Tugger feel like such a jerk. He doesn't want Victoria, he respects her, why are these thoughts intruding on their friendship. He felt like he was making his friend uncomfortable even though he really hoped she didn't know why. He was fine with them being together, but what if his stupid fantasy made them feel like he wasn't? He had to get it together. 'Let's give it a few days' he thought. 'I might as well hook up with one of the queens and get this out of my system'.
A few days passed and Victoria kept going with the tough practise before the ball. Tugger hadn't showed up during the mornings like he used to but she felt like that was good so she could go all in and not get distracted. She still wanted to ask him a bit more about the relationship with Teazer but felt like there was no rush. They had decided to take it slow until the ball so there was no pressure. Victoria appreciated that, she had been a bit afraid that they had to keep moving forward like the first couple of days. It had went fast and she was emotionally drained even though it felt so good, it was also very new to them both.
She had seen Tugger keeping the audience entertained during the last days like normal but he seemed to be sneaking away from the spotlight a little earlier than normal with what looked like mostly Bombalurina but she had also seen Cassandra disappear at the same time as him one of the nights. 'Good for him' she thought with a smile. She knew he was a player but had always thought it was mostly talk and image but it seemed lately that there had been more to it. She hoped he wasn't going to brag about it when they met next time. He still had made sure everyone knew they were going to stay together at the ball as friends and had defended that choice several times as the other queens had tried to convince him otherwise. They thought she was just boring and even though they didn't mind her they thought it was a waste of time to have the hunk of the tribe go with the silent mouse. He managed to stand up for her but still keep them on the edge about the promised performance he was gonna put on.
With just a few days left to the ball and her own performance being perfect in execution she started to relax a bit more. When she went to the clearing this morning she had decided to take it slow, maybe just dance for fun and let go of the worries about the solo. When she got there she started to laugh as she saw Teazer stand in the middle of the clearing with a red rose in her mouth. As she smiled the rose fell to the ground.
"Haha what is this?" said Victoria smiling.
"May I?" said Teazer holding out her paw with a cheeky smile.
"Oh" said Victoria, blushing, she had never been asked to dance with someone like this before.
"I thought since you worked so hard on your solo it would be fun to try something else?" her friend said as she took Victorias paw in hers.
"That was exactly what I had in mind actually" she smiled back, letting herself be pulled in close.
As they started dancing Victoria felt so light, almost weightless as her acrobatic friend lead the dance. They were built very differently and Teazer was much stronger and moved in a whole different way than Victoria did, but somehow it felt like they flowed like water together. As Victoria started to relax even more she could feel Teazer lifting her gently before laying her down on the ground. Victoria lay on her back with Teazer on top of her and they closed their eyes and kissed. Victoria could feel her friend freeze a bit and opened her eyes. She saw Teazer looking up behind her blushing and turned her head. There stood Tugger watching them with his mouth open. Teazer got up and held out her hand to help Victoria up.
"So you are sneaking around here without saying anything?" Rumpleteazer teased him.
"Eeh I was just…." was all that Tugger managed to get out.
"Didn't mean to leave you speechless" her friend kept teasing. Still no reaction from Tugger and Victoria went over to him and gave him a nuzzle.
"Are you really okey with this?" said Victoria quietly so that Teazer wouldn't hear. That seemed to snap Tugger back to reality again.
"Of course I am Victoria, you are beautiful together. I was just startled that's all, I thought you were alone here." he was able to say in his regular voice. "Do you want to be alone?" he asked so they both could hear.
"It's okey, you can join us" said Teazer with a blink towards Victoria.
"Sure, come on. I think we were just finished dancing" said Victoria returning the blink to Teazer. Tugger looked a bit uncomfortable but they sat down together in the clearing.
"It was an impressive lift there Teazer" he said. "Just make sure you're not hurting yourself" he tried to joke.
"Haha, very funny, Victoria is light as a feather, you should see when I have to lift Jerrie, he is the reason Vicki has to keep helping me with my back all the time" she teased back at him.
"Haha yeah he's more like a log than a feather" Tugger kept laughing. Victoria always got a bit insecure when they started teasing each other, she couldn't really follow their tempo and just started to stretch to do something. Teazer took her paw.
"Victoria, do you mind helping me a little with the back though?" she asked carefully. "Jerrie's got sick so that's why I stayed this morning but I actually had to carry him back to our den earlier"
"Oh of course" said Victoria, a bit uncomfortable about helping her friend as Tugger was still around, but decided that she had to get past this as well sometime and why not with the two cats she trusted most.
"Don't mind me" said Tugger with a small cough, like he had read her mind, but still with a look that Victoria couldn't really read. She decided to take it as if he was a bit uncomfortable too but still okey with it.
Teazer laid down on her stomach and Victoria sat down next to her starting to feel through her muscles.
"You can sit on top if it's easier" said Teazer with a similar look that Tugger just had.
"Oh, ehm, okey" she said looking nervously over at Tugger but he nodded at her to go ahead.
Victoria straddled her friend just above her tail but careful not to sit down with her weight and started to carefully go through the muscles again. It was a lot more easier this way and she soon got absorbed with the work, trying to find the main problem. She was in deep focus but couldn't really find that much tension in Teazers back as she saw her looking over at the tom, wink and let out a small content sigh. Victoria was brought back to reality by a sudden purr. It did not come from Teazer and she froze as she looked up at Tugger. He had immediately stopped and sounded like he tried to disguise what had happened with a cough, patting himself on the chest to get the cough under control. Victoria could feel that she had gotten red and warm in the face and didn't know what to do. She felt very uncomfortable when she realised they had egged each other on and that she had unknowingly been a part of it. She stood up hastily with her eyes wide. This was not something she had wanted.
"I'm not feeling that well" she said. "I think I will just go to bed early" she blurted out and started to leave the others. "I see you tomorrow!" she said before picking up the pace and headed home.
Victoria felt so confused. Did her friends really wanted each other instead? Where she only some kind of bridge they had used to get closer to each other?. It had felt so real, both her friendship with Tugger and her relationship with Teazer, did it mean nothing to them? She felt really used and didn't want to go back to her den, she knew they would find her there immediately if they looked. She didn't know where to go and then came to think about her cousin. Maybe Mistoffelees would let her in even though he probably slept. At least he knew what Tugger was like and maybe he knew what had happened with Teazer as well. She felt so ashamed, she had really opened up to them both, why would they do this to her?
Victoria slunk into Mistos den without knocking, she didn't want to stand outside where she could be seen. She walked over to his bed and rocked him carefully.
"Misto? Please wake up" she whispered as the tom opened his eyes, looking like he had no idea where he was or who he was.
"I'm awake! I think..." he said very confused. "Victoria? Is that you?" he asked her.
"Can I stay here?" she asked looking at the ground.
"Of course, come here" he said and made room for her on the side of the bed. "What happened?" he asked, as he realised that this was not just some catching up with the cousin.
"Tugger" she said, suddenly not sure if she wanted to mention the relationship with Teazer.
"What did he do!?" Misto was up in a second, red faced and with fury in his eyes. "I'll find him right now and give him hell if he even touched you!" he shouted.
"Please quiet down? I.. I don't know what happened..." Victoria started crying and Misto sat down again next to her.
"Please tell me what happened?" he said softer and did his best not to put his arms around her.
"He.. I.. I can't tell you because I love someone and it's a secret!" she blurted out and buried her face in her paws.
"There, there, you can tell me, you don't have to mention any names, just tell me what Tugger did and I'll fix it" he said and felt Victorias head lean against his shoulder. He took it as a sign he could touch her and carefully put his arms around her. "Is this okey?" she nodded.
"I like someone.." she started. "And we met up all three this morning and everything was okey but then I was giving her..I mean him, eh the person a back rub and it turned weird" she said crying against the shoulder of her cousin.
"So you like a queen, that's whatever sweetheart, you don't have to say the name, but what got weird? Tell me." he comforted her.
"Is it really whatever? Tugger has been weird about it even though he said it was okey and now I don't know if she only wanted Tugger anyway. I feel so stupid" cried Victoria and Mistos heart ached as he could feel her pain. He knew he had egged Tugger on about the two queens and if he'd known that one of them was his young cousin he would have never done it.
"It is whatever, you love whoever and nobody has the right to think anything about that. But are you really sure that she wants Tugger? It sounds like she is someone who is really important to you and I think that you are really important to someone who can make you feel that way" he tried to make her open up.
"I don't know. She have said earlier that she didn't care about him, that she didn't want him but now I don't know."
"Can you tell me what happened when it got weird?" Misto tried to guide her back to what had made her feel like this.
"I was really focused on her and I didn't find any stiff muscles and when I looked at her she was making faces to Tugger, like.. you know!"
"No I don't, you have to tell me" Misto said softly.
"Like she enjoyed it in another way and then she winked to him and he started to purr and it got weird!" she said starting to feel angry. "Like I wasn't part of it, I just happened to be there. I don't think she had any back pain to start with, I think she only wanted me to do that for Tugger to see!" Victoria got really upset now but had stopped crying.
"It doesn't sound very nice." said Misto to comfort her. "But maybe, I'm just guessing here, maybe your queen wanted to tease Tugger not because she wanted him but because he is such a vain loser?" Misto said trying to make her laugh. It worked.
"Haha he really is sometimes" she let a small smile come out. "But why would she do that? Isn't it enough to have me?" Victoria said sadly.
"I think she just got a little caught up in the fact that she had the power to make the one who always makes the rules dance around her pipe" Misto sighed. "He is so predictable sometimes it's almost boring, he only wants what he can't have." he rolled his eyes at her and felt the tension loosening up a little.
"Why would he ever be turned on by two queens?" she laughed. "That's the only constellation he can never be in, is he that eager to be turned down?" She was happy Misto had made her feel a little better again.
"I think I have a small part in that one unfortunately" he said looking embarrassed.
"You?" Victoria asked surprised.
"Yes I know, I don't want queens like that but they are really pretty to look at you know" he blinked at her."I was just pushing his limits about something, very much like your little queen did to him earlier" Misto said looking both embarrassed and a little smug.
"What did you do?" Victoria said and felt like she let what happened go and enjoyed the story.
"I was just egging him on about what happened in the yard some time ago when Bomba seduced Mungos little sister in front ef everybody.. what's wrong?" Misto interrupted himself as he saw Victoria expression get sad again. He bit his tongue the second he realised how everything was coming together. "She is your queen right? Teazer?" he said feeling stupid for bringing up something like that.
"Yes" said Victoria looking at her feet.
"I'm sorry I said that. But you have nothing to worry about Vicki, Mungo says she can't stop talking about you, he has suspected that she liked you for quite some time now, that Bomba-thing was just provocation. I think she really likes stealing Tuggers thunder!"
"She has liked me for long?" Victoria said looking up with wide eyes.
"At least it was really long ago that Mungo told me, I had actually forgot about it until now. You have nothing to worry about, do you feel a little better?"
"Yeah, thank you" Victoria said and hugged him.
"Do you want to stay here or do you want to go find Teazer and make out- I mean make up?"
"Haha you really like that too? You toms are weird" she laughed.
"Well just remember you have that power over us now and don't misuse it!" he said with a wink. "Oh well, please use it to make Tugger feel uncomfortable, you have my permission to toy with his feelings if you want to" he laughed.
"Haha maybe I will" Victoria laughed. "I think I will go find Teazer now, I have to explain why I fled."
"Do so, and Victoria?" Misto said. "I'm really glad you told me about her, tell anyone you want to, it's nobody's business" They smiled at each other.
Victoria was so much happier after she had talked to Mistoffelees. She felt a bit stupid that she could have thought Teazer wanted the tom and she got all warm inside when she thought about what Misto had revealed. Teazer had liked her for a long time and now finally they were together. She decided to start at the clearing but no one was there so she thought that maybe Teazer was back at her den again and she headed over there. As she turned the corner she ran into Tugger. She had preferred if she had met Teazer first of them but she had to talk to him eventually.
"Vicki! I'm so glad I found you, are you okey? Where have you been?" Tugger asked while catching his breath.
"It's okey I went to Misto, we talked" she said reassuringly.
"Oh That's perfect" he said with a bitter tone but got back to Victoria again. "It was nothing over there, I was just dreaming away to something, ehm, I actually talked to Misto about earlier." he said looking very embarrassed as Teazer showed up and put her arm around Victoria.
"Yeah he told me about that" said Victoria and silenced Teazer with a kiss as she looked over at Tugger raising an eyebrow. She put her paw on Teazers neck and let it slowly slide down her back as Tugger dropped his jaw. She let go of Teazer who looked very confused and happy at the same time. "He said I have some kind of superpower now and he kind of gave me the permission to misuse it" she said as she took Teazers paw and led her towards her own den. "Bye Tugger, sweet dreams" she couldn't help but wink at him.
As they came out of sight from Tugger Victoria started laughing and it got even more fun when she saw Teazers confused face.
"Misto explained what you did earlier" she said when she had caught her breath again.
"How would Misto know about that?" said Teazer still looking like she missed quite some information.
"He told me that Tugger is hooked on the fantasy of two queens together and now I understand why you think it's so funny to tease him all the time, did you see his face?" Victoria laughed out loud again.
"Haha now I get it!" said Teazer. "Oh are we gonna have some fun with this together!" They supported each other as they laughed their way back to Victorias den, stopping for air every now and then.