27 Sep 2024, 20:39
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Keen Eye / Lovely Creature / Healing Sage / Calming Presence / Animagus
A walk on the grounds was all she needed. At least, that's what Rose told herself. She didn't know why, but everything seemed louder today. The turning of a page, a teacher's words, a classmate whispering behind her.
Maybe it was just stress. After passing her OWLs, Rose was a sixth year, meaning that she had to be thinking about what she was going to do after Hogwarts. For most of her life, she had been so focused on Hogwarts that she barely gave it a second thought what she would do after it. Of course, it was two years away, but still, ger classes were meant to be tailored towards a career. She knew she wanted to do something with creatures, but didn't know exactly what yet, and knew she wouldn't have an abundance of money to fund after-Hogwarts schools or travelling jobs. Everything was up in the air, and classes only seemed to get more intensive once you received an OWL in the subject.
Chaska, naturally, was at her heels. This summer marked four years since Rose had bought the sassy Silver Siberian, and Chaska had been waiting for her, sitting pretty and patiently outside of her last class. From not only her experience as a pet owner, but also as a feline animagus, Rose had gathered that cats were much smarter than most people gave them credit for. Sure, they weren't as eager to do tricks as other animals, and wouldn't always bow to your will, but they were certainly smart. How Chaska had learned her schedule already was an impressive feat to Rose.
Rose changed into something a little more comfy than her school robes, and then decided to go on a walk, taking the cat with her. It was beautiful outside, and Rose, almost instantly, felt better.
Chaska meowed, and Rose turned to look down at her. Then, the silver cat began bounding away. "Where are you going?" she called after Chaska, but to no avail- the cat seemed to be acting stubborn, as always. Rose, with a huff, took after her at a jog. The fluffy cat approached a student minding their own business, and started purring, clearly asking to be pet.
After catching up with her cat moments later, Rose said, a little out of breath, "Oh, Merlin. I'm so sorry to bother you," she apologized. "She's- um- not the most obedient of cats." Chaska shot her owner a look, but then was quickly distracted by her goal of getting this random student to pet her.
Feel free to lightly godmod Chaska!
13 Oct 2024, 18:55
Curiosity Killed the Cat
@Rose MoonIt was unlike Keiran to be outside, but Autum had softened the summer heat enough for him to leave his dorm in full uniform and not bake amongst the shrubbery like a finely garnished turkey. Ironically, it was also quieter out amongst the elements than it was chambered between the walls of a castle that likely was over a millennium old, mainly because said castle happened to be filled to the brim with pubescents galavanting haplessly along its havoked halls.
Suffice to say - - It was nice to touch grass - and to draw it, too.
For the better part of that afternoon, since his classes ended, Keiran had spent his time curled between the roots of a weeping oak a few miles off-campus with his flimsy green sketchbook. The pages wrapped within the cover were brown and weathered, and it was held together by a brown leather band with a copper pendulum at the end, shaped like a leaf. Because the band was double-stranded, it closed by threading the weighted ornament through it at the front. It was not very secure, but it was nice to hold, and Keiran had been fiddling with it mindlessly since he stepped outside.
With his shoulders unhinging themselves gradually from his collar, the pen pinched between his fingers grew lighter as he moved from drawings of Hogwarts’s rigid skyline to the creatures he saw pattering about the foliage. Everything seemed to blur around them as he honed in on their movements, waiting for them to be still. Sound and scent and touch faded as fluid forms began to curl their way across the page spread, Keiran’s eyes set intently on the curve of the wingspan of a particularly intrepid pigeon - -
Something nudged his arm, skewing his line work. A deep, pensive breath followed before the air filtered gently from the young wizard’s lungs. A cat.
It was just a cat, Keiran realised. A cat that wanted something. The feline was met with a frown when it butted against his hand again- and then a quirk of his brow once it chirped in response. The boy had drawn cats before, observed them- but he’d never really. Touched one. Before.
“Aye-“ His eyes shot up to meet the strangers, flinching at her voice. When’d- she- get there. “Er. It’s okey.”
30 Oct 2024, 19:51
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Keen Eye / Lovely Creature / Healing Sage / Calming Presence / Animagus
The kid didn't really seem to get it, so maybe he wasn't a frequent companion of cats. Chaska looked over her shoulder at Rose, as if tattling on him for not petting her. She sat in front of him, making herself comfortable and pleading with her eyes for affection.
The startled look that the boy gave her when he noticed her presence made her feel worse.
Rose leaned down, scooping up the silvery feline in a fluid motion. "Come on, Chaska," she told the cat. "Let's leave this kid alone." Chaska, however, protested immediately at her abduction, letting loose a dramatic meow, and wriggling out of Rose's hands, slick as a fish.
She hit the ground on all four of her paws at once, and went to sit next to the kid again. However much Rose appreciated her pet's friendship, she could manage being less friendly to everyone, and demanding their attention. What was it about this particular student- which Rose thought just seemed like he wanted to be left alone- that drew Chaska? Perhaps it was a feline thing- from becoming an animagus, Rose grew to understand more and more about the cats she was around. They had heightened senses, so they could tell better when someone was afraid, or nervous, and could detect tones in voices Rose never noticed before. She supposed Chaska hadn't been wrong about anybody before, so just trusting her cat's ability to judge character, maybe she should take some time for a conversation.
The redhead sighed, still exasperated at the Silver Siberian's behavior. "Well, it does not look like she wants to leave," Rose laughed. "Is it alright if I sit with you? If you want us to leave, that's totally fine. I can try and wrestle her away." she offered, hoping that was not the case and he'd be open to a little companionship, too.
If he said it was okay for them to stay, Rose would take a seat on the other side of Chaska, leaving plenty of room between the two of them. "What are you drawing?" she asked.
31 Jan 2025, 20:29
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Curious eyes watched fluidly as the cat - Chaska - slid through the lady’s arms like a silver snake, intrepidly pawing her way back to where she’d been poised before him. Such a graceful creature, he thought to himself, much like her companion, who’d maintained an air of composure even as she chased after what seemed to be her familiar.
All that came from her in response to the feline’s insubordination was a sigh and a laugh. His eyes flickered up, meeting the lady’s bright, evergreen gaze, glinting gold in the sun. She looked kind. Unlike other red-heads he’d met in recent memory, there was a careful cadence to how she spoke, consideration written in her words. If anything, there was just a note of exasperation. A crease had formed above the boy’s raised brows. A question was asked, and this strange, warm tug at his chest had taken him aback.
‘Is it alright if I sit with you?’
People didn’t really ask to sit beside Keiran. Or be around him. They either did or didn’t. His proximity to another person was practically irrelevant, and by extension, he was irrelevant. Which was just as well; for the longest time, the feeling was mutual. Besides, he wasn’t the only kid who preferred their own company. This - interaction- however? It was the most interest he’d received from another peer, let alone a cat, in a while.
Keiran waited for the air to diffuse out of his lungs slowly before shuffling to the side - an invitation, if you will.
‘What are you drawing?’
“Just- er…..Doodles-” He let his hold over his sketchbook go slack in his other hand, tilting it in the other’s direction for his acquaintance to see. Speech formed slowly between Kei's pursed lips as he attempted to say something that sounded intelligent. “Rough impressions.”Reducio@Rose Moon"I donae know - how- cats, er-" Work? "I couldnae-" Words failed Keiran, and he gestured defeatedly, his hands rolling over each other in succession. In resignation, he sighed, only furrowing his brow ever so slightly at Chaska’s further attempts to cajole him. “What. Does she want?”
30 May 2025, 21:35
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Keen Eye / Lovely Creature / Healing Sage / Calming Presence / Animagus
The kid scooted over, which wasn't, admittedly, a sign he really wanted her there, but there was no real protest from him, either, so Rose took a seat next to him. She left a respectable distance between them, as it seemed this boy wasn't really the extroverted type. Rose wasn't either, if she was being honest, but it seemed rude to just leave while her cat was bugging someone, and he seemed nice enough.
As he offered his sketchbook for her to see, Rose looked over, in wonder. "Wow," she murmured. Rose had never been much of an artist, as it had never been something that caught her attention. Rose's sister, Faith, on the other hand, had been an incredible artist, and Rose's heart warmed thinking about her. Looking at art had always fascinated Rose, not just because it reminded her of her sister, but it truly impressed her. The way that people could imitate and interpret reality from their own eyes for others to see was just beautiful; each of the boy's pencil strokes contributing to a full picture that could somehow encapsulate light and texture and depth and emotion. It really looked like Chaska, and Rose couldn't help but smile at the curiosity and adventure in the drawing. "You're pretty talented," Rose commented, in awe.
The boy then turned his attention to the fluffball currently staring at him with big silver eyes, and stumbled over his words a little. Rose's eyebrows knit together, trying to make out what he was trying to say. Then-
“What. Does she want?”
"Oh," Rose said, suppressing a smile. Maybe Chaska's wants were pretty obvious to Rose, but if the boy wasn't too familiar with cats, she could understand his confusion. "She wants you to pet her. You don't have to if you don't want to, of course. She'll get over it," Rose said. Then, in order to be completely honest with the boy, she added with a shrug, "...probably." At the moment, the fluffy feline was at least being decent enough to not try and climb all over him. She looked back at Rose, and she gave a small laugh, scratching Chaska behind her ears. "Not all cats are as needy as Chaska- she's always been a drama queen."