Room 322, Saturday Morning

[not_every_mage]

There was a cat mrowling on the boy’s chest.

There was a cat there, and his first thoughts as he shifted into consciousness were that he was going to get into trouble for letting the beast in the house again so soon after Dad had chewed him out for allowing the old tom to sleep on the clean laundry. (Not that he remembered letting the cat in last night to start with, but his father didn’t tend to be particular about that sort of detail.) The boy frankly felt that it was far too early to be yelled at, so he decided to get the cat outside before anyone else was awake.

“Shh,” he counseled the black-and-white kitten, frowning when he realized it wasn’t any of the barn cats they kept to chase the rats away. “You aren’t one of ours, are you? Hang on and I’ll get some cold chicken from the pantry, but then you need to go right back outside and find your way home.”

He slid out of bed then, letting the cat spring to the floor, and realized it hadn’t been his bed and wasn’t his room. Wasn’t like any room he’d been in, in fact, with the paintings right on the wall. And there was a pile of fine gold stuff that looked like hair (but was too long and brilliant to be any hair he’d ever seen) on the other side, with the slightest curve of a face poking out from the strands.


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Rapunzel	Rapunzel was very cozy, thank you. And part of her knew that any minute now, Mother was going to come in and fling the curtains open and make her get up, but...her blanket was just so snuggly. Even snugglier than usual! But that was weird -- Mother didn't usually touch her hair before waking her up, but she could've sworn she just felt something. Rapunzel cracked an eyelid, taking in the unfamiliar room and the more unfamiliar -- "...are you a boy?" She'd never seen one before!
Not-Anders-Yet	"Of course," the boy returned, pulling his hand back and rubbing his eyes as if he expected her to go away at any second. "Is this your room? Is this your hair?"
Rapunzel	Rapunzel nodded, blinking a little sleepily as she sat up, gently smoothing her hair down a little. "It's my hair, but...this isn't my tower," she admitted softly, looking a little worried. "Are you dangerous?" Because she'd been told that everyone outside her tower was, after all.
Not-Anders-Yet	"No!" That came a little fast and a little sharply. The boy's dreams had been strangely vivid, lately, with presences whispering to him from the edges. Everyone knew that was what happened first -- and then the powers came, and then the mage got taken away and never came home again. Because mages were dangerous. The boy was hoping that, for him, it would stop at the dreams. That had to happen sometimes, didn't it? He didn't want to go away. Maybe they already took me. Maybe this is how it happens. He swallowed hard. "No, I'm not dangerous. But I don't know where we are."
Rapunzel	"Sorry!" Rapunzel said immediately, wincing, because now she felt bad. "You don't look dangerous, but I dunno what a dangerous person looks like," she offered, looking at him a little curiously. And that was when she noticed the cat. "Oh, but you have a kitty," she added, her slightly-lisping voice almost reverent. "You can't be dangerous. And this can't be a bad place, at least. There's a kitty." For a seven year-old, it was sometimes just that simple.
Not-Anders-Yet	"I think somebody dangerous would be taller," the boy said -- and, that uneasy issue settled to his satisfaction for now, grinned at the cat. "Isn't he cute? He woke me up. I bet he belongs to whoever lives here." He reached down a hand to pat the cat's head. "See, he's nice. He's not scared of people at all."
Rapunzel	"Then that must mean the people here are nice," Rapunzel decided, scrambling out of bed to go pet the kitty. "Otherwise he'd be scared of us, right?"
Not-Anders-Yet	"Right," the boy said, a light coming into his eyes. He didn't think the Circle let you have kittens, so he was safe that way, at least. "Probably they sent the cat in to wake us up, so we wouldn't be scared. And we can go find them when we're ready." It ... almost made sense. Sort of.
Rapunzel	"Like a...like a what-d'you-call-it," Rapunzel agreed, nodding. "A Harold. Like in the stories! To welcome us!" Aww, the people here were nice. And so was the kitten! Or, at least, Rapunzel assumed so. Purring seemed like a good sign that they were nice, right? "Do you think they made us breakfast?"
Not-Anders-Yet	"A herald," the boy nodded, secure in the vast knowledge that came from being nine years old. "Only with less shouting. Bet they have good food, too." He found a pair of slippers and slid his feet into them, then hesitated. He'd been taught enough manners to know he should probably introduce himself, but his given name had always fit him badly. (It was long and distinctly not Fereldan, and had been chosen out of a rather embarrassing ballad besides.) Most people around him barely used it. His eyes fell on the kitten and an idea came to him. "I'm Kit," he said, and realized it felt right. "What's your name?"
Rapunzel	"Kit," Rapunzel said, trying it out. She had never actually had to introduce herself before; she knew it was the polite thing to do, but she wasn't sure if she should tell him all the names she knew herself to go by. Mother usually called her Flower, after all, but she knew that wasn't her proper, real name. "I mean," she amended, shaking her head and scrunching her eyes shut. "I'm not Kit, I was just sayin' it. My name's...Rapunzel." She didn't mean to sound so shy about it, but it was really funny to say her name out loud, to someone who didn't already know it.
Kit (for now)	It was the first time Kit had been addressed by his new name, and he found he liked the way it sounded in her mouth. "I never met anybody named Rapunzel before," he offered, since she'd sounded shy about it. "It's pretty. It kind of sounds like an elf's name in a story."
Rapunzel	"I'm not an elf," Rapunzel assured him, giving that some thought with a smile. "...are elves real? I've never seen one of those, either." But she wanted to. There were so many things from stories she'd never seen. Like other people, before today.
Kit (for now)	"Yeah, of course," Kit said, startled by the question. "Where do you live that there aren't any elves?" His village was almost entirely human, but even with that there were a handful of elven servants, and Dalish clans stopping in town to trade.
Rapunzel	"Cor-oh-na," Rapunzel pronounced carefully, twining a lock of her hair between her fingers. "But...I'm not 'lowed to go outside, so maybe there's elves and I've never seen them?" But probably not, because whenever she asked about fairies or elves or giants, Mother told her to stop being silly and to sing for her, instead. "Are elves nice, too?"
Kit (for now)	Kit chewed a thumbnail thoughtfully. "Braeden's mom's cook is," he offered. "She lets us lick the bowl when she bakes. I don't really know many other elves." Scrunching his nose, he added, "How come you can't go outside? That's mean."
Rapunzel	"'Cause there's bad people," Rapunzel said softly, tugging a little more nervously on her hair. "But I don't think there's bad people here, right? They wouldn't have a kitty if they were bad."
Kit (for now)	"That's sad," Kit said sympathetically. "But I bet there aren't any bad people here. Like you said, if they were bad they wouldn't have a cat. It's a rule." He wasn't sure this was actually true, but he didn't want the girl to be scared. Helping her be brave made him feel braver. He smiled tentatively. "Want to go see if they made breakfast?"
Rapunzel	"All right," Rapunzel decided, smiling back and letting go of her hair. "If they haven't, I can make it!" No, she couldn't. She was very much not allowed to use the stove. But no one seemed to be here to stop her, so....
Kit (for now)	"I can make tea," Kit offered -- and that was even true, though his mother preferred he not put the kettle on all by himself. Something mischievous crossed his face as he reached for the doorknob. "C'mon, I'll race you there." Wherever there was. But he was rather looking forward to finding out.

[OOC:Preplayed with the delightfully refreshing likes_ducklings. Establishy.]