A/N: I vaguely know where I'm going with this, but I'm not quite sure how to get there or where to go after. I'm desperately new to Cats fanfic so apologize if it's been done to death. If the rating or anything changes, I'll figure out how to put it in big bold at the top of that chapter. Till then, it should be fluffily innocent. I rated it 'T' for possible language, since I've got a foul mouth and can't always help myself, so I'd rather just rate it 'T' rather than piss people off.
Also: I can't keep half of the feggin' cats straight. I really do try. But aside from a few obvious ones, I keep tripping over the names even after spending an hour trying to verify it, so I apologize for any mistaken identities.
Ah, yes, and I own nothing. I still have cats on VHS from when I was a small kit myself.
The night of the Jelicle Ball had been a very eventful one by every account. There wasn't a single cat that hadn't found at least one part exciting enough to recount over and over again. Most either focused on Macavity's appearance or Grizabella's reacceptance, but another part had caught young Victoria's attention. Magical Mister Mistoffelees.
She had known Quaxo well enough before hand; he was always a friendly cat, shy as he is. But the white queen never thought of him as more than her childhood friend until the show he gave, rescuing Old Deuteronomy like that. The entire night Quaxo showed another side that she hadn't seen- he was confident and outgoing, and seemed to revel in the attention rather than avoid it as he normally did. The Rum Tum Tugger even vouched for him, which said something in itself.
Finding Quaxo had never been the easiest task, when he wanted to be gone he was gone, but Victoria was up for a challenge. With all the grace and poise she was known for, she wandered the junkyard searching his usual haunts. It took a bit more time than she would have cared for it to, but soon enough she had tracked him down.
Mistoffelees glanced up from his resting spot well before the other cat had approached; he sniffed the air gently until Victoria came into view. His ears perked up as she walked over, "What brings you here?"
"I was looking for you," she said softly, sitting next to the tom and looking him over with new eyes, "You put on quite a show last night."
The black cat chuckled at that, sitting up a bit straighter with pride. He had been nervous, who wouldn't be at being asked to perform such a feat, but he was glad he had. While he would never appreciate the same kind of attention Tugger did and probably could never lead or protect the way Munkustrap does, having an audience felt good.
The white queen moved a bit closer, nuzzling Misto's neck affectionately. "A lot of the queens have noticed as well… And I wonder which of them you've noticed as well." Mistoffelees tensed up.
"Victoria," he continued in a soft voice, "I think you might be mistaken about that last part- although I don't think you're right about anyone noticing me, either."
Victoria paused mid-purr, staring at the shy tom uncertainly. That certainly wasn't the reaction she had expected. She took a moment to compose herself before putting on a sly smile, "What about Cassandra? "
Misto looked at her for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. He supposed he'd been intoxicated by the limelight, and wasn't exactly thinking things through. It hadn't even crossed his mind that such an action would be taken that way, and still wasn't convinced it could be.
"Every magician needs a lovely assistant," he said with a shrug, "it didn't mean anything beyond that. I haven't actually thought about any queen like that..." He trailed off at this, he'd never said it out loud and now that he had he felt it was a bit odd. He was still a young tom, but those younger than him had certainly showed an interest in the queens.
"Never?" the white cat asked in surprise. Whispers and rumors she'd heard from the other cats came to mind, but she was sure they were mistaken. Her tone changed from surprised to consoling, "I'm sure you will soon enough, and when you do you'll make a fine mate."
"I suppose..." he agreed with an amused smile, resting his head on his paws, "You and Plato seemed quite close at the ball," his eyes sparkled as Victoria blushed demurely and batted at him with a playful paw. She was too much of a lady to kiss and tell.
"Don't just suppose... Everyone has to find a mate," she persisted, ignoring the comment about Plato. It was true that he'd be more receptive to her advances, but there was something about this rejection that she didn't want to let be. "Everyone needs to be loved."
Mistoffelees shifted himself to scratch his ear, unimpressed by her reasoning, "Why, though? I'm loved by my friends, aren't I, isn't that enough?"
"But without a queen, you can't have kittens!" Victoria balked at the idea, her ears shot backwards in disapproval, "Being loved by your friends isn't the same at all. You can't have kittens with your friends."
"Alright then," he said, standing up with a proud flourish, "Then I declare that I do not want kittens, and don't need a mate." Victoria just stared at him.
"You've genuinely never had any interest in... anyone? Surely you must have wanted the love of a mate, or a family?"
The tom sat back down, nonplussed by the reaction. He gave it some thought. He supposed he had, though probably not in the right way. Misto had always preferred the company of other toms. When he was a kitten that was normal, but he supposed now it wasn't so acceptable. There was a chance it was fine, but he'd never heard of such a thing, much less any toms feeling the same way, and decided to accept a life without a mate rather than face the others' scorn.
"I have in a way," he said with a twitch of his ear. This conversation was not going well. Why couldn't the ivory queen just accept his answer and go find a cat more interested? "But it's unimportant."
If the tom had any interest in ending this conversation, that answer was not the way to go. Victoria perked up instantly, "Was she already taken?"
A deep sigh was quickly followed by an eye roll, the pronoun felt sharper as if she'd added emphasis to that one singular word, though he knew she hadn't. Misto chuckled bitterly, "Not exactly... Let's just say it wasn't meant to be."
Victoria was not content with this response, and the white queen's insatiable curiosity had come into play. She knew what they said about curiosity and cats- but felt safe to say that she wasn't at great risk with Quaxo. Besides, how often was heartache due to an innocent misunderstanding? Who wouldn't want to help in a situation such as this?
"Quaxo," she playfully sighed, leaning against him and giving him the doe-iest bambi eyes a queen could manage, "won't you tell one of your dearest friends what happened? Or at least who this queen was? Was she of another tribe?"
"Victoria, my dearest friend!" he replied with a laugh, deciding to make the best of it, "Must you use those tricks on me?"
"If it will get you to tell me what's going on? Yes," She sighed gently, "Quaxo, you know I only want you to be happy." She glanced at him for a moment, thoughtful, "Was it a tom?"
"Why would you ask that?" he asked coolly, trying to act unaffected. Victoria stared at him, waiting for an actual answer, and Quaxo uneasily realized he was not getting out of this one so easily. A few moments of staring contest later, Quaxo nodded sheepishly, "Which is why it wasn't meant to be."
"That would do it," she sighed, "I don't think there are any toms… like you," the words came awkwardly but carefully. The queen was trying her best, which Quaxo appreciated. A distressed look came over her face, "It wasn't The Rum Tum Tugger, was it?" He was famous for breaking the hearts of queens, he hadn't started in on the toms as well, had he?
Mistoffelees stared at her for a moment at that, then laughed. Truthfully, that would have been his first thought if the conversation were reversed- but he had never thought of the Maine Coon like that. It was a waste of time when the queens vied for his affections- what hope could he have? He would also prefer someone with a less "notch-on-the-bedpost" style to mating, if he had to choose someone at all.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he had caught Victoria's hurt expression, and realized it seemed like he was mocking her, "I didn't mean it like that… I'd just never thought about that, even though I think even some of the straight toms have. Although he is a pretty obvious choice for everyone else." The white queen smiled at that, she certainly wasn't immune to the older tom's charms.
"So you don't plan on finding a mate?" she asked uncertainly before hastily adding a half-hearted, "It would be fine if you wanted to…"
"Do either of us know that for sure?" he asked gently, placing a white paw on her shoulder. The white cat looked elsewhere, uncomfortable with that truth. "I don't mind, really, I know that even if the others did accept it, it's unlikely I'll ever find someone to love. So why make everyone uncomfortable? If I never fall in love- does it really matter if it isn't with a queen or a tom?"
Victoria fidgeted uncomfortably, she wanted dearly to soothe her friend- to assure him that this wasn't the case, though she couldn't help but think he was right. Their tribe was fairly small, and she hadn't heard of such a thing except from humans. She also believed that if Quaxo thought it, it was true. For a young tom, Quaxo was quite intelligent and understood things fairly well.
"I don't know what else to say," She said gently, "you know what the elders say about such unions… but not all of us feel the same," the young queen sighed heavily, "I meant what I said. I only want you to be happy, my friend. I hope you can be alone."
Quaxo nodded appreciatively, insisting he could be happy without a mate and that she shouldn't worry. It sounded like she understood his desire to keep it a secret, and did appreciate her kindness about the subject. She clearly wasn't that comfortable with it, though, and he had no intention of bringing it up and testing just how kind she was willing to be.
***I feel I should mention that I'm not gay, and apologize if I completely fecked up the coming out process. It's something I'm not that familiar with.
