stray cat strut.

( 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?