(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Caturday Pootie Diary: Scents and Scent-ability [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-18 Freddie got up and stretched once he was done receiving pets. He climbed off me and curled up at the end of the bed. “You gonna sleep here all day?” I asked, watching how comfortable he had made himself. He murmured something unintelligible. I brushed my teeth and changed into my workout clothes, and left the room brushing my fingers over his fur as I passed him. He didn’t so much as twitch as I went by. Thirty-five minutes later I reentered my bedroom, sweaty but energized. I chuckled when I saw the cat had not moved an inch. I kicked off my sneakers, undressed and headed for the shower. Squeaky clean and wrapped in a towel, I left the bathroom to veg out for a few minutes before getting ready for work. I noticed that Freddie was no longer on the bed but didn’t think much of it as I threw myself down on my mattress with a sigh. I relaxed for a moment, getting mentally ready for the day ahead. “Smells good,” Freddie said from the floor by my feet. I lifted my arm to my nose and sniffed. “Smells like soap,” I said. “Good,” he repeated, his voice a little muffled. “It’s cotton candy scented!” I agreed. I sat up so I could see him. His face was buried in my shoe. “That’s what smells good?” I choked. He lifted his head from the inside of the sneaker and started to rub his head along the outside of it. “Freddie, I just worked out! Those shoes are sweaty and stinky!” “Good,” he said again, putting his face back inside. I laughed at his silliness. I stood and started to dress, ignoring his continued attention to my shoes. Almost fully clothed, I picked up my shirt and shook it out. It was black with lacy sleeves and one of my favorites. It was covered in tan fur. I frowned down at him. “Did you roll around on my clothes while I was in the shower?” He pulled his head out of my shoe and looked up at me. “Yes,” he said. “Why?” “So you can smell me while you’re out hunting.” “While I’m out...hunting…?” “When you leave all day.” “I’m going to work,” I explained. “To get food, right?” “Among other things, yes.” He stuck his head back into my shoe. “Hunting,” he told the sole. I pulled on my shirt and looked down at it. I sighed. There was no hiding the fur. And no other work appropriate shirts until I did laundry again. I tried to wipe the fur off with brisk sweeps of my palms. It worked a little, but anyone who looked at me could tell I had a cat. “You want me to smell you, huh?” He emerged again from my shoe and stretched. “You’ll feel good when you smell me,” he explained. “Because we’re friends and we take care of each other.” “That’s...sweet,” I said. “I like that.” I decided I could live with the fur. “And also any predators will know you’re protected,” he continued. “Since you aren’t very scary.” “I can live with not very scary.” “And you sleep really deeply. Anything could sneak up on you!” “That’s why you sleep on the end of the bed?” “To keep you safe!” I bent down to pet him. “I need my shoes back,” I said. He looked over at them and reluctantly sat, giving me access. “I wish I could sleep on them,” he said, sadly. “Maybe on the weekend. I’ll go the gym and get them nice and stinky for you.” He rubbed his body on my calves, adding his fur to my pants. “I’ll sleep on them after and they’ll smell like our friendship.” Happy Caturday, Peeps! Scent is very important to pooties, but they sure do experience it differently than we do! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/18/2153638/-Caturday-Pootie-Diary-Scents-and-Scent-ability Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/