The orange tabby hissed at the canine brute, bristling his fur to maximum fluff, and tried backing away further although he was rapidly running out of alley.

He’d tried to use the trash containers as cover, but they’d proven far less useful than they’d smelled.

The monster barked again and growled malevolently as it inexorably advanced.

Running out of options, the tabby crouched, preparing a rush to get himself clear when — three humans apparated.

They didn’t enter the alley, they just were suddenly there when a second before they were not.

It was like when something is spilled on the floor and you get a good sniff of it, but before you can get more than a couple of licks, your human magically appears, picks you up, and hauls you away, no matter how much you struggle.

Humans, despite providing shelter, food, and warm laps, were really annoying in that respect.

He would have to admit to being surprised. Certainly, the dog was as well, the growls fading into something of a confused whine.

“Get lost!” one of the humans yelled at the dog, raising her arms as if she could make herself look Big. Bigger.

She took a step toward the dog, but didn’t seem inclined to get too close. Probably for the best. He was an obvious biter and even humans could be smart on random days.

“Do you have everything?” the second human said, apparently to the third human.

“All set. It’s a pity Hyperion didn’t come. He’d have some choice words for the dog.”

“Hyperion would eat him.”

“Hmm, can’t say I’d blame him — for once.”

The third human moved closer to the second, who held up her hand, even as the dog decided he’d had enough, and raced back toward the street.

“Not too close. I could flash back at…”

The second human vanished but the third human, unlike the tabby, didn’t seem to find this surprising in the least.

“Yeah. Love you too.”

The first human looked at the tabby and smiled that weird tooth-baring smile they all had. Frankly, it still freaked him out, even when it was just his elderly human servant who only had teeth for part of the day.

“Good deed done. Shall we go save the world?”

The third human walked casually down the alley, with the first human falling in beside him.

“Could we stop and get a coffee?”

They didn’t seem threatening and were leaving him alone, but the tabby decided he’d had enough anyway. But while racing down the alley, he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to be able to understand the weird gibbering noises the humans made. They certainly did a lot of it. But it didn’t really matter and was quickly forgotten.

He was, after all, absurdly late for his lunch and a long mid-morning nap on his windowsill.