After each review I read, my body sort of spazzed out and did what I presume to be a happy dance. Thank you! Seriously, reviews make my day and since you're all writers too I know you would agree. So keep 'em coming! Please keep in mind ideas and constructive criticism are welcome. I have the final say anyway, so what do I care? XD J/k.

No swearing this time (?).

Consummation of a rat. ;)

Chapter 2: More Curious Than Himself

The rays of the sun made their way into the Jellicle junkyard, lighting it up with the same warm glow as it did every morning. Some cats yawned in response to the light hitting their eyes, pricking their ears up to the sounds of morning and stretching. One tom in particular cracked one weary eye open and hissed.

"Hmm?" Bombalurina lazily searched for the source of the hiss, her eyes heavy with sleep. The maine coon grumbled in response. "Aww, never a morning kittie," she simpered, slowly sitting up.

"Not after a long night," Tugger said. Absentmindedly running her claws through his mane, the red cat looked up at the sunrise and smiled.

"I always liked it," she said softly.

"Hmph."

A soft breeze rustled through the leaves and made its way through Tugger's den. Bombalurina's nose went crazy and she instantly leapt to her feet.

"I smell a mouse," she said in a low sing-songy voice.

"Follow it," Tugger said. "And bring me some."

"Lazy little bugger," she taunted before gracefully leaping from the abandoned tree house. Tugger welcomed the quiet that followed.

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"Tugger dance for us pleeeease?"

A smile crept across the tom's face.

"Shouldn't you kittens be practicing?"

"But we already rehearsed today!" Electra cried. Meows of agreement followed, big doe eyes looking up at him.

"Hmm…" He looked thoughtful for a moment before thrusting his hips, his tail giving a sharp flick. They swooned before him and he held back a chuckle, prancing around the excited kittens and showing off his signature moves.

"Look at him!" Etcetera mewed. "He's so dreamy."

"Ain't any call for me to spout it," he grinned, winking at the tabby.

"For he will do as he do do," a voice responded. Tugger's ears perked up, a familiar scent entering the small clearing. He looked around and found Cassandra, the mysterious Abyssinian, slinking towards him with a smile.

"Ah," he breathed. "A dance partner." She always managed to take his breath away with her teasing curves and the perfect blending of colors that made up her coat. "You came at the right time."

"Indeed?" She accepted his outstretched paw, gracefully twirling into his arms. The kittens giggled at the two as they danced with each other.

"My, my Cassie," Tugger murmured into her ear. "Have we been practicing?"

"Hmph." She smirked as she traced a claw along his cheekbone, winking at the kittens. "Yes, I have."

"With whom?" He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. The queen was already so hard to obtain. He had only managed to get her with him a few times, but was it really possible she had taken an interest in another tom?

"Oh, that is not for you to know just yet, little Tugger." She twirled out again, this time letting go of his paw and giving him a sweeping bow. He returned it reluctantly and the kittens applauded.

"Again, again!" they pleaded.

"Sorry, young ones," Cassandra said. "I'm supposed to bring you to Jelly's for lunch anyway." They groaned and picked themselves up from the ground.

"Oh I suppose I'm not invited?" Tugger asked haughtily.

"He can come! Tugger can come, right?"

"Pleeeease?"

He chuckled, "No, I was only kidding. I have a lunch date anyway." He flashed them all a smile as they pouted and followed Cassandra off. Sighing he turned away, wishing he really did have someone to hunt with.

The maine coon made his way through various pipes once again, catching scents of both mice and rats and trying to decide which one he preferred. He couldn't stand days like this, ones where he found himself particularly lonely. He always seemed to go from getting the most attention to being treated like any other cat who, generally, didn't have a close relationship with anyone else. Sure he got on well with a lot of the cats, but as far as friendship went he usually only found himself nodding to them in passing as he went on his own way to do nothing, really. He was to blame, he knew that, for the way he was. He enjoyed secluding himself at first when he really felt he needed it, going out only to play around with the kittens or seduce a queen, but now of course it only went against him when he actually wanted someone to pal around with. Would he ever openly admit it…of course not. He was much too proud for that. And so he worked himself into quite a spot of trouble; rambunctious, popular, and curious to all the other cats, yet lonely and frustrated on the inside.

With a sigh, Tugger decided to follow a rat. They had gotten fat lately, perhaps due to the new batch of food garbage that came in, and therefore were slower and took less energy to catch. He was just about to close in on it when voices caught his attention.

"Here, I told you it went this way."

"I didn't doubt you. I just caught another scent—"

Tugger growled as he quickly made for his kill. Snatching up the rat, he gazed deeper into the pipe and saw two cats approaching.

"Aww, man!"

"Don't tell me he got it."

With a crunch, Tugger swallowed with satisfaction as Alonzo and Admetus stopped in front of him.

"Sorry, boys," he said, licking his lips. Admetus glared at him while Alonzo only rolled his eyes.

"Come on," the black and white tom sighed. "There's plenty where that one came from." As they turned to leave Tugger suddenly leapt up.

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

"As long as you don't steal our lunch again," Admetus growled.

"Come on," he laughed, pushing himself between the two. "Technically I had the scent first."

"Just forget about it," Alonzo sighed. "So what've you been up to, Tug?"

"Ah just, you know, weirding around. I came across the kittens again," he chuckled. "And foxy ol' Cassandra was passing through so we—"

"Cassandra?" It took a moment for Tugger to realize the two toms had stopped in their tracks. He turned back to Alonzo and gave him a questioning look.

"Yeah, What's—"

"Do me a favor and lay off of her, all right?"

Tugger was shocked.

"Whoa, man, nothing happened. Are you…are you interested in her or something?"

"We plan on mating," he said, his eyes hardening.

"Okay, okay. Look, that's great." He tried to keep his cool, still astounded that the queen would even choose a mate, let alone it being Alonzo. He honestly couldn't see how the two would work out, but the look in the tom's eye told him not to push it. "I'm happy for you," he said with a smile. "Come on, you know I wouldn't do anything to ruin it for you." Alonzo still looked wary of him, but softened his expression. He walked forward again, past Tugger, and silently resumed the search for his lunch. Unnerved, the maine coon found that he didn't quite want the company of the two toms anymore.

"You just, uh, go ahead then," he called after them. "Catch you tonight…" With a sigh he set off back to where he came from, the rat in his stomach suddenly not agreeing with him so much.

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"So did you hear about it? I mean, honestly did you have any idea—"

"Tugger!" Startled he looked back up at Demeter. "I don't care."

"Oh come on, Demeter, he's just surprised," Bombalurina said soothingly, giving Tugger a sympathetic look.

"It's not any of my business." The calico stood up and stretched out her legs, sticking her nose in the air for a good sniff. "Who the other cats choose to mate with isn't anyone's business until they announce it at the ball. They're going to be mad if they hear you're spreading it around, Tugger."

"Well Alonzo told me outright," he countered.

"He told you so you wouldn't try to woo his future mate. I can't imagine why he would be so overprotective." Tugger and Bombalurina were silent as she leapt down off of her perch. She looked around nervously, her ears and tail twitching.

"Deme," Bombalurina started, but the calico soon relaxed as a silver cat came into the clearing.

"Munk," she murmured, going up to him and nuzzling her head against his neck. He returned the affection, smiling down at her and purring softly.

"It's time to head in," he told her. "It seems quiet, but I'm going to do one more round." Tugger's ears perked up.

"I'll do it," he offered, standing up and shaking himself out. Munkustrap looked up at him.

"You don't have to tonight," he said.

"No really. You just did one so why should you have to go out again?" He jumped off of his box and smiled. "Nothing better to do anyway." He heard Bombalurina give a quiet scoff. Munkustrap studied him for a moment before smiling.

"All right," he said. Tugger was about to turn when he heard a soft, "Thank you," come from him. He shrugged and returned his brother's smile. When he glanced at Demeter for only a moment he saw that she was also smiling. Surprised and quite proud of himself, he left the clearing with a smile curling at his lips.

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Giving his last good sniff and nudge to a small box, Tugger felt he had done his duty for the night and wearily picked his way back to his tree. The day had ended all right, though he still felt it left him with an odd taste in his mouth (and not one like that rat he eventually had to hack up). From what he had seen of his brother that day didn't really give him reason to worry and the fact that the cat had actually trusted him to do a round for him told Tugger that he was feeling the need to be more lenient. Perhaps it was just in his head. But he knew he couldn't ignore his cat senses, which told him otherwise.

A rustle in a nearby pipe instantly made his ears perk up. Standing perfectly still he listened intently, with more curiosity than alarm. When it didn't happen again he figured he ought to advance anyway just to make sure. These kittens sometimes could be so sneaky, it was a wonder the queens always had to—

"Mawr!"

Tugger nearly jumped out of his fur.

"Who is it?" he asked steadily, trying to calm himself. He peered into the pipe, finding wide eyes staring back out at him. From what Tugger could see the cat was small, but not enough to be a kitten. Regardless, he had never seen him in the junkyard before. "Hullo," he tried. "Where did you come from?"

The stranger didn't respond.

"It's okay, really. I won't...hurt you." Tugger backed away to give him room. The cat's eyes flashed green as he hesitantly crawled out into the moonlight, still staring up at Tugger. "There you go," he said with a satisfied smile. Of course his smooth talking would comfort the cat. He squatted before him and held out a paw. "So what's your name?" After the cat sniffed the offered paw he looked up at Tugger.

"Mr. Mistoffelees," he said. His voice was soft but steady.

"Claim to fame?"

"Magician." What an interesting find, Tugger mused. "I, uh, must have done something wrong with my last trick. I didn't expect to end up here."

"Did you expect to end up anywhere?"

"Somewhere other than my home, but not in someone else's. I'm sorry."

"Hey, cats come and go here all the time. No one'll give you a hard time if you stay."

"Really?"

"Sure. You'll wanna check in with old Deuteronomy, but I'll introduce you later. Now, why were you trying to get away from your old home?" The black and white cat looked down and Tugger cocked his head to one side.

"I was sold into this circus by my owners," he sighed. "When they found I could do magic, I mean. It was fun at first but I wasn't allowed to expand on my magic...and then they stopped feeding me after a while for whatever reason. When I got sick I overheard them talking about offing me, and I don't just mean from the shows." Now that Tugger got the chance to study him, he did look too thin even for how little of a cat he was. Something like pity made his chest heavy.

"I'm sorry." He surprised himself by how genuine he sounded. He did feel bad for this new stray but there was something else about him, something so...vulnerable.

Mistoffelees's blue eyes grew slightly larger as he watched the maine coon stare at him. Realizing he must have been making him feel uncomfortable, Tugger smiled and stood up.

"Well, listen, we have plenty of food and seeing you starved like that makes me nervous." He started walking off but it was only before he was standing in front of another pipe that he realized he wasn't being followed. He turned back around. Mistoffelees had his head cocked to one side as he stared at Tugger. "Aren't you hungry?"

"I've just never met a cat so curious before," he said gently, finally making to stand. Tugger couldn't help but chuckle.

"I hear that a lot, magic cat." He watched as the tom slinked towards him, something hesitant in the way he approached him as if he was still somewhat wary of him. He stuck out his paw and waited for the smaller cat to accept it. "Rum Tum Tugger," he said, gently squeezing the cold paw. "But you can call me Tugger. This way, then."

He led the cat throughout the old pipes, having to check behind him every so often to see if he was still there. The cat was so quiet it was almost as if his paws didn't even touched the ground. Nevertheless, Tugger soon made a sharp right that led them outside and facing the place he called, "Home."

"A tree?"

"Well, yes, but it's what's in the tree that makes it special. So poke around, help yourself. I have food laying around here in piles. If you make your way up you'll find my latest catch somewhere..."

Tugger leapt up among the boxes and broken pieces of this and that that piled up against the tree, searching for a little something himself. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Mistoffelees pick around, finding things he completely forgot he even had.

"I would watch some of it if I were you," he warned. "If you know what makes you hack then I wouldn't risk it." The tuxedo cat chuckled.

"It's a feast, Tugger." Proud of the compliment, Tugger went on to search for the fresh fish he stored so he could impress the cat even more. It took him longer than he thought it should, annoyed that he forgot where he put them, but the scent soon reached his nose and he followed it until he spotted the tails sticking out of an old toaster oven.

"Gottcha," he smirked, yanking them out. "Mistoffelees!" He made his way back down to the cat. He saw the blue eyes instantly light up at what he held in his paws.

"Tugger," he breathed, his eyes locked on the fish.

"Two all right?" Mistoffelees licked his lips and nodded. Laughing, Tugger handed them over and sat while he gobbled them up. The maine coon was only on his second fish when the other cat lounged, satisfied, against the junk with a full belly gently rising and falling with each breath.

After Tugger took care to flick the last of the fish bones on the ground around his lair, he crawled down to Mistoffelees and studied the cat. Sensing him, the tux opened his eyes and smiled sleepily at Tugger.

"Thank you. I haven't eaten in ages, and never like that."

"Food comes easy around here. The pond was what surprised me, though. Looking at it you wouldn't think anything good could come from it," he chuckled. "But...they don't call me curious for nothing. Just don't let the others know. I can't have all these cats stealing my fish."

"Of course." He stifled a yawn with the back of his paw.

"You think you're up for one more trip?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but I may fall asleep on the way."

"Don't worry about it then," he said, waving his paw in the air. "Come on, I'll show you the best place to sleep in this junkyard." He led the cat up to the top of the pile of junk, gracefully leaping to one of the branches. "Do you think you can..." But before Tugger could wonder if Mistoffelees needed help, the cat was beside him on the branch. "Just a littleways in, then." Poking around, Tugger found the wooden floor of the old tree house and lead the cat through what was once a doorway. Mistoffelees was curled up in an instant and before Tugger could say any more, the magic cat's quiet snores could be heard.

"Good night, then," Tugger whispered, stretching himself out and laying down. He kept his eyes open, however, and stared with interest at the cat. The cat intrigued him, he wouldn't lie, and he had never known a cat who had magical abilities other than…Tugger sat up. "Bast!" he whispered, staring down at the cat. Macavity could do magic too! What the hell was wrong with him, letting this cat into their home without consulting Munkustrap? But he seemed so different…he studied Mistoffelees again, his expression of horror fading as he tried to think logically. If this was a plan of Macavity's than surely something would have happened by now. He knew his brother well and the cat liked doing things on his own for the most part. Even if he sent one of his henchcats in, he would always be close behind.

Tugger forced himself to be calm and he put his head down. He wanted to believe this cat. There was just something about him. Still, he would keep an eye on him…

But within an hour, Tugger compromised and was fast asleep. Well, he tried. Hopefully the junkyard would still be there in the morning.