Night Life
Posted on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 @ 2:02pm by Lieutenant Gunnar Arnason
522 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
Roll With It
Location: Downtown Haumea
Timeline: MD 0, early evening
After a long day in the hubbub of the hospital, it was nice to take the evening off to relax. Haumea had a few good bars, but the night life Gunnar was more apt to join were the coffee houses, especially now that the weather had warmed enough for outdoor seating that allowed him to relax after a dusk jog and watch the stars come out. It promised to be a clear mild night, so after buying a cup of soft serve yogurt and blessedly-non-replicated coffee, he settled into a chair outside the cafe to eat and enjoy the view.
He'd eaten about half the yogurt when a soft mewing sound drew his attention. Looking around, he spotted a little tabby cat by the outside corner of the shop. He'd seen her a few times before - a stray according to the cafe staff, but one who seemed to be doing alright hunting rodents around the various eateries in the center of town ...and begging tidbits off certain customers.
Recognizing one of her regular marks, the cat padded forward and crouched under a nearby table - not close enough to risk being grabbed, but within reach of dropped food - and made big hungry-kitty eyes, meowing plaintively.
Shaking his head, he looked down at the cat with an amused smile. “I have 'sucker for animals' stamped on my forehead, don't I?”
The cat stared expectantly with a quintessentially feline smile.
“Yes, that's what I thought.” He bent down, setting the rest of his yogurt cup on the ground.
The cat looked at it, and then looked at him as if to say 'You don't expect me to come all the way over there for it, do you?' There was something about the attitude that made him think of T’Ango, even though she resembled a mountain lion considerably more than a tabby cat.
“Fine,” he laughed and skooted the cup toward her with his foot. “But you owe me a tip for service.”
The cat replied with a regal little 'mrwl' before commencing to daintily lick up the offering. All the while keeping one eye on him, just in case he did anything as impertinent as trying to pet her.
“Three thousand years, and none of you have ever gotten over being worshiped in Egypt.”
He leaned back, examining the cat with a practiced eye. She was slim, but not over-thin, and despite a couple nicks in her ears from past fights, she appeared to be in fairly good condition. Wary of people, but not skittish. It made him wonder if she was truly feral or just a stray. Lost and abandoned pets weren't uncommon, even in a relatively small colony, and cargo ships that carried cats seldom tarried if one disappeared before their scheduled departure.
Finishing the yogurt, the cat licked her whiskers clean before giving him one last 'mrwl' and darting off, tail held high.
“You're welcome, kisa,” Gunnar replied, leaning down to retrieve the cup. “Talking to cats... I must miss T’Ango more than I realized. Good thing no one's listening. They'd think I'm crazy.”
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