"C'mon, Bomba, you have to let me inside!" Tugger pounded on the outside of their den, doing his best to try and ignore the snickers he heard from passerby. "It's my den too!"
"I'm not in the mood to deal with you." The muffled voice of the scarlet queen frustrated him. She didn't have to deal with him, just let him inside! He wouldn't bother her, if anything he could always go in and just grab his things. Then he could beg for Munkustrap to give him a place to sleep for the night. Or something. Surely there was someone in the junkyard willing to lend him a bed.
"Okay, look, if you let me in I won't even look at you. I think it's going to rain and I'd rather not get soaked."
"It'd do you some good to get a cold shower."
Oh, ouch. She was right, too. He really didn't think he could argue with her without sounding inadequate. This wasn't going to be fun.
"Just let me in." A long silence held him in unease. She may just be ignoring him now, and he couldn't see inside so he just hoped she wasn't going to let him wait. The sound of shifting inside the den assured him she was coming towards the entrance, and he inwardly let out a sigh of relief. He'd have someplace to sleep for the night, that was always good. He smiled broadly at her, but her face quickly killed the expression off his. She looked utterly ticked off, and had a right to be. Her posture didn't hold the ease it usually did and she was very stiff lipped. Narrowing her eyes at him, she moved out of the way and he almost winced as he stepped into the den. Either she wouldn't talk to him, or she'd want some heartfelt conversation. Sometimes he hated queens.
"I didn't run into you all day, I suppose coming to our den wasn't the smartest mark on my record." Bombalurina said shortly, turning and heading into the main part of the den. Tugger grimaced and hoped she hadn't ruined all his stuff. He peeked his head out of the door of the den and up at the sky before shutting it and following the angered queen.
He was pleased to see his stuff was still in order, but the queen sure wasn't. Bombalurina sat in front of the mirror combing out her mane without a word. Awkwardly Tugger walked over to their bed (a huge nest of blankets that hadn't been moved for quite some time) and sat down, watching her comb. There were no tangles and she was in perfect order; he could appreciate what she was doing though.
"You said you wouldn't look at me." She reminded darkly, scowling at the mirror. Tugger cleared his throat and looked down at his paws instead. Oh, right, he had said that. God he was in deep.
"Look-"
"I'm not speaking to you." Bomba busied herself further with her combs, pulling a box out and arranging them just so.
"I was going-"
"Saying sorry won't help."
Tugger blinked, more taken aback than he would ever admit. When did everyone turn into a mind reader? The scarlet queen frowned and closed the little wooden box she kept her things in, pushing them behind the mirror. She moved over to the bed, crawled in, and covered herself with only the intent of sleeping. Tugger stared at her for a moment then reached a paw out and rested it on her covered form.
"Listen to me." He pleaded softly. He wasn't expecting it when her paw shot out and swatted his away sharply.
"Your words don't mean anything. I'm only here because this was my den before it was yours." Rolling back over, she evidently was intent on ignoring him. Well, he'd just have to make that difficult.
"But I want to make everything better."
More he wasn't expecting. Bomba sat up with a growl at him, staring at him incredulously. He looked at her wide eyed, trying to figure out why his apology caused anger.
"You think you can make it better just like that? Tugger, you cheated on me." She looked hurt, but he knew trying to comfort her would be pointless. He was the cause of the pain, even he could see it wouldn't help and would only anger her further. "And with a kitten, Tugger? What did she have that I don't? What were you thinking?"
He paused. What had he been thinking? Nothing of importance. He never thought, that was the short of it. Spreading his hands helplessly, she shook her head.
"Give me a reason or you're going back outside."
She made him sound like a housecat there simply to be thrown around. She'd have a hell of a time trying to get him outside with force. Then again, she wasn't a wimpy little thing either.
"I was thinking. . . it was something I hadn't done before." He mumbled inadequately. It sounded a little better in his head, as soon as the words were out of his mouth he could see how wrong he was.
"Life's just a game for you. See how many times you can score before you're too old to do anything anymore. What happens when you reach that point? Then all you'll have is your memories, and those will fade eventually."
Tugger was immediately reminded of a song, and before he realized it wasn't a good idea to blurt out that particular line, he had done so with a smirk on his face.
"But the chicks dig it."
Either Bomba didn't catch the reference, or she thought it was inappropriate for this conversation. Her expression hardened and she growled in frustration at his inability to take anything seriously. Tugger winced.
"Okay, forget that."
"That's how you always are! Can't you see the bigger picture in anything?" She protested, looking him over carefully. "You're never serious. Do you know how frustrating that is?" She shook her head and suddenly Tugger felt like scum. Why had he done it? That little voice in the back of his head that told him right and wrong seemed to be on vacation.
"Yeah, I've watched my brother get angry at me enough times to know." He scooted over to her and took her paws in his. "Look, I really am sorry. I wasn't thinking. I do that." He smiled at her, but it wasn't enough. She shook her paws out of his and got out of the bed.
"Hey, where are you going?" He asked, watching her glance at her reflection in the mirror before heading towards the door.
"Out."
Bombalurina left the den, closing the entrance tightly and glancing up at the sky. The sun was setting now. Bast, she used to love the sunset. Right now it seemed so far away. Hopeless romantics and lovers watched sunsets.
She hadn't watched one in forever.
Shaking a classic movie-style romance scene from her mind, she headed for the first place that popped into her head. The car. Tugger could easily follow her, and she didn't care. She just didn't want to look at him. She was so angry at him, but when he looked pitiful like that all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and comfort him. He was a prime specimen of a tom, perfect in every way he could be physically.
But in every other way. . .
Bombalurina had climbed up on the car hood, sitting and staring at the colours on the sky. Maybe if she just sat there and appreciated the beauty of nature she could forget the idiot in her bed. How could she ever go back and sleep there? Too many memories, memories of times she thought nothing bad would happen between them. Sometimes even she could be naïve. Heaviside she was a fool.
Her head snapped to one side as she heard someone join her atop the car. She half expected it to be Tugger, but soon realized the movements were too smooth and graceful to her ear. Then the figure moved into sight. Cassandra. The sleek queen offered a small smile and Bombalurina tried to respond with one of her own, but she felt it turn into a small grimace.
"What happened?" That dark voice could be chilling, but it was welcome. Bomba shook her head and gazed back up at the sky, the colours reflecting a little in her dark eyes.
"Nothing new. Tugger's still an idiot." She flicked some lint off her arm; unable to look at the sleek queen. The queen had that look. It was the look that made it feel like she was looking straight into your soul. It was unnerving, yet not totally unwanted. She liked Cassandra, somehow. Maybe it was just because she also agreed Tugger was an idiot, and recently made a point to avoid him.
"He is sorry. I do not think he realized what he was doing at the time."
"Neither did I when I gave my body to him." Bomba retorted softly, looked over at the queen sitting beside her. Cassandra blinked at her. She thought that she would want to keep her tom.
"What if he wishes to make amends?"
"Knowing him and what he thinks that means, he can go make amends with a stick shoved up his ass." She somewhat regretted the words as they slipped past her lips as she watched Cassandra wince. "Er, too much?"
"Hatred has never mended a relationship."
"Hatred has broken them though." The scarlet queen looked melancholy at the idea, but she seemed set on it. "I can do better; I can find a tom that won't cheat on me. But I'm afraid I love that idiot."
They sat in silence after that, watching the sunset together. It didn't occur to Bombalurina to ask why Cassandra was here; the queen spoke so little and was rarely seen, so for some reason she must feel as if Bomba was her friend. Just as well, it was kind of nice having someone to speak to other than Demeter. Demeter would have argued Bomba had pulled tricks just like this on other toms; cheated then wanted to keep the relationship. Well, she learned from her mistakes, is all she could say. Cassandra could see that, since she was here.
Maybe a new best friend was in order.
She didn't know how much time had passed as she got lost in passing thoughts of Tugger, her dying relationship, and Cassandra. She sat staring up at the dark sky for quite some time before she opened her mouth to say something to the queen, and found she wasn't there any longer. She was also cold, and knew it wouldn't get any better sitting on the cold surface of the old, beaten car. So, with a sigh of defeat, she slid down and headed for her den.
With any luck Tugger was asleep.
Luck hadn't been with her lately, so she doubted it.
