Miles has always been big on hugs. It doesn't matter how terrible I'm feeling...for a few moments, I get a reprieve from my sorrows. He comes to me and pulls me near as I raise my arms in a light embrace.

"Noooooo," he draws out, childlike. "That's not a real hug! Give me a real hug!" I tighten my arms a bit and he shakes his head comically. "Is that the best you've got?" So, I latch onto him with limbs of steel while his skeletal frame moans to make room for mine and his eyes threaten to dislodge. He rasps dramatically, "That's a REAL hug."

...and then he goes on to tickle me senseless.

A domesticated calico sets her bedroom eyes on a feral Tom...