#she'll hear me wake up and come running and meowing

[steampunkedparm]

oona (our kitten) is essentially attached to my hip at this point and. my mother made some candles. so there is one very strong smelling scent that is making me a lil nauseous and headachy and.

you'll never guess what my cat very intensely smells of. who is trying very hard to come sleep with me.

[peachetteprice]

Stern Captain John Price...

...Who is a total dog guy through-and-through but eventually succumbs to your cat's pretty face. It isn't an evening with him in your apartment without him muttering, whilst he's cooking;

"What?"

"Hey!"

"What's the matter, lovie?"

"What is it, darlin'?"

"Dearie me, you're very vocal today, ain't ya?"

Every time she meows for attention. In a voice so tender that you know he's never used on you. He relentlessly volunteers to feed the poor thing and asks if she can have more biscuits, despite your warnings that the vet advised not to over-feed her (because she's the most determined scavenger you know - you'd think she was a character on Lost with how desperately she screeches for any morsel of food in her immediate vicinity), but he still frowns, waits five minutes, then sneaks her a handful of biscuits - from his palm, which she gladly takes, because again, Lost, as well as him knowing that you'll hear it if they clatter into the dish - all the while, during which, he ensures via a dozen glances over his shoulder that you aren't about to chastise him for it.

Sweet John thinks you haven't noticed the extra chunkiness around her primordial pouch, but you have - you're just too kind to say anything about it (and you secretly adore the way his eyebrows raise whenever you announce that it's feeding time).

Do not be deceived that he won't still insist that he's a dog person.

Because he will.

Every damn time he comes around will he see your cat, fold his arms and say "you know, I'm more of a dog person, I am", only to rush to the couch and wait patiently - never staring, never moving a muscle because he initially assumes all cats are jittery, distrustful creatures worthy of the attention of a God, not a mere mortal such as himself (and he's not wrong with half of that drivel) - until she clambours on his lap and curls into a shrimp.

He gasps the first time it happens and exclaims;

"Love!" And tilts his head to her like she's a statue that he needs a secondary opinion to be given of whether it's moved before he checks (it has not).

Unfortunately, with all of the sweet things he does, he also actively asks if there's any housework to be done whilst he's over. Oh, because he wants to do it like the gentleman he is, considering you routinely give up your bed, body, and fridge for him? No. Silly! He wants to make sure you're running around like a headless chicken so that he can have a few more minutes of your cat sleeping in his lap, because as soon as your arse hits the cushions, she chirps up and crawls over to yours, instead.

He's a little bit confused when it comes to cats. He often watches her sleep, palms his beard, gives her a point - the same one he gives when he tells his boys off - and asks, most sincerely;

"Is she comfy like that, love? Won't her head ache after a while?"

But, oh, John, she's loafing! It's her natural state.

It takes him a long while to adjust to the various positions in which she clumps, the variable number of nicknames you give her on the daily, and the variety of noises your lips make as you call her to you, but John's a fast learner. Soon enough, she'd rather saunter his way and arch herself along his shin with a saccharine meow than respond to the fact that she needs flea-ing, even if you need her here, now.

Otherwise, she'll dirty the place up, and John'll complain about having an itchy beard again!

And we can't have that happen, because he spent all of ten minutes combing his beard - the same one she nuzzled her chin up against a few days prior - whilst you were undressed in bed, sighing, somewhat cold, waiting until he'd checked it thoroughly before he gave himself the all clear to eat you out until you came.

And the very next morning, what did he do?

He opened the bedroom door - only wearing his boxers - and carted her in to wake you up, yowling and purring. And, though you love her, and you wish nothing but happiness for her, it was something of a rude awakening when you'd rather be fast asleep, repenting for the hours of sleep you'd lost from being fucked within an inch of your life. It's something he catches onto, thank God, as he scoops her up by the belly - shit, he's getting really good at that - and tosses her out of the room, before sinking into the sheets once more to pepper kisses along your bare skin until, finally, begrudgingly, you wake up and he can play with her again!

(Oh, but he'll never admit he actually likes the thing. No. Never. Any emotion resembling that of pleasure is purely on behalf of you. It's what he thinks you'd like... and, with that being said...)

God forbid you make the mistake of mentioning wanting another cat because as soon as you do, he'll slam his phone on the counter, give you a positively wide-eyed stare - almost like a kid on Christmas - and insist that you should. Well, only because your cat needs a friend whilst you're both gone (despite the fact that she's four years old already...)

And, of course, with that territory comes a dozen screenshots of cats for adoption from Pets4Homes, Pre-loved and various animal trust websites that he think will be a perfect fit for your cat - when he really should be finalising paperwork - complete with a bemoaning message of:

Not trying to sway you in any direction, gorgeous.

Except he is.

Oh, and... what's that? Oh, yeah. It fucking works.

Because barely three months after he made his mark in your flat, are you placing a carrier containing a little tortoiseshell kitten (his favourite listing that he sent on the daily, and practically wa-hey-ed with delight during a very very serious briefing with Laswell at the prospect of being home that night to meet the kiddo) before the closed carrier of your cat, and - almost as if it was fate, played by the hand of God himself (John, that is) - they're more than happy to co-habit, and John's soon finding ways to sneak them both shreds of leftover roast chicken every Sunday.

The cheeky sod.

| Masterlist |

[seekingthestars]

Top 5 favorite Riley stories or trivia

pls excuse me while i rant about my cat, just got unfortunate news and this will absolutely make me feel better so get ready for CAT TIME

at the time of this story, i'd had riley for exactly nine days. i made raspberry-lemonade cupcakes with raspberry frosting and left them in a container on the kitchen counter when i left the house. the lid wasn't locked on, just placed on top, but i didn't think anything of it. came home to find that the lid had been nudged away and two of the cupcakes had been munched on. this sweet little angel ATE MY CUPCAKES jfiowaefewa i took this photo as Evidence Of Her Crimes, it made me laugh so much, like what cat is out here eating raspberry cupcakes and why, riley u funky lil lady

a couple years ago, came home from getting lunch out somewhere and went to my room, only to spot riley huddled in my bathroom with her face stuck in the bottom corner of my bathroom vanity, refusing to move. she never sits like this, i thought it was odd, i went to investigate. she'd cornered a teeny little mouse in my bathroom and was holding him hostage in the corner until we got home and then she started meowing like "look what i did!! :)" she looked so proud of herself LOL and then she held him there and didn't let him run away while we went and got a mason jar to transport him out of the house, bestest girl

this cat loves catnip, but especially live catnip. mom planted some catnip plants in the yard and riley loves to go outside and plop herself right in the middle of them and roll around and just lay there in them. one of her favorite things to do, she'll stay there for so long. she looks SO HAPPY to be there, it makes my heart so warm :)

she has a little banana toy that's filled with dry catnip. this is perhaps her favorite toy. she loves to bat it around and hold it with her two front paws. also loves to lay her head down on it like it's a little pillow. she had two, brother's dog tore a hole in one when i wasn't looking, had to go hunt down another one for her bc she cannot be without her banana toy.

definitely knows her name :) (and some words for sure but this story is about her name!!) she comes when i call her most of the time but it's especially cute at bed time. she usually sleeps with me and if she's nowhere to be found i'll just stand at the top of the steps and call her name and a minute later i'll hear a little meow and see her trotting up the stairs or down the hall to me and then she follows me into my room and jumps up on my bed when i tell her to "hop up" so we can go to sleep. my lady 🥺💘

she is my babygirl and i love her very very much

bonus facts:

Can And Will yell to go outside constantly when she spots someone. loves to be outside but is not allowed outside unsupervised and this drives her crazy.

absolute fiend for snacks. will meow for snacks whenever she sees you have any kind of food. particularly loves Chick-fil-A and Bojangles chicken and Honey Baked Ham turkey, will try to steal it off my plate. obsessed with raw chicken, she will wake up from a dead sleep the second you take it out of the fridge and demand payment for being The Cutest Being Alive in the form of raw chicken bits. her other favorite snack is "cat gogurt" (the puree in a tube), adores this, will climb on my lap and basically knock me over trying to get it out of my hand, will push Lucycat out of the way to get more

doesn't love being held, but tolerates it well. sometimes, though, she demands pets and snuggles. today, for example, she jumped on my desk and sat ON MY HAND while i was trying to work, thus rendering me useless bc i couldn't move my hand on my mouse to do anything.

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

One of my biggest concerns right now is that our cats likely have covid as well. It's already proven and documented that this disease also infects animals. The Brooklyn Zoo tested their animals early on and found it in several of their animals.

Our cats are elderly, though you wouldn't know it looking at them nor watching their behavior.

Cacoa is 17, with just a few sprinkles of white hair and is otherwise solid black. She gets the zoomies daily and scares the crap outta Jasper with it. She'll wake up from a nap and immediately zip around the house, which is twice as funny now that we have no carpet. Sometimes she runs in place like a cartoon due to lack of traction. More than once, she's run right over Jasper while he's napping. I want you to imagine that for a minute. He's in a dead sleep and then 11 lbs of cat runs over him at top speed. He jumps up, full poof, and is thoroughly confused. When he sees her zooming, he then bolts after her because she woke him up so rudely. The zoomies turn into angry cat tag, and I interfere only when the meowing turns to yowling. Usually it doesn't get that far, and he's left doing his yowl of bored and needs something to attack because zooming around isn't enough. At that point, I toss him his kick toy.

Jasper is 15 and convinced he's still a kitten. Likely not helped by me referring to him as the baby. IG he hears the word baby, he comes running over while chirping his "I'm here" sound. He likes to play rough, but cacoa doesn't, so Husband plays with him. When I do, and he gets too rough, I do the cat squeak of pain (which jolts him outta play mode) and walk away. He'll follow and lick my arm or hand. I explained this to an animal behaviorist, and they told me we do this exactly right. He usually doesn't use teeth or claws, but sometimes he'll really get into it. After the apology, he gets to chase a shoelace, which he goes completely bonkers for.

Both are usually very playful. Right now? Jasper is more lethargic, tries to play but loses energy very quickly. I'm trying get him to play more in order to work his lungs. Cacoa is less lethargic than he is, still has zoomies, but us napping more often and deeply. Their appetite is still present, but not as strong. Neither has diarrhea, but both are sneezing. We can't take them to the vet because we're isolating. Plus, they would infect the vet clinic and anyone handling them. We can't leave the house for at least another week (we're on day 5 of covid symptoms).

I really hope they don't get too suck. Several of my friends who have pets have lost them to covid's pneumonia. Though most of those animals are cold blooded, which is likely a contributing factor.