Turkey

Doggie's nose twitches a bit.

Kat notices: " Doggie, what is it?"

"Hm," he rumbles and lifts his muzzle.

"What is it, boy?" Kat snickers at her little joke. He growls at her and she smirks.

"I smell turkey," he says plainly, as an explanation in itself.

"You haven't looked at the calendar I programed into your console," Kat scolds lightly.

Doggie growls as he does and pulls up his fiberop screen. True enough, Kat programed it in for him. She marks important dates, meetings, deadlines, and Earth holidays. Apparently, today is Earth Thanksgiving in NewTech. "Oh, I see; what am I do about it, though?"

"Well, what are you thankful for?" Kat's question is soft, attention split between her work and her friend.

Doggie gazes at the back of his most trusted confidante. She works silently, in absolute calm. Her curls barely brush the base of her neck, revealing the tantalizingly milky flesh, dotted with speckles. They creep up around her hairline and extend into her cheeks. Her ears twitch occasionally, also speckled at the ends. He smiles a bit at the thought. He always called them freckles, but Kat told him that they couldn't really be considered freckles because they were so specifically arranged. He asked if they had a particular purpose and she said simply that Felid females are patterned while males have speckles all over the place. The patterning is supposedly for a mating...thing. He changed the subject at that point.

Kat just has this way about her. It's something intangible, but entirely real. She's graceful, elegant in everything she does, but not arrogant. Her confidence in herself and those around her creates this positively warm atmosphere in her presence. Her smiles, her eyes, they radiate friendliness, unless you deserve reproach, in which case you'll get slitted pupils and pearly fangs.

"You," Doggie says without hesitation.

"I beg your pardon?" Kat turns, thinking she has misheard him.

"I'm thankful for you, Katherine," he reiterates, his tone deep and gruff as normal. The heaviness in his words is not grave in a negative way, but solidly emotional.

Kat blushes at how he looks at her as he says it. His deeply blue eyes cut through her like the Shadow Sabre could cut through a leaf. Her breath catches in her throat but she swallows it down. "I–I, but—thank you, Doggie."'

"Good, now," he smooths over, sparing them both form a moment too emotionally intense for the Command Center. "Shall we go see if this turkey is worth all the fuss?"

"Mm," Kat hums and joins him, walking towards the main branch. As they walk, their hands brush a little bit. Kat is unable to keep herself from smiling as warmth and electricity spreads from the point of contact. "I'm thankful for you too, you know."

"Yes, I know," he smiles a bit, relishing their private moment. The soft skin of her hand brushes the scales of his paw, bringing warmth to his lukewarm Sirian blood. "For what do you think our Rangers are thankful?"

"Buttery toast, uPods, the color pink, regulations and vacation time," Kat answers easily.

"True, what are you thankful for besides me?" Doggie asks earnestly.

Kat thinks about it for a moment and slips her hand into his paw without thought. "The Rangers, SPD, the fact that we work together everyday...oh, and tuna salad sandwiches."

Doggie lets out a hearty laugh and squeezes her tiny hand in his paw.