Here Kitty Kitty!

Posted on Fri Jul 21st, 2017 @ 12:18am by Akira Zhuri & Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral

Mission: Death is in the Details
Location: Akira's Quarters

Daytona was walking through the corridors pushing a anti-grav pallet ahead of him. On the pallet was a large bag of kitty litter, a bag of kitten food, pieces of some cat climbing/scratching structures that would need to be assembled, and a box. Every now and then a meow could be heard from the box.

The ship was enroute to Enalia's fortress. Repairs were done for the most part, at least everything that could be done until after they'd docked. The schedule on the ship was relaxed. Still, Daytona wasn't sure if Akira would stop working for the day on her own. She enjoyed her work very much and, if left to her own devices, might just keep working round the clock. But, as her shift was over now, Daytona hoped he'd be able to drag her away from whatever she was doing. He had a surprise for her, one that she was sure to like much more than the keshek! Introducing her to a keshek had been a total disaster. To make up for that debacle, Daytona had promised Akira kittens, and Daytona was a man of his word...when he wasn't working. Unfortunately, his job required a working knowledge of dishonesty. Daytona tapped his commbadge.

"Ral to Akira," he said. "Are you in your quarters?"

=/\="I am," came her chipper reply. "Do you need me to meet you somewhere?" she asked.

Daytona grinned.

"Nope," he said. "I'm right outside. All I need you to do is let me in! I have surprise for you! And it's not an equine, I promise!"

Daytona felt giddy as he imagined the look on Akira's face when he revealed the surprise. This was going to be fun!

A surprise? Well, he said it was not equines, so... Akira set her violin on it's stand and the bow across the sheet music she had been practicing from and went to the door to open it. Then she saw Daytona and the lift loaded with... stuff; what was all this stuff for? And was the box making sounds?

"What is all this?" Akira asked as she let Daytona into her quarters.

Daytona grinned like the cat who ate the canary.

"Here," he said. "Let's sit on the floor. Oh! First you might want to put your violin away!"

He moved the anti-grav pallet into the room. He picked up the box and set it on the floor.

"When you've got that put away, come sit across from me on the floor and I'll open the box," Daytona said.

"Oh, okay..." Akira wasn't entirely certain as to what he had in that box, but she did as told and put her violin in its case, then stowed it in her closet, after which she moved the sheet music to her desk. "Is that good?" she asked, sitting on the floor across from him as he instructed.

"Perfect," Daytona replied. "And now watch the box."

Daytona lifted the lid from the box. At first, nothing came out. Then one small paw reached up and grabbed the edge of box, then another. Finally, the head of a Maine Coon kitten peaked over the edge.

"I promised you I'd introduce you to a kitten," Daytona said. "Well, this is a kitten. A Maine Coon kitten to be exact. Go ahead. Hold your hand out so it can sniff you."

Akira's eyes were so wide with wonder; the kitten looked so adorable! She held out her hand to let the kitten smell her, giggling when it began to lick at her fingers; when the keshek had eaten treats out of her hand, she had been afraid it would take her fingers off, but she had no reason to fear the same result now with such a tiny animal. "It's so cute!" she declared with a big smile.

"Yes," Daytona said. "It is. It is a female kitten, by the way. It doesn't have a name yet. I think you should give it one. That way you won't have to say 'hey you!' every time you want it's attention. Actually, felines ignore their people nine times out of ten, but still, I think she should have a name. After all, she's yours, if you want her that is."

"A name?" Akira looked at the kitten with a curious tilt of her head, gently stroking the top of the kitten's head. "A name... What does one name a kitten?"

Daytona chuckled.

"Whatever one wants to," he said. "People give their felines all manner of names. Everything from given names of their species or others to proper names of people or even places, to names of favorite characters from books or from history or mythology, or they just make up something that everyone else thinks is ridiculous. This kitten is female, so it might be appropriate to give it a name that indicates that, but beyond that, it's really entirely up to you. So, if you're thinking of names, I guess that means you want to keep her?"

"I don't know, I've never cared for a biological life form before," Akira replied. The kitten was attempting to climb out of the box, so Akira carefully lifted the tiny ball of fur out of the box and brought her to eye level to really get a good look at her. The kittens eyes were like a forest, so many greens, and her fur was like the forest floor, so many hues of brown. "Would you like to stay with me?" Akira asked the kitten, to which her only response was to sniff at the blue face peering at her. If she kept the kitten, that would mean Akira would need to make an effort to return to her quarters more often as the kitten would need care and social interaction, but since her night with Daytona she had been taking more personal time, so she felt confident that she could manage.

"Moriko," Akira finally declared with a smile. "She looks like a forest, or at least pictures I have seen of forests, and Moriko means 'forest child'," she explained as she pet the kitten.

"A perfect name," Daytona said. "Looks like she's really warming up to you. So, you may have noticed that I brought a few things with me. There's food designed for kittens. There are feeding instructions there on that PaDD, along with lots of other kitten-care related information. She'll need food twice a day, roughly 10 to 12 hours apart, and you'll need to give her fresh water twice a day at least. She may not drink it all, but she'll get food and fur and saliva in it. My general rule of thumb with felines' water bowls is that if I wouldn't want to drink from it, they probably wouldn't want to either. And of course since she'll be eating and drinking, she'll be expelling waste. Speaking of which, we should take care of that now, so she doesn't urinate on your floor."

Daytona took a litter box off of the pallet. He filled it with litter.

"Kitten waste is generally fouler than cat waste, so don't let the smell scare you off," he said. "She'll grow out of it. This should go somewhere she can have a little privacy but also somewhere she can easily find it. This has a cover with a hatch in it so she'll have privacy almost wherever you put it. Maybe somewhere in the corner of this room? You could also put it in the head, I suppose."

Daytona paused and noticed that Akira was distracted playing with Moriko. He smiled. She looked so adorable with her new friend.

"Sorry," he said. "A lot of information at once. For the moment, just focus on where you want me to put this so I can show you how to teach her to find it."

"No no, it's not too much, I understand that this is how biologicals function," Akira assured him. Though she seemed distracted, she was still listening. "You're a ferocious little wildcat, aren't you!" she said cheerfully to Moriko who had started to bat and chew Akira's fingers. Then Akira looked up at Daytona with a smile. "I suppose the box can go in the bathroom? I don't need to go in there, so she should have plenty of privacy."

"Sure," Daytona replied. "So, pick up Moriko and come with me to the head. Oh, and she'll like you more if you hold her in a way that she feels safe and secure rather than letting her legs dangle."

Daytona went into the head and set down the litter box and waited for Akira and Moriko.

Akira rose and followed Daytona. After letting Moriko explore the litter box and then Daytona showing Akira how to clean up after Moriko, they returned to the main room lay out the food and water bowls, again letting Moriko explore to learn where everything was. As Akira watched Daytona show her how much to feed the kitten, it occurred to her that being a biological was really high maintenance! She had observed food consumption before, but it seemed to be really impacting her how important all this stuff was now that this tiny life was in her hands.

"And as she grows, her biological needs will require more nutrition and at different ratios, so over time I will need to compensate with her diet?" Akira said as she watched Moriko nibble on some kibble.

"Exactly," Daytona said. "She'll be eating a fair amount while she's a kitten and she'll need it because she's growing and she'll be very active. As she get's older, she'll be less active and require less food. There are some toys in there to use to help her get exercise. If we were on a planet she could probably roam around, but this is a big ship. She could wander into a turbo lift and end up anywhere on it and not know how to get back. So she'll need to stay in your quarters. She's not old enough yet to be spayed, so you'll need to see the ship's vet about that when the time comes. It made not sound very nice, but trust me when I say you'll both be happier once it's done."

Moriko had eaten her fill and then immediately pounced on Daytona's foot, holding it in her front paws, nawing at it with her teeth and trying to scratch his boot with her hind legs. Daytona chuckled.

"Okay, Killer," he said, bending over to pick his attacker and cuddle her. "Yes, you are very cute. But let's not let you get too much into the habit of doing that, shall we? It won't be as much fun for your mother and me when you weigh twenty pounds."

He walked over to the pallet and reached into a bag. He pulled out a small rubber ball. Setting the cat down, he bounced the rubber ball, sending it flying around the room. Moriko was fascinated and suddenly sprang up and started chasing the ball around the room.

"Oh my, I had no idea that a kitten could move so fast!" Akira exclaimed when Moriko darted off. She had records within her Science database including felines, both domesticated and wild, in motion and it was impressive, but it never occurred to her that their young would likewise be so fast, she thought it would take more time for them to gain the coordination! "I have a lot to learn, don't I?"

Daytona leaned over and gave Akira a kiss on the cheek and then slipped his arm around her.

"You have quite an adventure ahead of you," he said. "I think taking care of a living creature will be good for you. You'll have another excuse to take time off and Moriko will teach you the value of play and silliness. And she'll help me reinforce the value of cuddling. Oh, and I can help you assemble that cat tree for you if you'd like. Felines like to climb and they can also strip off the dead layer of their claws by digging their claws into the carpet material on cat tree and then yanking. With some work, you can train...or maybe just encourage, Moriko to confine her scratching to the cat tree instead of the carpeting on the floor of your quarters or your furniture. Or I can just assemble it while you play with Moriko. Once it's together and in its proper place, you be able to start convincing her to use it by putting her on it a few times. After that, if she scratches something you don't want her to scratch, just pick her up and put her in the cat tree. Hopefully, she'll get the point after a while."

"Positive reinforcement and conditions responses through which she will learn that the 'cat tree' is hers," Akira said to Daytona to affirm that she understood what he was trying to explain. She looked in the box of supplies and found a stick with a line of string with a bell and a cluster of feathers at the end. Confused with the purpose of this item, she quickly figured it out when the jingle of the bell caught Moriko's attention and she bolted over to pounce on the brightly colored feathers. Akira smiled and teased Moriko with the toy. "But right now it looks like you just want to learn to be a hunter, don't you?" she said to Moriko.

Daytona watched as his paramour played with her new feline companion. Akira looked like she was having a wonderful time. A vain man would have said something like 'So, this is better than a keshek?' in order to fish for a compliment. Daytona was pretty certain that he was as vain as the next person, but at this moment, seeing Akira and Moriko enjoying themselves, see Akira learn to play and be silly, that was compliment enough. Daytona let them play and went about assembling the cat tree. He'd made one that was larger than a kitten would need because he had learned that Maine Coon cats could reach lengths of over forty inches and weigh over twenty pounds. This 'tree' was large enough to accommodate Moriko as an adult. Akira could very likely assemble the tree on her own, and much faster and more efficiently than he could, but he liked that she was letting him do it. Daytona liked just being with her, sharing her space, with no pressure to say or do anything. It felt...domestic. He also enjoyed working with his hands. It took him back four centuries to his family's homestead on Rigel V. Daytona didn't sit about wool gathering for long, but instead kept working on assembling the tree. Every now and again there was the sound of a small power tool as Daytona fastened the pieces to each other.

Akira adored her new pet, and she was having so much fun playing with Moriko! As Daytona finished with the cat tree, she used the feather toy to lure Moriko over to explore this new thing. "How can this one tiny little creature have me so captivated?" Akira asked as she coaxed Moriko to climb up one of the levels of the cat tree. "She is so adorable, I love her; thank you, Daytona." Then she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"That makes it all worthwhile, my love," Daytona said. Whoops! Maybe he shouldn't have said that! Oh, well. Maybe Akira would be so entranced by Moriko that she wouldn't notice. Maybe. "I'm looking forward to seeing your aunt's fortress. We'll be able to go off ship together and go exploring...maybe have a picnic? Would you like to try eating? Maica, your Aunt Maica, told me about the replicator setting she uses to create holographic food for herself. We could use that."

"I am looking forward to it as well," Akira said with excitement, making no indication that she heard his 'my love' slip. "I have never attempted to eat anything before, but I know I am capable of processing input from holographic foods as though it is real, so I am willing to give a picnic a try." Moriko was starting to wind down as Akira spoke; she had been fed, she had a chance to run around, now it was apparently time to groom and settle down for a nap. As Moriko lost interest in the feather toy, Akira stopped teasing her and eventually put the toy aside and simply pet the little kitten.

"Great," Daytona said. "Any thoughts on what foods you might like to try? We could look over some of the foods available to you and pick some that interesting to you."

Daytona took a seat across from Akira on the floor and watched her play with Moriko while he waited for her answer.

"I have no idea where to begin," Akira replied, looking at Daytona. "What do you like to eat?"

Daytona thought a moment.

"Sandwiches are always good for a picnic," Daytona said. "You know, I've traveled quite a bit and nearly everywhere I've been, the people have figured out that it would be a good idea to put some kind of protein between two slices of bread. It seems to be a sort of universal constant. Or...some kind of cooked poultry. I'm trying to remember that your food won't 'spoil' or get cold so you can have just about anything and that I'm going to have to...okay, your Aunt Maica suggested that you start with something like a cheeseburger or a pasta dish or bolian finger foods. Here come over to the replicator with me."

Akira gave Moriko one last pat, then rose to join Daytona at the replicator. "I still have no way to fathom where to begin. If you put something in front of me, I will try it, but until I try something, I have no way of knowing if I will like it or not," Akira stated simply. "Also, you did not answer my question: what do you like to eat?"

"Over the years I've learned to eat just about anything," Daytona replied. Then he grinned. "But I never learned to like everything I've had to eat. I do draw the line at creatures that are still alive. I once almost caused an interstellar incident because I refused to eat gagh, which is a sort of Klingon worm/snake thing that's served while it's still slithering."

Daytona shuddered.

"It looks dreadful, and it smells worse," he said. "And they're really long. The Klingons hold them up above their heads and lower them down into their mouths and bite into them, killing them with the first bite, the disgusting creatures' life blood spilling all down their chins. Thoroughly nasty. However, not all food is like that. For example, we have a fruit on Rigel V that is very much like an Earth Rainier Cherry. I would eat them by the basket full. Juicy and sweet...alright, now we're going to need to get some for both of us. We'll have to make sure we know which is which, but they're on the menu. And...vegetables, pita, and humus. Again, we'll have to keep mine and yours separate, but you'll like that. And cheeses! There are some wonderful cheeses we could try! And other fruits! Yes, I have an idea now! You will enjoy this, I think, hopefully as much as meeting Moriko, definitely more than the keshek debacle, which I suppose isn't saying much."

Akira smiled at the exuberance Daytona displayed as he went on about different foods, and it occurred to her that this is what he must feel when she talked about some of the more complicated aspects of her job, uncomprehending yet still enjoying that infectious energy.

"I already dislike the idea of eating anything live, so gahg is definitely out," Akira affirmed as he looked through the replicator patterns. "But with the way you describe everything else, I'm definitely interested in trying the rest. Can I try something now?"

"Absolutely," Daytona replied. "Let's start with something simple."

Daytona messed around with the replicator programming, adding a program he had for the cherries he liked to Maica's holographic food program and then coaxing said program to produce the holographic fruit. A moment later, a holographic version of a small bowl of Rigelian Cherry analogs appeared. Each cherry was a mix of yellow and red in coloring. Daytona removed the bowl, which was blue, and handed it to Akira. A few more taps, and an actual bowl of replicated cherries appeared, this one green. Daytona took the green bowl. He then replicated a small bowl of water.

"Come," he said, walking over to the couch. He set his two bowls on the little table in front of the couch. "Come sit with me and I'll show you how to eat these."

Akira happily took the bowl over to the couch, setting the blue bowl on the table. While she waited for Daytona to join her, she picked up a cherry and looked at it. "This has a seed inside, a pit, it is not meant for eating," she remarked curiously.

"That is correct," Daytona sat down next to Akira. He picked up a cherry. "These should be sweet and juicy. Theoretically, you can hold it by the stem and try to nibble the fruit off the pit, but that has always seemed awkward to me. I just hold the cherry like this and take a bite, making sure not to bite the pit. They're very hard, and while I don't think they'll break your photonic teeth, the sensation of unintentionally biting down on one is very unpleasant."

Dayton picked up a cherry and bit into it. He managed to work the cherry around in his mouth so he removed all of the fruit from the cherry without biting the pit. Before chewing the cherry, he took the pit out of his mouth with his fingers and placed back in the bowl.

"Hmmm..." he said. "Almost as good as the real thing! Your turn!"

Akira nodded at his explanation and watched as he demonstrated how to eat it. Then she took the cherry in her hand and looked at it for a moment, contemplating this curious little fruit. She decided to simply remove the stem and simply placed it in her mouth. At first, it didn't taste like much, and the sensation of having something foreign in her mouth was rather odd, but then she bit into the juicy flesh of the cherry and her eyes went wide; the explosion of flavor had all her senses abuzz! It was sweet, it was tangy! Mindful of the pit, she kept chewing until finally the pit was free of the rest of the cherry, and she carefully split it out, placing the pit into the bowl. Chewing was an altogether interesting experience in itself, and she wondered how long she had to chew before it was time to swallow. Well, the cherry flesh was thoroughly decimated by now and no longer had that intense punch of delightful flavor it did when she first bit into it, so working on the assumption that it was indeed time to swallow, she did, and then shuddered; while the flavor was indeed enticing, the mechanics of food consumption would take some getting used to...

Daytona grinned.

"Well?" he said. "What do you think? I'm betting that swallowing is going to take some getting used to. Don't worry, with time and practice it will become second nature to you."

"It... yeah," Akira said with a soft laugh, but she picked up another cherry anyway. "I do like the taste, though! I did not expect taste to be like that, it was very... oh, I do not know how to describe it, but I like it very much!" she continued, then popped the cherry into her mouth.

"I'm glad," Daytona said. He bit into another cherry, spit out the pit, and chewed and swallowed the fruit. "If you'd like, we could find another food for you to try after you've had your fill of cherries. Otherwise, you can just tell me about your day...uhm...between cherries. Chewing with your mouth open is considered impolite. Essentially, no one wants to watch someone else's food getting mashed up in their teeth. Food can look good and food can taste good, but never both at the same time."

Akira thought about his statement as she chewed, spitting out the pit once she'd separated it from the cherry and tossing the pit back into the bowl. Once she finished chewing, she again shuddered as she swallowed. "I think I would like to try more foods. As for my day, it was nothing really spectacular, just a routine day; there's still a great deal that needs to be done in terms of repairs, but those are the big repairs we'll be undergoing once we dock at Enalia's fortress. Oh, and I was able to practice on my violin before you arrived, though the highlight of my day was you bringing Moriko, and now the cherries," she stated, then popped another cherry into her mouth.

Daytona chuckled. Akira could be so matter of fact, but in a very cute and adorable way. He rose and walked over to the replicator to find something else for her to have. Since she liked fruit, Daytona selected a small fruit plate for her to try. It materialized and he brought it over to her. He placed it on the table and returned to his seat on the couch and went back to eating cherries. This holographic food was going to make things much easier. While it would be terrific if he could live off of the radiance of Akira's smile, and other things he did with Akira, he needed to eat and sometimes held off doing so when he was with her because she couldn't eat. Now, at least, they could approximate sharing a meal.

"These are other fruits," he said. "Most of them are sweet to varying extents, some might be a little sour. Try some of them. It's the only way we're going to find out what you like and what you don't."

Sour, Akira learned very quickly, was not all that pleasant, especially if there was no sweetness to counteract the sourness. Each fruit had different flavors and textures, like the apples were bright and crisp, but the peaches were mellow and juicy, and melons- oh goodness, so many more fruits to chose from! And then there were different flavors even within the same kind of fruit, like the green apples were too tart and the red apples not tart enough, but the apples that were both red and yellow were just right, indicating that she was developing a fondness for tartness. She ended up liking the cherries, strawberries, kiwi, and nectarines, although she kept going back for more slices of pear and mangos, but not at the same time, she almost immediately declared that mangos and pears did NOT taste good when eaten together!

Since she liked strawberries, Daytona attempted to try chocolate covered strawberries, which had mixed success. After giving a chocolate covered strawberry a taste, she insisted on trying chocolate without the strawberry, and then different kinds of chocolate, eventually settling on dark chocolate as her favorite, both on and off the strawberries, though she and Daytona would find a pattern for thin bars of dark chocolate with a raspberry filling that she liked even more.

While Daytona started running leftovers back through the replicator and finding more tasty things for Akira to try, Akira decided to check on Moriko, who was sleeping in a hammock-like part of the cat tree. Picking her up gently, Akira brought the kitten back to the couch where she could pet her some more while she and Daytona tasted food.

"Well," Daytona said. "We've gone through fruit and chocolate...I guess we should find you something that's more solid. Let's try some cheeses. I'll replicate some crackers as well in case you want to try them together."

A few taps at the replicator and a cheese plate appeared with several different kinds of cheeses on it. I cheese knife had been included. Daytona removed the plate and then tapped the controls a few more times. A bowl with some crackers appeared. He brought these over and set them down on the table in front of Akira. On a whim, he replicated two glasses of Muscato wine, a white, sweet wine good for cheeses and fruits. A desert wine, served cold. Since they'd started with desert foods, it seemed appropriate. One was 'real' and one was 'photonic' so Daytona made sure he knew the difference before he carried them over to the table.

"Okay," he said sitting down and taking a moment to scritch Moriko behind the ears. "Since we're doing fruits, chocolate, cheeses, we seem to be in a cross between a desert and an appetizer mood. This wine is called Muscato. It's made from white grapes, is sweet, and is meant to be served cold. It should compliment what you've been eating. Try it. Even replicated, it can be quite lovely."

Wine? Oh goodness! Akira leaned over to take the glass of wine, being careful of Moriko who was in her lap; Moriko was already spoiled rotten, laying on her back and purring loudly while Akira rubbed her belly with her free hand. With wine in hand, Akira noticed right away that wine and some of the cheeses had more permeating scents. She held the glass to her nose for a moment, really taking in the scent of the wine; the fermentation of the grapes really did have a big affect on the smell, it smelled nothing like the grapes she had eaten earlier! Very cautiously, she took a sip and immediately her face scrunched up.

"No, no... not for me," Akira stated as she quickly put the glass back on the table; alcohol, or at the very least wine or possibly just this blend, was not for her! Akira kept smacking her lips in an attempt to get rid of the taste in her mouth. "Ugh, that was awful! And people actually like that stuff?!"

Daytona laughed.

"Well," he said. "It's an acquired taste. But, if you don't like it, you don't have to drink it. Here, I'll get rid of yours."

Daytona picked up the holographic glass of wine and returned it to the replicator, then returned to his seat. He watched Akira trying the cheeses with one hand and petting Moriko with the other. Sometimes Daytona would be nearly overwhelmed with the desire to touch Akira and to be touched by her. Other times, like right now, he really enjoyed simply watching her explore new experiences. He sipped his wine and smiled.

"So," he said. "What do you think of the cheeses?"

Akira finished chewing on the bit of cheese in her mouth and swallowed. "Mmm, some of them smell really bad but taste alright. Some of them taste... I don't know how to explain it, but it's really strong and... " She smacked her lips again as she tried to figure out how to describe what she was tasting. "Maybe dry? Uh, sharp! Ah, one of Father's memories, he liked one that was very 'sharp', but I don't think I like this quality," she stated, finding a cracker and scooping up a bit of goat cheese, so soft it was like a cream or spread; she had eaten quite a bit of this goat cheese already, which was a pretty good indication that she liked it.

"And you're not flinching as much when you swallow," Daytona replied. "It seems maybe you're getting used to the sensation. I don't know if photonic lifeforms can get tummy aches eating holographic food, but you've consumed quite a bit. Would you like to take a break? If you want to get yourself over stimulated, I can think of more enjoyable ways than gastrointestinal distress."

"Oh my stars, is that what I'm feeling?" Akira replied, putting a hand on her belly. "It's quite an odd feeling, I was wondering what it meant... Although I think I feel something else as well..." She brought her fingers to her lips as she tried to decipher this sensation. "It... I responded to the wine, but I didn't drink much so the feeling didn't go away... I think I'm thirsty?"

"Ah," Daytona said, rising from the couch. "Yes. Wine, most fermented beverages, don't really quench your thirst. Let me get you some water. Unless you'd like something else? Peppermint tea? Or maybe Ginger tea? Both are said to help with an upset stomach and tea can be very refreshing. It can be served hot or cold, sweetened or unsweetened. What do you think? I realize you have no idea what any of these things taste like, but take a guess."

"Uh, I don't know if my stomach is 'upset', but I will give a tea a try," Akira said. "I don't know what kind or how to have it served... Though I think I like sweetness, so maybe something a little sweet?"

"Excellent," Daytona said. He coaxed the computer into producing a holographic ginger ice tea with a bit of honey mixed into it. The sweating glass appeared. He ordered a real one for himself, then brought both of them over to the couch. "Here. Tell me what you think of this."

Daytona sat down and took a sip from his and enjoyed the sort of relaxing sensation in his stomach.

Akira sipped at the tea; drinking was a different mechanic to eating, but she was figuring this out pretty well, or at least she thought so. "It's interesting... I can't tell if I like or dislike it, but it is interesting," Akira said, then too another sip, and before she knew it she had downed half the glass. But it had sated the strange sensation she was feeling, and her belly felt... still quite full, but it was not uncomfortable. "All these new sensation are all quite strange, I do not understand how biologicals can deal with it!"

Daytona chuckled.

"We don't really have a choice," he said. "But also, we come to these sensations gradually...well, most species do. The mammalian ones. As infants we are dependent on breast milk from our mothers as our only source of sustenance...well, that or some artificial formula. Breast milk is considered best, though. As far as I know, anyway. As we mature, solid foods are slowly introduced. We learn to swallow, for example, first by swallowing breast milk, then soft, mushy solids, then firmer foods. After a while, what you find almost overwhelming, we find commonplace, so much so that we don't even notice most of the time. I mean, we notice the taste of a food or drink item, but the act of eating it; chewing, swallowing, etc, becomes second nature to us."

"Yes, I understand there is vital biochemistry in the brain that develops during infancy that is crucial going into adulthood, but it is still odd to me, especially feeling thirst as I don't require hydration and yet I still felt the desire to drink," Akira replied. Moriko was peacefully content in Akira's lap, and Akira leaned back to relax into the couch as she continued to rub Moriko's belly. "There is a certain contentment I feel now that I have eaten, and it's almost like I'm feeling drowsy. Is that normal?"

"Yes," Daytona replied. "Most people feel drowsy after they've eaten a lot. Do you want to go lie down? If you do, could I stay with you? I was just thinking it would be nice to cuddle up with you and Moriko."

With a big smile, Akira scooted closer to Daytona on the couch and cuddled up to him. "There, is this better?"

Daytona put his arm around Akira and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Much," he said. Daytona sighed contentedly. He leaned in and kissed Akira on the temple. "I'm always better when you're close to me."

Daytona reached over with his other hand and gave Moriko a scritch.

"You, too, Moriko," he said. Moriko batted playfully at Daytona's fingers. She caught one of them in her paws and began to lick it. "Ah, cat slobber. One of life's simple pleasures."