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“Meow.”
Sharp looked up from where he was grading papers to find a ball of fur strutting across the Dungeon floor. The grey mass settled over by the fire, and curled up at the hearth without shooting him a sideways glance.
There was a Kneazle. In his classroom.
“Ahem.”
The creature didn’t move.
“ Ahem .”
This time, it looked across at him blankly. It locked eyes briefly with Sharp before dismissively curling back into a ball on the floor - happily situated near the fire.
“Well I guess make yourself at home then. Don’t mind me…”
So that's how it began. Each night, Sharp would light a fire and get on with his marking before the Kneazle would wander in from whatever trouble it had been causing to warm itself at his hearth.
At the beginning, Sharp would half-heartedly make an effort to shoo it away. But over the course of the week, the fluff ball began to win him over. Now, it would come and say hello and accept some head scratches before taking up its position at the fire. And Sharp had occasionally taken to sitting in the armchair by the hearth and finishing his marking while the cat purred at his feet. It was nice to have the companionship if he was honest…
It was on the sixth day of their little ritual that things were interrupted. Though Sharp couldn’t come to regret what was to happen and the second whirlwind that would sweep into his Dungeon room this term.
“Karis, there you are! Oh how did you get all the way down here?” A woman rushed into the room and scooped the cat up into her arms, simultaneously cooing and cursing over it as if she couldn’t decide whether to be mad or relieved.
“I assume this creature is yours then?” Sharp teased in his cutting, wry sort of way from where he sat at his desk.
“I am so sorry if he’s been any trouble. I’m Evaline - the new Astronomy Professor.” She stuck out her hand and Sharp took her delicate fingers in his own much larger grip.
The woman was tall and willowy, with the most beautiful long walnut hair that cascaded down her back - adorned with pewter star grips. Her robes were a soft silvery grey, not dissimilar to her Kneazle, and was woven with moon and star patterns. She should look sort of ridiculous and cartoonish given her role as an Astronomy Professor, but there was something in her earnest yet whimsical expression that meant it just sort of… worked . Sharp could barely tear his eyes away.
“She’s been wandering off each night ever since we got here. I think she doesn’t like the sound of the wind in the Tower and it is a lot warmer down here. I do hope she hasn’t been a nuisance.”
“Not at all,” Sharp swallowed, feeling like his throat had suddenly gone dry. “I’ve become quite used to the company truth be told.”
That omission felt a bit raw.
“Well, we’ll get out of your hair for now. Though I’m sure it’s not the last you’ll be seeing of this one,” she pointed to the fur ball flailing in her arms. “I never could get him to stay put.”
“Hopefully it won’t be the last I see of either of you then. You’re always welcome down here.”
She shifted awkwardly. “I must admit I’m a bit claustrophobic so I struggle with the Dungeons. I like to be out in the open with my stars.” She gestured vaguely to the sky, where Sharp figured she spent most of her time. Evaline had ‘head in the clouds’ energy.
“But I guess I’ll just have to catch you at breakfast sometime perhaps?” Sharp could have sworn she blushed under his gaze. He couldn’t help it. He simply felt enchanted.
“Consider it done.”
With one final shy smile, Evaline and her feline friend were gone and Sharp was alone once more. They were gone, but had left the warmth behind them. With him.