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Rio was convinced that humans were the strangest creatures in the world. Well, maybe not the ones she lived with. They were ok. most of the time. Her Humans were still loud and smelly and weird.The place the two humans had brought her after finding (not saving, she could have saved herself, thank you) her in that bush was small and full of strange things. Great places for hiding. There were two soft places for the large humans to sleep, and yet they only seemed to use one at a time. Weird.This suited Rio just fine, though. The soft sleep place they weren’t using was obviously for her.The humans would put their food holes together sometimes. More than sometimes. It was like they did it more than they didn’t. Rio thought it was the weirdest thing in the world. Her humans also cuddled a lot. That she understood. She made sure they included her every time.Some days, she was alone in the room. She used the opportunity to knock things off high places to make sure her humans knew what they were missing out on. Sometimes she was with the bigger human with the hair on his face. But most of the time, it was just her and the human with the stick. She liked his stick, it was fun to play with.Rio learned that her humans had names. The bigger one with hair was Jayce. He was nice, and even though he was big, he was very gentle. He was tall and good for climbing. The one with the stick was Viktor. He was the one who pulled her from the bush. She liked him a lot.She hadn’t had a name before they found her. She wasn’t sure what she thought of hers, but Viktor had given it to her, so she decided it was ok.Sometimes, Rio learned, that humans spent days in bed. Jayce or Viktor would get all hot sometimes and make a really bad noise. She took to laying on their chests, purring. She had to help somehow. Rio noticed that Viktor had a hard time walking sometimes. She made sure to take extra care around him (she couldn’t have him falling on her).Sometimes, other humans came to visit.First was Caitlyn. Rio didn’t like her at first. Whenever Caitlyn came around, her humans left for the day. Caitlyn was not as nice or gentle as Rio’s humans. But then one day, when it was just Rio and Caitlyn, Rio decided to give her a chance. Rio allowed Caitlyn to pet her, and suddenly Rio discovered that Caitlyn could be gentle. Rio was ok with Caitlyn after that.One time, Caitlyn brought a human with pink hair, which Rio thought was weird. Pink hair was named Vi, Rio discovered. Vi liked to toss things into the air for Rio to chase. Rio decided she and Vi could be friends, even if Vi had weird hair.An older human, who Jayce called Mama, was her favorite visitor. Mama always brought treats or a new toy. Mama liked to cuddle and play mousey. Once, Rio got to go to where Mama lived for a while. Mama lived in a much bigger place than Rio and her humans did. There were so many hiding places and so many windows to nap under sunbeams with. Rio liked Mama’s den.One day, her humans started putting things in brown boxes. Rio liked boxes. She did everything she could to get into the boxes. Jayce and Viktor didn’t understand that they had created the ultimate playground and kept moving her out of them. No matter, she still did her best to make sure they knew she liked the box playground they’d built. They put all her things in boxes and then put her in a box she couldn’t get out of and then made her ride in the loud move-y thing. Rio hated the loud move-y thing. When they finally let her out, she was at Mama’s again. She decided she would probably be ok.Mama’s was fun, but she missed her humans. They came by at night, but they always left in the morning. She didn’t get why they kept leaving her. She had tried to sleep on them to make them stay. She brought mousey and tried to play catch. Nothing worked. For days they just left her. She didn’t like it.She finally understood why when they gathered all her things and took her, in that stupid move-y thing, to a new place. This place was bigger. Almost as big as Mama’s. Even better, she saw all her human’s things. Rio understood, this was going to be their new den. Jayce and Viktor took her to a room that was full of things that looked just for her. A big tree, bridges all over the walls, and so many toys all over the floor. Tunnels to run through. There was a big cushion in the corner, and she knew it was for her. There was a seat on the window looking at a tree. And the tree had birds! Rio could not be happier. She decided to forgive her humans for leaving her so much.On Rio’s first night in their new den, the other human visitors came over and they all ate together. Caitlyn, Vi, and Mama were all there. Rio didn’t think there had ever been a louder bunch of humans. She acted annoyed that they were invading her new home, but she was really happy they were there. She made sure they knew by cuddling with each of them when they all sat on the soft place in the room with the flashy box.One day, Jayce and Viktor brought another cat home. Rio was not above making new friends, but another cat? She wasn’t so sure. New cat was orange and they called him Hex. Hex was small when he came home, and he smelled really bad.For a while, Hex lived in Jayce and Viktor’s room while Rio stayed in hers. Rio was curious about Hex. Hex seemed shy, and she thought maybe he needed a friend. Rio decided to give Hex a chance. She was allowed to put her paw under the door to see if Hex would play. Then her humans made them eat together. Rio decided she was ok with Hex. Finally, Rio was allowed to meet Hex. Hex seemed nervous, so she showed him Mousey.Hex just needed time to get used to things, Rio figured out. After a day they were playing together. Rio even let Hex share her bed, even though he had his own in the other corner. Rio decided they could be friends. Having Hex almost made up for the fact that her humans seemed to be gone more. Maybe the hunting was harder to find where they lived now. Rio and Hex were always glad when they made it home safe.Rio’s humans loved to cuddle in front of the flashy box. Rio and Hex joined them sometimes. They always had a soft cover to shelter under and it made them soft and warm. The main issue Rio had was that her humans kept putting their food holes together. Rio made sure they knew she didn’t like it by putting herself in between them to keep them from doing it.Rio’s favorite thing that they did was go out for walks. She and Hex had to wear strap things that they didn’t really like, but it meant that they got to go outside. Rio loved to see the birds and smell the air and run up trees. Sometimes they took food to a green field and ate together on the ground. One time she managed to get out of the straps and run up the tallest tree she could find. She hadn’t anticipated she might get stuck. Luckily Jayce climbed up and helped her down. She never tried that again.Rio still thought humans were weird. They were loud and smelly. But Rio had also learned they could be nice. They could be good playmates and good friends. She especially loved her humans. They gave her a warm den and a brother and the best treats ever. Rio didn’t think humans were so bad anymore.