Athena and Ben are…slowly…coming to terms. Their current interactions involve getting really close and waving their paws in the air, with a growling and hissing accompaniment, but not actually hitting each other. Yesterday, they added The Chase, where they tear around the house, scaring the crap out of each other. Each chase ends in Athena bouncing along, stiff-legged, looking miffed, and Ben flopped on his side–but they never seem to actually touch.

The stairs are the battleground of choice, with the banisters the second favorite. It’s not exactly friendly–Athena still sounds like a raccoon in a meat grinder–but it’s not exactly hostile, either, and nobody’s getting bitten or clawed, so I guess it’s progress. I suspect they sort of enjoy some parts of it, anyway.

Ben’s shaping up to be a great cat. He’s definitely a bit calmer than he was, he’s getting much more snuggly, and after a few yowls, he’s stopped the hand disembowling pretty nicely. (It was rather cute yesterday–he extended a tentative claw toward my sock, watching me nervously. I yowled as soon as he hooked the fabric–the feet are DEFINITELY off-limits–and he retracted it immediately and sat on his paw, meatloaf-fashion.) I get daily cat-hugs now, too.

Athena’s been a little too tense for major snuggling–pick her up and she grumbles and wants to get down–but can still be depended upon to supervise the daily nap. So that’s something.