitty had taken from many times. Even though he knew they were empty, Kitty couldn’t help but peek into one of the barrels, just to check. After confirming there was nothing there, she moved to the ladder in the corner of the room. Her footsteps were silent, but the ladder creaked slightly under her as she made her way to the second floor.
They poked their head up, eyes just above the wooden floor. The room was dark, his eyes dilated as they slowly adjusted to the lack of light. In the corner of the room she spotted her bed with the lion sleeping in it. The bed was in his house, so Kitty understood why he would be sleeping there. She wasn’t mad, she was generous enough to let the lion sleep in her bed. However, they were tired and had come here to get some rest.
He crept forward, one of his feet catching lightly on a piece of string he had left on the ground last time he was there. She kicked the string away, watching it skitter across the floor, too tired to continue the chase. They approached the big kitty in their bed, taking notice that under the covers he was dressed in his full suit of armor, which looked rather uncomfortable to sleep in. He could hear the light snores muffled through the helmet. It was strange to see the suit of armor so still, chest lightly rising and falling as he breathed deeply, but otherwise remaining motionless.
Kitty plopped herself onto the end of the bed, stealthily avoiding big kitty’s feet so she did not disturb him. It lifted its feathered hat from its head, shaking its hair out once it was freed. He placed the hat on the floor, tucking it slightly under the bed so that the lion did not step on it when he woke up. Kitty blinked slowly as their eyes began to droop shut. She scooted forward slightly, legs hanging off the edge of the bed, and attempted to lay down next to the lion. As he lowered himself, his head hit some part of the lion’s armor, maybe his hip or arm. Kitty sat back up. Normally if she did not fit on the bed with her knight, she would just rest her head on him, but even with the blanket over him, the big kitty’s armor was too cold and hard for her to fall asleep on. It curled itself up as small as it could, and tried to wedge itself onto the bed next to the lion, but it just could not fit.
After multiple attempts to curl himself around the lion, Kitty gave up. She sighed and shook her head, sitting up again. He looked around the room for any other comfortable spot he could sleep, but found nothing. The big kitty’s house was lacking any decoration other than barrels and a bed. Kitty resolved than when she woke up, she would help make the lion’s house more comfortable, a cat needed its comfy spots, after all. But for now, Kitty was far too tired.
They slipped off the bed, landing gracefully on the floor in a kneel, curling their legs under them. He laid his arms on the bed, followed by his head, adjusting slightly until he was comfortable enough to fall asleep. The last things she heard before drifting off were the big kitty’s soft snores and the rustling of leaves outside the open window.
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Owain woke up suddenly, as he always does. Never with a jolt, simply one moment he is asleep and the next he is wide awake. His eyes open to take in the dark room through the slots of his helmet. Nothing seems particularly out of place. Although he notices it seems to still be late in the night due to the lack of light shining into the room.
He stretches in his armor, although his movement is always slightly restricted. As he does so one of his legs hits something on his bed. He tenses immediately, learned instincts prepare him to jump into action. His hand swiftly grasping the sword he left leaning against the wall beside his bed.
As his eyes adjust to the little torch light, he discovers exactly what, or who, is at the end of his bed. A head of reddish hair is resting in the space next to his leg, gently rising and falling in sleep. He stares at her for a second, he has never seen her so still. She always seems to have so much energy, running and jumping around, too fast for him to keep up with. Even during their training he has to remind her to sit still constantly. Now she doesn’t even twitch when he moves his leg away from her head, shifting his weight on the matress.
Owain spends more time than he would like to admit just staring at Kitty. He feels awkward, as if he is intruding on something he isn’t meant to see, even though she is the one in his bedroom, lying on his bed. The trained part of his brain tells him to wake her up immediately and kick her out. She is intruding not only in his kingdom, but in his quarters. But he can’t bring himself to do it. Affection is not a feeling that he is used to. Sure he has cared about people before, but he has never looked at someone he barely knows and wanted nothing more than to let them sleep peacefully.
He leans down slightly to examine Kitty’s face, making sure she is fast asleep, before slowly raising his helmet over his head. He places it on the bed next to him and runs a hand roughly over his face and through his hair. He needs to get over this strange affection, it will only cause problems for him and his kingdom. But when he looks at Kitty, everything else feels far away.
Owain hesitates for a moment before reaching a gloved hand out towards the sleeping Kitty. He gently runs his fingers through her short hair. If he could feel it, he thinks it would probably be soft. Kitty shifts, turning her head ever so slightly into his hand, eyes firmly shut. Owain pulls back immediately, heart pounding as he stills, hoping that he did not wake her up. Her mouth twitches down just enough for it to draw his eyes, as if she has noticed the distance in her sleep and disapproves. He does not try to reach out again, refusing to let himself be taken by the endearing nature of the “cat.” He waits for a moment longer, before deciding that he can safely assume she has not woken up.
He scoots back on his bed to lean against the headboard, his gaze still on Kitty. As if subconsciously sensing this, she stretches her arms out slightly to make use of the new space. A soft smile crosses Owain’s face, feeling safe in the knowledge that even with his helmet off, no one would see him.
Light slowly starts to filter in through the window as the sun rises. Owain feels his eyes eventually grow heavier until he cannot keep them on Kitty anymore. He gently lowers himself until he is lying in bed again, careful not to disturb the still sleeping Kitty. As he places his helmet back on his head, his eyes slide shut. Just as he is about to fall asleep, he shifts his leg so it is pressed against Kitty’s back, a movement that could have easily been done unconsciously while asleep. Even through his armor, he can feel the warmth of her body traveling up his leg. Owain sleeps better than he ever has that night.