TOBY AND THE BOLTHOLE
Toby uttered a low warning growl as the ugly beast slipped into the bedroom.
"Molly, I need to think." The beast said in a deep voice.
His human emitted a muffled sigh, fumbled with the covers a bit and muttered in a weary sleep laden voice, "Okay."
"Move over." The beast demanded.
Toby's human obediently scooted to the left and settled down into the new position without fully waking up.
Toby eyed the intruder balefully with growing ire. This was the third time this month his sleep had been disturbed by the arrival of this man. He didn't know which was more disturbing, the fact his Molly didn't seem to mind the intruder's presence or the fact that his warning hisses were ignored.
Toby paced back and forth on the top of the high dresser, his tail twitched back and forth in irritation as he watched the man lay on his back, his long frame stretched out beside his precious Molly. Toby crouched down and gave his loudest hiss followed by a deep menacing yowl. He bunched his muscles in preparation for leaping down onto the object of his wrath, but paused when the man opened his eyes and looked up at him.
They stared for some time, assessing each other. Finally, the human closed his eyes and pressed his large hands together under his chin, and remained perfectly still. As he made no threatening moves toward his human, Toby slowly relaxed, although he continued to peer down from the height of the dresser to watch the objectionable form on the bed below.
After an hour, Toby concluded that the still form on the bed was not going to move any time soon. He jumped down onto the bed and walked between the two silent forms and settled down next to his human. He crushed his small furry body into the curve of her back and purred softly.
Beside him, the man opened one eye and the two adversaries glared silently at one another. Finally, the man's mouth twitched in a small smirk and he closed his eye and remained still.
Toby, satisfied that he had obtained the upper hand, closed his eyes and cranked up his purr another notch. He supposed he could tolerate this person as long as it was understood that no one was going to bother his Molly while he was on watch.