Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this bit of fanfiction nor do I receive any sort of monetary value from writing this. Cats belongs to both the wonderful T.S. Eliot and the amazing Andrew Lloyd Webber in conjunction with the Really Useful Group.
A/N: Hey kiddies! I'm back with another Tugger and Misto tale! This one focuses more on Tugger this time who just happens to be my favorite Jellicle.
This will contain some slight slash, minor sexual content, a little naughty language and some fluff.
Feathers
Tugger's hands clenched tightly making his leather gloves squeak, his chest fur rose and sank rapidly and his nostrils flared. He turned heel and stomped away angrily vaguely aware of Mistoffelees calling his name.
How dare they! All of them! Laughing at the great Rum Tum Tugger as if he were Munkustrap, or Admetus, or some other laughable cat. The large tom continued along making his way out of the Junkyard, he needed time to cool off and to formulate his revenge. After a couple minutes the tom was aware he was being followed, he turned his head to look at his shadow.
It was Etcetera, the mostly white kitten was struggling to keep up with his pace, her three steps equaled only one of his lengthy strides.
"Tugger! That was a rotten thing they did back there..."
"Shut it! I'm not in the mood!" He snapped then instantly regretted it.
The kit had been the only one that hadn't joined in with the fits of giggles that enveloped the junkyard, the angry retort had the desired effect though. The young kit stopped in her tracks watching Tugger move further and further into the distance.
The Junkyard gave way to a short tree lined lane and Tugger scampered up the first one he saw choosing to sit on the second lowest branch. He unclenched his fists and cracked his knuckles before beginning to clean his coat. The tom ran his claws through the longest fur of his mane picking out bits of garbage and other debris, a red feather fluttered from his coat and landed on his lap, he brushed it away disgustedly.
Birds, he hated those flying rat-bastards with a passion, a fact know very well by Mistoffelees and many of the other junkyard cats. Which is why when Mistoffelees lead him to the center of the junkyard he hadn't suspected a thing, the black and white tom had told him he had been developing a new magic trick with Tugger in mind and was now ready to show him.
Tugger had been incredibly excited, he loved watching Mistoffelees perform his eccentric and marvelous magic. He always took a front seat for his performances and always watched very carefully. The look of concentration in his blue eyes as the small tom summoned his abilities was a great turn on for the maine coon. It gave him chills up and down his spine when he saw the young tom's tongue dart out of his mouth to swipe across his lips. The arc his lean black furred legs made as he leaped and cavorted about initiated a flutter in the large tom's loins, and he nearly lost it at the end of each performance when the black and white tom would smile and pant, his body sweaty as though he had been thoroughly sated by Tugger himself. The fact that this show was being done especially for him was icing on the cake.
Things had gone as they usually did when Mistoffelees conjured his magic, all the kittens and a few of the older cats gathered around in a large circle giving the tux tom plenty of room. The only apparent difference was that Tugger was asked to join the smaller tom in the center rather than sitting with the rest of the audience. The kits squealed jealously, what gave him the right to steal their beloved Tugger from them? However, with one wink and a smirk from the maine coon their protests turned to screams of joy.
The toms danced with Mistoffelees taking the lead and Tugger matching him tit-for-tat and pulling out all the stops. He swayed his hips and made great leaps and bounds making sure to keep his eye on the smaller tom that he shared the stage with. He shimmed his way towards the magic cat and when he wasn't looking grabbed him from behind pressing the smaller cat's form to his own body, while they were in such a position he couldn't resist giving the young tom a small thrust of his hips. The leopard spotted cat then ran his fingers through the other cat's white chest fur feeling his racing heartbeat before spinning the surprised cat around so that they were face to face. He was delighted to see that the tux tom was panting softly, his eyes were wide and his ears were a bright red.
The blue eyes narrowed deviously and the small tom reached up to cup Tugger's cheek, the clawed hand traced along his jawline and down his neck scraping along a particularly sensitive spot. The large tom purred as the hand swept across his broad shoulders and spotted chest then traveled down his right arm and gave his hand a brief squeeze before releasing it. The older jellicle let go of Mistoffelees allowing the younger to escape a few feet away, he looked down at his hand that now held a small pile of feathers. He had seen these kind before, they were synthetic, fluffy and in an array of colors, the feathers were the kind that Jennyanydots would use in her crafts on occasion.
Tugger looked up at Mistoffelees licking his lips as he focused on the tux's arousing look of concentration, he felt warmth in his hand when the young tom began working his magic on the feathers. They glowed a bright blue and swirled around each other lifting ever so lightly off of Tugger's hand, the tall tom grinned, Mistoffelees truly was a marvelous magical cat. However, his smile soon began to falter when he realized what was happening. The feathers melded together becoming a set of wings and a head and beak created purely from magic had formed in between them. Startled Tugger dropped the creation and pulled his hands up close to his chest, with wide eyes he continued to watch as the conjured bird continued to take shape.
When finally finished the beast's head was level with Tugger's knees, the maine coon's ears flattened against his ears and he hissed and swiped at the magical bird. The bird took a step back and lowered its head, it spread its wings and screeched loudly before launching itself at the jellicle male. Without hesitation Tugger turned and ran with the creature nipping at his tail and rear, he reached the edge of the circle of jellicle cats and leaped over Jemima and Victoria . The bird followed suit but instead of landing back on the ground it took flight and swooped down to grab at Tugger's ears and headfur, the multicolored tom raised both arms and clawed fruitlessly at the air. His amber eyes darted back and forth looking for a place to hide, then he saw it, a tipped over metal can still partially filled rotting garbage. Tugger crinkled his nose but chose the lesser of two evils, he dashed into the repulsive can and pulled on the nearby lid sealing himself inside and out of danger.
After a while he emerged to the sound of laughter, with his ego bruised and his fur filthy he tramped away planning his revenge.
But how?
Tugger leaned back against the trunk of the tree and pulled his tail up across his belly, he continued to pick litter from his fur. The tom wasn't needlessly or intentionally cruel and as far back as he could remember he hadn't had to exact revenge on anyone before. However, this incident was too great of a travesty for him to just let go, he would think of something, and then when they weren't expecting it he'd get even.
"Tugger! Tugger I know you're up there, I can see your paws."
The leopard spotted jellicle looked down towards the source of the voice.
"Oh hey Mistoffelees..." he hissed then inwardly smirked when he saw the small tom recoil back.
Good, he deserved to feel bad about what had transpired.
Mistoffelees climbed the tree and sat on the branch Tugger occupied giving the tom a few feet of space just in case his mood had taken an even further turn south. The tux tom took a deep breath and slowly released it before turning to face the maine coon.
"Tugger...Munkustrap and I are sorry, we hadn't meant for it to-.."
"Munkustrap?" the older tom thought back to the incident. Munkustrap hadn't been amongst the crowd of jellicles, he would have certainly remembered if his brother had been present for that embarrassment.
"It was somewhat his idea, he kinda thought that a little humility would be good for you. If we would have known it would bother you so much we wouldn't have done it..." the small tom looked down at his hands in his lap. To his surprise when he looked back up Tugger had a smirk.
"So you accept my apology?"
Tugger didn't respond, instead he slid out of the tree and began to saunter back towards the junkyard. Mistoffelees followed his actions.
"Where are you going?"
"Why back to the Junkyard dear Mistoffelees, I've got a bit of work to do"
Tugger grinned devilishly, he would exact his revenge and hit Munkustrap where it hurt the most.
The next few days came and went without any problems, Tugger had turned in early on the day of the incident but was out and about and himself again the following day. The rest of the junkyard could hardly believe that he had forgotten about what had happened so easily but chose not to dwell on it.
Soon the night of the Jellicle ball had arrived and the Jellicle moon was high in the sky. Victoria and Mistoffelees had opened the festivities with a lovely pas de deux and were now resting on the sidelines as Jenny took center stage singing along to a song of her various achievements. None of the cats had seen Tugger since the following day but all knew that the showcat would show up sooner or later, the draw of the ball would be too great for his love of attention.
Just as Jenny was finishing up her song said maine coon Jellicle burst on 'stage' startling both the gumbie queen and Munkustrap. And he began to do what he was best known for, dancing about provocatively and physically flirting with anything in the vicinity that happened to have a pulse. Yes, the tom was certainly feeling like himself again.
A ball rolled onto the Jellicle 'stage' and Tugger kicked it towards the back nearly hitting the black and white tom that was resting there. The larger tom smirked when he saw the young jellicle approaching him undoubtedly coming to give the maine coon a piece of his mind, instead the tux stood next to him and looked out at the other jellicles.
"The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore."
Without missing a beat Tugger grabbed Mistoffelees' chin and pulled the short-haired tom closer to him, he planted a quick kiss on the black and white cat's lips before releasing him and continuing his dance. It put a little extra pep in his step to see the other tom scurry away embarrassed and also riled up the crowd a bit more. Tugger finished up his song with no more interruptions but still continued to entertain the jellicles until an old queen entered the clearing. The mood suddenly changed from light and fun to heavy and somber, the maine coon scowled at the dilapidated queen and disappeared behind the old car.
Tugger lounged behind the old care listening first to the old queen sing then the jellicles. After she had been chased from the ball Bustopher Jones made his appearance and he listened in annoyance as all the older queens fawned over the stout cat. He had nearly fallen asleep when he heard Mistoffelees call his father's name. He stretched and returned to the Jellicle ball clearing to greet his father.
When Old Deuteronomy was seated comfortably on the old tire and Munkustrap began his telling of the story of the Pekes and the Pollicles Tugger slipped back behind the junk pile unnoticed. He knew this particular part of the Jellicle ball was the most important to Munkustrap other than the choosing of the cat to go to the Heaviside layer. Each year the tabby would work tirelessly to organize the other jellicles so that when the story was told Old Deuteronomy would look upon his eldest son with pride and affection at his hard work. Unfortunately each year something would go wrong and more often than not the jellicles would miss cues and perform the wrong choreography, the spotted cat smirked, this year he would just help it along a little bit.
Tugger reached down and picked up his makeshift bagpipes, he had seen the performance countless times at previous balls and while Munkustrap rehearsed it. He waited until the opportune moment and skipped onto the stage playing the instrument, he deliberately crashed through the rows of pekes knocking them over and continued around the 'stage' into the crowd of pollicles before disappearing behind the junk once more. During his trip he had looked back to see his brother's reaction and was delighted to know his interruption had had the intended effect, the tabby was angry and had followed him across the ball clearing.
The second time the maine coon used his instrument was not as effective as the first but Tugger hadn't minded, the damage was already done. Their father was laughing and Munkustrap was distressed, he was going to hear about this later on but he couldn't care less about that at the moment. He grinned from behind the old brown car, he was the Rum Tum Tugger, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Tugger yawned loudly as he stumbled back to his den, the Jellicle ball was especially tiring this year. Between his own dance, messing with Munkustrap, Grizabella's entrances, the scare with Macavity, encouraging Mistoffelees, and the rest of the Jellicle activities he was thoroughly worn out. However he straightened himself up and did his best to look energized when he heard the shuffling of paws behind him.
"That was some ball this year wasn't it?"
He cast a sideways glance at the jellicle that had come up next to him, he sighed in relief when he realized that it was Mistoffelees and he let his shoulders slump.
"Yeah, I'm exhausted" and as though to prove a point the taller tom let out another loud yawn.
The tux tom chuckled softly, "yeah, I suppose I could use a good rest now as well."
A comfortable silence fell over the two as they continued towards Tugger's den.
The younger tom looked up at his friend, the sun was beginning to rise and the orangey rays lit up his fur producing a halo around the older tom.
"Hey Tugger?"
"Yes kit?"
"Thanks for the song, It really helped a lot."
"No problem Kit"
"Did...did you really mean those things that you said about me?"
Tugger returned the smaller tom's gaze, his blue eyes were sparkling in the rising sun. His coat had a similar appearance although Tugger was unsure whether that was from his magic or the sunrise, either way it made the younger Jellicle all the more magical and gorgeous. The maine coon gave the young cat a genuine smile,"Every word kit, every last word."
Mistoffelees blushed beneath his fur and cast his eyes to the ground. The two soon reached Tugger's den and the larger tom bid the other a farewell then walked towards the entrance.
"Tugger wait!" Mistoffelees looked up at the tom who had stopped in his tracks. "What was that kiss about?"
Tugger walked back over to Mistoffelees and took his white-furred face between his hands, he nuzzled his headfur between his ears and planted a kiss on the very tip of the young tom's nose.
The maine coon smiled at the other cat's confused look, "Just think of it as my way of telling you that I accept your apology."
Mistoffelees returned his smile and put his arms around the other tom and pulled him into a warm embrace. He sighed contentedly into the cat's fluffy chest and then yawned causing the other to chuckle softly.
"I see some kit is ready for bed, I have plenty of room in mine, care to join?"
Mistoffelees pulled away from the embrace shaking his head slowly.
"Oh Tugger, you insufferable flirt."
The black and white tux walked past the taller cat and disappeared into the bureau, the maine coon smirked and followed suit.
A/N: And there we go! Another bit of Tugger Misto fluff for you guys! Comments and critiques are welcome! Keep your eyes open for a sequel to this, it may or may not be a little more saucy than this, I haven't decided yet. Of course if you really liked this one I'm open to suggestions and ideas for other projects. Now excuse me while I go cry because I spent the time I should have been using to do midterms writing this.
Quick grammar questions here, do you guys capitalize jellicle when referring to the cats and not the ball? And what about the maine in maine coon?