[One lovely thing about cats: they never expect an explanation from you. Yes, they know on some level that a person likes them or not; it's a born cat ability. However, one would never deliberately out the knowledge.

He watches her, listening to her rather intently and feels himself puff up with pride. He rolls over and claims a log as she clucks at him and he pads along behind, tail held high as he holds his 'spoils of war' proudly in his mouth.

He's not certain where they're off to, but it could be quite promising! And .. there might be food and scritching!]