Coquettish
By Mystitat
"I'm telling you man, it was not a pretty sight!"
"But what gave him the idea in the first place?"
"It was something Etcy said about really being into the letter R."
"But he knows that was only for a song in the Ball, doesn't he? We didn't want him to take it seriously!"
"He knows!"
"He knows Etcy's only into Tugger, right?"
"He knows!"
Considering he knew almost nothing about it, it was somewhat odd for Alonzo to be teling Mistoffelees and Victoria the story of how Admetus had painted a large letter 'R' on his chest to impress Etcetera. Yet, there the three of them were, walking down an ordinary London street, in search of a breakfast of the occaisional mouse here and there (and maybe some handouts from humans, too), and listening to Alonzo's ridiculous rumor.
Victoria could not believe the tale. "He actually painted on his fur?" she asked. "Why haven't I seen this yet?"
"He's been hiding ever since Etcetera cracked up over how silly he looked," Alonzo answered.
"Where did he even get a can of spraypaint?" Misto wanted to know.
"That ... I have no idea," came the response.
Misto continued: "But is it ever going to – "
But he was soon interrupted by a paw and a shushing sound from Victoria. "Wait, did you hear that?" she said suddenly.
"No, I didn't Vicks," Alonzo said impatiently. "I'm trying to tell a story here, and – "
"No, wait, I hear it too, now," Mistoffelees interjected. He perked his ears up, trying to focus on the anomalous sound. "It sounds like ... a queen crying! And it's coming from over there!" he cried, pointing to an alleyway across the street.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Alonzo called, already halfway across the pavement at the mention of a damsel in distress. "Let's get a move on!"
Get a move on they did. Our heroes were soon across the street in the alley, ears perked and hunting for any sign of a distressed queen. The crying was getting louder the closer they got to the back of the alley. Finally, Misto came upon an upended cardboard box, with something large and bumpy under a blanket. "Hey, I think I found her!" he called to his two companions. As they hurried over, Mistoffelees gingerly lifted off the blanket ...
... And found the most beautiful queen he had ever seen! Her fur was an exotic pattern of pink and periwinkle tabby stripes combined with violet leopard spots interjected here and there, all on Persian fur. Misto could barely see her eyes through all the sobbing she was doing, but from what he could catch of them, they were a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors, each color blending with the next so beautifully that you would swear the sun had just come out. She was crying, but even her crying voice hinted at a sweet singing voice, which would blossom when the right time came. Her fur was thick and neatly groomed, her frame surprisingly muscular –
"Hey!" Victoria called when she kneeled down to get a closer look at the stranger. "That's no queen! That's a tom!"
Misto peered at ... it ... again. Oh. Oops. It was a tom. So go back and read that unnecessarily large paragraph again, replacing the female pronouns with male ones.
Only then did the strange new tom register that he had company. He slowly stopped crying, sat up, and peered at all his guests' faces with a kitten's curiosity and wide eyes.
They were all thinking it, but Victoria was the only one to say it aloud: "Awwwww!1!"
After blinking a few more times and looking at the new cats' faces curiously, the yet unidentified tom muttered ever so sweetly, "Who ... who are you?"
It took a moment to get over the initial shock, but finally Victoria found the voice to say, "Oh, sorry. Hi, I'm Victoria, and these guys are Mistoffelees and Alonzo." She gestured to each tom in turn. "We heard you crying, and we came to see if we could help. Right guys?" she said, looking up to them for confirmation.
Mistoffelees and Alonzo still couldn't really say anything. They were still staring at what appeared to be a he ... sort of. Needless to say, they were still a little ... weirded out.
"Guys ... hey, guys ... GUYS!" Victoria hissed, trying to shake them out of their stupor. "Guys, help me here!" She poked Misto (who was still kneeling next to her at this time) hard on the shoulder. "Right, Misto!"
This brought him out of it. "Hm, wha?" he muttered, regaining his sense of what's what. "Oh, yeah!" he finally managed to stammer. "We came to see if you needed help or anything! Right, Alonzo?" he asked, looking up to Alonzo behind him for confirmation.
Alonzo was still too ... weirded out.
"... Anyway ..." Victoria muttered, turning back to the pink and periwinkle Persian, "Are you okay? What's your name?"
"Oh," he said, turning away and blinking shyly, "My name is Celebintart. I'm sorry if I disturbed you. It's just that I ... I ..." But he could not go on, for the tears had started welling up again.
"Aww, what is it?" Victoria asked kindly, gently rubbing his shoulder for support.
"It's just that..." Celebintart started through sobs, "It's just that ... my humans kicked me out today!" he finally cried. "They got a new Pollicle, and it was chasing me, and the family thought we couldn't get along, and they kicked me out and now I have nowhere to go!" And with this, he burst into a fresh bout of crying.
"Aww, there there," Vicky mumbled, rubbing his ... attractive shoulder affectionately. But then a 'brilliant' idea popped into her head (which is apparently prone to happen when Jellicles meet cats like these). "Hey, I know! You could come live with us in the junkyard!"
This brought Alonzo back to coherent consciousness. "Wait, Vicks," he started, "Are you sure this is such a good – "
"Of course I'm sure, 'Lonzo," she interrupted. "Just look at him!"
Alonzo looked. The pink tom was sure a sorry sight (though whether it was due to his conditions or the fact that he was pink, Alonzo wasn't sure). He sighed. "Well, I guess, but – "
"Oh good!" Victoria yelled, interrupting him again. "You hear that, Celebintart? You can come stay with us! All the cats there are really nice! Come on!"
Celebintart's eyes were wide with disbelief. "I could come stay with you?" he repeated, unbelieving, "In a junkyard!"
"Yes, c'mon! We'll take you right to Munkustrap. Let's go!" She took him by the paw, attempting to drag him to his feet to get him to come with them.
She did succeed in making him stand, but he didn't look so convinced about the junkyard. "You are sure the other cats would like me?" he asked. "I do have an unusual talent for dancing and singing. Some cats might not like me ..."
"Oh, you'll fit right in," Misto mumbled under his breath.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Victoria announced. She wouldn't have been able to tell you why she was so convinced he should come to the 'yard, but she might have admitted that she did feel the tiniest bit ... attracted to him, pink fur and all. "C'mon, let's go!" she ordered, taking Celebintart once more by the paw.
He still stayed where he was standing, though he did seem to consider the proposal. Finally, he said, "Okay, I'll come. But only if he'll hold my paw, too!" he announced, pointing at Misto.
Mistoffelees quickly conjured up the most innocent "What?" look he could, but Victoria responded, "Fine! Misto, take his paw."
"Vicks, are you sure? I – "
"I said, take his paw! We're going back to the junkyard!"
Mistoffelees shrugged in defeat, but Alonzo grabbed him before he could take the pink paw. "Are you sure about this?" he whispered into Misto's ear.
"I guess it's all right," Misto admitted. "Besides, the tribe does take in a lot of newcomers, right?"
"Yeah, but this is the first one to be pink!" Alonzo protested.
"Well, I guess," Misto ventured ...
"Hey, let's go!" Victoria called, forcibly attaching Misto's paw to Celebintart's. "I want to get back there before dark!"
And so the four of them started heading back to the junkyard, some more reluctantly than others.