Birds of a Feather {Sasha}

"Hey, Stella. She is so cute,"

The girl fussed, smiling at him as the kitten rubbed its whole body against her hand. The tiny thing purred and hopped down to perch on the girl's legs, curling up in her lap in an effort to return to the nap Sterling had so rudely awakened her from, though she was still purring and obviously not at all upset at the interruption. Sterling grinned, "she was taking a nap when I fetched her, so she's still pretty sleepy. She seems to like you though."

She mentioned now wanting to get a cat herself and he nodded. "Yes, they are a lot of work, but Stella has been worth it. She's such a curious little thing and I'm constantly finding her exploring someplace new whether it's under a bed or a shelf that I have no idea how she reached. The downside of that is, of course, the hair. I'm constantly having to dust about our room because even the house elves can't keep up with the little furball." He gazed at the now sleeping kitten lovingly and chuckled as she made a little snuffling nose in her sleep, little feet twitching before relaxing again.

"It all makes sense for sure. No matter how much work it can be it would be worth it at the end. So next time I go to pet shop then I will buy one. Not sure when I will end up going there,"

He nodded. "Most definitely worth it. I know there's one in Hogsmeade. Well... at least I'm pretty sure." He thought about it for a moment, a small frown touching his features. Oh, it didn't really matter. "I could help you pick a breed if you'd like. You could always get a Kneazle, which is just a breed of magical cat. I thought about getting one of them, but my father ended up getting me Stella so I didn't get to pick her out or anything. I was honestly just surprised when he gave me Stella in the first place."

She rubbed the little kitten's nose, loving how soft and fluffy she was. "She's super friendly, though she hasn't really met many other animals or humans other than my family and the people who stay in the same room as us."

He thought a while longer before nodding. "You may be right. I think I may have been thinking of Diagon Alley. Sorry about that." She then mentioned she would accept his help with picking a cat breed and he grinned. Finally, a solid subject to talk about. "Do you have a certain fur pattern or coloring in mind? Some breeds are more likely to be patterned certain ways after all. I personally prefer female animals as pets, as opposed to males, as males seem to usually be more territorial and aggressive. That's not always the case of course, but it seems more often than not that a female is much less territorial."

"That would be great! I've been wanting to get her around more animals, so she doesn't become antisocial at all." Sasha petted the little kitten ever so gently, and somewhat hesitantly and Sterling smiled. "It's ok, don't worry about her too much. She's a tough little thing, so you won't likely hurt her, and you can wake her up if you'd like to play with her. Too much sleep and not enough exercise will make her lazy and fat anyways." He chuckled at that last part.

Sterling nodded as Sasha said she'd have to think more about it. He supposed it would be a big decision, one that he hadn't had to worry about, but a decision nonetheless. For cats lived for several years, and he assumed a magical breed of cat would live even longer. Plus, color and pattern he supposed would likely be less of a problem than personality would be. Picking a cat by their personality would probably be a better idea.

He grinned. "Oh, well you're doing great. She loves being pet. And don't worry about it too much. It's just kinda something you learn as you go. Though, if you aren't one of those go-with-the-flow types of people you can always get some books on how to care for cats. Research would also be a good idea in deciding on breeds." He gazed at the kitten lovingly, a little smile touching his face.

Sterling nodded in agreement. "Yes, that would probably be the best idea. That way you can get a small sense of their personality as well." He listened as Sasha talked and found himself relaxing. "I completely understand that. You never know what life is going to do, all you can really do is go with it, or you'll just end up stressing yourself out. If you need any help, I can always give you some pet-care advice. We've had all sorts of pets in my house."

"So are you excited for this summer? Any big plans at all?" He wasn't sure what to talk about, but the holidays were coming up, and he figured that was as good a topic as any.

He started gathering his writing supplies up, as it was obvious he wasn't going to be finishing his letter at the moment, though he wasn't upset by that.