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Caturday Pootie Diary: Proceed at your own risk [1]
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Date: 2022-07-30
I shook my head, sure he wasn’t serious. If he didn’t want to be touched, why would he be sitting so close? I reached out again and ignored what his body was signaling to touch him.
He bit me.
Kind of hard.
“Ow!” I cried, struggling to pull back from his teeth.
“I said ‘no,’” he told me.
“I didn’t think you meant it!” I whined, shaking my injured hand.
We stared at each other.
I reached out again, slower this time.
He turned and ran out of the room.
I examined my hand carefully. There were scratches, but he had not broken the skin. He was a good boy, and usually only actually made me bleed when he was in play mode — he was pretty controlled when he was trying to put me in my place.
Didn’t make it less painful.
“You are very rude!” I called out.
He did not respond.
“Message received!” I yelled toward the doorway he had exited through.
Nothing.
I sighed.
I was absorbed on my phone, scrolling aimlessly, but still very much engaged.
I was struck suddenly with an odd feeling. An unsettled feeling.
A feeling of being watched.
I looked up.
Freddie was sitting on the floor in front of the couch.
Watching me.
“What?” I asked.
He was silent. Unblinking.
I cleared my throat. “Should I be concerned?”
“I feel like the lack of blinking is a bad sign,” I said, meeting his gaze and giving him a slow blink.
It was not reciprocated.
I patted his furry pillow.
He did not so much as twitch.
I gave a low whistle. “You can’t resist the whistle,” I told him, whistling again.
He watched, unmoving.
“I’m sorry I tried to pet you when you were sitting right next to me,” I said. “I should have known you didn’t want to be touched.”
He suddenly stood and leapt on top of the pillow. I flinched. “Don’t bite me!” I cried.
He approached me and pushed his head into my side.
My shoulders dropped and I obligingly set about rubbing his fur. He purred in appreciation. “You are such a weirdo,” I said affectionately.
He settled back on the throw pillow and tucked his paws under his body.
“Is it okay to pet you still?” I asked.
He blinked his eyes.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’” I said, reaching out with my hand.
He nipped at me and I snatched my hand back.
“Just kidding,” he said.
I snorted.
He closed his eyes in happiness as I scratched behind his ear. “Sometimes I just want to be left alone,” he was explaining.
“But you were sitting next to me,” I pointed out.
“I told you quite clearly to leave me be.”
I sucked in a breath and blew it out, puffing up my cheeks. “Yeah, you did. I’ll pay better attention next time.”
“See that you do,” he said, stretching out his neck to give me access to his chin.
I rubbed my fingers down his spine. “Although if you don't want me to touch you, you should probably not be within reach.”
He lifted his butt as my fingers reached the end of his body. “You just need to respect my space.” He pushed his head into my ribs.
“As you do mine,” I said, dryly.
He climbed over my thigh and onto my lap. “You don’t have any space,” he said, full of confidence.
Happy Caturday, Peeps! This is basically a true story. Sometimes Freddie just doesn’t want to be touched and he signals that pretty clearly. I just don’t always heed those warnings.
[END]
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