Today I needed a good snuggle, and...

when I need a good snuggle I call for Kai. He comes running around the corner, tail up and purrbox at the ready. I can hear him vibrating before I've even picked him up. We're good for twenty seconds (thirty, tops); then he looks askance at the fingers rubbing his ears, and he cranes his neck to get good nip-angle. He shifts his weight and braces his hind legs against my chest, and that's when I know to put him down...

Now, Meera on the other hand, doesn't know what it means to be biddable. She comes when she's ready, and that's usually when I'm climbing into bed. I'll keep my eyes open for another few minutes while I give her a deep-muscle backrub. Tiny as she is, she loves to have her whole body kneaded like bread, with vigor, with both hands. She's a loaf of pumpernickel, with streaks of rye.

When I'm done, and when she's done, and when I'm scootching farther under the covers, she drops the purr like yesterday's FancyFeast, and becomes a snarly junglecat. I've learned to lie completely still until she's flounced off the bed. Then and only then do I feel safe enough to rearrange my legs, and bring my arms out from under the covers. I'm at her mercy, this baby no longer than my shin, no heavier than a book.