#dragonageden

“What the fuck is that?” Faren says pointing down an alleyway.

“A cat?” Kelton says after a moment of peering into the darkness. A soft mrrrow echoes out of the darkness and he nods, “definitely a cat.”

“It was very… fluffy.”

“Cats are fluffy yes, very good for cuddles.” Kelton points out. There were always a few spoilt mousers in the Tower that would keep anyone company in exchange for a good rub behind the ears. “You should try cuddling sometime, might make you lighten up a little.”

Faren gives the mage a flat stare before something else occurs to him. “They anything like nugs?” he asks curiously.

“I suppose so.” Kelton’s never really seen a nug up close, but if books are anything to go by they seem similar.

“Well if you catch me one I’ll see if it’s as good. Nug can be a bit chewy if it’s not done right.”

Kelton laughs and Faren smiles back. Kelton’s laughter trickles off into silence when Faren doesn’t make a move to say he’s joking, “wait, are you serious?” he asks, coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

Faren gets several more steps before realising he’s now alone. “Yes. Very.”

“Do you have pets in Orzammar?” Kelton asks carefully.

“Pets?”

“You know, animals that don’t have a job and aren’t going in the stewpot?”

Faren looks rather confused as he shakes his head. “I could barely afford to feed myself.”

“Right.” Kelton says, “well. I need to make it clear that up here, cats are not for eating.”

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“You know we were talking about cats a few days ago?”

Faren blinks over his ale, “the fluffy thing that was not for eating?” He asks, just to make sure he’s remembering rightly, it’s been a long couple of days running round town with little time to stop and think.

Kelton chuckles, “yeah. Do you want to try and pet one?”

That’s not exactly what Faren was expecting and he puts the mug down, “what, you just going to conjure a cat?” Mages are so weird.

Kelton laughs, “of a sort,” he says with a wide grin, “so, you in?”

“I guess so.” Faren says slowly, curious as to how Kelton will produce a cat in a tavern that has a distinct lack of cats to his eyes. “It’s not going to bite is it?”

Kelton stands up, his robes swirling round his feet as he closes his eyes. Faren waits, glancing round  in case the cat will be coming from behind him. Then he very neatly knocks over his stool and ends up sitting on the ground, pointing at the cat… And it is definitely a cat, absolutely and without a doubt a cat. A cat that was a mage. Kelton stretches, the motion a sinuous shift of fur and muscle as he stares unblinkingly at the dwarf who’s still sitting there with his mouth open in shock.

“Alright, show time.” Kelton says, projecting his thoughts carefully. It seems to jerk Faren out of his shock. Or it might be that Kelton gives him no time to adjust before he springs into his lap. “Go ahead, try to pet me.” He says as he puts his paws up on his chest and butts his forehead into Faren’s jaw. “Just don’t smack me, I know how strong you can be.”

Faren gingerly lowers a hand. Are there rules for touching a friend turned animal? The first touch is barely there and Kelton pushes into it with a strange rumbling sound. Faren hums and presses a little harder and the rumble gets louder. It’s strangely calming actually. He’s so soft and warm and the rumble is nice. “This really is quite soothing.” He admits, fingers buried in Kelton’s fur.

“Told ya.” Kelton says sleepily. “Cats are for petting.”

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“Oy, mage, hold this.”

His arms are open before Kelton remembers he should check what he’s being handed. It only takes once instance of being gifted an irate deepstalker before he learnt that Faren’s gifts were not to be trusted. This one at least is harmless enough. “Ah, why are you giving it to me?” he asks as he shuffles the creature, tentatively identified as a nug into the crook of one arm where it squeaks quietly and snuffles at his sleeve.

“I thought you might like Schmooples, so you can work out how to be a nug.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to be a nug. I’d probably end up in your stew pot.” Kelton says as he stares down at the hairless creature and gently strokes an ear. “Wait. You called it Schmooples?”

“Leliana named him. And no nug stew while she’s with us, I promised.”

Kelton nods, that must have taken some argument. Unless... “What about nug steaks?” There’s lots of ways to prepare nug that don’t include stew.

Faren just smirks.

“I think I’ll keep hold of Schmooples for now. And I’ll stick to being a cat.”

Faren hums. “Don’t tell anyone,” he says, his voice quiet, “I like petting you.” He blinks and clarifies that before Kelton can say a word. “As a cat.”

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“This is where you lived?”

Kelton sighs slightly at the rumpled sheets underneath Faren. The dwarf has absolutely no concept of polite manners and teaching him would be a full time job. “Yes.”

“Kinda nice. Like, a lot fucking nicer than I imagined.”

“It would be nicer if you weren’t covering the sheet with mud, dried blood and whatever else might be on your armour.”

“Spider guts.” Faren says matter of factly as he rolls off the edge and back to his feet.

“Hmmm.” Kelton says with a sweep of his arm towards it, “Observe the large metal pan big enough to sit it over there.”

“You mean the bath?”

“So you do know what it is,” Kelton grins, “might I suggest you make use of it.”

Faren huffs and does as he’s told. If he doesn’t Kelton will only nag until he complies. He’s even nice enough to warm up the water so he can have a long soak. He’s not sure what to do with the dirty water when he’s done and he’d prefer to wash his clothing now he’s clean so he bundles himself up in his nearly clean breeches and the towel Kelton insisted he take and goes back to the bed and the cat curled up on the pillow.

Kelton mrrrows and purrs as Faren rubs behind his ears and he scoops him up onto his lap. He doesn’t expect the little claws to dig into his leg. “Ow, Stone fucking tits Kelton!”

“Ah. Faren? I’m over here.”

Faren looks between the irate not-Kelton cat on his lap and the amused mage. “Not a word.”

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“You lived here?” There’s something in the mages voice that Faren can’t quite pinpoint. Possibly pity and he hasn’t got time for that.

“Yes. What about it?” He asks, looking round the two room hovel that’s smaller than the entire section of the tower Kelton had called home.

“Nothing.” Kelton lets him look around for another moment before following him quietly out the door. They’re halfway back to the Commons before he speaks again. “This was as much a prison as my Tower wasn’t it?” Kelton asks slowly as he picks his way over pottery shards and other detritus that even the inhabitants of Dust Town can’t find a use for.

His first thought is a resounding no, yet it’s a reflex nothing more. A prison of his own making. He could have walked away, they don’t guard the door to the surface from the inside. “I suppose.”

The walk back up to the Diamond Quarter is silent. Faren keeping his head down, the old feeling that he should be avoiding the guards back in full force while Kelton is strangely quiet given how curious he normally is.

The soft meow as soon as the door to the suite of rooms they’ve been given as Wardens is closed is not entirely unexpected. Faren reaches down and carefully picks Kelton up. “One day, I’m going to have a house and a cat of my own.” He says into the soft fur. “You’re a good friend, you know that.”