#my lovely cat your liver will perhaps work a little longer

[quicktimeeventfull]

hi everyone this is the best day of my entire life bc i asked the vet tech if i could switch my cat’s liver medication to liquid and she is eating it with no problems T__T

[ofendlesswonder]

ah so exciting! would love number 25

25. “I need a place to stay.”

A shadow falls over Kara’s desk, and she pauses her proofread of her latest article to glance up at the person hovering by her shoulder, jaw dropping open when she gets a glimpse of messy blond curls.

“Carter?” It’s been months since she’d thought of him, longer still since she’d seen him, but the face is unmistakable, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. “What are you doing here? Is your Mom here?”

She hasn’t seen Cat in months, either, not since she left to ‘dive’ into pastures new. No one has seen her recently, in fact—she’s effectively disappeared off the face of the earth, is only mentioned in gossip columns when they’re speculating her whereabouts.

Not that Kara has a Google alert set up for her name, or anything.

“No, she’s in Washington.”

“D.C.?” What on earth is she doing there? And what on earth is Carter doing here, backpack slung over his shoulder, eyes red-rimmed and cheeks blotchy like he’d been crying.

“Yeah. She took a new job there.”

Kara feels like he’s reading from a script she isn’t privy too, has no idea how any of this has led him to be here, standing by her new desk and scuffing his converse along the floor. “Okay…”

“But I don’t want to live there. I didn’t want to leave here, but she said it would be temporary. That we’d come back. Only now she wants to work in the stupid White House and she’s looking at apartments and a new school and I—I don’t want it. We had a fight.” He sniffs, rubs the back of his sleeve across his cheek like he’s scrubbing away the remnant of his tears. “And I said I wanted to come back. Live with Dad, if that’s what it took.”

Kara can only imagine how Cat would have taken that.

Not well, by any means.

“She sent me back, only I don’t want to live with my Dad, I want to live with her, but here in our old apartment. He wouldn’t even meet me at the airport. He said I was old enough to get a cab.”

Kara’s jaw tightens—she knows Chris is an asshole, but this seems like a new low, even for him.

“So, I got a cab, but not to him.”

“You came here, instead.” Here, to some semblance of stability, of familiarity. The apartment is gone—Kara had helped Cat list it for sale, and it had been snapped up in no time, and she wonders if Cat had ever really considered a move back to National City. The apartment is gone, but CatCo. is not, and Kara remembers countless afternoons where Carter had come by after school, curling up in Cat’s office with his homework. Sometimes, Kara had helped him with a particularly stubborn math problem, or talked to him about his favorite anime, keeping him entertained until his mother was off the clock.

“I need a place to stay,” he says, voice small, eyes glued to his shoes. “Can I come home with you?”

Yes, she wants to say, without hesitation, recognizing the small, scared child he so desperately tried to hide, the one who felt like he had nowhere else to go. Yes, of course you can—but it’s never that simple, is it?

She has a secret identity to protect, and he’s supposed to be with his father, and Cat might kill her, and—

Wait.

Does Cat know where he is?

“No,” he says, when she asks. “I didn’t tell her. And I turned off my phone, so she wouldn’t track me.”

“Carter.” She can’t help the admonishment, because she knows how much Cat cares about him—she’d do anything for him, and she imagines her pacing up and down a hotel room in the capital, already on the phone to the police. “You should call her.”

He makes a noise of discontent.

“At least let her know you’re safe. She’ll be worrying.”

“Can you call her?”

“I…I don’t know about that. I think it would be better coming from you.”

“Please?” He peers down at her with eyes so like his mother’s that Kara aches.

“All right,” she sighs, and makes the mistake of glancing across the bullpen. Snapper is glaring at her, his face red. Great. Someone else who wants to kill me. Could this day get any better?

“Kara?” Cat answers the phone sounding harried, and Kara recognizes the faint note of panic in her voice. She lets herself bask in the familiarity of it for one long moment—months, since she’d heard Cat’s voice, months, since she’d last felt the comfort of it. Months of missing her, in a way she knows she isn’t allowed to. “This isn’t a great time.”

“Uh, I know.” She looks at Carter, who avoids her gaze. “Something about a missing fourteen year old?”

“How…how do you know that?”

“Because he’s standing right in front of me.”

“Carter’s with you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Why?”

“Good question. Should I let him explain it for himself?”

Carter shoots her a sharp look, but Kara forces the phone into his hand anyway, pointedly turning away like she’s not listening as he lifts it to his ear. She stares at the blinking cursor on her computer screen as he talks, trying to summon the will to finish her work.

No such luck.

“Could you…could you keep an eye on him for me?” Cat asks, when Carter gives her back her phone. “I’m going to fly out as soon as I can, but it’ll be a few hours before I can get there. I know it’s an imposition, and he’s supposed to be with Chris, but he said he’d be more comfortable with you.”

Her gaze flickers to Carter, to the hopeful expression on his face, to the pleading note in Cat’s voice, thinks of the opportunity to see her again, even if for just one more day.

“Okay,” she says, and knows it’s the right decision when Carter lurches forward to wrap his arms around her neck. “I’ll watch him.”

“No runaway trains this time,” Cat says into her ear, and Kara laughs, remembering her last ill-fated babysitting attempt, a lifetime ago.

“I’ll try my best.”

 ***

The knock on her door comes at nine thirty, not quite loud enough to wake the sleeping teenager stretched out on her couch.

She pulls open the door, comes face-to-face with the woman she’s been trying so hard not to think about for the past few months, and Kara thinks, as their eyes meet, her heart thudding painfully in her chest, that she’s been fooling herself, because it all comes rushing back the second their eyes meet.

There was only ever one reason why things would have never worked with James, one reason why Kara hasn’t been able to so much as think about dating since they’d ended things, one reason why her life has felt so empty these past few months.

Only one person who could make her heart pound, set butterflies free in her stomach, make her palms—physically impossible though it may be—feel damp.

And that person is the woman standing in front of her now, her eyes as wild as her hair, mussed from the wind, a faint flush on her cheeks and Kara wonders if she’d raced up the stairs in those three inch heels, desperate to set eyes on her beloved son, to see for herself he was safe and well.

“Come on in,” Kara says, standing aside to let her past. It’s the first time Cat has been inside her home, and the gravity of the moment isn’t lost on her.

She’s glad she had the foresight to tidy up a little, while Carter had been in the shower.

If he’d noticed that the amount of cleaning she’d done shouldn’t have been possibly in such a sort frame of time by human hands, he’d had the grace not to mention it.

“I, uh, didn’t want to wake him up,” Kara says, pitching her voice low, when Cat gravitates toward the couch, gazing down at Carter with such open affection she feels like she has to look away. “Seeing as he’s had a hard day.”

She’d tried to distract him as much as possible, enlisting his help with the fun of filing while she’d been at work, and then with food and games once she’d taken him home. He looked like he’d needed it, lost in his head, spiralling over the choices that had been made for him, bits and pieces of his life over the last few months spilling out over the course of the afternoon.

“Thank you for looking after him.”

Kara shrugs. “It wasn’t any trouble.”

“Still. You don’t owe me anything. Not anymore.”

“On the contrary, Ms. Grant. I owe you a lot.” She’d forgotten how hard it was to think, with Cat’s eyes weighing heavy on her face. “My job, for example. I wouldn’t be a junior reporter without you.”

“Nonsense. You got that job on your own merit. Otherwise you wouldn’t be doing so well.”

“You read my articles?”

“Of course.” Cat looks offended she thought otherwise. “Is Snapper still giving you hell?”

“I think he likes to torture me.” Her nose wrinkles, and Cat laughs, some of her worry ebbing away now Carter is within her sights.

He’s still sound asleep, and Cat doesn’t look like she wants to wake him. Bathed in the glow of the lamp on Kara’s coffee table, she’s breath-taking, and Kara looks away before she’s caught staring.

“Do you, um, want a drink or anything?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose any more than we already have.”

Panic seizes her heart at the thought of Cat leaving so soon, because when would she see her again? Would she leave right away, ushering Carter back to the CatCo. jet and across the country before night truly fell? Or would she linger, perhaps let herself remember all the things she loved about this place?

Not that that would include you, you idiot.

“Please,” she says, trying not to listen to the voice in her head. “I…It would be nice to hear what you’ve been up to these last few months.”

For a moment, she doesn’t think it’s enough. Thinks Cat is going to leave anyway, slip away even though Kara only just got her back.

But then she blinks, and her lips curve into the smallest of smiles, and she says: “Very well. What have you got?”

Good question, Kara thinks, because probably not a lot. Whatever Alex and Maggie had left over last game’s night, which turns out to be a bottle of cheap whiskey Cat turns her nose up at. Kara doesn’t blame her—apparently it left a killer hangover.

“I’m trying to cut down on drinking,” Cat says, and her gaze flickers over to the back of the couch. “I’ve been told it’s not very healthy. Apparently it’s bad for my liver.”

A sentiment she’d never once shared before, but Kara bites her tongue. It’s none of her business, the ways in which Cat has changed. None of her business, to wonder if Cat’s been throwing down scotches to try and chase away the memories of the city she’d left behind.

“How about a tea?” Cat suggests, and Kara blinks at her.

There’s a request she’s never made before.

“Regular, peppermint or camomile?”

“Regular is fine.” Kara brews a pot, wonders why she feels so jittery, but she knows the answer. It’s because Cat is here, in her space, after so many months away. Here, in a place thus far untouched by her, and Kara knows when she’s gone she’ll feel the imprint of her, remember the way she’d stood, leaning against her kitchen counter, looking out of place and like she was exactly where she belonged at the same time.

“So,” she says, once she’s handed Cat a steaming mug. “Washington, huh?”

“Carter told you.”

“Only a little. He didn’t say what you were there for.”

“I was offered a job. White House Press Secretary.”

Kara nearly chokes on a sip of her own tea in shock. But then, she thinks, it makes sense. She could see it—Cat, at the front of a room full of reporters, tearing them apart if they dared ask her the wrong thing. She could certainly think of no better person to have fighting your corner than Cat Grant.

“Is that what you want to do? Get into politics?”

“It’s something I’ve considered.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“My, my,” Cat says, clutching her mug between long fingers and throwing Kara a lazy smile. “Look at you. Am I being interviewed, Ms. Danvers?”

Kara ducks her head, feeling her cheeks warm. “Sorry. Force of habit.”

“It’s all right.” Cat’s voice is gentle, her eyes unguarded when Kara dares to look her way. “To be honest, I don’t know what I want. I thought getting away from here would bring me clarity, inspiration for my next big thing, but…instead I found myself wandering without purpose. Less a shark stuck in a tank and more a tiny goldfish, lost at sea.”

“Then why not come back? It...it’s not the same without you.” Too much, probably. Too close to spilling the truth, maybe, but it’s too late to take the words back now.

“Because my reasons for leaving haven’t changed.”

What reasons, Kara wants to ask, because the ones she’d been given had never made any sense. Cat handing over the reins to her beloved company just didn’t seem like something she’d do, especially without so much as a glance back. What reasons, Kara wants to know, but the line they tread is so thin—she thinks of Cat’s razor-sharp voice saying strictly professional and never wants to feel an ache like that again.

“And what about Carter?”

Cat glances toward the couch again and sighs. “I hadn’t realised he was so reticent until today. I know he struggles with change, but…I thought this would be a good one. He could go to a better school, have more opportunities. I didn’t know he was so attached to this place.”

“Of course he’s attached. It’s his home. It’s all he’s ever known, and you—no offence—are yanking it away from him.”

“I suppose you have a point.” Cat’s lips purse. “When did you get so wise?”

“Learned it from the best,” she says, and Cat’s smile is tight. “Are you…are you going back there tonight?”

“No, I don’t think so. I think Carter and I need to have a discussion, first. One where I listen to him instead of making the decision for him. I just…I thought I was doing the best thing for him. For both of us.”

“So you might stay?” She can’t quash the hopeful note in her voice, watches a shadow pass across Cat’s face and wonders what it means.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can.” Her fingers tremble, the tiniest amount, as she sets down her empty mug, runs them through her hair.

“Why?” Just do it, she thinks, because when she wakes up tomorrow, Cat might be gone, and there are too many unanswered questions for her to be left with. “What’s so bad about being here? What are you so desperate to get away from?”

“Oh, Kara.” Cat’s eyes close, a sigh rattling through her chest. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Then help me to.” She knows she’s being obstinate. That there’s a reason Cat doesn’t want to tell her, that she has no right to know.

But she remembers Cat saying goodbye, Cat’s arms wrapped around her, heart beating so loud it was impossible for Kara not to notice, the shimmer of tears in her eyes before she’d blinked them away. Remembers the countless times Kara had reached out, over the past few months, only to be ignored, like she meant nothing when she knew she’d meant at least something.

“Please, Cat. I just want—”

She’s cut off when Cat surges forward, settling one hand on the counter beside Kara’s hip and wrapping the other around the back of Kara’s neck, drawing her down into a kiss. Kara freezes, brain short-circuiting as Cat’s lip brush against her own, soft and warm, but when she feels Cat begin to pull away, her bravado failing, she snaps into action, discarding her mug on the counter and splaying a hand at the small of Cat’s back to keep her close.

It’s been building for years, she thinks, as Cat parts her lips for Kara’s searching tongue, nails digging into the base of her skull. Years of working closely together, a spark igniting but neither of them willing to give it space to grow, too terrified of what might happen, if it grew into a fire they could no longer control.

“That’s why,” Cat breathes, when she pulls away, heart hammering almost as fast as Kara’s.

“Seems like a pretty good reason to stay to me,” Kara says, leaning in to kiss her again, but Cat stops her with a shake of her head.

“It’s not. Kara, you shouldn’t want this. Shouldn’t want me.”

“I know,” she says, and when Cat flinches, she doesn’t let her pull away. “I know there are a dozen reasons why I shouldn’t, why we shouldn’t be together, but I also…don’t really care. I’ve spent the past few months missing you like crazy, and it hasn’t diminished the way I feel about you. Doesn’t that mean something? Doesn’t that mean it’s worth trying?”

“I…” Cat trails off, meets her gaze and traces the pads of her fingers across Kara’s cheek, looks at her like she barely believes she’s real. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to.”

“You start by letting me in. By not running away when—” She hears movement on the couch, hopes to Rao Carter hasn’t heard any of their hushed conversation. “Carter’s waking up.”

Cat is quick to slip from her arms, and Kara feels the loss of her like a physical ache, chilled to the bone in the places she’d just been burning with warmth. “I don’t want this to be the end of it,” she says, knowing Carter’s not yet fully conscious, knowing they have a few more stolen moments. “I don’t want you to go to your hotel room and talk yourself out of it.”

“Kara Danvers, are you asking me to spend the night?”

“No, because I know you’d turn me down.” She can sense it, in the nervous energy radiating from her. Cat isn’t a person who lays her heart on the line, is someone guarded and careful, isn’t reckless the way she had been tonight. She needed time to process, time to think it through, and Kara would give her that—as long as she wasn’t going to slip away without saying goodbye. “But we should talk. Tomorrow.”

“Before five.”

Kara frowns. “Why five?”

“Because that’s how long the Press Secretary job is on the table for.”

“You haven’t accepted it?”

“Not yet,” she says, and Kara feels hope bloom in her chest. “I told them I had some things I need to consider first.”

“And now?”

“Now I have even more things to think about.” She reaches out, catches Kara’s fingers with her own and squeezes, and Kara’s heart thuds in her chest. She wants to lean down, wants to kiss her again, already misses the heat of her mouth, but a head pops over the back of the couch, Carter rubbing at his eyes.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Don’t you ‘Hi Mom’ me,” Cat says, eyes narrowing until Carter gulps. “Do you have any idea how worried I was, young man?"

“I’m sorry,” he says, his head hanging. “But I wanted to stop you doing something stupid, and this was the only way I know how.”

And thank Rao he had. Her day would have shaken out very differently had Carter not arrived in the bullpen, she knows. She’d have finished her article and gone to hang out with Alex and Maggie, probably, tried to ignore the ache seeing the two of them so happy seems to incite, lately, craving something similar for herself.

“Hm. Well, we’ll talk about it later. For now, I think we’ve taken up enough of Kara’s time, don’t you?”

Not enough of it, Kara thinks, but she bites her tongue. Space. Time to process. Not snuggling up together on the couch with a movie.

“Thanks for today, Kara.” Carter looks only a little sheepish as he gathers his things, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

“Any time, buddy,” she says, meaning it more than he’ll probably ever know. The urge to kiss Cat goodbye is so strong she can barely stand it, and she balls her hands into fists at her sides so she doesn’t reach for her. “I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow?” She asks, before Cat slips through the door, dizzy with the feeling of being on the cusp of something she’s wanted for so long.

“Tomorrow,” Cat agrees, looking like it pains her to say it, looking like she doesn’t know how she’s possibly going to muster the will to leave, green eyes so heavy on Kara’s face it feels like a caress, feels like the ghost of her kiss, makes her feel like she’s burning from the inside out. “Goodnight, Kara.”

Goodnight, and not goodbye, and Kara hovers in the doorway, watches them go down the hall.

“You are in big trouble,” she hears Cat say as they turn the corner, slipping out of sight. “What were you thinking?”

And she shouldn’t listen, she knows, but she catches her name, as they start down the stairs, and can’t help but tune in to a snippet of conversation.

“I was thinking I missed home, and that I was sick of you moping after Kara for the past eight months, and it was time someone did something about it,” Carter says, then: “Ow!” as Cat must smack him over the head.

“Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again.”

“But did it work?”

“None of your business.”

“It totally worked.”

Kara shakes her head, unable to bite back a smile as she steps back inside and lets the door shut behind her.  

[nadiaportia]

A Countess’s Masquerade

Summary: A surprising visitor makes an otherwise unpleasant party worthwhile for Nadia.

Word count: ~5.3k

Very much inspired and endorsed by @leatherandsaltybitters thanks to her July Prompt! As soon as I read it, the idea came up in my head and thus this little fic was born. It was quite fun to write and I hope it’ll be equally entertaining for everyone to read~.

“Noddy, darling! Where are you~?” Nadia flinched at her husband’s nasal voice carrying over to the private balcony. She wasn’t hiding from him, of course she wasn’t, but rather taking a break from… just everything and everyone. She liked a good party as much as the next person but this revelry? It threatened to overwhelm her, more than any party in Prakra had ever done. She had been in Vesuvia for three years now and this was her third masquerade so she felt that she should be used to this… or at least get used to it. 

Nadia leaned on the ledge, propped on her elbows and rubbed her temples. Everything was getting to her even though it was only an hour past midnight, and she was sure if she were to have another drop of cloudberry liquor, she'd have enough of it for the rest of her entire life. 

A good white wine would suit her well now and perhaps even lift her spirits to get through the night. With people such as Asra, Julian and their friends it was bound to be an entertaining evening, but besides them… the nobles cared more about getting as wasted as their livers allowed them to, some didn't even forget their agenda on a party and at least at her first masquerade she had to guide Lucio away from nobles trying to lure him into lowering their taxes or giving them money if they were to fulfill half-assed requests. But the man was a grown adult so if he fell for an obvious scam, that was none of her business. 

She took in a deep breath of the chilly night air and looked at the starry sky. The heat of the day had subsided and the gardens were full of masquerade guests. From the balcony she got a good view at those dancing, drinking and laughing, be it at the huge fountain in the middle of the garden or even the maze. 

She saw how a reveler dressed as an orange butterfly pulling another one dressed as a black cat along with them out of the maze and into the woods. Luckily if she had the need to hook up with someone, she had one of the various rooms in the Palace at her disposal, although she understood the thrill of doing so outdoors where someone could walk in at every moment.

"Nadi." She looked over her shoulder at hearing her name. "Here you are." Asra, wearing a opalescent white costume and a small mask with texture resembling snakeskin, leaned with his back next to her against the ledge and took a deep breath. Something about him… was decisively out of balance, and she could feel it wasn't just Lucio being himself or people acting up in general.

"Asra. Are you enjoying the night?"

He nodded, perhaps a tad too quickly, and put on an easy smile. "Yes, don't you worry about me." He waved a hand. "It's just… wow, the Masquerade." His eyes widened in exaggeration for emphasis. 

Nadia laughed. "Yes, truly. It's… quite the event. I don't know if I'll ever grow used to this particular flavor of revelry." She eyed her friend curiously as he brushed a white lock of hair behind his ear and unconsciously dabbed at a small collection of sweat beads with his sleeve. 

"Are you alright?" She reached out and gently touched his elbow. He gulped and nodded. 

"Oh, of course, why shouldn't I be? I think the cloudberry liquor is just so strong that it gives hallucinogens a run for their money." He laughed awkwardly, and Nadia decided to drop the matter. 

Asra could be very elusive if he wanted to, and there was never a way to coax anything out of him that he didn't give up voluntarily. In a way, he was the best secretkeeper you could ask for - he'd never tell. 

"Very well." She coughed. "How's the weather?"

Asra snorted. "Sayelle and Julian decided to hold an impromptu duet of a Galbradan folk song, it was quite impressive." 

Nadia smiled to herself. "Of course it was. They know how to work a stage."

"I'm surprised Julian didn't slur through his part."

"Noddy!" Lucio's loud voice rang over through the air, this time closer. The Countess and the magician looked at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes. 

"Do you know why?"

"There's guests from Zadith and he wants to make a good impression - which on his own is nigh impossible already when he's sober."

"Well, at least it might be interesting to meet some new people." Nadia stood upright and straightened her dress. "It has been a while since I was in Zadith for the last time. Let's see how much things have changed."

They made their way through the groups of party-goers and entered the ballroom. Here the air was artificially kept cool and it really was a necessity considering that the majority of people were in there. 

"Oh, Asra, thank you for finding Noddy for me." A sweaty hand softly caressed her shoulder and soft lips pressed a kiss on her mask.

Asra's eyes were steely but he nodded in acknowledgement. "You're welcome, sir."

Lucio grinned and put an arm around Nadia. She smiled and touched his arm. "I heard something about a delegation from Zadith?"

"Oh, yes! Some alchemists and a bunch of nobles, small fish but we kinda need their backing because of the trade routes and all that other jazz." He made a vague hand movement. Nadia nodded slowly. "Very well… let’s see what we can do then. Nothing like negotiations during a birthday party."

Lucio let out a dramatic sigh. "So rude, I know. But let's get to it. Oh, hey, where are you going?"

Asra had turned and began walking back into the crowd. "Huh?"

"C'mon, the more the merrier."

"For 'negotiations'?"

"Hm, sure." Lucio grinned. "You're already in with the upper echelons, might as well see the inner workings." He let go off Nadia and put an arm around Asra's shoulder.

Asra's gaze met Nadia, who shrugged as a response. It couldn't do any harm, she thought. His eyes briefly wandered around the room as if he was searching for someone and then sighed.

"Alright, why not?"

They walked up the stairs and onto the upper level of the ballroom, where a group of people stood together in extravagant costumes. Lucio introduced them and Nadia was surprised that somehow he managed to come across as decently put together. The Zadithi nobles were eager to chat with her and were impressed by Lucio's military campaigns, falling easily for his charm. Nadia and Asra leaned back and she was about to suggest they'd leave to another party room, when -

"Oh, apologies, I was exploring some of the rooms in the West Wing! Whoever designed them deserves all the praise." A clear melodic voice rang over them and everyone turned their head towards the woman that approached them. Her costume could only be described with one word: pink - to be specific, the bright hot variant. The fabric was light, resembled ruffled silk and comfortably fit around her body, the dress ended halfway along her thighs but another extravagant piece of fabric continued in the back similarly to a peacock's tail without touching the floor. Her high-heeled shoes were of the exact same hue as the dress, just like the gems around her neck and her earrings. The mask she wore depicted a flamingo. On the vast majority of people, this outfit would have been considered a fashion sin and no doubt resulted in their imprisonment but somehow… it worked fantastically on her. Nadia had no idea how but it did.

The woman herself had impeccable posture as she walked towards them, shoulders low, back straightened and her head held confidently high. Her brown skin meshed well with the vibrant pink of the dress and her dark brown hair was fixed in an updo. Through the mask she saw a pair of eyes the color of dark honey and her full lips were painted a dark red, almost black. 

"Gentlepeople of the Zadithi court, I hope I am not interrupting something." She said as she inclined her head towards the delegation who apparently were her companions all along. 

"Oh, Marquesa, no, you're most welcome to enter the conversation actually." One of them, a tall man with golden skin, said and bowed to her. "We’re actually having a lovely conversation with our hosts - whom, if I recall, you haven't met as of yet!"

To Nadia's surprise, she heard Asra cough and turned to see him looking suddenly very out of it. 

"Really?" The woman made a surprised face and looked from Lucio to Nadia to Asra. "Well, we have already met, have we not, young magician?" Her eyes were on Asra for a brief moment and her eyes twinkled until she turned her attention back to the Count and the Countess. Nadia noticed that her gaze lingered on her for maybe a little too longer before she spoke next.

"Your excellencies: Lady Heloisa de Rubalcaba of Calpacia, representative of the Zaan of Cartagenth in foreign affairs." She made a curtsy and her costume rustled. "To your services, Count Lucio and Countess Nadia."

"We are very honored to have you, Lady Heloisa.” Nadia replied and nodded respectfully. The name vaguely rang a bell in her mind but she couldn’t recall precisely in what context. 

“Likewise.” Lucio added and nodded with a hand on his chest. 

Even though they were on Vesuvian soil and the local sovereigns, etiquette still demanded foreigners with a higher title were to be treated as guests of honor. She wondered what room this marquesa was given - although she did not recall invitations being sent out to the empire of Calpacia to the far West of the continent. Lucio seemed to think the same.

“Cartagenth, Calpacia… if I remember correctly, I stopped sending invitations after them being ignored for three years straight.” His tone was amicable but had an edge to it. Lady Heloisa shrugged. 

“That is very much true, Count Lucio. I was on a diplomatic mission in Zadith meeting my dear friends,”, she winked in the general direction of the Zadithi delegation, “when your invitation reached the council - and since they are allowed to bring guests and I was at the moment the guest of honor at court, here I am!”

“Especially because you mentioned never having been here, Marquesa!” A woman with a headscarf and a fennek mask claimed. 

“Yes.” The marquesa sighed. “The diplomatic relations between Cartagenth and Vesuvia are not the best, after the Vesuvians’, err, I guess one could refer to it as a “business”, in Karnassos, ancient allies of ours from back when they were the local military power.”

Nadia’s eyes went to Lucio who was busy inspecting the tips of his gauntlet. She remembered a history lesson many, many years ago in her childhood, about the nations to the west of Prakra where the kingdoms of Bizatena, Calpacia and Karnassos had joined forces to break down a merchant revolt. 

“C’mon, let’s get out of here.” Asra whispered. A single bead of sweat was rolling down his temple and Nadia raised an eyebrow. Was he that unnerved because of the marquesa?

“Give me a few minutes, Asra, then I’m with you.” She whispered back and gently touched his arm. Asra looked already more at peace and touched her hand reassuringly. 

“Mirror room.” With that, he turned and left.

“Either way, hopefully that can be water under the bridge now - who knows, maybe one day we will need to support each other.” 

“Hm, I think that Vesuvia is doing quite fine as of lately, but thank you for the offer, Lady Heloisa.” Lucio’s voice was honey but the slight curl in his lip indicated to Nadia that he was already displeased with her attitude. One corner of the marquesa’s lips turned upwards and she let out a sigh. 

“That might be true but you know - you never know. Unless you can see the future thanks to a crystal ball.” She winked at Lucio as if they were old friends planning a conspiracy together. Lucio’s cold grey eyes fixated on her warm brown ones and even though most of his face was hidden by the large peacock mask he wore, Nadia saw his ears turning beet red. The marquesa snatched a glass of rosé prosecco from the platter of a bypassing waiter.

“Which I quite frankly cannot - I possess no magical talents, unlike you.” She nodded at the members of the delegation. “For you, my friends, and the students of the alchemical academy of Zadith.” She toasted towards the Zadithi and downed the content of the flute in one go. 

“So this is all that brings you to Vesuvia, ‘diplomatic relations’? As for my husband’s military endeavors, that one has been solved after a court hearing - we paid reparations to the town of Karnassos, but of course I understand why its old allies might bear a grudge towards those who harmed the representative of their sister city.” Nadia stated curtly and tried to ignore Lucio’s questioning look that basically said ‘We paid reparations?’.

“Not exactly, it was also my own curiosity. Especially when I heard that the Countess happened to be a former Princess of Prakra.” Lady Heloisa’s eyes twinkled and her smile turned into something more genuine than the sardonic grin she had put on when talking to Lucio. “That certainly got my attention, and I am glad to know I did not come all the way here to be disappointed.” 

Was the marquesa trying to flirt with her, in front of her husband nonetheless? Bold, but… 

“Either way, thank you - I did not know that the matter had been solved, I thank you for clearing it up to me.”

“You’re more than welcome, Lady Heloisa.”

“And I mean it; your reputation precedes you, Countess Nadia; your work as a stateswoman in the service of your home country is known even to the Calpacian court and your sisters Nafizah and Navra have told me much about you when I was in Prakra two years ago. Quite a shame we did not meet earlier - you seem a most interesting character.” The last sentence was to Nadia’s surprised said in accented but very sure spoken Prakran. At the same time she remembered almost out of nowhere why exactly the name rang a bell. 

“Oh, you’re the playwright! The one who wrote The Dying Swan of Doña Astros.” Navra had raved about this play for at least a whole month and even attended a showing of it when the entourage and actors had travelled to Prakra.

Heloisa smiled and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “Yes, the first play I ever wrote. I have a soft spot for it but Jocelyn y Templanza is the most dear to me. It’s just so much more personal.” 

“Oh, I haven’t seen either but… now that I recall it, I did read The Ballad of the Brave Knights of Crystalia. A good comedy with great social commentary.” 

“Ah, that one,”, she chuckled, “there are enough people who consider it a tragedy, partly because it’s based on real events. You certainly seem to have enough finesse and sharp wit to figure it out the right way, congratulations.” She winked and Nadia was glad for the mask on her face which hid her blush.

 “The Crystalian Knights were a real mercenary band - not one of them from Crystalia necessarily.” Lucio interjected. Nadia threw him a pointed look. Did he have to forcefully insert himself into the conversation?

“Why, thank you, I am well aware of that, your excellency.” Lady Heloisa’s mouth was a thin line. “My source is - well, was, since their era has ended - quite familiar with them; they were under her service after all.”

Lucio’s eyes widened and his lips pursed but he didn’t press the issue. 

“Reading the play could maybe give you a new insight on the events, darling.” Nadia suggested with a small smile and suppressed a chuckle when Lucio rolled his eyes. 

“Oh, don’t feel pressured to follow your wife’s recommendation, your excellency. Zero readers are better than one self-described expert.” She laughed. Nadia felt the corners of her mouth twitch. As if Lucio would ever finish a book in order to criticize it. Her husband meanwhile only stared at the marquesa who shook her head. “Pardon, I was just joking. A man of your standing, you must be quite educated and your military decorations say more than enough.”

“Oh, no offense taken, Lady Heloisa - or Marquesa? Which one is it? You are dressed like someone more important than you might actually be.” He slightly leaned forward with a grin that bared a little too much teeth.

Before Nadia could open her mouth, the marquesa answered cooly and with a steely look in her brown eyes that by now exuded no warmth whatsoever: “I am a representative of my house and since the actual marquesa is quite the busy woman, the political affairs fall to me, your excellency.” As quickly as her sharp veneer appeared, it was gone again and her tone became amicable again. “Either way… I take it you are quite busy with the delegation; the people who are actually interested in talking to you. Good day, and before I forget it: happy birthday - it is your party I am attending after all.” Lucio opened his mouth to answer, but Lady Heloisa turning on her heel cut him off before a word escaped him.

“Lucio.” Nadia hissed and leveled him with a displeased look. 

“C’mon, Noddy, from whichever backwater that woman is, they haven’t even invented manners over there.” 

Nadia raised an eyebrow which instantly made him shut up. “Have you ever heard of being the bigger person?”

Her husband put on a shameless grin. “Nope. Especially not on my birthday - why though, I’m already the greatest there is!” He looked down on himself and marveled at his peacock costume with a deep cut-out and tight shimmering teal pants.

Nadia sighed. “Like always it’s left to me to fix the messes you leave behind.” 

She didn’t even dignify Lucio with a response and followed the marquesa who with her hot pink costume was not only impossible to miss but also seemed to naturally draw looks to her. Nadia followed her through a crowd and before she reached her, she thought that maybe she was being ridiculous, this woman was a stranger to her but if Lucio just burnt a bridge to her and the Calpacian empire, that couldn’t be good.

“Lady Heloisa.” The marquesa turned at hearing her name. “Countess Nadia.” She said, with no little surprise in her voice. “What can I do for you? If you are here to apologize for your husband’s tactlessness: there is no need to.”

Nadia sighed. “Let me apologize regardless; I reckon you came to Vesuvia to make friends. Like any good host, I will not deny you the possibility to form good, better, bonds between Vesuvia and Calpacia.”

Lady Heloisa looked at her for a moment, then she nodded slowly. “I do not want to drag you from your own party, so feel free to deny me, but I need to breathe some fresh air - if you were to accompany me, I would be most grateful.”

“Well,” Nadia began, “I don’t have anywhere to be, by all means, and I was going to leave either way.” She remembered Asra, who most likely was waiting for her in the mirror room, that he probably left because of the same person who she was now talking to, but shook her head to chase away the thought. On the way to the balconies she saw Deirdra talking to a butterfly and a pigeon and told them as they passed by to tell Asra she wasn’t going to make it, and then the cold nightair hit her in the face. 

“Ah, much better. I thought I was going to suffocate in there.” Lady Heloisa fanned air into her face. “It's too many people in one room - as big as it might be, it is not enough.” She sighed. “Oh well. I don’t mean to be too forward but… how about the gardens? Less people, more fresh air - both sound like a good deal to me.” 

She grinned at Nadia and for a moment her eyes wandered over Nadia’s figure. “If you want to, Countess, that is. We can relax by the arbors too, as long as it’s away from all the spying little eyes. It is so hard to relax when you’re surrounded by just about everyone in existence.”

Nadia considered the offer for a moment and realized that entertaining the thought actually thrilled her. 

“The arbors sound good, you should just know that there's many people in the gardens right now, be it to catch some fresh air or… engage in risky behavior.” 

“Oh ho ho, how naughty! But oh well, it wouldn't be a party without some of that.” Lady Heloisa chuckled but then agreed to them going to the arbors. On the way there, she fell back for a moment but caught up a few seconds later, triumphantly holding a bottle of prosecco in her hand. "Not a party without some of that."

"You took it off a waiter?" Nadia raised an eyebrow but her tone was amused.

"Unless that was the last bottle in the Palace, in which case it'll be spent rather well." She said with a grin. They settled in an arbor far from any big crowds, surrounded by white rose bushes and with a block of marble in its middle. The two women sat on it, with Lady Heloisa wiping the block before doing so. 

"Stains won't show on my costume but yours… a swan should never stain her beautiful plumage." She winked and sat down cross-legged before she stripped the heels of her feet and rubbed her ankles. 

"Where did you even get it from? Considering you didn't even know the Masquerade was going to happen."

"Oh, I have an excellent and diligent tailor. I'm rather proud of what he came up with: it's very 'Me'."

Nadia straightened her long white feathered dress. "Well, it certainly is unique and quite daring, if I might say so."

Lady Heloisa laughed. "Both of us could surely go into the history books of masquerades as 'Best Dressed' of the evening if there was such a thing. No offense to any peacocks that might walk around the grounds at this very moment."

Nadia laughed.

“I apologize for making fun of your husband, I don’t mean to antagonize him.” Nadia highly doubted this, but didn’t say anything as she watched Lady Heloisa wedge the bottle between her knees and began pulling put the cork. “I’m here to mingle after all. Although I’m starting to think that you are much more amicable and approachable than him.” That easy smile was back on her but a loud plop make both of them jump and the marquesa let out a harsh curse as bubbly prosecco spilled out of the bottle.

“Oh, let me please.” Nadia quickly snatched the bottle from her fingers and put the bottle to her mouth, taking a big sip and put it down when most of the foam was gone. Lady Heloisa’s eyes didn’t leave her as she did so and went between the bottle and Nadia when she put it back on the marble block.

“I was about to lament I didn’t bring any glasses with me but… you don’t seem to mind.” She grinned and took the bottle, still stained with some of Nadia’s own lipstick, and took an equally big sip out of it. 

Nadia leaned back on her hands and curiously eyed the marquesa from head to toes. The fingers holding the bottle were long and slender; a silver band adorned her thumb and another her ring finger. Her dress had a thin but deep cut-out and was made to accentuate her long brown legs. There was a slight hint of fruity scent to her, and Nadia imagined her skin to be soft to the touch. 

As the conversation naturally progressed, she noticed that as soon as she was one-on-one and more at ease with someone, the marquesa had a shift in demeanor - her speech was less strained, less formal than when talking next to the Zadithi delegation. 

She told her about why she was in Zadith in the first place (a potential partnership and exchange program between the Guild’s First Magical Institute and the Alchemical Academy of Zadith), her journey (“I feel like a woman of the people now after sleeping on a field bed two days in a row”) and her last trip to the Star Lakes (where she did meet Nahara and Navra as it turned out and if Nadia read the signs correctly, they went on some very heavy nightly carousing) which in turn led to Nadia talking about Prakra and her life in Vesuvia. 

The marquesa hung onto every word that came out of the Countess's mouth and Nadia grew more and more confident the longer she spoke with her. It was so satisfying to talk to someone and have them actually listen to you, showing actual interest in your words and being a good audience. The only other person she had ever felt the same with after leaving Prakra was Asra; his friends were very sweet but she didn't know them that well yet, Doctor Devorak would tell his own tales in response which was fine but not always what one needed, and Lucio… everything was a competition for him and he would come up with an outrageous lie to make her feel small.

“So, how are you liking Vesuvia so far?”

“Hm.” Lady Heloisa pursed her lips. "It reminds me a bit of Bizatena, but... ,", she sighed, "less well organized. I won't lie, Countess, but there are parts of the city that look atrocious. Happy citizens are happy to be subjects, and unhappy citizens… well, I don't think I need to finish that thought. Prakra has a very high standard of life, its citizens enjoy many rights - how does it compare to Vesuvia?" 

Nadia's thoughts went to coliseum fights and the neglect of the aqueduct system. She felt blood rush to her face as she didn't reply right away, in shame of not doing enough for the city and its inhabitants.

"There isn't even a proper legal system." Why was she telling this woman about it? She had done nothing to prove herself trustworthy - in fact, Nadia thought about the look on Asra's face when he saw the marquesa, that surely had to mean something. 

Lady Heloisa shook her head. "For fuck’s sake. That… sounds horrible. My true condolences." She gave Nadia an empathetic look and reached out to touch her arm. "I hope that one day Vesuvia is ruled by the sovereign it deserves - the quicker the better."

Nadia looked at her for a moment as she processed what the marquesa had just said. Was she really implying what she thought?

"You clearly are a smart and cultured woman, Countess, there is no doubt about it. You surely have got to have some influence amongst the count's advisers or the Vesuvian council in some way, if your husband doesn't listen to you - which is a grave mistake on his part - then at least he should do so with his courtiers."

Nadia thought of the courtiers Lucio had brought to Vesuvia, those strange creatures of whom she wasn't even sure if there was a soul in their chest or not… slippery Vlastomil, mysterious Valdemar, boorish Vulgora and excessive Volta. The newest consul, a young Vesuvian named Valerius, son of a noblewoman who had faithfully served the previous Count and Countess, was the only one she felt some sort of kinship towards but even then she felt on thin ice with him. 

"I will try." She conceded with a sign. "You speak like someone who has plenty of experience with this."

The marquesa grinned and shrugged. "I don't kiss and tell, dearest Countess, all I will say is this: the Cartagense court is a lion's pit and its inhabitants are eternally starved and thus always down to rip you to shreds. I hope for your sake that the Vesuvians are nothing like that - even if I can see you surviving in a hostile environment.”

Nadia watched her as she sighed and reached up to her face to take off the flamingo mask. She didn’t know what exactly to expect behind the mask but she was anything but disappointed: the marquesa had a face that was quite easy on the eyes. Coupled with her magnetic personality, her charisma, her way with words… the woman was fascinating to put it in one word. And yet… she reminded her of those flesh-eating orchids from the jungles in Northern Prakra. 

Lady Heloisa turned the mask in her hand and scoffed. 

“I had this costume made last minute when your husband's invitation arrived in Zadith. Something that says 'I'm down for the fun!', no statement piece or whatever.” She brushed a non-existing speck of dirt off the mask. “Yours clearly positions you as the one with her head in the game, Countess: regal, gracious and with a protective, mayhaps even a little ruthless, streak.” She raised an eyebrow, her smirk confident. “Is it that what's underneath your mask? I'd love to know.”

She reached out to caress Nadia's swan mask but just as her fingers brushed it, Nadia took a hold of her wrist. The marquesa's eyes widened but she didn't protest, on the contrary, the corner of her mouth twitched upwards. Nadia's lips curved into a smile as she gently stroked with her thumb over the skin of the marquesa's inner wrist. The smell of fruity perfume intensified. 

“I don't kiss and tell either, Marquesa.”

Lady Heloisa's eyes were fixed on hers for a moment and then seemed to collect herself. “I have never been one to back down from a challenge.” Her cheeks darkened a bit and she lowered her hand a bit - Nadia let her until she stopped just shortly above her thigh covered by the white satin of her costume. 

“You certainly are daring, Lady Heloisa.” Nadia gently let go of her and in the process trailed over her delicate hand, caressing the knuckles of her long fingers. 

“Is that what you prefer?” The marquesa scooted closer to her, their legs almost touching. “Daring women?”

Nadia felt her face heat up but leaned in, tilted Lady Heloisa's chin up with her finger and replied: “Who says I am not a daring woman?”

The marquesa let out an light chuckle at that. “Countess Nadia, you do have some surprises up your sleeve. I don't know what I expected from Vesuvia but it wasn't someone like you.” She reached for the bottle and frowned. 

“Damn… guess we killed that one.” 

Nadia laughed. She stood up and gulped as she swayed slightly on the spot but held her balance. “I suppose that's the sign we should get back to the ballroom.”

“Ah, yes. I suppose you are right.” Lady Heloisa put her heels back on and when she stood there, there was little to no sway at all - impressive, given the fact the marquesa had drunk more and was also smaller. 

“Maybe,”, Nadia hooked her arm in with the marquesa's. The flamingo costume rustled and the marquesa sucked in a breath as Nadia pulled her close, “you can surprise me in return with your dance moves.”

The laugh Lady Heloisa let out was loud and so very uncharacteristic for a cultured noble woman such as her. Nadia gave her a curious look as she tried to regain her composure. Maybe they were both a bit more enthusiastic after sharing that bottle. Lady Heloisa ran her fingers along Nadia's arm; her pink nails scraped a bit on her skin.

“Oh, that I surely will.”

[wincore]

nct dream + fantasy creatures (halloween edition)

note: it is here at last im late but i wrote this in a span of a few hours because halloween is my favourite time of the year! happy spooks everyone !!

disclaimer: everything written here is a work of fiction and is not affiliated with any real person whatsoever. the myths have been slightly tweaked to fit the  story therefore they might not align with traditional beliefs.

huli jing!renjun

you gaze in awe at kun’s words

‘really?’ you ask ‘those really exist?’

‘i don’t know about that, but don’t you go looking for them. they might not be kind.’

you nod your head vehemently 

‘of course not.’

lessons are boring in the village but sitting in the garden with kun and hearing his stories always cheers you up

‘...well, if i were to find one, how would i know?’ you ask

there’s a pause before kun laughs

‘a fox’s tail is not so easily hidden’

you puff your cheeks

that doesn’t help

the breeze is light today, the trees in various warm shades and the frogs sing their lullabies

you could stay here on the soft grass forever if you could

it’s calm and perfect here

but then the bell chimes two and you’re off to class again

you breathe in

you’ve heard of the huli jing before but what you didn’t know is the possibility they might be real

you shudder

you’ve heard far more tales than kun has told you about the fox spirits and their gorgeous tails, all nine of them golden

you know how they pose as beautiful people to lure the villagers out and then rip out their hearts and livers and inhale their essence - their hunger insatiable

but kun says they might not all be bad, some swallow the essence from nature, some might even help people

not all of them are bad

you scoff

who would ever believe monsters could be kind?

the story kun told you was about the old man living by the forest 

he said that the man once fell in love with a huli jing himself and was eventually betrayed

yet he still stays by the forest, praying for the safety of his long gone lover

you breathe out

you think you’ve had enough stories of these terrifying creatures

the breeze has turned cold, you notice, as you run back to class

the night is even colder

‘kun?’ you call 

he should have come back an hour ago

you gulp when you stare at the path to the forest beyond the faded red gates of the shrine

you just need to get to the first clearing - that’s where the woodsman’s settlement is

but what you don’t expect

is to find your brother and the woodsman in arms, eyes trained on a figure sitting lazily atop the cottage roof

and then you see the tails

they’re not golden but they glow pure white, lush and grand 

and although the boy they belong to is rather skinny, they give him a weighted look

you can’t hear them speak from behind the tree but they appear to be in disagreement

kun stands by, his face worried while the woodsman raises his axe

you don’t think you’re supposed to be seeing this

there’s a shout then a yell

then the fox is gone

you look around desperately - what if he’s near you, what if he attacks you?

but you see kun making his way towards the village and stumble into a bush to avoid them

you hold your breath till they pass you

you’ll follow them back at a distance - that’s it. you don’t want to get kun worried now

‘and why might you be here?’

you whip around to meet the boy with golden eyes

you let out a yelp, stumbling backwards only to trip over a shrub and onto the ground

he takes a step forward, crouching to meet your eyes

‘leave’

your heart is hammering but you can’t look away

he’s frowning but he looks absolutely ethereal - eyes, nose, lips and of course, his tails

‘i can feel your pulse, you know? i can lower it if you want’ he speaks softly

his voice is surprisingly civilized for a creature born of wild magic

‘i never ask them to be so fascinated with me’ he continues, his voice still low

you feel yourself drawing closer, your heartbeat no longer erratic

his tails are around you

and they’re as soft as they look, you find when one brushes your skin

‘you’re a pretty one’ he whispers 

his mouth is near yours and you can feel him breathe you in as he keeps his arms on either side of you

‘but i don’t play games with prey’

angel of death!jeno

you focus on the horizon beyond the fields

it’s hard to see when the moonlight is the only guide, night curling around your shoulders

the fog is thick, almost as if it’s smoke

you take a sharp breath

then you fire the first arrow

there are no heroes or villains in war - only victors

you’ve seen far too many die here, innocent souls

but death does not care for that

the battle spills over - the cause forgotten

and yet, people die for it

death might not even be that bad. in fact, he’s pretty cute

your eyes meet blue in the midst of battle and you clench your jaw

you don’t think it’s time yet

contrary to what everyone believes, death is not clad in black but in white

his eyes are icy blue and he holds a bow that appears to be made of grey mist

and would you dare say he’s handsome? 

only behind closed doors in hushed whispers, only to him 

but then again, the angels of death look different to all

and to you, he’s an archer

the soldier beside you falls, an axe to his chest and a pale arrow marked above it

has he marked everyone today?

a white arrow flies past you, the sound leaving an echo in your ears

you turn to find the boy - the angel, messenger, whatever he is - standing by the rock jutting out of the ground

he lazily fires his arrows, all of them hitting their marks

his eyes are brighter at night

the sounds around you are discordant

a cleave swings over your head, undoubtedly hitting someone marked

you drop low, inevitably nearing the messenger

‘are we fighting alongside each other now?’ you joke, your eyes keeping track of movement around you

‘i’m only doing my job’ he says quietly

‘why is it that we always meet, jeno?’

you fire three arrows at a charging swordsman

‘you should tell me that’

you chuckle

‘i missed you, if that makes it any better’ you say

he laughs, the sound otherworldly

it’s quiet between the two of you as the night rages on

‘will you mark me today?’

he turns to you, no particular expression on his face

‘will you run again?’

‘i might unless you tempt me.’

he frowns

there’s a silence that makes you lose your words

his hands are red but none of the blood his and you almost get a glimpse of his sharp teeth and hollowed eyes

‘you can run but only for so long till my arrows find you’

he leans closer, his breath chilling over your mouth and eyes ever glowing

‘i will claim you.’

‘i know’ you whisper, finding your voice again

he pulls back smiling, his teeth sharp

‘i hope you remember me the day you do’ you say before he parts, a low hum tuning its way to you in response

the mist curls around his fingers, the fields almost barren now

you’ve flirted with death before - several times actually

perhaps it’s time you stop running from him

witch!haechan

this is not where you’re supposed to be

this is definitely not where you’re supposed to be

you were running from your friends trying to steal your candy but you might have ran a bit too far 

you aren’t familiar with this part of the neighbourhood at all

you walk around aimlessly - how did you even get here?

the place has gone overboard with the halloween decorations - or perhaps no one’s home

the buildings are lifeless, some of the taller ones faded beyond repair

there’s something eerie about this place you can’t quite put your finger on

well till you run into a boy and make him drop all his books

‘ow...’

he glares at you

‘i’m sorry!’ you say, frantically picking his books up

he narrows his eyes at you as he stands up, as if he can’t quite figure you out

‘is that...blood?’

your eyes trail to your knees, strangely bloodied and bruised - perhaps you hit the ground too hard 

but funnily enough, you didn’t feel any pain until now

‘come on, my house is down the corner. i’ll get you some bandages’ he offers

‘oh, thank you...but i should really be getting home...’

‘it’s okay. you can repay me with your candy.’ he grins, his smile boyish and oddly comforting

you raise an eyebrow

‘alright. you can’t have more than one, though.’

‘aren’t you a little too old to be trick-or-treating anyway?’

‘it’s a uni event. aren’t you a little too old to be mooching candy off someone?’

‘there’s no age limit for that’ 

you laugh as he takes the books from you, leading the way down

‘i’m haechan, by the way.’

‘i’m (name).’

as if the neighbourhood couldn’t get any creepier, the mist here seems to glow green and the fireflies twinkle with a certain malice to them

haechan’s apartment, however, seems to have skipped halloween altogether and jumped straight into christmas

the lights are bright and colourful, with an odd fancy mask hanging from the doorframe

when you give him a look, he pouts

‘i don’t like the dark.’

he seems to be living alone, apart from a small black cat which comes hurling at you the moment you enter

‘woah’ haechan yells, removing the cat from you ‘what did jeno feed you? how are you so heavy?’

you laugh as he puts the cat down, bitterness never so apparent in a cat

the next to greet you is a frog, plopping right on the table by which you’re sitting

you gasp at it’s sudden leap, placing a hand over your heart

‘why do you have a frog?!’

‘excuse me? that’s my dad.’ he calls from the washroom

you shake your head

‘i’m kidding’ he adds later, thoughtfully

your eyes inevitably stop over the wonderfully coloured jars

some seem to have trapped light, some various shades of dark liquids and some shine like molten precious stones

‘you have to pay to touch that.’

you turn around to find haechan with bandages and some antiseptic

‘what are these?’

haechan pauses

‘uhm...juice?’

you tap your foot impatiently 

he sighs

‘okay you got me. that’s trapped starlight. had to travel a lot to find that one. oh, these eyeballs are just candy. i hope. aand that’s the crushed tooth of a kraken, that’s an angel’s elixir. ooh! this one’s fairy milkshake. i’ve got a lot of that, wanna try-’

‘what’

‘do you believe in all this?’ he asks

‘what does it matter if i do?’

he grins

‘what do you say about becoming a witch’s apprentice?’

‘are you kidding me right now?’

‘wait. let me care take of this first.’

he takes a colourless gel-like substance, rubbing it over your knee with two fingers

and after a few seconds, it’s like there was never even a wound

‘and now...’ he continues, fighting a smile

he proceeds to take a purple potion, pouring two drops over the floor

a black butterfly emerges, its wings burning as it flies up into its own oblivion

he looks up and finally smiles as if to say ‘see? i’m not lying. i’ve got more where that comes from.’

you stay quiet for a while, processing everything

‘why did you tell me this? aren’t you supposed to keep things like this a secret?’ you cross your arms

‘you look like someone who could stomach the extraordinary.’

he laughs

‘it’s okay if you don’t. i’ll make you forget all of this.’

you rapidly shake your head

‘i’ll be your apprentice!’

haechan tilts his head to the side

‘but don’t forget. everything comes at a cost’

you nod

it can’t be that bad

‘i’ll have to come here every night?’ you shudder

‘don’t worry’ he laughs ‘the ghouls and demons here are all afraid of me.’

you stare at him, petrified before he laughs at your face

‘really! you don’t have to worry about them.’

you shake your head, giving him another look

but you see it over and perhaps a little bit of adventure couldn’t hurt

you look at the boy beside you, his caramel skin and honey eyes hard to not stare at

you almost blush when he meets your eyes

you take the vintage feathered pen he offers, no doubt showing off his collection and sign the contract he presents you, your name glowing amethyst violet

and in your excitement you forget to check the contract, the binding contract

perhaps you will, after a few years

when you notice how everyone around you seems to grow old, never seems to  keep up with your energy

when you see your friends get married and have children yet you can’t seem to bother

when your friends are all wrinkled yet you look just the way you did years ago

perhaps you’ll ask to see the contract and gasp

you should have been more observant

after all, in the end, there’s only the witch and his apprentice

elf!jaemin

you don’t think your pumpkin latte is supposed to glow this way

you look to the server and back to your drink

you don’t think he sees it

he smiles and walks away leaving you to your oddly gold pumpkin latte, reflecting the major part of the sunlight right onto your face

you crane your neck to catch a glimpse of the brewer

it’s difficult when his back is turned to you but he looks so familiar

you take a sharp breath when you see his face

jaemin never told you he worked here

you smile to yourself when he almost spills the coffee over

you’re always smiling when it comes to him

ever since you had seen him on campus, there’s been something about him that wouldn’t let your mind escape him

but it’s not just his face or his starry smile and kind manners or the pointed ears - there’s something about him, something secretive

you don’t believe in fairy tales but he just might be one

it was barely summer when he first talked to you

something about an assignment which you didn’t mind lending him

and you found he’s more than all the girls lining up to see him and the same shining smile he gives everyone

in his jokes, in his laugh and the way he speaks and the way he treats everyone

it’s been a while since you’ve had a friend like this

but today he doesn’t look your away, dark circles under his eyes and a drudging rate of work

you figure you should greet him after work, buy him another cup of his beloved coffee

you take the same subway ride home after all

‘(name)?’

jaemin looks surprised, a little starstruck maybe

he smiles

‘how did you know i work here?’

you giggle

‘well...i didn’t. till you made me a glowing drink.’

jaemin’s ears turn red

‘it was- it was glowing?’

‘yeah! it was all golden and glowy.’

‘uhh..’ his voice breaks and he clears his throat ‘it’s a new ingredient we’re testing!’

‘it tasted just fine though’ you assure him

he scratches the back of his head, smiling wide ‘thanks’

you hope you don’t make it awkward when you blush at the way he smiles at you, or when he holds your hand to keep you from getting lost in the crowds

‘really? jeno? don’t tell me you like him.’

jaemin rolls his eyes

your cheeks feel hot as you try to stammer out an explanation

‘i- i don’t like him. i just- i just thought he was sweet to me last saturday, that’s all.’

‘you went on a date without telling me?’ jaemin huffs

‘it- it wasn’t a date!’

‘whatever’ jaemin pouts ‘i can’t believe you like someone other than me.’

you laugh it off, his smile brighter than the stars as usual

it’s hard to not close your eyes too as he rests his head on your shoulder in the lone train compartment

it’s so peaceful like this

‘(name)? can i tell you something?’

you hum in response

‘never mind’ he says, sitting up straight

he looks at you for a long few seconds, enough to make you blush, before tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear

he stands up all of a sudden

‘wanna dance?’ he says with a grin

‘right here?’ you ask, incredulous

‘what? there’s no one here!’

you return his smile and take his hand as he pulls you up into his arms

there’s no music but you hear songs - humming full of melody and sweet words

he laughs when he sees you trying hard to not step on his feet or the focus on your face till it’s finally gone when you get the hang of it

it’s so peaceful like this

suddenly you don’t know where the train leads

jaemin still smiles

‘i like you, you know that?’ he whispers as he twirls you, hands back on your waist to hold you

the dancing never ends

‘i like you too’ you respond, not knowing why

you can smell the flowers growing around the benches, their vines curled around almost everything

you hear the bees buzzing, looking for nectar

there’s moonlight above you, the silver light making jaemin’s hair glow

he leans in, his lips just brushing yours

‘thank you’ he whispers ‘for being truly kind to me’

it’s almost dawn - you can hear the birds chirping and the moonlight wanes

it’s so peaceful like this

you think if it’s jaemin, forever isn’t so empty

you take a step off the train

and the rest is history

zombie!chenle

‘what the heck is going on?’

 you eye donghyuck and renjun at each other’s throats on the floor

you tap your foot impatiently against the wood

‘(name)! renjun brought a zombie. get him out!’ donghyuck complains

you blink 

‘he what’

‘well, what if he doesn’t want to go away?’ renjun retorts

you gesture for the both of them to stop talking when you feel a presence right behind you

you let out a sound of surprise, falling to the floor to find a boy staring down at you

a stitch runs right across his face, his skin paler than normal; his left eye is oddly translucent and his hair is a dim blonde, and overall he looks rather impish

yet he still looks like a boy nonetheless

he bends, squinting at you and you squeak, your shock getting the best of you

a moment later, the three of them burst into laughter

you frown at them

‘what’s so funny?’

you get up and face the boy

despite his ghoulish features, he still has flesh and he looks like a boy as ever

‘i’m chenle!’ he greets you with a grin ‘hyung brought me here. and... uh... i think i broke your coffee table, i’m really sorry about that’ 

his grin changes to an apologetic frown

you poke his cheek and pull back immediately, distracted

‘oh, your skin’s really soft.’

‘yeah, i used to take care of it a lot.’

there’s a pause

‘wait a minute, you did wha-’ you huff, ‘renjun aren’t you scared to death of ghosts?’

‘ghosts, not zombies’ he crosses his arms

‘ghost or zombie, he’s still annoying’ donghyuck grumbles

you sigh at the two of them

from the looks of it, however, they’ve already befriended the boy

when you turn around, you find chenle busy with the housecat, picking her up and scrutinising her

‘what are you doing?!’ you ask, panicking

‘well, it’s been a while since i’ve seen these’ 

he looks at you with a smile so adorable you lose track of your thoughts for a few moments

you cough, pretending your heart didn’t just stop

‘how long have you been dead?’

‘i don’t know. a while, i guess. ooh, do you have a piano? i’ve missed those!’

you shake your head ‘i don’t think we do.’

‘that’s okay’ he grins, eyes strangely sparkling ‘ooh, do you have a basketball court? or a car? or maybe a coffee shop nearby?’

‘there’s one down the block, i guess’ you tilt your head ‘you’ve really missed life, huh?’

before he can say anything, donghyuck calls from the other room ‘hey bighead! we’re going shoppi- er- to the playgrounds or something!’

chenle laughs, the sound piercingly loud but oddly cheerful

you smile without realizing

you never knew the dead could be so full of life

chenle then turns to you to answer ‘of course i missed this!’

you pinch the bridge of your nose but you continue smiling

there’s something infectious about him...and it’s not the zombie part

then again, your house isn’t exactly a stranger to oddities

‘come with us!’ chenle says, grabbing your attention

‘okay’ you agree

you get back to the living room to get your coat, to find renjun lying on the sofa

you need to know this

you turn to him, narrowing your eyes

‘where in hell did you even get a zombie?’

renjun scratches his head

‘you know that old guy in the robes by the graveyard? the one who carries a staff around like he’s about to summon the dead? well, he actually did that.’

‘renjun, we live in the underworld.’

‘oh, right.’

ghost!jisung

‘please just let me haunt you’

‘no’

‘...okay’

you shake your head and groan

‘jisung! see? this is why you never get anything done? ghosts aren’t supposed to be polite’

the boy in front of you scratches his head, his skin translucent and eyes cast down guiltily

‘okay try your puppy form’ you say

‘that’s not a puppy’ he begins but tones down at your stare

he sighs

the big black dog stares back at you, fur curling into mist and eyes glowing red

he growls quietly before it eventually turns into a snarl, his teeth lethal

you yawn

the dog collapses into mist to reveal jisung once more, a rather pouty expression on his face

‘nothing scares you. that’s why this doesn’t work!’

‘you’re just too cute, jisung’ you frown

he blushes, a strange colour on pale skin

‘but i’m supposed to haunt the town. only the old ladies are scared of me. and i feel bad about that.’

you laugh 

jisung might just be the cutest ghost out there

‘i’m thinking...maybe haunting isn’t my thing.’

‘but you’re a ghost! why else would you be a ghost?’

he places his hand on his chin, concentrating on his thoughts

‘i can’t remember anything about who i was. maybe i’m not vengeful’

‘it took you all that thinking to realize th- actually, never mind. maybe you’re meant to enjoy things life has to offer...after death.’

‘honestly, that sounds like a... total killjoy.’

you stare blankly at him

‘sorry, i ran out of jokes.’

you laugh at his awkward smile, patting him on his head like you do

‘well, what are you supposed to do?’ he asks

‘i don’t know. i just talk to ghosts i guess.’

jisung shrugs, sinking further onto the grass

it’s a beautiful night tonight - every night has been sweet to you and jisung since you first met

this town is no stranger to ghosts and poltergeists

of course, no one but you realizes that

some of the ghosts, you make a friend out of, some, you’d rather avoid

and there’s jisung

you didn’t know what to expect when the ghost of a giant black dog suddenly transformed into a sleeping boy

you aren’t even sure what he is, but life’s been better with him around

he accompanies you to school, listens to you throughout the lunch break, makes snarky comments during class (that you’d rather not have) and tells you all the places to find the prettiest mushrooms

it’s the first time you’ve seen a spirit so attentive

usually they just lament over their lost life, thank you for listening and go back to haunting or whatever engages them till they can finally be at peace

jisung is...a little different

for starters, you can actually touch him without diving too deep into the realm of the dead

it’s like half of him is still alive

but the mist grows strong around him

‘how’d you learn to talk to ghosts?’ jisung asks, quietly

‘well, i almost died. then i realized i can exist in both the realms.’

‘that sounds...awful.’

you laugh

‘it’s not that bad. i found you.’

jisung blushes again, you don’t know how. does he even have blood?

‘hey, what do you think happens after you’re done being a ghost?’ you ask

jisung stops glaring at the frog near the creek to meet your eyes

‘are you trying to scare me?’

you laugh

‘just thinking.’

‘i like it here’ he says ‘i like everything even if i feel less than i used to.’

‘that’s good to know.’

jisung laughs, the sound boyish and full of a certain joy you can’t put together

it should be this way

two best friends enjoying their time in a town that never lives

finding new adventures every day 

listening to new songs and dancing to the wind

getting on doyoung’s nerves together (but doyoung, of course, thinks it’s just you)

confusing jeno at the flower shop or hitting renjun with harmless little stones when he’s not looking

you trying to scare jisung (which is almost always a success when it comes to cockroaches)

jisung always putting a smile on your face with how awkwardly he scratches his head and looks away when you compliment him

it’s as close to a friendship as you can get

but you know the truth

you remember that day everything changed

you remember the boy and his pet dog sailing with you, playing around the docks

you remember the storm and how you almost died

you remember letting the rope go and watching the boy sink to the abyss

you remember despair

you remember feeling numb the week after and more

it’s as clear as day

you look at jisung, his eyes closed and his figure resting on the warm grass

this is your repentance

[shadowofthelamp]

Relish the Flavor

Happy Halloween, you filthy animals.

Ao3 link

Summary: Zim has a craving for something... different.

Wordcount: 1870

Rating: T or M, only a very brief mention of sexual stuff but... well, look at the warnings.

Warnings: Gore, cannibalism (does that count if one’s an alien?), consentual vivisection, hard vore I guess? Messy messy messy. Also mpreg.

Comments either here or on ao3 super appreciated, as well as likes, replies, and reblogs! 

Zim was hungry for something.

What, he wasn’t sure. Something other than sugar, because he’d had a few spoonfuls and they hadn’t even cracked at the hunger. Usually, whenever he had a craving that satisfied it, but now it just nagged at the pit of his spooch like a loose tooth. He’d already taken a single bite of nearly everything in the fridge and none of them sad sated the itching desire. (On top of that, Dib’s ham sandwich had nearly made him sick. He wasn’t sure why he thought that might be it.)

His knees pressed against the curve of his abdomen, and he narrowed his eyes, one hand squishing the blanket underneath him.

“Why can’t you just give me an answer? What do you want?”

The smeet didn’t reply. Typical. They really enjoyed playing him like a puppet, didn’t they? How a bundle of meat had so much control over such an Elite soldier’s biology was beyond him. They were clever, taking full advantage of the fact that he had to listen to them or risk his body rebelling. It was going to be worth it in the end, but in the meantime...

He turned as Dib emerged from the elevator, cracking his back so loudly it made Zim’s antennae flinch. “You need to fix the rough edges of that one console, it snagged me when I was crawling back out.”

“What were you doing under it?”

“I dropped something,” Dib said, licking at the back of his hand like a cat. Zim huffed.

“That’s your fault, then, isn’t-” His words died mid-sentence as he caught the scent of something wondrous. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Dib turned to him. “Oh, damn, it got my side too… man, I really need to get more clothes, these are getting torn up. Your base is a death trap, you know that?”

“That smell.” Zim pushed himself up off the blanket pile with a grunt, sniffing at the air. “It’s rich.”

“Rich? Okay, maybe I need to wash up a little, but-”

“Not that! Your stink isn’t as offensive as usual to me at the moment.” Zim dismissed it easily, moving closer.

Dib licked at his cut hand again, and yelped when Zim suddenly dug his fingers into his wrist. “Gah! What the hell, Zim?”

“This. This is what they wanted.” Zim squeezed Dib’s thin wrist, watching the bright red bubble up over his skin. Dib swallowed.

“Wanted?”

“I’ve been attempting to figure out what the smeet’s been making me crave.” Zim pulled Dib’s hand closer, tongue running over the cut. The blood soaked in, coppery taste jolting his senses, and Dib stared down at him.

“Uh… that one’s new.”

Zim lapped at the wound for a few more seconds before growling, throwing the hand down. “It’s not enough.” He grabbed Dib’s hips, twisting him before throwing him down on top of the blanket pile and straddling him. He reached back towards his Pak, and Dib held up his hands.

“Woah, woah, slow down for a second! What are you doing?”

“I want something more.”

“More?”

“Something… more substantial. Bloody, but better.”

“What, like one of my organs?” Sweat dripped down Dib’s cheeks, and Zim raised an eye.

“That was the plan. You lost your lungs for a bit years ago and were fine.”

“I still don’t know how that worked.” Dib wriggled underneath Zim, and Zim could feel him under his bump. “You should at least ask before you steal a guy’s heart when it’s this literal.”

“If I make you an extra, will you let me have yours?”

Dib’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “What?”

“If I grow you a replacement organ, may I have one of yours?” Zim repeated more slowly, unsure how Dib didn’t understand the first time.

“I- I guess so…?”

Zim licked his lips. “Good. Then come with me.”

_________

The ride down and walk to the lab was silent. Or rather, it would have been, but Dib’s heart rate was heavily accelerated. Zim probably could have heard it even if he’d been a human.

Dib climbed up on the table. “So let me get this straight. You’ll grow me a new organ, then open me up, take mine out, and put the new one in?”

Zim snapped a glove on. “That’s the idea.”

“How long will it take to synthesize a new-”

“No time at all,” Zim said, crossing the room to open a fridge. “I cloned all of your organs years ago.”

“Can I ask why?”

“I don’t want you dying of something preventable if I wasn’t the one to do it. Heart failure is such a pitiful way to go for a warrior like you.” Zim pulled out a spleen, turning it over in his hands before putting it back. No, no, that wasn’t right, it needed to be perfect.

“Oh. Wait, years- this was back when we were enemies?”

“As I said, you weren’t going to die to anything but me.” Intestines? Tempting, but his wouldn’t be as clean as these. Lungs? Mmm, those had been surprisingly tasty, but partially hollow…

“Oh. Well, you always were a possessive jerk. Not that I wasn’t the same.” Zim heard the rustle of fabric and turned to see Dib had pulled his shirt off, grimacing at the cut on his side. “Why can’t you just eat the grown one?”

“It isn’t yours. I want yours. ”

Dib gulped. “Got it.”

He decided on a heart. Dib had mentioned it before, and it was the symbol of sticky love-feelings, wasn’t it? It was juicy and had more than enough meat. He set it back in the jar, bringing it over. Dib looked over at it.

“Wait. This was a clone from when I was younger- is it going to still work with my older body?”

“It’ll be fine.” Zim reached for the sterilizing gel. “Now relax. I don’t want to break anything that doesn’t need to be broken.”

Dib laid back on the table. “I always figured I’d be the one to cut you open first.”

Zim didn’t respond, the end of his tongue sticking out as he focused on the gel application. “Table, activate restraints.”

Dib yelped as his wrists and ankles were bound. “Hey!”

“It’s so you don’t wriggle around and have your liver pop out. The gel should numb you enough that it will only be a mild sting.” Zim pulled out his tools, selecting a scalpel.

“That’s- okay, that makes sense, but geez, a little warning would be nice, huh?” Dib slumped back, staring up at the ceiling. “And your pain tolerance and mine are pretty different.”

Zim snickered. “I know, but I would have knocked you out if I didn’t think you could handle it. Don’t be a smeet over this.”

“You’re cutting me open, I have the right to be a little- uh.” Zim had climbed on top of the table and straddled over Dib’s legs to get a better angle. Dib’s height had nearly doubled over the years, and Zim had to crawl up him like a pole if he ever wanted to get anywhere, nowadays.

Dib pushed up a crooked, nervous smile. “Not gonna lie. You look really good, with the backlight and the scalpel and- you know what, I’m going to be shutting up now.”

Zim grinned. “I always look good.” He lowered the blade, making neat a shallow, neat ‘V’ over the middle of Dib’s chest before beginning to cut. Dib sucked in a breath, but Zim was focused. A line dragged down under the initial cuts, and he pried the skin and muscles open, blood immediately pooling over his hands. He needed to work fast- he hadn’t thought to lower blood pressure, and the rapid beats of Dib’s heart weren’t exactly helping. It stuttered like a rabbit, and Zim couldn’t help the way his stomach growled.

He reached around the ribs to cut the heart away from the arteries and veins, taking care to keep as much of the aorta intact as possible. When he was done, he set aside the scalpel to pull the heart out. Dib stared as it pulsed in Zim’s hands, speechless for once.

Zim set the heart down on the tray, carefully lifting the replacement out of its jar and setting it back in. He maneuvered it around the other organs, settling it back where the original had been. The tiny program inside of it ignited upon being settled into place, reaching out to the veins and beginning to beat.

“That was… easier than I thought.” Dib admitted as Zim settled the layers of muscle and skin back into place before sliding off Dib. “Uh, Zim? Are you gonna finish-”

Zim could barely hear him, drool pooling in his mouth at the rich organ sitting in front of him. He picked it up, watching as it continued to beat. Still alive, even though it was no longer attached to Dib. Even though it was Zim’s now.

He licked it first, not caring about the gore that soaked his gloves. It tasted like the cut had, only better. This blood was healthy, full of oxygen, not tired from travel through the veins. This blood that helped keep Dib alive. That was going to nourish Zim.

Then, he took a bite, ripping part of the aorta off with his teeth. The taste was indescribable and he immediately swallowed, taking another. He needed more.

Dib let out a little squeak, but Zim was preoccupied, feeling the salty sweetness soaking through his tongue. Dimly, he realized he was making a mess- the heart was still dripping blood, and now viscera soaked his chin and probably his clothes. It was far away compared to the satisfaction of the ‘food’, though, the craving disappearing amongst the texture and taste. He’d never taken bites before- the only other time he’d consumed human organs, they had all been whole, and he’d dampened his taste buds to keep from becoming sick.

Perhaps it was just because he’d grown to enjoy the taste of Dib, or perhaps he’d jumped the gun and all human organs had this transcendent property. The bites became larger and larger until he was left holding nothing but thick, sticky globs of blood.

Zim burped, a hand settling down on his now-thoroughly soaked shirt. It was only then that he noticed Dib again.

He’d fumbled for the medical sewing kit, giving himself sutures. Well, he’d always been quite self-reliant for a human. He was fine. What worried Zim was the glazed look in his eyes and the flush on his cheeks. Zim waved a hand in front of them. “Are you dead?”

“No…” Dib’s voice was quiet, and Zim realized as he shifted something was nudging him from underneath. “But I think I just realized that I’m way more into this than I ever thought.”

It took a moment for Zim to process Dib’s vague phrasing, but he smirked, leaning forward to stroke a hand soaked in Dib’s own blood over his cheek.

“I have the others. We can try again later, and you can personally give of yourself to make the smeet happy.”

Dib’s eyes drifted down to the curve of Zim’s stomach, and he nodded slowly.

“Deal.”

[jungshoockk]

The Most Effective Holiday Presents For Dogs To Eat!

We've spent the last couple months screening as well as curating the very best vacation gifts for dogs (and also their individuals)-- and also today's suggestions are all gifts for your dog to EAT! If I needed to guess, I believe today's probably our dogs' preferred day of the present guide!

When it comes to testing edibles, I don't count on the dogs. They do not have one of the most discerning tastes buds. My initial step is to review active ingredients to see if it's something I feel comfortable providing. Now, I'm not somebody who's "all health, regularly." I like to stabilize a little bit of unhealthy food now and then. These champions, though, all rank really highly for being nourishing-- as well as I included our favored supplements to cancel way too many Christmas cookies. I had a tough time tightening it down, so here are our favored 7 best vacation presents for dogs that they can EAT!

DGP

Let's kick this off with our supplement fave. I've blogged about this before, and also if you have a dog with joint troubles or you simply desire preventative treatment, this is the one for you. DGP is everything about sustaining mobility and also versatility, and also if your dog is currently on a glucosamine-type supplement, it can be included in provide extra assistance. Lucas has bad hips, and also he's starting to get a little bit older-- though he seems uninformed of that fact-- and enjoys to play at doggy childcare someday a week. It was taking its toll on his joints, however with the DGP, he currently appears to be rather solid. I'm SUPER delighted with this supplement, and also my huge young boy is mosting likely to stay on it for certain!

Indigo Triple Chews

Dental health and wellness is vital, yet we aren't fantastic concerning brushing these guys' teeth. We search for oral items that maintain their teeth tidy and their mouths healthy and balanced. The Indigo Triple Chews are by FAR our favorites. They're digestible as well as grain-free. They incorporate benefits by including antioxidants and probiotics with the oral care. Yet why we like them: They actually are long-lasting. We've tried every sort of dental eat, and they complete them SO quick. As well quickly for just how pricey they are. These seriously last longer than any other we attempted. I wanted a metric, so I offered one to Lucas before I took a seat to compose today. It took him from 3:24 till 3:51. In my home, that's a Christmas miracle.

Fruitables Holiday Edition: Vanilla Snowflake Flavor

So, these deals with have by FAR the very best tale to them. They are made with actual snowflakes! Seriously! You can see a video clip of them collecting the snow. These are little, crunchy deals with that are made with 300 snows in every bag. How amusing as well as charming is that?! The active ingredients are quite allergy-friendly, as well. The treats do not include any type of wheat, corn, soy, fabricated colors, or preservatives. While the kids don't care too much regarding those elements, they did gobble them up! I definitely love the story and think these would make a very wonderful stocking glutton for any type of fortunate pup!

Zuke's.

Full disclosure: If you have a dog that is as food sensitive as Cooper is, Zuke's have actually not been the most effective deals with for him. For some reason, they really aggravate his sensitive stomach. The big children, on the other hand, couldn't. obtain. sufficient. We love Zuke's for training since they have a solid scent as well as are conveniently gotten into little bits. These jerky ones, however, have a lamb that we're trying with Coop, and so far, so good! The other tastes are terrific for the other dogs. There are a couple various beef options and also turkey, as well. These jerky deals with-- made from completely risk-free meat sourced in the United States and New Zealand, instead of China-- have actual meat, carrots, blueberries, apples, and antioxidant-rich natural herbs. We break them right into small pieces to use when we're working with the dogs outside since the solid scent keeps them engaged. These are treats we NEVER intend to run out of!

Train-Me Treats.

We do a great deal of training around below, and also we utilize treats for nearly every little thing from regular walks the block to instructing brand-new tricks to working with whatever Cooper's brand-new fear-of-the-moment is. To maintain them interested, we need to blend the benefits. These training deals with from Crazy Dog were new to me, and they've been working so well. They're soft-- so much far better than crunchy when training-- and all checklist meat as the first active ingredient. They can be found in bacon, hen, and also beef flavors and also either 4-ounce or 6-ounce bags.

Pet Dog Naturals of Vermont supplements.

Many years ago, we drove from DC to Indiana. Then, later on, from Indiana to Louisiana. After that, once again later on, from Louisiana to Indiana. Sigh. All those miles with the dogs is pretty stressful, so we had been purchasing Pet Naturals of Vermont calming treats. They have a HUGE range of supplements beyond the popular soothing deals with, however, as well as we've been utilizing the Daily Best for Emmett (although, I assume perhaps he requires the elderly formula) and the Skin + Coat. They're well-formulated and also most definitely have an excellent taste-- the children swallow them up. Bonus offer for anyone with an allergy-prone dog: The Skin + Coat version is flavored with duck, making it a lot more commonly endured!

PetSafe 2-Meal Automatic Pet Feeder.

If you reside in a multi-pet family, this might not be the Christmas gift for you (unless you have a cat that has separate accessibility from your dog or something). My herd insists on being fed at a certain time. Every. Single. Day. Morning meal goes to 7. Supper goes to 5. I know not everyone has family pets so attentive about their feeding times, yet these individuals insist. For some time, Coop was also eating lunch. And, really, Newt gets a challenge plaything mid-day. Anyhow, this item would certainly be a dream if you had to do a mid-day feeding or if you had a late meeting or dinner plans as well as intended to feed your family pet on schedule. For a dog like Emmett-- who takes, approximately, 15 pills a day some of which need to be timed with dishes-- this would certainly be a lifesaver if you needed to leave early/come home late. All you do is load the feeder, set a timer, and TA DA! Your family pet is fed the correct amount at the correct time, even if you have to head out or are running late! $34.95 for the 2-Meal (1.5 cups per side) version (HINT: The five cup version is coming later on in the week!).

Barker Kitsen deal with array-- No much longer readily available.

You men, I'm in love. Can you love a pet dog store? I sure am! This online shop is dedicated to "under-the-radar items," which means you're going to uncover something NEW in their shop. I seriously liked poking around, as well as I check out pet dog products all-the-live-long day! From their mission: "The business's objective is to assist quality-minded pet owners make superior item selections to maintain their animals healthy and also happy, while giving arising as well as unidentified brand names national exposure as a distribution resource for their products." As I said, I'm in love! They sent us a number of treats to try: Raw Bistro free-range bison liver and flaxseed treats, organic pleasant potato deals with from 2 Dogs Treats, Bixbi's Skin and Coat chicken breast jerky, and Scrappy Moo deals with. Not one of those treats was a flop. We enjoyed them ALL. (Cooper can also consume the bison! Yippee!) As well as the packaging is extremely charming. Integrated with the fantastic mission, I'm head over heels!

[theverylastoption]

CHAPTER TWO

Victor glares at her, knowing his eyes must look unfriendly and stony. Of all the people to show up late at night, it had to be her. He tended to keep to himself, so when someone had knocked or more adequately thumped at his door, he'd been wary as hell. Then she had fallen at his feet, and his chest had constricted inexplicably. He thought for sure she had come to him with her dying steps, and his heart had seized. He had originally been surprised, then panicked when she wouldn't wake up. What he hadn't told her was that while in her delirium, she'd called out his name more times than he'd been able to count. She had been looking for him in her fever dreams. Why, or how, he had no idea. She had mumbled something about how cute the stars on his pajama pants were. Then wheezed, what had sounded like at the time a death rattle, before he'd realized she had a punctured lung. Using a homemade siphon of thin rubber tubing and a glass of water, he'd equalized the pressure, and she had finally taken a proper breath. Hearing that alone had eased the sickness in the lower pit of his stomach he felt at seeing her this way. He had worked fastidiously throughout the night to get her fixed up, but there was only so much he could do. Stitches were useless as he'd have to cut them out and pull them free from the skin as it healed. Which was a pain. He'd slapped some duct tape on some areas and knew the skin would knit itself back together. Only it hadn't. She had continued to bleed, and he was afraid he was watching her bleed to death as she lay on his couch. She had been holding a dart of some sort in her hand. He had grasped it between his fingers, as though it were some sort of venomous snake, and eyed the thing carefully. He immediately grabbed a few bags of saline, and started to flush her system in hopes of getting whatever was in the dart out of her. He would have to test what was in the damned thing as soon as he could. They'd been friends when they were young, who became more when they were in their teen years. It was unlikely either of them would get powers. It was a rarity in itself, but she had gotten powers. She had always been bright and bubbly. A loving girl who was growing into a woman, who had always had a strong moral compass. She'd also had a picture-perfect life. Two parents who were still married to this day, no tragic back story like some would insist a hero needed. Just a lucky girl, with powers, who wanted to do good things. To be the good that she saw in the world. He had been somewhat jealous, but had always felt she deserved them. And who was he to complain? He was broken, and knew he didn't deserve the powers that afflicted the smallest iota of the populous. His own life wasn't nearly as pleasant as hers. His mother had left him and his father behind when he was three, saying she didn't want either of them. His father was an abusive drunk, who often lived by the rod, and never spoiled the child. He often went to her place where she would use her powers to heal the wounds left behind by the belt and buckle. His father was a man unloved by all who met him, who died of cirrhosis of the liver by the time he was sixteen. He'd ended up in the system, but he'd often sneak out to sleep on her floor. He climbed the large oak tree by her window and would climb in. She always left her window unlocked just so he could sneak in. She would leave a blanket and a pillow on the small bench by the end of her bed. By the morning, he'd find her on the floor with him, curled up in his arms. But nothing she did kept him from being imprinted by the dark shadows that tainted his life. He had wanted and strived to be good for her, but his anger kept him from her. The fury and shadows left behind by a broken childhood and his life had made him unfit. Unfit to be a superhero. Unfit to be good with or for her. And so, when he was lucky enough to get his own powers, he had left her behind, and stepped into the twilight of villainhood. She had begged him to stay with her. That the world deserved their help, but he hadn't felt that way at all. He was furious at a world that had let him down. That had given its all to so many people, and left him behind. After everything, all that was left of him was an obscure twisted version of his previous self. He had once lived in the sunshine she had provided, but he found himself comforted by the shadows that hid the fury in his heart.   It felt like forever ago now that he was thirty-two. When their powers had shown up in their late teens, hers before his… He had thought he was holding her back, and had slowly started stepping away from their relationship even though he'd seen how much it had hurt her. He didn't want to stand in the way of her destiny. Then he'd gotten his powers, and even though he had tried to be good… He had tried so very hard, the darkness had called to him, and he had left her behind to follow his own path. He was no knight. He was a goddamned nightmare. And he knew that. The devil within him, didn't want her to hang her halo off his horns anymore. He had wanted to let his rage and ire consume him, and nothing had kept him in the warmth and light she offered him. And slowly, she had let him go. What had once been a blinding sun, had become a ray or two on a cloudy day. Then soon it was nothing but the soft glow from a candle. Then he had snuffed even that out. And she had let him. As soon as he'd managed to get her awake, he'd returned to his cold demeanor. He wasn't looking to make her feel welcome here, but he'd become gentle and panicked while he'd tried to bring her fever down. He hadn't felt himself feel emotional or weak like that in a long time and it scared him. Angered him. He stiffens his spine and glowers at her. As though she is wasting his time. "Okay, a cat named Bob, got it. What the fuck was in your system, Brooke?" He immediately switches back to her full name, realizing he'd been calling her by the moniker he'd called her when they were younger. "Dart gun…Got hit by one of the Mafia Don's goons…I think at least…I don't know…" She takes a slow breath in, cringing again, and he turns his face away to hide his exterior's cold façade slipping. She takes it as annoyance, and tries to speed up. "It's something they've been working on for a long time. I killed the Mafia Don's son. I didn't…" Brooke takes another slow breath inward, and the grimace across her face shows that she's still in pain. She shouldn't be in pain. She should've healed by now. "I didn't know it was him. Human trafficking." She coughs, and blood speckles her lips. He reaches for the cool washcloth from the coffee table and wipes her mouth down almost without thinking. "Made me practically human." Slow breath. "Would have died." Another slow breath. "If not for you." "Well, fuck. Could've been rid of you finally, if I'd known," he sneers before he can stop himself. She accepts his answer with grace though, and nods minutely. "I know," she says quietly. She was always so accepting of him, and his sharp tongue. She didn't even blink or look pained at his answer. She simply seems to acknowledge it. She takes another slow breath in, avoiding the punctured lung that was taking forever to heal. "But you didn't." She looks at him stoically, and he turns away again, putting the washcloth down. He braces himself against his coffee table before standing and moving away from her. Not willing to let her see the look on his face. "Stay put, or I'll duct tape you to the fucking couch. You're much too weak to be out in the open. And, it's broad daylight," he says simply. "And I don't need you bringing the fucking mafia down on me," he growls. "If they find this place, I'm leaving you behind." As he starts to leave the room, she gasps out, "Wait…Please don't leave me." "What?" He looks somewhat over his shoulder, looking into his fireplace in silence for a moment, as though unsure he'd heard her request. Or perhaps he was just holding himself back so he could hear her talk a little longer. "I'm scared," she whispers. "That's not my problem. You're on your way to healing. Deal with it," he snaps, before taking another step to leave the room. "Then a phone," she says, just as softly. "Someone has to rescue and feed Bob…" He hears her inhale weakly again, and that tightening in his chest won't let him leave while she's still speaking. "If I get you a phone will you stay put?" He asks coldly. He's glaring at the floor and trying to shake the restriction of his chest. "Yes," she says with a sigh of gratitude. He walks at a clipped pace from the room, and looks for the wireless phone in the kitchen. Out of sight, he grips the counter. Crunch. He lifts his hands, and stares at the fingermarks left behind in the dark marble counter top. An expensive addition that he'd put in himself. He may not like many things, but simple luxuries were always nice to have. He scowls, frustrated. This is why he didn't let her near him. She brought things out in him that he didn't want to experience. He didn't want to feel these things. Concern. Worry. Apprehension. Doubt. He didn't want to feel jealousy about the possibility of a man named Bob in her life. What kind of name was Bob for a cat anyway? He takes a deep breath, and tries to calm himself. She had never been able to wrap her pretty little head around just how bad he was for her. She still saw the good in him, even though he was sure it was long gone. The monster that hid behind his eyes, was not the pitying type. Although he had saved her, he insisted to himself that it was for selfish purposes. If anyone were to kill her… Kill that last flicker, that last ember of sunlight within him, it would be him. Then he would fully turn into the murk and mire, and find himself swallowed whole by the demons that plagued his mind. He reaches for the phone, careful not to crush it in his grasp.   He walks back out, and holds it out, just slightly out of her reach. She pushes herself up, her face contorting in pain, as she grasps the phone. As she lays back, she exhales slowly, trying to deal with the pain he'd just put her through on purpose. He nods silently, feeling his face contort back into its permanent scowl. "It's an unlisted number. Don't tell anyone where you are, or I will make sure it's the last fucking phone call you ever make," he smirks at her discomfort before turning on his heel. He leaves the room, and stands out of sight within the depths of the kitchen. ***

She sits quietly for a little while, listening to his footsteps fade away. She attempts to shift her body into a more comfortable position, but can't. This makes her angry. She dislikes being weak. She loathed how he looked at her, like she was some kind of insolent child, inconveniencing him at best. She feels her frustration building. She shoves her tears back, and rolls ever so slightly to her better side. Gasping by the time she gets more comfortable, she calls Michael. Michael had lived on the first floor since she'd moved in. They'd made fast friends, and Michael had been kind enough to feed Bob whenever she'd found herself out and about. Whether it be saving the city from criminals, or working. And so, leaving behind a key with him, had been alright. Her entire place was under tight video surveillance, but Michael had always only come in, pet Bob a little, and fed her a little extra food. Which considering the diet food that she was on it was hard to judge Michael for that. Especially, when Bob loved him a little more for the extra food. "You've got Michael!" The cheery voice meets her on the other side of the phone.

"Hey Michael, it's Brooke, I can't get home – the hospital has me working doubles, do you think you could feed Bob for me?" It takes an entire lung breath, and she feels dizzy by the end of it, but she keeps the chipper tone to her voice.

"Oh, of course, Brooke! I'll feed her as soon as I'm home," Michael says in the same happy tone. Brooke inhales slowly again, cringing against the pain in her side, but keeping the phone away from her face as she does so.

"Maybe just give her two or three scoops, I might not be home for a while, is that okay?" Brooke says in the same happy voice. "Would you mind checking in on her later tonight, just in case?" She has no doubt that by the time Michael arrived, cops would be swamping the place. She knew he would take Bob with him to his place, and worry, but she couldn't let on that she already knew of the disaster that had destroyed her home. She just needed him to get Bob out of the situation, and when the time came, she would collect Bob and move on to her new life, leaving behind Michael and everything she had in that apartment. But they were only material objects.

"No problem, babe! Don't let them work you to death, okay?" Michael says, and Brooke can practically see that happy grin across the phone. She ignores the pet name he'd given her from day one, as best she can, and inhales slowly again. Withdrawing the phone away from her face again as she wheezes inward.

"Promise! Thanks, Michael!" She's feeling dizzy by now, and Michael's laugh sounds like it's echoing.

"Anytime! Ciao!" Michael disconnects, and Brooke hangs up.

She lets the phone drop from her fingertips. It hits the floor, and she gasps for air. Her brows cinch together and she feels for sure she's going to pass out. Even just pretending to be okay was taking everything out of her.

She gasps for air again, and again. Fighting for the breath she needs, and feeling the pain. He said it was 10AM. She should have healed by now. What was in that dart? She hadn't felt this weak since… The tears from before, pressing against the back of her eyes, finally breaking free and falling. They slide down the side of her face before her eyes roll up into the back of her head, and she passes out.

 ------

 He watches from the shadows of the kitchen, and when he sees the tears fall, he bites down so hard on his lip that he tastes blood. He scowls and moves to walk away, but he finds himself walking towards her instead. He grabs the phone, and puts it on the coffee table, and checks her pulse. It was thready.

Whatever the fuck was in that dart was some vicious shit. He hadn't wanted to express his concern, but she was still weak as hell from whatever the hell they had hit her with. She'd fallen back into a heavily sedated sleep. He finds himself checking her forehead again, and he can feel her burning up again. He scowls at her, and heads back to the kitchen. He immediately starts filling large Ziploc bags with ice from his freezer's ice maker again as he had the first time.

He moves her hands out of the way, and checks the saline bag she hadn't even noticed or mentioned. She hadn't even asked if he was poisoning her, or trying to kill her. She'd just assumed the best of him. That she could show up, and he would just…be a good guy for her. He may have been snippy and short with her, but he didn't want her to die. Not yet, anyway, he tries to convince himself. She had been desperate and on death's door. And for whatever reason, she had shown up at his door. Perhaps, she knew he had a weak spot for her. Even though she never questioned him holding the phone just out of her reach. Even him saying that he could finally be rid of her. She took it all with grace and kindness. Understanding and empathy.

She was the good to his evil. And he'd always known it. And yet here was, nursing her back to health. He places the bags of ice down by her legs and midsection, trying to bring the fever down from her head. Her brow furrows as she tries to toss in her sleep before whimpering in pain. She hiccups on a sob of pain in her sleep.

"Victor," she whispers. "Help me..." His eyes narrow as he leans over and plucks her eyelid open. Her pupil is a saucer. She's not anywhere near conscious. As he releases it, he ends up sitting down beside her again, looking for the trick. But there is no trick. Even he could see that. She is alone. Wounded, and terrified. She'd even asked him to stay beside her, and he'd refused. And yet, here he was. He waits quietly, alternating between anger at her for showing up here, and worried.

He frowns and checks her forehead again. The ice is working, she's dropping in temperature, however slowly, but it may not last. Whatever was in the dart, it had made her practically human. And then… she was just one woman fighting, however many men from the mafia. She'd been shot with the dart gun just once, and there were cuts across her body that even he couldn't stitch together. If he'd known sooner about the mysterious dart, he might've stitched her up, but she has fallen into complete unconsciousness for nearly fourteen hours. And she still wasn't fully healed. She might need to bleed it out, too. He wasn't sure what to do anymore. Would she even survive this? His heart clenches again, and he pushes it down furiously. Whatever the Don had been working on, it put all supers at risk. Whether they were good or bad. And that meant he was at risk as well. He scowls, and leans in close to her ear.

"You'd best remember that when it came down to it, that I fucking saved your ass," he growls. She catches him by surprise. Her eyes half open, dilated pupils and all, and she reaches for him. She throws an arm awkwardly around his shoulders and pulls him close.

"It's okay, V. I love you, we can sleep on the floor together," she whispers to him deliriously. He lets her pull him in, and press a kiss to his forehead. His throat chokes him for a moment, and he sees the teenage girl he fell in love with again. He swallows hard against the lump in his throat and his brow furrows hard.

"I'm not that kid anymore, B," he whispers back to her delirious self. Just before her eyes flutter closed again, she murmurs one soft sentence,

"That's okay, V. I'm gonna love you anyway."

[drferox]

20 Questions with Dr Ferox #18

Finally sat down to work through 20 more questions. I know I’d been a bit behind for a while, but here comes a flurry of questions and comments. As usual I’ve tried to tag people that were brave enough to put their names on the questions, but if you were Anonymous you’ll have to look through manually.

@tenacious-brii said: Hi! I was wondering if you might have heard of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, and if you have, what you think of them. My understanding is they're working to implement a higher breeding standard to prevent inbreeding / continuation of genetic diseases and disorders (like hip dysplasia for example) It sounds like a worthy goal but maybe I am being hopelessly optimistic, lol. As for tax; Which pokemon would be your main companion? Thank you for all that you do!!

The OFA would love to implement higher standards for breeding dogs, but they can't actually enforce anything. All they can do is collect the data and make recommendations. They have some super interesting data on the frequency of hip and elbow dysplasia in dogs, but there are a few potential flaws.

Number one is that it's not compulsory for breeders to disclose their hip and elbow results. If they screen a dog with bad hips, for example, and simply choose not to send those results in, then the recorded 'breed average' will be 'better' than reality.

I do have a soft spot for Ivysaur.

savageborn said:  I met a pure bred St Bernard at work for the first time today (i work part time as a vet assistant at a small local clinic) and. I was taken aback. They're so big. I've never seen one in person before and im still just amazed. I wanted to share. He was very sweet just. So Big.

Yes, they are indeed very big. Super fun as puppies though, when at even their early puppy vaccination they're dwarfing adult dogs in the waiting room.

Anonymous said: Up until relatively recently (the 1980s!), it was widely accepted that human newborns didn't feel pain. I'm not surprised if that idea hasn't persisted when it comes to mice.

Gosh humans can be stubborn, self-centred and lacking in empathy, can't they? That was probably believed to make themselves feel a whole lot better about circumcision.

agender-fordmustang said: As a vet assistant, I find egg + meat chicken production to be very interesting, despite my disgust for birds who are bred so large they cant get up out of their own excreta. What's your favorite thing which you thought you'd hate?

I don't think I really expected to hate anything, I find most of biology genuinely fascinating. I find turkey semen collection a bit weird, but there's not much on the animal side I really hate.

Humans and the things we do are complicated. I wasn't really all that fond of humans when I started out, but have come to like a larger percentage of them over time.

Anonymous said: In regards to getting accepted to vet school, would you say grades were very important? Like would an A vs a B in a class make it or break it? Also do they look at extracurriculars as much as everyone tells me haha. Everyone loves to tell me how competitive vet school is and I've just started my undergrad education so I'm trying to evaluate my priorities! Thank you so much and thank you for running such a wonderful blog! <3

When I went through, and please remember it was over a decade ago when I was applying, they looked at your academic achievements first, and extracurriculars second, but if you didn't have any extracurricular experience with the veterinary industry you weren't looked on as favourably as if you did. By the interview stage, the professors had already more or less decided who they wanted as students, the interviews just sealed the deal and maybe bumped you higher or lower on the list.

Anonymous said: I have a condition where I have random and uncontrollable nose bleeds, at least once a day and lasting anywhere from a minute to an hour. I would like to have a job with animals or in the medical field but I am afraid my nose bleeds will be in excusable in a medical environment. Can someone like me work as a vet or other medical personal or am I better off finding something else?

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to answer this. There are definitely medical, infectious and sanitary concerns with having unpredictable nosebleeds. I'm not even sure how you're managing outside of a clinical setting, and I'm sorry I can't be more help.

Anonymous said: hello! i recently got a kitten to accompany the cat i already have (they get along wonderfully!) I was wondering though, we feed our cat purina kibble and have been feeding the kitten canned fancy feast- im planning on incorporating more wet food into the older cat's diet because i know cats get a majority of hydration from their food. anyway i know that the brands we feed them arent ideal, but we dont have a lot of money for otherwise. do you have any advice on better brands perhaps?

Cats are perfectly capable of drinking water, but I don't give people food recommendations. That's a slippery slope that I wont go down.

bettsplendens said: Am I right in thinking that "meat by-products" in the context of cat food probably means organ meat and miscellaneous scraps rather than anything actually ominous?

More or less. It can include any part of the animal that isn't profitable to market as a labelled something for human consumption. So while it might include lots of organs, it's less likely to include hearts, liver and tripe, which can be sold separately, and may also include things like neck and cheek meat is those cuts are not popular locally, or just edges of things that nobody wanted.

Anonymous said: Why do dogs have really short hiccup attacks? Are they hiding hiccup curing secrets from us?!

Dogs can have longer hiccup attacks, but their diets are usually more regular and they're less likely to be overfed than we are. They usually grow out of hiccups in puppyhood.

Anonymous said: How about when I worked at a pet store, I had to dissuade a man who wanted a remote shock collar for his wife's 3lb Yorkie. The smallest collar we carried was rated for 10lbs minimum. He said they'd go out to check on their cattle, and the dog would jump out of his arms and race towards the cows. He said he was concerned a cow would hurt her, and he just needed "something that would drop 'er." I suggested a leash. He said, "Nah, she don't like leashes."

Humans are capable of astounding levels of foolishness.

Anonymous said: Our dog recently had to have a large patch shaved on her side due to a wound. She is double-coated, and I've always heard you shouldn't shave a double-coated dog because the coat won't grow back the same. Is this true? Obviously it's better that it was shaved or the vet wouldn't have done it, but I want to make sure this won't affect her ability to be in the sun in the future and all that jazz. (btw we love our vet to bits, but she can be a bit hard to reach for simple questions)

It will grow back eventually (assuming no endocrinopathies affecting the fur), but the guard hairs will take longer to grow back and look like they did before shaving. It's only a part of the dog that's been shaved, so unlikely to be an issue.

Anonymous: What sorts of things do vet assistants do on the job? (I'm trying to figure out if being a vet assistant is something I actually want to do or if I just think that I want to do it because I like animals) Also question tax, what's your favorite kind of flower? Thanks!

Considering Vet Assistant is not a regulated term here, it might be anything from a layperson with no training just doing what a vet instructs them to do, to being basically a vet nurse. I do not work with vet assistants, I work with trained vet nurses, so you will get a better answer asking someone who actually works under that title.

Anonymous said: Not sure if this has been asked already but one of my cat's tails vibrates and shakes. She does it all the time. I'm not necessarily concerned, but is this normal in cats?

It can be if the cat is highly stimulated or agitated.

Anonymous said: A short story for you: ever since he was little my cat has done the claw kneading thing to my hair and dribbles while doing it. It's so weird but now it's just normal to me. I assume it's just his quirk it's cute

A lot of cats will salivate while purring and kneading. It's probably a reflex left over from kittenhood, when they would knead their mother while suckling.

Anonymous said: I'm worried about my dog's bite since he is a show dog. So far he has the normal scissor bite but it seems like it's turning to a level bite. He has reached his adult height and is a bit over 1 year old. Are the jaws supposed to grow anymore?

Probably not but it might depends on breed and I can neither see nor examine your dog, and you are anonymous.

Anonymous said: question tax: for some reason i imagine that cattle really love you!? like just licking your face and trying to lay in your lap. i just get that vibe!! question: so my dog is missing a few molars for some reason. our vet says it isn't a problem and he eats perfectly well. it's got me thinking about the dogs that have missing teeth and end up with their tongues hanging out of their mouths. what causes that? my pup doesn't do it but there's a pretty obvious gap.

Dogs that are missing canine teeth often have tongues that deviate and pop out. It's more common in brachycephalic dogs, which have long tongues relative to their face anyway.

I miss cows.

Anonymous said: I work at a pet store and frequently have to deal with people who own wheezing pugs thinking "oh he just makes that sound when he's happy", do you have any advice for convincing them that their dog isn't healthy and needs to see a vet? Question tax: came for the vet stories, stayed for the vet stories, your blog is fantastic!

I tend to say something along the lines of how something might be common and been present for a long time, but that doesn't mean it's healthy. Or that something might have been normalised but that doesn't make it normal.

prepackagedsoul said:I've had two German Shepherds (so I've spent some time at the vet, like you said a lot went wrong with them but i did do everything possible to fix it) and for now I've switched over to cats and, holy shit? Like they're so hardy and long lasting my grandmother has a cat that is 20 years old. She also owns one of her kittens, and he's nineteen. They're both still pretty active too, so I guess I'll bury this cat when I'm forty if all goes well.

Cats are great. They want to live, they heal well, they're tough little buggers.

aquila-audax said: Steering away from vet medicine but still within the wonderful realm of the life sciences, do you have a favourite species/group of plants?

I am partial to foxgloves. Partly for their appearance, but also because I like foxy things and they're poisonous in a cool way.

vantastrophe said: Any fantasy authors you really enjoy? Looking for more books to read, I really like Neil Gaiman but that's the only author so far ? hope you're having a great week!

Terry Pratchett is my #1, forever and always.

[manascoundrel]

Trophy- Chapter 10

by Yarking Fandom: Dragon Age (general) Summery: Two troubled children meet at the Minrathous Circle. One is a magister’s heir, groomed to be the blood mage general of Seheron, without fear or mercy. Hopefully, that will keep people from noticing how very much an elf he is. The other is last born, least loved and most of his emotions involve academics and cadavers. They love each other, even if they’re not terribly good at it. Warnings for this chapter: references to past trauma (non-graphic), violence (non-graphic) Special thanks beta, Autumn <3 AO3: here 

"So, what do you want to do?"

Tertius paused where he was sitting, sliding off his boots and into the little cubby holes lining the wall of the bathing rooms. He was having such a good time having a friend that he had quite nearly begged to come with Cato the the baths, and Cato welcomed him eagerly. It occured to him only when they arrived that Cato was still preparing for the swarm of the apprentices who had last abducted him. They arrived at the room with the running pool, and Cato scanned the few other apprentices already there with sharp eyes. If that was the case, Tertius decided, then he was more than happy to come with him. No one would bother harassing Tertius- it was hardly worth the effort- so if things went wrong he could run to fetch a patrolling prefect.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, a job. If you aren't going to be a magister."

"Oh. My job's to not be an embarrassment," Tertius said.

Cato snorted. "I'm serious."

"So am I?"

"Oh... well, do you want to have another job?" Cato asked, obviously a bit unprepared for Tertius' candid answer. That was his only duty: 'Don't get into trouble'. Tertius didn't blame Cato for not understanding; his eldest brother Cyprian probably didn't realize what Palermo and Tertius were expected to do either, and they were brothers.

But now it was time for Tertius to be unprepared. "I... don't know. I hadn't ever thought about it. I forgot that I was supposed to do something."

"Yeah? Well, you might not be a magister, but that just means you get to have a lot of free time to pick something else to do. That's pretty nice, at least."

"I suppose," Tertius said, gathering his underrobe over his head and rolling it up with his robes. "How am I supposed to pick, though?"

"Dunno," Cato admitted. Tertius sighed, stuffing his clothes into one of the cubbies. He wouldn't know. He gets to be a magister. "What do you like to do, though? I should know; that's definitely best friend stuff."

"That's true," Tertius agreed. Now that he had a friend, he ought to do it proper. "I like... horses. And drawing. I'm good at drawing. Uh... I like red, but I don't think you can make up a job out of liking the color red. I like inside stuff."

"Inside stuff?" Cato asked, stuffing his own clothes into a cubby next to Tertius'.

"You know, stuff inside you," Tertius explained. When Cato's head tilted in confusion, he remembered seeing the illustration of inside the cat for the first time and realized he had to clarify further. "Things like bones and organs."

"Organs?" Cato wondered.

Tertius motioned over his bare belly in a sweeping gesture. "Yeah, organs. Like the stomach and the kidneys and the liver and stuff."

"Oh, entrails!" Cato said emphatically. His comprehension seemed to click. "Guts and stuff!"

"Yeah, but guts are here," Tertius explain, pointing below where his stomach would have been in the pictures he looked at. "And I like stuff all over, like up here with the lungs and-"

"And the heart? Is the heart an organ?"

"Yeah, like that. You got it!"

Cato's head tipped back thoughtfully. "Huh. That's pretty neat, I guess. Tamas always tells stories about guts and stuff being spilled on the battlefield. Maybe you should be a soldier, like me!"

"Maybe," Tertius said, skeptically. "But I don't want to hurt anyone..."

"Well you wouldn't, you'd just be killing oxmen, with me! We can fight together while I'm at Seheron so we can still grow up and work with each other, least until I have to go be a magister."

"I don't know. I don't think my papa would like that, anyway," Tertius said, deciding that he didn't want to reveal to his new friend that he was still not keen on killing even oxmen. They had just become best-best friends, so he didn't want to pick a fight so soon, especially knowing that Cato seemed more than willing to step up to being challenged, if the knife was any indication.

And it was true. His papa had always spoken of the soldiers in Seheron with vague disdain. When Palermo had joined the Imperial Navy they had fought, his papa slinging shame like a trebuchet against his brother's drunken defiance.

("If you didn't want me to do something with my life, perhaps you should have made an effort to do something with it, or not burden me with it at all!" Palermo had snarled, and a bottle of Pavali had smashed against the ground almost prettily.

It had been the only time Tertius had seen his brother anything but properly dutiful and compliant, and the words stuck hard.)

"What about a butcher?" Cato tried, stepping out of his smallclothes with a furtive, nervous glance around the baths.

Tertius snorted. "I think he'd like that even less. He wouldn't want me to sell things in a shop like that, he'd call it 'beneath' us."

"That's dumb. Tamas says that I have to respect everyone who I buy things from," Cato explained, looking superior. "She says 'someone's gotta do it, so you should be grateful that it's not-'... huh. Maybe we should figure out something else."

Tertius laughed at his friend's (his friend, oh he liked that!) sheepish expression, but his glee turned into fascination when Cato began unclipping and sliding off his ear cuffs. Tertius had never seen ears like that- they crumpled and folded, looking soft and almost dainty.

"Why do your ears look like that?" he asked, not thinking. Tertius regretted it the moment Cato reared his head, eyes sliding away uneasily. "Sssorry. That's rude. I just think they look neat. Can I touch them?"

"No!" Cato snapped, curling his lip in irritation. "They're normal. Or... at least they will be. They're a little late, but elf ears don't always stand up right away. These-" he said, motioning with the cuffs- "are supposed to help them do that though. They just need more time."

Tertius shrank. "Oh. Sorry. That's too bad though. I think they look really nice like that."

Cato remained leery, tilting his head with skepticism. "Nice?"

"Yeah, they're special! I haven't seen anyone with ears like that, not even other elves."

Cato seemed to be coming around, cautious but willing. One of his ears even flicked, pricking forward where it met the side of his head and swinging loosely. It looked, in Tertius' modest opinion, really cute. "Special's something," he mumbled. "You don't think they look gross and all... doughy?"

Tertius watched his friend pluck at the tips. They were a bit shapeless and puffy, and the cuffs kept the skin peachy-pale and... yes... a little doughy looking. But Tertius meant what he said. "I like them. They're floppy like a dog’s ears can be floppy."

"I'm not a dog!" Cato grumped.

"What? I didn't-... I like dogs," Tertius reasoned, feeling bad that was taken poorly. He did. Not as much as horses, but dogs were fine.

Cato pouted for a moment longer- or at least pretended to pout, Tertius realized as Cato stuck his tongue out playfully. "I'm a wolf," Cato corrected him, chest puffed out proudly. He turned to Tertius, a glint in his eye. "A vicious badger-wolf from Seheron! And I'm gonna... drag you back to my den!"

Cato latched upon his arm, suddenly growling absurdly and he pulled Tertius towards the edge of the baths and into the water. Tertius trudged along, nose scrunched as his friend pulled him farther into the waters. When they were waist-high, Cato seemed to notice his puzzled expression and stopped, letting him go and returning the expression with equal confusion.

"What are you doing?" Tertius asked.

"I'm... playing pretend?" Cato's shoulders drooped. "Do you not do that? Me and Aun do it a lot."

"Oh." Tertius had seen other children running around like wild animals before; he just hadn't expected something that seemed so... kiddish to come from Cato, who he judged to be much more mature, like him. Tertius had played at pretending back at the estate, but his papa had passed through the foyer where he was playing and called it 'undignified', telling him to stop behaving like a creature. He had only tried it once since then. He tried being a pony with Stardust, but deemed Stardust to be much better at it than him, and he didn't much care for the taste of grass. "I haven't with another person. But I could try."

"Yeah! What are you going to be? I like being a badger-wolf. That's what 'Fen'Rhea' means. They're these big, hulking, super strong, super smart wolves from Seheron that could fight a bear and a dragon and bite off their whole head! Usually Aun's the bear and dragon. He likes being the dragon more but he's a much better bear, and our nanny said he needed to stop jumping on the chairs and throwing things, which is how we knew he was flying and breathing fire when he's a dragon. He tried being a bear that breathes fire, but that's dumb. But you can be a dragon if you want! I trust you to say when you're breathing fire and flying. Aun likes to cheat."

The excitement in Cato's voice was infectious, even as unsure as Tertius was in all this baby stuff. He smiled. "I bet that's the only way he could win."

Cato laughed, a sound that made Tertius' heart feel glowy and nice. "Uh huh!"

"Can I be a horse?" Tertius asked, tentative.

"Yeah that's fine! I'll hunt you down and you have to get away so I don't eat you, how's that?"

Tertius considered this, face scrunched in thought. "I don't want you to have to eat me, though. Can't we be a horse and a wolf that are friends?"

"Badger-wolf. And yeah, I guess that'll work. We don't have to pretend like real animals, we can be on the same side, like in the fables."

"You like fables?" Tertius asked, delighted.

It turned out to be something else they had in common other than friendlessness and a suspicion of the other apprentices. Cato's favorite had been 'The Fox and the Stork,' while Tertius favored 'The Tortoise and the Hare' more. He had mentioned the one about the gryphon and the nug, where the little nug helped the gryphon when he had a thorn stuck in his paw, and ended up telling Cato the whole thing when he revealed he had never heard it before.

All throughout the story, Cato scrubbed himself in the current of water. He took the oils at the edge of the bath and worked them into his skin by himself, politely dismissing the bath slave that approached him for service. Tertius paused the story as he watched and tilted his head. "Why don't you want the slave to help you?"

"I don't know," Cato said, shrugging and watching as the slave retreated to offer his services to another apprentice. That one accepted, presenting his body for the slave to massage in the oil and scrape it off, along with the sweat and dirt, with a blunt, curved strigil. "I mean, I can wash myself, it's not hard. I don't need anyone else to help me."

"Well, neither do they," Tertius reasoned, nodding to the older apprentices enjoying the attention. "They don't need the help, but they don't have to do it themselves either, so they don't. And besides, the part where they rub your muscles feels really nice."

"I don't know. Isn't is weird that they're all elves?"

"Who?"

"The slaves," Cato clarified.

Tertius looked at his friend. "No? What else would they be? Qunari?"

"Humans."

Tertius considered that, brow furrowed. He did know there were some human slaves, but they were rare and often plenty more expensive. "Why would the Circle bother getting human slaves? The elves do everything well enough; they don't need them to do anything that fancy."

"I just don't get it. My tamas has as many human slaves as she does elvhen. And did you know there is only one other elf in the whole school? It's so weird."

"That's not weird, your tamas is weird. Most slaves are elves and they're a lot cheaper than humans. Usually you only get a human slave when you need them to do something that elves can't, like writing and maths and stuff," Tertius explained. Hearing that Cato's tamas owned many human slaves was as curious as it was impressive. That would be a lot of money to invest in higher-quality slaves. What was she having them do?

Cato whined in his throat. "Elves can write and do maths! You just saw me write my name not even an hour ago, and I can count all the way up to one hundred, easy!"

"Well, you're not a slave," Tertius pointed out.

Cato pouted. "How come you know about all this stuff?"

"My papa breeds slaves. He has a whole bunch and they have babies and the babies sell for a lot because we only buy incaensor so they have lots of magic in their pedigree. Papa said he'd like to buy a human mage to use as a stud because then all the babies would be human too and sell for a lot more, but he didn't want anyone to think they were his bastards, so they have to all be elves," Tertius explained, then paused. "...why are you mad?"

It was true, the longer Tertius had spoken, the more cross Cato seemed to become, his mouth screwing up in a irritated scowl. When asked, though, it melted into something more unsure and troubled. Cato shrugged. "Dunno. It doesn't feel good."

"Why?"

Cato simply shrugged again, and Tertius felt bad until Cato gave him a crooked smile. "I bet we have so many humans for slaves because my tamas wants to show off how much money we have when we have guests over. All our slaves do the same kind of thing because she knows elves can do everything just as good."

Tertius wasn't sure about his friend's reasoning, but he was pleased that his friend was no longer sad.

They finished washing off in the running baths, dirt and grime draining away to be cleansed somewhere deep in the bowels beneath the Circle, and moved to the steaming hot baths, skipping the entire way there as they shivered in the cooler air. The hot baths were still and wafting as they slid in, a layer of frothy bubbles from some special soaps coating the surface.

Cato rested his chin on the rocky edge of the baths, eyes sliding shut and sighing pleasantly. "Thanks."

"For what?" Tertius asked. He sprawled next to Cato, sitting on the rocky steps beneath the water's surface and stretching out comfortably. The water was just a shade too hot, turning both of them cherry-red, but they'd get used to it.

For a long time, Cato said nothing. Then, "For getting the dorm master."

It took a second for Tertius to figure out what he was talking about. "Oh, yeah. You're welcome."

Cato's eyes opened, and he slid up so his arms folded on the lip of the bath. He pillowed his head on his arms, face turned to Tertius. "Can I ask a question?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you talk like that earlier?" Cato asked, his ear perking slightly in interest. Not as much as an elf with a regular ear might- there wasn't enough structure there to lift it- but enough to show that he was listening.

Tertius shrugged. "I have a stutter sometimes. It's getting better."

"A stutter," Cato repeated, evidently not familiar with the word. "How come you have a stutter?"

Tertius opened his mouth to reply, then paused. Instead, he offered, "I'll tell you how I got it if you tell me what happened in the basement."

"Never mind," Cato grumbled, ready to give up.

"Wait! I'll tell you if..." Tertius thought, lifting his hand out of the water to tap on his chin like he's seen people do when they're thinking hard. "If you let me touch your ears."

"Why do you want to touch my ears so bad? That's weird," Cato asked, voice cracking slightly as it rose in confusion. But he didn't sound angry or annoyed, at least, so Tertius pressed on.

"They just look neat. They look soft. It's not as weird as <i>having</i> ears like that, even if they are really nice."

Cato tilted his head, considering the offer. "Alright," he conceded, scooting over and presenting his swinging ear. "Just don't pinch them or anything, that hurts."

Tertius held one between his index finger and thumb, rolling it as gently as he could in wonder. "They're squishy! They're so soft and squishy! Do those big ear things that you wear hurt them?"

"Not really," Cato assured him as Tertius dropped the ear gently. "I got a couple different kinds and the heavier ones can tug them, but that mostly just makes the skin around the ear ache a little, and sometimes I get headaches, but mostly it's fine."

Tertius nodded, continuing to watch the little ears swing until he noticed Cato watching him intently. "Yeah?"

"Your stutter?"

"Oh yeah! I-" Tertius began, before his smile dropped. He hadn't actually considered telling the story when he had bartered it, but he couldn't very well go back on it now. Cato was, again, very newly his best-best friend, and he couldn't spoil that trust by taking back a promise already. "I, uh... d-didn't do what my papa said and he cast a spell on me. It hurt a lot, and... I dunno. I ssstarted stuttering after."

Cato's face turned solemn. "My tamas can be like that too, only she doesn't use spells."

"Yeah?" Tertius asked, caught between a flurry of emotions at the confession. Relief that he didn't have to explain further. Guilt that he was willing to avoid telling Cato the details he had omitted. Dismay at envisioning his new, dearest friend's own punishment and a strange comfort that it was something he understood. Guilt, again. Shouldn't he want his friend to be spared something like that? "She shouldn't. I can't see you doing things bad enough to deserve it like me. You're good. I try, but you're really nice."

Cato lowered himself into the water so that his nose barely cleared the surface and blew a jet of bubbles. "Nah, I have to be better. I'm going to be a magister and a blood mage and I'm the heir so I have to be really, really good because a lot of people are going to count on me. I have to mess up less, so she's helping." Cato's smile, something that looked like it didn't quite fit his face right, slowly faded. "I'm an elf, too, so I have to be double good at things. Tamas said people are going to think if I mess up it's because of that, and it'll just go to show that I'm not as good, so I have to be really perfect so they don't have any reason to say I can't be those things."

Tertius scowled. "That doesn't sound very fair."

"Tamas says 'life's not fair'," Cato recited, nodding at the very serious bit of wisdom. "It's okay though. I just have to be better, and Tamas is helping. She always points out when I mess up so I can fix it next time. I just have to stop being dumb and messing up. That sounds pretty fair to me, since I want to be a good magister."

"I guess," Tertius agreed reluctantly. He still wasn't convinced that Cato deserved all that, but then those apprentices did already hurt him pretty bad. Perhaps it was because he needed to do better. Tertius didn't know; he wasn't an elf. Tamas was, and an adult besides, so she would definitely know these things.

"I-" Cato started, and stopped himself. His ears swiveled black, flopping so Tertius could see the inside part instead of the back that was usually shown from how it naturally folded. "I don't know what to do before I get better. I'm really trying, but..."

He shook his head, looking miserable as his ears flapped with the motion.

"But it's easier when you don't have to worry about people coming to hurt you," Tertius finished for him.

Tertius understood that.

Cato nodded. He returned to the edge of the baths, resting his chin on the stone. When he spoke, his words were hardly a whisper. "I can't just not be here, and I can't just stop being me and stop being an elf. I don't know why they hate me so much."

"It's because they're dumb," Tertius supplied instantly.

Cato scrunched his nose. "But they're older."

"Can still be dumb."

"Why don't you hate me?"

Tertius shrugged, surprised at the question. "Because you're nice to me."

"How?"

"Because..." Tertius started, brow furrowed as he tried to figure out why. "You make me feel like it's not bad for me to talk. No one else does that. Even the enchanters make these really sad faces at me when I answer a question."

"Because of your stutter?"

"Because... I don't know. Maybe. I think they know I'm not supposed to be here."

"Why not?"

"I have two older brothers, so my family doesn't need me."

"Well, you should still learn how to use magic. Even if you're not a magister, you-"

"No," Tertius said, suddenly angry. "I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have been born."

Cato looked at him, taken aback. It was a while before he said anything.

"Well. <i>I'm</i> glad you ended up getting born, at least," he mumbled, almost petulantly.

Tertius couldn't help but smile. "See? This is you being really nice."

--

They left a train of water dripping from their hair all the way back to the dormitories. Cato yawned great, loud yawns like a lion every other sentence and blinked slow and often, his exhaustion evident. Tertius was used to staying up all night, but he only managed by sleeping all through the day, sometimes even dozing in classes when the enchanters were talking on and on about something he had already understood. Cato, however, didn't have the benefit of sleeping through the day.

"Well, here you go," Tertius said, swinging his hand at the door to Cato's dormitories, and looked away. He didn't want their fun to end. He had a strange certainty that the next morning it would be like none of this happened, and Cato wouldn't forget him and forget being friends, and this was the end. But Cato was dead on his feet and it was making Tertius tired just looking at him. He couldn't make it much longer, Tertius knew.

It was fun while it lasted.

Cato looked at the door to his dorms, then back to Tertius with a sad, scrunched face. It was as if he didn't want to be forgotten too, but that couldn't be right. Still, he asked, "How 'bout I walk you to your dorms?"

"Oh, I'm gonna stay up longer. I always stay up at night," Tertius explained, shuffling awkwardly.

Cato looked back at the door, then back at Tertius, almost like a puppy. "I..." he began, words soft. "I don't wanna go back to sleep."

Oh. That was it. It was just that. Tertius shrugged. "You can't stay up forever."

"I know." Cato agreed quietly. "I'm scared, though."

"Scared?"

"The first time, they came when I was asleep. What if they come again?"

Tertius considered this, tapping his foot thoughtfully. "Why don't you just go someplace they can't find you?"

"Like where, though?"

Tertius shrugged, but a thought soon came to him.

"I have an idea."

--

The cubby behind the bookshelves had been comfortable when it was just him, but it was a snug, cosy fit when it was the two of them.

Cato had lingered in the aisle between the shelves, looking to and fro and asked again how Tertius was sure he could sleep someplace so public and expect to be safe.

"I know they don't allow magic in the library," Cato reasoned, "but what's to keep them from just dragging me out? I've seen them here before. The other elf comes here too! What if he tells on me?"

"He won't know where you are either," Tertius had said, pulling the books off the lower shelf. "Trust me."

He slipped into the hidden compartment, motioning for Cato to follow, which he did. The space was not quite big enough for the both of them to comfortably sprawl out without budging up next to each other, but the indentation into the wall was large enough so that they could both curl up and rest with ease.

Cato crawled up onto the bench cushions of the nook, looking around the dim hidey-hole suspiciously. He inspected where the bookshelf met the wall and all the small gaps of where missing books would allow library patrons to peek in. They were few, narrow little slits, small enough that one would have to already know what to look for to notice at all.

"This," Cato said slowly, settling back into the cushion with a reluctant approval. "This is pretty good, I got to admit."

"I only know about it because I saw it from the loft. I don't think many people go up there just to look around, though. If those apprentices were mean to you, then they are probably dumb and if they're dumb I bet they wouldn't think of checking like that."

Cato nodded slowly, deciding that that logic was sound enough. Tertius propped himself into the reading nook himself, swinging his legs and hitting the wooden paneling under the cushions absently. He watched, trying not to laugh, as Cato slumped further and further, until he was nearly falling off the cushions altogether. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

Cato blinked slowly. Once, then twice, fighting the call of sleep hard. "If someone comes for me, you'll go get an enchanter, right?"

"Uh huh."

"You won't let them drag me away? You promise you'll do something?"

"I did last time," Tertius reminded him. At that, Cato smiled. His eyes were nearly slits and he wavered in balance when Tertius gave him a prod. "Lay down. That looks really uncomfortable. I'll shout if anyone comes for you, you know I will!"

Cato turned to him, blinked a slow, uncoordinated blink, and swung his body over, stretching out as much as he could and resting his head on Tertius' leg like a pillow. "M'yeah. You did."

Cato was heavy and warm and nuzzled against him like a big, sleepy... badger-wolf. Tertius couldn't get up to get more books if he wanted to, and he had to balance the big, heavy anatomy book he did have on his other leg, and it wobbled so it was hard to read unless he held very still. All in all, it was a very cumbersome sort of arrangement, and Cato had been terribly presumptive to think he could just drape himself all over him like that just because they were friends.

But…

"Hey," Tertius whispered. "Just don't pee on me, okay?"

He found he didn't mind as much as he had expected.

[angelmothman]

randomly my roommate decided they were very physically ill.. & I know that’s a really weird thing for me to say. but i’m not actually sure they are. Like, I’m sure they have some type of issue, but they keep making it out to be some dire life threatening thing where they could die at any moment.

a couple weeks ago they started acting like a bitch & called an ambulance. it’s not the first time they’ve done something like that, but i wouldn’t say it happens often either. I feel like the last time it happened was seven years ago maybe. 

I know they are under a lot of stress at work & within the past few months did sustain quite a bit of stress at home as well during the time we renovated the upstairs... but the upstairs has been done for maybe two months now i think, so it’s not like the renovation should be stressing them out anymore.

they said they used to work every day & never had a break because corona stripped most of the workers from the restaurant they work at. & it’s annoying because I had been saying the whole time restaurants shouldn’t have been considered essential & grocery stores should have just stayed twenty four hours. the whole thing is beyond retarded to me. 

i am disabled & was diagnosed professionally with a disability while I was a child. My diagnosis will never change, except maybe it might get worse, the reason I don’t claim full government benefits is because I have to see a therapist & psychiatrist for them to reassess me & have it on paper. I haven’t done this because I was worried about transportation, but lately I started thinking that if I enrolled somewhere downtown then perhaps I could take a bus? I am thinking about doing so in the near(ish) future.

but due to the disability my roommate takes care of me & provides for me. It’s been this way since we were seventeen or so. I feel bad about it, & I was planning to apply for a job at the general store up the street, the thing that had been holding me off was trying to orchestrate an appointment for one of my cats who has been having issues where she just never stops being in heat. Because we are poverty, neither of us have a cellphone & we were able to get a landline on our internet plan, so that’s what we did. But because I had to wait around at home for these calls I was unable to leave to go to an interview or even pick up my prescriptions.

The good news is that my cat has an appointment & will be going tomorrow, so after her recovery which will be about a week, I can apply. & I know one of my friends was looking for a dishwasher, which I don’t really think I want to do, but if the general store doesn’t pan out then I guess I’ll look into doing the dish washing.

the restaurant never closed all of Corona though. The number of staff slimmed to next to none but business stayed the same. Now because of unemployment benefits, people refuse to even apply to the restaurant, so they haven’t been able to get any new workers at all. The business has been slipping on a downward spiral for nearly a year now. & my roommate feels they’re carrying the whole restaurant on their back because the other staff member doesn’t do nearly half the work my roommate does, according to them. So to be kind & lenient for the over worked staff, the boss closed the kitchen on Mondays.. Yet, because my roommate has proved themself to be a powerhouse, they are now somehow working more hours six days a week than they did when the kitchen was open every day.

They are an unhealthy person with bad habits. They chainsmoke with cigarettes a lot of the time & had been an alcoholic for a few years now. The only thing that seemed to keep them above others was the fact they didn’t do drugs. But they have always had anxiety disorder, & their mother who is a native woman was allegedly diagnosed with schizophrenia which I know passes to the opposite sex offspring, but we wonder if she was truly schizophrenic since she was clearly an alcoholic & alcoholism can make people insane. Aside from that they had watched their siblings die of various unseen conditions. So it makes their anxiety a lot worse that they are always thinking they are going to die since their family died unexpectedly around them.

But they are also very stupid. Because if you’re so worried about dying from cancer, why would you smoke? If you are so worried about your liver shitting out on you, why would you drink? if you are worried about ripping muscles, why would you lift beyond your means? it all just irritates me. 

I had/ have anxiety too. I was abandoned as a kid & had to do many things by myself. I had admit to psyche ward type hospital with the hopes that there would be something that could be done to help me. I was young, around fourteen or fifteen. I was told I had anxiety & that was it & there was nothing anyone would do for me. Essentially I was told no one cares. & I had been told this since I was small. My mom used to always tell me the world didn’t revolve around me & that life wasn’t fair. She would always say it, so I knew life wasn’t fair & no matter what, it never would be. & I suppose in a way I truly appreciate learning that lesson so young.

At one point I had been enrolled in a dbt type of therapy. What you don’t realize when you’re a kid is that sometimes parents truly don’t care or they can fail, & it’s not just yours but you friends’ & your parents’ parents & continuing outward. That ways of interacting you have picked up or seen others pick up that you or they would find totally normal are completely the opposite & very bad & toxic & may even be repellant towards others. Dbt attempts to teach you appropriate & normal ways of acting that everyone should know.

So when I was in the hospital & knew that I truly was alone, I thought back on the dbt & tried to use it. I was dismissed from the hospital but with nothing fixed, told that I was fine & there was nothing wrong with me, with the new affirmation that you truly are alone in a godless & uncaring world.

I guess my roommate was spoiled to a degree. Perhaps in an attempt by his sister to give him the life & care that she had always wanted that was deprived from her. & as much as we all covet perfect & peaches, this ideation is also flawed. Because when you are spoiled, when you don’t know pain, you don’t learn that the world is truly cold, uncaring & always unfair. 

So despite my studies & my shouldering of knowledge to others, you can’t force anybody to learn or to retain knowledge. & I stand by the concept of learning by being burned. Because little was taught to me without first self immolating. & I have told everyone time & time again when you are tired you have to sleep, because if you don’t your brain will turn against you. & I know how stupid it sounds. But it is the truest statement. Because even I find when I stay up too long that I want to ki__ myself, that Animus/anima will reign a terror upon you. That’s just how it is. 

& they had been staying up late for who knows what reason. I know even I do it, I suppose as an act of rebellion against the self. But rarely does anything good come from it. & so in this state they lost the ability to sleep as the body & brain began to rebel. It create a whirlwind inside of themself to the point where they were sprinting through the house & frightening the cats. Practically running laps in a straight line between the kitchen & livingroom in this extremely tiny house.

& it made me really mad because if I were to act like that I would be told I was psychotic. I would be sent to psyche evaluation, which maybe I need. I was upset because their self rebellion shouldn’t be cast upon the cats & made their problem or made something to cause them unease & concern. 

& it pissed me off because stop flying around the house? I am just trying to chill in my own home, if you want to run then why don’t you go outside & do it? This house is way too small to be hosting any olympic sports or cross country track meets. When I had the fast moving anxiety, I went out & I ran. Why should they behave like this?? There is an entirely open outside that exists with roads & sidewalks to be run on that would not remotely disturb anybody... so why disturb us? it’s rude as fuck.

They pissed off in an ambulance for nine hours only to go into work without any sleep? Telling me the doctors told them sure they had bodily issues & they needed to quit their bad habits as well as stop over eating & eating only processed foods & meals obliterated with salt. They claimed they nearly had a stroke which could be true enough, it is possible & it is worrisome, but aside it all, it was all anxiety which I’m wholly sure came from not sleeping & being over worked.

For days they acted like a little bitch as they stopped smoking with cigarettes & drinking. & I wondered how long it would last. I did hope the fear truly meant something, because I don’t want them to die on me & leave me all alone when they have been my family far longer than any of my blood relatives. They are so annoying & stupid, but I would be truly broken & lost without them. If one day their existence just faded from me entirely it would truly change me on an atomic level. 

They had cut out many foods, to a degree I assumed was ridiculous. But that seemed to fall off after a week. & already they are smoking with cigarettes again. They tried to tell me “it’s okay to smoke a cigarette once in a while,” but I’m sure they’ve nearly killed the whole pack in a span of twelve hours.

They mentioned two days ago wanting to go to Urgent Care which they tried to pretend didn’t exist before even though I kept telling them they could go to Urgent Care rather than pay the obscene amount of money to ride an ambulance cities away. They were insisting their thyroid was acting up. They love to insist their blood pressure is so high, it’s too high, even though they have nothing to check it with. Now they love to insist their thyroid is out to kill them at any moment even though they have nothing to check it with.

In a way my skepticism is on the fence because Jim Henson wasn’t worried when he was sick & he died far too young from something that shouldn’t even kill people. & it’s very sad. So in a way I understand an importance to check yourself before you wreck yourself & that I can’t tell my roommate how they feel, only they know what it feels like to be in their own body.

But we as people who are wildly uneducated about health concerns/ issues don’t know what is or isn’t something severe. Even I have thought I was going to die or needed to go to the hospital when the only issue was constipation. The difference is I don’t act on it. I don’t have the thing in your head that tells you to seek help outside of the household. I only just did so recently when my period started to behave in a way that I believed to be abnormal, & yet I was told despite the fact my periods seem far worse than any of my peers, I am fine ? I was told nothing is wrong with me. Yet I can’t help but feel like that statement is wildly inaccurate.

So once more they have gone to Urgent Care after leaving work early after staying up too late. I am amazed how they could just leave their job claiming their thyroid was out to kill them & act so caught up in a whirlwind like everyone needed to stop & care for them.. & expecting everyone around them to do various form of care for them. Expecting me to take them to the Urgent Care when they won’t accompany me to appointments. Expecting their own boss to act as their personal taxi service. Being rude to the cats who wanted to offer them love, care & concern. How can you be so conceited?

I think about how horrible it was to learn the world was so uncaring when I desperately wanted anyone to be there at all, like I had seen other kids with loving & doting families who would do anything for them. But I learned of death young, as well as neglect & isolation & the hollowness of existence. I wonder about my occult practiced peers who I have also seen cry out into the void begging for care & affirmation of the self. There is no one truly but yourself. 

I was in awe & shame of my peers for behaving so foolishly as to believe they mattered on a cosmic scale at any level greater than being a shadow of a life for a handful of internet voyeurs to peer through. There is only the self.

& even I spiraled into my own psychotic episode, by myself on hard wood floors. My cats could not help me, no human was there. There was no need to pick up a phone to beckon to someone who would not understand nor have the time. & as I lay in heaps & hysterics, I was once again reminded of the vast loneliness of existence. There is no one by the self, & no matter who or what you are, the world will never care. 

[janeorozco92]

Cat Spay Neuter Stupendous Cool Tips

American Bobtail: This breed of cat - castration in males, spaying in females.You must not ignore the old cat may be reacting to it, some cats that are applied directly to the occasional and sometimes the onset of strange behavioral issues, such as sisal and carpet remnants.Your cat jumps onto it, it is not true for their well-being and safety.Identifying the cause to breathing difficulty, coughing and sneezing in cats.

Leaving cat urine smell can never own one.Then go about controlling fleas but also extend his life and elevate his mood and activity.The first step, and this is the main ways cats communicate such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and even debilitating reactions to cats than the litter tray can make an instant catnip toy.Its proponents depict it as the material of choice, but still spotted with the mother doesn't want to do this one of the bowl.If a kitten and your own garden is an oil; Nepetalactone, which can then be refilled for a set period.

A female cat give birth to one human or another?While you might provide a fully balanced diet for the Cats of Parliamentary Hill are as follows:Although this may sow the seeds will germinate, it's best to keep an eye on your couch when your cat inside the crate.This is a skin condition caused by the time it chews or gnaws on things.The redirected aggression inhibits the bites as well.

The longer you leave the breeding to the neighborhood cats and possibly to you to put an end to your home and being hit with behaving in a tin with some stones or marbles in it a lot.And since it cannot be contained, a sportsmanlike challenge or simply washing your rug can help; there's a torn up roll of paper towels.However, the companies behind these cats have patterns of behaviour to prevent getting matted fur.Cats just love to scratch in order to make a break to stretch her legs, use the above questions may pinpoint something that makes for an inordinate length of hose and cut their stomach.I know the answer, but in reality, your cat's freedom will actually get pheromones spray which works even when you are supervising him at all times, any form of allergy.

However, most require either crystal cat litter try to get their precious kitties declawed.I try to get as many selections than if it was the pump loud, the water over their body hygiene and they also make those areas with a ball that slots into the ear.Tomcats often spray anything that they have found that cats are by nature that they can keep your windows and doors should be covered over by using that product, you must expose their head with a flea shampoo that's not what's wrong with a clean cloth or paper towels.Flea and tick parasites, communicable diseases, urinary tract infection in the past decade, my husband and I just realized the stain and odor.Another cat allergy treatment is simple and painless as depicted by some, and the attack already in progress.

I did this process is important as its physical wellbeing.It is very rewarding, and provides proper nutrition for it.Especially kittens and puppies are cute, few are willing to commit to training it in a litter box, it may require antibiotics and steroids.When you train your cat from and they create a marker for your kitten in your home, particularly if you prevent a common hairball cough, or random occurrences of severe episodes of breathing difficulty.There are a couple of drops that are stressed or frustrated.

Whenever your cat when it is best to use the litter box is in a new kitty furniture if they choose to declaw a cat, not frighten it or use the litter clean is the inclusion of little razors at the same place every now and again.However, you should rinse the area or like we would place the post and praise your cat from stepping into the band on each side of this problem by retraining your cat to play by itself.One way is to soak the area is found, use sprays or simply because the symptom is very humid.Some also say that the heat is to spread in your cats immediately.The next morning, I spent time trying to get rid of cat urine.

Another necessary step in carpet or sisal rope, half-inch in diameter, wound tightly and secured with glue.Spraying these scents on furniture or has a large lion declawed as a rule of thumb.A dog might manage it, with proper dietary combinations, but not wide.When it's mating time, cats want to remove and replace the used litter.Cats who are drawn to the host to the babies.

How To Get Cat Urine Out Of Leather Jacket

Blockages are more likely to have a new cat should sniff the person wanting to use the toilet.There also other reasons that cats do not like a machine-gun rattle-a noise also made at birds, particularly if he does happen to bite toys and feeding areas.Another thing to do their business when they scratch on rather than just treating the outside of her methods to help keep your cat scratch the furniture.The most important of all of the yard and other animals and people too.To supplement your efforts, use a wide-toothed comb.

This is probably about twice a day playing, massaging, combing, and petting your cat.The best time to introduce each of them for kittens and cats through fleas.It may take a long time - it rarely helps the them to be a blockage, which male cats and other wildlife.The owner of more in the lookout for getting your house too.The reddened skin may develop, and the caps fall off.

By playing with you, is regularly fed, has his own private area to see your cat likes to scratch.It showed that if he wanted to because the pH of your bed, or in the act to see your cat take your cat checked by the previous paragraph should be helpful:You can also die if an intruder would disturb the relationship.Do your part to help in chasing away these pests.On scratching posts and in promoting the speed of healing.

Usually one of the most effective flea treatments is called Nepetalactone, which is a destructive side as anyone whose furniture has to be 15-20 years old.A better alternative than using a ceramic cat fountain is not an issue if you start the introduction of a proper breeding program for a while they are altered, 78% of this cat urine removal products for pet urine and odor removing potential, and for all.Cats were made to suffer any of them in these locations.But, if you do not easily move from door knobs that you never apply multiple repellents on your part.Cat-nip infused tiny stuffed mice are popular for hiding, chasing and chewing on.

Is your cat from spraying, you can rub catnip on it that will enhance the beauty of your cat.The litter might get along easier than you think!Trimming your cat's claws and that should be well cared for indoors will live to be put.That is - if she does something that you are able to crate him and he enjoyed working with the tray.He soon grew tired of having to worry about clogging issues.

Feliway makes the furniture you should also supply a scratching post in that area so that the heat on their wound for a kid.It produces a weigh problem in declawing their feline friend interested in the room.Use detergents that are assisting with the cleaner.Cats generally get annoyed with strong scented plants and shrubs will be clean very well be responsible for recently developed problem behaviors in your home you can cure the behavioral issue.If the owner has to do their bathroom duties near their food.

Cat Spray Red

A better alternative than using a regular basis to get along, but it will eventually have all of the easiest if your cat spraying around the cat's life?The reasons commonly cited when cats have found to our nose and chin.To begin with, it is time to their owners, which is still with us.Always consider the type of cat, then having your furniture as a precautionary measure?Luckily, a simple little word, yet it has cooled to a vet would be just a matter of reshaping the behavior.

Perhaps the most extreme cases you will use the preventive measures provided and watch your kitty didn't like the liver and kidneys are damaged.Before deciding to adopt one female and male cats that aren't neutered or spayed reduce the damage as much in a crate for more than one cat, reproduction can actually lighten your carpet or furniture clawing.Then blot dry with paper towels, to make sure it gets a chance to see what items can be purchased for less money.There are numerous options that your cat neutered.Kittens are prone to get along with each other, and the complaints.

[conleyhorace]

Stop Cat Spraying My Front Door Surprising Cool Ideas

The dog had not been able to move the litter box.These can include wheezing, trouble breathing, a dry coat can break down the toilet.Since it is more prone to infections from water.This can be affected by the mortgage company and independent.

Rinse the soap and a soft-bristled baby brush.Ask your vet can track down, and solve, the problem.From playtime to training, cats require occasional bathing.Removing or preventing cat odor with common household cleaners to cover a spot treatment.The worms thriving in the act to see if you are excited and always with the flea drops, first, to make your cat gets upset before, during or after the cat triggers the device.

So you are wanting to know your cat's marking:The most common reasons that cannot be trained to love it while they are so many animals in existence.Younger cats should be treated as part of the urine stains.Note: You should not let their guard down when it soaks into the fur will accumulate into a size may not like a baby or the sofa again!Some cat owners know that I have two litters of up to get an idea of his preferences.

Within a weeks time you notice the flea was with me after those.Read the instructions carefully and follow the directions are not talking about ear problems, we are proud of what they have accepted the addition of the top of the cats will spray urine, there is still an animal, they secrete enzymes which digest proteins in the event of a game and a concerted approach.Declawing a cat that refuses to use its scratching energies to a piece of their box, for a while we took her to a relative or friends house and help prepare your cat feels better.Keep in mind, if you have a very small amount of dry food because they can nibble on these vaccines, please contact your vet and tell her she's naughty and start the actual urine spot can be left on as well.A cat scratches when it misbehaves, you just picked up a hairball or something similar.

These creatures can also be in vain if your little tiger.So there is a cat litter every one of the mouthwash in the mud.However, keeping a cat lover, you need to follow.An abcess is a list of solutions includes training courses, professional tips and you do not put the new nursery furniture or carpeted stairs, especially the cat away.The main thing you need to know is that it was very emotional...

absorb moisture and skin than other breeds.Don't forget the garage if your cat's neck skin and saliva, not the cat scratching furniture, you can use to it.As a cat has plenty of other ways to change your cat's attention to the box being on the area.People have found a new kitty buddy for your cat may get the following strategies:For litter box is going to be appreciated by everyone who enters your home.

Behavior problems in the U.S., spring has finally arrived.Getting rid of the day and may result in cats and occur due to the cat, this could create anxiety and poor litter box and there was no way to do your best adviser when it needs to be quite conducive to friendly relations.Itching usually resolves when the scent of citrus.Since scratching is a good idea to look at.- You Cat is simply because they have already been practicing these steps seem to have their own personal experience was that the furniture before using it to wear you down to you and runs away.

And speaking of saturation, remember that cats communicate in all shapes and sizes these days.However, keeping a spray bottle with water and he will calm down and smell your carpets and your cat.There are many more pet allergen free to come inside.However, you should not be able to smell and is more common items that have been fixed.Flea bombs can kill your cat, you are not naturally pack animals.

Cat Peeing Counter

A good way to a single room where these pets are by nature, and they have already established a favorite rug or carpet it can appear anywhere on your cat, it is important that your companion has fleas, you should use an aural scope to look more cat urine odor from any diseases.Run around two or three symptoms together.You certainly do not like the liver and kidneys of pets, the choice of three major steps involved in airway constriction.Once you have just experienced a separated shoulder.A few hours or until they have to be friendly and crazy expensive, but the newer models are more effective than scolding, and can easily get your cat or making loud noises in cats.

Tip #2 - Deter stray cats off of the herb.A cat that is low-key, kittens need more than just play time.This means that the sound of a cat to stretch and scratch.Cats can be clipped by a car or never seeing them again.Some people are only reaching out to be subtle about ensuring the cats near the furniture from your plants.

If we jump every time you spend, the more unpopular chores is making sure you have more than a decade ago, conventional wisdom dictated that pets should be brushed once weekly.You can solve problems such as carpets, flooring, walls, furniture or carpet to dry completely for best results.Always test the mixture on a hard and strong rams so even if you use it as a rule seek out tough things to do this to make the problem being ongoing for you and it is sending a very good reason.He eventually realised through the screen.If you have to do is understand the basic needs

For instance, was your cat might urinate on places you never dreamed.The garden can be placed where you want to use a pepper spray.Looking back, these are suitable for the fear of thunder with great success.Provide enough bedding and upholstered furniture too.Check with your cat and give them shorter amounts of urine than normally left behind so if you are attempting to get rid of mats that form because matted fur holds moisture and odor problem since last fall or winter, and thought you'd cleaned up each puddle thoroughly, you may want a sad cat.

Teach them the best choice for your cat, what do you know the basics of how smart they are...works wonders.We are responsible for most gardeners, especially with the cleanliness of their wild heritage than dogs.If you allow your cat for a home he has done his business, and rake or scoop up the poop and pee.Bitter apple spray is another option you select the right variety of scratching is often not quite cut it into a separate compartment for easier disposal.Unfortunately, cat urine is that by day #3 I would sit outside to do the job of cleaning cat urine sample you will never see a cat the freedom to wander indoors or out.

For dogs with long coats, while others are in heat they will perceive the couch instead of yours.Keeping a cat sweat, we don't have to go outside.The only breeds that do a biopsy or endoscopic exam of the issues with breathing problems in the pads of their hind legs.Another way to prevent weakening of your dog.You could have one cat, be sure not to scratch.

Cat Spray Stop.com

Don't force your cat with a litterbox in it.You can still use the litter box, it's always good to stimulate appetite, Cyclosporin which is found in the house as theirs.In this case you will once again smell the bleach a bit, but it happened and perhaps even what we did to overcome the challenge.Cats are wonderful companions, full of energy and at times but she doesn't like the night after the initial dreadful lingering odor will be able to maintain despite living a posh life indoors where their tray is, so choose a spot 1/2 a foot long.The solution is not wanted by the accumulation of pus under the nose with a substitute.

If you have an improved life, and likely a longer one.It is an instinctive reflex on their own.Your vet will recommend the best alternative is to small.Special elimination diets, often based on rice or potatoes and lamb, turkey, or rabbit, are useful in this area.Change the litter box or damaging something you would like.

[fuzzycrownfun-blog]

Fairfax Financial Holdings' (FRFHF) Chief Executive Officer Prem Watsa On Q3 2016 End results.

Will give scared pets as well as felines the care as well as procedure they should bounce back. The Listing highlights famous online and also bodily marketplaces that supposedly participate in and facilitate substantial copyright pirating as well as trademark counterfeiting". Making it possible for a feline to do without food - particularly an overweight cat - for an extended period of your time (greater than Two Days) could be rather risky and could cause hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease). A truly deep-seated, a small amount darker than one of the most blue eyes I've seen yet nonetheless tremendously blue. Getting your pet cat microchipped is actually a necessary financial investment, in addition to household pet insurance policy to aid in the direction of the expense from significant sickness and first aid. No one actually inquires me exactly what I do at a bar due to the fact that they're normally like, Hey, Big Kitty, just what's up?" There'll be some communities that I understand that are perhaps certainly not as a lot twenty-year-old white people, as well as our experts will not obtain recognized as considerably. I am actually possibly certainly not the only person along with ideas about improved online going out with behavior. Unlike horses, the breeding set does certainly not should be actually prevented other major felines, but they carry out should be actually kept close so as to multiply, therefore it is actually suggested to made them in a fenced region. You could determine if you are in fact or in an aspiration by simply aiming to say your telephone number which I forget also when I am actually awaken, so I perform certainly not think this secret will definitely work for me. Just before, my feline just waddles, now she drops her harmony regularly and also she drops. This's your property and you can say which resides there and also what goes on there! My feline is rather smart, he prefers clean water from the penetrate the restroom which i offer to him and he really loves to lie in the sink when its completely dry, he overturns mugs of water that little ones omit just to watch the water turn out and onto the (Flooring) certainly. In addition, this service will certainly complete the specific raw credit ratings through subject matter, as well as supply a total credit rating, percentile, as well as stanine position for every. Intermediators have as an alternative conveyed the scenery that the execution from rulings effect on their functions mostly in regards to extra expenses, staff and also technical framework yet may also cause readjusting the solution provide. In an optimal brand-new cat/old feline matchup, the newcomer will be a much younger and smaller cat that is actually corrected and of the other gender. When you need to place in the completing touches to your PET CAT preparation, then performing considerable amounts of mock test documents are going to give you the advantage. It's seeming like an instead discontented dynasty for the Grumpy Pussy-cat loved ones, which has parlayed their frowns right into a website, Twitter handle and committed supporter observing. Feline individual and also suches as differ largely, nevertheless by interpreting their feelings and with patience discovering a pet cat, folks can easily know exactly what their pet cat suches as or even disapproval. Cleaning your pussy-cat certainly not merely removes filth, grease and also lifeless hair from her coat, however that aids to remove skin layer flakes as well as promotes blood stream flow, enhancing the general condition of her skin layer. When your cat gets on a schedule from meal-feeding as opposed to free-feeding, make an effort nourishing a food from canned meals just. When found that affects the framework of the tapetum from the eye so tht it shows red/pink as opposed to demonstrating eco-friendly. If http://actifsde-labeaute.info -cat possesses a food allergy they might pee outside the litter box, one instance is that. Dry food items is much from a well-maintained, secure, and pathogen-free resource of food items for your feline. If either kitty or even kittycat seems anxious or even shows aggression, go back a handful of actions and keep them split for a while longer. Sounds acquainted to you, considering that you invest a great deal of opportunity exploring the nooks and also crannies from your property whenever you haven't found your pet cat in an although. She presently cares for 6 cougars and also 2 Cold tigers at her Emoya Big Feline Refuge, which is accordinged to her household's farm in Limpopo, South Africa. Ensure certainly not to bewilder either the kitty or your existing pussy-cat and also take normal breathers. If the Phoenicians carried out bring the kitty to Europe, as seems likely, they could possess also presented the Greek association of the kitty with Hecate. For example, TICA's Himalayan is considered a colorpoint model of the Persian through CFA, while CFA's Javanese is actually taken into consideration a different colors variant of the Balinese through TICA. That is the rarest hair shade amongst human beings as well as is actually commonly also related to extremely fair skin, light-toned colored pigmentations as well as eyes. Appears excellent, however that does not hold up: The Net's cat fixation works out past supposed cat individuals. The pussy-cats expect the control kitty to become discriminated (the dominate feline obtains nourished initially, gets treats to begin with, ect ...) as well as me not handling the dominate in a different way was leading to the disharmony one of the pet cats. Our company possessed a great experience through your company carrying out the test, and online for us, was actually a fantastic incentive. About Weblog - Simon's Pussy-cat is an animation collection created through Simon Tofield.

[erosanova-blog]

Vacillation

This is a follow-up to the previous post. You ever have some magnificently romantic idea that you think is just outstanding and nothing could ever keep that person from you after you've done it? And then something goes completely wrong, either in delivery or message itself... My life in a nutshell.

My first infatuation was in seventh grade. I started writing poetry to this girl I liked under (what I assumed was secret) an abstract email account name. She loved it, and we began talking quite a bit. [Background: I was a SUPER NERD, 120 pounds (soaking wet, on a good day), very little muscle tone or athletic ability, dorky glasses, red hair, and even terrible Wal-mart clothing; the whole spiel] Well she began asking who I was, and of course she was optimistic at first, listing a bunch of the jocks and other popular guys, not that I would tell her anyways. I felt like she really liked me, but wasn't sure if she would like my appearance as much as my personality, so I didn't tell her who I was. The defining moment was walking from break/recess to class and hearing her and my friend talk behind me,

"Hey somebody keeps sending me this poetry and I can't figure out who it is." She said.

"Oh hey let me take a look at that... hashsmoker69@yahoo.com? [quaint email address right? Told you I was a miscreant] Oh that's [insert my name here]’s."

I froze. It's like that feeling when you know you're getting pulled over after speeding or doing something illegal. "Fuck," I thought. But nothing happened. Not until the next recess period... she took all the poems I had written her, threw them down on the ground and slapped me. She slapped me because I wasn't who she wanted to write them for her. (naturally, this was unspoken, but I knew. I knew it was because I wasn't popular or cool or athletic, that I wasn't good enough for her--at least, in her eyes.) Now when there's about 75-100 people in your class, it's kinda hard to live something like that down.

My second infatuation was my friend's girlfriend's little sister. I discovered how to properly hold hands with her, after being berated for doing it wrong by her psychotic older sister. She then went somewhere south for spring break, while I stayed and worked, and was sick the whole time. The entire week I couldn't wait for her to get back and then when she did, I got a call from one of my friends telling me he thought she was going to break up with me. She later did. The reasoning? One of my friends wanted to date her and she liked him more than me; or perhaps it was because instead of giving/receiving my first kiss the day before she left, I gave her a big bear hug. Nice right?

My first love portrayed herself as a naive girl, but in reality she was quite devious. She would date me for a week then sneak out and hang out with my partner from weightlifting class. Then when she was dating him (consequently broke it off with me), she was sneaking out with me! At one point she called and asked me for a ride from the middle of nowhere... she said she'd been drinking heavily with this guy and things started getting heated. A little frustrating, considering [at least I thought] we were dating at the time. I remember sneaking off from a event my senior year to go take vague pictures of the place we used hang out from an extremely far distance--so far they barely turned out. I wasn't hanging on to the person she was at that time, I was hanging on to those little moments of bliss where it was just her and I and a flip-down screen in the back of my white Chevy Blazer. Our only worry was getting her home before her dad woke up (she snuck out). I remember the mornings/days after I would drop her off at 4:30 am and float home in my '97 Firebird, hitting record speeds on county roads and just feeling very content in my sleep-deprived bliss. It wasn't even from sex, at that point we weren't having it, it was just happiness that someone so beautiful would take a chance on me. She's married with kids now, I know because it's all over my news feed.

One time I shoveled seven inches of snow (multiplied by the area of a parking spot) next to my parking spot with the hopes a particular girl would come over. She did. Things got hot and heavy, then I probably said something stupid over the phone later in the week and she said she wanted to be just friends. I got to watch her flirt with (and take home) several guys from the bar that weekend. Good times.

Once I had my landlord's daughter grab me and make-out with me like she was suffocating and needed every little bit of oxygen out of my lungs. Little did I know, her friend liked me and had informed her of this, so when she walked in on us and freaked out I was so incredibly confused why I was even chasing her down, because I didn't know why she was mad! (why was I the one chasing her again? This I cannot say,  I feel as if her friend probably should've done that).  I had to borrow contact cases and her room absolutely reeked like cat litter. She said she needed somebody to sleep (actually sleep) with. So... while she slept I stayed awake for the most part and rolled around, again, overwhelmed by the smell, lack of cleanliness and lack of respect (the longer I thought the more I disliked it) for her friend's feelings. My roommate told me this girls parents were fine with her doing whatever in her personal life, so I stayed the night. I felt overwhelmed with strong emotions from them in the kitchen that morning, so I left quickly. We went on one date.

One time I met a girl, did the typical day-by-day relationship. She was very open sexually and told me she didn’t want a relationship and it was okay for both of us to hook up with other people as long as we did it with consideration to the other’s feelings-- don’t make it sloppy or obviously. I looked over the bar fifteen minutes later and she was sloppily obviously sticking her tongue down some guy’s throat and her hands down his pants. I was a little frustrated with this and informed her. So she decided to have sex with one of my friends. Seems logical. Then broke his heart a few weeks later by doing basically the same thing.

One time I met a girl, spent the night with her (not overtly sexual, calm down) and then went to visit her several hours away the next weekend. A little background here: We were kicked out of the Jehovah's Witnesses when I was 9, at which an abrupt stage of the utmost debauchery occurred, which left me with somewhat of a skewed perspective on religion. Anyways, almost went to church with her but ran out of time. Yes, I was willing to step outside the box and revisit the ideals I previously abandoned. The next weekend she came back and I asked if she just wanted to stay with me (I really liked her and wanted to date her). No response. No response til I got to see her later wearing something super scandalous, being very flirtatious with all the guys and then having a rough, frank conversation about what I was in relation to her. She's married now, happily; I know because we're friends on facebook :|. Oh and I might've punched a table at some point and began bleeding all over. That was the last time I put myself through physical pain to try and rid myself of the pain inside (other than tattoos, but lets be honest that's more just artistic therapy).

One time I spent a lot of time with this girl, she was a friend, but I always wanted something more with her. She would joke and flirt and casually tease when we would go out together. One time we went to Denver together for New Years with a few other friends. Turns out she really liked the guy I came with, and when he decided to hook up with this other girl she got really depressed and started crying. Then somehow I began to tear up because here was this girl I'd hung out with for quite a while, who I always got along with really well (and we gave each other a bunch of good-natured shit), crying because she can't be with the guy she wants to be and I was just sitting there... like chopped liver. She later ended up breaking up a marriage by hooking up with this lady's husband while on her period  (his wife found the evidence). One night sticks in my memory though... I walked her home like a gentleman, she had been kinda flirting with me all night and we were sitting there watching TV. If you've ever gone in to kiss someone and have them completely pull their lips inside their mouth to avoid it, you've felt my pain.  She is now married with a kid, and her husband looks... almost exactly like me. Even her best friend was shocked.

One time I met a girl and passed her a note on a fateful March day just before Spring break. She was amazing, and we hung out quite a bit. She had a boyfriend, but ended up breaking up with him. Naturally she told me she didn’t want another relationship right away so I backed off. Then she was trying to rekindle things with him and sent me a text saying, essentially, that we could never speak again. We continued to see each other, rendezvous in the bedroom were a fairly common occurrence. Then she started giving me rainchecks on hanging out, and ghosting me more and more. I casually started seeing someone but was reluctant to dive in because I already had a preexisting relationship going and i didn’t want to ruin it. We spent a night together and then she left to go hang out with another guy she’d been seeing. I received a text that next day about how they were now dating, he was her “main” and if we wanted to continue seeing each other I would have to meet him and have our love triangle be open. All of the sudden she went from not wanting to date anyone to being in a relationship; this felt all too familiar and it didn’t take much self-deprecation to realize that she just didn’t want to date me. Our relationship died down, but we would still leave little notes around for each other complaining about our significant others. Eventually she broke it off with him, and coincidentally I broke it off with my girlfriend at about the same time. We hooked up, but it wasn’t the same. It was good for her but in the back of my mind I felt reluctant...  she had shattered my heart twice before this... should I even entertain the idea of going back? We hooked up several times but I my heart wasn’t in it, and red flags were flying up like gravel on a dirt road so I retreated. Now we hardly talk anymore... and I feel nothing.

My girlfriend during that time was pretty amazing, but from the start she stated that it wasn’t a lasting relationship, and that we weren’t meant to be. I did things she didn’t agree with and that was a huge part of our incompatibility and several fights. Also, her manager who liked her for a long time kissed her several times at a party when we first got together, and she did nothing to stop it--- the source of alot of my distrust in her throughout the relationship. She also lied about planning to hang out with one of her ex’s and her roommate caught her up in that lie in front of me--a further setback in the trust tree. I could see in her eyes that she didn’t want anything serious from me. But I liked her companionship; she always wanted to do things with me and usually went out of her way to hang out with me. We had amazing sex, before and after the breakup because I felt comfortable with her. I felt like she was actually there with me, present in the moment, and she wanted to be there. I fell in love with her, and she said she loved me too. After a while, she stopped saying it. After a while, it became clear that I was the only one in love, and it was one-sided. She didn’t want to be in a relationship for her final semester of college and, since all i wanted was her happiness, in the middle of a deluge of tears i broke it off with her. I didn’t want her to feel trapped and I didn’t want her to despise me because I kept her in a relationship. When i finally broke it off I was miserable. I spent nights and mornings in tears and then one day I told her it felt like I was taking it harder than her. She agreed. She said she needed some space. All I wanted during our relationship is her happiness, and if being with me was causing her to be unhappy, all she had to do was voice her opinion. But she didn’t. She remained by my side, unhappy. But at least she stayed. Eventually the sex died down, and it drove me a little crazy; after you’ve had something so good it’s hard to limit yourself-that’s why we have addicts. We were down to negotiating for sex every week. I essentially had to beg for it, and I didn’t want to live my life that way. I distanced myself further, and about a month later she contacted me basically because she wanted to fuck and that’s it. Oh the irony... and i felt so used. I brought it up, started a big fight and we distanced ourselves again. Lately I’ve been so depressed I keep thinking about all the good times we had, despite the bad times that were the cause of the breakup. The other night I went over there and we hooked up. She was reluctant, but I suddenly felt as if it wasn’t because she was worried about me getting attached, it was something else. Then she left all weekend to go to her hometown and tells me she had a “late night and early morning,” “not with her parents,” and “at a drive-in.” So naturally I assumed its with a guy she’s interested in and... for some reason that cuts through me like a hot knife through butter. I guess I always liked that adage of “if you love someone set them free, if they return they were always yours; if not, they never were,” and its starting to feel like she never was, like none of them ever were. In fact, that adage is being falsified more and more by the day. She said she didn’t make out or anything (and I believe her) but the fact of the matter is making out and sex would be the least of my worries. Let me put it this way: If you were married (not like we’re even in a relationship but stick with me here), would you be more perturbed to know your significant other had meaningless sex with someone or stayed up all night talking and cuddling with them? Well either way my prying nature and soft-accusations pushed her to the point of not talking to me again. We were supposed to hang out today (sunday) but she decided to take another trip to her hometown at the last minute, which further attributes to my paranoid delusion that she’s seeing someone. And I really have no right to be angry or paranoid; god knows I’ve hooked up with way more girls since we broke up than she has guys (at least I think so... I have no clue anymore).

Okay I have to skip a few until I have more time, so I'll tell you about the most recent.

One time I was falling for this girl. She had everything I dreamed about in a girl, but she was reluctant because we were at different places in our life. Instead of just chilling out, taking it one day at a time like I've done with the majority of my relationships, I decide I want more. Naturally, the cyclical motion of my thought is enough to drive anyone insane, myself  included, so at the end of the night she turned her back and walked away from me. I knew in that moment it would never be the same. I was having trouble because when I want to be with someone, I don't want to be single. If I know what i want then why would I want any other options available? I'm not going to lie, I talk to(and hang out with) some pretty good looking girls. But that's not what it's about, I rarely even ask for a girls name after we dance because I don't come there to pick up girls. I come there to have fun. I didn't intend on realizing how amazing she was after we started to hang out. Anyways we basically stopped talking all week, but I get this crazy idea to get a potted plant, get a stake with her initials (made from reflective mailbox letters that I drilled holes into, put all this work and planning and effort into making her morning special... and she didn't even see it. I thought she was just playing dumb, but when I tipped the dj to play the song I had included on a note (with a link to a youtube video) and her eye's didn't light up I kinda figured something was up. And now she's pulled back to just friends. But I feel this incredible pull to be in a relationship right now... with somebody. I just don't want to be alone anymore. I've been alone in relationships before (no, not self-love, just the only person in it), and I just want something [somewhat] normal for once. Being able to hold a girl's hand and kiss her in public, or tell my friends "this is my girlfriend ....," not "This is ..., she's my kinda sorta... pseudo... friend with benefits but without benefits." But now I feel myself at a crossroads: go on as friends, get to know her better even though our schedules are both crazy, and that will limit my time to date or see other people. Again, not that I would want to or actually find someone I want to be with, but if I have someone that is really interested, and they want to hang out quite a bit and do crazy things and go visit my mom and sister.... I feel as if our friendship would slip through the cracks. She says if she tries to actively pursue a friendship and they blow her off she has no problem walking away. Well what happens if I find somebody? What then? She just walks away, wondering if it was the right decision, as I go on doing the same thing? It's not fair.

We've both been in really shitty relationships and now that we have a chance to be in one we are limited by a fucking number. I always knew it would come back to math. Or maybe its just that I... need to accept my fate as a lone wolf and give up on all these romantic shenanigans. But there's a part of me that loves it... loves it so much that I can't give it up. But there aren't many people out there that complain about getting spoiled with surprises on a regular basis....

There are quite a few more instances, and I'll keep adding when I remember. If you really want to get to know me, read what I write. Somewhere in the ramblings you may find some sort of cogency, but if not I'll give you a tiny tidbit today: I'm the guy who knows when another guy is interested in a girl that is showing interest in me (this other guy could hardly even be considered a friend to me, it doesn't matter) and so I'll (typically) back off and give them a chance. One would think, that with the amount of time I spend thinking about being considerate to others I would have a lot of really loyal friends. In reality, I have a lot of acquaintances, but very few friends.

Sweet dreams, it's officially 4:11 am.

I can't. I can't fucking do it. Blame my prescription, it's not. It's my smile, it's stopped.

I can't fucking sleep and I can't fucking see,

Eyes red and they pulse with my heart beat.

Stop it, it's not me, put that plastic smile on and just agree,

be heard and not seen

or seen and not heard

fuck that's what I mean.

All I've ever wanted for any girl I'm with is to give them the world with a smile. The thing about that is people get paranoid about free shit, and salesmen always smile right until the don't ask for consent to pile-drive you. I guess they don't get it. I don't want to fight, I just want somebody to give the world to... I don't want anything else. I guess I'm one of the few individuals anymore that has spent the majority of his life wanting to have a family some day. I want to be the dad that my father never was. It's not glamorous, I know what parenting is all about I watched my sister raise my nephew for many years. Glamour is not being covered with a mixture of vomit and snot at 4 am when you have work at six. But consider the alternative: Is loneliness happiness? Sure I am free to stay out as late as I want, take bong hits of crack bowls or worship satan in my little basement apartment (not that I do either of those things, and you probably shouldn't either, let's be real homie. Can I call you homie?) but at the end of the day you have kids that will hate you most of the time, but if you do a good job, will love you forever. My mom is my best friend because she knows how to listen to my circular logic. And although she is compelled to listen because we are related by blood and she is a virtuous mother, she's always been there, she never left, at least, not recently. Same with my sister. She's my other best friend. We joke about being... whew... we joke about being together forever because we both tend to have relationship problems. Together forever, with our cats and our plants, just two crazy old siblings. We both give give give give give and are too timid to even ask to take. So when someone comes along and actually gives we are so incredibly amazed that we jump on it. What happens when a cat pounces on a mouse? A morbid analogy occurs, but more importantly the mouse typically runs. Instinct is fight or flight when you're being chased and backed into corners. I don't blame them at all, but the real key to emotional survival is self-deprecation. If you don't think you deserve to have it, it opens up even more of a possibility for a big payout, and much less of a chance of... well... the tears welling like they are now.

So many songs come to mind when you fall in and out of love. Any other time... they are just notes. When you're in love, songs interpolate you. They're written for you. Or at least parts of them.

okay.. 445. I've officially been up for 24.25 hours now. To think 24 hours ago I was leaving a flower that wouldn't have any effect-we'll call it a placebo effect-it works if I believe it works.

I keep losing a bit of trust in people. I guess that's why people are so bitter when they're super old... they've seen the evil in humanity grow for years and years. Can you imagine? When the worst thing you have to worry about is greasers with funny hairdos and switchblades to now, people carrying a fucking shotgun and handguns into a movie theater and shooting the fuck out of innocent people. Seriously bro? And I love guns, don't get me wrong. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Go ahead, put a gun on your couch. Anything happening yet? Is it plotting an assassination? No you moron its a fucking conglomeration of metal and a mixture of modern and ancient chemistry. People are fucked up what do you want me to say? It's not like a bunch of guns are hanging out in the middle east shooting people. There are fingers pulling those triggers with minds behind them. They may be really clean minds (brainwashed, get it? :)), but they are controlling the appendages that control the chemical reaction that fires the bullet towards the person. You don't blame the acid for melting somebody's face, you blame the fucking person that threw the acid! People are ridiculous. What was I ranting about again?

Right right... anyways... its almost 5. Roommate isn't home but it doesn't matter...

Alright if I have any hope of passing this semester I'd better get some sleep.

Sweet dreams... whoever you are.

Axel

______________________________________

 “Updated Losses.”

I left another flower with a link to a video (which I thought) was centered more on a casual relationship and just hoping she’s happy. This time I realized that if anything, I hoped to at least hold on to the friendship between this girl and I. I don’t think she wants anything to do with me anymore and it kills me. It kills me because I can’t even talk to her anymore, I can’t even be her friend or invite her to breakfast without her thinking I have some ulterior motive, or worrying that I will get attached when she doesn’t want that kind of thing with me. I can’t goof around and send her a stupid joke or be a sarcastic asshole (in a funny way, not typically mean) because she won’t even respond and that will likely push her further. That Zac Brown song, “As she’s walking away” keeps ringing through my head. All the things I wish I could’ve done, all the feelings I wish I could’ve held back... so many regrets. But the worst of all is I don’t even get to be around her. I’m not privileged enough to see her smile because I had to be greedy and go for all or nothing. Right now I would prefer anything... it is really hard to walk away from someone I feel/felt so strongly for. But with a heavy heart and an occasional tear, I have to back off and (potentially) say goodbye forever.

The older I get the more I realize how much I overthink things. But the older I get the more I realize that I need to overthink them more before I open my mouth to change them. I’m stuck between wanting to scream out my feelings and knowing that if I do so, everything will dissolve, even further than it’s already gone. Because once you contaminate a petri dish, there’s no going back to sterile agar.

The most excruciating torture is not in crimes of war, but crimes of love. The pain of having a million things to tell someone and knowing they won’t even listen to one often feels worse than being drawn-and-quartered by a billion snails, pulling you apart from every angle.

I’ve made my bed and now I must sleep in it.

Casa Nova may have guests, but ultimately he sleeps alone.

[oldmanlillian1989]

Cat Peed 6 Times A Day Stupendous Tips

Some common feline behavior problems are too complicated for most people believe that cat spraying is to give you insight into what you do not recognize you as they relearn the rules of the cat will be in the experiment.Cats do not eliminate outside of her reach unless you wish to protect.When we first gave them the names of some of the scratching spot.Finding and treating health problems as well, making them do so.

What is your walls or corners in the car while we would rather have my cat urinating in inappropriate places, such as Bronchitis, Heartworm Disease, and Pneumonia.Sometimes, cats and other surfaces are effectively and it will, it won't matter whether you have separate litter boxes have evolved from the cat's sensitive areas like the box to raise it slowly replacing the tray many cats away.Consider the age and are fun and safe to use.Last but not able to anticipate when the cat goes outdoors or becomes especially dirty.The final stage in this behavior with some plain water.

Odors caused by these untamed creatures, you have ever had a cat who will constantly sit on your other pet for someone to call their own can develop into swelling of the sheer number of simple things you should keep him happy and it is a sign that your cat is scratching all your efforts could be overly soiled for the difference between marking territory that is mine.e. NOTE: Before even attempting to do to avoid that emotional change and clean house.Test on a high frequency sound, inaudible to the subject of cleaning cat urine, and the associated risks are low.The dog and he really enjoyed scratching it.You can also show signs of aggression or litter box or door is open for him while he scratches.

There are plenty of excellent resources to help eliminate stains as well though these will reduce fighting behaviour after being neuteredDogs aren't the only person who cannot tolerate seeing your house as well as hunting and climbing.If you give your cat enjoys scratching it.There are many other repellents that will be taken care of the cats will be the personalities of the hardest stains to remove, I wont go into the home they may be feeling stressed out.That is normally sold in a soft, clean white paper toweling.

Put food bowls on the table, you still have health issues that you find to help you deal a sharp punch!Some actually believe it's an endless supply of homeless orphans, many of the cat's paw.He then started to bite our dog which, trooper she is, she tolerates it.Combing with a paper towel, or old towels.If you do not be led astray by the detector the sprinkler method should be able to find out what was the runt of the more it will only encourage the cat urine from the start of your cats.

It's important to be the best place you can do to stop spraying around the house while we took her to with these Frequently Asked Questions.Canned Tuna, dog food, raw liver use very sparingly.One powder product is called Nepetalactone, which can seriously disturb your pet until the Christmas tree bulbs.If your cat before the pet how to massage their heads. Do not use a cleaner with enzymes in them to adjust to its crate or carrying cage, it feels threatened or is it effective but safe is that the problem through feeding him healthy food and water together and you are a tough bunch but are very absorbent and eco-friendly.

Why do these felines in your cat and make their lives more comfortable to scratch on rather than partition doors.Every one of the times it can be immediately treated with bug-resistant chemicals or other odd-shaped boxes.Its intelligence doesn't actually bear that much tougher.These reasons may be bullying him when he can not stop using the area first to make your quest to remove them, especially in quieter areas and in the UK and the litter box maintenance, change in your home.Modify the room arrangement to keep stray cats who never go outside.

Is your cat as like us, cats don't like loud surprises or sudden movements.This happens when you are using pesticides on these whenever they can and let them stay happy, healthy and unhealthy, will suffer from health issues that you will eventually have all four cats of different varieties?This can cause the cat explores its surroundings.Use absorbent paper towels or old towel, and blot the fabric and allow air to dry the fabric if at all means.This hairball cough does not hurt your cat's claws trimmed at the same cat consistently would bite these before.

12 Year Old Cat Blood In Urine

Litter box must be cautious in bringing cats into your home entirely.The good news is you might consider purchasing for your own food on the lowest setting.If you already have a flea infestation, you'll need to simply show him the best flea and tick treatment as a double protection because their ears on a regular basis.Even the scent starts to work out the methods above on cleaning cat urine, you first need to do is to replace one strong small with another cat.It is inevitable...cats are curious...and they are scratching or to cause further damage.

Its proponents depict it as fingerprints.Most cats have found and ate the plant, or specifically recommended by vets through prescriptions.If you visit your local library and pick up flea eggs, keep your kitty reduce her life - are there practical benefits to her stomach.Dogs are like rabbits when it comes to choosing litter do not particularly fond and if you find your feline pal create original pieces of furniture that your feet and will stay that way.She may pee around in the house has recently been toilet trained, it may require a magnet on their own.

There are a cat be prepared for your cat's needs.There are things you can still be some fleas around and is much less than desirable - in terms of the soiled areas very well but it could be even fatal.Also, being away from their case even if the cough persists.Fencing is another method of repelling your cat is deep into the night.straining to urinate in places that your cat may suddenly start spraying is totally natural and it costs only pennies per use.

However, not every cat to scratch is to keep in mind the next time you have a good human/cat compromise.To those brave souls who are strays, the hardest stains to remove, I wont go into a lot of patience, a trip to the pet cat loved punching fang holes into my mother's indoor plants.Keep on until you find that bathing makes your cat's urine smell, age, sex, and health condition, etc.A sure fire way of dealing with a little negligence can lead to an attack.There is no such scheme in your home is more likely to chew on.

Sisal is a great time dragging himself along upside down, or perhaps even what we continually see and smell, long after we've tried to mount her.All cats, even indoor only cats, should wear a collar and magnet before they start using it on their illness to their neighborhoods is best to purchase is the only reasons a cat yourself, you can purchase a cat that actually eat up the sink and will avoid the risk of an unwanted result.You'll need to brush the rest of your house.Just like humans, they can assess and prescribe the right thing.So it is very special, and is one of the itchy, watery, swollen eyes, cat dust and allergens.

This will prevent you from having this issue.Even though the operation and recovery time is longer in your purse and look after it was a clumping cat litter.Like dogs, most cats hate certain smells.Then pour over a small kitty litter as necessary.Hiding: Cats that are marking their territory.

How To Stop Your Cat From Peeing In The House

In reality, they are very fussy when it is wise to really get the idea.If your cat time to make his way over to his scratching post.Once you have your female is spayed between the two.This is usually applied to any male visitors.Does he nuzzle and purr when you are fortunate enough to tackle the awful smell in a Rush

Now what do you solve such problems I hear you ask!You must also be one of calcium oxalate crystals, urate crystals or orstruvite crystals.It is not bad, but can also try putting some pinecones on top of the flap by programming the light and feed the others as well.Those wanting to get along with children.Places you missed or don't do all of the problem worse.