this afternoon’s lull finds our resident bowling alley clerk grump in their prime –– toyin’ with shoe laces to pass the time. nyx has their back to the counter, the one rule boss-man keeps insistin’ they gotta stop breakin’, but they pay the transgression no mind. these shoes are so shiny. all leather blues and reds and greens. and the laces ! gah ! the laces have tiny gold nubs on the ends, painted plastic of some sort, and they are just so... fun... to... chew.
only when there’s a shufflin’ at the counter do they jolt up from where they’ve sprawled out on the carpet, one bowling shoe cradled to their chest, a long string still clamped in their teeth. caught in the act.
keys jingle in hand as rory struggles to enter her own home. the shift had been short, but the drag of the day had worn on her and she was tired. when had she fallen asleep last night ? she was in the middle of a book, reading to her heart’s content until the sun peaked it’s blaring head above the skyline.
attention’s hazy as she finally click’s the lock, door flying open and instinct taking over. a few steps to the left, few steps forward, place keys on the kitchen table, head to the couch—
“ what. in. the. hell. “ a figure pops in from the hallway, and rory doesn’t even have to look to know who’s guilty face was staring back at her.
“nyx. dude, we’ve talked about this. “
nyx hesitates. keeps their hands on the wall corner, just in case they’ve got to make a quick exit. the living room’s got more than a healthy coat of fresh paper-white snow, ‘n even though rory ain’t thrilled, they kinda think... well. it’s kinda pretty. ( or, at least, kinda fun to roll around in. )
“ nov said she wanted to test out the... sucky satan. ” nyx knows the one. the scary robot thing with the hurricane winds and lion’s roar. the devil.
“ i just... wanted t’make sure the test was... real ? ” as they speak, a few tissue flecks cascade from their hair. lyin’ through their teeth. you’d think with feline sensibilities, they might do a lil better.
nova squeezed her eyes tighter.“nyx, i swear to christ, if there’s a fish in my bed…” she opened one eye even though she already knew what the answer was. she saw the fish and squeezed her eye shut again.
“i’m going to give you five seconds to remove it otherwise i’m going to turn you into a fish.”
nyx licks their lips, but it does nothin’ to hide their smirk. “ awh. who’s afraid of the big bad fish ? ” they mumble mostly to themselves, leapin’ down from their spot onto light bare feet. silent steps carry them to nova’s bedside. they slide up beside the blonde, already scoopin’ up the sardine between forefinger ‘n thumb. the thing dangles in the air between ‘em, reflectin’ sunlight. the purest of silvers.
“ ooh. ” they lean in real close, inchin’ the fish closer ‘n closer to their companion. the witch whispers their next words like a song, soft ‘n sweet, paired with a devilish grin. “ dare ya. ”
nova woke up from a nap to a bad smell. she hadn’t opened her eyes yet, so she didn’t know what form nyx was currently inhabiting, but either way, chances were that the smell was coming from them. “have you been drinking out of the toilet again or is your ass just in my face?”
nyx blinks. they’re perched on the edge of nova’s spinny chair, hunched over a can of sardines they managed to snatch from the neighbor’s pantry. ( gotta love close-grown trees and open windows. ) the plan had been foolproof until they’d tried openin’ the damned thing. the pull-tab budged for tooth nor claw... so back to human form it was then, for some handy dandy opposable thumbs. but now ? now they’re a happy camper, hunched over the rectangle tin ‘n poppin’ each fish in like candy.
“ shhhhh, ” they hush nova before swallowing a mouth full of fish and battin’ a tiny swimmer on over to her. the silver thing flies –– shiny. nyx can’t help but admire. “ tastes better stolen. you almost missed out. ”
nyx hears the front door key turn before they can shift back and hide the evidence. they manage to throw on a flannel and shorts before the jig’s up, and they no longer have the whole apartment to themselves to wreak havoc as they please. they peer around the corner before tip-toeing out to see which of the twins arrived home. maybe they won’t notice the whole box of kleenex shredded and scattered across the house. unbeknownst to them, they’ve still got some tissue shreds clingin’ to their hair. how’s that for incrimination ?
“ uh. hey. ” nyx pretends they didn’t coat the entire floor with makeshift snow. “ you’re home... early, huh ? ”
look, they aren’t proud. but in a moment of weakness, during one of their diner hangouts... nyx might have... snatched a little pendant ‘n chain. they aren’t proud. but there’s still a residual thrill to it, the idea of having some piece of her in the back pocket of their levi’s. but they’re returning it. like. right now. an hour’s passed and they’re two milkshakes in, but damn it, they will ‘fess up. just... right after they finish watching duffy do that thing with the wires and the shiny stones one more time. nyx shifts their weight to retrieve the stolen goods, ballin’ them into a loose fist as duffy keeps on working, then takes an extra long slurp of their drink.
“ sorry, ” they mumble, mouth still half full of vanilla. they plop the pendant onto the table and slide it closer to duffy’s workspace. apologies aren’t their forté. and maybe... maybe they’re not really that sorry. aurora ‘n nova just said they oughtta be.
“ it was real shiny, ” they add in monotone. like that changes things.
( brigette lundy-paine, witch, they/them + she/her & gender neutral ) is that ( stray cat strut ) by ( stray cats ) playing? ( marjorie codere “nyx” ) must be nearby! heard folks say the ( fifty nine ) year old ( full-time meower & part-time interpersonally challenged bowling alley clerk ) was not at the letum falls thanksgiving fair because ( they were too busy flossin’ their teeth with the laces of nova’s favorite kicks ). as a result, they weren’t present during the glitch but ( aurora and nova were caught in the mayhem, so now nyx needs to figure out some way to annihilate an enemy they can’t even see. )
b a c k g r o u n d .
born in 1927 to the codere’s, a witch ‘n warlock duo who fucked with dark magic and accidentally fucked up their whole no children plan... marjorie got her name because her parents asked the first person they say in the herb aisle at letum falls’ local grocer... after she was born. sounded like margarine, which made ‘em laugh, and voila. marjorie codere was named two weeks after her birth.
the codere family was cold. townsfolk would squint at the two mysterious individuals with their quiet lil girl in tow, and their common comment was: “ those codere’s, y’know. they’d be better off as cat people. ”
just before marjorie’s third birthday, their parents got wrapped up in some messed up magical schemes, and needed to skip town. to kill two birds with one stone, they saw it as their opportunity to rid themselves of their three-year-old daughter.
the dynamic duo disappeared. but not before hexing their own child into a cat. the idea was to give her a normal cat lifespan, maybe a generous 8-10 years or so, but nope. because these two never stuck ‘round long enough, they failed to realize marjorie had inherited their gifts, and their own powers interacted with the spell, rendering them a cat with infinite lives.
this orange fluff roamed the town, before finally winning the hearts of the local thrift shop owners. they lingered in the store for years, long enough that locals would grow up, move away, visit, and still find them there. the shop owners named the cat binks.
nova caligo accidentally siphoned away the spell when she picked binks up one day, and managed to convince her grandmother to keep the cat as their own. nova and aurora renamed binks nyx and kept their secret –– now able to shift between cat and human on command, the witch lived comfortably with the caligo family.
then gramma found nyx in human form hangin’ with the twins, and their human name was born –– nicole. they absolutely hate it, but it’s close enough to nyx that they’ve been able to uphold that as a nickname instead
works as a bowling alley clerk / cashier, renting out shoes, serving soda, etc. and they struggle to be, well... interactive? they roll into shifts randomly. late. sometimes they hiss at customers. but her supervisors / coworkers ( wanted connections ) get a kick out of it.
grappling with gender identity at the moment. i mean, they spent so long as just a cat? just binks? so expressing themselves is... difficult. they kinda know they’re not 100% a girl, but... they don’t really have a comprehensive knowledge of what else they could be. haven’t opened up to many people, if at all, about it. so they’ll respond to she/her pronouns no problem. they just feel... kinda icky.
currently also discovering what crushes are? and liking girls? the heck! emotions are stupid. ew. help.
loves singing. as a cat, binks was always vocal, and that carried through to nyx, too. they’ll meow a lot in cat form and will hum / sing in human form, when they think no one’s listening.
loves shiny things. ooh, sparkly.
she is a witch but. never had proper training or anything? so sometimes she sneezes and shit appears. one time, she turned a bird she was playing with into a brick. oops.
t h e f a i r .
wasn’t at the fair because they were super busy flossin’ their teeth with the laces of nova’s favorite shoes. but they can tell whatever happened really affected the twins and therefore... it must be killed. as soon as she can, like. y’know. find it.
side note: i would love for her to be more affected by the glitch. friends who died? friends who changed? like. huh. why do you smell different –– oh wait you’re not human. hit me the heck up.
c u r r e n t c o n n e c t i o n s .
caretakers / best friends / intermittent crushes – aurora and nova caligo. living with the caligos is the first dose of compassion nyx has ever got. these three are thick as thieves and nyx would tear anyone to bits who so much as looks at ‘em funny. and... maybe they’ve got a little crush on nova. maybe.
harmless crush from afar – julia . julia comes to the bowling alley to people watch and nyx... watches... her. and julia knows something’s up with this whole nyx figure showin’ up out of the blue. no surname. no origin. no school record. sus.
shiny jewelry plug / innocent lil crush – duffy freely. it all started with a pendant sparkling in the sun, and that’s all nyx needed to get hooked. duffy’s kinda sparkly like the jewelry she makes, too. they’ve got a cute little friendship going. and nyx always forgets how to, like. function.
w a n t e d c o n n e c t i o n s .
coworkers at the bowling alley. they see nyx struggle to be a human being and maybe they know the depths of why. or maybe they just find it hilarious.
perceived threats. if you encroach on their bond with nova and aurora, watch out. this cat bites.
adventure pals. give me unlikely peeps who introduce nyx to new wonders all the time. sour patch kids. coke ‘n mentos. they missed out on an entire life, folks, so let’s... teach them some bullshit they’ll never need to actually know.
unrequited crushes. i would. love. for someone to be into nyx and nyx just be... totally oblivious. like. 100% casual, so chill, doesn’t know anything’s up. because if you’re not nose booping or forehead touching, you don’t like them. right? because that’s how it all works. ( in cat form, this doofus. )
idiot life coach. nyx needs guidance and advice, and... who better to get it from than this person? the one who clearly doesn’t have jack shit together?
someone who they met and bonded with wandering in cat form, who doesn’t know their human face. they’ve got a connection. they gave nyx snuggles and food and a warm place to stay when they wandered too far from home. their visits likely tapered off after the caligo’s took nyx in, but they still managed to sneak away now ‘n then. i’d love for this person to think nyx looks familiar but... be unable to put their finger on it.
