Kestine Day – 7/10
The upside to House Ayarane being dominated by pets is that their birthdays carry the same significance as those of the human residents. As in… loot and food!

Kestine is 3 years old today, that sleepy orange punk, and he’s getting a new nametag (his collar broke and went missing a couple weeks ago), and I’m pretty sure there’s some nomtasty kitty treats too (he gobbles up the chicken-flavored Natural Temptations like cookies). As for the humans? Totally an excuse for cake and pizza. :P

I wake up to Kestine trying to drag over one of the lighter blankets by the corner in his mouth. My groggy mind interprets this as him trying to bring me a blanket.

NOPE. Dude flops right in the middle and starts wiggling and such on his back, all paws up ‘n such. Pity my phone’s charging down the hall, else I’d get a pic. XD

Also I think he likes my liar shirt (“No I will not fix your computer,” which is of course a big fat lie but I like the sass anyway) a bit too much, since he was all kneading on it and even face-shoving on it. Silly cat.

I’ma doze a little more, to sleep off the squee-over from yesterday… @_@

In many respects I still consider myself a newbie cat owner, as I’ve only had cats for a couple of years. At the same time, I realize that every cat is unique. I am fortunate that my first and current kitty is considered the sweetest, most well-behaved cat EVER, and every so often he’ll start some new behavior that is just… ridiculously cute.

In this case, Kestine’s latest thing is to physically crawl on and sit on my chest if I’m sitting on a reclining chair. Blatantly attention-seeking? Oh yes. (Fortunately, if I’m sitting in one of those chairs… it is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that I’m doing something that requires significant attention. Only thing I could think of is if I were playing my DS or PSP, but those I could easily set aside for a few minutes.) But it seems there’s something more to this… because once I start petting him or what-have-you, he is not only already purring, but he’ll actually knead my shirt or cloak or whatever I happen to be wearing.

It is, of course, SLIGHTLY uncomfortable when he’s walking around on me (it’s a weight distribution thing… you try having a 13-pound cat walk on your chest! Oof!) but hardly noticeable when he sits/lies down and, more importantly, he knows not to use his claws. :P

Is this kitty for “hug tiem nao?” Because that’s the closest translation I can come up with. Whatever the case, it’s just stupidly adorable. :P

Nothing better to do (aside from Ramen), so while I nom on Jack in the Box… time for a useless post about the cats that dwell in House Ayarane.

Kestine: Everyone calls him Yellow Kitty for some reason. He’s the oldest cat (2 years) and while he’s not particularly playful with other cats he will chase (and be chased by) Daisy sometimes. Since he is specifically mine, he tends to gravitate towards me if I’m within view– he’ll get in bed with me and curl up on a side pillow for awhile (or try to rub his face on the corners of Dinah’s monitor lid), or hop up on the side table when I’m on Blastoise and rub his face on things or try to yank ketchup packets out of my condiment bag, or, most adorably, lie in a loaf position on the upper edge of the couch, then hop down and curl up next to me while I watch TV. Kestine is not really big on toys, he much prefers to be petted and will tolerate being held for about a minute. He has a “search meow” that he’ll do if he’s looking for me. He also purrs easily and it is so powerful that you can hear it from across the room. Freaking Barry White-grade purr…

Daisy: The little diva queen. Very, VERY nosy! Even though Kestine is bigger, Daisy will give him crap anyway (usually kicking him off the cat towers) and swat at him if he comes sniffing her butt. :P She’s usually quiet until OMG FOOD, at which she’ll pace around and meow lots and lots until the food bowl is set. While she’ll tolerate attention from LOL BULLDOGS, she quickly finds herself overpowered by the evil wiggly puppies (who just want to sumo-tackle and sniff her). It’s hilarious to see Daisy fleeing from BabyGirl and doing her annoyed meow, as if to say “Ugh, go away!”

Chloe: NINJA CAT! Like Daisy, it seems that Chloe may be naturally small when she matures. She’s freaking hyper, dashing all over the place, tackling and jumping and swatting… She also has what I call a “query purr,” used to either get attention or solicit some kind of response from another cat or human. Evil wiggly puppies are spooky to her. Chloe likes to get on your shoulder or bat at hair if it’s long enough.

Betty: She’s a combination of Daisy and Kestine as far as personality goes. She has kind of a diva-like meow but she’s much more “love meeee~” and is very tolerant of being picked up and cuddled, more than even Kestine. If she’s familiar with you, she’ll actually go back and forth with you if you meow at her. It’s really cute. XD She has a “rolling purr” that sounds like rolling marbles in a sack. In other ways, she is somewhat reminiscent of brendala‘s cat… can’t put my finger on what, specifically.

So I’m trying to finish Elves are Not Watermelons and Kestine jumps on my desk all “YOU WILL PET ME RIGHT NOW OR I WILL NEVER STOP PACING AROUND AND I WILL BE CUTE IN ORDER TO MAKE YOU WANT TO PET ME, MEOW MEOW MEOW.” And because I am that much of a sucker, I comply.

…repeat about, oh, five times in the past 3 hours. @_@

Yes, kitty, I love you, but I also have this pic to finish because I said I’d have it done tonight and I’d look like a flake if I didn’t.

As a bit of a teaser, and because I neglected to do so earlier, I’ll post the WIP phase of the line art phase:

If I can finish coloring this punk (sand, damn you, SAND!) before conking out for the night… good! Otherwise… I think it’ll be worth the wait.