A cat is an apt description; the stray that wanders in and wants pets, but when he decides he's been satiated, he must resume a cold shoulder. But he tosses a roll of cloth Estinien.

"Use those for the mess," he says -- a wad of the bandaging he uses for the finger-tip to shoulder and chest wrap he wears over the cereuleum burns that have scarred his left side. "They've been washed since I last wore them."