“Actually it’s not too uncommon for cats to eat catnip as well. It doesn’t hurt them, and some say it might actually help their digestive systems. Listen to me, sounding like some sort of cat expert.” Wow, that was entirely unexpected if you asked him. He shrugged his shoulders a bit. “Trust me, it’s okay. This right here is nice enough. Don’t have to cover every role. You’d be getting tons of things.” Without warning, Robert set the box aside and put his arms around Summer, squeezing her slightly. “Seriously, thank you. It’s a great gift.”
The sudden hug startled Summer. Feeling a little awkward, she hugged him back. He smelled nice, warm and clean and something else she thought might be aftershave. “I’m really glad you like it. I actually had forgotten you had cats; I just remembered that you liked them so I filled out the spaces with that stuff. And here it seems you know almost as much as I do about cats. Are yours purebreds, or just moggie cats?”
When Summer spoke up, he pulled away a bit, but kept his hands on her shoulders, smile placed upon his face. “If you don’t mind me saying, if I didn’t have cats, I might have had to get one to make some use of the catnip. And honestly, I wouldn’t be completely against that.” Robert’s thoughts jumbled when Summer mentioned ‘moggie’ cats. What in heaven’s name was a ‘moggie’ cat? “A moggie cat? You mean like… a cross-breed, correct? Is that a new word for that, because I’m unaware of what that term means.”
“No, a moggie is — it’s to cats what mutt is to dogs. I mean, I guess a cross-breed would be a moggie, but it’s derived from mongrel. So it’s more cats whose heritage is just whatever. All four of mine are just whatever, street cat types.” Summer fumbled in her pocket for her smartphone. “Helios doesn’t look it, though. He’s a Ragdoll throwback, I think. All his sibs were black and shorthaired, and he’s got six inch deep fur.” She unlocked the phone screen, and then turned it to Robert. “See?”