Cassian woke to sothing slightly wet brushing against his cheek. At first it felt ticklish... then a little irritating.
He cracked his eyes open and imdiately understood why.
A small feline was licking his face like it owned him.
He let out a faint smile. "Morning, Hope..." he muttered, his voice still rough with sleep, as he grabbed her and pulled her closer, pressing a kiss back against her.
She didn’t like that.
A sharp, protesting ow escaped her as she struggled in his grip, but Cassian ignored it, continuing anyway until she grew fully annoyed and slipped free, jumping out of his hands and landing away from him, letting out a few angry ows in protest.
Cassian chuckled lightly before looking around the room.
Last night... after Ravees had reached her peak—and he had finished inside her—the mood had turned awkward fast. The mont she ca back to her senses, she had kicked him out without a second thought.
So he ended up sleeping in Lucy’s room again.
But now... Lucy was nowhere to be seen.
"Did Lucy say where she was going?" he asked, glancing at the still-annoyed kitten.
She didn’t even bother looking back at him, busy licking herself instead—like she was trying to clean off the offense of his kisses.
"Hey... don’t act like that. All your mommies love my kisses..." he added with a smirk.
"wo! wo!" she snapped back more sharply, clearly not agreeing.
Cassian let out a quiet chuckle at that before heading toward the bathroom. Even though he’d already bathed last night, there was nothing wrong with freshening up again.
********
"My lady... I’m not comfortable with you going to that eting alone today..." Ravees said, her tone uneasy as she watched Katherine get ready, while Lucy stood behind her, combing her hair.
Katherine let out a small sigh, sipping her tea. "How many tis do I have to tell you not to worry about , Ravees? I can take care of myself." She set the cup down calmly. "Besides, this experint is highly confidential—sothing to do with new tower upgrades. They won’t allow anyone else in, even if I ask."
Noticing the slight tension still on Ravees’ face, Katherine softened her tone a little.
"Use the ti to explore the city instead," she added. "Take Lucy with you. I won’t be back until late anyway."
Just then, Cassian stepped into the room.
"Take Cassian with you too..." Katherine added.
Cassian, still holding Hope in his hands, looked a bit confused, not sure what she ant. Ravees glanced at him, a faint blush creeping onto her face, while Lucy nodded eagerly.
"Yeah... I can pick up so new books for my lady as well..." Lucy said.
Cassian smirked slightly at that, knowing exactly the kind of books she ant, though the confusion still lingered on his face.
Katherine noticed and filled in calmly, "I’ll be busy all day, and Ravees isn’t allowed to accompany . So I told her to go out, look around the city... take a break."
"I don’t need one, my lady... I can just wait here..." Ravees said quickly, almost too quickly.
The thought of spending more ti with Cassian made her uneasy. The mories from last night crept back in, twisting her stomach with guilt, tightening her chest.
Katherine shook her head lightly. "Don’t be like that, Ravees. Take a break... go out, enjoy yourself a little. Get drunk if you want."
She set her cup down and stood up, adjusting her clothes before adding, "You can go back to shadowing tomorrow."
"My lady, but—" Ravees started, but Katherine had already walked out.
The door shut behind her.
Silence settled in the room, thick and awkward.
"woo..." Hope’s small sound broke it.
"So... where are we heading first?" Cassian asked, rubbing the kitten’s cheeks as it purred softly in his hands.
"I haven’t eaten yet, so... how about we grab so breakfast first?" Lucy said, tidying up the dressing table before glancing at Ravees.
Ravees hesitated for a mont, then gave a reluctant nod.
Soon, all four of them stepped out of the Beacon of Knowledge.
Ravees still felt a bit awkward at first, the tension from last night lingering—but as they walked and Cassian didn’t bring it up even once, she slowly began to relax.
By the ti they sat down and started eating—pancakes along with so kind of at stew—the atmosphere had eased noticeably.
It was warm—perfect for a cold morning like this.
"I was thinking of eting so friends for lunch this afternoon... you two want to co along?" Cassian said casually.
Lucy nodded right away.
Cassian glanced toward Ravees while feeding a small piece of at to Hope, who was devouring it like there was no tomorrow. After a brief pause, Ravees gave a small nod as well.
"Then till then, we can pick up so books for my lady and look around the city," Lucy added, a bit more cheerful now. "Do you know any good spots we can check out, Cassian?"
"Well... you two already live in the best spot," Cassian said, referring to the Beacon of Knowledge. "But yeah, there are a few other places..."
The Beacon itself was enough for most people to spend their entire day around, but the city still had more to offer.
"We could check out the market near the ports—it’s pretty lively there," he went on. "Or wander around so of the older towers. There are quite a few, though none of them really compare to that massive one in the center..."
"Then let’s go to the market," Lucy said without hesitation.
Ravees just nodded quietly—she didn’t really care either way.
Cassian nodded, finishing his al before placing a few coins on the table. He stood up, stretching slightly.
"It won’t be open till evening anyway," he said. "So we can head there after lunch. For now... we could check out an old church nearby. I’ve been aning to go, just never got the chance..."
"Church?" Ravees asked, getting up as well.
"Yeah," Cassian replied. "It’s dedicated to so guy nad Josai. Big na in divinity-type magic from way back."
He continued as they started moving, "They say he was born here in Magisteria, so they built a church for him. It also works as a sort of academy for mages now."
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