The Invasion Aftermath

Once the guests have left, it didn't take long before everything returned to normal. Or so I thought...

In the aftermath of the home invasion, Maxie seems to have developed quite a possessive streak. It started off normally, so I didn't put much thought to it. She would rub her cheeks against most surfaces to renew her scent and patrol the apartment.

However, I noticed after awhile that she seemed to be greatly uneasy with the house still and was more affectionate towards me. My tsundere cat, affectionate. My interest was piqued and I decided to keep an eye out. The first clue she gave me was that she refused to let me sweep up her litter sand in the mornings.

"You shall not sweep!" exclaimed Maxie the Grey....cat.

The next clue was when she started giving me sass when I try to get her to move from MY spot on the bed! Usually she'd just move to her spot and ignore me, or just jump off the bed altogether.

Nyah!

I finally figured out why she was so insecure about her possessions (wait, I'm a possession?!) when I caught kitty playing guard cat around something my family left behind for me. Two cempedak fruits (sorry, as far as I know there's no English translation for this local delicacy) were starting to ripen, and the smell permeated the whole apartment. For the local Malaysian readers, you'd know what I mean. It's a sweet-smelling fruit when it's ripe, and tends to attract the squirrels and tree-shrews in the wild. These must have been the reason why kitty couldn't find her own scent markings the last few days!

They left these STINKING THINGS behind when they left. How dare they! It's MY HOUSE!!!

I wondered if kitty was afraid the fruits were some sorts of aliens the visitors left behind to take over the home. So I asked her...

Aliens? What???

Okay, maybe it was a bad idea to put THAT idea in her head. Poor Maxie was traumatised and followed me everywhere at home. I enjoyed the close company as much as I could, as I knew it wouldn't last.

"Daddy, why can't you throw those things away?"

"Daddy, did the aliens get to you?"

"Daddy, why does it smell so weird in our house?"

Eventually, the fruits fully ripened and I cut them open to extract the tasty innards. Ahem.

The princess was very interested in the process, and watched intently as I "slew the monsters" for her.

"You're my hero, daddy! I love you so much! I knew you could break free of the alien influence and fight back!" she purred as she rubbed her cheeks against me.

A few days after the "slaying of the aliens", Maxie woke me up one morning and insisted I let her into the guest room where my grandfather slept during the visit, also known as Garfield's room for my foster kitten. I thought that my kitty was missing her playmate again so I let her in to show her I wasn't hiding him. 

She couldn't have cared less about that, as my Princess pranced into the room and immediately staked claim on the bed my grandfather slept in.

I'm gonna make this bed smell like me

Mine, all mine!

That's right, no more aliens!

That'll teach them to invade my home

Amused, I let kitty indulge herself in scent marking, or fur scattering, on the mattress and went to grab breakfast. Half an hour later, I asked if she was done.

Done? What do you mean done?

I think I see an alien there too...

"Okay, baby. That's enough. It's time for you to come out and leave the aliens to me. Daddy needs to go out to the lab and get some alien killing chemicals," I cajoled her.

"Promise, daddy? We can't let them take over our apartment!" she entreated.

I smiled, nodded and gave her a pat. Before leaving though, I noticed she was staring furtively at a spot in our room...no doubt with imagination running wild again.

Wait, did that floor mat move?