🌹 Riddle - Cat coded. In the sense of a neglected stray (black? calico? something expensively groomed and trained and yet deemed as a 'failure') refusing to be too reliant upon human hands again and hostile aggressiveness was the only way he could communicate his frustration over his utter lack of control. Cat coded in the sense he gives in so easily to curiosity, eyes dilating in interest as he gets entranced by perfectly normal things in the world that should have been kinder to him. The foster that exists to be seen but never heard, but you've managed to get through enough he starts learning he can trust you, starts accepting and following through the boundaries you set up so long as you respect his as you form an uneasy coexistence. Cat coded in the sense of consistency, how he chooses to follow you in every room even if he doesn't quite know how to be play yet, and he waits and waits with slow blinks and initially startles away from physical affection but is slowly growing to enjoy them with a rare purr.
♦️ Cater - Cat coded in the way of an orange cat stray turned outside/house cat with one brain cell to bug you before making sure you watch him do the stupid thing. Cat coded in the way you stick out your hand and he leans into it because he knows he's pretty and cute and he likes stealing your attention (and affection). Cat coded in the sense he waltzes up to you when he feels like it but please leave him alone when his social battery is low and he needs some peace/quiet but please stay in the room it gets so very lonely and eventually he'll go back to sitting next to you. He seems sociable enough to be a dog but he's not really a golden retriever or overly friendly and loud all the time, he doesn't perform tricks just for you it's always because he likes to, his depression and signs of stress are too subtle to be detected unless you read between the signs. But it's okay, he'll bounce back. He chooses to come back because he likes you enough to enjoy staying by your side to bother you and actually accept staying indoors permanently if you're there to take care of him.
♣️ Trey - Dog. Not just in the way he's a friendly dog trained to be in service of people. In the way he watches people pass by and finds their company acceptable enough to engage but he'll forever lies down at the feet of his companions unless requested to move. Dog-coded in the way when peace is broken, he insists on fixing things even when he doesn't have the means to. Dog coded in the way he willingly waits for your hand [that could save/adore/punish/devaste] and he selflessly (selfishly) chains his body and soul to serving you to fulfill himself. He lives on your praise, your happiness, your reliance on him and it's pathetically sweet how much he wants to give you a better life like the peaceful life that he had (a life that you deserve more than he ever will).
They hadn't always been this way. When did they start getting closer? They had been tensed up, disorganised. Terrified of stepping in each other’s space (mostly the very spicy foster's before he received his needed treatment) and barely in the same room for fear of attaching themselves wrong.
But they figured out somehow that — it is nice and toasty by the service dog's side and he shares the good snacks. The foster is a fierce advocate at any sign of ill-treatment from outsiders and is the perfect size to glomp. It is never a dull time when the orange cat is about and he's so much more physically affectionate for the two shyer companions.
Anyways dumping them in a cuddle pile, please do not separate. Or do, not that I can control what people do but they're terribly bonded and they delibrately try to be around each other to me.
