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[ring_for_giles]

Good evening, this is Giles speaking

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[prince_of_beasts]

There's not much room for the cat to purr any louder, but it manages. It tucks its paws up and butts its head against Giles's cheek --

-- there's no? Smell?

Dimitri's sense of smell is fairly sharp even as a human, and of his senses it's the one he trusts the most. Cat-shaped, it's even more acute. It's never lied to him about the dead, so why does Giles smell blank? And why can't Dimitri remember what he should smell like? Someone is holding Dimitri, and if it isn't Giles, who is it?

The purring cuts off with a nervous "Rrow?" The cat squirms, pawing at Giles's shoulder.

[ring_for_giles]

Once they're fully settled on the couch, Giles lets go of the squirming cat. Still patting, but allowing a very easy exit if Dimitri needs it.

"I know I don't smell quite real, but I promise it's still me, Dimitri. I was designed to be... unobtrusive." He pauses, before continuing a lot quieter, "It would be unseemly for a servant to draw undue attention, and odour cannot be voluntarily suppressed."

Even Giles isn't immune to the fact that animals are a lot easier to talk to, despite him using his cat form for that very reason.

[prince_of_beasts]

Animals are easier to talk to because there's less expectation of judgment, or comprehension. In Dimitri's case that's even mostly true. The cat's grasp of language is partial, and Dimitri's memories when he reverts are hazy and fragmented. The cat understands that it's receiving an explanation, that the explanation is meant to reassure, and that the thing being explained is a source of grief.

The cat butts its head against Giles's chin, then settles back down across his lap. Its purring resumes, less desperate, only rumbling and constant.

[ring_for_giles]

"There you are," Giles says softly, "You're alright, everyone is safe."

It's grounding, in a way he hadn't expected, to focus on soft fur beneath his fingers, on the gentle rumbling of a cat's purr. It shouldn't be surprising, he knows the value of a therapy animal lies in that as much as it does anything else. After all, why else does Mr Ainsel join when Ossie dons the role of Blackbird Bishop? But for all that, he hasn't been on this side of the equation in a long while.

So he wont be moving from this spot any time soon.

It would be impolite to shift Dimitri before he's ready anyway.

[wrap]

[prince_of_beasts]

It'll be a while. Dimitri's soothed, secure, for the first time in weeks, and down crashes a wave of exhaustion that's been building since the ship emptied.

He sleeps.