Her seat was taken, hmm. Mara eyed the challenger for her place at the table with a mixture of curiosity and mischief. Her very first instinct was to simply use the end of her hair, that tuft at the end of her braid to play with the cat for a while. To use her hair as the cat toy, but no. No, the faeling decided at the last second; that would get Smoke used to swiping at her hair, and it might be best if she used something other than what was attached to her body as a toy for those claws.

So instead, as she came around the table, Amarante dipped her hand into her bag, pulling out a few dried, woven-together stalks of lavender. Crouching down, the woman began to play with the cat, forgetting the food, forgetting even Maxim for a while as she tempted and played back and forth with the cat. Not yet touching it with her hands, but getting it used to being close to her, in a game that they both were enjoying.