"Oh, to be a cat." Frodo mused as he watched Del massage Soot into a blissful puddle of black fur in her lap. Soot didn't even have the strength to purr and contented himself with making strange "hllk" noises. His tongue was sticking out from his sharp teeth. Frodo smiled. Meli had known exactly what she was doing when she surrendered the kitten to Del.
Her sister was away and Del was lonely. The Grubb girl had yet to trust any of Bag End's residents enough to show them pure, unadulterated affection, save Sammie, and in his case Del usually settled for simply hauling him from one place to another, so she lavished all her love on the cat.
"Master Frodo, I'm terribly upset." Del suddenly complained.
"Why is that?"
"Someone stole all the bones out of my kitty!" Del lifted Soot up a few inches and he flowed like water back into her lap.
"Oh, dear. What can I do?"
"Kiss me!" It was a joke of hers. She would demand kisses from Sammie or Daisy or Fro and they would scream and run...Frodo bent and kissed her. She gaped at him in pure surprise.
"Better?" Frodo tried hard not to laugh.
"Um. Much. Yes. Um. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Frodo walked away, grinning. Delphinium would have faith in them someday. Someday soon.
~