Two cats on a patterned rug I walked into the living room to find a quiet, low-stakes standoff. In the foreground, the black cat is tucked into a perfect, compact loaf on the faded red and beige patterned rug. His yellow eyes are staring straight ahead, completely unbothered by whatever is happening behind him. Just a few feet back, the lighter, greyish-tan cat stands frozen near the base of the dark grey, multi-tiered cat tree. Her tail is slightly raised, blue eyes wide and fixed on something just out of frame. The room is completely still. The brown wicker-trim couches behind them are piled with an assortment of throw pillows, including one fuzzy white and another blue with starfish. A stray black cord snakes across the rug between the two cats, the only messy line in an otherwise settled domestic scene.