Chapter Text
It had been 4 days since he had been able to eat anything but small scraps. As a human he would have been able to at least tolerate it, but he wasn't.
San was a cat, all thanks to this one job he really shouldn't have taken.
Every step he took felt like he was moving through molasses, his tiny muscles straining due to the lack of food. On top of that he was sure he should not have been drinking from that muddy puddle yesterday. But what was he supposed to do? He was so thirsty…
Something had surely contaminated the puddle, as he was feeling weaker than he should, even with the lack of food. He desperately needed food, water and rest, but finding it was harder than he expected. People noticed that he was cursed, chasing him away or even trying to harm him. However, he kept trying to beg for food, hoping someone would take mercy on him. And that plant witch over there… he didn't know why, but he felt like this one was safe. He simply had to try.
It had failed again. Why couldn't he summon a familiar? He had tried again and again, but even if he thought he did everything correctly, he simply couldn't summon one.
Yeosang grabbed his watering can with a sigh, humming a soft tune while going around to water the plants in his shop, trying to distract himself from another disappointment. The plants were his pride and joy, and, given how he was a plant witch, he always made sure they were as healthy as they could be. When he stepped outside to water his plants, he felt something rub against his leg causing him to look down in confusion.
“Oh, who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you here before.”
He bent down to pet the small, black cat.
“You're quite adorable. But so skinny… hm…”
Without thinking he put down his watering can and scooped it up, accidentally startling the poor thing.
“Ah, don't be afraid. You're so cute, I just wanted to hold you.”
San watched as the witch seemed to realize something.
“Wait, did my spell finally work? Did I summon a familiar??”
… Was this guy stupid? Could he really not tell that San was cursed?
“Finally! Come on, let's get you inside. You're shivering… are you cold?”
He was shivering? Now that the guy mentioned it, he was shaking from exhaustion. And he was beginning to feel quite dizzy… the witch cradled San close to his chest. Maybe… maybe San could simply nap a bit. This witch didn't seem dangerous…
Yeosang watched worriedly when the cat went limp in his arms, seemingly passing out.
Then he panicked lightly. He just got his familiar and now it was sick…
“I'd take you to Hwa, but he's on an adventure… I'm sorry,” he mumbled. He flipped his shop sign to ‘closed’ and rushed inside, placing the cat on his desk in his flat upstairs while looking through the potions he had in stock. He was sure he still had a healing potion Seonghwa had made… there it was. To his relief, when he came back, the cat was blinking up at him.
“Oh, you're awake. You passed out, are you sick? I have a potion, please drink it…”
Now, Yeosang wasn't stupid. He knew a cat wasn't going to understand or answer. Still, he grabbed a plate that was flat, but had a small, raised edge and poured some of the potion into it.
“It's safe, I promise. It'll help.”
He watched as the cat slowly began moving, obviously very weak. While it could get its paws underneath itself, it was too weak to actually stand up enough to drink. So Yeosang carefully helped by holding it up. He smiled happily as the cat started lapping up the potion.
“There you go…”
Once the cat was done, Yeosang looked around for a small pillow or something for his little friend to sleep on. He eventually found a wooden crate and stuffed some bedding into it before picking it up and placing it inside.
“Sleep a little, yeah? I'll come check on you once in a while,” he said. He placed the crate on the ground, not wanting the cat to fall off the desk should it climb out of the crate. When he was sure the cat was asleep he went back downstairs and reopened his shop.
San had a really nice dream. He dreamt of a kind witch taking him in, feeding him a healing potion and even helping him drink it. The witch even allowed him to rest in a comfy crate!
Too bad it was only a dream… or was it?
He slowly came back to reality.
Was he laying on bedding? A bit confused, he opened his eyes. His vision was swimming, but he could make out the edges of a crate he was laying in. So… it hadn't been a dream? A kind witch had taken him in? San tried to push himself up to see where he was, only for someone to hurriedly come over.
“Hey, please don't get up… I don't want you to hurt yourself. Are you feeling any better? You slept for quite a long time…”
It was the kind witch again. San could only make out a human shaped blob, but he knew it had to be the same one.
Obediently, he laid back down, letting the man pet him gently.
“Let's get some more of the potion into you. I also grabbed some tuna, hopefully you still have an appetite…”
He felt himself get lifted again and placed in front of the plate. While he was a bit stronger, he still needed assistance to be able to drink the potion.
“You're a very good patient and you seem very sweet. I hope you can help me lots around the shop! Well, of course when you're feeling better. How come you were sent to me while sick? I'll probably never know…”
San briefly doubted if that man was a witch. He logically knew that he was, but how could the man not tell he wasn't an ordinary cat? It was baffling San, how can a witch be this oblivious?
“I'm Yeosang! Nice to meet you. Hm… what should I call you… ah, maybe Nero? Yes, that sounds cute!”
Really? Such an ordinary name? At least he looked incredibly happy about it. He surely was an odd one. Apparently he didn't even know regular familiars couldn't get sick. Still, he was giving him medicine, water, food and shelter… maybe he should stay. At least until he was better.
“Here, can you eat something?”
He watched as the human opened a can of tuna and scooped some onto the now empty plate. San lifted his head to sniff the tuna, but felt his stomach rebelling at the smell. So he laid his head back down.
“Not hungry…?”
Yeosang sounded super worried.
“You need to eat… you're already so skinny, come on…”
He helped San sit like he would to drink the potion, so San tried. He was hungry, starving actually, but his body didn't seem to like the idea of food right now. Why was he so nauseous? San stopped eating after a few bites. Any more and he'd throw up. Plus, it was getting harder to stand and hold up his head. San wondered if his body was failing him or if he was just so relaxed the past days were catching up now.
The witch seemed to notice and picked him up, leaning his back against the wall, knees drawn close while he was cradling the cat in his arms.
“Please don't die on me…” he heard Yeosang mumble. That broke San’s heart a little. His head was being cradled by Yeosang's hand, so he moved it a little to lick his thumb. That made Yeosang chuckle.
“Are you trying to comfort me?”
San nuzzled his head back into Yeosang's hand, the exhaustion pulling him under once again.
Over the next day, San slowly regained his strength. He had also found out the witch was feeding him a healing potion, which had no effect other than making his body ache less. He needed one that would strengthen his body. The witch was overjoyed when San ate some more pieces of tuna Yeosang had offered him with his hand. While the cat was a bit embarrassed about being fed by hand, his nausea was gone, so he was quite hungry. Yeosang gave him more tuna, but stopped after about half of the can. San meowed at Yeosang, wanting more.
“You'll get more a bit later. I don't think you've eaten properly in a couple of days, so I don't want to give you too much at once.”
While San knew the witch was correct, he still felt upset about that. He curled up, turning his back to Yeosang and flicking his tail.
“Oh come on, don't be annoyed… I don't want you to throw up.”
San wanted to stay mad, but when Yeosang petted his back, he couldn't help but relax.
“You like that, huh? You've regained some strength, maybe I can give you a bath now. You're filthy.”
Before he knew it San was picked up once again. He waited patiently while Yeosang prepared the bathtub. He had enough strength now to at least sit.
“I got some baby shampoo earlier… Do you like it?”
He showed San the bottle to sniff. It smelled like lemon and, while he knew cats were supposed to hate citrusy smells, San liked them, so he bumped his head against Yeosang's hand.
“You like it, huh? That's good. The bath is ready now. Please don't scratch the shit out of me…”
San briefly debated if he should act like a cat, but soon concluded there was no reason to. The less he behaved like one the more likely Yeosang was to realize something didn't add up, right?
So he sat in the water, patiently letting Yeosang wash him. It felt so nice he began purring and laid down, fully relaxed. Yeosang was holding his head above the water.
“You like water? Huh, I guess I lucked out and got a cat who likes it.”
When he was done giving San a bath he took him out of the water and towel dried him before grabbing the blow dryer.
When Yeosang started using it on San the sensation was way too much. He tried to squirm away from it.
“You need to dry off, you're still sick and you can't stay all wet.”
Still, San absolutely hated it. He hissed and growled at Yeosang, who frowned, but didn't stop. Only when San was close to passing out, panting hard, did Yeosang stop.
“Shit, I stressed you out too much, did I? I'm so sorry…”
He gently wrapped San in a dry towel, panicking when he noticed how limp San was.
“That was such a horrible idea, why did I do that, please be okay…”
Yeosang hurried through the house, placed San down and then tried to figure out what to do. San, while exhausted, watched the witch in amusement as he ran around the house like a headless chicken, looking for whatever could help San feel better. He surely was an odd witch, but quite adorable. However, San couldn't stay awake much longer. He fell asleep while still wrapped in the towel like a burrito.
He woke up on a bed. San sleepily looked around, noticing how he had been placed in Yeosang's bed. The witch was curled around San as if he had fallen asleep while keeping an eye on his new friend, but in a way that he wasn't touching San. Today the latter felt a lot better. He jumped out of bed and slowly began exploring the house.
Yeosang was living in a small flat, which had a kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom and office. Each room was barely big enough to fit the furniture and the entire house was a bit cluttered. To San it looked like everything was all over the place, like you would have a hard time finding anything, but he had noticed Yeosang always knew exactly where to find what he needed. It was cozy, with many sunny spots San could enjoy. By now Yeosang was awake and watching San explore. Downstairs was the shop. He hadn't been there yet, mostly because he wasn't strong enough to go up and down the stairs. He really wanted to see it though. That's why he stood by the door, meowing and scratching it.
“Hm? Do you wanna go downstairs? That's just my shop, but I guess you want to explore, huh? Alright.”
Yeosang opened the door. San walked to the stairs and then sat down, staring at the other.
“What's wrong?”
San thought about how to ask him to carry him. He eventually came to the conclusion to simply try to walk down, Yeosang would undoubtedly scoop him up if needed. He slowly inched down the stairs, wobbly in his step, the effort taking more energy than he expected. He only made it about 3 steps before he was picked up.
“Did you wait because you wanted me to carry you?”
He chuckled and took him downstairs to the shop, where he flipped the sign to open, unlocked the door and began organizing some things. San began exploring the shop. Like the flat it was small and a little cluttered, but very cozy. There were plants everywhere. The shelves were lined with dried herbs and potion ingredients, finished potions and some supplies you might need to make them.
While San was exploring, Yeosang stepped on a little wooden stool to reach for something. However, the stool broke and the witch fell with a yelp, hitting his head on the ground. San rushed over to the now unconscious man, pawing at his face in an attempt to wake him up.
That was not good.
Yeosang wasn't reacting and some blood began to pool around his head. Not a huge amount, but still worrying. What was San supposed to do? He couldn't exactly treat the wound himself, he didn't have the necessary limbs to do that.
Luckily, the shop door was slightly ajar.
The cat rushed outside, the adrenaline giving him the necessary strength to do so. Find a human… find someone who likely wouldn't realize he wasn't a regular cat. He scanned the people walking by until his eyes landed on a small group of 4 people. While they were all undoubtedly witches, one of them was wearing a small sigil that some healers wore. It was a sigil that meant you could always approach them for help, even if you didn't have money. San knew it all too well, given how he had to enlist their help quite often.
He had to take the risk.
He ran over, rubbing his head against the man’s leg.
“Oh? Muti, look! A cat!”
The tall guy bent down to pet him, but San moved away. He waited a little further away and when the man moved closer again to try to pet him, he did the same thing. It seemed to click for him then.
“Oh, do you want me to follow? Lead the way.”
San immediately rushed over to the shop. The group followed, he could hear them chat about how San seemed a bit off and how they should be careful. Yet, when the tall man followed the cat inside and saw him bumping his head against an unconscious man, he dropped all the caution and knelt down next to the witch to assess him.
“You're a smart cat,” he praised before turning his attention to Yeosang. San sat nearby, watching worriedly as he began to work. He didn't realize one of the group, a red haired man, was approaching, so he squeaked in surprise when he was picked up. He was turned to face him, all four feet dangling while the man held him up using only one hand on San’s chest. He meowed in protest.
“You're certainly an odd one. The magic coming off of you feels off, but you don't act like someone who was cursed…”
He's not acting like someone who was cursed? What's that supposed to mean?
“Muti hyung, maybe I can read his mind? If he's a cursed human I should be able to,” the shortest of them suggested.
“That's a good idea, Haru. Try that.”
Oh no. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't let them find out who he was. They'd probably chase him away, which would mean he had to leave Yeosang and he didn't want that. He began wiggling around, forcing the man to put him down. However, the moment he was placed down his body reminded him that he was far from recovered. He collapsed, still conscious, but legs too weak to hold him up.
“Wha- hey! What's wrong?”
The man who had been holding him knelt down next to San. San could only look at him.
“You're also unwell I'm guessing…”
The man gently petted him, frowning a little.
“Hyun, when you're done, can you take a look at the cat? It seems quite weak and I think it's starting to burn up? It's a bit hard to tell right now.”
The tall witch nodded.
“Yes, of course.”
The fourth man had begun to grab things from around the store at Hyun's request. When a customer came in he also informed them of what had happened and that they couldn't buy anything before changing the sign to closed.
The fact that San had collapsed seemed to make them forget about their initial mind reading plan. Once Hyun was satisfied with the treatment for Yeosang he turned his attention to San. The latter felt himself getting picked up and placed in the healer's lap.
“Hm… he's a bit warm, but probably just from the exertion.”
The healer checked his eyes, ears and even mouth. San just let him do what he needed to do. Not that he had the strength to fight anyway.
“I'll try a strengthening potion. Rui, can you bring me that blue one over there?”
Ah, so the last guy's name was Rui.
“And bring me that pack of syringes please.”
Syringes? Why would he need a syringe? San began to mildly panic.
“Hey, shhhh… I'm not injecting anything, but using it to feed the potion to you might be easier right now…”
San stopped squirming. That did make sense. Hyun looked a bit surprised and glanced up at his friends.
“Did he just understand me?”
The red haired man sighed softly.
“He's likely a cursed human, surely you can feel that his energy is off. But even if that's the case, it's none of our business. There's probably a reason the unconscious witch hasn't helped him with breaking it yet.”
Hyun nodded at those words and removed the needle from the syringe before drawing up some of the potion and slowly feeding it to San. The cat drank it as best as he could, but some ended up escaping his mouth. Hyun took a cloth and gently wiped it away.
“Okay, now the spell…”
He placed a hand on San's chest and muttered something.
The magic flowing through him felt incredibly soothing. He had experienced it before, but as a cat it somehow seemed to be even more soothing. The combination of the potion and the spell made San fall asleep almost instantly.
He woke up laying on Yeosang's chest. They were alone again and upstairs in his bed. The witch was still asleep, but there was a note next to the table.
“Yeosang woke up a little while ago. We helped him upstairs and Hyun made sure he was fine to be on his own, then we left again. If you need us, we live just down the street in the blue house.”
The note had clearly been intended for San. The cat got up and snatched it off the table, quickly ripping it up and burying it in a bin. He didn't want Yeosang to find it. He realized only after he was done that he was feeling a lot better. His body felt lighter and the fog that had been clouding his mind was almost entirely gone. He jumped back onto the bed and bumped Yeosang's cheek.
“Nero…?”
The witch woke up and rubbed his eyes while sitting up in bed. He winced a little at the brief pain shooting through his skull. San sat in his lap.
“You're so smart… those people told me you got them to help me. Thank you.”
Yeosang picked him up and nuzzled his face into his fur.
“Hyun said that I could open the shop again tomorrow. The healing potions Hwa makes to sell here are pretty strong. He also said you collapsed, but he helped you too. Are you feeling fine?”
San was sitting in his lap again now. He meowed up at Yeosang before stretching up his torso and bumping his head under his chin. The witch giggled.
“That's really good. I'm not supposed to leave my bed just yet… but you must be hungry, right?”
He moved to get up, but San blocked him from doing so before jumping off the bed. He came back carrying a small can of tuna in his mouth and jumped up next to the witch. Yeosang watched in awe.
“Wow, you really are smart. Here you go. Careful with the edges.”
He opened the can and placed it down on the bed so San could eat.
They spent the rest of the afternoon cuddling in bed. When San noticed Yeosang's stomach growling he managed to drag over a loaf of bread, then a pack of salami. Yeosang praised him again. While it wasn't the best meal to eat, especially since San hadn't been able to bring anything else, it was still something.
Yet, as San laid by Yeosang's feet and watched him eat, he couldn't help but wonder… Just how oblivious was that man? Which cat would drag over a whole loaf of bread for him to eat? Or a can of tuna for itself? Sure, cats getting help for their fainted owners did happen occasionally, he could see why that wouldn't raise any suspicion. But the bread? The bath? The fact that he was supposed to be a familiar, but those couldn't even get sick? It made him curious, just how many ridiculous things could he do until Yeosang would get suspicious? Right now he didn't want to push it too far though. Both were recovering after all.
The next morning Yeosang was back on his feet. They had already eaten breakfast and while he was cleared to work, Yeosang had decided to keep the shop closed for today and work on some things, including cleaning up the shop a little more. The kind group had removed the blood from the wooden floor as well as they had been able to, but some unfortunately still remained. So now Yeosang grabbed a special cleaning potion and began scrubbing at it while San watched him. When Yeosang bumped into the potion and spilled it, San jumped up and brought a towel, throwing it onto the spill. During his stay he had found out that this witch was quite clumsy.
“Ah, thanks, Nero.”
Yeosang briefly petted him before cleaning everything up.
After removing the stain he began to water the plants. San followed after him, dragging towels onto the spills and getting new towels once one got too wet to soak up more. While Yeosang was watering the plants outside, Hyun approached.
“Yeosang! I came to check on you. How are you feeling?”
Yeosang smiled at the man.
“I'm feeling a lot better, thank you so much!”
“I'm so glad to hear that. How is Nero?”
“He's doing great. He keeps helping me at the shop today. I gotta say, he's a really smart cat.”
That caught Hyun off guard a little. The witch didn't know Nero wasn't a regular cat? He wanted to say something, but then reminded himself of Wumuti's words. It was none of his business.
“That's great. Yeah, he's pretty smart. He went straight to us to get help.”
Yeosang nodded, obviously proud of his little familiar.
“Can I come inside and check on him?”
“Sure, go ahead! I'll finish watering these.”
Hyun nodded and went inside, finding San dragging a wet towel over to a basket. He picked the cat up, who let out a panicked meow which kind of sounded like a scream.
“He doesn't know you're a cursed human, does he?”
San shook his head, surprised to see Hyun.
“Is he oblivious or is there more to this?”
San tapped him once with his paw.
“So he's oblivious.”
Hyun chuckled softly at that.
“Could be Haru if I'm being honest. Anyway, do you want me to tell him?”
San shook his head.
“Okay, that's fine. You know, I'm pretty sure one of his friends is a curse lifter. At least I've seen someone like that walk in and out of here. I don't know a curse lifter myself so I can't really take you to anyone… but he's about the same height as Yeosang, has pretty sharp features and, at least last time I saw him, he had black hair with a blond layer underneath. So if a guy like this comes into the shop make sure you get his attention.”
San nodded and bumped his head against Hyun to thank him for the advice.
“Now let's see if I should give you another potion…”
He sat down on the floor, placing San in his lap and examining him. He also used a small spell to check for lingering problems that weren't immediately visible.
“Alright, you should drink some more of the potion, but I don't have to use a spell anymore. Your body is still a bit weakened from everything, however, you should be good to go now. Just take it easy.”
San jumped off his lap and waited patiently while Hyun got the potion, drinking it when the bowl was placed in front of him. Yeosang also came back inside now.
“So, what's the verdict?”
“Still a bit weak, but he'll be fine now. I gave him some more of the potion to give his body another boost.”
“Thank you so much!”
Yeosang quickly went around the shop, grabbing a crate and loading some stuff into it.
“Here, as a thank you. That sigil you're wearing, you're part of the healers who take care of anyone, doesn't matter if they can pay, am I right? Since you refused money, I'd like to give some healing items for the cause. Hwa is also part of your group, maybe you know him?”
Hyun took the crate, eyes wide. Yeosang had packed a lot.
“Thank you so much! Ah, do you mean Seonghwa? I've talked to him before, but we don't really see each other often.”
“Yes, that's him! I'm glad you guys do what you're doing. It's amazing!”
San was a bit shocked when he heard that name. When Yeosang had mentioned the nickname before he didn't draw the connection, but now that Hyun had said that name… Seonghwa was the one who often roamed around his part of the city. He had helped San a lot, even offered to try to give him a place to stay and help him find a job. However, while Seonghwa was nice, San couldn't bring himself to trust him fully, not when he was living in the streets and had to be extra careful to not be trafficked. His magic was rare and dangerous, so many people had tried to kidnap him and force the witch to use it for evil. That's why he always declined the offer. If he remembered correctly Seonghwa was part of a powerful coven, one of those who often went on adventures and missions outside the immediate area. What was the name? Was it the Ateez coven? Was Yeosang part of that coven too?
He startled badly, fur puffing up, when Hyun tried to pet him to say goodbye. The tall witch laughed softly.
“Sorry, I just wanted to say goodbye.”
San rubbed himself against Hyun's legs to say goodbye and watched him leave.
“Hyun is really nice,” Yeosang said before going to the back of the store where he had a little setup to brew some basic potions. San jumped onto the table and watched him as he began to brew potions.
“I need lavender… where is it again?” Yeosang mumbled, looking around. San spotted a small box on one of the shelves, jumping over and stretching up to paw at the container.
“Ah, there it is! Thank you, Nero.”
Yeosang went back to work while San was still impressed at the level of pure obliviousness Yeosang was showing him. Still, it was endearing. Maybe he could try to stay longer, keep pretending he's Yeosang's familiar…