Frantic whispers greet Elisa when she walks into the mage's tower and she raises an eyebrow when they stop as soon as she walks near the guilty three. Dorian has asked her to grab some herbs he needed while he finished the research Nolan asked him to look into, and she was glad to have something to do. The mages didn't bother her and according to Dorian and Vivienne, they didn't mind her either. They all knew whenever Elisa was in their tower, it was to retrieve supplies for one of the inner circle mages, but mostly Dorian.
Elisa was more concerned about the fact that the three mages standing in front of her were looking as if they committed an unforgivable sin.
"Should I find the Inquisitor?"
The female mage jumps at her question. "No! It was an accident!"
Elisa folds her arms. "What was an accident?"
"W-We didn't know he was Dorian's until after the spell." One of the males stammers.
Someone was Dorian's? The mage said 'he' and the only male that belonged to Dorian in the context they used it was Kit.
Elisa's eyes widen as she uncrossed her arms and looks around the tower for the fennec. Kit was only found away from Dorian when he was clearing Skyhold of mice or going to the bathroom, and the former usually happened in the mage's presence anyway.
"Where is he?"
The third mage simply points to a table and Elisa bends over after approaching it to find a small boy quivering in fear underneath. Dark brown eyes look up at her and the ravenette soon finds her arms full of a shaking body and a nuzzling head that confirmed that the boy in her arms was most definitely Kit.
Dorian was going to be pissed.
The Tevinter's show of not caring about the fennec's well-being was just that. Kit was important to him just as Elisa was, and if any harm came to him, Dorian would rip the one responsible a new one. Even though the mages didn't harm Kit, they did test a spell on him, and that would be enough to anger Dorian. Kit was his baby and everyone knew it.
Just to be sure, Elisa had to ask. "Kit?" The boy in her arms tightens his hold around her and gives her a single nod.
"I want Mama."
"Ok." Elisa stands with Kit and turns toward the three mages. "Will this wear off?"
The female nods. "In the next couple of days at most. Tonight at the earliest."
Elisa nods and quickly grabs the herbs Dorian had asked for before leaving the tower and making her way back to the library. Kit had referred to Dorian as his mother and she imagined it was either because he had heard the inner circle tease the mage with the term or it was an animal thing. Mothers were usually the important parent, and since Kit's had abandoned him for dead when he got caught in the bear trap, he replaced her with Dorian.
Maybe that was why Kit had separation anxiety. He didn't want to lose another mother.
The warrior sighs at the thought as she enters the rotunda from the Great Hall and climbs the stairs to find Dorian glaring at the papers on the table. No doubt someone had burdened him with even more research when he was already up to his ears in it. Just when he finished one part, three more joined his pile. When he glared like that, it was only a matter of time until he dragged Elisa into his work just to get it to a manageable pile.
He and Cullen shared that guilt but they usually made up for it.
Just as Elisa gets close enough to Dorian, Kit jumps from her arms and straight into Dorian's to give him the same treatment he had given Elisa. There was a lot more nuzzling though. The mage was still recovering from the shock of having a child latch onto him.
A few moments pass until Dorian finally opens his mouth. "Whose child is this?"
"Yours."
Dorian stares at Elisa with a look that made her think she had suddenly grown two extra heads. "Men, Sorora. Do I need to draw you a picture?"
"No thank you. I know what a gay relationship consists of. You should pay more attention to him though." She motions towards the boy clinging to his front. "He specifically asked for his mama."
Dorian's incredulous stare only intensified, and only when Kit continued his incessant nuzzling did realization dawn on the mage. He pries Kit off his chest and holds him out at arms-length to examine the fennec's human body and his brows furrow. Either he was confused about the fact that Kit was in this form or he was angry.
There was a good chance it was both.
"Vulpeso…who did this to you? Did they hurt you?" The necromancer then narrows his eyes. "Did you repeat any of my conversations with you? It was all in confidence—"
"Dorian." The man stops his rant. "It was an accident. They didn't realize it was Kit until it was too late. He'll be back to normal soon."
With a heavy exhale, Dorian places Kit on the floor and rubs his eyes as the child clings onto one of his legs. He and Elisa both knew that Dorian would never hear the end of it if anyone saw Kit with him as he was now. There really was no if. It was a matter of when and the rumors would fly before they found out the child was Dorian's fennec turned human. Even if they did know, he would still be teased. There was no winning.
"Are you hungry vulpeso?"
"I want grapes."
"Of course you do…but you are not eating mice while you are like this."
Elisa smiles. "I'll go get us lunch. Then I'll help you with your research."
"I don't need help."
"You will. You were glaring at your books again."
Elisa walks back down the stairs after Dorian rolls his eyes at her, and the mage turns back to the table (with some difficulty as Kit was still adhering himself to his leg) to return to his research. His table was starting to look like Cullen's desk and Dorian hated it. While some of his work cluttered his and Elisa's room on occasion, he liked being organized in the library. His room was an organized mess, but only Elisa touched anything in there and he only needed to ask her where something was if he couldn't find it. In the library, people took whatever he managed to find and write on paper whether he was finished with it or not. At least when they did it, he noticed immediately if something was missing.
Like now.
"Who took my Venatori research?!"
Dorian mutters in Tevene as he leafs through his piles of paper until he feels a gentle tug on his tunic. He looks down at Kit and the boy tilts his head.
"Is that the paper you gave me so I could give it to the bird lady?"
The mage blinks. Of course. He had recently taught Kit to get some papers to the advisors, and the very research he was looking for, he had told the fennec to give to Leliana just yesterday. He was going on three hours of sleep in the same amount of days and it was starting to wear on him. He had managed to hide the amount of sleep he was actually getting from Elisa by joining her for bed and luckily she fell asleep before he did. He would then get out of bed and go back to the library.
Three days reared its ugly head though and exhaustion was no doubt obvious on his face. Either Elisa didn't notice by some miracle or she was going to shove food down his throat before throwing him in bed. The latter was most likely.
Being shoved into his chair confirmed his suspicions when Elisa thrusts a plate of food into his hands.
"Eat. Your work can wait until after you get more than eight straight hours of sleep."
"Bossy."
Dorian did as she asked though and ate the lunch she had given him and Kit. Through a sleepy gaze, he noticed the human fennec thoroughly enjoying food he otherwise couldn't have, and if he wasn't so tired he probably would have laughed. As it was, it took a lot of effort just to finish the last of his ham.
"Take him to bed and stay with him."
"Okay."
Kit tugs Dorian to his feet when the mage relinquishes his empty plate to Elisa, and takes his hand before leading him to the bedroom. Thankfully they didn't have to go through the Great Hall; otherwise he would have been quite the spectacle. A grown man, exhausted, being led by a mystery child? It would make his father livid, and that thought made Dorian chuckle. It would only add to his social pariah status.
Besides the library residents, only Vivienne had seen the two but she pretended not to notice anyway.
When the two finally reach his room, the mage didn't even stop to take his boots off. He gracefully flopped onto his bed and Kit had to dig the blankets out from under him to cover him before joining him. He takes his usual place curled into Dorian's chest and the mage throws an arm over him.
"Just in case the spell wears off before I wake up…I want to know." Dorian fights off the impending sleep and looks down at the top of Kit's head drowsily. "Why did you want to come home with me?"
"You're the only one who helped me. Everyone else ignored me."
"Yes, well, don't go telling any of your friends. If I find a nug at my door I will throw you out into the snow."
Kit's whimpered response shattered the mage. Dorian forgot the fennec wouldn't understand sarcasm, and the child only broke his heart further when he moved away and shifted to the edge of the bed. Kit probably thought that Dorian hated him and was going to leave. No questions asked.
Why did his strays think so lowly of themselves?
"Miserable furball." Dorian pulls Kit back to his original position. "I didn't mean it. It was a terrible joke."
"I can stay?"
"I would have never let you come in the first place if I didn't want you here. No matter how much you cried. You are a big baby by the way."
Kit grips his tunic. "Is that bad?"
"No…but that's only because you're my baby." Dorian huffs and closes his eyes. "Don't tell anybody I said that though."
Kit nods and snuggles closer to the mage as Dorian dozes off. It wasn't exactly how Elisa found them later that evening though. Dorian had rolled onto his back at one point, and Kit of course had to be touching him, so he was half sprawled on the mage…
…and drooling.
It took every bit of self-control Elisa had not to laugh as she rushed to tell the Inquisitor.