Notes: Ah, the first official chapter!
Presto has a weird train of thought. Just a warning. Also, Presto may seem OOC in this chapter—but, hey, how would you act if you were joining the Jellicles by yourself, because you simply want to? (Hm, an OC being OOC. Bad writing, man. Pity me?)
Excuse my typos, I corrected stuff at like three in the morning. I probably will only have notes at the end of chapters from now on. So let's get this out of the way: I do not own Cats. Blanket disclaimer.
Presto's information is on my profile. Read it at your own risk-it's long.
Enjoy!
P.S. I dedicate this story to rawrrkitty, for reading all of Presto's info and offering my tips on making her a
sparkly new and awesome character. I'd also like to dedicate this to raptoregg and sensesfaillxx.
you rock. :D
The sunlight poured in from between the shades, waking me. Groaning, I snapped my eyes open in that way that scares Madigan so much, and stretched. I got a horrible night's sleep. I was too busy thinking. Too busy thinking about what I was going to do today…
Yawning, I hopped from my perch by the window, startled by a yelp. "Fuck, Presto!" Petri hissed, holding her—oh, I mean "his"—tail.
"Sorry, wimp."
"Hey, it's not my fault." Not your fault you're a wimp? I thought, glaring at him. Chicken. "I don't even get why you're doing this, though—"
"Petri!" came Katherine's voice, furious, and a little screechy.
"Oh, what did you do this time?" I teased, elbowing him. He smirked, his chest puffed out like a proud pigeon.
"I took her earring. Gotta go." He said, before bulleting away, and out the door that Madigan was currently opening.
"Petri!" Katherine screamed again, coming into view. She was livid. In a swift movement, she kneeled in front of me. I could just see the bloodlust in her eyes. I put on my best innocent kitten face. "Presto," she started, pointing to her ear. I observed that one had a purple earring in it—It was called tanzanite or something, I think she said her uncle got her some when he was in… uh, Africa?
Anyway, her other ear was bare, only a hole in it. Who in their right mind would want to puncture their ears? And their stomach hole—Katherine had one of those, too. I mean, the whole putting the earring through the hole thing was also a huge innuendo. I focused my attention back on Katherine.
"Have you any idea," she hissed, "where Petri—the feline bastard—put my earring?" I wanted to ask, why do you keep him? But I knew the answer. Katherine and Petri were best buddies, even if he stole her stuff. Seeing as I am a cat, and I couldn't talk—well, human-language or whatever—I just swished my tail and pranced away. Katherine cursed, and continued on her tirade.
Smirking to myself, I meowed loudly and rubbed up against Madigan's leg. "Hey, Presto. Bye, Presto." She sighed, opening the door for me to leave. I placed my paw on her foot—there were cats on her socks—then strolled out of the dorm. In the hallway, a few people stopped to pet me or be just plain annoying. People were used to cats roaming around here, especially me, Petri, and Arti, who was some weird tan cat who was more of a girl than me. And he was a boy.
I strolled out of the building, some kind person keeping the door open for me. I glanced back, acknowledging them, and continued on my merry way.
I can do this. Yes… yes I can. I hope. Oh, fuck, I'm scared out of my mind. I thought, trying to steady my breathing. Stupid Petri bailed out on me… I'd be doing this alone. The only comfort he gave me was saying that if he changed his mind again, he'd have to join alone.
Oh, for the love of god. Petri is a coward. If he didn't join with me, he never would. You're on your own, Presto. I told myself grudgingly. I crouched down, glancing into the junkyard. I couldn't see much. Only lonely junk piles. I assumed I wasn't at the main entrance…
I was just a dumb little kit who wanted to join the Jellicles for no good reason. I had reasons, of course—just not good ones. I'd been watching them for days—okay, maybe a few months. No matter! I'd been watching them for a while—their Ball, other festivities, hell, I've even seen Bustopher Jones in there… Yes, I knew Bustopher Jones. Not personally, of course, but I've seen him around. And everyone's heard about him.
Realizing I had completely spaced out, I focused my mind back on the junkyard. What would I say? "Hey, I'm a random cat who wants to join your tribe because you're awesome! Yay!" Yeah, no. Okay, Presto. Be professional…
I straightened myself out, fixed my chest fluff and bow—my fabulous, lovely bow—and started taking a step out of the shadows, into the light—into the entrance to the junkyard. And I got "cold feet." Argh! Presto, suck it up!
As if two hands of steel pushed me forward, I forced myself to step into the junkyard entrance. No turning back. I cleared my throat, and tried to say, "Excuse me." What came out was a barely audible whisper. I tried again. "Um, excuse me?" I said, then squeezed my eyes shut as if some ravenous beast would come out an attack me. I opened my eyes slowly and peered into the junkyard. It seemed no one heard me… No one was there. Making the ballsiest move I would ever make—ever—I stepped into the junkyard, no longer in the safety that was the outside world. How twisted is that?
I looked around nervously. No signs of any cats. I kept taking small, tentative steps, fearing in the back of my mind that the junkyard wouldn't be able to handle my weight and cave in, thus tearing into the time space continuum and creating a black hole that will kill us all… Or something.
I guess I hadn't realized how far I traveled into the junkyard, because before I knew it, a weight hit me and I was on the ground. Someone pounced on me. Scared out of my mind, I began yelling things like, "I'm sorry! I'll leave! Don't kill me! I'm innocent! I'm sorry!" I was wigging out, which was quite uncharacteristic of me. I had my eyes squeezed together so tight, painful tears of eye juice were squeezing out. I felt a release on my shoulder—whoever pounced me, had been holding it down, I gathered.
"Dude, shh. I'm not going to hurt you." Said the attacker—or protector, I was indeed the intruder in this situation. I literally froze and opened my eyes. The Pouncer was a black and white tom that was a lot friggin' bigger than me—and he was really hot. Uh, handsome. He got off of me and held out his paw. Like an idiot, I just sat up and gawked at him. "…What?" I said, unintentionally cocking my head to the side. "Are you a Jellicle?" I asked dumbly, mentally smacking myself.
"Why, yes. And what are you?"
A mindless kitten who has been watching your tribe for months and really, really wants to join because you guys are awesome! "A mindless kitten who has been watching your tribe for months and really, really wants to join because you guys are awesome!" Oh my god. I said that? Shit, shit, shit! I clamped my paws over my mouth in horror. I really needed to get out more. The tom started laughing, and I blushed. Hard.
"Oh, god." I sighed, standing up and brushing off my bum—I hadn't realized he still had his hand out. A gentleman, he was. "I'm sorry," I said, though I wasn't entirely sure why I was apologizing.
"Why?"
If only you could read my thoughts. I just said I didn't know… "Because I was being dumb, I guess." He chuckled, crossing his arms.
"You seem harmless enough… Do you have any ties to anything shady?"
"Well, yes. Light can't reach everywhere, y'know."
"…That's not what I meant."
"Oh, crap! I know what you mean, I just—Uh, no. I didn't really know there was shady stuff in… Catland, actually." I muttered, actually slapping myself. The cat—heeeyyyy, I still didn't know his name—just grinned.
"You want to join the Jellicles, right?"
Yes, more than anything. I would kill to join you. "Yeah, a lot."
"All right… I'll introduce you to Munkustrap." And that is? Eh. I didn't want to question him, so I obediently followed him as he began to walk away. Since he obviously wasn't thinking of it—the tom seemed pretty spaced out—I took our momentary silence as a chance to introduce myself.
"My name is Presto… I live a few blocks away." I said, jogging up to him so I could walk beside him. Dude walked fast. He turned to me, an amused expression on his face.
"Presto, eh? I'm Alonzo, the Jellicle protector. Or, no. The assistant of the Jellicle protector."
"Monkey… Munk… Munkustraps, right? No…"
"Munkustrap. Close."
"Oh. Well. That's cool… so you're on duty?"
"But of course." I didn't know what to say to that, so I just turned to face what was in front of us—then I realized we were entering a big clearing, which I assumed was the main clearing, as it was teeming with cats. Slowly, I saw paws pointing at me—and Alonzo, I guess—and giggling. The bow. I thought, inwardly smirking. I loved my bow, and there was nothing anyone could do about it…
"By the way, sorry about pouncing on y—" Alonzo started, but was cut off.
"Who's this, 'Lonzo?" said a voice—a deep, womanly voice. I turned to see whom it was—I hadn't realized that I was looking around at the cats—to see a tall, thin, and beautiful queen. I think Madigan's aunt had one like her… an Abyssinian?
"And hello to you, too, Cassandra"—mental note, the Abyssinian's named Cassandra—"… this kit's named Presto."
"Interesting…" said Cassandra, looking me over, like she saw through my entire flipping being. It was scary, because I actually thought it was true. "…Cassandra, as you might have guessed." She said, reaching towards me. I reached out my paw, thinking she was going to shake it, but instead she reached for my head and flicked the curl. I blushed, and surely looked like an apple. She's kinda… intimidating. Eep.
"Hello!" I said, breathlessly, "I'm—"
"Alonzo? Do we have a newcomer?" Damn it! More cats! I thought I was going to be overwhelmed. But Presto is stronger than that! Just… wigged out. This voice, I noted, was a man. I turned to see whom it was, sort of noting that more cats seemed to have tuned in to our conversation. A normal reaction, I assumed, so I didn't think much of it. The voice came from another tall, handsome tom—a silver and black cat, who I assumed was a tabby or something.
"Oh god…" I whispered, realizing that was probably Munkustrap—from watching the Jellicles for a while, I noticed that he was… like, the protector, like Alonzo had said. I never knew his name though. It's hard to hear when you're watching from the roof of an apartment building… or was it a dorm house?
"Care to introduce yourself?" asked Munkustrap. I looked up—I was looking down? —and started sputtering random things out of embarrassment. Finally getting a hold on myself, I said, "Uh, I'm Presto, sir…"
"And she is, and I quote, a mindless kitten who has been watching our tribe for months and really, really wants to join because we are awesome." Alonzo said. I turned to him, wide-eyed. OH, DEAR GOD. Why, Alonzo, why? I could feel my face burning. He gave me a warm smile. I was sure I was going to melt into a puddle of blushing kitten. Oh god. Munkustrap, to my dismay, chuckled.
"I'm so sorry," I said, mentally punching myself, then kicking myself in the shin and laughing as I keeled over sobbing.
"Why?" asked Munkustrap. No. Stop. Asking. That.
"Because I'm a stalker," I said, ashamed. I could see the cats within earshot trying to contain their laughter. Well, some of them. Some were full on laughing.
"Oh, how rude of me…" said Munkustrap, "My name is Munkustrap." I gathered. "I'm the Jellicle protector, second-in-command…" Gathered that, too. "Let's have you talk to Old Deuteronomy, our leader."
Oh dear lord. Who the fuck—I need to clean my mouth with soap one of these days—is Old Deuteronomy? I knew he was the tribe leader, since Munkustrap said so… but, ugh! "Come with me." Munkustrap said warmly, signaling me to come hither, as Katherine would say. I nodded and jogged after him, bracing myself. Despite the fact that Alonzo—and I—made a complete fool of myself (great grammar there, Presto) I was calming down a little. Munkustrap seemed kind, and Alonzo seemed pretty cool (despite the fact that he was an ass—I mean, butt face)… Old Deuteronomy couldn't be so bad.
When we reached Old Deut's place—note to self, do not call Deuteronomy "Deut" to his face, just don't—my face was perfectly cool again. I spaced out a little, so I barely heard Munkustrap when he said, "Father?" Wait, what? Father? No wonder he's second-in-command… He's probably earned it. Ha, ha, Presto—you brown-noser. He can't even hear you! I thought, spacing out again. Apparently Deut told us to come inside, because Munkustrap gestured for me to enter. He held the entrance open for me, and with an imperceptible bow and a quiet "thanks," I entered, Munkustrap following after me.
Old Deut was a rag. A really big rag. Seriously. He smelled nice, though. "Take a seat, if you will," he said. I nodded, and followed his orders. Old Deut had a deep, baritone voice. What else would I have expected? He smiled a big, fatherly smile at me, and I attempted to return one without looking creepy. Munkustrap saluted at me—or maybe it wasn't a salute, it looked like one—nodded to Old Deut, and left. I wanted to cry, "No! Don't go!" but that would have been weird, so I kept my mouth shut.
"Hello, my name is Old Deuteronomy." Got it. "And yours…"
"Presto Parina Peterson. But most people call me Presto or Pres. Sir." He laughed, and I could swear I felt the room vibrate.
"No need to call me sir, dear," I nodded, a little weirded out that he called me "dear." A usual thing, I supposed.
"So you want to join the Jellicles?"
No, I want to kill all of your men and take your booze and women. "Yes, si—I mean, yes." He chuckled. "I'll just need to ask you a few questions," he said, and I pictured Madigan's mom straightening out a pile of paper that time when we were at the mansion. I remember, Madigan was in trouble, and I was there for "support." I didn't know why she had the papers, but when she was done, she launched into a series of questions… like Madigan was an employee or something.
"Do you know who Macavity is?"
"There's nothing wrong with my teeth." I said, deadpan. Deut laughed. I blushed, as I realized he said nothing about my teeth. "I-I mean, I don't know who that is!" I sputtered. He smiled at me, and continued the questioning.
Afterwards, I sighed what was probably the biggest sigh in the history of forever. I survived the questioning, and Deut said I could join. Not in so few words, but he said it. I resisted the urge to dance. I wiggled my shoulders and smiled to myself. "Presto," a voice called—Munkustrap.
"Yes?" I said, turning around. I noticed there were a few queenkits with him—a pure white one, a black, red and white one with big eyes, a dark brown and—in a few places—reddish kit, and lastly a crème colored kitten with stripes all on her sides, and freckles.
"These girls are Victoria,"—white cat—"Jemima,"—big eyes—"Electra,"—dark brown with some red—"and Etcetera." The cream colored one. I nodded, and grinned—finally, a free smile and not a forced nervous one. I was in. I was a Jellicle. The queenkits showered me with assorted greetings. Etcetera spoke up. "You're Presto, right?" her voice did not suit her face. It was almost womanly…
"Yeah,"
"Well, you know who we are! We'll be giving you a tour of the junkyard!" She said, smiling. My grin grew wider, if possible. I saw Etcetera look to Munkustrap for approval, and he nodded. "You girls have fun," he said, patting Jemima's shoulder. Then he left us.
"So, where to first?" asked Victoria.
"Waaaait." Etcetera whined. "Presto!" She said, turning to me.
"Hmm?"
"You can call me Etcy. Or Etti. Whatever's best." She said. A clicker seemed to go off in the other girls' heads, as they all began to tell me their nicknames.
"Some people call me Jemi or Jem,"
"Usually 'Lectra. Or El'."
"Vicki and Tori. Nice to meet you." Caught off guard a little, I bobbed my head up and down, mouth slightly agape as I thought of what to say.
"Uh, you can call me Pres, but I prefer Presto… my friend back home calls me Aggie sometimes."
"How do you get 'Aggie' out of Presto?" asked Electra.
"You don't."
"Oh." And we left it at that. "Anyway." Victoria said, after a small silence. "Let's show her the TSE1…" she finished. Etcetera grabbed my arm excitedly, squealing, and the kits began running towards the old thing, dragging me behind. I had the urge to complain—I'm lazy, so what?—but they probably didn't have a choice but to show me around. And the run wasn't actually that long. They were talking about something or someone, but I couldn't catch was who or it was. Panting with my hands on my knees, I looked up to see the kits surrounding what could only described as a Greek god. A feline one. I tried my hardest to keep my mouth shut. Who know what I'd spout out? You're fucking sexy. or I want to have your children. or worse, Femboner. I didn't really know what that was, but Katherine said it whenever she saw a cute guy.
"Who's this?" Adonis asked, lightly gesturing to me. I stood up straight, looking away, as I realized I was staring.
"This is Presto," answered Etcetera, her voice a bit high pitched now. "But you can call her Pres or… Aggie."
"Aggie?" confirmed Adonis. "How do you get that out of Presto?" You don't.
"Long story short, it's a bad joke. But Presto is fine." I said, trying to smile a normal smile. As soon as we were out of his view, I'd melt. I was about to ask his name, when he said, "The Rum Tum Tugger, at your service," and reached out his hand. I thought I was going to die, but instead I grasped his hand and shook her gently, so as not to break him. He had a firm grasp, the sexy beast—uh, whoa, Presto. I could hear the other girls giggling, and I realized I probably had a goofy expression on. I withdrew, and he followed suite, leaning back into his cushion of queenkits.
"We should probably move on," said Electra, pouting. The other kittens grudgingly agreed, and one by one slid off the TSE1. The Rum Tum Tugger nodded, and said, "Nice to meet ya."
"You too," I said, thankful I didn't faint right then and there. He breathed sexy, man.
"Oh, by the way, Presto," said Victoria, probably remembering that this was a tour, "this is the old TSE1, as you can see. Everyone loiters around it… Let's go check out Old Deuteronomy's tire." He has his own tire? Lucky bastard. Er, I mean… never mind. These are my thoughts after all. The kits agreed, and led me over to a really flippin' big old' tire, on top of which were two young toms, who seemed to be arguing.
"Pounce! Tumble!" Electra called—I noticed Jemima hadn't said anything yet. Except her nicknames.
"Guys!" one of them said—he had uneven eyebrows… "Which one of us does a cooler back flip?" What the heck? I though. Apparently the others thought the same thing, because they had weird expressions on their faces, too. The taller one, the one with the funny eyebrows, did a flip off of the tire, landing with her arms up. Etcetera clapped. The smaller one did the same, but hit the other, knocking them both over. They launched into another argument.
"Anyway," Victoria said loudly, hushing them. "These two are Pouncival and Tumblebrutus. The taller one is Tumblebrutus. Most of us call them Pounce and Tumble."
"Makes sense." I said, earning a giggle from the kittens. They protested, but otherwise left it, and stood up. "Like she told you," began Tumblebrutus, "we're Tumblebrutus and Pouncival." I had the urge to ask, so who's which? But I resisted, seeing as I already knew.
Etcy hooked her arm around mine, and said, cheerfully, "Let's move on!" I nodded, then turned my attention back to Tumble and Pounce. "Nice to meet you guys. See you around." They replied with variations on goodbye, then the kittens led me somewhere.
"Where should we go next? Do we really have any other… you know, landmarks?" Asked Electra, as we stopped in the middle of the clearing.
"Misto's pipe? Or maybe he's Quaxo right now." Suggested Jemima, speaking up for the first time in a while. The other girls agreed, and I just stared dumbly. Misto? Quaxo? What the Hell kind of name is Quaxo? And… are they the same person?
"Who are the—" I started; only to be cut off as the girls headed towards a pipe. Well, duh. Jemima said "Misto's pipe." So it had to be a pipe.
"Knock, knock!" Etcetera said, pounding on the pipe.
"Hey, hey!" came a voice. My guess was that it was Misto. Or Quaxo. Hey, they both ended in "o." I giggled to myself foolishly, earning a small concerned look from Jemima. For some odd reason, I had a feeling she looked at people like that a lot. And I giggled again. She smiled. I turned my attention back to the pipe, as we heard a loud crash, and a quiet hiss of, "Everlasting!"
In seconds, a white face appeared out of the end of the pipe. "Greetings." He said, rubbing his ear. Apparently he didn't notice me—I'm not that plain, damnit—because he slowly looked up and said, "This is…" Oh, come on. This? Why must I be this?
"Presto." I said.
"Presto? Really?"
"Yes."
"Interesting." He gave me a look, which probably wasn't supposed to be offensive, but I gave him what I hoped was a creepy (or rather, creepier) version of his expression. He hopped to the ground, and held out his paw. "Quaxo. Nice to meet you."
"So you're Quaxo now?" I asked, rather rudely. "Er, I mean, nice to meet you too." I said quickly, shaking his paw. I looked to the kittens, who were just watching.
"Well, yes." Answered Quaxo. I still thought that was a dumb name. Like I'd tell him.
"Then who's Misto?"
"Mistoffelees." He's corrected. I nodded. "Mistoffelees is Quito's alter-ego." Victoria teased. I didn't quite get it, but it was a tease—why else would Quaxo's/Mistoffelees's face have turned red? I looked at Mistoffelees/Quaxo, eyebrow cocked.
"I'm so confused." I sighed. Quaxo—well, that was whom he was at the time—ahemed, recomposing himself.
"You'll get it sooner or later." He said, and I scowled. Victoria elbowed me gently. "This is my brother, by the way."
"What? You look nothing alike."
"Naturally." She said, though I didn't get it. I didn't get a lot of stuff.
"…Random-bred?" I suggested. Katherine and Madigan often had debates about random-bred and purebred cats—or animals in general. Apparently I was a random-bred cat, and so was Stella, because our parents were probably different breeds. But Katherine's sister-in-law's Persian was purebred. Something like that. I assumed that, since Quaxoffelees was a black cat and Victoria was a white cat, that they were random-bred. Victoria looked at me, and I guessed she didn't understand what I meant. "Never mind." I said, glancing at Etcy, who was hopping from one paw to another. She looked excited about something, but then I realized she always did.
"We should get a move on. There are a lot of cats to introduce her to." Suggested Electra, resting a paw on my shoulder. I agreed, trying to get in with it. The Jellicles were rather fast-paced.
"See you, bro." Said Vicki, taking my hand. I saluted, he nodded towards us. The others said their goodbyes (that sounds tragic), and we continued on our merry way.
"Oh!" Jemima randomly exclaimed. We all turned to look at her. "Me and Electra offered to help Jelly clean… we have to go." She said, turning to Electra, who reacted rather dramatically, her eyes wide and mouth agape. "Sorry!" said Electra, and the two were off.
"And then there were three…" I said eerily. Victoria and Etcy giggled. "So… who will we meet next?" I asked. I was rather excited now.
"Why don't we meet Demeter? Bomba's probably with her."
The rest of the morning—early afternoon, really—was spent looking around the main clearing and a few places away from it, and introducing me to other cats and kits. I recited names in my head. It was a lot to process. Plato. Bombalurina. Demeter. Munkustrap. Alonzo. Cassandra. Old Deut…eronomy. Electra. Exotica. Etcetera. Victoria. Jemima. The Rum Tum Tugger—not like you'll forget his name. Quaxoffelees. Or rather, Mistoffelees and Quaxo. Admetus. Tumblebrutus. Pouncival. Coricopat and Tantomile—note. Your thoughts are not safe anymore, be cautious. And on and on and on. I also noted the creepers and people who I wanted to avoid. Only three people fell into this list, though—Quaxoffelees (split personality?), Admetus, and Cassandra. Admetus was really the only creepy one. He just didn't sit well with me. The grin…
At this moment, Etcetera, Victoria and I were sitting on the TSE1, simply chatting. I was really happy then—it seemed I already had at least two good friends in the junkyard. Maybe five, if I spoke to Electra and Jemima more. I wondered what they were doing.
"So Presto, where do you live?" asked Etcetera.
"In a big brick apartment building or dorm house."
"The whole thing?"
"Sort of. I roam around all the time, but I live in an apartment with my owner, her friend, and her cat."
"Who's your owner? And her friend? And the cat?" asked Victoria.
"My owner is Madigan, but most people call her Maddie or Madds. I call her Madigan, though. Her friend is Katherine. Katherine's cat is a loser named Petri."
"What's he like?" Etcetera. I felt like I was on a game show. Bzz! The answer is… "He's uptight, girly, serious, and a wimp." The two kits giggled, as did I. I pointed at the air, a regal expression on my face—or something like that. I looked prissy.
"Riddle me this," I began. The girl listened intently. Talking about them like this makes it seem like I was older than them, but something told me Victoria was older than me… Oh well, I'm mature like that. "What's the deal with Quaxoffelees—err, I mean, what's with Quaxo?"
"What do you mean?" inquired Etcetera, readjusting herself so she was lying on her stomach. I thought for a moment. At that point and time, I didn't exactly know what I wanted to know about—note to self, try not to use the same word so many times in one sentence—but I asked anyway.
"Who's Mistoffelees?"
"Quaxie's alter-ego. Like I said." Answered Victoria, whom I noticed was lying on her stomach too. Feeling a little uncomfortable, I laid down as well. "What's the difference?" I asked.
"When Quaxo's in magician-mode, his coat turns all black except for his face and chest. His chest is furry like yours. I mean, in that puffy sort of way. But anyway, his coat gets sparkly, too. And he talks less. Much less."
"He didn't seem that talkative to me."
"Exactly." She said, smirking. "When his coat isn't sparkling," she continued, "and he has three white paws, he's Quaxo. That's the way you saw him."
"So when's the transition? When do you start calling him Mistoffelees? Or on the flip, Quaxo?"
"Uh… that depends, I guess. He usually either shows up as one or the other." I nodded, leaving it at that.
"Are you and Plato going to mate?" I asked bluntly. Since we met him, I'd been wondering that, and I just blurted it out. Victoria blushed. Etcetera laughed. I blushed as well. "Er, I'm sorry! You don't have to say if you don't want to."
"Um, maybe… but…"
"But what?"
"Never mind." She said bashfully. I patted her head the way Madigan did when she forgot I was outside and it began to rain, but didn't hold me because I was wet. Victoria quickly recovered, and queried, "Do you have a thing with… Pretri?"
"Petri. And, no. He's like my dad. Or worse, my grandfather."
"Oh. Is he old?"
"No! He's just a bit older than me. I mean, he acts really old."
"But do you like him?" asked Etcetera, deciding to grill me too. I sighed, and rolled on to my back. "No." I answered flatly, closing my eyes. I could hear Etcetera sigh. We were all silent for a little, the sun soaking into our fur. This was very nice. I'd be spending a lot of time here.
"Hey." I said, breaking the silence. "Vicki, how do you keep your fur clean?" I flipped over again, so I was lying on my stomach. "Endless hours of preening." She sighed. "What about your chest fur?"
"Same thing as Quaxoffelees, I guess."
"Quaxoffelees?"
"Your brother."
"I don't know what he does." I nodded in agreement. Plus, I didn't know if they had an owner. Or maybe owners. So I guess I lied—Madigan sent me to a groomer. Which I hated. "Every so often Madigan sends me to this grooming place, and they clean me and tend to my fur and such. It's the worst thing ever. Hey, do you guys have owners?"
"Nope." Answered Etcy. Vicki shook her head. "Oh. Are you allowed out of the junkyard?"
"Not until we're queens. We were both born here, so… bleh." Etcy said, and I giggled.
"Wait, you aren't queens yet?"
"Almost! Very soon to be." Etcetera pleaded, wiggling strangely. "Are you?"
"Just barely."
"Ohh. I thought I was older than you." Said Victoria.
"So did I."
"Huh."'
"I guess we're just dumb."
"Nice."
Anti-climactic! Yay! I wanted to end on a happy note, and I have nearly twenty word pages now. So, yay! Sorry for making Misto sound kinda snobby, lol.
This was a rather weird starter chapter, I know. See, I don't really know how you would go about joining the Jellicles, so I guessed. Which is why some of it is choppy.
This chapter would have been ten times longer if I wrote about Presto meeting everyone, so I didn't. If you want to see her meet someone I didn't include, ask, and I'll write a little drabble for ya.
The next chapter should be up ASAP. I'm in a super cool summer program though, and I'm gone for a long time in the day, and have trouble finding time to get on at night (we get homework, lots).