Conquering the Living Room

Thursday, June 19th, 2014

Last night after I wrote the last entry, I had eaten supper and then wanted to read a book. Apricot was back under the headboard.

I wanted to read my book in my comfy chair in the living room, but I thought that wasn't fair to Apricot, leaving him alone when I was actually in the house and wasn't away at work, so I took my book into the bedroom, prepared to sit down by the bed and read without bothering to coax him out. Just to be with.

He came out instantly and would have none of the book reading. Those hands should be petting him, not holding a book. Okay, that's fine. The book will always be here; he won't. (Yes, I have a slight obsession with death. Sorry.)

Apricot had more on his mind than being petted, though. He jumped up on the bed and I followed. Then he jumped down on the other side and headed out into the hallway. In the hallway, not a foot from the door, he lost his nerve and started to come back in.

I'd seen an opportunity though and wasn't about to let him chicken out if I could help it. So I cooed brave boy noises at him and edged out into the hall with him, putting myself a little down the hall toward the living room.

This is where I learned <at this point in writing, I got interrupted. I shall tell you about it later> anyway, I learned that he knows his name and what "come on" means, as well as my disappointed, "where are you going?" which means "come back."

He would get brave, and pass me, and then lose courage and stop, and look like he was about to go back the other way, and I would encourage, and move past him, and then he'd repeat the process, and in this funny leapfrog way, we made it into the living room and I made it into my chair.

And then me-in-the-chair became equivalent in lending bravery to Apricot like me-sleeping-in-bed. He promptly began to explore the living room. I've probably mentioned it already, but my living room used to be the living room, the den, and the kitchen but the people who lived here before me made it into one big room which is my favorite room in the house. It's open and airy and has four windows plus the patio doors which are panes of windows, and a fireplace which doesn't work, but lends that brick comfy look to the room, and it's lined with bookshelves and cat trees (two) and my computer desk.

Apricot drinking from the fountain

Apricot explored all of it. He even poked his head into the kitchen (it's around a corner so I can't see how far in he got). He went up the spiral stair cat tree which has a cup at the top for kitties to be in, and the first time he bumped the toy mouse that hangs from the cup, and startled himself because it has a jingle bell in it. But then he went up again shortly thereafter and made it into the cup, where he stayed looking out the window until an ambulance siren three streets away startled him into leaving.

Waiting for me to finish the book and come to bed

He came back around 9 pm and wanted to know if I was going to bed yet. ::giggle:: I have a cat alarm clock again. Pippin always used to do that, come in and inquire as to if I knew what time it was and shouldn't I be in bed by now? Pippin's reason was actually that he was sleepy too, since he slept on my schedule, and Apricot's doing it because that's the routine he's used to with me and if you break routine, you make anxious kitties nervous. It's still adorable.

This morning he came up onto the bed when invited and shared phone-game time with my hands. He didn't really want to share; he wanted my hands all to himself to pet him. He loves to mark my hands with the scent glands at the corners of his mouth, to the point where sometimes I can even feel my skin get wet. I think it makes him feel more comfortable with the human hands if they smell more like him. I don't mind this nearly as much as I mind being washed (which he hasn't done yet). I don't mind this kind of scent-marking at all, actually. I think it's sweet.

And this afternoon when I came home, I managed to coax him into the living room again where I sat down to type this. And the interruption came when he decided to clamber into the chair with me. So I put the laptop aside and engaged him in much praise and petting, especially when he tried out my lap with contemplation rather than trepidation. He decided it was too hot and my skin moves over my muscles and bones when it is stepped on and that is unnerving. Since I've never had a cat who had any other opinion of my lap, despite several of them being lap cats on occasion, it's not like this decision offended me!

A lot of me next to a happy Apricot

He spent perhaps ten minutes curled up next to me in the chair, but again, it's too hot in the house to be doing that for long, so then he went down onto the floor.

Unfortunately he has retreated to the bedroom again because there was thunder and it scared him.

Um. Oh dear. What am I going to do when I have to vacuum on Saturday? I do hope I'm not going to scare him back to square one!