you were on your closing shift at work, and the only thought inside your head was to hurry and head home. while you were taking out the trash, you saw a black cat sitting not too far from the huge green container. it was as if it was waiting for you to leave so it could find dinner.

“hey,” you began slowly walking towards it, your hands stretched out to the sides. you’ve done this plenty of times before, you had a family cat of your own so you understand that all these feisty little creatures wanted— was respect.

the cat did not move, but you could see that it’s sense was heightened and it was being on guard. when you finally crouched down before it, you were relieved that it did not run away.

“are you hungry?” you asked, head perched on your knees as you held yourself back from trying to pet it.

it meowed, as if it could understand you. a small smile crept up to your face and you held both your hands out.

“want to come home with me?” you offered, slightly nudging your hands in its face in hopes he would accept you.

the cat blinked at you once, then it stretched its neck as it took a few sniffs at your hand. much to your surprise, it began nuzzling into your palms and you almost shouted in glee.

so you ended up taking the cat home in a box you found in the storage room, made a stop at the convenience store to get some cat food and then you went home.

you found out the cat was a male when you were giving it a bath. which made sense since he was a bit large compared to other stray cats that lingered around the area.

the cat finished his meal almost instantly, and you were relieved that he still had his appetite. the feline took a stroll around your living room, sniffing at your furnitures and rubbing himself against them when he felt it. in your head, you begin brainstorming names.

“do you want a name?” you asked him, but the cat did not pause to look at you and you laughed to yourself. “never mind, figured you don’t want to stay here long.”

after doing your bedtime routine, you decided to pick up your book and continue with where you stopped at last night. as you were flipping through the pages and with your mind occupied with the texts on them, you did not notice the cat walking into your bedroom. you only did when you felt a weight on your lap.

“oh hello there,” you giggled as you pet his head. the creature purred and nuzzled into your palm like it did earlier, loving the attention. “i guess we can share the bed.”

he looked at you with a blank expression when you said that. as if he was telling you that sharing the bed was non-negotiable, and you should know that.

“you’re so cute,” you cooed, tossing your book at the edge of the bed so could give all your attention to your new companion. “maybe i should keep you.”

glancing outside your window, your eyes sparkled at the sight of the bright, full moon. you suddenly remembered a story your grandma used to tell you when you were young, that if you made a wish to the moon— it will be granted. you know at this age you should not believe such tales, but that innocence inside you yearned for it to be true.

“i wished it was a handsome man in my bed instead of you tonight, honestly.” you huffed as you set the cat next to you.

he meowed softly and curled his body, prepared to sleep. you rolled your eyes at how nonchalant the feline was, but you knew it was only their nature.

“good night to you too, handsome boy.” you murmured as you left a peck on his head.

you woke up the next morning with a heavy feeling on your chest, like something was pressing down on you. it wasn’t to the point it was suffocating, it was just very uncomfortable. in addition, the sunlight that bled through the window seemed to force you to wake up from your deep slumber.

a loud, sharp scream tore from your mouth when you saw something that should not be in your room as soon as you open your eyes.

on top of you, a strange naked man slowly opened his eyes and stretched his limbs as he yawned. even to your surprise, him being naked was not the most shocking part—

— it was the pair of black ears on top of his head and the long fluffy black tail that grew out his back.

rook will say this;

"andaran atish'an" is considered a formal elven greeting

and lavellan will respond with

and "aneth ara" is not only considered an INFORMAL greeting but is also almost strictly used by the dalish amongst themselves

while lavellan is of course dalish - and rook can be too (? or at least you could headcanon? idk it feels odd to have a vallaslin and not be dalish lol) - my rook is a city elf (while that's not a set character option like in, say, origins, she bears no vallaslin and is kinda implied to be a city elf, not dalish, in the rest of the game)

of course it does make total sense for someone, even rook, to greet the inquisitor formally, them being you know the world's saviour and a person of prestige either way, even if the inquisition was disbanded (which was the case in my run here)

Hope from @ask-the-royal-absol: nominated by @whisperingfaun!

Prof. Peach from @gods-of-kanto: nominated by @ask-suicune!

Nettle from @nine-to-one-lives: nominated by @asksilvan!

Kappa from @ask-impatient-samurott: nominated by @inaris-pokemon-world!

Annalisé from @ask-pokecats!