Mia was curled up beneath the bazaar's overhanging entrance, her ears barely twitching whenever someone walked by. "There you are," Owlan murmured to himself, carefully lowering himself to one knee. When he stroked the top of her head, Mia opened her eyes, yawned, chirped, and went right back to sleep.
"Someone's very worried about you, little kitty… Here, come on, let's…"
Owlan shifted the handle of his umbrella into the crook of his arm and managed to keep it there for a few seconds before it kiltered off to the side when he lifted Mia off of the damp stone platform. She didn't fidget, thankfully, simply waving her legs in the open air as he struggled to balance her in one arm while adjusting his umbrella with the other. Not that the rain seemed to bother her, of course, but Owlan could not say he shared a similar fondness for water.
He glanced down, noticing muddy paw prints on the front of his robe. For Horwell, Owlan quickly reminded himself, wrinkling his nose as Mia's wet tail brushed the side of his face. "Be still, please, we're not going far—ew , you're all wet… Mia, stop, would y—no."
Now he was talking to the silly animal like she would understand him. Her scent was sour with rain and dirt and she was already doing a fine job of irritating him, but the way she chirped and nuzzled her face into his shoulder made him feel different. What exactly that entailed was still a mystery to Owlan, but the word featured itself quite prominently in his mind.
He'd tolerate her until they returned to the academy, though he admitted to himself that he didn't have much of a choice.
Luckily, Mia cooperated the entire distance, dead asleep in Owlan's arms even when they returned to the humid warmth of his room. She didn't so much as twitch after she'd sprawled out on her side near his feet, purring contentedly.
Owlan supposed it was a bit endearing, but nothing more.
He thumbed through one of many books on his desk, making a note here or there about what plants to clone while he waited for the crescendoing chatter of younger voices. Truthfully, he was nervous that Mia would wake up and request his attention. Giving her a scratch behind the ears wouldn't hurt, but eventually that wouldn't be enough, and she would get curious about the things in his room and start jumping on the tables, knocking things over, eating his plants…
As if on cue, Mia stretched her limbs with another twittering yawn and began grooming herself. When she tilted her head with a questioning purr, Owlan realized he'd been staring at the Remlit longer than what he'd originally intended to focus on. Stupid thing, he thought, rolling his eyes dismissively. So many distractions, and the students weren't even in-between classes!
Rising, he backed away toward the miniature forest growing near his window, keeping careful watch on Mia as he reached back blindly. The bush rustled as his hand closed around a cluster of deku seeds, catching the small creature's attention immediately. Her dark, floppy ears perked up as she bounded over to Owlan's feet, rubbing herself against his bare ankles with a friendly mew, only drawing away when the deku seeds dropped to the floor.
He watched amusedly as Mia began to bat them around the room and finally allowed himself to smile. Fine, she was cute.