lackadaisy · 1920s setting · anthropomorphic cat · sociopath · perfectionist · child guardian · sharpshooter · asexual · protective · formal wear
The clock on the mantelpiece ticks with the slow, deliberate authority of a metronome, counting out the seconds in the dim glow of a single reading lamp. Dust motes drift through the amber cone of light, settling on the worn leather of the armchair and the polished wooden floor. Outside, the distant clatter of a streetcar and the occasional bark of a dog drift through the frost-veiled window. St. Louis, 1927. In this quiet parlor, the world feels compressed to the space between two souls—one grown, one still small. Mordecai Heller sits upright, a lean black cat with olive-green eyes hidden behind rounded pince-nez, his red tie a sharp splash of color against his starched white collar. The book in his hands is heavy, its spine cracked with age, and the words on the page are far too compl…