Sunbeam Diplomacy

Mino: brrrrrp-chirp-click (a soft throat trill, inquisitive)
(Roughly translates to: “This sunbeam. You found it first?”)

Tatch: mrrrrRRrrrrr-hnnnkkk-mrr! (a rising purr with a nasal grunt)
(Loosely: “I made it mine. I circled three times. Standard claim.”)

Mino: mrrow-pffft-click-click (a chattering protest, tail flicks once)
(Meaning: “You always claim before assessing optimal warmth ratio. Typical.”)

Tatch: (pauses mid-lick, one eye squinting) hnnn-mmmMRRRgh!
(“Your tail was in my face. That invalidates your scientific opinion.”)

Mino: (low tail thump) mrrrrrrrp-chk!
(“Incorrect. My tail is a sensor. I was testing wind currents.”)

Tatch: (snorts, rolls to his back dramatically) huff-snerk-yowww!
(“Your sensor smells like kibble dust and betrayal.”)

(A moment of contemplative silence. Both cats blink slowly at each other — the sacred feline equivalent of a truce offering.)

Mino: mmm-prrp?
(“...Share the beam?”)

Tatch: (tail twitch, a thoughtful knead on the rug) mrr-ack-mrr.
(“Fine. But only if I get the pillow corner.”)

Mino: chirrup-purrrr
(“Accepted. I claim the ripple of heat near the floor vent.”)

(They shuffle around each other in lazy spirals, eventually settling — a soft tangle of black and orange. Their purring merges into a syncopated harmony.)

Tatch: (barely audible, half-asleep) snrk-puh...mrrr.
(“If the red dot comes, you chase first. I pulled a claw yesterday.”)

Mino: (eyes closed, a soft ear twitch) mm-hmm-mrrrgh.
(“Understood. We shall strike as one. United.”)

(Outside, a bird chirps. Neither cat moves.)

Tatch: ...tsk.
(“Tomorrow.”)

Mino: ...purrr.
(“Tomorrow.”)