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"Whatcha doing?" Steve McGarrett asked his partner's daughter, Grace. She was sitting on his couch, focused on a colorful bundle of yarn in her lap.
"Crocheting," she replied.
"I didn't know you knew how to crochet."
"I'm learning. It's for an Aloha Girls badge." She proudly held up her work. "I'm making a scarf, see?"
It was crooked and uneven, but Steve could see it did, indeed, resemble a scarf, at least vaguely. "Very nice," he said. He noticed a small, black figure crouched nearby, intently watching the yarn as it moved. "Looks like you have an audience."
Grace looked over at the figure. "Hey, Ninja," she said to the cat. "You like watching me?"
The cat mrrped in response. He was crouched down, tail twitching from side to side, utterly focused on the yarn. Steve waited for what he knew was coming. Sure enough, the cat pounced on the skein of yarn, rolling around and tumbling off the couch, yarn still clutched in his paws.
"Ninja!" Grace said. "You're making a mess! Leave the yarn alone!"
Ninja had pulled several chunks free of the skein, and was thoroughly wrapped up in yarn. He started at Grace's voice and tried to untangle himself, failing miserably. Steve chuckled. "Here boy, let me help." He gently untangled the cat, who stalked off and started grooming himself, hind leg stuck up in the air. Steve handed the yarn back to Grace. "Here you go."
Grace looked at the tangled bundle in dismay. "Oh, dear. He really made a mess of it, didn't he?"
"Sorry," Steve apologized for his cat.
"It's okay." She continued crocheting. Ninja finished grooming himself and leaped up on the couch next to her. She glared at him, daring him to mess with her yarn again, but he seemed content to sit there. After a while, he did gently take a strand of yarn in his mouth, licking at it.
"Why's he doing that, Uncle Steve?" Grace asked.
Steve shrugged. "I have no idea. He doesn't seem to be doing any harm, though."
"True." Grace continued crocheting, cat sitting nearby licking the yarn. Suddenly, Grace came to an end of the yarn. She frowned. That shouldn't be happening. She had plenty of yarn left. She looked at the end. It was scraggly, not smooth, and wet. "Ninja!"
"What did he do now?" Steve asked.
"He licked through the yarn!"
Steve chuckled again. "Maybe you'd better leave the crocheting at home next time."
"Yeah," Grace agreed. "I think that's a good idea."