Written as a result of a drabble challenge on tumblr; this one specifically was prompted by an anonymous ask! Please note that this is not beta-read. I don't have a beta reader currently and never quite beta my drabbles as they are a sit down and go thing for me personally. Spelling errors might occur, though I try not to make them.

Trigger warning(s):None apply

This fanfiction is cross-posted from my AO3 account, where it was originally published on July 29th 2020


The sky above set the tone for a lot of things in life; dark, clouded and a day darker than the bottomless pits of the ocean. Mag found the lack of sunlight unkind, a constant reminder of her peril. She had never seen it in person, for the sky had always been like this to her in sight but she missed the warmth on her skin and the sound of birds whistling their tunes as they passed her by above.

Time had not been kind to anyone but a select few. She supposed that it might come across as if she had it all. A nice house, her disease cured! She got to live out her dream to sing for the world! But it was not so. Her dream had revealed itself to be more of a nightmare worse than one could ever think of.

Though surrounded by people she found herself alone, but rarely in the literal sense of the word. So busy had she been in following what felt like the right path that she had not seen her safety slipping away from her, friends disappearing from around her. In a way she had lost them twice over.

Mag remembers well being handed her first schedule. Writing sessions, press sessions, interviews, rehearsals, performances… and little time to spend elsewhere but in her bed, sleeping. At first she tried to forgo it but then exhaustion would dig its claws into her back and refuse to let go. With no time left to see her friends, she only saw them in passing or seated in the massive crowds should she be performing; but this became a rare occurrence over time.

Then she lost them to reality. Marni passed away during childbirth, taking her child to-be with her and Mag found herself crying, every moment of time she had to spare was spent in mourning. She put on a brave face for the press and her audiences but behind crimson curtains she fell apart. Nathan, she tried reaching out to but after a while their calls became less frequent, his answers shorter. Mag stopped reaching out, the decision made without consciously deciding so.

Alone she remained, surrounded by faces who were rarely (if ever at all) kind to her. Above her candlelight flickers as she places down a rose by the door to her dear friend's mausoleum. A sigh escapes her as she gathers her thoughts. Her gaze passing through the bars to the portrait across from her she tries to muster up the idea of having her next to her. With unseeing eyes and her hands passing over the side of Marni's face, mapping out what she looked like, trying to imagine it.

First she thinks it is her thoughts, perhaps she's started projecting them without realizing it, but it is not. There is sound around her other than the bustle of the city going on behind her outside of the cemetery, something is scraping over the tiles. For a moment she thinks she might have become unlucky, a graverobber choosing this time of day to come around and scavenge and steal from the dearly departed. However, looking around herself she finds that she is alone.

This, until she lowers her gaze. At her feet stands a creature not taller than ten inches, a tail standing up, tip twitching left and right in curiosity. Gray is it's fur with a blue hue over it of which she is not entirely sure if it is a trick of the light or not. Its eyes match her own, big and blue. It is not mangy looking but does not have a collar, it may very well be the most cared for stray she's ever lay her eyes on.

Enchanted she stares at it, both of them unmoving. It had come up to her out of nowhere and seems to be such an innocent sight to her in a world so cruel. Mag slowly kneels, concerned that she might scare off the feline but it stays where she had found it. Ears flicking forward, all attention on her.

Tentatively she reaches out a hand, waiting patiently. She has no idea why she is doing this but perhaps it is the thought of a cat seeking out her company that entices her. Two lone souls reaching out to each other, how poetic it is.

The cat reaches out to her in its own way in return, rubbing its head against her hand, allowing her to scratch lightly behind its ear. A soft purr, Mag feels it before she hears it. Her lips twitching up into a smile, momentarily forgetting how melancholic she had been feeling mere moments before this.

They spend a while like this, an exchange that would be considered odd by all but them. The Voice of GeneCo's unending kindness: world-renowned soprano found petting a stray cat. Mag chuckled at the thought of potential headlines. Rotti wouldn't like it, if he found out she'd made the front page giving attention to a dirty stray but the idea of it just made her laugh.

"Well, you're coming home with me whether you like it or not," she muttered softly, "no one should have to be alone like you. The world is cold and unkind, you deserve better than that."

She speaks the words to the cat as sincerely as she'd like to hear them herself. Not one for picking up the feline she stands, the cat murmuring at her thinking she is about to leave. It seemed to have liked the attention because when Mag takes a few hesitant steps away from the mausoleum it falls into a trot after her.

When Mag reached the limousine waiting still, the door held open for her by her guard, she sees him raise an eyebrow at the little creature following on her heels. Underneath his white gloves she notices his grip on his gun tighten and in response she raises her hand. A warning gesture that the feline is with her and not something to scare away from her.

As Mag sits down in the backseat she leans sideways, reaching down outside the car; the feline eyeing the large vehicle wearily but seeming to deem it less threatening now that she's reaching out to it.

Mag muses to herself as she helps it climb into her lap that she'll find a way to convince Rotti to let her keep the little stray. She has roughly fifteen minutes to think about it, from the graveyard to her home but she finds that the words come easy to her. By the time her guard pulls into the driveway she's already named him: Rigoletto.


If you want to support me, there's links in a pinned post on my tumblr! Thank you so much for reading! As always, any comments and thoughts would be welcome, they motivate greatly! Hope you enjoyed this! My tumblr is Meluisart, so feel free to hit me up there, drop me a request if it strikes you fancy 3