Taming pirates

As I type, Pirate the street cat is asleep on a chair in the dining room. He's been staying inside as often as possible for the last few days. Not surprising when it was pelting rain outside, but today is lovely and sunny and he is still spending time inside. And sleeping the way a cat only sleeps when it's feeling secure.
We've started brushing him (which he likes) and have put the flea stuff on him (which he didn't object to) - both necessary precursors to him being inside for any length of time.
He also let me pick him up the other day.
Sometime in the last couple of weeks we seem to have passed a milestone in trust.
Of course, we still need to get him desexed... getting him to a vet is still problematic.