Disclaimer: Cats belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber, T.S. Eliot and the RUG, not me.
"Come in," Macavity called, not bothering to glance up from his long division to watch one of his henchcats sidle into the room.
"S-sir?" the cat began timidly. "There's, um, well, at least I think it's probably, although it could be for them, I suppose -"
"Who is it, and what do they want?" Macavity snapped. "I'm busy, so stop bloody wasting my time and tell me now, or else get out!"
The now trembling henchcat took in a deep breath before blurting, "There's-a-queen-outside-who-says-she-wants-to-see-you-it's-urgent-she-says-so-I-think-maybe -"
"Oh," Macavity interrupted, staring at the floor, apparently in deep thought. When nothing happened, he added, "Well, send her in. Now."
"Yes, sir," the henchcat mumbled, making a hasty exit.
The Napolean of Crime had just turned back to his long division when a sultry voice shattered his concentration.
"Touchy today, aren't we?"
This remark came from a figure standing in the shadows of the doorway. As it sauntered its way into the room, it was revealed to be a grey queen, looking at Macavity with undisguised amusement in her eyes. He glanced up to better assess her as he thought of a reply.
"Only because I keep getting interrupted," he said in response, eyeing her as if to emphasise his point.
"Don't try to blame me for your foul temper," she said calmly. "You know I'll be around for a while yet, so don't waste your energy failing to attempt to push me away. How are you?"
"Awful, cruddy, pissed off. In other words, fine," he responded. "Not quite so much today, but that's another story. Where's Ixy?"
"Passed out in a bottle of … something. I'm not quite sure what it is exactly, but it reeks," the queen said in disdain. "She was out last night, and she didn't take anything with her, you see. I'd have woken her, but she'll be in a foul mood when I get back anyway, so I figured that I might as well put off the inevitable," she added by way of explanation.
As she finished speaking, she beckoned to something outside Macavity's line of sight. Another cat – this one a murky greyish brown, as opposed to the black of Macavity's henchcats – made its way through the door, dragging the aforementioned large crate. A clinking could be heard inside the crate as the queen removed a thick stack of papers from the top. She thumbed through them with an experienced hand, before finding the ones she was looking for.
"Sign," she said, handing the papers and a rather handsome fountain pen to Macavity. He skimmed through the legalities – or, as it pointed out on the top sheet, illegalities – before reading the final sheet and signing his name with a flourish.
"The usual, I presume?" he inquired, handing the papers back to the queen.
"With some extra nip on the side," came the silky reply. "It's actually Ixy's, but she won't be able to see straight for the next three or four days, so you'll be fine."
He nodded curtly. "Good."
With that, her henchcat opened the crate and brought one of the numerous packages inside of it to Macavity. He sniffed it, and, seeming satisfied, tore it open and pulled out a bundle of catnip. The queen watched him intently, frowning a little.
"Purely out of curiosity, Mac, why do you need so much nip?" she asked. "If I'm being perfectly honest with you, you're rivalling Ixy, and it's worrying, when you consider just how much she takes. You must have a reason." He remained silent.
"Macavity," she said warningly, "tell me. Now. Tell me, or so help me I'll stop delivering." His head snapped up.
"You wouldn't," he growled, glaring at her fiercely.
She met his glare with a gaze of steely determination and self-confidence. "Try me. If you don't answer within the next minute, I'll take this lot away too." She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Fine," he spat. "But if I go on for ages, blame yourself. Because there actually is a reason this time, Jezz, and I'm giving you the long version."
"Go on."
"You may have heard of the Jellicle Ball, am I correct?" She nodded.
"Dancing, singing, Heaviside Layer, yes?"
"Yes. Anyway, the Ball was two nights ago, and I went to it with the intent of kidnapping their leader, who also happens to be my father. Everything was going to plan. That is to say, kidnapping my father; disguising myself as him and sneaking back into the Ball; and hypnotising, capturing and taking over the Jellicles."
"Here's my problem," he continued. "One of the queens – whom my youngest brother just so happens to apparently be madly in love with – always bloody knows when I'm around, and she revealed me to the rest of them. So, seeing as my cover was blown, I decided to just make away with a few of them – this queen being the first. So, I was just starting to drag her away, when my youngest brother and his wimpy Spanish friend managed to stop me."
The queen stiffened. Macavity did not seem to notice, as he continued his telling of his version of events from the Jellicle Ball.
"Then, would you believe it, my brother actually had it in him to fight me. And truth be told, he was good. Very good," the ginger cat lamented. "He got me rather badly a few times … I won against him, though. And I finished that Spanish pussy in seconds. Although then I had to half electrocute -"
"Stop talking about him like that," Jezz snarled, rising to her feet.
"Why are you so concerned with him?" Macavity demanded, also standing. "I highly doubt he knows that you even exist, you've only ever seen him at a distance – what in Bast's name is possessing you to be so protective of him?"
"I know his mother and father," she responded, a trace of her old accent slipping through in her anger. "They wanted him to be safe, and to be free from their roots. You know full well that our families are criminals not unlike you and me. I grew up with my family and couldn't avoid it – his parents left him here so that he wouldn't have to grow up with , while that might have become a rather tall order whilst he growing up with you, surely now it would be possible for you to just leave him alone! What has he ever done to you?" she demanded, stalking up to Macavity.
"Do you want to know what he's done to me?" Macavity asked equally threateningly, eyeing her. "Do you really want to know?" When he got no answer, he started to continue. "He is the most -"
But before he continued, he looked at her, to make sure she was getting his message. He was expecting her to be giving him a glare that would send any other cat reeling. What he saw instead was his tough, strong-willed business partner nearly in tears. He let out a breath and collected himself.
"He has done nothing of consequence, I suppose. If you would prefer, I shall desist from deliberately harming him in the near future," he said, continuing to fix his gaze upon her.
"I would appreciate that, thank you," she said, a slight waver evident in her voice. She turned back to where she had been standing before and picked her papers up. "I think I will leave now, Macavity."
He nodded. "You know where the exit is," he said, returning to his seat and picking up his long division and the fountain pen.
She stared at him a moment before inclining her head towards him and making her way out of the room.
Macavity turned back to his long division, but found that he couldn't concentrate. Jezz's words were ringing through his head, and, somehow, he couldn't get them out.
He didn't understand it. He had actually spent time with his brothers, had lived with them, yet he had cared little for them. He had always rejoiced in harming them, in actions or words, even when the former eventually got him banished from the tribe.
She, on the other hand, seemed to be willing to defend her cousin – whom she had never even met face to face – simply because his parents had talked somewhat about him. It was unnatural, in Macavity's eyes, to care for someone for any reason whatsoever, even if they did happen to be related to you. So how, he wondered, could someone like Jezz do it? After contemplating this thought a little longer, he dismissed it, and attempted to concentrate on other things. All the same, the same question kept nagging him: What was possessing her to do it, and why was he wishing that it would be possible for him to do the same?
Author's Note
My first fanfiction is finally completed!
I wrote a first draft for this story about a year ago, and then I left it. I re-discovered it about two weeks ago, and re-wrote the whole thing, as well as actually finishing it. I'm quite pleased with how it developed from the original. I really like writing character development (and reading about it!), so I quite liked writing this. If I'm being honest, I never thought I'd ever write something with Macavity as the central character, but there you go.
Reviews appreciated!
- JemmiVoice