One of my two almost identical 4 & 1/2 month old tuxedo kittens, Okie, is the curious one. He is the one who sometimes gently meows at me in order to communicate with me. And he is the one who curiously has a fascination with whatever liquid might be in my fancy tall pedestal glass; usually, just water, but, sometimes, cranberry juice. Tonight, Okie had a particular interest in my coffee/tea mug. It had a slightly sugary green tea residue in it & Okie apparently could smell that residue. So, there he is, my almost not a kitten anymore, Okie, sticking his entire head into my empty coffee cup. I shoo him away & I say, “That’s my cup! Besides, there is nothing in it for you! See? It is empty! You got your Kitty Water over there! Go drink that!”

So, Okie jumps off the coffee table & heads toward the nice little kitty water fountain setup that I bought for my boys & that I religiously keep full for them on a continuous basis, washing out the filters & cleaning the bowl twice a month, and… he just stops. He looks over his left shoulder and makes eye contact with me, as if he is saying, “But that’s… Kitty Water!”

“Oh yeah?” I say, telepathically picking up his message, “You think it’s, like, bathroom water, or something?”

Then I go on a little mini-rant & I say to my dear little Okie, “Let me tell you something about your kitty water, my friend! It comes from the same place my water comes from! The kitchen sink! Yeah! That’s right! It is kitchen sink water! And I drink it too! And you know what? That’s because the water that I go get for myself out of the refrigerated spigot of the water dispenser in the Zen Room comes from the emergency post World War III nuclear exchange aftermath 25 gallon emergency water supply that I keep fresh in five 5 gallon bottles in a rack in that kitchen pantry closet, which I rotate through methodically using the extra unused cap from the 6th in-use bottle for marking which storage bottle is next up for use as the in-use bottle, which all ultimately comes from, yup, you guessed it, the kitchen sink! So, you see, my little kitty friend, it is ALL kitchen sink water! Your water! My water! It doesn’t fucking matter! So there! Go drink your god-damned kitty water & leave my kitchen water on the coffee table alone! They are the same water! Okay?”

So, Okie jumps on my lap & wants a belly rub!

Never mind me. We Dragonists are known for having conversations with our “Familiars” all day long!