Leon would always tell her that, no matter how bad things were, there was always a light in the end and that things were never as bad as they felt in that moment. She still didn’t know how much of it she believed; the implications only got heavier the more she knew and, honestly, there were moments in that darkness where she felt like he was just dismissing her thoughts. He was the last she ever told about it, actually.

The first… well, that was a much brighter story. A story that they could both look back and laugh at, admiring the impossibility of it all.

It was also a story that began with her chasing her runaway cat.

“Kot! Kooot! Come on, there’s treats back home. And fish! The good kind! Please..?” Nadia had seen him run off into Lelishara after searching for him around their town. She was glad Leon was away for the week so that she didn’t need to explain it all to him.

It wasn’t until she was nearing the center of the capital did she see him again. He confidently hopped up onto a café’s outdoor table. A table that already had two people on it—people she recognized.

She quickly ran up to grab Kot, giving a nod of acknowledgement to the Vulture of the Lysha and a bow to the crown prince of Seothia. “I am so sorry, Kot ran off and I’m sure if he realized what he did he would apologize.” The cat gave a stubborn mew and desperately tried to get out of her grasp.

“So you live around here, Nadia?” Of course the Vulture recognized her. It would be more of a wonder he didn’t, however much she hated to admit it. There were only so many people willing to cut their connection with a spirit.

The prince had a different question for his companion. “You know each other?”

The Vulture shrugged. “Nearly everyone, at some point or another, finds themselves in the need of the Lysha.” She gave him the least obvious look of thank you that she could.

“Uncle Leon and I ended up going to a town about an hour from here,” Nadia explained. “But I should really get going, you were probably having an important conversation…”

“I don’t mind if the two of you would like to talk,” the prince said. He even smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

…

They kind of got to know each other then, but it was nothing too personal. She was, at least, confident enough in their acquaintanceship (and because he specifically told her himself) to just call the prince Tavin.

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It also seemed that Kot found his new favorite person. Whenever he ran away—which was regularly given how often she accidentally left the door open and how quickly he bolted out of it—if she couldn’t find him in any spots in town, she immediately went to Lelishara. Without fail, if she had to get that far, he had somehow found Tavin. It only became a problem when he turned out to be inside of the castle.

Nadia was terribly trying to explain her case to the guards. “My cat is missing and I’m pretty sure he’s with Prince Tavin.”

“Your cat’s not here,” one of them remarked. “The prince wouldn’t let it in the castle. There is a bird in there that he’s pretty set on keeping alive.”

“Kot doesn’t do anything with birds! He just stares at them!”

They didn’t look any more willing to listen to her before their prince came out with Kot strutting alongside him.

She could tell she wasn’t the only thing on his mind, but Tavin smiled anyway. “Good morning, Nadia. I have a feeling if you head back now Kot’s going to run off again by lunch, so would you like to stay a while? If your uncle doesn’t need you back at home.”

“Y-you wouldn’t mind?”

“I wouldn’t have offered it if I did.” He gestured inside. “It’s nice outside and no one’s in the garden—there probably won’t be for the rest of the day.”

She was very nervous, but she nodded anyway. “Uncle Leon definitely wouldn’t mind, but, uh… someone should probably tell him I’m okay.”

Tavin looked at one of the servants and, with her nod, looked back at her. “She’ll spell a bird for you if you say your uncle’s full name.”

“Leon Mikah.” Nadia paused. “Could you… send something other than a hawk, maybe? He’s a part of the army and if he saw it he would probably immediately freak out…”

The servant nodded again and darted off. Tavin gestured for her to follow him and, just to fill in the silence, asked, “Your uncle is in the army?”

“He doesn’t like it, but yeah—it’s better than any other job he could get here. It’s what made him so separated from the rest of my family… probably the only reason he isn’t like them…”

One of the things she liked the most about Tavin: he didn’t pry and he recognized when something was bordering on sensitive information. So what seemed like a random question turned out to be one she was grateful for. “Would you like something before lunch?”

“No, I think I’m fine.”

They got to the garden and sat down on the bench. Kot hopped up, purring as he curled up on Tavin’s lap.

“Do you have secret cat treats or something that I don’t know of?” Nadia sighed. “He’s never given me this much attention…”

“Maybe he realized we could both use a normal friend,” Tavin offered with a weak laugh. “I know I don’t mind the company.”

“I guess the Vulture does technically live in Levi Asari, huh..?”

“That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“What?”

“It’s nice to have someone that isn’t somehow related to the throne or the screwed up mess that’s the rest of my life. I only met Dusek because he helps with spirit problems. I met you because your cat likes me, of all things.”

“When you put it like that… I’m glad that my cat likes you, too.” She smiled. “May we be each other’s single normal part of our lives.”

“I like the sound of that.” He smiled too.