Jemima and Tumblebrutus were torn away from their cuddling by a earth-shaking boom, a burst of light, and the sudden onslaught of rain on the junkyard ground.

"Holy cat goddess," Tumblebrutus said, standing up and poking his head outside. Something higher up in the pile of junk that Jemima's den was nestled in tipped and dumped a large amount of water on the tom's head. He pulled his head back inside the den, and looked at his queenfriend from under dripping headfur. "It's raining," he announced.

Jemima smiled. "I can see that," she said, standing up herself and going to Tumblebrutus, pushing his wet fur out of his eyes. She studied him for a moment, one hand resting on her lips, eyes looking at him quizzically.

"What?" the patched tom asked. "What are you looking at?" He was suddenly felt conscious of the fact that his fur tended to go amuck and do whatever it wanted when it got wet.

"Shhh," Jemima said, moving the paw that had pushed his headfur back and pressing it against his mouth. Tumble kissed her cold, wet fingers, then pulled back and started running his paws through his fur, trying to get it into a presentable state for being with one's queenfriend. When he was finished, he caught Jemima smiling at him.

"What?" he asked again, giving her a look.

Jemima's smiled widened a bit more. "I love you," she said, looking at him with big hazel eyes.

Tumblebrutus's heart leapt into his throat as he smiled back. "I love you too," he said, putting his arms around her shoulders. She smiled up at him, and then went up on her toes to kiss him. The tom's smile widened further. "What are we going to do about the rain?" he asked, gesturing outside.

Jemima peered around him. "Well, I can't let you walk across the 'yard in weather like that," she said. "Look, it's already starting to build on the ground." Sure enough, the water was pooling in areas visible outside her den, and would soon be an inch or two deep and fairly impossible to walk across the clearing, let alone the entire 'yard to the tom's den.

Tumblebrutus looked at her sideways. "But...my mom wouldn't...your dad..." Tumblebrutus trailed off as the color slid off his face, imagining what Munkustrap would do if the protector were to find him in his daughter's den. "Your dad...he would kill me..." the poor tom continued, eyes staring off into space as he imagined what horrible outcomes could come from staying the night at Jemima's.

"Oh, good grief, Tumble," Jemima said, thrusting a hip to the side and resting a paw on it, looking quite like Demeter in her expression and poise. "I think my dad would be more upset if I let you go out in that kind of weather. You know he hates it when anyone goes out in even mildly rough conditions." Judging by the patched tom's expression, this did little to help calm him. Jemima rolled her eyes and started picking up blankets and pillows and spreading them out on the floor. "Look, there's a bed for you," she said. "Lie down on it. Go to sleep. I know you hate the rain and thunder."

Tumblebrutus glared at her. "I do not," he said, obeying her as he trotted to his temporary bed and curled up on it. Jemima did likewise, burrowing into her bedding as the rain continued to fall. "Goodnight, Jemmie," he said, rolling over and trying to get comfortable.

"Nighty night, Tumble," Jemima's faint reply came.

The tom was woken up a few hours later by something barreling into his makeshift bed after an extremely loud clap of thunder. He looked down at his queenfriend and smiled. "And I'm scared of thunder?"

Jemima glared up at him, but the effect was rather ruined by her burrowing into the soft fur on his chest at the same time. "Shut up and let me use you as a pillow, Tumble."

Tumblebrutus smiled down at her. "Whatever you say, sweetheart."

(A/N): Holy crap the archive is dead. Something I published over six months ago is only on the eleventh page. And other stuff I published more recently is even closer. Wait, that was stupid, of course it is. AND YALL I HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER OF THE WANTED SITTING ON MY COMPUTER. DUDES THAT STORY IS TWO YEARS OLD AND I'M STILL WORKING ON THE UPDATE.

...I feel old. My stories are old.