Description: Fai brings home some stay cats
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Ashura sat broadly in one of the most uneventful and useless meetings of his life. Today had offered little amusement as Fai had spent the entire day wandering about the kingdom, while the king himself was busy listening to hypocritical old men complain about the way the country was being run. Although Ashura had spent a great deal of time worrying of what might come of his little wandering blonde, the king felt the need for a bit of excitement by this time of the day.
Honestly he couldn't even feel his backside any more.
Just as another rather boring speech about grater military action was about to begin the door that was supposed to be watched by armed guard flung open, and Fai bounded in holding something wrapped up in a cloth. Bowing to the elder members of the court's magicians, the little blonde made his way over to were the king was sitting.
Looking rather amused Ashura watched as Fai ran to the thrown and bowed again quickly before bounding up to his side. "They need your help!"
"What needs my help Fai?" the king said calmly. The best thing to do when the Fai got like this was to stay calm—no need to feed the panic.
"They're going to die if we don't help them, their mother was killed!" the blonde adjusted his arms and shifted the contents into Ashura's own lap. The small bundle came undone and to the kings surprise there sat four scraggly, starving kittens.
A small smile crossed Ashura's face, even he had to admit they were adorable. Three of the kittens were the typical pearly white of many animals in Celese. The last was white and black and looked the scraggliest of the bunch. "You say their mother was killed?"
"Mmhm they were hanging around her on a snowy road. It looked like she got hit by a carriage…" Fai was looking thoughtfully at them and Ashura could almost swear that he was about to smile when the exact opposite happened. Tears started to run down Fai's face as he watched the kittens curl closer to each other. "People were passing by all day… I-I don't understand how anyone could just leave them out on the side of the road when there's no way for them to survive… They were ignoring them even though they were meowing for help!"
This had been the first time Ashura had seen Fai cry over anything other than his brother. The blonde had a hard time showing emotions so this really must have upset him to dive him to this state. Especially since Fai knew there were other people in the room.
Speaking of the other people in the room, they all looked rather disgusted in Fai's behavior. They just wouldn't understand, many of the court mages expected Fai to act as if he were as old as them just because he carried the D title.
"I see. Well I think we can do something for them, how about we go and get these little ones something to eat then find them a nice warm place to sleep?" Ashura stood and handed the bundle back to Fai who cradled them closely to his chest. Turning to the rest of the court assembled in the room Ashura called a recess until after dinner. That would at least give him an hour or two to be around Fai.
The sudden appearance of the king in the kitchen just about scared his staff half to death. Everyone immediately dropped to their knees in as a sign of respect to both the king and to Fai; although Fai frequently came to the kitchen to watch the pastry chefs make the desserts for dinner.
"There is no need for this, stand." Ashura said plainly and nudged Fai forward so that he could address the staff. The blonde looked back, a bit embarrassed that everyone was looking at him.
"What should I say Ashura-ou?" the whisper was almost inaudible from the blondes lips.
"What do babies eat Fai?"
"Milk, right…?" Fai cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Today I found some kittens and they need some warm milk please." The child had a rather worried voice as he looked down at the bundle in his arms. "I need that and a basket for them to sleep in tonight sent up to ashur- I-um mean the kings chambers immediately."
"Yes of course." The head maid whom just happened to be in the kitchen at the time said bowing.
"Thank you." Fai nodded back then turned once again to face the king.
From there Fai carefully carried the kittens to the king's room to wait. Ashura arraigned some of the many pillows to keep the kittens in a makeshift box, which Fai placed them in two at a time.
The blonde had been extremely careful not to separate one kitten by its self, although the three white kittens seemed to exclude the two toned one more often than not. As far as Ashura could tell Fai hadn't noticed that just yet, no doubt that would upset him more.
For a while the pair just sat there quietly and watched the kittens until they were fast asleep. Once that happened Fai lied on Ashura's lap and fell asleep himself. Hopefully when the kittens got a good meal and a nap they would be more playful, the king may even get a smile out of the blonde.
Ashura did indeed have to return to his meetings after dinner was over, though he had chosen to skip the dinner in order to spend some time with Fai and watch the little fur balls sleep. By the time an agreement was met it was well into the night and too late to wake Fai.
Slipping in quietly the king found the child curled up in the middle of the floor with the kittens sleeping on and around him. Getting ready for bed Ashura was surprised to see a few new items in his room including a litter box and a large dish of water and what looked to be four separate bowls of kibble for the kitties to munch on.
The next morning Ashura awoke to a very fury white kitten climbing on his face. Fai was at the foot of the bed with a hand over his mouth looking kind of shocked. Sitting up, the king lifted the kitten up and scratched behind its ear before placing it next to one of its siblings. "They sure have perked up."
"Yeah they all really like to play…. Yesterday I asked one of the people who work in the stable if they could tell me how old they were… they said that they were ready to find families to adopt them…"
"Well that's good news Fai." Ashura brushed a bit of hair out of his face.
"…so… I know that… um… well…. Ashura-ou?" the blonde was looking at the cat in his hands that was sleeping still.
"Yes Fai?"
"Can one of the cat's homes be here…? I mean with us…"
A small smile crossed the king's face. "Which one is your favorite Fai?"
"What do you mean? It's not right to pick favorites you know."
"Well in certain cases it's all right to pick favorites, because each one of those kittens is going to be some ones favorite for one reason or another. So tell me which one is your favorite?"
Fai seemed to think for a moment before holding out the kitten in his hand, the black and white kitten. "This one."
"I see, do you mind if I get a better look at it?" Fai nodded and handed the little ball of fur over to the king. Ashura examined the kitten who had just been woken from its little nap. Its small little blue eyes blinked open and starred at back at the king. "What do you want to name this little one?"
"… I was thinking… maybe Luka…"
"That sounds like a good name to me. Alright Luka-" Ashura handed the kitten back to Fai. "Welcome to your new family."
"Do you really mean it?" Fai almost, almost smiled as he held the kitten to his chest.
"Do I ever kid Fai?"
"Yes… you tease me all the time my king."
He did have a point, although Fai was really the only person Ashura had teased since he took the throw. That line normally worked…
"No Fai I'm serious right now. You can keep Luka. That kitten is now the royal cat of Luval castile."
Carefully setting the kitten down Fai jumped forwards and hugged the king tightly around the neck, causing him to fall back into the bed. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
Laughing Ashura ran a hand through Fai's hair. "You're welcome Fai. Now how about we have some breakfast?"
In about two weeks the kittens were back to a healthy weight and soon found new homes. Ashura had feared it would be difficult to find them homes, considering that most people viewed cats as nothing more than pest animals.
The opposite had proved to be true, apparently a kitten that had lived in the castle was the ideal pet for any noble child.
In the end Fai took one of the kittens to live with Ashura's younger brother's children. They seemed quite delighted to have an adorable white fluff ball running around. The last two kittens had been gifts to Celese's closest two allies' monarchs, and had been hand delivered by the king himself.
Luka was getting used to life at the castle and with Fai. Having the kitten around was new to Ashura as well, the king had accepted that were ever Fai went the cat went. This meant that Luka made a happy home at night sleeping curled up to the blonde.
In fact Fai even took the kitten with him when he would wander the country side, went to the library, or went to official meetings. Which many members of the court were not too happy about. Although Luka was good and mostly sleep through them. Ashura didn't think they had a problem with the kitten sleeping in the same room as the meeting was being held, but the fact that after it fallowed Fai in it would sleep in the hood of his coat and dis distract the other members.
All in all Fai seemed to be a bit happier with the kitten around she would defiantly be a good friend for life. Although Fai had always seemed like a dog person.
So here we have yet another chapter~ I'm so glad that everyone been reading this, it's been so much fun writing it for you all! If it's not too much trouble please leave a review and tell me how you like it!
Also I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas for chapters so if you have anything you want added in I would be happy to do so~~ until next time then!