Information

Tobi has a minion!

Delilah the Common Ladybug

Tobi
Legacy Name: Tobi.

The

Nostalgic Feli
Owner: Ginseng

Age: 15 years, 2 months, 3 weeks

Born: July 31st, 2011

Adopted: 8 years, 4 months, 1 week ago

Adopted: June 21st, 2018

Statistics

Level: 19
Strength: 25
Defense: 10
Speed: 10
Health: 5
HP: 5/5
Intelligence: 0
Books Read: 0
Food Eaten: 0
Toys Played: 0
Job: Unemployed

Tobi.

Work in Progress, still needs LOTS of editing.

It was later in the evening when I finally plopped down on the couch, although I don't recall the time. Fall was slowly giving way to winter, and while the weather seemed to remain fairly warm and dry considering the time of year, the days had still grown ridiculously short. My partner, Amber, and I leaned against each other as we both breathed a sigh of relief, somewhat sinking into the loveseat like some sort of snug little nest that rested safely within the clutter of our tiny, cramped living room. The past few months had been difficult to say the least; not only had we recently moved into our "cozy" apartment and dealt with the chaos that was inherent of moving, but Amber had also begun their first semester since deciding to go back to school. That day in particular we were both exhausted from the long week, and the weekend meant we had the opportunity to relax and unwind via watching Halloween shows and movies that at least one of us hadn't seen before. That night? Over the Garden Wall.

Just before we started, I suddenly perked up and turned towards Amber, excitedly whispering, "Hey, you want to have chips and queso?"

They nodded energetically, a huge grin spread across their face. I jumped up and headed to the kitchen to prepare our feast, which primarily consisted of unceremoniously dropping a block of cheese and a can of diced peppers into a large bowl and popping it in the microwave. With a loud elongated beep alerting me that the deed was done, I grabbed the bowl and a huge bag of chips before plopping back down on the couch, sitting our precious snack combination on the low wooden coffee table in front of us. We both munched eagerly on the chips and queso as we started the show, each leaning forward some from the couch in order to reach our cheesy goodness. The moment felt blissful and romantic, in a nerdy kind of way.

However, that fleeting moment was suddenly shattered as I heard a sing-songy mrrroow penetrate my ears from the immediate left. I turned my head to see our small but chubby grey-striped tabby, Tobi, who had just jumped up onto the back end of the large padded arm of the loveseat. "Hello Tobi," I cooed at her, my tone slightly low and flat with a sense of fake annoyance at her sudden appearance. She returned my greeting with a small but firm, mrow as she sat, her gaze curious and attentive. Behind her, her tail seemed to pop up out of nowhere, its erect and stiff position somewhat contrary to its quick and steady wiggling. Overall she looked playful, sweet, and relatively full of poise, but I was completely unfazed — I knew her too well.

"Tobi, you're not getting any of my food," I sneered, my own gaze narrowing slightly. Mrr? She held her composure, but her tone seemed to plead with me. "No. Absolutely not." The tabby looked at me quietly for a moment before retaliating with a low, soft, but particularly vehement purr that could be felt through the thick padding of the armrest, her eyes closing slightly as if from a huge, wicked grin. I couldn’t help but to smile as well, raising my hand to her face to gently rub her cheekbone and pass over her closed eye with my thumb, which she had always loved for some reason. Tobi continued to purr, her lips parting slightly to barely reveal the tips of her longest teeth, seemingly dazed from a bare minimum of physical contact.

”You’re cute, Butthead, but I’m still not sharing my queso,” I reiterated in a firm but more gentle tone. “Besides, you wouldn’t like it anyway. It’s way too spicy for you.” The tabby sounded a somewhat offended mrrow before hopping off of the armrest, decidedly trotting off into the other room as if in protest. I watched her for a moment, a feeling of prideful triumph at my own unyieldingness, before turning back to the show I had been so rudely pulled away from.

beep beep

* * *

This pet is a tribute and dedication to my real life cat, also named Tobi (but without that silly period). My partner and I adopted her from a shelter in November of 2016, not long after we first moved in together, and decided to name her after a randomly-generated XCOM 2 soldier that we both had a crush on. Tobi and I quickly bonded and I became her favorite person, while she became my emotional support animal. I have never had an animal in my life as wonderful, funny, and interesting as her ~~until we adopted our stray, Peach~~ and I’m not sure where I would be without her. She loves to cuddle, always smells good, eats all of the bugs around the house, and, as a plus, she’s too chubby and uncoordinated to jump on the counters. She has a mysterious little kink near the top of her tail, and also loves sleeping in her pet carrier with the small blue, green, and grey tie-blanket that she had while she was in the shelter, which they sent home with us. But, most importantly, she has become my best friend in animal form and I know she will always be there to cheer me up or bite my nose when it’s noon and I haven't gotten out of bed to feed her yet. I think anyone that’s thinking of getting an animal should consider adopting from and supporting their local shelter, because they need homes just like any other pet.

And to my little butthead, I love you. ♥

Story Idea 1

How we met:
I still remember the first time we met.

It was 2016 in late November, and my partner and I were visiting family during our Thanksgiving break from college. Mom wanted to go Black Friday shopping in the capital a couple hours away to get a deal on a new TV and some Christmas gifts, and we decided to come along to get some time away from the house. It was later in the day, so much of the initial chaos of Black Friday had died down, but many of the stores were still fairly lively with people attempting to do their obligatory holiday shopping. I was quickly getting worn out, having gone in and out of so many places and at one point standing in line for nearly an hour just to pay for our items. I had been getting restless being cooped up in the house for a few days, but now I was overwhelmed and anxious from having to deal with so many people. Once we finally got back to the car, mom announced that she wanted to visit the pet store in order to grab something for the dogs, and I almost instantly perked up. My partner and I had been searching for a cat to bring home for a couple months now, and a visit to the pet store would be the perfect opportunity to "window shop" for a cat.

We had initially decided that we wanted to adopt an older cat, one that had a much lower chance of being adopted and one that had already formed its personality. I was extremely keen on this idea, as I wanted the cat we adopted to be my emotional support animal. My previous cat, who I had gotten years ago when I had still lived with my parents, grew up to be a fairly standoffish tom cat that only occasionally showed much affection, and who was so large and fat that he hated being picked up by pretty much everyone. While he was sweet in his own way, and I loved him regardless, I needed a cat in my life that would be willing to cuddle and receive affection, one that would help calm me down during anxiety attacks and bring a smile to my face on harder days. I'll admit, my expectations were ridiculously high; I wanted a cat that would be perfect for me. So, I was incredibly disappointed to find that the pet store we ended up visiting that day was full of younger cats and kittens. However, my partner and I agreed to check out the cats that were available regardless, reasoning that, if anything, we could at least de-stress and hold some cats before heading home.

You were there, in one of the windows among the other cats. You didn't really stand out to me much, especially at first, being a small tabby that looked like any other as you sat curiously in the corner of your cage, on top of a little grey blanket decorated with blue and green frogs. Your name tag read "Mindy," and I remember thinking what a ridiculous name that was for a cat. We passed you up at first, going on to have brief "meet and greets" with several of the other cats there, almost every one of whom attempted to jump out of our arms in favor of exploring the small back room where they were housed. Unimpressed with them, we eventually came to you, the store assistant unceremoniously picking you up out of your box and gently handing you to me.

In that moment, I fell in love with you almost instantly. Instead of struggling to get away like most of the others, you laid calmly in my arms and even pressed yourself up against me ever so slightly. A soft, but steady purr erupted from your throat with your eyes closing slightly in a content smile, and my heart melted. We spent the next 10 minutes holding you, petting your ridiculously soft coat, and listening to the gentle revving of your purr, my partner and I playfully bickering when we felt that the other was hogging you too much. Before we knew it, we were signing the papers to adopt you and bring you home with us. Unfortunately the standard 3-day waiting period meant we had to leave you and come back later in order to finalize the adoption, but I couldn't be more excited. The day we were finally able to bring you home, we had to make the 4 hour trip in a heavy rainstorm. I was so worried that you would be scared and crying the entire way back, but you sat so quietly and calmly in your carrier on top of your frog blanket, only occasionally offering a pitiful meow from behind the little metal bars. Eventually, we decided to name you Tobi.

When I reflect on everything that's happened since that day, I realize my life would have been so much more empty without you in it. I love that you plop into my lap at any given moment, and it makes me laugh that you would carefully eat around the green kibbles in your old food because you hated them so much. I love the face you make when someone scratches your head in just the right spot, the little kink in your tail and how you wag it when you're happy, and I especially love that every night after I fall asleep you choose to curl up next to me. You do things to annoy me too, like how you always bite my nose when you're really happy, or when you try to sneakily eat the other cat's food before she's finished it. Or how you're obsessed with finding and eating all of the bugs in the apartment, even if it means knocking over everything on the window sill. And I'll never forget the time I tried giving you spicy queso so you'd leave my food alone, only to have you end up liking it.

But, I wouldn't have you any other way.