when the two of you first met a few months ago, she was equal parts aloof and skittish, and always hiding the latter behind the former. she tolerated you from across the room, but any attempt to approach her resulted in a brisk retreat to a safe distance.
over the course of a few patient weeks, you started to build a little trust. you can't rush a cat to any kind of conclusion, but you had an inkling (or perhaps just a naive hope) that behind the wary behaviour, she wanted a friend just as much as you did. happily, time made your hopes real.
she started occasionally following you around - or more truthfully, began pointedly waiting for you to accompany her on whatever whims she was following that day. if you were very lucky, she'd greet you by circling around your ankles and rubbing against your legs with a purr, or at the very least stoicly allow a scratch behind her ears before trotting away with you in tow.
it was a very special night, the first time she chose to accompany you home. after a month or more of gentle offers met by languid, cat-like refusals, it was with little warning that she suddenly changed her mind and strode across that threshold as if she already owned it.
she'd met the two other dogs you sometimes lived with before, but just like you they had always been kept at a polite distance until now. the two puppies had almost polar-opposite demeanours - one of them a bundle of playful excitement and deep thoughts, the other almost cat-like itself, inclined to watch and wait and sometimes even bare its teeth with a quiet growl if you should approach too quickly.
on that night, her aloofness seemed swept away in favour of fearlessness. the relative lack of familiarity did nothing to stop that bold and clever little cat from making herself quite at home in your lives at last, much to everyone's obvious joy. from then onwards, you would often wake up to the quiet rumble of purring next to your pillow, and be greeted by happy meows whenever you or the other dogs arrived home.
with all their similarities, it wasn't much of a surprise that the littler dog would quickly become inseperable from the newest addition to your family. you'd frequently find them curled up in a sunny corner, a tangle of little paws cozily entwined; or else sitting and watching the world go past together with silent, shared understanding, their thoughts privy to nobody except themselves.
nowadays, it makes your heart swell to see that cat happy and comfortable, her casual affection for her dogs a far cry from the distant and wary girl who first surprised you by showing up on your street all those weeks ago. and bit by bit, her boldness seems to be rubbing off on her most special little puppy, no longer so likely to bare its teeth or stay hidden at the edge of a crowd. you're happy and proud that they're part of your family. you hope you get to see how much more they grow.
even now she remains as independant as ever, as cats often do, never letting herself be leashed or led on anyone's whims except her own. occasionally she'll disappear down the street and out of your life - for just a couple days, or sometimes for a week or more, until you start to worry about whether she's coming back.
but so far she always has, and every time you spot her sauntering up the street towards you, or come home to find her curled up on your couch with her puppy comfortably at her side, you feel a smile cross your face and the most comfortable glow spread through your chest.
xx
"What is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.
― Terry Pratchett, Sourcery