A little exploration into Munkustrap and Rum Tum Tugger, told through the eyes of their father Old Deuteronomy. A little spin-off of my other story Relationships. Enjoy and please review :D
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If it wasn't already a known fact, one would never have guessed that Munkustrap and Rum Tum Tugger were brothers. They don't look alike, they certainly don't act alike, and one would think they weren't very fond of each other. This couldn't be farther from the truth.
Munkustrap had just opened his eyes when I brought little Tugger to the Junkyard. I had been searching for him and Grizabella for two years after hearing of her pregnancy. (It was after the death of my first wife. Bella was there to make me feel better…. That, of course, resulted in Rum Tum Tugger.) I finally found him in an old alley, with no home, no food, and no mother. He was timid and scared, backed into the corner of the alley hairs standing on end. But I knew he was mine. He had my crazy mane to prove it.
"Are you Grizabella's son?" I asked as gently as I could but at the sound of her name he hissed and got a defiant look in his eye that wasn't there before. I could tell this was sore subject for him. It might always be.
"I've been looking for you," I said with a warm smile. "I'm your father." The small kit got a skeptical look on his face, but he too must have noticed the similarities. His stance got less defensive as he finally looked me in the eyes. I instantly fell in love with the little kit.
"What's your name?" I asked as I took him by the paw and led him out the alley.
"Rum Tum Tugger," he said, his voice stronger now.
"Really?," I said with a laugh. "That's quite a mouthful. How bout Rum? As a nickname?"
His bottom lip pouted out as he thought. "Okay. That sounds cool." I knew I was gonna like this little runt. He had spunk.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To the Junkyard. Your new home."
"Is that where you live?"
I laughed. "Why yes it is. It's where you brother lives too."
His eyes widened. "I have a brother?"
"Yup," I nodded. "He's just a little kitten though, so you have to be careful with him. His name is Munkustrap."
Rum smiled then and I knew he was gonna be a good big brother. Munkustrap was the only one of his litter to survive infancy. He took a little longer to develop than others, but Rum was there to take care of him. Right after I'd brought Rum to the Junkyard, Munkustrap opened his eyes, with Rum being the first thing he saw. It seemed appropriate since Rum was the cat Munkustrap would follow around for many years to come.
It seemed like no time at all that Munkustrap (or as Rum had dubbed him 'Munks') was up and running around like the adventurous little kit he was. And Rum was always right behind him, always protecting him. I remember hearing them talk one night, after tucking them in:
"Rummy?" Munkustrap asked in his small voice.
"Hmm?"
"I just wanna tell you that… I'm glad you're my big brother…" His voice trailed off at the end, nervous I'm sure, that Rum would call him a sissy, or something of the like. But instead he answered back, in just as sincere of a voice "I'm glad you're my brother too." Whenever things got rough between these two, or things seemed hard, I always think back to this moment.
As Rum got older he tended to want to be by himself more, rather than associating with the other toms. Munkustrap confided in me one day that he thought something was bothering his brother. I asked him how he knew. He said he just had a feeling.
So I waited for my oldest son to come home so I could have a talk with him.
"Excuse me, Rum" I asked. The boy looked at me startled, he probably thought everyone was in bed by now. "Can I talk to you, son?" He nodded 'yes' and headed over to sit next to me.
I wasn't exactly sure where to start, since I didn't know if something was bothering him, let alone what. But I trusted Munkustrap, and if he said something was bothering young Rum, chances are there was.
"Is everything okay with you son?" I asked. He looked confused, but shook his head.
"I'm fine, Dad. Why?"
"Well it's just, I can't help but notice that you haven't been very social lately, going off on your own a lot. I guess I'm just worried."
"There's nothing to worry about, Dad." He said these words with certainty but I couldn't help but think otherwise.
"You're almost an adolescent now," I pointed out. "Usually the time where you want to socialize with all the other cats your age. You were always very social as a kitten. Why the sudden change?"
He merely shrugged and mumbled an "I don't know." But I knew better. Munkustrap was right. There was something eating away at my son, I just didn't know what.
"You can talk to me about anything, you know that right?" Rum nodded but his gaze never left his paws. I decided to go for a shot in the dark.
"Is it something to do… with your mother?" Rum immediately looked at me, eyes wide and sad. This gave me all the answer I needed. When I first took Rum in, he would wake up many nights, screaming for his mother. I did all I could do to help him but clearly these demons haven't yet left the small tom.
"I just want to be alone, why is that such a big deal?" he asked, reverting back to that small kitten voice he had when we first met.
I was about to ask 'why' but before I could Rum hit me with a question I wasn't ready for yet. "Where did she go?" His eyes were wide, reminding me of that kitten so long ago.
"I don't know Rummy, I wish I did." Rum had never brought up his mother before. I had tried on a few occasions but he would always tense up and make up some excuse about Munkustrap needing him.
"Well do you know why she left?" I was about to tell him that nothing was his fault but before I got the chance Munkustrap walked in rubbing his tired eyes.
"Rummy? When did you get home?" Rum was instantly at his brother's side.
"Just got back a few minutes ago. What are you doing awake, Munks? You should be in bed."
"I was but I heard talking, I tried waiting up for you but…" He trailed off noticing, as I did, the mist in Rum's eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He said brushing his eyes with one paw and leading his brother away with the other. "C'mon Munks, lets get to bed. It's late."
I didn't get the chance to talk to Rum again, at least not a serious talk. Running a tribe required much of my time, and as my boys became young adults, Rum spent more nights out, staying God only knows where, and not returning till morning. Munkustrap spent more time with the toms his age, mostly Alonzo, son of Asparagus. He was a nice boy, never got into too much trouble, always responsible. But I would be lying if I didn't say the growing distance between my two boys didn't worry me. At the time I was too busy to notice until one night.
I finally had some time off so I decided to spend it at home, for once. I sat with Munkustrap in our little nook talking for what seemed like the first time in months. It took me awhile to notice that someone was missing.
"Where's your brother?" I asked, looking around. He merely shrugged in response. "Well did he say anything?"
"He never does." He said nonchalantly.
"Never does? As in, he does this all the time? It's almost dawn!"
"He's been going out a lot lately. I haven't seen him for about two days." I was shocked. I also felt like such a fool for not noticing. My oldest son is out, no doubt getting into trouble, and my youngest is sitting in front of me hurting from this recent loss of his big brother. I felt like such a failure for a father.
"Do you have any idea where he heads off to?" Munkustrap shrugged again.
"I don't know. He probably took a Queen somewhere to… have some fun." I was almost speechless. Almost.
"And I'm guessing he does this a lot?" Munkustrap nodded.
"He mostly goes to Bombalurina. But it could be anyone. The queens really seem to love him." I put my paw on my son's shoulder and told him to head to bed. That I would wait up for Rum. I had been postponing this talk for far too long, and there has been damage to show for it.
It was around noon that Rum finally showed up to the nook. By that time, my patience had finally worn out, and needless to say I was angry with how irresponsible my son was being.
"Where have you been?" I asked him, my impatience evident on my face.
"I don't know? Out?" he answered, with an attitude in his voice that was not there before.
"Out?" I asked angrily. "From what Munkustrap has told you've been out for at least two days! What do you do in that time? And more importantly, why? Is this some desperate cry for attention?"
"No!" he shouted, just as angrily. "Maybe this has nothing to do with you! Why don't you just leave me alone!"
"I can't! You're my son, I care about you! And you're scaring me. It's also not just me, you're worrying your brother too!" His face softened at that, a guilty look coming over his face.
"Munks is worried?"
"Yes," I said, my voice softer now. "We both are."
Rum shuffled his feet and stared at the ground. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm sorry that I worried you guys but honestly, there is nothing to worry about. I'm fine; I'm just having a little fun."
"Is that all it is?" I asked. Rum looked away. I walked closer toward him and put my paw on his shoulder. "No one else is going to leave you, Rum." He looked at me, eyes wide, but didn't say anything. He didn't have to though. I knew what had to be done. "You need to go talk to your brother. I have a feeling he's been waiting for you." I gave him a little push and he walked off to find his brother.
"Munks?" I heard him whisper. "You awake?" Munkustrap grunted in response.
"Can I talk to you?" Rum asked desperation obvious in his voice. I heard a rustle as Munkustrap moved to face his brother. "I just wanted to say I'm… I'm really sorry Munks. I've been a jerk, I know, I just… I'm really sorry."
They were both quiet for a moment before Munkustrap asked, his voice barely a whisper "Why did you leave?"
I turned to get a better look and noticed that Rum had moved himself so that his arm was draped around his brother's shoulder. It reminded me of when they were kits before they had outgrown cuddling.
"It had nothing to do with you, Munks." He said with all sincerity.
"Then what? Something's been bothering you Rum. For a long time. You may think I haven't noticed but I have. Why won't you tell me?"
Rum sighed and rubbed a paw across his face. "It's complicated Munks. But I'm done being a crappy big brother, I promise."
Munkustrap nuzzled closer into his brothers side. "I believe you Rum. I just wish you would tell me what's been bothering you."
You're not the only one, I thought. I was disappointed that Rum wouldn't open up with Munkustrap, but I believed his promise to be sincere. And it was.
It seemed my boys had grown up so quickly, the next time I turned around they were adults. Handsome toms. Rum still spent a lot of time alone, but he always came back to the Junkyard. Munkustrap had taken on the role of Protector, looking out for all the Jellicles, and always keeping a protective watch over the kittens. Rum, still being the flirt that he was, showed no signs of wanting to settle down; though there was one queen he always seemed to go running back to. Munkustrap, on the other hand, seemed to be quite entranced with a young black and gold queen. I had a feeling I would get some grand kittens soon!
Despite their still growing difference in personalities, Rum held good on his promise. He still would always come back to the Junkyard, often times helping Munkustrap with his duties. After the Jellicle ball I overheard them talking on the TSE1, looking over the Junkyard.
"Quit picking your wounds, Munks. They're never gonna heal."
"Sorry, it just hurts."
"I could kill Macavity for hurting you."
"No you couldn't. Besides, you've done enough. If it weren't for you and Mistofilees we wouldn't have Dad back, right now."
"You're welcome."
They both laughed. Neither said anything for a moment before Munkustrap broke the silence.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well I just though… ya know, with Grizabella leaving…"
"Oh."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"…. I'm not gonna lie to you Munks. That queen has been a sore spot for me for… well, my entire life. She left when I was just a kitten, she forced me to survive on my own until dad found me. And as much as I hated her… seeing her go on to the next life, and with all her regrets out in the open… I can't help but forgive her."
"That can't be easy."
"What can I say? I'm a saint."
And as I watched my boys laugh together, and confide in each other, I can see how far they've come. Going from unsure kittens, to proud, confident toms, I am filled with pride for my two sons. My boys.
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