itbomm

chapter 7: without a shadow of doubt

///////notice: for those following my tumblr or have read the notes on the ao3 version, you may be aware of my plans to diverge from being canon compliant until after athy's magic-induced coma. unfortunately, due to my desire for wanting to keep every chapter of itbomm to be 3k words or less, i'll still be diligently following the canon storyline until then, so please bear with me ^^

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He finds a small creature in the forest on one of his few rare moments alone out in the woods. Its appearance was an awful lot like a white cat, with black and grey patches of fur and glimmering aquamarine eyes. They're not wary of him, nor does the creature run away — instead, it observes him, sniffing at him before curling up around his legs.

It seems familiar, oddly enough.

"Hey there, little guy," he greets, running his fingers through its soft fur. "I didn't realize cats existed in this world, too."

He stares at the small catlike creature, and weighs the pros and cons of taking it back to the palace with him. Athy was more of a fan of dogs, rather than cats — she would probably complain about him having his own pet. Claude wouldn't care much, although Athanase was fairly certain that he would probably hate animals for the mere fact that they were noisy.

So, it was fairly easy for him to decide to leave the cat behind. It should be fine if he shows up from time to time to keep it company. Cats can take care of themselves, but there shouldn't be an issue with him occasionally feeding them...

"Mrrp?" The catlike creature rubs against his leg before taking off for a tree branch, seeming to take a nap. Its fur was so soft... it seemed relatively friendly, too. Maybe it belonged to someone in the palace grounds? There wasn't a collar or anything, from what he could see.

'I'll have to come back later,' he absentmindedly thinks, watching the cat sleep up on the tree.

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"Thank you for inviting Athy/Athan to tea," Athanasia said with a curtsy as Athanase bowed. He smiled, trying not to snicker as Athy internally bragged about her cuteness.

As always, their father remained uncaring — which is more or less what Athan expected. He could tell that Athanasia was mildly disappointed in the lack of response, even if she claimed to have expected it. Maybe he just understood their father better?

"Good morning, papa!" Athy cheerily greeted, clearly not at all disheartened by their father's uncaring attitude.

"Morning, papa," he lazily chirped, feeling somewhat sleepy as he rubbed his eyes.

Then again, he always did have a bad habit of trying to sleep past noon whenever he could. If it weren't for Lily and how their tea time with Claude was moved to the mornings, he would still be asleep! It was all Athanasia's fault — she just had to greet him with a "good morning", otherwise their sperm donor would never have made the change from noon to 10 AM.

What's the point in greeting him, anyway? He never responds to them, not even an acknowledging hum or grunt. All he does is stare at them blankly, as if thinking of something else.

His sister begins to ramble about her made up dream as he yawns, laying back against his chair as he tries not to doze off.

"And you, Athanasios?" Claude asked, causing Athanase to blink at the sudden question.

'What about me?' he dumbly thought.

'He's asking about your dreams,' Athy prompted.