"You weren't bad at it," Joe mumbles as he takes his turn to wash his hands. He knows Sid isn't offended but he'd really been trying not to make comparisons. Sid does so much for catpeople - more than any other human Joe knows, more than he thought humans were even capable of. But the truth is that he isn't a catperson, and a lot of them feel like Joe used to: that humans can't be trusted. But thanks to scent they'll even be able to tell that Joe isn't deceiving them, which will go even further to make a case for the clinic.
"After all," he admits with a wry smile, "it worked with me."
At least he's at a point where he can smile about it now; whenever he thinks back to meeting Sid he can't help but smile. Thank goodness for Sid's uniquely balanced personality; persistent without being overly pushy. Joe had felt cared about without feeling coerced into doing what Sid suggested. He needs to emulate that in order to make his plan work.
He probably dries his hands a little longer than necessary just to be sure his cheeks aren't going pink.
"I think once a week is a good compromise," Joe says, turning to follow Sid into the office, raising his voice a little so it will carry. "I thought about less than that, but it wouldn't feel like enough." Sid was probably doing it every single day, whether he meant to or not, just keeping his eyes peeled on the way to and from work, whilst out on his own time. "And more than that... I need to be here."
He is in the doorway as Sid asks about whether he would feel safe doing it. Joe wouldn't have brought it up if he wasn't, but Sid doesn't know much about what it was like for him on the streets, so of course he's going to ask. He hangs back for a moment, only unsure of where to begin, before walking over and siting down.
"I didn't feel unsafe on the streets," Joe says honestly. "It felt better to be around other catpeople at the time than it had to be in a home with a human, even if everyone was looking out for themselves. It's different now. And I moved around a lot, I wasn't worried that anyone would catch up to me, not really. Catpeople are better at tracking than humans, because of their noses. Better at evading too. It was just... A tough way to live. It wears you down."
That feels like more than enough to have said; it's well overdue but sometimes Joe doesn't even say that many words in an entire hour. He stuffs his sandwich into his mouth so that he doesn't accidentally say anything else right now.
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"After all," he admits with a wry smile, "it worked with me."
At least he's at a point where he can smile about it now; whenever he thinks back to meeting Sid he can't help but smile. Thank goodness for Sid's uniquely balanced personality; persistent without being overly pushy. Joe had felt cared about without feeling coerced into doing what Sid suggested. He needs to emulate that in order to make his plan work.
He probably dries his hands a little longer than necessary just to be sure his cheeks aren't going pink.
"I think once a week is a good compromise," Joe says, turning to follow Sid into the office, raising his voice a little so it will carry. "I thought about less than that, but it wouldn't feel like enough." Sid was probably doing it every single day, whether he meant to or not, just keeping his eyes peeled on the way to and from work, whilst out on his own time. "And more than that... I need to be here."
He is in the doorway as Sid asks about whether he would feel safe doing it. Joe wouldn't have brought it up if he wasn't, but Sid doesn't know much about what it was like for him on the streets, so of course he's going to ask. He hangs back for a moment, only unsure of where to begin, before walking over and siting down.
"I didn't feel unsafe on the streets," Joe says honestly. "It felt better to be around other catpeople at the time than it had to be in a home with a human, even if everyone was looking out for themselves. It's different now. And I moved around a lot, I wasn't worried that anyone would catch up to me, not really. Catpeople are better at tracking than humans, because of their noses. Better at evading too. It was just... A tough way to live. It wears you down."
That feels like more than enough to have said; it's well overdue but sometimes Joe doesn't even say that many words in an entire hour. He stuffs his sandwich into his mouth so that he doesn't accidentally say anything else right now.