'Let Me In'
By Cr0wing
Pulling outside of our new apartment was a completely new experience for Demeter. Never before had she had a place she could call her own, and technically, she still couldn't. She was going to share the rent with her best friend, and their new roommate. She had met the guy once, with Bombalurina, for lunch. It was brief meeting to make sure they weren't going to be sharing an apartment with a whackjob, and while technically, he kind of was a whackjob, he was a whackjob they were willing to live with. Especially the scarlet, who had developed a small attraction to him, much to the golden calico's… Well, surprise wouldn't be the word to use here. But technically, she couldn't say she wasn't.
The apartment complex they were settling into was reserved for college students who wanted to live off campus, or that couldn't afford the rather expensive on-campus dormitories. It was more space, but lacked the luxury of being so close to class. And it Freshmen year for moth queens, and as far as they knew, Junior for their roommate, who, speaking of which, was waiting in front of the complex to help them unpack their small uHaul. The maine coon approached them with the same dashing smile as when they met,
"Welcome to your new home, Ladies! We've already arranged your welcome party."
Demeter raised an eyebrow at this, but still smiled politely, taking a few moments to stretch her legs from the long car ride, and look up at the rather odd architecture the apartment building had, ignoring the small utterance from the tom, which was particularly to Bomba, "I hope you two don't mind a few drinks."
There was a parking garage and a front lobby that was partially underground, and each had staircases that led up to a large deck, fit for neighborly parties and barbeques. The deck was placed oddly, too low to be considered a second story, and too high to be considered a first. There was a laundry room in the back center of the desk, and an elevator, which extended up three more floors, the back wall filled with front doors. There were larger apartments on either side of the deck, which, added from the ground up, made six in total, two on each floor. The one on the far right was labeled '101', and evidently, was theirs.
Looking from the angle she was at, Demeter couldn't see anybody, save for two lone cats who were peering over the balcony, one a grey tabby, and the other a solid black. She could hear a few cats talking on the deck, and the two onlookers rushed down a side flight of stairs and right over to meet the new neighbors, and help them unload their do-it-yourself moving van, the back of which, the Maine Coon, Tugger, had already opened. The black cat walked up to Demeter, the tabby in tow behind him, and gave her a toothy grin, white contrasting brilliantly to his dark fur,
"Obviously you must be Tugger's new roommates, I'm Alexei!," he chimed, offering her a paw, which she took.
"Demeter," she said back with a small smile, her old shy habits clicking back as she tried to appear more…more.
"And this is my roommate, Munkustrap."
The grey tabby waved with a small smile before a loud whistle from Tugger caught his attention and he rushed off to help him and Bombalurina start carrying things in. Demeter raised a paw in protest, "Oh, you don't have to-"
"It's okay, M'Dear, we're always glad to help!"
It took them but an hour to carry everything in, boxes, furniture and all. Opening the door to the apartment and passing a closet on the left hand side, a living room was there, already nicely furnished, probably from Tugger. A kitchen was just to the right hand side, a U-Turn from the door. A bedroom was on the far side of the living room, and to the far right hand side, a hallway. One bedroom on one side, bathroom on the other, and a larger bedroom at the end: Tugger's.
White Alexei and Tugger went to help Bombalurina set her dresser in the bedroom; Munkustrap was quietly helping Demeter put the bed back together in her room, just seeing the double mattress down. He pulled out the sheets from a cardboard box, and gave her a questioning look. She tilted her head, and then shook it, "No, thanks, I can get that later," and smiled, the silence of the tabby contrasting greatly from the loud yells and laughter echoing from Bombalurina's room, which was in the hallway, closest to Tugger's, and across from the bathroom.
"I think that everything, aside from the boxes. That's all just clothes, and my things."
He nodded, reaching into one and pulling out a few books, starting to place them on the bookshelf, every once in a while nodding in delight at a particular title, or looking at the back summary in mild interest. Deciding not to question him, Demeter merely remained quiet herself, and put away her clothes neatly into the dresser, and making sure everything was in place. Bed placed in the corner, desk by the window, long dresser beside it, Bookshelf on the other side. Nice and neat.
By the time it was all finished, aside from her toiletries, it was a dark, Friday night, and as seen from the window in the kitchen, the deck was lit up with a bonfire, and stringed lights. The smell of barbeque filling the air, and the sound of music bringing the night alive. Tugger let out a loud 'woooooot!' and soared out of Bombalurina's room, grabbing a lampshade off the table and rushing out onto the deck, Alexei in pursuit.
"I think I can adjust to this, what do you think?"
Bombalurina was smiling wide, tugging on Demeter's hand to come join her outside for their welcome party. With a smile and a roll of her eyes, Demeter followed her, the scarlet pulling Munkustrap's paw and dragging him out as well, snapping him from his leaning position against the wall. Once they were outside, Tugger grinned from the other side of the bonfire and picked up his bottle, taking an empty one and clinking them together, "Everybody, I'd like to propose a toast!"
The other neighbors, a mix of felines all around their age, wooted in response, one of them pausing the music to let the Maine Coon speak. Demeter and Bombalurina were then ushered up to Tugger by Munkustrap, who was now wearing a silly smile on his face, giving them a final push to the maned tom, "I'd like to initiate our newcomers into our circle. So, as tradition," he raised his glass in the air and shouted out loud,
"Fiiiiire!"
Suddenly, Alexei, Munkustrap, and a few others surrounded them, pointing cans of Silly String and spraying the sticky string over them, making them gasp and let out a short yelp of surprise before laughing, pulling clumps of the string off of themselves and throwing it at the offenders in a battle of sorts, and b the end of it, fur was definitely mussed up. Tugger then clinked the bottles together again, "Welcoming Bombalurina and Demeter, as Freshmeat!"
"Freshmeat!"
The whole deck echoed the word back to them, chanting it in a singsong voice before the party was resumed, music and barbecue lightening the evening and warming the cool night air. Demeter was never really able to find out when it ended, but she knew that for her, it had to end around Midnight, what with the exhaustion of unpacking and partying. She walked back into Apartment 101 to find Alexei, Tugger, and Munkustrap watching a movie on the large television Tugger had in the living room, The latter quietly laughing along with the other two's loud hooting laughter,
"I'm grabbing another beer, you guys want anything. What am I asking for, of course ya do."
The Maine Coon hopped up from the leather bound sofa and strode over to the kitchen, where Demeter was rummaging through the fridge. Tugger nudged her side playfully, uttering a friendly "scootchie scootchie' before reaching around her and grabbing three cans out of the refrigerator. His ears perked as Demeter spoke up with a small smile,
"So what was that all about with the silly string?"
Tugger smiled widely, his tail flicking happily behind him, "That, my Dear Lady friend, was an initiation into JU's first unofficial Fratority!"
"Fratority?"
"Yeah, yeah, like Frats and Sororities? Obviously none of us could get into one, so we made up our own. And now, you're Freshmeat!"
The calico raises her eyebrows in interest, "Does any danger come with being freshmeat?"
"Not unless you call Silly String dangerous," he chortled, looking through a cabinet for something to munch on, "Funny, I haven't heard ya talk all day. Was startin' to think you were like Munk."
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Munkustrap's a mute!"
"Oh, he is? Mute?"
Tugger nodded, chuckling as if it were ridiculous that she hadn't gathered it. With a blink and a swish of the tail, she wandered off passed the three toms and their movie, and into her darkened bedroom. She hadn't admitted it to anybody, but when she was moving her stuff in, she felt a bit scared. A new place, strangers everywhere. It was weird. Sure, the tight-knit seeming relationship all the neighbors seemed to have soothed her greatly, but she was still nervous. Taking a look at the bookshelf, barely lit by the moonlight shining through her window, she laid on the bed, bathing in the silence. Well, technically, the silence other than the muffled laughter coming from the other side of the wall. One sentence replayed in her head as she looked at the bookcase.
"What do I mean? Munkustrap's a mute!"
First CATS story, what do you think? I was challenged to pick a fandom not written for, and make a story with a primary character that doesn't talk for more then ten chapters. So, that's what I'll do!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, aside from my OC, Alexei.
-Cr0wing