Cat is a marvelous language. Volumes can be said by the angle of an ear, or just what body part it is that needs urgent grooming. Some messages are simple; loud meowing by an empty food dish is hard to mistake. By comparison, only masters can tell the difference between a eagerly desired belly rub, and a viciously barbed hand trap, and even then not reliably. Kitten eyes fell squarely in the first category, especially when backed up by a snow white coat and dainty meow. It all made for an underhanded, but brutally effective combination, employed indiscriminately on passers-by. “Oh, honey, look! She's sooo cute! Let's buy her.” “Of course it was a nonsense proposition,” the man at the bar intoned, gesturing expansively from his seat with a half-empty glass. His efforts were underappreciated, the room sparsely populated as it was, mid-afternoon on a weekday. The bags under the fellow’s bloodshot eyes didn't help, though his rumpled suit was tailored well enough to keep the bartender’s attention. The bartender didn't skip a beat as he polished glasses, his raised an eyebrow the only sign he was keeping up with the conversation. That was all the encouragement the fellow needed to gulp down his drink and continue. “You see, we have no provision for a cat. She just saw the little fuzzball in the store window as we were passing by. A minute before she was going on and on about clothes. Not the slightest mention of any sort of pet ever before. Now, logically-” The bartender set another drink before him, cutting off his diatribe. “So you bought the cat.” The man glowered at the drink for a moment before snatching it up and looking away. “Well of course I did. What else could I do?” The bartender chuckled. “Women and cats - they get what they want. That's just how it is.” The man leaned back in his chair swirling the drink before taking a sip. “Joke's on her, though. I'll get a dog, too.” Upright ears can be a sign of happiness, especially when paired with half-lidded eyes as these were. They quivered ever so slightly as muffled barking was cut off by the slam of a car door. An engine revved, and then quiet descended, enough to hear faint purring. Footsteps approached. “Well, that's the last of it. Good riddance to the both of them, isn't that right, Snowball?”