[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/ZSTKEEG.png[/img]
[h3][color=5ffb17]Home Sweet Home[/color][/h3][/center]
	A loud, banging rattle at her bedroom door stirred Talia from slumber. She rolled over and stuck her head beneath her pillow as a desperate [i]“Merow!”[/i] wailed from the other side of her door.
	Grumbling, she lifted the edge of her pillow to look at the clock on her nightstand. With a long groan, she let the pillow fall back into place.
	[color=5ffb17]“Go ‘way,”[/color] Talia muttered into the mattress. [color=5ffb17]“It isn’t even ten yet. You know I’m off Mondays.”[/color]
	Another, impossibly louder meow penetrated through the pillow’s stuffing, followed by more rattling and banging on the door. Then, a silence that bothered her more than the noise. 
	As suspicion flooded through her, Talia pulled the pillow from her head, then startled at the pair of golden feline eyes staring back at her over the edge of her bed.
	She lifted her upper torso, her curly hair knotted and worthy of nesting a family of nuthatches, and blinked at the charcoal Bangel cat in confusion. She twisted her head to look at the door in the wall opposite her bed, which stood slightly ajar.
	“Merow!”
	Talia looked back to the cat as he jumped onto her bed, strode onto her pillow, then laid down, staring up at her expectantly and purring.
	[color=5ffb17]“Ronaldo Jones. You’re a royal jerk. You know that?”[/color]
	“Merow.” Ronaldo stood and stretched, then rubbed his head against her chin.
	Talia gave an animated sigh of defeat and petted the cat before rolling onto her back with a groan. She stared at the ceiling for a moment before Ronaldo came over and touched his nose to hers with another loud meow. 
	[color=5ffb17]“Okay, okay. Breakfast. I know.”[/color] She unwrapped herself from her blanket and got up.
	After quickly getting dressed and untangling her hair, she went into the sparsely furnished living room between her and the kitchen space.
	[color=5ffb17]“Morning, McMuffin,”[/color] she greeted a long-haired, pied tabby, who looked up at her from where he napped on a couch. 
	Ronaldo waited for her by their empty food dishes. He meowed continuously and rubbed against her legs as Talia opened a can of wet food. His attention shifted only when she finally scooped the contents evenly into their bowls.
	McMuffin brushed against Talia as the fat cat hobbled to the dishes, offering her a quick glance and a friendly meow in greeting before shoving his face in the second bowl.
	[color=5ffb17]“I have some errands to run this morning before I head to the shelter,”[/color] she told them as she stepped toward the cabinets lining the walls around the counter separating kitchen from living room.
	Ronaldo looked up at her, licked his lips, then went back to eating.
	After grabbing a couple cereal bars for herself and pouring milk into both a lidded cup and a saucer, she placed the saucer beside the cats’ bowls, and headed to the narrow hall beside the fridge leading to the entrance.
	She shoved the cereal bars into her purse hanging on pegs protruding from the hall’s wall, and grabbed her favored fedora with its embroidery.
	[color=5ffb17]“I’ll be back by seven.”[/color] She placed the hat on her head, making sure the gray wolf faced forward, as she looked to the cats. [color=5ffb17]“Be good, boys! Don’t party without me.”[/color]
	With that, she left the apartment, locking the door behind her.