Stillness Breaks

Fibers beneath my claws. Coarse. Deeply woven. I lay sideways, watching the figures staged ahead between two towering cushions. A pause. Then my tail twitched. An deliberate shift of weight, quiet, testing the joint. My forelimbs pressed against the rough cloth. I pushed upward just enough to lift my snout off the fabric. Three frozen forms remained locked in their confrontation below, unmoving. I settled back into the low shadow, eyes fixed on the textured expanse.