This story was originally posted on my former account, FurtherAway, however, I lost the email and password for the profile so I've had to re-write it and upload it all over again, sorry for the trouble and/or confusion.. but this was the only way to continue the story I was falling in love with. I tried everything I knew to get that account back, but I can't seem to do it. Hope you understand.

OMG I AM SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER HAD A PROBLEM AND I DIDN'T NOTICE! THIS IS THE FIXED VERSION! SO MANY SORRIES!

The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully. The woman, who Mistofflees had started to refer to comfortably as Alice, slept. The captain worked and Tugger continued to show Mistofflees around the ship, sharing his secret cubby holes and favorite hangouts that only a cat could really appreciate. It was refreshing to be able to show them off. His favorite of these, was the small notch in the mast just under the crow's nest, only big enough for one cat to comfortably hide himself away, still able to overlook the deck while relaxing and enjoying the sea breeze. Thanks to his claws, it was easy for Tugger to scale the mast to reach it, but realized if he wanted to show the kit then they'd have to be resigned to the nets when Mistofflees revealed his own clipped, oddly shiny dull claws.

Mistofflees had spent most of his life living under the Governor's house, not really knowing any sort of life other than one of luxury, which is why Tugger found it amazing how well he adapted to the sudden change. He'd laughed however, after their messy meal when Mistofflees had asked where the bath was to clean his paws. After about three minutes of watching Tugger chuckle and lick himself clean, he finally got it. "I'm supposed to give myself a bath?"

"You're a cat aren't you?" Tugger teased, working the underside of a paw with his tongue, "That's what cats do."

Mistofflees hesitated, staring at his paws accusingly before giving one an experimental lick. He skewed his face in displeasure, tasting the dirt of the day and making Tugger laugh, "You act as if you've never given yourself a bath before."

"I haven't." Mistofflees huffed, "I've been living in the governor's house since I was a kitten, there's never been a need to. I was always clean, and when I wasn't, the maids were told to bathe me..." he informed the Tom, looking down at his paw again in contemplation.

Tugger paid attention, but kept himself occupied with grooming, trying to think of a suitable reply to that. It didn't necessarily surprise him, but it still seemed like a waste. Cats were meant to get dirty now and then. It was in their blood. He turned, opening his mouth when he finally found words, but laughter replacing them as he saw the cat.

Mistofflees was trying to reach his back with his tongue; a hilariously impossible task. His tongue was stretched out to it's limit, his face overtaken with strained determination as he tried his hardest. Tugger almost didn't have the heart to tell him, sitting there silently and doing his best not to laugh outright. He gave it another moment before taking mercy on the poor thing. Tugger pushed himself up, chuckling as he got closer to the cat, nudging him away, "I got it."

"You've got it?" Mistofflees asked, confused, "What are you-"

The feeling of the Tom's tongue was sudden and made Mistofflees jump with a small yelp. Tugger tried not to sound too amused by it, but he was. It had been a while since he'd been able to draw out such entertaining reactions from another cat.

It should have felt good though, the warm and gentle lap of his tongue over the cat's fur. The buds would work at de-knotting any matted fur and give him some sort of light massage as they did so. Tugger felt triumphant when Mistofflees loosened beneath him, purring pleasantly.

He took his time, slowly licking over the surface of his back and the unreachable crevices of Mistofflees' neck. Somewhere along the line, he'd climbed over the cat, cleaning specific parts of his neck and between his shoulder blades with much more ease now that he was nestled comfortable over him. Mistofflees' purring had slowly raised in volume, turning into low, whimpering and rather suggestive mewls. Tugger knew what he was doing, it was a bit more suggestive like this, the kit under him, rumbling with pleasure as he ran his tongue along his body... but he was enjoying the way Mistofflees shuddered below too much to draw away. He hadn't felt like this in a while...

The grooming was suddenly interrupted by a human hand sweeping Tugger away with force, "No! Get off!"

Tugger came back to reality with a sudden jerk as the woman scooped Mistofflees up off the floor and into her arms. "Bad cat." she scolded, shooing Tugger away with her bare foot as she cradled Mistofflees close to her chest, ignoring the way he tried to squirm out of her arms. "Go! Shoo!"

Finally giving in, Tugger darted out of the cabin, scrambling slightly as he sliped over the newly mopped deck. Embarrassing. He tumbled, rolling until his spine collided with the mast with a rather brutal slam. "Stupid old croon." he spat, stretching out with a huff in attempt to soothe the soreness in his back, "I wasn't hurting him."

Maybe it had been karma. Taking advantage of an innocent house cat like that...

Frustrated, Tugger lifted himself, twitching a little when a jolt of pain stung through his spine. Maybe it was broken? Probably not. His pride simply hoped, then he could blame it on that dumb girl. He cringed at the thought. He wanted to find the captain. He could use a little loving attention to make up for being fussed out. Tugger wandered the ship, finally coming over the man at the wheel. He meowed loudly at him, satisfied when he finally received a fond sideways glance, "Hey Rum. How's the lady? You watching over her well?"

Another frustrated meow. He didn't want to watch over that evil witch. Tugger pressed himself against the captain's leg, swirling his tail around like a tree vine. With a hearty laugh, the man reached one hand down, cupping under his belly before pulling him up and tucking him under an arm. "You know Rum, you make it hard to work." Tugger purred happily, nuzzling into his master's side. "You're like a woman.." he sighed, leaning slightly over the wheel, "So distracting..."

Tugger's purring quieted, and he tried not to look too far into the implications of that sentence. Surely his captain wasn't taking an interest in the girl? Tugger certainly didn't think highly of her at the moment. She was a spoiled governor's daughter who's kitten had never given himself a proper bath in his life.

His irritation immediately faded when he thought back to giving the cat a tongue bath. Innocent enough, but... the mewling Mistofflees had made... Tugger couldn't remember the last time he'd mated. Sometime that they'd docked in Grandmal maybe, with that cute little Siamese he'd found strolling in one of the back alleys. Tugger frowned. Was he desperate enough to mate with a male? Of course, the Tom was cute and all, but he was more interested in queens. That was what you were supposed to do, sow your seed. That was why there were queens after all. The grooming thing had just been sort of spur-of-the-moment.

He wasn't really interested in the humorous, adorable, and vulnerable little Tom...

Of course not.