Flatter me all you like.

There was something unexpectedly lovely about returning home with a bag of take-out in hand and knowing that there was another living creature in her house waiting for her, Sam decided. There was something even lovelier about having that knowledge and knowing that the living creature in question wasn't, say, a spider or a moth or something. Because that was important.

"Here, girl," Sam called as she settled at her desk in her bedroom and set down the take-out bag and the plates she'd snagged from the kitchen on her way up, clicking her tongue to summon her new... housemate. Swiveling her chair around to face away from her desk, she called, "I've got half a steak for you and something I hope is a half-decent veggie burger for me. Dinner is served."

[[for one.]]