Lone Wolf [Peony & Rhys]
Non-Mission Task Starter for @adomeony
Rhys thought he was rather good with domestic animals. When cats and dogs liked him, they were willing to spend time with him and humor him for a few pets and scratches. A bribe or two of treats always helped as well, and Rhys had been looking forward to getting in his weekly purr quota from the stray cats after a long afternoon of grading homework.
His favorite cat had other ideas.
He whistled low under his breath, calling as he did. “Socksy! C’mere!” A pure white Ordelian cat flinched at him before turning away, even though he had a treat in his hand. Socksy was arguably wearing socks, or simply was all white sock. Rhys had been under the impression that she loved, or at least tolerated him, but when he followed her she hissed at him ran faster— and was that other noise? An anxious mew from her, like he scared her?
“Oh no, is what’s wrong? Are you hurt or something?” Rhys half jogged after the cat, worry in his voice and face. They seemed to be heading towards the abandoned cathedral, which he didn’t think any of the strays particularly liked, but....
He was so busy following the cat that he bumped into a student.
“Ah! Peony, I’m so sorry!” Rhys stammered. He waved his hand in the direction of the abandoned structure Socksy had been running off to. The cat treat fell to the ground as he quickly looked her over. “Are you alright? I- well I was distracted, it’s just like me to run into people or trip over things.” He relaxed a moment, once he was sure Peony was unharmed. “Er, I’m just wondering... have the animals around here been acting odd to you? That poor white cat seemed scared of me, and she knows me!” His face was crestfallen again. “At least, I thought we knew each other...” Betrayal stung deep.