For reasons not worth detailing, I have temporary custody of Tabbatha's cat Midnight. As longtime readers may remember, Midnight spent several months here last year, so I just sort of thought it'd be cool, everybody would know each other and everything would be (relatively) calm.
I realize cats have very little short-term memory, but--and this can't be stressed enough--Midnight used to live here. As soon as I let him out of his carrier, he immediately headed for the bathroom window, his favorite nesting spot. Clearly, he remembered the place.
Everything was going to be fine, right? Right?
But his mere presence sent Delmar into a hissy fit the likes of which I've never seen, growling and wailing and carrying on with such force I fully expected him to collapse from a stroke. Even when Midnight was in another room, Del still carried on, even physically attacking me, apparently for the crime of bringing this...this...thing into his presence.
Midnight seemed okay at first, even rolling over onto his back to allow me to rub his tummy, but eventually Del's growling got to him, and he started growling back. It never really went anywhere, a couple of low-life wannabes slinking around hurling threats at each other, like the world's most hapless gang leaders.
While all of this went on, Monika hopped up on a chair, the better to literally look down on her roommates. The deal with Monika is, as long as I pay proper attention to her (the attention she deserves as The Most Beautiful Cat In The World), I could bring a crazed hyena into the apartment and she wouldn't care. (Unless, of course, the hyena made the mistake of getting in her face, in which case, she'd have to give it her patented James Coburn Zen Cool smackdown. But that's another story.)
I didn't get much sleep. Del sat at the foot of the bed all night, wide awake and on guard, and his weird guttural rumblings were like having a subwoofer cranked to 11. As I write this--through bleary eyes--Del and Midnight are growling from opposite sides of the room, and the tedious, unwavering tones are like being forced to listen to a Gyorgy Ligeti composition.
Fortunately, Midnight goes home this afternoon. It wouldn't surprise me at all if, by that time, he won't want to leave, as he and Del will be scampering around like the bestest buddies in the world.
Jerks.
