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The cat was still there, patiently waiting outside her house.

That was to say, it wasn't there right now, but only because it'd followed her to Bibliophile and was now sitting patiently outside the door, waiting for her. Or at least she presumed that was what it was doing; it was what it'd been up to these last few days, following her anywhere she went and then back home again. She'd never encountered anything like this before; before Mogget, no cat had ever shown interest in her and now she had her own personal stalker.

It was just, well, that the cat wouldn't let her touch it. Or come near it, either - it backtracked any time she tried to. It made her nervous. What if it was hurt? And what did it even want of her?

Which was why she'd come here, hoping to find Zac at his work place. He knew cats better than anyone, she was convinced; he had to, with the kind of bond he shared with Mogget.

Heart melting, Isobel cooed and crouched down to scratch Mogget under his chin. "Hi Mogget~!" The other hand went to stroke him along his soft fur as she marvelled at his friendliness. Looking up, she sent Zac a beatific smile, cheeks slightly red; "he remembered me!"

Right, but she shouldn't get so distracted by the cutest kitty in the world that she forgot to respond to his human. "Hi! Um, I'm good but-" she paused, biting her lip and furrowing her brow in thought. How best to phrase this? She really hadn't thought this far ahead. "I need your help." Okay, that sounded just a tad bit too dire. "Um, if you'll lend it? I have a, a- cat problem."

Standing up when Mogget got scooped, she shook her head; "No, I mean, I haven't actually gotten a cat yet-" cutting off, she sighed in frustration at herself, "I'm not making this very clear, am I? Um, so basically there's this cat - as you might have guessed by now. It's been following me around for days now!" She looked frustrated, baffled and a bit happy all in one. "I think it's a stray because it's a bit thin and scruffy looking - it's missing half its tail and some of one ear and åh, it just really looks like it needs help you know? It's been following me everywhere but it won't let me touch it or anything! It's sleeping in the backyard under the gardenia and it only goes away for a little bit, to get food and such I think? But it really won't let me get near even though it goes everywhere with me." She stopped and threw him a doe-eyed look; "it's even outside the store right now!"

"It was near the entrance when I went in," as she spoke, Tibbie moved over to take a look out said front window. What if it'd gone home? She'd look really stupid then; but more importantly, she'd be worrying herself sick until she saw the cat again. Not at the entrance, not-- aha! Snapping her fingers, she threw a triumphant smile to Zac and pointed out at the sidewalk, not far from the entrance to Bibliophile, where the tortie kitty in question was sitting pretty like a little loaf, watching the surroundings and waving its tail back and forth.

"Maybe?" She thought on the idea, but once again her lack of knowledge on cats was a hindrance. She'd only just gotten started on the cat books she'd bought and this really wasn't a scenario covered in the first chapters. "It's worth a try; it hasn't really been aggressive at all from what I've seen, just avoidant, so Mogget should be safe." I hope, laid heavily in the air.

She nodded seriously, taking the ziplock and clutching it like it was the most important item she'd ever been handed. "Right, okay, here I go then..." Taking a deep breath, she moved towards the door and with one last glance to Zac, headed outside.

At her appearance, the cat stretched and leisurely sat up to watch her approach. She didn't seem stressed, just... mindful, perhaps. Nervously Tibbie bit her lip and crouched down to sit on the pavement; "here kitty-kitty-kitty?" Taking out one of the suspicious looking chicken bits, she aimed as best she could and managed to land it close to the cat, but not quite in her face. Which was a good thing, because no-one ever liked getting food thrown in their face, no matter how tasty it might be.

Startled, the kitty let out a 'mrow' and flinched, but the tasty smell was quick to convince her that this was something more interesting than fear - a glance and a slow blink to Isobel, and then she was moving forward and sniffing interestedly at the treat. It didn't take many nanoseconds before the tortie kitty was gobbling it up, smacking audibly. There'd never been a more pleasant sound to Isobel's ears.

"She liked it!" Surprised and very pleased, the pink-haired girl clapped her hands in joy, only to quickly regret it as the little kitty retreated back to her starting point at the sound. "Oh no!" Crushed was not the word for how she felt. "Carps, I messed up. Can I try again?"

It did reassure her and she gave tossing the treats another go. This time it landed closer to Isobel than the kitty, which made said kitty stop and think for a while, looking alternately from the tempting treat on the ground to the girl who'd thrown it. Finally, when Tibbie was convinced this'd never work, the cat moved towards the freeze-dried treat and gobbled it up like she had the previous one.

"It worked!" Her voice was a stage-whisper that thankfully didn't disrupt the kitty more than her giving a flick of the ear. Beaming at the kitty, then up at Zac and Mogget, she hurried to draw out another treat and toss it again, strategically even closer this time.

The kitty didn't seem to need as much consideration this time and immediately went for the chicken treat; with bated breath, Tibbie watched as the treat was consumed and the kitty was left licking her mouth. "Now?" It was a question, but she didn't wait for an answer; slowly, gently holding out her hand in the motion shown by Zac, she waited anxiously for the kitty to react. She could almost touch the cat, almost but not quite - the last few centimeters would be up to the tortie to close.

Said kitty ruminated for a long time, keeping her eyes on the humans with a carefulness that said she'd bolt if they moved too quickly; Isobel held still, held her breath and hoped.

And the kitty delivered. Slowly, cautiously she approached, sniffing with interest at Tibbie's fingers; the lingering aroma of chicken treats probably helped her interest. A small, strangled squeak of joy escaped Isobel's tight control, but thankfully this time the cat didn't react. "She's here!" There was genuine relief and excitement in her voice when she finally dared to whisper-speak. "What do I do now?!"

She would have nodded ferociously in response to his words, but held back in fear of scaring off the kitty again. "Okay!" There was resolution in her voice, tinged with hope and excitement - it was hard to be calm, hard to hold still when all she wanted to do was squeal and give the kitty a hug. But that was a bad idea, even she could see that after Zac's words of advice. So she held back, let the tortie sniff to her heart's content.

And she did; the kitty spent a long time alternately just sniffing and eyeing Tibbie. After a while, she apparently felt safe enough to move closer, inspecting Isobel's knees and the material of her dress. Once that was done to satisfaction, she sat back on her haunches and gave a very loud, very decided 'mrow~' to her audience.

"Did we pass the test?" The cat had stopped moving and Isobel dared to stray her eyes to her cat mentor.

Tibbie nodded very slowly, taking in his words and formulating a battle plan. "I'm... going to go for the cheeks, I think," there was resolution in her words, but she needed just a moment more to gather her courage before acting. What if the kitty ran away?

Meanwhile, the stray watched Mogget sniffing her tail with some interest, giving the tail a flick before settling down. It was stiff from prior injuries and the action looked more severe than it was meant - the kitty herself kept a close eye on Mogget but wasn't particularly on guard. She was used to other cats, mostly strays, and found nothing aggressive in the white cat's body language.

Finally Isobel found her resolve and with slow, reverent movements reached out to the kitty. She kept her hand level a little ways off from the cat's head, waiting until she acknowledged her; finally, taking her eyes off of Mogget, the stray kitty gave Tibbie's fingers a cursory sniff, clearly finding no new scents since last time.

That gave the pink-haired girl the last push needed to actually touch the kitty; gently, following Zac's advice, she stroked the soft cheek fluff. The stray blinked slowly, looked like she was considering the human in front of her for a moment, and then bumped her jaw against Tibbie's hand. The message was clear, even to her: 'more, please'! She obliged, not managing to hold in a squeal this time as she giggled happily, "look, look!"