#similarly lmk if you need more to work with or if we're going too fast or too slow with scenes

[thesundowncrew]

The child was shy and sweet, and so very cute! She really did remind Nightshade of a blueberry as she first proclaimed. As to why that was the case, she had no real explanation for it and Samhain gave up trying to understand some of her logic. Sometimes things just were, like how some people were as pretty as string-lights and others reminded her of the beauty of seashells. And to Nightshade, Nettie was a blueberry.

She listened patiently as the girl explained what she was doing, scrying her out of nowhere. "Hee-hee, how sweet! Well, not-emergencies are the best kinds of occasions if I do say so myself!" she tittered, feeling flattered that Nettie just wanted to have a little chat. "Sammy told me a bit about you~ He said you liked kitties an' makin' flower crowns~ I heard you have a bunch of kitties where you live too!"

"Ooh! Wait, get this! You've seen a kitty and you've seen a girl," she said, taking a few steps back from the mirror with the performative charm of a magician about to stun an audience with an act! "But have you ever seen.... a kitty-girl??" With a wave of her hands in front of her face, suddenly a pair of cat ears appeared on her head and her cheeks now adorned with long, white whiskers. With a twirl, Nettie could also spot a tail swishing back and forth from her backside. "Ta-daaaa!"

"Thank you, thank you~ You're too kind~" Nightshade took her bows, her feline features and appendages disappearing one by one in puffs of purple smoke.

Once that the theatrics were over and done with, Nightshade hopped towards the mirror, suddenly remembering her arrangement with Samhain that morning. "Oh! I almost forgot! Is Sammy around? I need to pass him something so maybe ya could give it to him since you're already here~?"

At first, nothing happened.

Nettie couldn’t help fidgeting. She shifted on the floor to sit cross-legged, her back leaned against the wall. She held her breath as she focused on the mirror’s surface, waiting for something to change. Her reflection looked both eager and uncertain. Hints of sorrow remained — a faint blotchiness to her freckled cheeks, blue eyes still a bit watery.

At last, her reflection rippled and disappeared, and someone else appeared instead. Someone with hair as black as night, sparkling green eyes, and a bright smile to chase away the dark. Though her cheery greeting didn’t include her name, Nettie instantly knew this must be Samhain’s kitty friend.

She exhaled a breath of wonder. Jittery excitement rushed through her and sent her sadness scurrying away. She listened, starry-eyed, as Nightshade spoke; and when Nightshade guessed her name correctly, the child’s face lit up with delight.

A touch of starstruck shyness stole into her smile and tinted her cheeks pink. When the time came to reply, she nodded, fumbling to remember the reason she’d called in the first place. “Sam, um— he said I could use this for not-emergencies, too, and he told me about you, and I wanted to talk to you. I’ve, um…” Her voice grew quieter, hushed with awe. “I’ve never met someone who can turn into a kitty before.”