Books laid in stacks, ingredients strung from the rafters, and a tired witch named Shiro sat at a desk, studying an ancient tome. He rubbed his temples and leaned back in the rickety wooden chair he used at his desk. He had nicer ones, but he preferred using this chair because it was older and nearly worn down to nothing anyway. He felt a brush against his leg and looked down at his feet. A long-tailed spotted Ocicat kitten with large cobalt eyes stared up at him and mewled for attention. Shiro huffed and reached down to pet the small cat. Immediately arching into the touch, it purred with happiness, not minding the witch's coarse, scar-ridden hands. Shiro smiled softly, despite himself. "You'd make an adorable human…" he murmured. His gray eyes suddenly lit up. "I should name you, shouldn't I? I've been so caught up in my work that I never got a chance to." He smiled as the kitten rolled over onto his back, purring loudly as the witch gently rubbed his furry belly. "Hm…" he huffed as the cat began attacking his hand. "What about Lance?"
The cat focused its large blue eyes on Shiro and stared at him solemnly, its claws receding. He chuckled. "You seem to like that name, I think." He pet the kitten's head gently and the kitten mewled, rolling onto all fours and stretching. Suddenly, Lance sneezed violently and looked up at Shiro accusingly. Shiro chuckled and turned back to his desk, reading over a love potion recipe he had found in the tome for a customer. He sighed heavily, beginning to gather the ingredients for it from around the room and pulling strings of dried things from the ceiling.
Laying them out on the table in the center of the room, he pulled a cauldron close and murmured, "Aqua." The cauldron was immediately filled with water and he said quietly, "Ignis," while flicking a finger towards the cauldron. A small fire appeared at the tip of his finger and floated to hover an inch above the table, just underneath the pot. He then picked up a wooden spoon and placed it in the cauldron before whispering, "Motus." The spoon began moving in circles around the rim of the pot, stirring the water. Shiro sighed, worn out from just these basic spells. His magic wasn't depleted in the slightest, therefore his fatigue might have been worrisome.
Despite the exhaustion moving through his limbs, he began adding the ingredients he had gathered into the cauldron, such things as whole newt's tails, a powder made from crumbled moth's wings, and a few drops of faerie tears. Now he just had to say the incantation. "Per potentiam dea lunae, et cor et cerebrum fiet citius beat admirabatur super prima creatura potest permalum bibit. Inducat caritatem. Amen."
The potion turned pink and started frothing uncontrollably. Shiro gasped, trying to find the top before it all flowed out. It began to, however, and Shiro sighed. "Prohibere…" The potion immediately ceased, but a lot of it had bubbled onto the tabletop and the floor. He first cleaned up the tabletop with a rag, then went and found his mop from the closet to use for the floor. He chuckled. 'A witch using a mop. How unprofessional.' When he returned, Lance was lapping at the potion on the ground. Shiro immediately picked him up and put him on the far counter. "Now, now. We can't have you falling in love with me, can we?" He chuckled at his own joke. He begins mopping up the potion while Lance licked his chops and watched Shiro intently, his tail swishing back and forth. He was obviously agitated that he was not allowed to do whatever he wanted.
Shiro shook his head at himself. "Tsk. You know better than this, you fool. It's 'ignite love' not 'induce love', therefore would be 'amoris accendant' instead of 'inducat caritatem.'" There was a flash behind him, but he paid no heed as he assumed it was one of the many fiery salamanders he kept in tempered glass cages in the corner. He bumped his temple with his fist and murmured, "You're growing daft, old man. Can't even translate Latin correctly."
Suddenly, he heard a male voice, low and quiet, "You're not old, Master. Just forgetful."
Shiro whirled around, half-slipping in the spilled potion and catching himself on the chair, which let out a groan. The love potion seeped into his deep violet and off-white robes and his wide-brimmed purple hat fell to the ground. Sitting on the edge of the far table with his spotted tail between his legs and his coffee-colored ears flattened shyly sat a young catboy. He had chocolate brown hair and tannish skin dotted with freckles, along with the bluest eyes Shiro had ever seen.
Shiro stared at him for a minute, awestruck both by the fact that he had slipped by his wards and also by the beauty of the young neko. He tries to get up, slipping again before gaining his balance with a jerk. He straightens slowly. "You…. Who are you?"
The catboy cocks his head, his ears perking slightly. "Can't you tell? I'm Lance. Your familiar."