A Meow Between Strangers PV: Nyx Blackheart

I woke up, in a good mood for once. I reached my hand over to where my cat, Sekhmet usually slept. Right about my head. I murmured under my breath, "Good morning, fy melys." My hand alighted upon only air. I moved it around, not at all worried, because she usually moved around at night. I didn’t feel anything. I sat up. She was no where in sight.
”Sekhmet? Sekhmet!” I called out, feeling my annoyance evaporate into fear.
For the first time in my life I was scared. Sekhmet had disappeared. How? I didn’t know. But all I knew in the moment was that she has disappeared.
I slapped on a random combination of clothes that was lying on the floor before rushing out. I looked all around-first in the common room. I couldn't see her. I upturned every pillow, every seat. She was no where to be found. My worry escalated.
I ran out of the tower. I looked in every crevice, searched every hole. There was nothing. I was starting to feel hopeless. Then, I heard it. A soft meow. It was hers! I ran faster, knocking into other students, causing an uproar. But I couldn’t care. I found her curling up in the arms of another girl. A Hufflepuff. My cat turned her head to me before letting out an excited squeak and jumping onto my arms. I hugged her, for the moment ignoring the other girl. I murmured under my breath little reassurances in Welsh. I turned to the other girl.

Nova was startled when the cat launched out of her arms and barreled straight into a girl running towards it with surprising force. It practically flew into the other girl’s chest, purring like a broken engine with no care for the world around it.

She finally stood up, ego still wounded as if she hadn’t been betrayed by a scrawny (but adorable) feline. She glanced at the girl, who was whispering something incoherent to the cat.

She's probably scolding the kitty for running off. Or just comforting it, considering what just happened. She thought before looking over at the girl with an observing gaze.

She tilted her head at the girl—who looked like she’d just sprinted out of a haunted café at closing time. There was an apron. There were cryptic stains. Nova was pretty sure one of them looked like a curse in Latin.

Ooh, creepy but cool. She has good taste. She mused while glancing down at her own attire, feeling a bit under-dressed. She tugged her cardigan closer, even with the warmth from the sun.

"So, I'm guessing this baby belongs to you?" She asked, a bit awkward but shaking it off with a small smile. "It's adorable, but kinda judgy. I had to offer it a stick and non-existent treats just so it'd come closer."

She gestured to the cat, which was now contently snuggling up against the girl. "But seriously, you might want to consider getting a collar. Or maybe a bell that jingles whenever it moves, so you know where it is at all times."

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Nyx's speech - #990000

NOTES

@Nyx Blackheart

WORD COUNT: 261/200 words

I stared at the Hufflepuff girl.
She had puffy, curly blond hair, and was wearing a cardigan which she tugged on the sleeves while talking to me.
Her words hit me.
To place a bell on my beloved Sekhmet?
Blasphemy!
I stared at her.
I spoke, my voice quiet, more shy than normal,
"She's nervous like that. She usually hate people in general, but you must be a good person if she likes you.
And she likes to chew on sticks a lot."
I added this, not knowing why.
My cheeks warmed when I told her that she must have been a good person.
I stared at my feet, shuffling them a bit.
Sekhmet made a noise of content as she curled further into my arms before speaking again.
I looked at the other girl again.
I added, with more courage then I actually had,
"And just so that you know, I'd never place a bell on my beloved Sekhmet.
That would be constricting to her freedom.
I would never want to constrict that!
And she's a "SHE" not an "It"
I looked down at the last part, but my words were derived with conviction, enough to shake a mountain.
I looked back up at her again.
I shyly stretched out my hand and said,
"My name's Blackheart, Nyx Mania Lyssa Blackheart. But you can call me Nyx."

Nova felt a warm, fuzzy sensation when the other girl said that her cat liked her. It's the greatest honor to be favored by a feline, after all. She gave a smile to the cat while it practically burrowed itself in the girl's arms.

"That's an honor I'll accept with grace," she responded with a hint of pride. She always loved it when animals liked her. Especially cute, furry ones with judgy little faces. The girl continued, explaining her reasoning for not keeping a bell on her little gremlin.

Nova nodded along until the girl mentioned the cat was a girl, and her eyes widened. "So this kitty is a princess? Not a prince?" She asked in slight bewilderment before snickering a bit at her own shock. "Never mind, that's a stupid question. Of course, she is. No wonder she's so regal."

Nova laughed a bit more before the girl started introducing herself, putting out a hand. Nova stared at it for a moment before reaching out and taking it with a smile. "That's such a pretty name! So fancy, too. I'm Nova. Nova Astron in Hufflepuff." She replied before pulling her hand back.

A soft breeze swept in, cool and refreshing, ruffling strands of her hair and pushing it into Nova's face. She quickly tucked it behind her ear before turning to the girl, Nyx. "What was it you called her? Sekhmet?"

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Nyx's speech - #990000

NOTES

@Nyx Blackheart

WORD COUNT: 233/200 words

I stared at the girl.
She didn't seem fazed by my shyness. Rather she blazed past it like most Hufflepuffs do and introduced herself with a smile.
I gave her a shy smile of my own.
Sekhmet started playing with the ends of my hair and I absentmindedly undid the hair tie that was holding on of my braids. My hair exploded and coved my cat, to her delight, in it.
I pushed some of it back as I thought about what she asked me.
I said, "Ummm, yes. Her name is Sekhmet. After the Egyptian Goddess of War."
I looked down while I spoke, looking up every once in a while to make sure that the girl, Nova, was still there. After all, it would be embarrassing to be speaking to thin air.
"𝒮𝑒𝓀𝒽𝓂𝑒𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝐸𝑔𝓎𝓅𝓉𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝑔𝑜𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝑜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝒹𝑒𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈. 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒻𝒾𝑒𝓇𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓇 𝑔𝑜𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝑜𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒶𝓇, 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓃. 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 "𝑀𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹" 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 "𝐿𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒮𝓁𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝓇," 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃.
𝒢𝑜𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒲𝒶𝓇: 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓉𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑜𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝑜𝒽𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒻𝒶𝓇𝑒.
𝒟𝑒𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓉𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝒾𝓁 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓈.
𝒮𝑒𝓀𝒽𝓂𝑒𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓂𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓃 𝑔𝑜𝒹 𝑅𝒶.
𝒜𝓈𝓈𝑜𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝐹𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓊𝓃: 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒾𝒻𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝒶'𝓈 𝑒𝓎𝑒."

I randomly spouted off every fact I knew about the Egyptian Goddess I named my cat after.
"But she isn't like that. She's shy and sweet."[/i]
I added.
I looked up at Nova, wondering if I might have scared her off with all the facts.

☞ Speech
☞ Thoughts
☞ Narration
Current Outfit:

Reducio

Hollowcore Café Uniform

☞ Button-up shirt made of faded, threadbare black fabric, with an embroidered logo that says “Hollow Brew Café” in smudged, neon ink.
☞ Apron tied haphazardly at the waist, with loose threads hanging out. A faded receipt is pinned to it, listing impossible orders like "5 shots of reality" and "Iced tears of your past."
☞ Trousers of shredded denim, with coffee stains that seem to form cryptic symbols the longer you look at them.
☞ Sneakers stained with a mix of espresso and burnt toast crumbs, soles too worn to be useful, but still functional enough to haunt the back room.
☞ Black eyeliner smudged like tired exhaustion, with the faintest hint of tears that never fully fall.
☞ The vibe: tired, caffeinated, with a strange sense of déjà vu that always lingers, even when the shift ends.

Current Hairstyle:
☞ Dutch braids that end in 2 tight buns, with silver string threaded through them, the ends of my hair loose so that they reach my back.

Current Makeup:
☞ Smokey black eyeshadow
☞ Plum colored lips, glossy in color.

WC: 321/200

Nova blinked at the stare from Nyx. She didn’t know what to think of it until she finally smiled at her, and Nova relaxed, giving a smile of her own. Her cat, Sekhmet, she remembered, toyed with Nyx’s hair until it poofed all over it. She heard a small but noticeable purr come from it and she giggled in amusement.

“I have a cat of my own at home, his name’s Oreo,” She informed, watching Sekhmet paw at the hair. “I wish I could bring him here with me, but he’s quite old now.” She trailed off, about to take a trip down memory lane when Nyx spoke up again, telling her facts about Egyptian Goddesses and she could barely keep up.

She nodded along, the majority off the information she was being told slipping out of her ‘Things to remember’ box in her mind. Externally, she smiled as Nyx finished off, probably a little breathless, but Nova didn’t comment. “That’s a lot of facts for a tiny kitty,” she said, reaching out to rub Sekhmet’s head.

“I don’t think I have that many facts for my own cat other than the fact he’s named after a cookie brand.” Her tone was light, and she felt glad for having stepped outside. (For once.)

“I’ve been wanting to get a pet that I can bring to Hogwarts,” she mentioned, pulling her hand away. “A Pygmy Puff, specifically. But not now. Maybe someday, though.” Nova grinned again at Sekhmet as she meowed demandingly. Probably for attention. Nova felt like the feline in front of her could get anything with a meow and a stare.

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Nyx's speech - #990000

NOTES

@Nyx Blackheart

WORD COUNT: 273/200 words