It was a most unfortunate belief that black cats were considered unlucky, in Castiel's opinion. The idea that any creature could be lucky or unlucky in any capacity didn't make much sense, but, he supposed, humans didn't make much sense most of the time either.
We, he reminded himself, we don't make much sense.
He was still adjusting to being human, the oddities and intricacies of it still overwhelming much of the time. For one who had spend so much time among humans, he still had far to go.
"Merow?"
Which brought it him back to his point about cats. What does one do when approached by a cat?
"Hello," he decided, crouching down and looking back at the black cat, who was staring at him expectantly with wide, green eyes.
"Merow?" the cat said again, and Castiel reached out carefully, inviting the cat to smell him before he attempted to pet it.
The cat did, smelling for a few moments before rubbing its face against his fingers, and he smiled as he stroked the cat's face and down it's back.
"Basil!"
Both the cat and Castiel looked around at the voice, to see a plump woman who appeared to be in her late forties approaching them.
"Sorry," she apologized to Cas, "That's my cat. Was he bothering you?"
"Not at all," he answered, straightening and giving a small, closed-mouth smile.
"Good. You'd think he was starved for attention, the way he begs to be pet," she laughed, stooping to pick up the cat.
Basil purred, rubbing his face against the woman's.
"But he's a great mascot for the boarding house, I gotta say. The tenants love him."
"You run a boarding house?"
She gave him a critical up and down scan, and gave a small smile, "Let me guess, you're looking for a room?"
Castiel nodded hopefully, and the woman looked seriously at him for a moment longer before nodding sagely.
"Well, if Basil took to you so quick, that's good enough for me," she said, "I'm Jeanie. You're lookin' for something long term?"
Castiel nodded again, and she gestured with her head for him to follow her, "What's your name?"
"Clarence," he answered, the name still sounding strange coming off his tongue, but the second name came much easier, "Winchester. But my friends called me Cas."
"Well, Cas, welcome to the neighborhood."