Chapter 2 – Whimper 'n Whine

Two days. Smee had been staying with Meg and Penny for two days, and things had been...tense...to say the least.

For the most part, the two furry enemies steered clear of each other. However, whenever one of them dared have the gall to enter a room occupied by the other, neither of them pulled any punches.
At the sight of Smee, Penny would instantly bare her teeth and growl as loudly as her little body would allow her to. In turn, Smee would arch his back, tail waving threateningly, claws out. They would circle each other, hissing and growling accordingly, taking swipes and snaps at one another, until one of them either backed down and scurried out of the room, or was carried out by a weary Meg. Things would kick off several times day, making it impossible for Meg to leave the house, or even film a video.
On this occasion, however, she had no choice. Penny had knocked over the entire bag of Smee's Salmon Crunch cat food, and the fussy cat was refusing to eat anything else, leaving Meg little option than to go shopping.
The question was; how does she make sure Smee and Penny don't fight like...well...cat 'n dog?

After much deliberation, she decided it would be best to shut Penny in the bedroom, and Smee in the living room. She had considered locking Smee in his cat carrier, but Penny would undoubtedly torment the imprisoned feline.
She apologised profusely to her dog, who was gazing up at her with a look of utter betrayal. She had not been shut in the bedroom since she was a puppy with a fondness for scratching the sofa, and she was not happy about this blast from the past.
Smee was un-phased at being confined to one room, however. Gavin lived in a small annex in his friend's garden, so Smee was accustomed to limited surroundings. Meg felt more than satisfied that both critters would be safe and contained in their individual rooms.

When she returned, the flat was suspiciously quiet. She had only been out about 20 minutes, and had been expecting Penny to still been trying to stage a one dog prison break, but there was no sound at all coming from inside the apartment.
Meg wasn't sure what to expect when she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Part of her hoped that the two had just settled down in their respective rooms and gone to sleep.
Of course, she was wrong.

Chaos. The entire living room was in utter chaos. Stuffing from one of the sofa cushions was scattered all over the room, video game cases no longer stacked neatly on the shelves but strewn on the floor, flower vase broken, petals and shards of china everywhere. In the middle of it all, Smee was curled up under the coffee table, licking blood from his front left paw, whimpering in a way Meg didn't even realise was possible for a cat. Penny was lying in a similar manor on the sofa, whining pitifully, lapping at a cut on her back leg.
'For fucks sake guys! How the hell did you even manage this? If you have actually injured each other, I swear to God you will spend the rest of the week locked in your carriers!'

'So what happened? How the bloody hell did Penny get into the living room?' Gavin groaned down the phone
'I think Smee must have somehow nudged the door open from his side. Maybe Penny was goading him from the other side or something, I dunno. I should have locked it or something. I'm sorry Gav.' Meg rubbed her forehead in annoyance.
'It's not your fault. At least they didn't actually hurt each other.'
'True. I almost flipped my shit when I walked in and saw them both bleeding. Thank fuck it was just small cuts from where they knocked over the vase!'
'Little shits. I'm sorry for the damage Smee has caused. Next time I'll ask Michael and Lindsay to put up with him.'
'No.' Meg objected 'No, Penny is as much to blame. Urrgh, I just wish they would get along.'
'They just need to learn to be friends. They'll get used to each other eventually. Give 'em time, Love. They'll get there.' he soothed
'Thing is, I don't think they'll ever be able to even tolerate one another, let alone be friends. Gav, I don't know how we are gonna handle this... What if we ever want to live together someday? They are gonna make it impossible! I can't get rid of Penny, and you can't get rid of Smee. What are we gonna do?'