Chapter 22 Socializing

After thinking about it for a while, Rowan didn't get an answer.

It was hard for him to imagine that he would go and talk to another person about his past, about his family, about his journey so far ... He needed to show a completely authentic version of himself, not the one that other people saw him as.

Once the pallet of what had happened to him came out, it meant that there would be a very deep intersection between him and her.

He wasn't mentally prepared for that.

Let's keep the status quo for now.

At least, until he got to know her a little better.

Rowan closed his eyes, and this time he did fall asleep, a deep and restful sleep.

-

Selene was woken up by her own alarm.

She squinted her eyes and subconsciously felt down her side, realizing that she didn't feel her phone, but a furry mess instead, and then remembered that she wasn't in her own bed, but lying on the couch in her next door neighbor's house.

Selene turned the alarm off, sat up and stretched, and put her hand on the top of the closed-eyed blonde's head again and rubbed it, the softness coming from her fingertips and giving the urge to go back to sleep again.

"It's about time, too." Selene slapped her face and sat up from the couch.

One more meal put away by the dog and she was done for the day and could go home to work.

She had just seen a text message that the same city runner had delivered the factory-issued toys and put them in the delivery locker.

Selene went downstairs, carried the large bag from the delivery locker to the elevator, and waited for a long time to unpack the delivery when she got home.

"There were so many different kinds of pet toys sent to her by Pampered by Pets, including several cat teasers and even a dozen replacement heads in the shape of insects, feathers and birds, all of which were very well made.

Other toys include electric mice, silent plush balls, folding tunnels, educational hidden food toys, bamboo dragonfly frisbee ...

Selene's eyes were dazzled by the variety of toys.

She never knew that there were wanted so many kinds of cat toys.

However, it doesn't seem to be much of a reference for her to evaluate the toys that cats play with. Many of the hidden food toys are too easy for humans to play with, and only the interactive toys are interesting to her.

She usually likes to get Faye to play with the cat teaser with her, ostensibly because she wants to make a video, but there is also ... a factor that she quite likes to play with it.

After becoming a cat, some instincts are really irresistible.

When she sees the kind of thing that will pop up in front of her eyes, she really can't help but pounce on it, and she can't get tired of playing with it, she simply can't get tired of playing with it.

So how is she going to objectively evaluate pet toys?

Headache, if only I could ask other cats what toys they like to play with.

Wait ...

She is allowed to ask right! She couldn't understand dog language, could she not understand cat language?

The more Selene thought about it, the more she realized it would work.

Now it's just missing a few research subjects.

-

"What the hell? You're going out?"

Faye, who had just gotten home when she heard this, was instantly confused.

The orange cat crouched on the counter nodded and started typing on her cell phone again.

"I'm going to meet the other cats and kittens. There's something I want to ask them."

Faye: "..."

"I've done some research. There are still quite a lot of tenants who keep cats in our neighborhood. There are quite a few just on our side of building A. 502 and 1201 in the next unit, 1802 in our unit, and 701 and 702 in the third unit, all have cats"

Faye looked even more confused: "How do you know?"

"Of course I know, I know Sophie has cats from the group chat of the neighborhood residents' group, then I added Sophie, and Sophie dragged me into our neighborhood's cat friends group."

"Sophie is the resident of 1802 downstairs. She has two cats, a Ragdoll named Bella and a short blue cat named Oliver."

She would always admire her sister's social skills.

Faye had just finished sighing in her mind when the next instant she had a new question, "So how are you going to get there? These cats are pet cats kept at home eh."

"The mountain man has his own plan!"

"Let's go, let's go to Sophie's house first, I just told her I wanted to take the cats to play with her family cats and she happily agreed"

"Don't forget to bring the freeze-dried stuff. We're guests. We're giving gifts."

What a clear arrangement for her.

Faye helplessly took Selene's cell phone and put it in her pocket, and picked up the bag of freeze-dried that was placed to the side before picking up the orange cat in front of her.

"Alright, let's go."

-

Rui Xue Hua Ting, the doorway of 1802, Unit 2, Block A.

Faye stood in front of the door with a slight sense of urgency and pressed the doorbell.

Unlike Selene, she wasn't good at socializing. She was articulate in front of her acquaintances, but once faced with strangers, she wilted. It wasn't that she was resistant to socializing, it was entirely due to her personality.

She was always subconsciously talking out of turn, saying things that other people didn't like to hear, and she wanted to change this bad habit but couldn't, so in the end, she could only choose to keep quiet, and say less and be less wrong.

The door soon opened.

Behind the door was a girl who looked very lively. She covered her mouth and excitedly shouted, "Ah--your orange cat is so cute!"

"You are welcome to play in my house! You came so fast, I thought it would be a bit later."

"It's upstairs after all." Faye's mind went blank for a split second after she finished speaking, before she remembered the gift she was holding.

She hurriedly handed it over, "This is for your cat."

Sophie gave a somewhat surprised look and took the freeze-dried in Faye's hand with a more enthusiastic smile:

"Thank you, Bella and Oliver love eating this brand of freeze-dried. Later on I also have some newly bought canned food here, so bring a few of them back for the cubs to try."

"Good." Faye nodded stiffly and followed Sophie through the door.

Selene was still nestled in Faye's arms pretending to be dead. As soon as she entered the door she lifted her head and jumped to the floor and started looking for the other cats in the house.

Sophie: "I thought your little orange was timid, she couldn't raise her head the whole time just now."

Faye subconsciously returns, "She's still timid, she's bold then."

"Hahahahaha ..." Sophie was amused by Faye's words, "It's good to be bold, my Bella is very timid, Oliver is better."

"Bella and Oliver?"

"Nuh-uh, the Ragdoll cat that came forward to run out and interact with your little orange is Bella, and the blue cat that's still hiding on the cat climbing frame and cat-sneaking and looking down is Oliver."

Faye nodded, "So, kittens really do have different personalities."

"They don't seem to repel each other to me, so let the cats play by themselves and I'll show you my inventory!"

Faye glanced at the orange cat's back, took a deep breath, and nodded as if she were dying, "... Okay."

Together, the two headed towards Sophie's storage room.

-

In front of Selene's eyes was a very pretty Ragdoll cat.

With exceptionally fluffy fur, navy blue eyes, and an M-shaped bobcat tattoo on its face, it was a very nice blue mountain double-colored Ragdoll cat.

It was staring at her curiously, and squinting.

Although Selene was considered a very social type, she was a little apprehensive after the socialization went from a human to a cat.

It was also her first time interacting with another cat as a cat.

This was the beginning of cat-cat friendships. How was she supposed to greet a cat?

Selene tentatively spoke, "Hello?"

But there was no response from the other side, just a blink.

After a while, she thought of something else. This guy seemed to be a foreign cat. He couldn't speak English, right?

So Selene tried again and opened her mouth, "Hallo?"

This time the Ragdoll cat's reaction was even greater, and he cocked his head with a puzzled look.

Selene sat down on the floor, incredulous, "No way, I really don't understand! Is it because my cat language isn't authentic?"

"What?"

Selene snapped her head up to look at the ragdoll cat that had spoken, "You understand?"

The ragdoll cat took a few more steps forward and leaned in close to the orange cat and sniffed, "Why don't you understand? Who are you?"

Selene choked, "I'm your owner's friend's cat, my name is Orange."

Bella shook her head and walked back, "Oh~ Then you're so rude, you don't even say hi to me."

"Eh?" Selene was a little confused, "Didn't I say 'hello' to you?"

The blue cat nestled above the cat climbing frame finally couldn't help but squeal out after hearing Selene's remark, "That's the human way of saying hello!"

Selene: ...

It was her first time being a cat too. How could she possibly know how cats greet cats?

Selene chased after the ragdoll cat and unashamedly asked, "So how do cats greet cats?"

"Didn't your mom teach you that?" Muppet Cat asked, turning her head in disbelief.

Looking at the confused orange cat in front of him, Muppet Cat gave another sympathetic look, "Well, some cats and kittens don't have moms."

Selene didn't know what to say.

Her mom was human, so of course she wouldn't teach her how cats and kittens greeted each other.

Also, why should she be sympathized with by a cat?

"Gee, really, I'll teach you!" The blue cat jumped down from the cat climbing frame.

All Selene saw was the round blue cat walking up to her, squinting at her before she pressed up against her side and sniffed her before finally rubbing her body against her.

"Get it? You have to look at the eyes first! The eyes are the windows to the soul! How do you know if the other person is a good cat without looking at the eyes?"

"Then, it's to smell, hmmm ... You have a nice smell. I kinda like it. It seems to be a good cat."

"Finally, it is the exchange of flavor. You also have to rub against me, so that we exchanged flavor is a familiar cat."

... Strange knowledge added.

Selene came to her realization and she rubbed her body against the blue cat's as well.

The blue cat let out an exclamation, "You're a fast learner, you seem to be a smart cat."

Selene always felt more mixed emotions.

It didn't seem like it was something to be proud of for her as a human to be praised by a cat for being smart.

Selene spoke awkwardly, "By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Oliver, and that really smelly muppet cat is Bella."

"I'm Orange." Selene remembered her purpose all of a sudden, "By the way Oliver, what kind of toys do you like to play with?"

"Toys?" The blue cat thought for a moment, "Lots of them, I'll show you!"

Selene followed the blue cat to a room.

She knew that Sophie had set up a cat room for her cat. That's why she thought of coming to her house, but it was still more shocking to witness it in person.

The rich kids among cats were these two, I guess.

"My favorite thing to play with is this! Balls!"

The blue cat burrowed into a litter and then ran over with a small yellow ball in its mouth.

"Look how, I'll play it for you."

Selene then watched as the plump blue cat showed her how to kick the ball on the floor with its nimble hands.

"Look ... see! I'm still good with my hands!" Within two minutes, the blue cat came back panting with the ball in its mouth.

Selene could only praise against her will, "You kicked it really well, I won't watch the national soccer team without you."

The blue cat looked up proudly, "You mean those humans kicking around on the TV? I also think I'm better than them."

Out of nowhere, Ragdoll Cat grunted disdainfully, "Stupid cats play that."

"Stinky Bella! You're the stupid one!" The blue cat was instantly annoyed and lunged towards the ragdoll cat.

Selene took one look and got a little anxious.

She hadn't finished her research yet, and these two couldn't fight.

Selene hurriedly stood in the middle of the two cats, separated them, and persuaded them bitterly, "We are quality kittens, we can't fight!"

The two cats froze in place at the same time, reading each other's minds in each other's eyes.

"Why is fighting unqualified?!"

Selene didn't see the two kittens' desire to speak at all, and only felt doubly relieved that her persuasion was extraordinarily useful.

She hadn't realized that kittens knew more about reasoning than humans, and a human would not be so good at persuading them to fight.

Selene turned her head to look at the ragdoll cat, and then vainly asked, "Bella, what toys do you like to play with?"

The Ragdoll Cat, whose head was still confused by Selene's behavior, was silent for a while before speaking:

"I like to play with these, the owner puts food in them."

The muppet cat walked over to a puzzle hidden food toy and pawed at it a few times, scooping up a freeze-dried treat from underneath one of the movable blocks and swallowing it in one gulp, and then walked over to a clear ball shaped leaky food toy and pawed at it. The freeze-dried treats flew out of the clear ball with the force of the spring underneath it.

The Ragdoll cat ate it with a slurping sound.

The blue cat rolled on the floor in agony at the sight, yelling, "Those aren't fun at all! It's so annoying to eat something! It's all because of you that the owner buys these bad things all the time."

Selene sort of understood.

Some kittens like to play with challenging toys that reward them for their ingenuity.

Some kittens prefer toys that stimulate their primal instincts, such as balls of yarn, cat teasers, laser pointers and the like.

Much like humans, who have different interests, you can't generalize, no one is better, only what you like is best.

She shouldn't test which toy is more fun for the cat, but rather the quality and safety of the toy.

After figuring out the key, Selene rushed off to rescue Faye.

After all, Faye wasn't very good at socializing. She was a true sociopath, and usually relied on her unsmiling face to act cool and bluff.

She strained her ears and followed the sound to find Faye's location.

Just as she ran to the door of the room, she saw her sociopathic sister holding up her cell phone and talking to Sophie with a look on her face that had never been brighter.

"Sophie, look at this one! It's super cute!"

"Help! Your cat is so cute too. How does she sleep like that? Wow, that belly looks like a good sucker!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, it's extra soft, and this one is when her feet slipped and she landed on her face during parkour. I took a screenshot from the monitor!"

"Hahahahaha - this is too funny, it can be used as an emoticon, you remember to send it to me!"

"Okay okay, I'll send it to you later!"

...

What about saying, well, good, and socially inept?

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