Unexpected day / off from work results in a / multipup EP!

[a_mere_child]

A pregnant woman,
poring over a large map
of Australia.

A Warehouse agent,
seated at the piano,
playing Tom Lehrer.

A long, lean, black cat,
stalking small scurrying things
through the new spring grass.

One mun, many pups,
one outside and two inside.
Which one will you tag?

[Open 'til it scrolls. Haiku optional.]

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It's been a long day back home, all fast marching and fighting and running across the Wasteland in the dark. Sometimes you really just need to be somewhere that isn't a tumbledown desert. Outside behind Milliways is good, even if it means a soggy butt from sitting on the grass (Ellen isn't really used to the whole concept of water from below).

She's never seen a cat hunting before. She's just going to lean forward and watch with her chin in her hands and a fascinated look on her face.

[withhistailhigh]

The cat slinks through the grass, belly almost on the ground, eyes fixed on a small shrew grooming its whiskers. He stops and drops down even lower. Nothing moves except the very tip of his tail.

Then--POUNCE.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Oh, that's a fine sight to see. Cat hunting is a lot different than Dogmeat's hunting.

- did it actually work? Or did the shrew escape?

[withhistailhigh]

Oh, the shrew is still there, pinned under the cat's paws.

Then the cat moves its paw, the shrew wriggles free, and he pounces again.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen grins at that. Not because she enjoys seeing the shrew suffer, but because it's something, to watch something as unfamiliar as a cat in action.

She's trying to stay quiet. It wouldn't be nice to disrupt the hunt by laughing or calling out.

[withhistailhigh]

Escape, skitter, pounce. Escape, skitter pounce. After several iterations of this, the cat finally takes the shrew in his jaws and makes the killing bite.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Now she can applaud, right? Because she's going to. It was worth it.

[withhistailhigh]

The cat turns, prey still in his mouth, and gives Ellen a quizzical look.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You hunted well," Ellen says. "I enjoyed watching you."

Whether this is the cat she's met before or not, she doesn't know, but why not explain herself?

[withhistailhigh]

The cat pads over and drops the dead shrew at Ellen's feet, looking up at her expectantly.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Dogmeat usually wants praise when he does that. Ellen leans forward to stroke the cat's head, and perhaps scratch him behind the ears if he allows it. "Lovely work," she says. "You did a good job, cat."

[withhistailhigh]

The cat leans into her hand, purring.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Ooh, you're enjoying that, huh?" says Ellen, and scritches a little more firmly before shifting to running one hand along the cat's back. "Very nice. I'm glad you approve."

[withhistailhigh]

And now you have a cat winding around your ankles, Ellen.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Um," says Ellen, a little startled. Dogmeat doesn't do that. "Is that good? Did I do something right?"

[withhistailhigh]

"Yes. Yes you did."