Warnings: Violence and slash.
13 Blood and Love
Mungojerrie dragged Rumpleteazer by a suffocating grip on her upper arm and she was miserable, but she kept quiet. She wanted so badly for Cassandra to reappear, but the Junkyard was huge and Cassandra was probably just basking in the sun with Etcetera.
Though apparently, Etcetera wasn't the happiest Jellicle in the world at the moment. The thought made Rumpleteazer smile ever so slightly.
"Hello, Mungojerrie!" Rumpleteazer hadn't noticed at all, but all of a sudden, Tantomile was there. Blearily, Rumpleteazer raised her eyes to the other queen, but Tantomile was looking straight at Mungojerrie and was, of course, acting as if Rumpleteazer didn't exist.
"Tantomile," Mungojerrie nodded.
"Want to help me rip Coricopat's throat out?" Tantomile invited.
"What did he do this time?" Mungojerrie sighed.
Rumpleteazer shuddered slightly. She hated being dragged around like this, a toy for when Mungojerrie needed to vent out his anger. He only had respectable (okay, not quite respectable) conversations with Tantomile because he needed her powers to have any power of his own.
"He's still sneaking around," Tantomile said furiously. "But he can't hide from me."
"Let's go see what we can do about the wretch, then," Mungojerrie purred.
Rumpleteazer shuddered again. Poor her. Poor Coricopat. They were both victims, more so than most of the other Jellicles.
When they found Coricopat, it was more than obvious what his crime was. The area he was standing in stank of another cat. A queen. Jemima.
"I thought you didn't like her?" Tantomile cooed at Coricopat's back.
"What are you doing here?" His tone was resigned, like he'd been expecting her to eventually turn up.
"Mungojerrie and I are here to remind you that I told you how stupid it was to be interested in her." Of course, Rumpleteazer was forgotten again. As Tantomile spoke, Rumpleteazer was thrust aside and she slid to the ground and didn't even think of moving.
"Yeah, yeah I know," Coricopat said roughly, meeting Tantomile's eyes. "Right as usual, Tantomile. Now leave me be."
"We're also here to remind you that you said you'd devote your every thought, your whole being to us not so long ago," Tantomile said cruelly. "And now we find you already moving astray… my, my."
Coricopat's entire body was tense. Mungojerrie was on the verge of taking him down and Tantomile was licking her lips viciously. Rumpleteazer could take no more.
"Why don't you just run?" Rumpleteazer screamed. "Bast, run!"
Mungojerrie's leg snapped back in a crudely aimed kick and Rumpleteazer felt a dizzying impact to her temple. She felt blood on her face and she coughed and she felt blood in her mouth. Blood, again. Its taste was so familiar. She felt herself sinking into that horrible taste.
Through her ringing ears, she could hear yelling. Groaning, high-pitched yelling. But nothing much mattered anymore.
"Well, this is all a big failure." Cassandra's tone was impatient. "I bet Etcetera's forgotten about her orders for us now that there's so much shit in her own life. We could just head back up into the sun, you know?"
Jemima stayed quiet. She knew she could just up and leave, but something about that action felt awful to her.
"Why so glum?" Cassandra cocked her head. "Aren't you excited?"
"Are you?" Jemima said softly.
"Well, not really. But there's nothing much exciting up with Etcy either. I thought you'd enjoy the drama, though."
"Nah." Jemima turned away. "It's all kinda pissing me off."
"What, so you want to stay down here?" Cassandra waggled her eyebrows. "Don't tell me you're serious."
Jemima didn't get the opportunity to reply. From the distance, there was a yell. "Oh, fuck," Cassandra said and abruptly, she was up and running.
"Cassandra, where-" Jemima cut herself off. From wherever Cassandra was running to, the sounds of pain were erupting and ringing clearly to her. There was no doubting that one of the voices, one of the voices filled with agony belonged to…
He saved me and I up and left him.
Jemima didn't give herself time to call herself an idiot. She knew that if she'd stopped and thought it out, she'd have denied her inner feelings and have let Coricopat suffer whatever horrible pain was being inflicted upon him. She certainly wouldn't have thrown herself into a situation where she could very well be hurt too. Yet, there she was, running towards him and his screaming.
She almost tripped over Cassandra when she finally arrived. Cassandra was on her knees, cradling another queen, whispering in her ear. But Jemima didn't pay too much attention to Cassandra.
There was some tom – a tom that wasn't overly huge and muscled but still carried an air of danger – lashing out at Coricopat, at Coricopat's beautiful, chiselled face. And Tantomile was standing back and laughing.
Fury bit Jemima in the heart like a wild animal. Again, she gave herself no time to think. She marched towards Tantomile and sent a fist cannoning into the other queen's face. Tantomile reeled back, obviously shocked and let Jemima pummel her for a few moments before she could make sense of the situation. Then Tantomile was lashing back and Jemima was screaming too as blood choked up from her throat and stained her soft fur. Jemima pulled out her polished claws and was glad she kept them sharp when she raked them deep into some part of Tantomile's face over and over. In truth, she couldn't see what she was doing anymore. There was blood in her eyes and she was having trouble blinking it away. So when a fist came from the side, she wasn't expecting it, and the breath was knocked out of her.
She fell back onto the ground and finally had the sense to rub the blood out of her eyes. Tantomile leaned over her, menace written all over her face. Jemima looked past her and saw Coricopat putting up a weak sort of fight.
"Why aren't you keeping him still, Tantomile?" Coricopat's torturer was snapping.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm occupied!" Tantomile said, her tone equally annoyed. It was the distraction Jemima had been hoping for. Jemima ripped her body up from the ground, ignoring the pain the shot through her, and slammed her head into Tantomile's. Tantomile let out a loud curse and fell back. Stars were shooting through Jemima's head. Tantomile was on the ground too, though, so that was good. Jemima let out a long breath and wrapped her arms around her head. It felt like it was trying to rip itself in two, as if the impact of Tantomile's own skull had been too much.
It was too much.
Now Jemima couldn't do much moving except for thrashing around – and the thrashing wasn't anything voluntary. She was vaguely aware that she was screaming and that Tantomile was lying very still a few feet away. She was vaguely aware that the Coricopat was suddenly on his feet, fighting back properly at last.
But she could only note it in the very back of her mind, the only part of her that wasn't screaming.
It took Coricopat a while to realize that Tantomile's iron bonds on his mind had quite suddenly loosened considerably. He wasn't fully aware what was happening around him, but Tantomile had been distracted and this was his chance. He only knew two things: pain and the need to keep himself alive. He lashed out and heard Mungojerrie cursing in shock. He heard Mungojerrie saying something and Tantomile answering in a flustered sort of voice.
And then the bonds fell away completely.
The first thing Coricopat registered was Mungojerrie with his back turned, so he flew forward, sending Mungojerrie to the ground. In the few seconds while he was falling with Mungojerrie, Coricopat saw a few other things: Tantomile unconscious on the ground and thrashing wildly next to her and clearly not in her right mind, Jemima.
She came back.
Coricopat pummelled Mungojerrie with all the fight he had left within him. He had Mungojerrie pinned to the ground and there wasn't much that the other cat could do. Coricopat made sure that Mungojerrie was out cold before he finally stood up.
If Jemima wasn't crying out in pain before his very eyes, it would've been very amusing how easy it was to turn it all around so Mungojerrie and Tantomile were the victims for once. He knelt down beside her and took her into his arms.
"Hey," Coricopat said. "I thought I was going to have to go back to trying to hate you, but maybe you've changed my mind."
Jemima was looking straight at him but not seeing him. Shadows lurked behind her eyes. She let out a soft moan. "Hey, Jemima. Look at me when I talk, okay?"
She wasn't physically capable of doing so. Coricopat lowered his lips to hers briefly and then looked at her again. She let out a whimper and shuddered, her eyes still unfocused. Coricopat laughed bitterly. "I suppose in real life, it can't be fixed with a kiss."
He looked around. Rumpleteazer had disappeared. Tantomile was still out cold. And Mungojerrie… where was Mungojerrie?
That was the last thought that went through Coricopat's head before he felt an impact to the back of his head.
Cassandra dragged Rumpleteazer away from the fighting. She heard new screams joining the cacophony going on behind her – Jemima? Jemima was there, now. But Cassandra couldn't afford to turn and check if her friend was okay. Rumpleteazer needed her now. Jemima would have to take care of herself.
When Cassandra thought that they'd put enough distance between themselves and the fight, she slumped back against something solid and pulled Rumpleteazer's lolling head into her lap.
"Hey, darling. Hey, Teaze."
Rumpleteazer's eyelashes were flickering. Awful bruising discoloured the patches on her face where fur had been torn away. Rumpleteazer's swollen and bloody lips twitched, but she seemed unable to make out words.
"Hey, sugar. Hey, honey." It seemed all that Cassandra could do was spout ridiculous pet names. "I'm here now, alright? And I'm sorry for leaving."
Rumpleteazer nodded very slightly. She felt at least a little safer now.
Tumblebrutus was in bed again. He'd spent nearly all night outside with Pouncival, just like the old days. His head was clearer than it had been in a long time. He couldn't find his nip, but he knew he would remember where he'd put it eventually, so he was trying to sleep again. There was some sort of commotion going on someplace close, but he just stuffed his head into his scrappy pillow and ignored it.
Pouncival had gone off somewhere. Tumblebrutus smiled sadly to himself. "Pouncival," he said aloud. The name was delicious. "Pouncival," he said again, delighting in the way it rolled off his tongue with such ease. He remembered the feel of Pouncival's hand snaking around his own when he'd thought that Pouncival really didn't care. But maybe Pouncival still did have a little bit of care in him after all. It gave Tumblebrutus a little hope, a little sunshine. He felt alive. He didn't need nip, not at the moment. He needed Pouncival's hand, that was all.
If Pouncival was willing to give it again. Had this been a one time thing?
"Pouncival," Tumblebrutus said again, a little sadder now.
"Would you stop saying 'Pouncival', goddammit?" came a low growl from somewhere in the room.
"Oops," Tumblebrutus said. He'd forgotten that Admetus was trying to nap.
"No, it's fine." Tumblebrutus heard Admetus shuffling around and yawning. "I'll get up and you can say Pouncival's name as much as you like. I need to check out what Plato's up to. He hasn't slept here for a while. I kinda miss him." Admetus ruffled Tumblebrutus' fur as he passed, chuckling to himself.
"Have fun," Tumblebrutus said happily, though not adding in the giggle that was a habit to him. He knew Pouncival didn't like the giggle. Tumblebrutus' head was so very clear.
He was just about to fall asleep again when he heard the pitter-patter of footsteps approaching his bed.
"I buried your nip."
Tumblebrutus was so happy to hear Pouncival's voice that at first, he didn't completely register what Pouncival had said.
"Hi, Pounce," Tumblebrutus said, sitting up and giving a huge smile.
Pouncival nodded back, smirking slightly. Bast, what a beautiful face… "I buried your nip," Pouncival repeated.
"Wait, what?" Tumblebrutus was immediately on his feet, shaking off any sleep that had come to him while he'd been lying in bed day-dreaming of Pouncival. "Y-you didn't!"
"Yeah, I did."
Tumblebrutus' eyes widened in panic and he tried to push past Pouncival, but the other tom grabbed on to his wrist, preventing him from leaving. "No, Pounce! You don't get it!" Tumblebrutus hissed. Pouncival just smirked. All Tumblebrutus could think was that suddenly, Pouncival was an enemy, Pouncival was evil. Tumblebrutus twisted out of Pouncival's grip and threw him back.
"My nip, where is it?" Tumblebrutus yelled.
Pouncival was falling backwards. Pouncival's mouth was parted, breath was rushing through his lips and air was rushing past him. His eyes were on Tumblebrutus when his head hit the ground. He winced before his eyes closed.
The nip was immediately forgotten. Tumblebrutus was on his knees, lifting Pouncival upright so that he could lean against the bed. "Pouncival!" Tumblebrutus said frantically, the name still wonderful on his tongue. Pouncival opened his eyes and stared at Tumblebrutus in a disorientated way.
"Hey, Tumble," he said, words slurred. Tumblebrutus fixed his eyes on Pouncival's moving lips. "You have really nice eyes when they're all clear. When there's no… no… no nip…" His brow furrowed. "I didn't really… notice before… you know?" He laughed and even though it was a strange sound ripped from his throat, Tumblebrutus still loved the sound of it 'cause he hadn't heard Pouncival laugh in a while.
"You have nice eyes too," Tumblebrutus said in a rush. "When they're not full of cold anger, but they're usually cold, especially to me these days… but I've always known that you have nice eyes."
"Thank you," Pouncival smiled. Tumblebrutus hoped that Pouncival wouldn't be angry when he was in his right mind again.
"You have a smile too," Tumblebrutus continued. "I missed it."
"Yeah, I like your smile when it's not full of nip," Pouncival said. He wasn't really making too much sense to Tumblebrutus. "Your breath smells pretty good now. How long since you've had nip?"
"A while," Tumblebrutus said bitterly, because he knew he wasn't getting anymore anytime soon.
"Yeah, I thought so. Your smile is nice. And your teeth don't look so stained. You know that time you kissed me?"
Tumblebrutus felt himself going cold. "Yeah," he managed to whisper.
"Well, that was kinda gross if you get me. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, it's just that you tasted like nip and I'm not really into nip, sorry about that, you must have been pretty upset, but it's not you, I swear!" Pouncival was blathering on and on, but Tumblebrutus listened intently, all the while his happiness returning.
"So now that I don't taste like nip?" he said tentatively.
Pouncival smiled brightly. And then Tumblebrutus was being knocked back because Pouncival was pushing forward and bowling him over. Pouncival had Tumblebrutus trapped against the opposite wall and was smiling very strangely. Tumblebrutus' breath quickened. "Uh, Pouncival?" he said.
"I like the way you say my name," Pouncival whispered. And then Tumblebrutus was being pulled into a rough sort of a kiss, Pouncival's arms snaking around his back. He was stunned and for a moment he couldn't kiss back because this was Pouncival. Pouncival was not gay. But then he realized that this was the tom he'd loved all these years and that he had to take his chance. He placed his hand on the back on Pouncival's head and pulled him closer. Pouncival was practically in Tumblebrutus' lap and they were pressed together so close and Tumblebrutus' heart was thrilling because he'd never experienced anything quite like this before. He'd kissed queens before and they had been beautiful, but they had been nothing like this.
Finally, Tumblebrutus had to pull away for some air. He gasped heavily for breath.
"What are you doing?" Pouncival hissed. "I thought you wanted this."
"I need to breathe," Tumblebrutus said, amused. "And besides, I thought you didn't want this."
"I must've changed my mind," Pouncival said offhandedly. Then he was trying to kiss Tumblebrutus again, but Tumblebrutus had to make sure that wasn't just a kiss that was born from a bump on the head.
"Pounce, Pounce," he said. "Are you sure you're not going to regret this?"
"Why would I regret this?" Pouncival said somewhat lustily. Tumblebrutus' breath caught.
"A few days ago you hated it when I kissed you… and now… you've hit your head, Pounce, maybe you don't really want this." Tears were springing to Tumblebrutus' eyes.
"You tasted like nip, it was disgusting, like I said," Pouncival snapped. "And do you even want this? You're acting like you don't. I changed my mind somewhere in the middle of the night while I was holding your hand when I saw the way you looked in the moonlight. Don't you get it?" And now Pouncival was starting to pull away, his eyes full of hurt that Tumblebrutus had experienced so many times before.
Tumblebrutus wasn't about to let this chance slip away, even if it was just Pouncival after a hit to the head. He pulled Pouncival back down and they were completely crushed together. Both of them were breathing heavily.
"I'm not about to let you go after waiting so long," Tumblebrutus whispered.
And then they were, somehow, kissing again.
A/N: Hi, guys. It's been a while, but I finally decided to update. So, PounceBrutus (lol) seems to have made some progress, as has... uh... JemiPat (ohdear). I really do hope it's not too confusing. :/