arduinna

Second post for today, catching me up to today...

For

eviltammy: cats! With mandatory pictures!

Oh, I can talk about cats for days. But I'll restrain myself. *g*

My current cats are a pair of same-litter brothers that I got from a shelter almost two years ago now (wow). I dithered over their names back then, settling tentatively on Darien and Hobbes, which not only stuck, but turned out to be prophetic.

Hobbes, in particular, matches his namesake: he's a bit skittish, a bit paranoid, a lot jealous, and very cuddly.

The jealousy is the thing that cracks me up most. Hobbes wants all the attention. ALL of it. All the time. Even if he doesn't want it right then, if Darien's getting any attention, he needs to come take it away.

For example!

Here's Darien, about 11 months old, 3 months after I brought them home. He's so cute! He's sitting in my coffee table; I have one where one side lifts up into a table that you can pull close to you, leaving an opening, and the cats like to hang out in there.

Oh noes, mom's looking at Dari with her phone! MOM LOOK AT ME INSTEAD, I'M TOTALLY CUTER.

(No, seriously. He photobombed him. It's not the only time, either. Not by a long shot.)

But what if I was still really looking at Dari? This cannot stand!

Triumph!

For another example! Because this cracked me up so hard, and I can't believe I got the picture.

First I will set the scene:

I tend to watch tv in a recliner. Hobbes loves this, and for preference wants a blanket over my legs. He will either crawl under the blanket to sleep between my legs, or tamp it down to sleep on top of it, also between my legs. He doesn't really want to be on my lap, just sort of cradled. He will stay there for hours, out of reach of my hands and snoozing happily. I have learned to bring an extra drink or a snack with me when I sit down, because I get trapped for so long.

Dari does not really like to sleep down there with my legs. Usually he sleeps on the back of the chair, above my head. But every now and then he'll wander down to the arm of the chair, and plunk himself down so he's leaning against me, in his version of a cuddle. Which I'm always completely charmed by, and spend some time petting and admiring him.

Hobbes? Can't staaaaaand this. He's good for 30, maybe 60 seconds, then starts twitching. Mom is paying attention to someone who ISN'T HOBBES!! He never takes it out on me; the last time this happened, he twisted himself around and up and started biting Dari in the flanks (not hard!) to drive him off (see above example), and when I reached out to pet him consolingly to try to get him to stop, he very carefully licked me a couple of times to make sure I knew he wasn't mad at *me*, then went back to biting Dari.

Another time, I managed to have my phone with me, and got evidence of this:

Right in the tail! Hee.

Dari gets his own back, though. He's a burrower; if he were an outdoor cat, he'd be digging all the little rodents out of their dens. So when he thinks Hobbes is under a blanket, he loses his little kitty mind and goes full-on hunter, digging and digging. He manages to pull the blanket away enough to get a paw in under and start whapping at Hobbes, who gets very annoyed -- usually Dari is so hunter-focused that he's whapping too hard, so Hobbes winds up crying and running away.

This is all a little disconcerting when it's happening in your lap, I must say.

Dari goes all dramatic when he sleeps, like he thinks he's performing Shakespeare or something.

Hobbes... does not think he's performing Shakespeare. Ever.

They seem to still like each other fine, Hobbes' little jealous self aside; there's lots of chasing and wrestling most days. But they're also totally prepared to entertain themselves:

Dari contemplating how to catch the bug on the ceiling:

(That little head tilt is one of the things that convince me to take these two over the other cats at the shelter. So cute!

Hobbes doesn't want to contemplate, he just wants that bug:

So close! And yet too far. Poor baby.

But sometimes, togetherness is where it's at:

Hobbes and Dari pondering the best way to tag-team the bug on the wall: