"You know mabari understand and can respond to human speech, right?" Hawke demands, even as he subtly rolls his shoulders back a little to show off said barrel chest. "How many cats can do that? And you don't see the police using drug sniffing cats, do you? I'll give you that cats are good at working the system, but that does not make them more intelligent than man's best friend."

He scratches the little cat just at the base of her tail, giving Anders a stern look that is more than a little ruined by the feline, winding around his neck again.