"Familiars"

"Meow?" Catricia asked, pawing urgently at her master's robes. "Meow," Night cooed in reply from the crook of the old man's arm. The others purred contentedly from their perches--a harmonic, fuzzy frequency that caused the air to shimmer, blurring the edges of the wizard's cloak. 

"Meow!" Catricia insisted, digging her claws into the folds of his pants. The man opened one eye and glowered down at his familiar from beneath the shade of his wide-brimmed hat. She greeted his gaze with her own: impatient, entitled, and above all...adorable. "Meow?" she repeated, like some sweet, flabby angel. The wizard's face softened and he gave a chuckle that almost shook Soot and Umbra off his shoulders. "Fine," he conceded. "We can make a stop." He closed his eyes once more and resumed his trance, focusing on a new destination.

With that, Catricia hopped up, traced a circle around his lap, and plopped down, satisfied. The vibrations reached their peak and she could smell the brine and the scales through the open seams in the space around them. First, the fish market. Then, the couch.