I'd like to dedicate this story to two of my favorite members of our little fandom - Delphi and HGP. Thank you guys so much for your reviews and kind words :)
Tugger sat in front of the wall to wall mirror in his dressing room, preparing himself for another wild night of loud music, strong liquor, and meaningless sex. He knew that's what he was in for when he'd signed on to headline at the Pussycat Club, but the novelty of it all was wearing thin. Every night was the same. Munkustrap would do some opening number before heading backstage to suck Alonzo's face (though that wasn't the only part of Alonzo that ended up in Munk's mouth), only taking separating from him to introducing the next act, then Victoria would come out and perform a striptease. After Vicki finished, Jerrie and Teazer would go out and do their acrobatics before Bombalurina and Demeter would perform some saucy duet. Then it was his turn. All the lights would dim, the fog machines would flood the stage with their sea of clouds, and he'd make his entrance with all the lights and eyes on him. He'd sing and dance his heart out, teasing the toms and queens in the audience as he made his way around the room through the sea of tables. Halfway through his act he'd usually make a show out of going to the bar and having Skimble fix him whatever cocktail he fancied before dancing along the bar drink in hand. By the end of the night he'd barely have the energy to mate with whoever managed to find their way into his dressing room.
When he'd first begun performing he loved the spotlight. Still did really. But now it just didn't feel the same. Then again, it did. Every night felt the same. Back in the early days every night and every audience had a soul, a persona, of its own. No two nights were the same. Sure there were ups and downs, but each one was a new adventure. Each night had its own twists and turns that kept Tugger on his toes, and breathed life into the hazy atmosphere of the Pussycat Club. When he'd started there, he was taken aback each night by the bright red velvet that lined the booths and chairs, the glossy black tile floor, the shining brass on all the fixtures. These days though there was no life breathed into the haze. The bright red velvet had darkened to crimson, and the tiles and brass had lost their shine. The club was busy as ever, and to anyone else it looked just the same, but the energy, the brightness, the life that had given Tugger such a rush had gone.
He gave up on his grooming and flopped onto the bed that filled most of the room. When he'd first moved in to the dressing room there was a chaise and chair lounge set with a small table and a minifridge for him to use. He very quickly found himself in need of more than just a chaise for his post show "activities" and had the bed brought in and the lounge set removed. He had kept the minifridge, though, and kept it stocked with ice and a variety of liquors. He reached his arm over the back of the headboard and found the small bag he kept there. He dipped his hand in and grabbed a pinch of the herb inside. Growing up he'd always been told to stay away from catnip - that it would ruin his life. At this point though, it was the only thing that kept his life bearable. He took a quick sniff before dropping the pinch onto his tongue and swallowing it. He quickly felt his muscles relaxing and his stress melting away.
About an hour later he awoke to the sound of Munkustrap's favorite opening number. As MC he had full control over the night's festivities, though for the sake of the performers he stuck to the same order each night, unless someone was trying something new and they gave him a heads up. That never really affected Tugger though, since he was always the final performance before they all performed in one ensemble number to close the night. Not having bothered to do any grooming since he still had plenty of time until he'd be on, he wandered out of his dressing room and into the familiar backstage mayhem. Alonzo was off stage right, watching his tom toy with a tiny smile working its way past his usual stern demeanor. Even though their relationship seemed to be nothing more than heated bouts of backstage mating, Tugger could see from the look in Alonzo's eyes that he truly loved Munkustrap. It was the same look that Jerrie and Teazer gave each other before they went on each night. Despite how annoying those two could be at times, Tugger couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy when he saw how lost one looked without the other. He saw how Victoria would light up whenever Plato surprised her backstage, and how Demeter would blush when stealing a moment with Mac.
"Can you imagine being tied down like that Tug? Everlasting I think I'd die." Startled out of his reverie Tugger saw the red bombshell that was Bombalurina sauntering over to him, a casual smirk on her face.
"Lonzo looks pretty happy to me. Same goes for Jerrie and Teazer, Dem and Mac, Vicki and Plato."
"My, my. Could it be everybody's favorite rockstar is thinking about settling down? I must say I'm rather disappointed in you Tugger," she feigned a look of concern and batted her eyelashes as she ran her fingers through his mane.
"What? No! Of course not. You know me, always looking for the next beautiful queen to fall for my charms." He hoped she'd be too distracted by his paw running down her side to notice he was lying. Deep in the back of his mind, he quietly hoped that he'd meet the one that would make him feel like the others felt. Little did he know that a small black and white tux out in the crowd would be that one...
The tux entered the club and looked around nervously. He'd been told that the place would be a good place for him to perform his magic, but he thought it wise to familiarize himself with the place before he made any decisions. The place was packed with cats of all colors and sizes, some appeared to be from rather wealthy families, some looked like strays. People were often perplexed by him. When he performed he made sure every eye was on him, but when he wasn't performing he did everything he could to stay invisible. It wasn't that he didn't like the company of other cats, just that he usually preferred to be alone with his thoughts.
"Just yourself this evening sir?" A young queen had approached him while he was surveying the room.
"Yes, just me," he replied.
"Would you prefer a table or a booth?"
"Oh, I don't know. I've never been here before."
"Well, you'll have a much better view of the performance from a table, but you'll have a little more privacy in a booth."
"I think I'll go for a table then."
"Of course, sir. Just this way." The queen led him to a small table right in the corner of where the main stage and the catwalk met. "Here you are sir. Can I get you a drink?"
"Do you have any good whites?"
"We have a few nice chardonnays, but I'm partial to a moscato myself."
"I am too actually. Why don't you bring me a glass of your favorite then?"
"I'll get that for you right away. If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask." She returned quickly with his wine, which turned out to be very much to his liking. He'd only just finished savoring his second sip, when the lights dimmed and the band began to play. The first performer was a grey tabby who welcomed the audience and quickly made it apparent that the show wasn't for kits. While his words weren't particularly crude, his dancing was rather provocative. He'd never thought of himself of being particularly prudish, but after watching the tabby and the white queen that followed he was fairly certain that the Pussycat Club wasn't exactly the kind of place he'd want to perform. He lightened up a bit after watching the acrobats, who were rather astonishing that particular night, and almost equally astonishingly, the duet between the two stunning queens that followed was one of the best he'd heard in some time.
Then came the turn of the club's headliner, the Rum Tum Tugger. After the first four performances he wasn't sure what to expect when the lights dimmed and fog began to pour across the stage. The lights flashed brightly in the audience's eyes, temporarily blinding them as the Rum Tum Tugger took command of the stage. Well he certainly knows how to make an entrance, I'll give him that, the tux thought to himself. Despite the tom's brazen flirtatiousness and overtly sexual dancing, he found himself transfixed by the performance. He was so transfixed in fact, that he didn't even realize the tom had made his way to over to him. He came up to the table and sat himself down before stealing a sip of the tux's wine. He quickly leaped up again and made his way around the room, but not before pointedly running his tail over the back of the tux's shoulders. The tux let out a quiet purr before catching himself and looking around to see if it had been noticed. Luckily for him it hadn't.
As the final curtain fell on the night's performance, Tugger felt surprisingly refreshed. He knew the whole circus would begin again in an hour or so, but something about that night felt different. It almost felt like it did in the beginning. In fact, it felt exactly like it did in the beginning. Tugger couldn't quite put his finger on what had caused the change, what had made all the colors more vibrant again, had breathed new life into the hazy air, but he had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with that little tux sitting alone off to stage right.
The moment he stepped on stage he'd noticed the small tom, though at the time he wasn't quite sure if it was a tom, given his svelte figure. Although he commonly flirted with and teased other toms, he'd never genuinely found one attractive before. Try as he might, he couldn't keep the little tux off his mind as he performed. Eventually he gave in to the temptation and made his way over to the tux's table. As he approached the table he took time to examine the tom seated at it. His fur was short and had a silken sheen to it, his frame was petite, and as Tugger had noticed he had quite a nice figure, but what really caught him off guard were the tom's dazzling blue eyes. The way the shone like sapphires catching a ray of light in a dark cave, the way he could lose himself in them like a sailor adrift at sea. They were so distracting he forgot to begin the next verse of his song, something he'd never done before. He quickly played off the mistake by sitting himself on the tom's table and taking a sip of his wine before making his way through the rest of the crowd.
As he made his way back to his dressing room he found himself hoping that the little tux would stay for the next show so he could see him again. Tugger quickly slapped himself mentally for that kind of thinking. No one made the Rum Tum Tugger feel that way. But wasn't that what he'd just been dreaming about when Bomba had caught him earlier? I guess I just didn't think it would happen so soon. Much less at the hands of a tom. As he rounded the corner of the hallway leading to his room, he walked right into another cat and the two landed side by side on the floor.
"Sorry, didn't see you-" the words caught in Tugger's throat as he saw the cat he'd walked into was that very tux that he'd been thinking about.
As the curtain fell the tux felt himself warming to the idea of performing at the Pussycat Club. He'd been worried that all the acts would be as exhibitionist as the first two, and he certainly wasn't going to be doing any exhibition in his act. His father already disapproved of his decision to pursue his magic, and he certainly didn't want to give him any more reasons to disapprove. Once the initial wave of exiting patrons had died down, he stood and found the queen that had brought him his wine.
"Pardon me, but could you tell me where I might find Munkustrap? Deuteronomy said I should speak with him this evening."
"Oh sure, no problem. Is he expecting you?"
"I doubt it. I only met Deuteronomy this afternoon."
"Well then you can probably find him in his dressing room backstage. Word of warning though, you'll want to knock first. He tends to be - occupied - between shows. There's a door just over there that heads back."
"Thanks for the heads up," he said before proceeding in the direction she'd indicated. As he made his way to the door and into the hallway it led to, he couldn't help but think of the Rum Tug Tugger. He knew if he'd been told about Tugger by someone, he would've found the very thought of the tom unappealing, but he couldn't get him out of his head. He was so distracted thinking about the maned tom that he didn't notice a large tom rounding the corner until the two collided and fell down next to each other.
"Sorry, didn't see you-" The tux looked up to see where the voice had come from and was shocked to see the very tom that he'd been thinking of. "What are you doing back here?"
"I- Uh- I-" the tux suddenly found himself completely off guard. He'd never met anyone that could shake him in that manner.
"What's wrong? Someone got your tongue?" the maned tom asked with a smirk.
The tux managed to collect himself enough to form a coherent sentence and said "I'm here for Munkustrap."
Tugger's face visibly fell at this statement. "He's in his room. Head round the corner and it'll be first door on the left. You'll want to knock first though. Something tells me he's a bit - busy - at the moment."
"That's the second time I've heard that in the past five minutes so it must be true," the tux said as he stood. "But thanks for telling me. Oh, and sorry for running into you." He made his way down the hall before Tugger had a chance to respond. He knew it wasn't the most polite thing to do, but he was worried about what might happen if he'd stayed any longer. He couldn't help but wonder if the change in the maned tom's demeanor was the result of his learning that he wasn't there for him, which led the tux to think that maybe he wasn't the only one with a bit of a crush and if he wasn't... Stop thinking like that right now. He's not the kind of tom you want to even consider getting involved with. No matter how handsome, talented, charming or... Great. He'd seen the tom perform once and had a brief accidental contact with him and he was already falling for him.
Tugger couldn't help feel a pang of regret as the tux walked away. He had secretly hoped the svelte tom had been there for him, and from how quickly the tux had walked away, he couldn't help but think he'd somehow managed to say something to offend the tom in some way. He also couldn't help but notice the tom's rather well formed rear, though for the first time ever he mentally slapped himself for the thought. You really must have feelings for that one if you're chastising yourself for checking out a nice ass. Just do yourself a favor and snap out of it Tugger. He probably isn't into that kind of thing, and even if he was you probably just blew any chance you had with him. Sometimes Tugger really hated the little voices in his head.
Tugger went into his dressing room, grabbed a bottle of whiskey and flopped down on the bed. Affairs of the heart had never been his thing. Sure he'd had quite a few lovers, but most were gone by morning, and only a select few ever returned for another night. He'd always had plenty of queens at his disposal, even when he was a kitten. By the time he was a tom he already had quite a following as a performer and could have any queen he so desired, at any time he so desired. Now, the one time he actually was feeling something more than a passing fancy, he blew it. He opened the bottle and took a swig, feeling the familiar burn in his throat as he downed it. As he lay there, he kept replaying the encounter in the hall over and over again in his mind, thinking of ever little thing he might have done differently, trying to find any point where he might have offended the tux, hoping he missed some sign that that svelte little tom fancied him at least a fraction of as much as he fancied him.
A few minutes later he was pulled from his reverie by someone knocking at his door. Without bothering to lift his head he acknowledged his visitor and told them to enter. He propped himself up on his elbows as Munkustrap entered the room.
"And what can the Rum Tum Tugger do for you this fine evening, Munk?"
"Well we've got a new cat auditioning during the next show and I thought I'd introduce him. Tug, this is our potential new conjurer Quaxo, stage name Mr. Mistoffelees." Munkustrap stepped further into the room with the tux in tow.
When Quaxo reached Munkustrap's room he learned what Tugger and the waitress meant by "occupied." The sounds were unmistakable, though to Quaxo's surprise neither of the voices he heard sounded queenly. Given his own inclinations he wasn't one to judge, but Munkustrap had put on quite a convincing show earlier. He steeled his nerves and gave a firm knock on the door. The noise emitting from inside died down and moments later he was greeted by the grey tabby. The tabby gave him a curious look before shrugging it off.
"What can I do for you kit?"
"Deuteronomy said I should talk to you about performing my magic here. I'm new in town and I doubt he'd've told you about me yet - we only met this afternoon."
"Alrighty then... Well why don't we start with your name?"
"Oh, right, probably should've led with that. My name is Quaxo, but I usually call myself Mr. Mistoffelees when I'm performing."
"If Deuteronomy thinks you're good enough to perform here I won't question it. Might be in part due to the fact that I'd probably be out on my ass if I ever did question him, but the guy has an eye for talent. Tell you what. Why don't you do a short act during the next show tonight and we'll consider it your audition."
"Ok then."
"Might as well introduce you to our little family then," Munkustrap said, stepping aside and allowing Quaxo to see inside the dressing room. Munkustrap gestured toward a black and white spotted tom laying on a couch and said, "that there's Alonzo. He's our stage manager, and well... I get the feeling you're smart enough to figure the rest out about him and me." He turned to Alonzo, saying "I'll be back in a few. Don't even think about moving." He shut the door behind him and led me to the next dressing room. He knocked twice before opening the door, revealing the two acrobats lounging about on their couch. "Here we have Mungojerrie or Jerrie as we all call him, and Rumpleteazer, or just Teazer. Jerrie, Teazer, this is Quaxo. He's a conjurer and he'll be auditioning in the next show, right after you two."
"Lovely to meet ya gov," said Jerrie before bowing.
"Say, you was in the audience tonight wasn't ya?" asked Teazer, not bothering to stand from the couch.
"Yes, I was. You two gave quite the performance."
"Thank ya gov'nah. We's always aimin' to please," replied Jerrie. As Jerrie spoke Quaxo caught Teazer giving him a once over with her eyes.
"Teazer, if you're gonna check out the new guy at least try to be subtle, at least for Jerrie's sake," quipped Munkustrap.
"Wasn't checkin 'im out! Just curious what all the fuss was about."
"Well now you know. We'll see you later." With that Munkustrap closed the door and led Quaxo to the next room.
"Say, Munkustrap, what did Rumpleteazer mean when she said 'all the fuss?'" Quaxo asked.
"Oh never you mind about that." Again, he knocked twice before opening the door, this time revealing the white queen that had performed the striptease. "Quaxo, may I present to you Victoria. Victoria, this is Quaxo. He'll be auditioning tonight."
"Lovely to meet you Quaxo." She spoke in a much softer and lovelier voice than he'd expected. She was surprisingly elegant and classy, given her line of work, and her room by far the best kept dressing room he'd ever seen. "Munk, is the the one?"
"Yes Vic, he is. We must be going though, still have to introduce him to Bomba and Dem, and let them know he'll be performing ahead of them." Again he apparently cut the conversation short and quickly moved on to the next room. Quaxo's introductions to Bombalurina and Demeter went in the exact same manner, both asking a rather vague question about him before Munkustrap affirmed their suspicions and quickly ushered him out. "Well now you've met everyone. All that's left is finding you a dressing room."
"Munkustrap, why did everyone ask if I was 'the one'? And why didn't you introduce me to the Rum Tum Tugger?" Quaxo could see Munkustrap tense up at his questions. He saw that Munkustrap was debating whether or not to tell him, but he ended up caving.
"You were the tom sitting alone off to stage right, correct?" Quaxo nodded. "When Tugger went over and drank your wine he was supposed to have been singing a verse. He's been performing here over a year now and he's never skipped a verse, and he's certainly never given any other patron as much attention as he gave you tonight. None of us are quite sure what it means, but you had one hell of an affect on him. I was debating whether or not I should introduce you two since technically you've already met, but I doubt you'd've brought it up it you didn't want a formal introduction."
"I was wondering if I'd ever get your name tux," Tugger said, his voice oozing with all if his charm. "You darted off so quickly after our last little encounter I didn't even get the chance to ask for it." Quaxo flushed red as Tugger spoke.
"Sorry about that. I was a bit starstruck I guess." Tugger could tell he was lying, but he wasn't going to call Quaxo out in front of Munkustrap, who happened to choose that moment to interject.
"Well now that's out of the way, why don't we see about finding you a dressing room? The show starts in half an hour, and I imagine you'll want somewhere to prepare." Munkustrap couldn't seem to get the words out quickly enough, and he was quickly beginning to drag Quaxo out the door.
"You're more than welcome to share mine Quaxo. It may be a bit cramped because of the bed, but there's enough room for the two of us." Though Quaxo did he best to hide it, Tugger caught him blushing again. Tugger also caught the not quite as hidden look that Munkustrap shot him, but he chose to ignore it.
"I'd like that, thank you."
"Well then, Munk why don't you give us a little privacy? We'll both need some time to be ready for the show." Though Tugger could tell Munkustrap was rather adamantly against the idea, Munkustrap did his best to keep up appearances, and quietly left the room. After the door had closed Tugger gave Quaxo one his signature smirks and said "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Munk was trying to keep us apart."
The two cats flopped down on the bed side by side, both utterly exhausted.
"That was quite the performance Quaxo."
"You weren't too bad tonight yourself, Tug." They turned and smiled at each other before letting out breathless chuckles. It had been a week since Mistoffelees had made his debut at the Pussycat Club, and in that time the two had almost become joined at the hip and contrary to what one might expect the two complimented each other perfectly. They would often even take naps together on the bed between shows, and though neither would admit it, they both quite enjoyed it. "Can I ask you a question Tug?" Despite how close the two of them had become, there was still one question left from that first night to be answered.
"Come on tux, you know you can ask me anything. I might lie when I answer, but if I do I'll sell you a good one." Tugger's reply earned him a playful swat from Quaxo.
"I'm serious Tug, just this once ok?"
"Ok Quaxo. Fire away."
"You remember that first night I was here? When you drank my wine?"
"Yeah, of course I do. What of it?"
"Well all the others were saying I was the reason you forgot the verse. Do you know what they meant by that?" Quaxo knew he was taking a risk, but he couldn't help falling even harder for Tugger over the past week, and he simply had to know if there was any chance that Tugger might return his feelings.
Tugger meanwhile, was caught off guard. There was no way he was going to tell Quaxo that it was because he was too busy falling head over heels in love with him that he forgot the verse, but he couldn't seem to think of a convincing lie. "I- Well, I, umm..."
Quaxo had heard enough and threw caution to the wind. He put his hand on Tugger's cheek, leaned in, and kissed him. He gathered himself in preparation for what he expected was to come, but to his amazement Tugger responded by wrapping his arm around him and pulling him closer. The two lay there kissing each other passionately for a few minutes, until Quaxo broke the kiss.
"Tug... I think, no, I know, I love you."
"Good. I know I love you too tux."
Holy crap that turned out to be WAY longer than I intended. It was supposed to be a short and sweet one-shot but it just kept going and going... Hope you enjoyed it!