"I got my dog!" The boy shouted.
"No, the cage is too small! I got a cat!" The girl argued rather logically for one so young.
"So? It could be a puppy!"
"Or a kitten!"
"Now calm down, James, Emily. You'll scare them." Their mother said, feeling bad for the poor cats already.
"Them?" Emily asked.
"We both got what we wanted?" James asked, getting more excited.
"NO, you both get the same thing." Their father explained.
"Then which is it?" Emily asked, getting rather annoyed at having to wait so long.
"Look and see for yourselves."
Emily and James bent forward to look in at Misto and Tugger. Emily let out a happy squeal that hurt Misto's sensitive ears. James however turned to kick the soccer ball that had sat by the door instead of being put away, which caused Misto to jump at the crash it made. Tugger just lay there unperturbed by the commotion. In his mind he was already safely back in the junkyard. The parents calmed down the two rambunctious children and allowed them to pick their cat. Emily eagerly scooped up Misto and squeezed him tight enough to cut off his air supply claiming him, but only for a moment. Tugger stepped out lazily and looked up at James, the two engaged ina glaring contest. Emily hurried up to her room, Misto in tow. James rolled his eyes, grabbed the soccer ball just to go outside and kick it at the back wall of the house. Tugger followed up the stairs, the mix of scents telling him where James' room was. He strolled in, not caring if anyone noticed or not.
Tugger looked around quite bored with it all and although he was rumored to be terminally bored it wasn't true, as any of the tribe would tell you. On a few occasions in which he was bored, he would do practically anything to be rid of the feeling. He decided to look around the room. There was nothing of real interest until a glimmer caught his eye from on top of the desk from under a pile of crumpled papers. He jumped up on it's cluttered surface to see a spiked collar sitting amongst the junk and mess of papers that were filled with doodles of dogs.
"Kid, you are way too eager for that dog." Tugger said, staring down at it. For some reason he had the urge to try it on. A quick look around told him he was alone and that it was safe to shift into his demiform.
A Jellicle cat had three forms. His true form was his feline body, the second a demiform which was the anatomy of a human mixed with the features of a cat, and the third was that of a human.
He picked up the collar and looked at it for awhile. He fassened it around his neck and waltzed up to the mirror-closet doors. He stood there admiring how it looked on him, when Misto came in. He quickly shifted to his demiform as well, shutting the door. He whirled around on Tugger.
"Tugger, for even a second did you consider that standing there in your demiform increases our chances of getting caught?" Misto hissed at him. Tugger merely looked at him, chuckeling quietly to himself. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nice bow." Tugger muttered before giving in to laughing.
"What bow?" Misto asked, his anger disappearing. He caught sight of himself in the mirror. A black bow was around his neck, showing in the back. He let out agasp trying frantically to get it off. Tugger had composed himself enough by now to at least ask the question on his mind.
"How did you get a bow?" He asked still keeping his composure as best he could, which wasn't much.
"That little girl, she had a box of doll clothes. She said she was going to dress me up, but she tripped and spilled the whole thing on me. When I popped out of it, she giggled at me saying I was so cute. I guess when I stuck my head up it slipped around my neck." He explained. "That's when I came to find you." He let out an irritated sigh and turned his back to Tugger. He looked over his shoulder at him, a look of pure innocence belonging to that of a kitten on his face that was irrisistable to Tugger. "Can you help me?"
Tugger shook his head, trying to stop his mind from taking the situation further. He took a step closer, but didn't make a move to untie it. Instead he grabbed hold of it and turned it so the bow was in the front. Misto looked up at Tugger, a questioning look in his eyes.
"Now you have your bow tie, Tux." Tugger said jokingly. Misto rolled his eyes looking in the mirror to see it.
"Well, you're a lot of help." Misto said, adjusting it to make it look more like a tie. "Nice dog collar, by the way."
"You like it? I thought it could make a great conversation starter with the Queens, get me on their good sides."
"You already are on their good sides." Misto muttered, hiding the jealousy that he felt at that.
"Touche, but more attention from someone is always good." He glanced at Misto to see if he caught his meaning, then sighed and shifter back to his true form. "Some one's coming." He smirked at Misto's bow before disappearing under the bed. "Clean your room, kid." He muttered from behind an empty plate. "This crust is like a week old!"
Misto let out a sigh and shifted back to his cat form. In his mind he thought he knew who Tugger was referring to. He thought he was referring to Bombi. He dashed out of the room, careful not to be seen by the boy. James started sorting through the mess that was his room, his mother calling up to him wondering what he was doing.
"James, you know better than to run in the house. What are you looking for?" She called up to him as he turned to search under his bed.
"My basketball! Me and the guys are gonna go shoot hoops at the park!" He shouted down to her. "I can't find it!"
He reached under the bed, where Tugger was hiding. Tugger tried to back away, but he couldn't go anywhere. His back hit something round and hard. He looked over his shoulder to see the very ball James was looking for. He tried to get ahold of it, so as to push it toward him and not be found, but just as he got a grip on it, he felt a hand grab hold of it the collar he was wearing. He let out a yowl as he was roughly pulled from his hiding place. His grip on the ball pulled it out from under the bed, but it rolled across the floor and into a pile of clothes. James let it roll past, more focused on the cat in his hand.