“That’s a purr,” she assures him, with the air of a woman who has probably had to explain this before. “I’m not totally sure how he’s doing it, either, but he heard a cat once and— now he does that. It’s not hostile,” with a slap to the case like this baby can contain so much friendliness.

“The case is really so he doesn’t fuck off while I’m trying to get us between a and b; he’s not the spirit of impulse control, if you get me.”

More or less the direct opposite of that, in fact.

“If we keep the door shut, I can let him out. He gets bored in there, bless, but with everything—”

A shrug. She hadn’t been sure how fast they might end up moving.