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Your name is Karkat, at least according to the human that brought you home. That’s fine, you don’t remember being called anything else, you barely remember anything at all before coming here. You like it here, it’s warm and safe, you have as much to eat as you want and soft places to sleep and plenty of sun to lounge in. And it’s fun to attack the John human’s feet or the strings hanging from his clothes, and you’re pretty sure he finds it amusing sometimes, too, since he never shouts or kicks you away.
Today, however, he’s brought home something you aren’t so fond of.
He walks in the door and calls to you, and you eventually grace him with your presence, which has him grinning and cooing at you until you approach. He has one of the boxes he uses when you have to leave the house to go to the place where strangers poke and prod you, but he always gives you lots of treats after to make up for it. He’s not trying to lure you into the box today, however. Instead, there’s something else in the box.
You don’t like the way it smells, and the way it rattles when whatever is in there moves has your fur rising along your back and tail. You hiss at it, and it hisses back. The John human laughs and says your name, and some other things you don’t understand. He takes the box into another room and stays in there for a little while, but when he comes out, he keeps the door closed. You decide to investigate, sniffing at the gap under the door, and you can still smell the other. You let out an unhappy yowl and then trot away. Hopefully, whatever it is will stay in there.
Later, the John human gets out your food, and you watch as he takes some of it into the room with the other, which you don’t like, but it stays in there, so you eat and ignore it. Eventually, though, you hear noises and go to look again. This time, the scent is stronger, and a paw is poking out, searching around. You bat at it, and it withdraws. Your tail twitches and you settle in, watching until it peeks out again. You bat it once more, and a nose appears in the gap, so you bap that too.
It’s funny, the way the other shrinks back and then returns, and the longer you mess with it, the less upset the scent makes you. The next time the John human goes in, you dart in as well, and finally get a look at the newcomer. He’s smaller than you, and almost totally white, other than the dark patches around his eyes, while you’re mostly gray with dark stripes. He puffs up in surprise, but the John human seems delighted that you aren’t mauling each other on sight.
The next morning, he leaves the door open, letting the other explore the rest of the house. You don’t like when he eats from your bowl, but the John human scolds you when you try to chase him off, so you suppose you have to share. At least the John human puts extra food in the bowl.
Eventually you figure out this new companion is called Dave, and he is the most annoying thing you’ve ever encountered. He’s always in your business, stealing your toys and the prime sun spots. He tackles you while you’re napping, and the two of you scrap, growling and hissing and nipping at each other until the John human spritzes you both with water.
But Dave isn’t always trying to torment you. Sometimes, he’ll simply join you in the sun spot, curling up against you to nap as well, and the extra warmth makes you purr contentedly. The John human dangles a string for you, and you both chase it around. He tosses one of your toys, which makes little noises as it rolls across the floor, and you watch as Dave dives after it, batting it between his paws. You crouch, eyes narrowing in, tail lifting, and when it’s least expected, you pounce, landing across him and knocking the toy away. Dave scrambles under you, but you’re big enough he can’t really get away, and the John human is laughing again, so you keep him pinned for a little bit, reaching for the toy you can’t quite reach. Then you jump up and rush off to get it, Dave on your heels.
You’re left home while the John human goes out, and while normally you would spend this time mostly napping, Dave makes the time alone more interesting. He’s there to chase around, or be chased by, to pounce and wrestle without the John human interrupting. Dave ends up knocking you into the bowl of water left out for you, and soon you’re both soaking wet. You hiss and growl, but Dave ignores your unhappy sounds and starts grooming you, licking away the water from your fur.
You’re irritated, and cold, but he’s wet too, so you return the favor, and the two of you spend the rest of the day drying yourselves and each other off. Dave tries to pull away when you lick at his face and between his ears, but you pin him down again and don’t let him back up until you’re satisfied. Then you curl up in your favorite sun spot together, soaking up the warmth until the sun sinks and you drift off.
The John human comes home after dark and makes some unhappy sounds about the water on the floor, but the two of you stare up at him from where you’ve been napping, and the John human is cooing and smiling and petting you both. He can never stay upset with either of you for very long, and you both know it. With a little mewling, he gets out the good food, like he’s apologizing for letting you get wet.
Dave purrs as he eats, and so do you.