Marco, a little orange cat, started hanging around a cafe a few weeks ago. The only problem was that he was absolutely terrified of people. Even someone getting up from a chair nearby would send him running. Clearly, becoming friends with this orange boy wasn't going to happen overnight.
One cafe regular decided to keep trying anyway. There were some food bribes involved and eventually curiosity started winning out over fear. Marco still wasn't ready to be touched, but he was getting closer. With a nervous cat, sometimes being allowed to simply exist nearby without them sprinting away feels like a win.
Then Marco decided to skip about ten stages of the friendship process at once.
His new friend arrived at the cafe, took their usual seat, and noticed there was no Marco around. They started looking at their phone and went about their business until, completely out of nowhere, they felt a thump land on their lap.
Guess who?
Marco had apparently been hiding underneath the table waiting for them. This is the same cat who, just weeks earlier, couldn't handle someone standing up near him. Now he was voluntarily climbing into a lap like he'd been doing it forever.
We're going to say those food bribes were money well spent.
There's something pretty great about a cat deciding on his own that someone has officially passed the trust test. Marco wasn't chased down, picked up, or forced into affection. He got there on his own schedule.
In classic orange cat fashion, once he finally made his move, he went all in.