A little squeak of surprise escaped him when the kitten batted at his nose. Anssi recoiled instinctively, but was soon ducking closer again, blue eyes wide with excitement. This was a very short exposure to a cat, but, yes, already he thought he was liking cats very much. Cats were fun! ...Or this cat was, at least. “She is friendly,” he echoed, bobbing his head a little in agreement. “And her - hand? - it is being so fast!” Hesitantly, chewing on his lip, he poked a finger into the open neck of his knapsack and wriggled it around at the cat.

The Finn didn’t know what to say to Rummingten’s next comment. Obviously the cat could move very quickly, since it had stretched up and bonked his nose before he could even react, but such a pretty, tiny cat wouldn’t actually attack other pets, right? He knew in theory that cats, as meat-eaters, would also be hunters, but dogs were meat-eaters too and yet the two dogs living down the hall their new flat in Houston were definitely not hunters. They were fluffy and sometimes made sharp yippy noises but never even growled. Maybe some bigger, wilder dogs were hunters, but not small pet dogs. Likewise, a small pet cat like this shouldn’t be hunting, either. Probably. Maybe.

“Really?? Thank you!” His eyes went even wider at Rennimtin’s offer. He had never picked up a cat before! What if he hurt her cat and then it bit him? Or, even worse, what if he hurt her cat and then neither of them wanted to see him again? Thinking these possibilities over, Anssi decided they were a bit too dramatic and it couldn’t go that badly, so after another longer hesitation, he let go of the neck of his bag so that he could gingerly reach both hands inside. “Come, cat, it is more fun outside,” he said encouragingly, as much to himself as to the cat. “Is this a good way to be holding you? It is okay, yes?” He couldn’t exactly see inside the bag with his hands in the way like this, but it felt like something soft and cat-like was between his palms, so he tightened his grip, super carefully because he didn’t want to hurt the cat, and tried to lift it out of his bag.