Dawn painted a glorious picture across the sky, the gentle hues softening even the harshest parts of the junkyard. The sparkle of dew only added to the magical feel that time of day always held. Many of the jellicles were still asleep, a few of the kittens had snuck out for a bit of playtime, while Mistoffelees had been awake for over an hour.

The tom preferred waking long before the others. A "morning person" the humans called it, and he supposed it was accurate. In the wee hours of the morning, when the light was just starting to grow but the day had yet to start, was always the best time to get solitary work done. Misto preferred it for practicing his magic as well, which he had decided to start doing daily.

He had finished that for today, though, and was now wandering aimlessly. Enough cats were awake that he didn't have much need to be overly cautious, and he had gotten himself into a situation that required a bit of thought.

Reflecting on it, he wasn't sure what had happened. It was true that the cat was able to get himself into more trouble than even his magic could get him out of, but this was a bit much. What happened to humoring Victoria by pretending to entertain the idea, or his vehement insistence that the Rum Tum Tugger wasn't even worth the thought?

A familiar scent caught the young tom's attention. The hairs on the back of his neck went up, and he glanced about, realizing he was being watched by the maine coon. The larger cat was watching curiously, but when he realized that Quaxo had noticed him- he slowly made his way down the pile of rubbish he was perched on. His chest still aching from last time, Misto decided to give him a decent berth, keeping just out of range of pouncing. A curious expression crossed over the Tugger's face as he noticed this, but he respectfully accepted the distance.

"You were wrong," he said simply, raising an eyebrow and waiting for the younger cat to reply.

"About what?"

"I don't play with anyone's heart."

Blue eyes widened, brow furrowing at this revelation. Had he misinterpreted the tom's actions so badly? He nodded gently, finally giving a slight bow of his head, "I apologize for that, then. You do seem the type."

"Thanks…" he didn't even bother making it sound sincere, they both knew it wasn't. This distance thing was starting to annoy him, though he supposed he deserved the physical distance. It was no secret that the small tom didn't play rough. Still, there had to be some way to melt this cat's cold exterior.

"And also," he smiled mischievously at the cat, taking a single step towards him. Misto didn't back away, but cocked his head to the side. Tugger continued with a teasing, "I'm anything but a bore."

The tuxedo stared for a second, realization dawning on him. He chuckled appreciatively, deciding to walk a few paces towards the other tom. That certainly was not a word he would ever again use to describe the Rum Tum Tugger. "Well, that was before I knew you could play bagpipes."

"Ha! I told Munk someone appreciated that," he bragged, his cocky nature returning as he grew more comfortable with the situation.

"Tugger," the tom said solemly, "no one has ever appreciated bagpipes."

The coon howled in mock hurt, clutching his paws to his chest and stumbling backwards. "Really, Quaxo, haven't you got a nice thing to say about me?" he pouted, unable to keep the corners of his lips from turning up.

"Well, let me see," an impish grin was on his white face as he pretended to give this serious thought, "I'm sure there must be something…" There was a pang of guilt when he realized that he'd spent so much time talking down Tugger, maybe unfairly, that he had a hard time coming up with anything good to say about him. He threw the older cat a wink and added, "That you don't already know, of course."

"That is a challenge… I do know just how many of my qualities are good," Tugger agreed, refusing to show that the tom's constant criticism was starting to sting. He jumped onto a nearby box and got comfortable, motioning for the tuxedo to join him.

"Thank you," the small tom said quietly, receiving a confused look that Tugger quickly tried to cover up, "For your support at the ball. I meant to thank you for it." Without another word, he leapt onto the box and settled down before glancing at the sky. Both toms suddenly felt extremely self-conscious.

Self-conscious was not an emotion the Rum Tum Tugger took kindly to, so he decided to break the silence with a bitter laugh, looking over at the conjuring cat. "How did we get into this mess, Misto?"

"Victoria," he replied with a chuckle, "she's determined to find me a mate whether I want one or not. It's a sweet idea, and I suppose it's better that you get caught up in it than someone else. You're secure enough to take it in stride."

Mistoffelees glanced up at Tugger, surprised to see a thoughtful expression on the older tom's face. His ear twitched, and he couldn't help wonder how much he'd misjudged the cat.

"Well, do you want one?" the maine coon said after another moment.

"What?"

"A mate. Do you even want one? Seems pretty pointless for anyone to waste the energy if you don't even want one."

"I don't know," he said truthfully, biting his lip. He wasn't entirely comfortable around Tugger, and didn't know how willing he was to spill his guts to the cat. "I don't even know how everyone would react if I had one."

"That's a concern for you?" The large tom gave him an incredulous look.

"I've never heard of a cat like me," he explained sheepishly, curling into himself a bit more, "I've only heard of it in humans, and they certainly don't react well. I don't think I'd be hurt or exiled, but I also don't want everyone to look at me differently for something that shouldn't even matter."

"You don't do that by hiding it like it's some dark secret. If you don't think it matters- then prove it doesn't by not caring who knows," it almost sounded like he was scolding the younger tom, "Don't care about what anybody else thinks- this ain't about them. I'm asking what you want."

Getting advice from the Rum Tum Tugger, and good advice, this day was certainly taking an odd turn. Mistoffelee's tail twitched irritably as he returned to gnawing on his lip.

"I don't know what I want," he said right before Tugger made up his mind to apologize for scolding him. "I like some aspects of having a mate, but I don't know if I'd like all of it. I wouldn't mind having someone to be that close to, but I still love my solitude and would feel guilty about disappearing as often as I do."

"Eh, tell me about it. I've thought about 'settling down' a few times- but I couldn't. I love to flirt too much, I thrive on that attention, I don't think I could stop that and be happy no matter who I was with," the maine coon lounged back a bit, glancing lazily over at the smaller tom.

"Why would you have to stop?"

"What self-respecting cat would want to be with a tom who shows that kind of affection to everyone?" another incredulous look, but Misto just shook his head.

"How far do you ever actually go?"

"A few kisses every now and then, maybe. Never really cared to go farther than that," he replied with a shrug, not really seeing what that had to do with anything.

"I don't really care about that, then. You aren't doing anything unfaithful- you're just having fun," he sighed, "I suppose I'm more different about these things than I thought."

Tugger sat up at this, and leaned towards the other cat. Misto noticed this and resisted curling up tighter, not wanting to appear too uncomfortable with the tom's presence. After studying him for a moment, he finally asked, "You really wouldn't care about that?"

"I don't care for it whether we're mates or not," he said, sitting up and leaning back slightly, not liking how close they were, "But I wouldn't care if my mate did that, so long as they didn't do anything else."

"Huh." The older tom didn't expand on that sentiment, but just leaned back and watched the clouds thoughtfully. "Wouldn't you get jealous?"

"Of what? I'm not that kind of tom, I don't like that attention and wouldn't give the same devotion your fanqueens do," he struggled to keep the contempt out of his voice, and ended up mumbling something along the lines of 'no offense' after it. The Tugger waved it away, he'd heard worse.

"I always associated mates with possessiveness, 'claiming your territory' and making sure everyone knew to back off of it. Didn't think you could be one without being jealous to the point of fury," he cocked his head so that the smaller tom was fully in his view, "What do you think it is?"

"Love, I guess. Wanting them to be happy. Being there for them and having someone who'll be there for you. Never having to be lonely even if you're alone," he said softly, his voice almost a whisper. It felt silly. His answer was childish and idealistic next to Tugger's cynical remarks. He was still a very young tom, and was starting to feel very much like he was really still a kitten.

"I like yours better than mine," at this point Tugger was fully laying back with his eyes closed, and had every appearance of settling in for a nap. "By the way- are you done playing mind games?"

"What? I wasn't—" Tugger opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. The tux shrunk back, "Okay, so I guess I have been. I'll try not to."

The coon closed his eyes again, "You know, this is the question I should've asked you in the first place- do you even like me?"

"I don't want to like you."

Tugger chuckled, "You have one hell of a gift, kit. You're the only cat I know who can make every compliment sound like an insult." The tux murmured an apology at this, he really was trying not to be so critical of the tom. "Why don't you want to?"

"We both know if I liked you from the start you wouldn't be paying this much attention to you. It's hard to believe you don't just like me for the challenge I present."

"Alright, I can understand that. But maybe because you were a challenge it let me get a chance to get to know you- and that's why I like you," Tugger countered, his eyes still closed.

Mistoffelees sighed, this was exactly what he was talking about. It wasn't even possible to tell if the other cat was taking this seriously- could anyone really blame him for being cautious? "Do you think that's the case- or are you just trying to convince me it is?"

"I think I'm trying to convince myself it is," he said with a shrug, propping himself up on an elbow and turning to look at the other cat. "If we both actually like each other it could go pretty well. But I've got to figure out what the hell I actually want and you've got to stop feeling like I'm trying to trap you."

"Pinning me really didn't help that, by the way," the tux muttered, rubbing the still sore spots on his chest. Tugger winced, and nodded grimly. "Why did you do that?"

The larger tom bit his lip. The reason was that this whole situation was driving him insane, and he ended up resorting to brute force like an idiot. That might have worked with a tom who was closer to his size, but most of the queens were larger than Quaxo. He had regretted it immediately but that didn't exactly undo it.

He shook his head, "I can't really explain that, maybe a more articulate cat could. Then, a more articulate cat probably wouldn't have. Either way- any reason I could give would just be a lame excuse. The fact is that I shouldn'tve done it, whyever I did." He wanted to say more, but he didn't think it would help.

Misto nodded uncertainly. It wasn't the greatest answer but he supposed there wasn't a good reason anyways. At least it was clear Tugger regretted it, that made him feel a bit better. "Alright. I guess we can just call it an accident then."

"Thanks," he replied gently. The tux was surprised to see a desperate sincerity in the golden eyes.

He twitched his ears and glanced around uncertainly, trying to think about what he wanted to do next. Gingerly Misto stood up and lay on his stomach next to Tugger, keeping a few inches between the two toms. A knot tied itself in Misto's chest, but he took a deep breath to calm himself. He looked uncertainly at the other tom's surprised face.

"You alright?" Tugger asked, leaning away slightly. A few minutes ago the tom wouldn't get within 10 feet of him, now they were close enough that he could count Misto's whiskers. He didn't have any interest in doing that, but he could have.

"I think," the tux started uncertainly, not sure what he wanted to say. Licking his lips, he continued, "I know that I judged you unfairly before. I don't want to do that again. And I think… I think I'd like to get to know you better, and find out if I've misjudged you on anything else."

A smile formed on the other cat's lips, as he reached a paw over and ruffled Misto's head fur. This won him a gentle purr that the younger tom quickly stifled. "That sounds fair enough. I could stand to know a bit more about the Magical Mister Mistoffelees as well."

***There might be a pause after this, I'm not entirely sure exactly where to go next. Well, to be more accurate, I know where I want to go but I don't know how to get there. Apologies if that does happen.

As usually, thank you so much for your support. :)