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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 3, 2009 21:50:28 GMT -5
"Watch out," Yselka quipped. "Rascal almost knocked me over doing that."
And as adults it might not be almost...at least until they learned their own strength. The cats were not, after all, small.
"And I know. They are definitely smarter than normal felines and they definitely bond to some degree." She reached down to pet Rascal behind the ears. His purr was probably heard at the Hold.
"They're still pretty soft, too, but I'm betting the adult coat will be harsher." Waterproof, too, she suspected, from their dam...
They did need to find more of them if they stayed tame, the beauties.
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Post by zenith on Mar 4, 2009 16:48:49 GMT -5
T'ron nodded. He could tell that Silvercloud was leaning on him pretty solidly. "Stout critters." He reached down and started scritching on her, too, to make her hold still and maybe stop trying to rub the pants off him. Pretty soon, he was going to stop smelling like dragon, and start smelling like feline.
"Maybe, maybe not. Depends on thier breeding, I think. Some felines retain soft coats. But then again ... I am operating off the assumptions that they're anything at all like thier smaller cousins!" He laughed softly, stroking the fluffy soft fur back away from Silver's eyes and down over the back of her head. The young female definitely looked like she was smiling, her eyes squinted most of the way closed.
And with the mention of 'breeding', T'ron's own thoughts wandered to what would happen once the feltar grew up. They had four of the kittens ... and the were all littermates. Same genetic stock. That would not be good for any further kittens that arose if they stuck around as adults. T'ron, however, did not remain silent on the subject. "If they do prove worth keeping around, we may have to go find more kittens. Broaden the gene pool." He remarked.
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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 5, 2009 0:11:32 GMT -5
Yselka nodded. "I've had the same thought myself. Or find other people who have found them and trade some stud duty."
If they were like ordinary cats, they would be easy enough to breed. Even being smarter...cats were not exactly known for restraint on such matters.
"If these don't hit maturity and split or cause trouble, then we'll be keeping our eyes open for more on all expeditions to the South, and I'll be talking to the other Weyrs too. They seem to have the potential to be useful enough to perpetuate."
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Post by zenith on Mar 5, 2009 19:15:56 GMT -5
"You hear that, Silver? You be good, and you'll be famous!" T'ron said, scrubbing on Silver Cloud's head. The kitten purred, thrumming deep in her throat happily, before suddenly changing her mind and going bouncing across the ground again, tail lashing from side to side as she pounced on her brother yet again. Used to being in the whole litter, she was accustomed to continuous action: or continuous naps, one or the other. And seeing her littermate over there, she couldn't resist pouncing on him.
Straightening, T'ron looked at Yselka again. "You might want to hold off on mentioning these to the other Weyrs, ma'am. At least until we know what they're going to do as they mature. This sort of thing could start all kinds of controversy." he cautioned.
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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 6, 2009 14:31:14 GMT -5
Yselka nodded. "I mean when and if we can be sure they will stick around. I suspect that the key point will be the first time the females come into heat."
If they didn't wander off then, they would probably stay. For now? She watched the two kittens wrestle, the tabby yowling a bit as his sister landed on one of his most precious possessions, namely his tail.
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Post by zenith on Mar 6, 2009 16:02:05 GMT -5
When they come in heat. T'ron couldn't help but sigh. If the feltar were anything like the regular variety of feline, having them come in heat was going to be a troublesome time indeed. Even if they were well behaved and didn't run amok. That, was something he certainly wasn't going to be looking forward to enduring. Esp not the clawing of items and the incessant yowling that went on with a female attracting mates. "Faranth help us." He muttered, only, running a hand over his face and then scratching his chin.
Silvercloud, oblivious to the conversation over her head, batted at Rascal's tail once, twice, changed paws, batted at again, and then pounced with both front feet, trying to scoop up the twitching, thrashing, and generally hard to hang onto appendage. Once she landed on it, she bent low to bite, but the tail got away before she could. Her own tail thrashing from side to side as if it might come unhinged at the base, she chased her brother around.
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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 7, 2009 0:23:08 GMT -5
"It's not as disruptive as when a *dragon* comes into heat," Yselka pointed out.
And she was the one who had to deal with *that* regularly...not as regularly as a greenrider, of course. She wondered about the new turquoise dragon, that couldn't seem to make up its mind whether to be male or female. Would it rise, chase, both, nether?
"Or even a firelizard, and we seem to be collecting more of those lately."
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Post by zenith on Mar 7, 2009 22:05:49 GMT -5
T'ron had to nod in agreement to that assesment: it was true. Even for riders of male dragons, dragon flights were rather disruptive, taking precedence over any and everything else that happened to be going on at the time. "Point." he said, by way of verbal agreement. "Flitters aren't that disruptive, however. It's possible to ignore them..." he shrugged. Sometimes difficult, but entirely possible. But then, in that frame of mind, it would also be possible to ignore a feline heat ... difficult, but possible.
"I guess all we can do is wait, and see what happens." T'ron said, jamming his hands into the pockets of his trousers. He looked up at the Weyrwoman, and then spoke again. "Interested in a kettle of klah?" he asked. T'ron decided that a couple of mugs of hot klah would go down really good ... and maybe give the two felines somewhere else to explore, thus saving thier fluffy tails from each other's exuberance.
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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 8, 2009 13:39:13 GMT -5
"Possible, although Rebel has had some interesting timing in the past, and he insists on chasing half the females around. He thinks he's the best bronze on Pern."
The firelizard, perched on a nearby rock, actually chirped indignantly. What did she mean, thinks? Then he took off with a squawk as Rascal saw him and decided *his* tail would be interesting to pounce. She did not miss the flitter by as much as he would have liked and he flicked between, reappearing above Yselka's shoulder and claiming his perch quickly.
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Post by zenith on Mar 10, 2009 0:12:43 GMT -5
T'ron laughed. "Only half?" He asked, poking fun at the Weyrwoman. The man felt more or less comfortable around her, despite everything, and was not adverse to poking at her a bit. Besides ... he couldn't imagine being stuck in a position that would completely rob the day of any kind of humor just cause everyone was afraid to crack a joke.
Silver Cloud sat down and watched as her brother tried to catch the fliter ... and then watched as said flitter landed on Yselka's shoudler. Standing up on her hind legs, she stretched upwards, paws resting on the Weyrwoman's thigh, reaching for the flitter up there. "Mrrrrrrrr?" She asked, one paw batting at the air over her head.
The grin vanished from T'ron's face instantly, and he stepped forward to scoop Silver up, and off of Yselka's leg. One never knew when those claws would suddenly dig in and rip out. "Er ... " he started, setting the feltar down again, and taking a hold of her scruff. "Sorry about that."
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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 10, 2009 11:24:18 GMT -5
Yselka grinned. "No bronze could chase all of them, too hard work."
"And careful there, Silver, humans are fragile.
Rascal, hearing her, mrrrred and padded back over, glancing up at the firelizard himself. He sort of knew better than to chase it, but he could watch. It might come within reach, and while he didn't want to eat it...
...he did want to play!
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Post by zenith on Mar 10, 2009 21:38:58 GMT -5
Silver Mrrowed, and reached forward with one paw, held more or less in position for the moment by T'ron's grip on her scruff. Her expression was rather strange for it, rather pulled back giving her an elongated eye look. Wiskers twitching, she batted at the air in Rascal's direction. She wanted to play, too! But her pet wasn't letting her move! Other than tail-lashing and useless pawing, that is.
"I suppose you're right." T'ron admitted. Chasing was hard work ... and males rose in flights far more often than even greens did.
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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 11, 2009 11:26:54 GMT -5
Yselka grinned. "He prefers golds, anyway. Greens are somewhat beneath him except for practice...typical bronze."
Rascal decided to be evil, walking past his sister and trying to bat her on the nose with his tail. So not fair!
Rebel, for his part, was staying on Yselka's shoulder, trusting that his human would not let the cats climb her to get to him. He could always go hang out with Lyeth if they got too troublesome...
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Post by zenith on Mar 11, 2009 21:28:42 GMT -5
"Well ... that is typical of bronzes, yes." T'ron agreed. "But it's good he's staying in practice ... keeps his tubby self in shape." He jabbed, playfully again, this time at the flitter. A tiny grin was hinting at the corners of the brownrider's mouth, betraying the humor.
Silver batted at her brother's tail, trying to catch it on the way past. At the last swipe, she managed to more or less scoop it straight into her open mouth. And she nommed on it a little. Silver didn't actually bite down, she wasn't trying to hurt him at all. Just play. But she certainly let him know she was making a concerted jab at being in possession of his tail. The fluffy thing ...
She was going to be spitting up hair for awhile...
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Post by ShadowReine on Mar 12, 2009 11:34:18 GMT -5
Rascal yelped. His *tail*!
Because, as we all know, a cat's tail is his dignity.
He turned around and 'attacked' his sister...not seriously, but he was very definitely letting her know his tail was not hers to nom on, or anyone's!
"Cats," Yselka pronounced, amused. "Well, as long as they don't go after firelizard tails, that will only frustrate them." Firelizards, after all, could move faster than any mere feline.
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