Beijing

by Pierrre

Moscow 1952 . Quaxo Jones is a wealthy young man at the age of 20 living a lonely life in London while his little sister Victoria studies to be a professional ballerina in Vladivostok (Russia), but Quaxo chose to live a dull sheltered life. Tugger Page is a young musician traveling the world with his band. What happens when they fall in love in a train while only having 6 days.

Disclaimer:

I have done my research on the certain railway, but I'm not an expert and some things might have changed due to my lack of knowledge or for plot convenience. The fanfiction takes place in 1950 so many things have changed but I've tried my best to make everything as accurate as possible including the characters' personalities and relationships.

Also everyone is human here, due to the characters having strange names i've given most of them human names, but only canon names will be used, the jellicle names are used mostly as nicknames.

I will try to post once every 1 or 2 weeks, it really depends on the world's reaction to this.

Lastly I do not own any of the characters but I do own the plot of the fanfic.

Comments, criticism, feedback, kudos and of course questions are more than welcome.

But i feel obligated to clarify who is who in case anyone reads this, also i want to explain why i choose each name….

Edmund Page, is Munkustrap, Munkustrap is his nickname. Page is the surname of Ken Page who plays Old Deuteronomy in the 1998 filmed version. Edmund is an English and German name, it means protector of wealth, I found it pretty cool cause it has 'mun' and it means protector.

Dawsey 'Tugger' Page is Rum Tum Tugger, Tugger is the middle name he gave himself; he wanted to come up with his own name, something unique only for him to use. Page is the surname of Ken Page. Dawsey means sweet, rum the drink is pretty sweet and it also means sweet as well so Dawsey kind of replaces 'Rum'.

Demeter will keep her name, i don't have a surname for her and i don't think i'll need one so yeah just Demeter

Bombalurina will be named Tana, it means light or fire or something like that. I used that name because of 'bomb' and she's also a fiery red cat so I wanted something fire related, it's also Greek like Demeter. But Bombalurina will be her used nickname!

Alonzo will be used for Alonzo simple as that

Mungojerrie's human name is Mungo Jerry he has two names so he just uses both!

Jo will be Teazer's name, pretty much the actor's name from the 1998 filmed version of the musical. Her surname won't be used and Rumpleteazer is her nickname and stage name.

Quaxo Jones, is the name I'll use for Misto. Quaxo is weird for a human BUT many rich or fancy families have unique traits to their names so i'll just say that since Jones is a common surname the Jones family wants to give their first born son a name that stands out.

Victoria Jones will be Victoria's name.

Plato for Plato

CHAPTER OLD

Quaxo got out of the train and looked around him heaving a long sigh, finally being out of the train felt so strange. He then turn to look at his sister who was leaning against her fiance, Plato and Victoria were one happy couple, Quaxo couldn't have been prouder for the two and he really liked Plato he was one of the few people he considered a friend, they met in ballet class, being two of the few males in the classroom they started getting along. After some time Victoria and Plato became dance partners and later on life partners, it was nice to have someone Quaxo not only approved of but also liked.

"How about we get something to eat?We'll only be in Moscow for some hours!"suggested Victoria as she gently moved out of her fiance's grip and walked a few meters ahead to meet her brother "You'll come too right!?"she asked him smiling, only to receive a shrug from her brother. "I-I don't know Vicky, i mean it sounds lovely but I suggest we stay in the station, it's only 3 or 4 hours till we board the next train!"he said mumbling nervously before smirking a little as if he had just thought of something "Plus don't forget i just finished reading murder on orient express-"he said still smirking which caused his sister to giggle. "So you're actually doing it-!?"she asked with a hint of surprise in her voice. Quaxo replied with a nod.

Plato slowly walked over to the duo "You're not killing anyone are you Quaxo-?"he asked jokingly. "No no of course not-!"replied Quaxo quickly, not wanting to draw any attention, "What do you plan to do -?"asked his brother-in-law and Quaxo just took his luggage "I'd rather stay in the station, I'll see you too in the next train!"said Quaxo who placed his hand in his pocket and messed with his new train ticket, he was going to board the trans-siberian railway, one of the longest train routes in the world, he couldn't help but feel intimidated they were traveling all across Russia, from Moscow to fact that his sister and his friend were dating only made things better, he did feel like a third-wheel sure but it gave him so much free time to go through his Agatha Christie phase again, he was going to read 'And then there were none' now and felt so excited despite knowing the plot already… After buying something quick to eat, a simple sandwich, he was a picky eater but during the first hours in a train he felt motion sickness, it also happened when the train started moving again after a stop but if he got used to standing on nonmoving ground the motion sickness was much worse.

He opened his phone as he ate and waited for the train, he wondered where Plato and Vicky had run off to, maybe he should have gone with them, now he admittedly felt pretty lonely and he didn't want to start his book so soon or else he'd finish it in no time. Time went by, Quaxo was listening to music or watching episodes of 'Mr Robot' from his phone patiently waiting for the train and his family, he wanted to change his outfit so badly but he realized that public restrooms in a large station in Moscow wasn't really his thing, he'd just change on the train. The 3 friends were traveling first class and Quaxo being the antisocial quiet guy that he booked a wagon just for himself, in first class a wagon is shared between two people and the couple had booked a wagon of their own right next to Quaxo's. He'd change his outfit once he entered the train, he had promised himself that he would get over every issue he had and just dress up in a 1930s style, just like the clothes in Christie's books.

To be honest Quaxo himself wasn't that proud but he just loved fashion and he loved 30s fashion aesthetic, everyone was so casually formal and he did have a thing for formal wear, vests, suits, bowties, tuxedos, these were clothes he wish he'd wore normally, so what better chance than dress up weirdly in a huge train full of strangers that will never see him again. He kept picturing himself wearing those elegant vintage clothes, being unable to resist he opened his luggage and took out one of the 30s hats he had with him, the only one actually. It was a black fedora, he felt so strange wearing it but he loved the vibes it gave off. That's when he noticed some people staring at him for a couple of seconds before quickly averting their gazes to avoid an awkward moment, only one man with hazel green eyes kept staring at

Quaxo, as a response the black-haired male eye rolled and opened his mouth to walk up and ask the other if there was something wrong, until another man next to the hazel eyed man nudged him and took his hand forcing the hazel eyed man to avert his gaze and move away. Most people would have felt bad or awkward after this but Quaxo didn't care that much, if anything he was pissed at how rude and boring some people could be, it's not like fedoras were out of fashion anyway- But to be honest Quaxo being the rich fancy guy he is he had bought the oldest fedora he could find.

He now wondered if he was going to see more like that on his journey, but his train of thoughts got interrupted by a female voice "Quaxo!"yelled Victoria who was waving at him motioning him to approach her and Plato. "First class boards the train at a different spot!And we enter earlier to avoid the commotion!" she said as soon as her brother was closer, one hand holding tightly on his suitcase, the backpack in his back and his other hand holding the fedora in place. "You have a face for hats you know-" mumbled Plato smiling at the shorter male "Thanks!"said Quaxo now smiling back at the other.

The three of them were soon on the train, Quaxo had kupe 7 while the couple had number 8, it was nice to be next to them. As soon as they had all settled in, Victoria and Plato had unpacked some of their things in their room since it was going to be a long ride and the first class did provide many storage spaces. But Quaxo didn't want to leave his things in small empty spaces, he didn't know how clean they'd be and most importantly he was afraid that he'd forget where he had placed them, instead he took advantage of the spare empty sofa-bed in his room and placed his luggage there.

Wagons in first class were really fancy, they had two sofas that convert into beds, a small table way too many space to store things, each bed had two pillows and blankets, they were all really clean, it had a TV and the beds were fairly large which made sleeping extremely comfortable, it wouldn't be enough space for 2 people to sleep comfortably in one bed but still it was far better than the beds in the other classes. Second class passengers had a wagon with 4 beds and shared with 4 people, they were much smaller and of course no TV and a much smaller table and less storage space, still it was much more financial so it wasn't that bad. Third class passengers though… they didn't have wagons, no doors, no storage space, no curtains and obviously no tables. They were just many bunk beds in a large long wagon at the end of the train.

Then there

CHAPTER 1

pCHAPTER 1/p

pMoscow, 20-11-1952/p

pQuaxo Jones held tightly on his suitcase as he checked his pocket watch anxiously. "Quaxo, you should maybe try and relax!" advised his sister Victoria who was leaning gently against her fiance, Plato, as she gave him a smile. "I-I know, I'm just worried I've never been in Russia before so I'm not sure if trains will work the same here-"he said running a hand through his black hair now that his watch was placed safely back in his vest's pocket./p

pThe three were taking the Trans-Siberean railway, from Moscow to Vladivostok, they were attending a ballet show Victoria's friend was hosting. Victoria and Plato were engaged living happily in Vladivostok, they went there when a scholarship at a dance academy was offered to Quaxo and Victoria, but the older brother didn't go, he was too short he knew that he'd never be able to become a professional ballet dancer so why take the spot from someone who stood a better chance at succeeding, so he stayed in their house in London as Victoria and her boyfriend left. That happened 2 years ago, when Quaxo and Victoria were done with high school, ever since they two siblings lived apart but they were still close. Victoria followed her dreams with her friends and now fiance, as Quaxo lived a lonely safe life back in London, he worked as a ballet instructor for younger kids but the Jones were a wealthy family he wasn't really in need of a job. Honestly he regretted not having taken up on that offer, he wouldn't be as lonely. Now they went all the way to London to pick him up and were traveling by train back to Vladivostokbr /

"Do you have any new magic tricks to show us?"asked Plato smiling, trying to ease up his friend and soon brother-in-law. Qaxo was always interested in card tricks and in those 4 years he practiced a lot, he also read many books trying to educate himself. The short black-haired male nodded a small smile appearing on his face "OHH Quaxo you should show us once were on the train!"said Victoria excitedly, maybe a little too loud as well, she always loved her brother's tricks and it's been two years since she last visited London so she hadn't seen his tricks in a long time, Quaxo hadn't really visited her before either. Quaxo nodded as a simple reply to his sister's excitement and opened his mouth to reply, but the train whistle interrupted him, the loud steam train was entering the station and an announcement in Russian was heard all over the /

Victoria turned to her brother "First class passengers board first!We should move to the front of the platform to enter the train and find our Kupes!"she said loudly trying to be heard. Plato removed his arm from Victoria's waist and picked up their two small luggages "Need help with yours?"he offered to Quaxo raising an eyebrow at him but Quaxo shook his head. He didn't like people helping him too much, plus he was a little too careful when it came to his clothes, he loved fashion. /p

pThe three of them moved to the front of the platform and after a couple of minutes the train was there and the doors were open for the first class passengers to join. Luxurious, this was the word to perfectly describe the first class kupes, two fairly large beds in each one a nice table with a tablecloth neatly placed on it along with a lamp. Laced curtains were tied on each side of the clean window, many storage places under and on top of the beds, pillows blankets and the beds converted into sofas. Quaxo had a kupe of his own located next to Vicky's and Plato's and as soon as they entered Quaxo gently placed his watch on the table and changed clothes, he hadn't changed his outfit since he left from London which was around 2 days ago with the constant changing of timezone he had lost the exact track of time. Now wearing black dress pants with a thin white-stripe pattern, a white shirt and black suspenders with sequin he walked out of his kupe holding tightly on his book, he was now about to read War and Peace, a Russian classical piece of literature what was more suited for a trip across Russia! Look at Vicky's and Plato's door he was about to knock on it, soon though he decided against it, they had been together for the past days he didn't want to disturb the couple. So instead he made his way to explore the train, after the first class kupes there were some small seats around round tables located at the sides of the train, it was probably where the first class passengers could eat the provided /

There were menus placed on each table but they were blank. Then he moved on to the middle part of the train where there were more kupes but not first class, they were probably second class but Quaxo wasn't sure, the hallway there was a little bit wider meaning that the cabins were smaller than the one he had. Then a large common area with many seats next to each other, the tables were less and even dirtier, this must be a place for everyone to hang out- at least that's what Quaxo thought. He had almost reached the end of the train, there was one last door separating the large three-wagon living room-like place from where the third class travelers would be staying, but he wasn't interested in seeing that, there were probably just many berths (berths are train beds). Still observing the door that stood between the dirty empty living room-like place and the massive amount of beds for the other probably poorer travelers he heard the train whistle and some Russian. Then the doors opened and people flooded inside from both doors, pushing Quaxo around to reach their kupes or serve a seat for them and their friends at one of the few seats with tables. Quaxo was trapped in a wagon mostly filled with Russian passengers away from his sister and his kupe, he cursed himself under his breath as he took an empty seat, he'd wait for the commotion to stop before finding someone that worked here./p

p-/p

pTugger, his older brother and their two friends and coworkers Jerry -or actually Mungo-Jerrie and his twin sister- were at the station, letting Teazer or Jerrie do most of the talking since the two were almost fluent when it came to speaking Russian, when these two worked together nothing could stop them. "So here are our tickets-!"said Teazer excitedly as she placed her own ticket in her bomber jacket, a weird fashion choice for a woman in the 1950s but she didn't care, she of course wore a nice long dark blue skirt but her brother's shirt and a bomber jacket on /

Tugger smirked, snatching his own ticket from Jerrie who was trying to read one of the signs from afar, it was in Russian and speaking was much easier than reading or even worse writing in Russian. "We can just ask someone where to go in English-"suggested Munkustrap with an eye roll "Nah nah Munk~!Let them do their thing~"purred Tugger as he ruffled his brother's hair. "Can you at least not use my nickname in public?"asked the older brother and Tugger just shrugged "I could but i don't want to!PLUS there's nothing wrong with Munkustrap!"said Tugger. "And even if there were something wrong most people don't speak English!"added Teazer quickly grinning playfully at Munkustrap who just heaved a sigh,

Tugger's dream was finally coming true, after years of trying to form a band and rehearsals they were actually traveling the world to play their songs, they were still a pretty small having just returned from their trip all around France, it was beautiful there they spend 1 month booking small concerts and playing music on the streets. They had tons of fun and they were worth it of course, making a band wasn't that easy or writing songs, it took Teazer 3 or 4 years to actually learn drums, Alonzo knew how to play the bass sure but he didn't have it anymore so they were all saving money to get a new one, not many people spoke English so having Munk book all the concerts and locations or even their hotel rooms was even harder. They had a really small budget too, which only made things worst, but as long as they still had money to travel around Tugger was happy, that's all he wanted, his best friends and brother exploring new places playing music. He was living the dream, or at least his dream.

-br /

"Tugger!Tugger!"yelled Munkustrap in a worried tone causing his brother to blink a few times "What!?"he asked , earning a sigh from his brother "We were saying that we need to hurry the train will leave in like 5 minutes!"said Teazer as her brother moved his hand easily taking a pocket watch out of a tall man's pocket "Actually we have 1 hour!" he said grinning "Jerrie the clock is an hour late!"said his sister taking it away and trying to readjust the time as Munkustrap was simply glaring at the two "I thought we agreed on NO stealing!We don't want any trouble especially in a foreign country!" scolded the two as he started making his way to the platform carrying his and Tugger's luggages as Tugger picked up a guitar and a base and followed his brother "WAIT UP!" yelled the twins in union as they picked up their bags dropping the watch as Jerrie also carried a heavier /

Soon they found themselves on an almost empty platform for the trans-siberian now rushing inside the train. Easily they located where the third class passengers such as themselves would be staying and heaved an annoyed sigh, there weren't many berths left, Jerrie and Teazer of course took two across from each other. Munkustrap took one at the back end of the train and Tugger was almost at the other end of the wagon right next to exit, this ought to be a fun ride. Munkustrap had an empty storage space under his berth where they kept the two instruments as each of them was responsible for one of the bags, taking turns to watch the heavier bag which contained their /

"I'm gonna go look around the train k-?" announced Tugger, looking over at the twins and tossing them his suitcase, right after he had taken off his sweater now wearing only a white t-shirt and his slightly oversized leather jacket and putting it on. "Sure thing!" said Teazer grinning widely at her friend "Have fun!"yelled Jerrie with a wink causing Tugger to chuckle "Oh i will~"he purred as he opened the door and moved to the next wagon which was a fairly crowded living room-like one, almost every seat was taken and Russian could be heard all around as many friend groups talked laughed or played card games. How badly he wanted to go hit on one of the fancy first class girls and get himself a free warm meal but he knew that wasn't possible… Heaving a sigh he started walking across the three wagons for the second and third class passengers, that's when he noticed an interesting conversation. /p

p-/p

p"I'm telling you!My name is Quaxo Jones, you can check the list, my name is on the list of the first class passengers, I paid for the ticket my sister and her fiance are on this train toο, you can ask them! Please, I just left my ticket in my kupe!" begged Quaxo trying to tone down his heavy British accent as he looked at a ticket inspector that worked on the train and blocked the door that separated the first class from the rest of the passengers. "No ticket, no going inside - now go or I kick you out!" said the man in a heavy Russian /

Quaxo opened his mouth to protest but Tugger wrapped his arm around him and mumbled something in Russian to the man as he took Quaxo to sit next to him at some seats. Heaving a sigh Quaxo did not protest, he just took the seat by the window and held tightly on his book "So you're British!?"asked Tugger, smiling finally seeing someone that spoke English. "Yes-"said Quaxo returning the smile but in a more bitter way, he was so annoyed at himself for not bringing his ticket with him. "FINALLY!I haven't seen someone from Britain let alone England! Anyway to more important matters, i want to sneak in the first class wagons too! So ma-" started Tugger but the short black-haired male interrupted him" W-What no no I'm not sneaking in I'm trying to return to my sister and my friend and my kupe!"he said and Tugger chuckled "No don't bother to talk if you're not going to believe me!" said Quaxo causing the other to blink and look surprised, no one had talked to Tugger like that before other than his /

Soon the train started moving and Quaxo opened his book and started reading, ignoring the blond tall man next to him."Sorry for not believing you" said Tugger, smiling a little only to get a cold nod from the other, if he was indeed rich Tugger could hit on him, get a nice meal or even a better bed. "I'm Tugger, other than handsome you are ~... " he purred, wanting for the other to say his name, he expected the other to blush or do something, guys hitting on each other wasn't that common. "Not interested -" said Quaxo coldly earning a huff out of Tugger. /p

pThen Tugger's large hazel eyes landed on Quaxo's rings "Nice rings ~" he complimented him again and leaned closer to /

Smirking a little Quaxo closed his book "You mean these -?" he asked and with a wave of his hand the two rings disappeared leaving Tugger in awe and surprise. "H-How-!?" he asked as Quaxo pointed to Tugger's jacket. The blond guy looked at the leather jacket he was wearing "Check the pocket" instructed Quaxo and with a snap of his fingers one of the two rings appeared in his hand as Tugger took out the other "YOU'RE FUCKING MARVELOUS!" yelled Tugger loudly causing almost everyone to turn and look at the two for a couple of seconds before going back to minding their own business. At that Quaxo just chuckled nervously not knowing how to reply "Do another trick!" said Tugger happily trying to help the other ease up a little. "I don't have anything i can use other than my rings -" mumbled Quaxo /

Immediately Tugger stood up and walked over to a group of girls playing cards. After 10 or 15 minutes Tugger had spent with the girls he returned with a deck of cards "Use this!" he said happily earning a soft chuckle from the short magician. Hoping to bore Tugger Quaxo did a really simple trick but he earned a gasp from Tugger and demanded to see more, as time went by Quaxo gained more confidence and the tricks got even more impressive and complicated, soon almost everyone around was looking at Quaxo with excitement giving him objects or making Russian comments. "You're magical!" exclaimed Tugger looking at the other with amazement all over his face "I-I, thanks, my name is Quaxo Jones, it's a pleasure to meet you eh Tugger?" said Quaxo smiling at the other who simply nodded being too busy watching Quaxo shuffle the deck. /p

pQuaxo looked at the crowd around him, he had even been too busy and focused that he didn't notice his right suspender falling off his shoulder until Tugger placed it back on him properly. Quaxo loved this feeling, Tugger cheering for him in English, his constant praises were like music to his ears but the type of music that only he could understand, the fact that no one else spoke English made Quaxo able to feel closer to Tugger than with anyone else on this /

As Quaxo continued his 'magic show' Munkustrap entered the wagon looking for his brother and he eye rolled as soon as he noticed the large crowd, his brother was doing his things again. Groaning under his breath he walked over, but he heard his brother yelling praises at someone else, now even more interested he tried to see who was the center of attention but he was only able to see his brother sitting next to a young boy with black hair and bright blue eyes, he barely looked like an adult. Deciding that his brother was up to some crap again, maybe even hitting on the poor child, Munkustrap eye rolled once again before leaving, seeing as there was no easy way to talk to his brother. /p

pIt seemed like hours when Quaxo noticed that he was hungry, glancing at the door that kept him apart from his fancy kupe and his sister he heaved a sigh and tried to ignore the occasional growls his stomach would make. But Tugger was quick to notice he opened his mouth "Hey hey the show's over!"he said smiling at the crowd that had gathered, he then said the word 'end' in Russian trying to send a more clear message, he also waved his hands around motioning for the people surrounding them to spread. Then he looked over at the other "You're really in first class aren't you?"he asked, looking at Quaxo with a soft expression on his face only to get a nod from the other as a response soon followed by a sigh. "Look it's not much!BUT you can use my bed i can give you some food!" offered Tugger grinning at the other and before Quaxo could protest Tugger eye rolled "No strings attached you don't have to pay me, you don't have to do anything just show me a couple more tricks once you're feeling better k-?"asked Tugger his grin somehow even wider now. "F-Fine, thanks"he said standing up but he soon heard his sister's voice "QUAXO!"she yelled running to hug him, Plato followed close behind her as he talked to the man that was blocking the door explaining the situation. /p

pBoth Tugger and Quaxo were taken by surprise, talking to each other had been so natural Quaxo had even forgotten he didn't belong here before Tugger mentioned it. The two siblings hugged each other, they were surprisingly alike despite the different hair color, same height, eyes almost the same features and both of them extremely pretty. The tall blond guy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck which Quaxo noticed and pulled away from the hug with his sister "Eh Vicky this is, a-a friend of mine his name is Tugger and he was a great company to me while i was here!"he said now turning to Tugger "This is my sister Victoria"he introduced his sister and Tugger smirked widely gently kissing Victoria's hand "Oh it's such a pleasure to meet you~"he purred, Quaxo simply eye rolled and Plato now glaring daggers at him as he pulled Victoria closely protectively wrapping his arms around her "Well thanks for making sure Quaxo was alright we should get going-"said Plato a little coldly, he wasn't one to talk that much but he knew that Victoria felt a little weird with the kiss thing. The girl nodded before taking her brother's hand a faint blush on her cheeks "Yes thank you!"she agreed as the three of them walked away./p

pOf course Quaxo ate once he was back where he 'belonged', with the richer people who appreciated a nice comfortable way of traveling. He didn't mention anything about his endless magic show though, he didn't feel right somehow, he felt right at the moment but it wasn't something a young gentleman like him should do, it'd be a lie to say that the memory didn't bring a smirk to his face though. The comfort of being the center of attention not for your name but your skills and for who you actually are, it felt nice, plus talking to so many strangers from all around Russia!And Tugger, he made everything better, he honestly hoped to see him again once they got off the train maybe try to stay in touch?He had no reason to like him as weird as it sounded; he felt like he could really communicate with Tugger, but he had met many people in his life that fascinated him yet nothing happened so he didn't get too excited about it./p

pTugger was amazed, he had felt awkward around Plato and Victoria but around Quaxo life had more color to it, from his eye roll to his magic tricks he was so peculiar and new to Tugger and he couldn't help but feel overly excited about it, he wanted to see more magic and talk more get to know him. A need he had never felt before, he had his friends but i mean seeing them and getting to know them had always been easy he didn't have to pursue it to go after it no, they were in the same school friend groups, bands… When he returned to his friends and brother he kept talking about how he had just met an actual wizard but none of his friends believed him. He laid on his bed, it was afternoon, he just had to plan a way to talk to Quaxo again. I mean he thought of waiting, that was what always happened, others approached him, but he could tell that Quaxo wasn't the type to be so vulnerable and actually look for someone other than people that were really close to him already./p

pThe two guys spend their nights thinking of ways to see each other again, Quaxo planning how he could accidentally end up out of the first class wagons and Tugger thinking of ways to enter them. A door and a Russian man with poor knowledge of the english language stood between them.

CHAPTER 2

It was morning, the second day on the trans-siberian railways starting, Quaxo woke up really early he watched the sun rise as he drunk a cup of tea and tried his best to focus on his book, he couldn't though, he was a little too focused on the guy he had met the other day. Which only made him even more distracted, he didn't like feeling so attached to a stranger, let alone a male one he hardly knew. The hardest part was ignoring these thoughts at the back of his head that implied romantic attraction to the other, he couldn't, he surely didn't find any female attractive, he didn't even like the curves of a female body, he loved watching female dancers practice and dance but he was only attracted to their dancing skills. The disturbing (and i say disturbing cause this takes place in 1950) thought of homosexuality terrified and was something that had been worrying him for a long time now, but after some time he decided to just not be attracted to anyone, he hadn't liked a male before either, but Tugger's presence was so soothing and natural to Quaxo. It didn't feel strange to sit close to him and have him praise his magic or even receive help from him, he wasn't one to accept help from strangers he liked to count on himself. After some minutes had passed around Tugger everything felt normal, despite his suspender that had fallen, despite Tugger sitting closely to him, despite his constant compliments, despite the funny smells of the crowd around them, despite him being in a foreign country. He was a little annoyed with how touchy and polite Tugger was to him in public but he was too focused on his tricks at the time to notice.

Anyway he wasn't sure so ignoring these thoughts was the best option at the time, plus he'd never see Tugger again and it wasn't something he wanted to attempt, no the fear or failing scared him too much. And if he saw Tugger again, if they spent more time together maybe Quaxo would have to admit that he was ill, i mean two people of the same gender liking each other is an illness at least that's what everyone thought at the time.

He emptied his head ignoring his book as he glanced out of the window gently leaning against it, his tea cup was empty and he sat there for hours, it wasn't until 10 AM that Victoria knocked on his door "Quaxo, we're going to take our breakfast, are you coming?"she asked in a whisper-like tone but it still caused Quaxo to snap out of his thoughts "Y-yes i'll meet you there let me get dressed!"he said quickly before standing up and sloppily taking out his pajamas and putting on a black vest, a sparkly dark blue bowtie, his usual white shirt and black pants. Straightening his bowtie with one hand he opened his kupe door with the other, he now had his ticket with him of course despite liking the last day's experience he appreciated the comfort for his kupe.

It was easy to find the place where the first class passengers ate, it was a nice long luxurious wagon, Quaxo had passed by it the other day, as soon as he spotted his sister he rushed over to their table taking a seat across his sister and next to Plato. With some help from Plato and Victoria, who both knew Russian Quaxo picked his breakfast, he liked simple things so he just got a croissant and a hot cocoa, he sort of had a sweet tooth.

He listened to Victoria and Plato chat and made plans about their return to Vladivostok "We have so many things to show you Quaxo!I mean, it's not your type of city but London doesn't suit you that much either!And I'm sure you'll really like our house there!"said Victoria cheerfully "Also there is a local library that has an english section, it was the Russian classicals translated. You can maybe give professional dance a chance again-" said Plato smiling a little at his friends. They were pretty close and hung out a lot back in London. "Thank you but i don't think i'm suited for that, the library sounds nice though"he said trying to hide his boredom when it came to another library, a young lonely man in London with no attraction to girls nor a social life had read almost every book that was translated in english. Fancy parties and plays, libraries and the occasional visits from his uncle or calls from Plato and Victoria was Quaxo's life.

Soon his cocoa and his croissant came but he wasn't exactly hungry so he instead wrapped his hands around his warm cup and took a small sip, his tongue got burnt but the sweet flavor of the cocoa was well worth it, a smile spread across his features and placed it down. "I can't wait to see Vladivostok, your life there sounds lovely Vicky and Plato, I can't wait to see that library you're talking about!"he said, still smiling at the two, it wasn't like he minded libraries he just wanted something new.

"Hey angel how you've been~?"purred a familiar voice from behind Quaxo, the purr earned a soft chuckle from Victoria and a gasp from Plato as Quaxo turned around to meet Tugger's eyes. "Did you just not remember my name so you used angel?"asked Quaxo, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at the taller blond man. Tugger shrugged "Maybe!"he replied as he took the empty seat at Quaxo's side wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he snatched the croissant away from the plate in front of Quaxo. The shorter male chuckled and eye rolled "Yes you can have my breakfast thanks for asking -" he commented and Tugger nodded "I knew you wouldn't mind we have this connection it's like reading each other's thoughts, for example i could tell that you ordered it for me!"said Tugger as he gave the other a wink leaving Victoria and Plato in shock, but Quaxo replied with a cool shrug. "How exactly did you manage to sneak in here?"asked Victoria a curious but amused tone in her voice "Let's just say that the person blocking the door that separated me and Angel was a female this time-" explained Tugger pulling the hem of his T-shirt down to reveal a kiss mark from a woman wearing red lipstick. The reveal caused Victoria and Plato to blush slightly and Quaxo gently nudged Tugger "Jeez Angel don't be so strict-I'm just showing off my skills and my sexy cleavage~"muttered Tugger teasingly while eating Quaxo's croissant.

But Quaxo's happy moment got ruined when the ticket inspector came asking Tugger for his ticket, to be honest Tugger did stand out amongst the classy people in the dining wagon, Victoria's expensive lovely yellow dress with lace on the sleeves, Plato's cashmere cardigan on top of his linen shirt, they couldn't really match with Tugger's old oversized torn leather jacket and his stinky T-shirt. "So you won't ask these three for their tickets but you're going to ask me?Honestly i'm offended-"mumbled Tugger giving the inspector a playful pout, but the inspector didn't really speak english that well either "Ticket please-"said the inspector now knowing that Tugger was English "Oh i left it in my kupe you can ask my, my roommate Quaxo!"said Tugger nudging the guy next to him who just stared nervously at the inspector unable to lie, he was also taken by surprise when Tugger said his name, most people didn't get it right on the first try. "Ticket-"insisted the man now in a stricter tone "Fine fine, hey Angel meet me at where we sat yesterday alright?I'll be waiting!After noun though, I didn't get much sleep last night so I'll take a quick nap now!"yelled Tugger across the wagon with the croissant in his mouth as he left leaving a confused and pleasantly surprised Quaxo behind.

An awkward silence followed as Quaxo waited for Vicky or Plato to start talking so he shushed himself with the cup of cocoa, but he decided to speak up "C-Can you believe this guy?"he asked with an eye roll. "You seem rather fond of him actually-" commented Plato smiling, yesterday he hadn't really liked Tugger all that much but now seeing that he cheered Quaxo up and well Tugger had a natural charm. "Will you go!?"Victoria squealed excitedly only to receive a head shake from her brother. Normally neither Victoria or Plato would have tried to change Quaxo's mind , Tugger didn't seem like the best influence but it was obvious him and Quaxo were already communicating at a good level "You should go" spoke up Plato, "W-What?"asked Quaxo almost choking as he drunk his cocoa "Yes i agree with Plato, you two seem compatible and he came all the way here!It'll just be a few hours!"said Victoria but Quaxo was fearing that, he didn't want any type of chemistry or compatibility with another guy, he didn't feel right to feel this happy to see a stranger. "I'll think about it"he said before standing up and leaving the table feeling too stressed and tired, now that he had a chance to see Tugger again he felt more relaxed and laid on his berth heaving a deep sigh.

"So how did it go with your friend?"asked Teazer as soon as she saw Tugger approaching their table "He seemed happy to see me!I invited him over!"said Tugger cheerfully as he took the empty seat next to Jerrie and placed his feet on the table "Don't do that-" said Munkustap as he tried to push his brother's feet of the table but Tugger was holding them still smirking widely at his older brother so after a while Munk just gave up and heaved a long sigh. "Tugger, may i have a word"asked Munkustrap which only earned a groan from Tugger but the younger brother soon noticed that Munk was serious so he got up and the two went to a more private corner of the crowded wagon "Why are you doing this?"he asked and Tugger looked utterly confused "What do you mean?"he asked at which Munkustrap groaned. "Talking and getting close to a stranger on a train!"said Munk, making the topic of the conversation more specific, "I want to?"said Tugger chuckling. "Yes but think about it, if you two get close and become friends then both of you will end up, hurt and alone don't go making friends you can't keep, you don't know how this will affect the poor boy people get attached to you, they like you and you don't seem interested in most people after some time, plus Tugs, we're in the Soviet union if people see you and that boy being too touchy or flirty both of you could get in huge trouble, with the law.!"said Munkustrap looking worried, in fact he was also worried about his brother getting in trouble or end up hurt from the fancy rich boy.
"Look i mean we can still talk-"mumbled Tugger awkwardly "Figure out what you want out of this and, oh God how do I even put this, if you want more than what's 'normal' be careful and put the boy's needs before yourself. He seems to be of a higher social status, it'll affect him much more-"advice Munkustrap as he placed a hand on his little brother's shoulders "I will ok?I just need time and you need to relax, everything will end up well, I know it will, so don't worry about me too much!"said Tugger as he walked back to their friends who were talking about one of their bands' songs.

Honestly Tugger wasn't that stressed, he didn't like to give things a name he just went with whatever he felt like, for now Quaxo could be anything to him and he was open to anything depending on how things went, he didn't mind being his friend or just someone to keep him company on this journey, or even well a fuck partner Tugger didn't mind having sex with a guy it seemed just as satisfying and those close-minded opinions didn't affect him. He could even be a romantic partner but it seemed a little too much, both of them were fairly young, Quaxo barely looked like an adult and Tugger wasn't one to settle down especially not that soon. But again he didn't want to categorize Quaxo and their relationship before getting to know him.

So he chatted with his friends, took a nap on the table and waited for Quaxo to come. He of course had finished his croissant knowing that Rumpleteazer or Mungojerrie would take it and eat it themselves, the 4 of them hadn't eaten anything actually good in weeks due to traveling all the time and not being able to afford a nice meal for all of them.

After lunch time Quaxo went to his kupe and slept for the afternoon, Victoria and Plato tried to bring up the Tugger issue and tell him to go but Quaxo kept changing the topic whenever something relevant to Tugger came up. Secretly taking an extra tin with caviar and two pieces of toast Quaxo sneaked out of the dining wagon making Plato and Victoria smile. "He will go won't he?"asked Victoria happily and Plato heaved a happy sigh and nodded. It was strange but that was nothing compared to the spark Quaxo had when he was around Tugger. They both knew how dull Quaxo's life had been ever since they left and it'd be selfish of them to expect everything to be perfect after 2 years of being apart, so holding Quaxo back was not an option.

The short black haired male debated on whether he should take the caviar and the toasts with him, it wasn't unusual for people to bring gifts when they visited each other but he didn't know how visits on trains worked. He also knew that food in third class wasn't provided, he didn't want Tugger to feel uncomfortable though or like Quaxo was pitying him. Shaking his head he decided to be himself, go with his gut and with his initial instinct so he took his pocket watch and a small linen napkin to carry the tin can with the caviar inside and the pieces of toast. He also took his ticket of course and key to his kupe and then made his way to the back of the train.

He felt nervous as he walked there and got curious stares from all of the other first class passengers. Once he entered the second class kupe wagon he still got curious looks but he just smiled politely and kept walking until he finally reached the large living room-like 3 part wagon. The same ticket inspector from yesterday was guarding the door and he scoffed once he saw Quaxo but Quaxo chuckled and waved his first class ticket before continuing his way now looking for Tugger.

"QUAXO!"yelled Tugger loudly causing Quaxo to glare at him, but he had spotted Tugger through a large crowd so yelling was effecting. "Could you be a little more discreet?" asked Quaxo teasingly as he approached Tugger whose reply was a smirk and a shrug.

"Come sit!"offered Tugger before pulling Quaxo on the sit next to him, across from Quaxo sat a girl and boy almost identical with bright short red hair. "Mungojerrie!"said the male introducing himself as he stood up offering Quaxo his hand, then quickly the girl stood up and gave Quaxo her hand as well "AND Rumpleteazer!''she added quickly, smirking widely. Awkwardly Quaxo shook both of their hands at the same time and Tugger placed a hand over Quaxo's vest securing his pockets while glaring warning daggers at the twins. "W-What?"asked Quaxo confused. "Don't insult us like that Tugs we wouldn't steal from your friend!" said Rumpleteazer quickly "We wouldn't be that obvious if we wanted to-'' added Mungojerrie quietly under his breath with a chuckle.

The twins sat back down and focused their gazes on the napkin Quaxo had placed on the table, but it was wrapped to resemble a bag so they didn't know what was inside. "That over there is my brother Munkustrap, he's reading something-" said Tugger and Quaxo focused his gaze on the book causing Munkustrap to chuckle "I spit on your grave-?"mumbled Quaxo curiously as he read the cover of the book "I-It's Boris Vian's work isn't it!?"he asked smiling and Munkustrap was pleasantly surprised by that so he closed his book placing it down on the table "Yes!You've heard of him?"he asked curiously, the book was pretty recent and not all that popular. "Oh yes of course, but i've never seen an english copy of it!I read it in French -" explained Quaxo "May i see the translation!?" he added quickly, smiling at Munkustrap who nodded with a soft smile on his face as he gave the younger male the book he was holding.

He flipped through the pages reading a few sentences "Woah, it's really nice…"mumbled Quaxo as he read. But Tugger was bored of this "Well yeah it's nice but you're my guest you can talk about books later!"said Tugger as he kept poking and nudging Quaxo who was trying to read the book and successfully ignored Tugger. "Common on Angel don't be so snob-"mumbled Tugger as he ruffled Quaxo's dark black hair, but Quaxo was still ignoring him, Tugger pulled on his vest he messed with Quaxo's shirt collar, his bowtie. Tugger started whining and kept nudging Quaxo but then he shoved the book in Quaxo's face while he was reading it. Munkustrap gasped at that, despite Quaxo's nice taste in books he was worried about his reaction, messing with rich people was never a good option. Instead of snapping or anything Quaxo just laughed and looked at Tugger "Oh my God, you're such a bore!"he pointed out as he handed the book back to Munkustrap "Thank you, i'd love to talk more about literature with you while on this trip!"he said to the other brother and heard Tugger chuckle.

Hey, whatwasyourname!" said Rumpleteazer looking at Quaxo who turned to her and nodded "What's in the napkin!?"asked Jerrie and his sister nodded. "Oh that, we had caviar for lunch and I got an extra can and two pieces of toast for Tugger, as a gift for having me over. I'd usually buy something better but other than food and drinks there isn't much to get on a train i'm sorry!" said Quaxo awkwardly now immediately regretting his choice of sneaking food inside another wagon. Tugger quickly opened the napkin and smiled at Quaxo "Thanks Angel, but i'm not hungry, Teazer and Jerrie or even Munkustrap but i don't think he will, can eat it for me!" said Tugger, still smiling, in all honesty he was hungry and the caviar looked tasty but he didn't want anyone thinking he was taking advantage of Quaxo. In fact he was previously telling his friends how tired of eating canned fruit he wanted to eat the toast and caviar more than anything, but he couldn't, he just glanced at his brother to show him that Quaxo was something more than a potential fuck or a way to eat and sleep better in the train.

"I shouldn't have brought anything, I'm sorry!"said Quaxo nervously but Tugger just wrapped his arm around his waist and chuckled "Don't worry we'll gladly eat something other than canned fruit!"said Mungojerrie who quickly dragged the napkin close to him and his sister, the twins quickly started eating the toasts and the caviar with happy smiles on their faces. "We're in a band, so we've been traveling a lot, now we're going to China, anyway we never stay in one place for too long and we always travel so can't eat anything too fancy-" explained Munkustrap "Wait so if you're going to China why didn't you went with the transmongolian railway instead?" asked Quaxo "There weren't enough tickets for all of us, Alonzo, Demeter and Bombalurina, the rest members of our friend group and band, went with the direct railway to Beijing" explained Tugger smiling "But it gave me a chance to meet you~"purred Tugger winking at Quaxo who just shoved him away and eye rolled "Stop pretending to flirt with me!"he said in a hiss-like tone looking around nervously. "Aren't you flattered~?" teased Tugger but Quaxo just eye rolled and let Tugger wrap his arm around his shoulders again. Munkustrap watched them and chuckled trying to ignore all the bad outcomes the two would have out of this before walking away from the table and to the third class wagon.

"So you asked me to come to show you more magic tricks?"asked Quaxo, heaving a sigh "No actually i just want us to talk you know-!" said Tugger as he tried to hide the nervousness in his voice. Tugger said what Quaxo feared the most, what if getting to know each other more would result in Quaxo being even more attached to Tugger and maybe his worst fear of being 'ill' would come true. It'd be a lie to say that he didn't want to get to know the other though, the more spontaneous side of him was a little too excited and happy about getting to know Tugger. "Eh my name is Quaxo Jones, I'm 20 years old, I've lived in London my whole life, I'm a ballet teacher but i don't do it for the money, it's an excuse to get out of my house, i also go shopping but other than that i just sit in my library"said Quaxo nervously as he heaved a sigh, Tugger would have an amazing life and would now realize how plain Quaxo was, a small part of Quaxo felt happy that Tugger would finally leave him but the rest of Quaxo was just anxious and devastated. But being the great liar and poker face he is, Quaxo kept a calm expression.
"Oh God, don't be so modest Quaxo!You are only 20 i bet you've read every book in your house, you also didn't mention your magic nor the fancy parties and plays you probably attend once or twice a week!"said Tugger grinning, he knew that people of the high society had to attend many social gatherings. "Technically my uncle is the one invited to such events i just tag alone or fill in for him if he can't make it" explained Quaxo nervously, he was liked by all the rich people in London so they enjoyed seeing him show up but it was mostly due to having Bustopher as his uncle. "Your uncle?What about parents, aren't they loaded like your uncle?If that's the case how come you're rich?" asked Tugger curiously tilting his head. "Oh my parents died when I was young, Vicky and I were raised by our uncle!"he said in a calm tone, someone would expect Quaxo to be overly sad and dramatic about his parents' death, he of course was sad but their uncle was the best guardian and uncle a kid could ask for, understanding, open-minded and despite looking as if he is strict he really isn't.

Tugger felt awkward now he had kind of lost his mother but his father was the best one in the world, sure he was busy but he was amazing. "Sorry if i touched a nerve-"mumbled Tugger nervously, he didn't know how to react at all. "No no it's alright, i miss my parents but i like the person i grew up to be, that wouldn't have happened without my uncle's strong influence on me. I wish I could have met them but I am more than pleased with the life I have now!"explained Quaxo a small smile appearing across his face, it was true he was proud of himself. If his parents had lived he wouldn't probably be the same person.

"You probably think i'm a cold person with no feelings-"added Quaxo nervously rubbing the back of his neck as he looked away but Tugger laughed "WHAT!?Nah Quaxo you're not!I totally get that our experiences shape us and you like the person you are now there's nothing wrong with that!I really love myself too~ And i really enjoy the person you are~" said Tugger, smirking as he ruffled Quaxo's hair. The younger man was now looking at Tugger again and he heaved a sigh. "My mom left me and my brothers when I was really young, she wanted to become a performer or something?Soon my older brother ran away. It was really hard especially for Munk cause he was young but old enough to understand what happened, unlike me!"exclaimed Tugger groaning a little, a bitter smile on his face.

"Well i also enjoy the person you are now-" said Quaxo nervously smiling softly at Tugger and for the first time in many years he let himself a little more loose. With Tugger's around his shoulders Quaxo leaned against him still smiling wanting to express his support or liking in some way, as he mentaly slapped himself for spending so much time inside his house and for being so awkward.

Tugger was surprised, no matter how much effort he put in physically getting closer to Quaxo to check his reaction Quaxo either didn't react or he shoved him away, but now he was accepting it gently leaning against Tugger's side. Tugger now felt more certain and more happy, he didn't want to just have sex with Quaxo but he didn't want to be his friend either, the 'l' word would be too much of course, but he knew that he wanted to be around Quaxo, to share their experiences, to sit closely, to talk, put on magic shows, joke around, tease each other. The joy he felt right now was a new feeling.

Quaxo expected to immediately regret it, that's what happened whenever he hugged a relative (other than his sister and uncle of course), or he agreed to dance with a lady at some gathering or event, or let a tired kid fall asleep on his lap. He cursed himself for getting dragged into those touchy social formalities, though he hid it perfectly behind his happy yet aloof smile. But now his smile was sincere as he looked at Tugger. Everyone had noticed that his expression in public even when he was happy remained aloof but now he was in front of a huge amount of people smiling sincerely and happily as he looked at Tugger smiling.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer who sat across from the two but didn't really pay much attention were now staring, Teazer gasped and Jerrie smirked widely, this only resulted in Quaxo looking at them and chuckling as Tugger smirked proudly feeling as if he had accomplished something amazing, which he kind of had, in 2 days he had managed to get closer to a person.

Munkustrap walked back inside his eyes opening wide as he noticed the two, gasping quietly as he noticed the many people looking at Tugger and Quaxo, he knew that most people wouldn't automatically think of homosexuality but he couldn't take that chance. Plus knowing Tugger's usual charm Munkustrap was surprised that the boy previously kept shoving him away. Groaning he walked to the two of them and patted them gently on the shoulder "Would you mind coming with me for a few minutes?"He asked politely trying to hide his anger but mostly his worry. Tugger eye rolled "We're sorta bonding right now so sorry bu-" said Tugger but as he noticed how serious his brother's expression was he heaved a sigh pulling away from Quaxo who had just nodded as a reply and got up "Sure!"agreed Tugger smiling. Munkustrap led them to where the third class passengers lived and Quaxo was so surprised.

It was smelly, everyone slept so closely together, no doors, no tables, no curtains, no lamps and the pillows were basically sheets of fabric, the blankets looked like a warmer version of a regular sheet but it was not enough to keep someone warm in the winter. It was fairly empty though so it was a good place to talk unlike the crowded living room-like wagon. "I don't know what the two of you were doing and Quaxo it is not my business to advice you you can do whatever you want but i want the two of you know that according to some law male homosexuality, only male, is prohibited and can result to 5 years of prison!"said Munkustrap before groaning.

(Here i would like to inform everyone that's reading this that communists aren't nessecerally against homosexuality or the LGBTQ+ community, Stalin was thought just because he thought that gays have something to do with capitalism. The fanfic takes place in 1952 and Stalin died in 1953 so Tugger and Misto could get in serious trouble)

/Additional info: After Stalin died Khrushchev rose to power who tried to change many of Stalin's laws but he didn't change the anti-gay criminal law due to how many rape or sexual reports happened in all-men prisons, also by the time homosexuality was connected to pedophilia so it would be risky changing that law. idk if Khrushchev supported gays or was against them or just didn't have an opinion the topic but his actions were mostly a result of Stalin's strict and inhuman laws/

"We weren't really, you know doing that!"protested Tugger looking awkwardly, this was a perfect moment to see what Misto thought about the prospect of homosexuality but he was dreading the other's reaction. Again Tugger was sure he wanted some sort of closer relationship with Quaxo that wouldn't just revolve around sex, but he was considering the romantic type of relationship. Quaxo remained silent, he was thinking of ways to just disappear, being accused of homosexuality was exactly what he feared and he now feared it even more due to almost commiting it and due to actually enjoying it, he enjoyed Tugger's physical way of showing emotion.

"I don't mind what you did if that's what you want then sure, but be touchy somewhere more private, Tugger you're touching another male now!Both of you could get in trouble!5 years of prison Tugger, do you know what that means!?"asked Munkustrap but he wasn't really expecting another answer "Hey hey we know what we're doing!We won't end up in prison alright?And we were just hugging!"said Tugger angrily, he didn't like it when people made him feel guilty about his way of flirting especially since he wasn't sure if Quaxo didn't mind. Munkustrap kept scolding Tugger who just argued for the sake of arguing until Quaxo spoke up "Thank you for caring, we might not mind it but other passengers might and we certainly wouldn't want to deal with the extreme consequences and simple hug could have!"said Quaxo heaving a sigh before giving Munkustrap a slight smile who nodded and Tugger just stared at the shorter male in shock Quaxo said 'We might not mind it' which was basically saying that he didn't mind how close they were.

Tugger was overly excited and happy after this, the three of them walked back to the table and they started talking, Quaxo got to know all of Tugger's friends and they got to know him, he did a few magic tricks and once it was late Quaxo said good night to everyone and quietly left for his kupe. "HEY ANGEL!"yelled Tugger and Quaxo turned around to face him from the end of wagon "Tomorrow me and my friends will get down at one of the stops, ugh it's a Russian village, just meet me here at the afternoon ok!?"he asked. With a small smirk on his face Quaxo shrugged as if to say 'maybe' before leaving.

"He's not like your usual flirts Tugger!"pointed out Teazer as she held back a yawn "He doesn't like you back!"said Jerrie teasingly before his sister nudged him. Tugger sighed nervously and upon noticing it Jerrie chuckled nervously "Look I was just joking he seems to like you and you're good when it comes to flirting!"said Mungojerrie grinning nervously at his friend who sighed once again and ran a hand through his messy shoulder length wavy hair. "The problem is that I don't even know if i like him or not so I can't worry about him liking me back!And maybe it's bad if he likes me back, I mean what we have 3 more days before we get off-"mumbled Tugger as he laid his head on the table. "Tugs, Tugs why are you thinking so much about it?"asked Jerrie confused "Yeah you never over think you just do what you feel like!"added Teazer trying to restore some of Tugger's usual confidence. "It's just dawned on me that i don't know where i'm going with this!"mumbled Tugger with a pout on his face.

"I know that it's confusing, especially under such conditions, it took me and Demeter years to sort things out and it was much easier. But Tugs, i think that for once you should actually do as you want, i know that you will take into account the boy's feelings, anyway you have 3 days to understand this." spoke up Munkustrap smiling softly at his brother as he yawned and left to go to bed. "Yes Munk is right!Don't think too much, just enjoy it!"said Jerrie smiling at his friend "Just have yourself and Quaxo in mind, fuck the world!"yelled Teazer excitedly waking up some of the sleeping passengers around them who groaned or glared at them. "But I mean even if i do like him more than i've liked others before, and even if i figure it out before it's too late what would Quaxo say?"asked Tugger half-asleep, he was indeed really worried about it. "Tugs!You're an artist!"said Teazer proudly "You're a dreamer!" added Jerrie quickly patting Tugger's back "Give Quaxo a fresh point of view, a new perspective!" said Teazer who now moved next to Tugger writing an arm around her. "Come on where's the 'I will do as i do do' attitude? do as you do do that's what you do best and it always works!"said Teazer again and Mungojerrie nodded "Yes plus we need a rich guy in our friend group-"mumbled the red-haired guy jokingly and Tugger chuckled before closing his eyes falling asleep on the table.

Of course the restless twins after making sure that their friend was feeling better and was asleep they started looking around for any small items they could get from the sleeping passengers around them. They were able to steal some money from wallets but were extra careful not to take too much from one wallet. The hardest part was making sure Teazer didn't take a ring that was about to fall off a lady's finger, she had a thing for stealing jewelry.

CHAPTER 3

Once again Quaxo had barely gotten enough sleep, others thinking of him as homosexual, well he wasn't that annoyed but that's just what disgusted him, he should feel insulted but he didn't and that was probably his biggest problem. You know when you recognize a problem or a flaw you know it's there and it's either to hide or ignore it but when you don't view it as something bad you can't fix yourself, that's how Quaxo felt. Sick to the bone due to not minding the whole situation.

He checked his pocket watch changing the time to one hour ahead, that's what everyone did, a new meant a new time zone for the passengers of the Trans-Siberian railway. "Quaxo!How was your- eh … date!?"asked Victoria whispering the word 'date' from the other side of the door causing Quaxo to scoff and eye roll, why did people assume he was on a date. Quickly he unlocked the door and let his sister in "Where is Plato?"asked Quaxo peeking outside of the door "Oh I asked him to get us some breakfast while you tell me about last night!"said Victoria and Quaxo sighed wishing he was as calm as she was. "Firstly it wasn't a date!"said Quaxo crossing his hands as he sat on his bed. Victoria sat on the couch across from him and giggled "Aw come on!I know it's not legal, but I see how you smile around him, I can't really blame you that Tugger guy is pretty charming!"she said smiling.

Quaxo never expected his sister to be so supportive, they came from the same house, homosexuals and especially males weren't really accepted in England, they received special treatment and many people tried to 'fix' them, how was Victoria fine with the prospect of Quaxo being, gay.

As if reading his thoughts Victoria smiled "It's strange, it surely is, but it makes you happy, you know you're much more bright around him!"she said nervously and that's when Plato entered carrying two trays filled with many breakfast options, gently he placed them on the table "H-He asked me to get off at this stop on the afternoon so we can walk around the village together-"mumbled Quaxo who heaved a sigh and hugged his pillow.

As soon as Plato realized the topic of conversation he smiled "Ohh you're talking about Tugger!"he said now having taken a liking to the man as well, Plato's happy tone made Quaxo's face heat up a little, he wasn't one to easily blush but he just felt so nervous instead of finding comfort in his friends he felt as though they were trying to set him up with another guy. "Why are you doing this?!"asked Quaxo in annoyance as he shoved his face in the fluffy white pillow and groaned.

The couple exchanged a worried look. "You kind of have the same aura Plato has when he's with me, his presence alone is enough to make me happy!"said Victoria smiling as she kissed her fiance's cheek "And with Tori I feel like I'm at home, like i belong!"added Plato hugging her waist.

"But you two are in love, you've known each other for years, you have around the same social status, you don't have the same sex-"mumbled Quaxo as he tried his hardest to sort everything out in his head and to make some sense of his feelings. "I haven't seen you so relaxed and so happy in ages Quaxo, even on the phone you sound distant-"admitted Victoria nervously and Plato nodded. "We've been trying to cheer you up while pretending everything is fine, maybe make you start dancing again, but that's not right" said Plato softly and Quaxo huffed and took the pillow of his face throwing it on the ground "Well liking a guy that way isn't right either, especially not after what?3 days!"he said a little too loudly, his pale cheeks were now rosy color and he had eyebags under his eyes.

"Quaxo it's alright you might not like him that way, let's eat something alright!"said Victoria smiling, she wanted to continue the conversation but she knew that her brother would end up snapping again, he was in no state to listen right now so her and Plato just dropped the subject, they'd discuss it later. But honestly they didn't care about Quaxo liking guys, sure it seemed weird but Quaxo's happiness was far more important to them. The lonely fancy London life Quaxo was living so far was starting to eat him up, it had started after Quaxo's 15th birthday but Victoria's and Plato's company always cheered him up and he felt like he could be himself and let his guard down, but when his two best friends left his fear held him back and he remained in London, ever since his loneliness had consumed him.

Bustopher, Victoria's and Quaxo's uncle, was getting worried as well, he didn't know what to do at first he suggested many trips across Europe, tickets to plays or shows, events, social gatherings, nothing really worked. Victoria and her uncle had discussed that topic multiple times.

Quaxo was a really bright young child, he was serious yes but he'd often let loose and start doing magic tricks for everyone or throw dance shows with Victoria. Later on he felt bad about it though, like he had embarrassed himself. Around Tugger though, it was the perfect balance of his two sides, the more serious and quiet one and his old cheerful self, that alone made both Victoria and Plato like the poor musician named Tugger.

The three of them took their breakfast in Quaxo's room and Quaxo and Plato returned the trays and the plates to the dining wagon. As much as Quaxo asked to be left alone he was glad that Victoria and Plato insisted on staying, they talked about their childhood memories, played cards, even gossiped a little about the old families of London, Quaxo knew all the recent gossip. Being the quiet person that he is, people often gossip around him without noticing he's around so he knows everything, also him and his uncle can spend hours on the phone discussing about the other wealthy families of England.

Then they went for lunch Quaxo was feeling much better now so Victoria asked about Tugger again and if Quaxo would join him on the afternoon, Quaxo looked at Plato for support who gave him a nod

"Look it's just 30 minutes you'll get to see Russia with your train friend!It sounds pretty nice!"said Victoria smiling leaving the homosexuality issue out of the conversation. "Vicky and I got off at that stop on our way to London to pick you up!It's really nice!"added Plato and Quaxo nodded, he also thought it'd be a nice opportunity to wear clothes to show them off to someone else other than the train passengers.

"I guess i can go-"mumbled Quaxo in thought and Plato nodded "Yes you have nothing to lose!You'll look at some shops and have some fun!"he said smiling at Quaxo "ANNDDD you will be with his friends so I mean nothing related to the, issue, can happen!Also there'll be lots of people around you!"said Victoria who now didn't mind talking about the subject as much, she knew that her brother would feel a little uncomfortable but would be grateful to have someone else confirm that him and Tugger wouldn't do anything illegal according to the law but also to Quaxo's morals, maybe, he wasn't sure what he thought on the topic of homosexuality.

After lunch Plato and Victoria returned to their own kupe leaving Quaxo alone once again. The short magician heaved a sigh before leaving the lunch table himself and walking back to his kupe sitting on the bed, he then took guilty glances at his book who simply sat at the table, this whole Tugger thing had made him unable to read his book, something that had never happened before. He always read books in 3 days he should have been able to read at least 150-200 pages including many distractions and conversations with Vicky and Plato, now he had barely reached page 30 and he felt so bad about it. Reading was his thing he couldn't let a possible flirt he was not even sure he enjoyed himself rob him of his one characteristic, reading-

That's when it dawned on him, he liked reading he truly did, but it was more of a gateway, a means to go through his dull life as he himself had forgotten how to live. Even if he was never going to admit romantic or sexual attraction to Tugger he had to admit that he had made the past two days -and even this third one despite not having met yet- far more interesting and worth living than the 2 years Quaxo had spent alone in London. He was going to go with Tugger today, he wanted to have fun, to enjoy his time with Tugger for as long as he could, no worries, no stress.

Quaxo smiled proudly at himself, he had what? 2 or 3 days before Tugger left for Beijing, they didn't have time to develop anything serious so he might as well enjoy himself for now!

Standing up from his bed he started picking his outfit, a nice black suit vest, black dress pants and of course a white shirt underneath, the weather seemed especially nice today so a coat wouldn't be needed. When it was time he went to meet up with Tugger he took his pocket watch, his ticket -of course- and his wallet filled with the money they used in Soviet Russia, Victoria had given him some when she arrived at London but Quaxo didn't believe he'd ever need them, she had also placed a small manual explaining the value of each coin to Quaxo. A warm smile spread across his face once he saw the note from his thoughtful sister.

He entered the now all too familiar living room wagon and spotted Munkustrap sitting at the same table as yesterday, the wagon was less crowded today so Quaxo quickly made his way to his friend smiling nervously. "Hello!"greeted Munkustrap smiling back as Quaxo took the same seat he had yesterday "Hi!" replied Quaxo quickly feeling awkward as he remembered what Munkustrap had told him and Tugger yesterday.

"Sorry if yesterday's advice was too much!"apologized Munkustrap nervously before chuckling "I'm just overly worried about almost everything and i'd hate to even think of Tugger in jail, or you on that matter especially for such a stupid reason!"he continued explaining and Quaxo simply nodded as reply, he perfectly understood Munkustrap's intentions he would have probably done the same for Victoria.

"I understand!I have a little sister too, actually we're twins but i'm the older, anyway i would have done the same thing!" said Quaxo, still smiling at the other who nodded "So did you finish your book?" asked Quaxo excitedly, changing the subject and Munkustrap nodded "Yes thanks for asking, I could lend it to you?"offered the older male but Quaxo simply shook his head, he knew he'd never be able to read it and he didn't want to take the book after Munkustrap left, no it wouldn't be right. "No, thank you, I haven't been able to read much lately anyway!" said Quaxo and Munkustrap nodded "I see, well whatever is bothering you i suggest you solve it before it becomes bigger than it already is, you also look tired-"pointed out Munkustrap a hint of concern in his voice, he didn't know Quaxo that well but Quaxo was still a kid, in Munkustrap's eyes at least, he couldn't just not care. Quaxo nodded as reply and heaved a sigh.

Then the twins walked up to them "Mornin' er, Quaso?" said Mungojerrie chuckling nervously knowing that the name would be wrong as he messed with the panels (the sleeve-like things) of his brown woolen, patched, old crop vest. "It's Quaxo, but it's fine no one really remembers my name easily!"said Quaxo, smiling at Jerrie who replied with a shrug causing Quaxo to chuckle. "So guys guys how much money do we 'ave!?"asked Teazer as she sat on the table looking at Munkustrap. "Well, we're four people we can manage with 2 cans per day we have 2 full days left, if we skip tonight's dinner and our last day's breakfast we should buy 16 cans!" said Munkustrap smiling and Teazer nodded with a smirk "That leaves you s'me money to buy a gift for Demeter~" purred Mungojerrie winking at Munkustrap.

"I-I have a question!" said Quaxo, looking at the others confused "2 cans, for a day? What do these cans contain? You don't eat anything else!?" continued Quaxo, this all seemed weird to him, extremely weird. "Yes 2 cans per day, but we might get a couple extra in case one of us gets hungry, we can't afford to eat anything else, especially on a train" explained Munkustrap heaving a sigh. "And they're all fruit cause that's the cheapest!" added Teazer grinning "Usually we might get something better and more expensive but it's Munk's anniversary and he's spending it away from his girlfriend ~!" continued Teazer as she heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Without wanting to be rude or anything, would you mind if i gave you some more money?T-To buy either something different from canned fruit or just so that Munkustrap can spend more money on his gift or just to have it, you seem to need it far more than I do!"said Quaxo opening his wallet and tossing on the table. The three of them remained shocked and just looked at Quaxo "Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to show off!"said Quaxo anxiously and Munkustrap smiled "We know but no thank you, we don't need more money, especially not from you" said Munkustrap and Teazer nodded "Plus Tugger would kill us if he thought we were taking advantage of you!"she said and Mungojerrie pouted but nodded.

"Please, not much just a couple of ruble?is that what they call money here?Anyway yes just some coins or something i'll probably never spend these on anything!"said Quaxo smiling nervously at the other, Jerrie was the first one to make a move and he gently took the wallet opening it "S'ppose it wouldn't hurt, especially since Quaxo doesn't mind-" mumbled Mungojerrie and Teazer nodded and started looking through the wallet "Jerrie be quick before Tugger comes in!"she said and Munkustrap snatched the wallet away from the two giving it back to Quaxo.

Quaxo sighed and took the wallet but Jerrie looked at him and mouthed a 'We took some' to Quaxo causing the shorter male to smile. Then Tugger walked inside wearing his usual leather jacket but now instead of his white T-Shirt he was wearing a black one, greeting Quaxo with a smirk he ruffled Quaxo's black hair "Glad you decided to come!"he exclaimed happily and Quaxo chuckled "Well you yelled across the wagon walking almost everyone up, it'd be selfish of me not to show up!"he said as Tugger looked at his friends "Tugs empty your pockets!"yelled Teazer as she placed all of the money she had on the table. Jerrie tossed the few money he had taken from Quaxo's wallet. "I thought we had agreed to have all the money in my wallet- I don't suppose you took these from anyone-?"asked Munkustrap, raising an eyebrow but the twins just shrugged "We just found 'em!" said Jerrie and Teazer giggled and nodded "Yeah they were in our pockets the whole time!"she said now Jerrie nodded at her words.

Munkustrap groaned "I refuse to use stolen money myself, Tugger what do you have?"he asked looking at his brother "Er just the change from the cigarettes i bought, you have it i don't care!"he said as he tossed the few coins out of his leather jacket and onto the table. "Y-you smoke?"asked Quaxo, looking at Tugger who shook his head "Nah not really, only when I want to look cool in front of the ladies, or to annoy Munk with the smoke but I don't like it that much!"explained Tugger in a whisper-like tone so that only Quaxo would hear him. Quaxo heaved a sigh "You're so immature-"mumbled Quaxo "Oh i thought i was a bore!"teased him Tugger as Munkustrap counted all the money they had and divided them. "Oh you'll always be a bore nothing can take that title away from you-"said Quaxo eye rolling but a playful smirk was on his face. "You know most people would call me charming~"purred Tugger and when Quaxo opened his mouth to reply Teazer made a cough sound looking at the two.

Jerrie laughed but Teazer nudged him. "So the train stops in 5 minutes!"announced Teazer. "So where are we going first?To find the gift for Munkustrap's girlfriend or food shopping?"Asked Quaxo nervously since he hadn't actually been informed properly. "Oh Munk will go on his own and Jerrie and I will handle food shopping!"explained Teazer. "Then how can I he-" tried to say Quaxo but Tugger interrupted him "You and I will walk around together" announced Tugger. That's when Quaxo felt as though all of his wishes but at the same time all of his fears had come true. "Sounds nice-"he simply said.

The 5 of them quickly got of the train, they had 30 minutes to get back on the train and Jerrie Teazer and Munkustrap who all had something important to do ran away from the crowded station, but Tugger simply took Quaxo's hand and smiled down at the shorter male, Quaxo was indeed short and every time they stood closely Tugger was pleasantly surprised by the other's height. "Look it's better to be short than tall!" said Quaxo eye rolling as if he knew what Tugger was thinking about "W-What?"asked Tugger in confusion pretending not to have notice the height difference between the two of them "It's fine!"replied Quaxo smiling as he remembered his plans of having a good time with Tugger. They reached the village and they took strolls around the small alleys of the village chatting and teasing each other.

"You know that chokers are old-fashioned right?Why do you wear one?"Asked Quaxo as he observed the small stores of the Russian village. "Hey hey you dress up like a formal old man, are your clothes from the pre-war period?I swear suspenders haven't been in fashion since what? the 20s!"joked Tugger "I love the way you dress but you can't judge me for being old fashioned!"continued Tugger smiling. "I like to show that I am classy!Plus chokers are far worse than suspenders and vests!"commented Quaxo glancing at Tugger to check his reaction.

Upon hearing that Tugger faked an insulted gasp before placing his free hand "I have a feeling that chokers are gonna be a huge deal in some years, I want to be one of the people that are going to start the trend!" announced Tugger and Quaxo eye rolled "It is like a dog collar!"he commented but Tugger just smiled at him.

/Chokers were popular in 1920s but fell off in the 30s. In the 1940s, they were referred to as "dog collars." They became again an official trend in the 90s.

They walked around, Tugger started noticing how Quaxo would held a little tighter on his hand whenever they'd hear loud voices or a heated argument he knew he wasn't scared he just felt uneasy, he also noticed how Quaxo's face had an excited expression whenever they'd see a stray dog or a cat. He also noticed how some girls would look at him and take glances, at first Tugger returned the attention with a charming smirk but once he realized Quaxo's presence he stopped, Quaxo was far better than all of these girls put together, Quaxo and he talked and Quaxo was far cuter and more handsome than these.

Quaxo then started noticing how Tugger's face lit up when he saw little kids playing or running around, or how most of the girls looking at him and how he eventually stopped paying any attention to them, Quaxo didn't think it meant anything but he was grateful, he secretly liked Tugger's attention. Quaxo also couldn't help but notice how Tugger looked at the taverns whenever they'd pass by one, checking the time in his clock he smiled. They had 10 minutes and it was getting pretty chilly outside so he dragged Tugger in a small restaurant. Opening his wallet he noticed how Victoria had also included a small guide to talking Russian "тарелка яиц с джемом" spoked Quaxo to a waitress before taking Tugger to sit on a table with him.

"You got hungry?I didn't know you spoke russian!"asked Tugger in confusion but Quaxo shook his head smiling "No no the food is for you, i know you haven't been eating much lately, and i don't speak Russian Vicky just gave me a manual and it includes some dishes and how to order them. I got you eggs with jam, it's cheap and common and we only have 10 minutes so it looked like the best option, sorry if you don't like it!"apologized Quaxo nervously. "You should be sorry i don't want people to think i'm hanging around you for your money!"said Tugger with a groan. "No one's gonna think that Tugger, the people here don't even know us!"said Quaxo smiling at Tugger. That's when a plate with two fried eggs and jam at the sides arrived at the table and Tugger stared at it trying to act as if he wasn't currently starving "We don't have much time Tugger, please I-I care about, you and seeing you starve isn't something i enjoy, plus i've already ordered it!"said Quaxo, smirking before going up to pay "Hurry up we don't have that much time and it's starting to rain!"continued Quaxo as he opened his wallet and paid the waitress giving her a large tip as Tugger smirked "Thank you Angel-"he said before quickly eating the fried eggs along with the jam and some bread. A couple of moments later the two were good to go but it was raining cats and dogs out of the tavern "Fuck we're late!"cursed Quaxo as he checked his watch.

Tugger chuckled as he heard the other curse for the first time and took of his leather jacket placing it on top of Quaxo's head to cover him up and took his hand "Let's get your fancy ass back on the train!"he yelled as he ran outside, one hand covering Quaxo's head and the other holding him tightly so that they could run through the large crowd of the village. "Your ass is much better-"commented Quaxo playfully as he kept up with Tugger and placed the large leather jacket over Tugger's head as well "You're tall you can be like an umbrella that way!"joked Quaxo and Tugger laughed. The first train whistle echoed through the village soon followed by the second, now they could see the train station from afar as they ran as fast as they could. Nothing too much of it, they both went to the first class wagon and the third whistle was heard as Quaxo took out his ticket that was somewhat wet from the train and flashed it to the ticket inspector who let them both in.

Tugger was too busy panting heavily to notice that he was in first class but Quaxo quickly took his hand leading him towards his kupe, he didn't want Tugger to get placed back in third class not while they could spend some more time together. "WOAH!People here are seriously loaded!"commented Tugger as he noticed where he was while the two of them walked through the wagon until they reached Quaxo's kupe. The shorter male unlocked the door allowing Tugger to walk inside, it was huge in Tugger's eyes: two couches, blankets, pillows, a lamp! "I never want to leave this place!"announced Tugger before laying on the couch dropping his jacket to the floor as his wet hair rested on the pillows. "Oh no no these clothes have all the filth of the rain and you've touched way too many people and places get off we're getting you some clean clothes!"said Quaxo as he grabbed Tugger's foot trying to drag him off the sofa "I don't think your clothes will fit me Angel-"teased Tugger smirking at him. "And I'm totally spending the night here, don't try to get rid of me!"added Tugger quickly and Quaxo sighed.

"I'll go to your suitcase and your friends you wait here don't make any noise or someone might kick you out-"mumbled Quaxo before leaving. After 10 minutes Quaxo walked back in "Tugger, it's fucking winter why do you only have T-Shirts and a few shirts!?"asked Quaxo in annoyance as he walked in and threw one of Tugger's T-shirts on his face along with a pair of pants. "Hey hey they are stylish, I'm in a band Angel, i gotta watch my image~"he purred before tossing his clothes on the floor and standing up to take off the T-Shirt he wore now. "W-What are you doing!?"asked Quaxo closing his eyes. "Don't be such a virgin my love, you're the one that told me to change!"teased Tugger as he leaned closer to Quaxo who only huffed and turned away despite still having his eyes closed, he'd shove Tugger away but he didn't want to touch his naked chest "I'll just go to Victoria's and Plato's and come back in a minute or two!"announced Quaxo and left quickly as he looked at the ground.

Tugger chuckled and heard Victoria squealing from the kupe next door. He playfully eye rolled as he change and sat on the sofa waiting for Quaxo who entered a few seconds after "Look i can't change in my sister's kupe it'll look weird so i'll change here but don't look at me, or actually look i don't care what you want to look at i just don't like seeing men naked!"said Quaxo nervously before taking some dry clothes out of his suitcase and easily taking out his vest before going to undo the buttons of his shirt.

"So you're a ladies man aren't you angel~?"asked Tugger, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

"Y-yes"replied Quaxo as he looked at the ground, finally undoing one of the shirt's buttons.

"Have you ever been with a lady Quaxo-?"asked Tugger with the same teasingly tone in his voice and his usual smirk.

"N-No not yet, but i will eventually-"replied Quaxo as dryly as he could while trying to convince not only Tugger but also himself. The second button was undone.

"Then how do you know you don't lean both ways~?"purred Tugger who was now laying on the sofa his gaze fixed on Quaxo.

"I just know that I'm... normal"said Quaxo, mumbling the last word as he struggled to do the next button.

"Hey hey there's nothing wrong with liking guys!It's still 'normal'!"said Tugger

"Well I'm almost sure I'm not interested in men!"said Quaxo growling under his breath as he couldn't undo the button, his hands were shaking and all of him was focused in the conversation, it'll be a way to prove to himself that he was normal.

"Yes but are you interested in women?"asked the tall male raising an eyebrow.

Quaxo couldn't take it, now he struggled to take off his shirt like any other shirt, through his head but he was flustered and annoyed so he gave up. "No-"he said dryly as he tried to re-adjust his shirt and looked at Tugger only to see him in front of him now. With a soft smile on his face Tugger, gently grabbed the collar of the other man's shirt "Need help with that?" he offered as he easily undid the buttons his eyes focused on Quaxo's face who was left speechless unable to resist Tugger's gaze.

After that everything went on pretty smoothly, Quaxo got changed into another white shirt (i imagine that he has like a collection) and black pants, they dried their hair with towels, mostly Tugger who had shoulder length hair and wasn't as protected by the leather jacket as Quaxo, they talked for a while before closing the lights and falling asleep. "Good night Angel~"purred Tugger. At that moment Quaxo realized that he might not be as normal as he'd like to believe, but he wasn't sure yet so he heaved a sigh and closed his eyes curling up on the berth across from Tugger. (Again berths are the train beds AND the sofas in the first class kupes convert into beds).

It must have been 2 AM when Quaxo got up from his bed yawning his eyes closed, he was in some inbetween state of sleeping and being awake. Tugger felt something sitting next to him he opened his eyes, yawning as well, only to see Quaxo sitting on his berth, smiling and chuckling sleepily, Tugger looked at him, "You missed me, didn't you!"he whispered but Quaxo just yawned again as laid next to Tugger. "Quaxo are you awake?"asked Tugger chuckling quietly but got no reply from Quaxo. Was he sleepwalking or something? Shrugging Tugger made space for Quaxo, it was somewhat hard but Quaxo was fairly small so soon Tugger got comfortable wrapping his arm around Quaxo and holding him as close as possible. The blond man smiled happily as he looked at the other sleeping peacefully in his arms, this moment was a realization moment, he liked Quaxo, he truly did, it was more romantic than sexual but he couldn't care less about sex when he had the wonderful short magician next to him. Taking in the moment Tugger fell asleep still holding Quaxo tightly, this was the best sleep Tugger had gotten in months, it wasn't due to the much more comfortable bed, no no having Quaxo sleeping next to him just made him feeling a new sense of calmness and happiness.

CHAPTER 4

Tugger woke up and he was quick to notice Quaxo still sleeping in his arms, smiling he remembered what had happened last night and he couldn't be happier, he would trade every moment of his life to have just one more moment like this. Gently and carefully sliding out of the small berth he looked around the kupe, it was fairly small there weren't much to do so he sat at the other bed and took the book Quaxo usually carried with him, 'War and Peace', Tugger had started that book but got bored after some point so he stopped, that's what always happened, he started reading books but he gradually lost interest in them.

Not having anything else to do though he took the book and looked for the last thing he remembered, he actually must have spent an hour reading in quiet as he took shy glances to check on Quaxo who was still sleeping. Then he heard a knock on the door followed by a whisper "Q-Quaxo!"called a female voice, Tugger was sure it was Victoria so he opened the door a little shushing her "He's sleeping he hasn't woken up yet-"whispered Tugger and Victoria smiled in relief "He's sleeping!?That's so good to hear he hasn't been able to get much sleep since we got her-"she exclaimed, heaving a sigh.

"Do you need me to bring you anything to eat?"asked Plato politely as he looked at Tugger who shook his head "Nah I'm not hungry, but bring something small for Quaxo in case he wakes up and the breakfast time has passed, please" asked Tugger nervously, he of course wouldn't eat anything he didn't plan of taking advantage of Quaxo no, he didn't even want such a thing to be implied, especially now that he felt more certain of his feelings towards Quaxo. Victoria smiled and stepped on her tiptoes to ruffle Tugger's hair"Thanks for caring so much!"she said and Plato chuckled "We'll knock once we've brought something!"said Plato before walking off with Victoria next to him.

Tugger smiled slightly as he watched them, they seemed really nice, he was starting to like them and Victoria was almost as beautiful as Quaxo. Instead of reading now he just waited looking outside the window of the kupe as he waited for Plato and Victoria to bring in Quaxo's breakfast, he didn't really want to be interrupted from reading, that's when he heard another knock on the door and he slowly opened it. "So we've brought a tray, we didn't know if you liked coffee or cocoa so we got you both, there's also a cocoa and a tea for Quaxo, then many breakfast things eat whatever you want alright?" said Victoria smiling up at Tugger who chuckled "We tried to get you as many as possible since we don't know you and Quaxo had always been a picky eater!"explained Plato as he handed Tugger the tray filled with more food Tugger had ever seen in the past few days. "You shouldn't have, I'll honestly won't eat anything!"said Tugger smiling back at the couple "But thank you!"he added not wanting to seem impolite, he was trying his hardest to act politely and properly around Plato and Victoria.

Victoria smirked and peeked inside the kupe "Hey Tugger you didn't do it did you?"she asked and Plato chuckled softly at her as Tugger shook his head quickly "No no of course not!"he said but Victoria giggled. "You have helped Quaxo a lot-"mumbled Plato as he looked inside the kupe as well and noticed how peaceful and relaxed Quaxo looked while he slept. "Thank you!"said Victoria "Now we better close the door we don't want you to get kicked out!"added Victoria as she closed the door and Plato left.

Tugger looked at the tray and he wished he could eat at least some of the omelette or the croissant or some of anything, all of these looked better than what Tugger usually ate anyway, but he wanted Quaxo and Munkustrap and everyone to realize how serious this was. He couldn't stop thinking about what Victoria had said, that he had helped Quaxo, even Tugger had noticed some change as the days went by but it had only been 3 days he wasn't sure, but truth be told he had kind of understood how relaxed and calm Quaxo was around him. Far more chill than the first time they met were Quaxo was all sad and annoyed and grumpy, not that Tugger minded it no as he thought more of it he actually liked every part of Quaxo and his personality.

So he placed the linen napkins on top of the tea, the coffee and the cocoas trying to keep them hot for when Quaxo woke up, then he gently picked up Quaxo placing him on the other bed, he knew that Quaxo might feel uncomfortable if he found out he had slept next to Tugger. Smirking softly Tugger tried his hardest not to chuckle at how light Quaxo was, he was surprised it was so easy to carry him, Tugger wasn't some jock of course, but he could easily hold Quaxo up and even carry him for an hour or so. He resisted the urge to run around the train with Quaxo in his arms and gently placed him on the bed Quaxo was originally sleeping on. After making sure the other male was alright Tugger continued reading 'War and peace'.

By the time Tugger had reached page 124, having time in his hands and being the fast reader that he is -if he is able to concentrate-, Quaxo had opened his eyes sleepily "T-Tugger?" he asked as he stretched and yawned "Morning my angel ~" purred Tugger immediately looking at Quaxo and away from the book. "What are you doing? You're reading? You should have fucking woken me up! How long have you been forced to sit alone in quiet?" asked Quaxo who was obviously trying to hold back a yawn in order to sound more serious, but Quaxo ended up yawning. "How did you sleep honey ~?" purred Tugger ignoring all the questions but giving Quaxo a relaxed smile to tell him that he shouldn't worry so much. "That Pierre guy is just a fool, he sits at home reading and drinking while he could have tried to be happy" pointed out Tugger as he held up the book "You're reading war and peace?" asked Quaxo raising an eyebrow but he didn't look at Tugger, instead he was examining the breakfast tray "You shouldn't have waited for me to have breakfast -" mumbled Quaxo who lifted the napkin of one of hot cocoas and took the cup in his hands taking a sip, it was surprisingly warm not that hot but warm enough. "I am not going to eat -" said Tugger, placing the book on the small table. "Oh don't tell me it's that thing of you not wanting to 'take advantage' of me-?" asked Quaxo as he kept drinking his beverage, Tugger chuckled nervously and opened his mouth to protest but Quaxo eye rolled "Oh stuff it, i don't want you starving!" (stuff it is like fuck off but 50s style ~) mumbled Quaxo. Tugger chuckled "When did you get such a foul mouth ~?" purred Tugger teasingly. Actually Quaxo did curse a lot when he felt comfortable which was mostly around Plato and his sister but that was 2 years ago, ever since he hadn't felt the urge to curse.

Quaxo sighed "I-I don't want you to be nervous or intimidated or treat me any differently when it comes to financial issues, you were the first one to not do that - other than Plato but he's pretty wealthy too -" mumbled Quaxo with a bitter chuckle "I loved how casual you were around me, no one had paid any attention to me for my magic or my personality…" continued Quaxo. Tugger was quick to rush to Quaxo's side and wrap an arm around him "I'm sorry alright, it's just that i kind of have a reputation among well my friend group and the people that know me that i'm a flirt, which is true and i sometimes use my charm to my advantage but that's not the relationship i have with you and i don't want anyone to think otherwise!"said Tugger nervously and Quaxo eye rolled as he resisted the urge to relax against Tugger and lean onto him. "I understand, but the food will go to waste and you are my guest now, sorry but I must make sure that you'll be comfortable in your time here!"said Quaxo smiling and Tugger sighed but nodded "F-fine-"muttered Tugger smirking slightly as Quaxo shoved a donut in his mouth "Now eat while it's still hot!I can't imagine what canned fruit must taste like-"said Quaxo with a chuckle before proceeding to eat the small waffle "You're a fancy eater-?"Asked Tugger, raising an eyebrow as he ate his donut, he obviously didn't have table manners and Quaxo didn't fail to notice it, instead of gross though he found it rather cute. "Well not really. I don't mind eating low quality food, I'm just a picky eater and well canned fruit sounds too moist for me!"he said with a nervous chuckle "Oh but my uncle is really weird when it comes to food's quality he could spend all of his fortune just to eat the best dish in the whole world, he also likes variety, maybe that's why i'm picky when it comes to food-"said Quaxo mumbling the last part in thought as he now realized the impact his uncle had on his life. "So you grew up in food paradise?"asked Tugger smirking as he took the cup of coffee and took a large sip, he had missed coffee.

"Sort of, I mean there were many chefs and butlers in uncle's mansion, but it's really unfair to give my uncle 'food' as his main characteristic, no no he cared mostly about mine and Tori's education and manners, it's really important to me at least he gave us things that i shouldn't take for granted…"said Quaxo smiling at the thought of his uncle, he looked up to him, he loved him more than Victoria, of course Victoria loved him as well but Bustopher was like a role model to young Quaxo. A smart, respectful, clever, well-mannered man, that's all Quaxo wanted to be as a child and even now there are qualities he both wanted and admired he just wanted to add his own touch to his personality instead of just copying his uncle.

"What about your father?"asked Quaxo looking at him "Oh if i had to describe him I'd say he's pretty generous, Munk would also say mature and responsible but not really i mean sure he's not irresponsible but he knows how to balance relaxation and work especially now that he's getting older. As a kid I mean, i knew he worked a lot i could see that he wasn't around until late at night some days but when he returned it never felt like he was tired you know like he didn't have time he read me books when i was little he always helped Munk with homework, when mom was there he found time for mom too and about my other brother, well I'm not sure when i was born they were already drifting apart- You know despite not having time he found time and when he did it wasn't like he was forcing himself! When Munk and I grew older he was less stressed though .."said Tugger awkwardly, he didn't know what to say about his dad, he loved him this man was the world to him the best dad anyone could ask for.

Kind, caring, warm and a little too busy sometimes but he never showed it and now that Munkustrap and Tugger were both adults and he knew he had raised them properly Tugger's dad was actually calm and happy enjoying life, he had retired and he had all the time in the world. Quaxo couldn't help but notice how Tugger's voice softened when he spoke about his father and how he could sense Tugger's admiration and love towards his dad, times like these Quaxo would usually miss his own dad, the one he never got to know, but now Tugger's love was so strong that he couldn't miss his own dad after such a great show of affection.

"I would love to meet your father one day-"mumbled Quaxo smiling and Tugger nodded smiling brightly "Yeah!In fact you'd really like him and he'd really like you as well!You would get along-"mumbled Tugger who was now trying to picture and interaction between Quaxo and his father.

Everything went silent for a moment before Quaxo awkwardly standing up "I-I should return the tray and thank Victoria and Plato-"he said nervously before standing up putting on his usual black vest to look more presentable and taking the now almost empty tray, Tugger opened the door for him before quickly closing it not wanting to get kicked out as Quaxo left.

Returning the tray was fairly easy, but now he'd have to deal with Victoria's countless questions on how it went, normally he wouldn't mind skipping the visit to thank his sister but he also wanted advice on what to do with Tugger. Knocking on Plato's and Victoria's kupe the door immediately opened and Victoria shoved Quaxo inside. "How are you doing!?"she asked excitedly as she smiled widely and Plato chuckled at how adorable his fiance looked right now "I-I came to thank you-" said Quaxo but Victoria eye rolled "Quaxo leave the formalities, now tell me how it's going?"she asked and Quaxo groaned "G-Good I guess-"he mumbled nervously. "Have you maybe figured out if-"said Plato awkwardly only for Quaxo to mouth a 'no'. Victoria and Plato knew that Quaxo was homosexual actually or at least they were 99% sure, but forcing Quaxo to realize it wouldn't work they'd just have guide him to the answer, they had discussed it last night actually, they had agreed that it was strange but Tugger did make Quaxo happy and that's all that mattered to them. Also Tugger seemed like a pretty nice guy if Quaxo had to explore his sexuality with someone it might as well be with someone like Tugger and not some snob rich kid from England.

"What do you say you relax act exactly the way you want to all day, I mean no one will see you and Tugger in the kupe, after that you will know for sure if -"suggested Plato but Victoria beat him to end "If you are gay and if you like Tugger romantically-"she whispered winking at her brother who groaned and muttered 'How are you both so ok with this!?' before leaving and knocking on his own door waiting for Tugger to open up.

"Who is it~?"purred Tugger from the other side of the door "It's me-!"said Quaxo trying to keep his voice low in order not to make it seem like Tugger was inside his kupe. "And who are you~?"asked Tugger teasingly "Tugger it's me Quaxo now will you open the door!?"asked Quaxo quietly under his breath but there came no reply from Tugger. "T-Tugger-?"asked Quaxo worriedly his face pressed against the door to check on Tugger "Tugger answer!"whined Quaxo but he could hear Tugger chuckling from the other side of the door. "I-I'll break down the door!"said Quaxo trying to sound intimidating but Tugger laughed loudly at that "Like you could break something down!"joked Tugger "You're such a bore Tugger give it a rest!"said Quaxo annoyed as he placed his hands in his vest's pockets and he noticed that not only he had the spare key with him but a small smoke bomb he had made. He used these for small magic tricks and he made them himself since he didn't want to be seen buying them directly from somewhere. This was the vest he was wearing when he met up with Tugger on the second day, he had taken a smoke bomb to show it as a magic trick to Tugger but he had forgotten to do so, the spare key was just a way to make sure he'd return to his kupe in case he didn't have his ticket with him.

"Oh please Tugger just open the door a little bit!"asked Quaxo now in a sweeter voice, he just needed to get Tugger to open the door slightly so he could get the smoke inside and appear out of it. "Aw just cause you asked so nicely~"said Tugger, unable to resist who cracked the door open just a little bit before closing it again but Quaxo had secretly tossed the small bomb inside. Tugger coughed a little and Quaxo unlocked the door quickly before closing it in behind him. "Ta-da!"he said proudly as Tugger was left staring at him with amazement in his eyes looking like a little kid. "SHOW ME MORE!"begged Tugger as he sat on the bed waiting for Quaxo's next trick. 'Let loose, be yourself' thought Quaxo as he tried to come up with a magic trick "Oh fuck we forgot to return these-"mumbled Tugger with a pout as he looked at an unused knife and a fork on the table. The magician smiled and slided to sit at the front of the table, he moved his hands around to show Tugger that his hands and sleeves didn't have anything irregular then he placed his hands gently on top of the knife covering it bringing it closer to him before opening his hands to reveal that the knife wasn't there anymore. Tugger placed a hand over his mouth trying to prevent the excited squeal as he stared at Quaxo as if he were the most unique, extraordinary, magical person in the whole world "How are you doing these!?"

A magician never reveals his secrets though, then Quaxo pointed at Tugger and Tugger felt the knife drop on his lap and by that time he could barely breathe he was just too excited, Quaxo was brilliant! "You can really do magic!" exclaimed Tugger now trying to breathe normally as he picked up the knife staring at it, it was indeed an ordinary knife. "I can do magic tricks, actually -" corrected Quaxo smiling, but Tugger placed a hand over Quaxo's mouth shutting him up "Don't ever compare trickery to real magic Quaxo!" he said in a serious tone looking at the other male who nodded, then Tugger removed his hand and Quaxo smiled "Thank you" said Quaxo simply before looking away nervously.

That's how they spend their day at first Quaxo started doing tricks but after some time Quaxo got bored and he had shown Tugger most of the tricks that were worth showing, so they started playing cards but they focused more on talking rather than the card game, they even took long posses if the current topic of conversation interested them. Quaxo loved how Tugger's expression changed whenever he got a card he liked, but he soon realized that Tugger wasn't a really good poker player, or generally card player so sometimes Tugger's idea of a 'good card' wasn't that accurate. At first Quaxo wanted to keep things quiet and concentrate on the game instead but Tugger wouldn't let him so he gave in and talked not minding the game much anymore.

Tugger had noticed that whenever Quaxo was about to do a risky move he'd bite his bottom lip nervously and glance outside of the window. Tugger had also noticed that Quaxo liked to have the seat by the window, on occasions where Quaxo would come over to him to help him or explain something he'd gently slide to the seat by the window.

Everything was so nice for the first time in ages, they were both relaxed, comfortable, felt safe, they were having fun without doing much.

Tugger's favorite hour though came at midday, they had played almost every card game by the time and Tugger refused to play the same game more than 1 or 2 times, so Quaxo gave up and huffed "Fine fine i can't change your mind, card games aren't boring but you're a bore so you'll never realize it!"said Quaxo crossing his arms as he huffed. Tugger smirking and approached Quaxo sitting next to him gently rubbing his cheek "Sorry my firefly~"apologized Tugger cringing a little at the new nickname "Firefly?"asked Quaxo who was cringing as well as he looked at Tugger "Yeah it sounded better in my head, I'm sorry my firefly-"said Tugger smirking widely at the nickname he was now using "That's a no-"hissed Quaxo and shoved Tugger away from him.

Quaxo was enjoying this a little too much, he wasn't supposed to, but he came up with a perfect idea, he was going to suggest something that no one else liked doing at least not for as long as Quaxo wanted to do it. Quaxo would enjoy himself he was relaxing being 100% himself around Tugger while his probably homosexual dream/nightmare would end. "Tugger, how about we do nothing?"suggested Quaxo smirking a little at Tugger's confused face "We can sit close and breath, nothing else!"explained Quaxo smiling proudly knowing that his plan would work. Tugger shrugged. They got comfortable, Tugger relaxing his back against the window and the wall, his legs being on the berth, Quaxo leaning into him using Tugger's chest as pillow as he laid between Tugger's legs. Originally they were going to sit next to each other but with slow gentle movements Tugger now had Quaxo right where he wanted.

Quaxo noticed that Tugger kept shifting and fidgeting, if nothing was going to bore a regular person Tugger wouldn't be able to handle it. Tugger groaned, he couldn't get comfortable and he just couldn't sit still, but he looked at Quaxo, his relaxation and stillness would help Quaxo so after 30 minutes of fidgeting Tugger finally set still and let out a breathe which caused Quaxo to eye roll playfully and glance at him. Secretly Quaxo loved this, Tugger's arms around him feeling so protected and warm, he felt bad about trying to end this moment. But the moment didn't end. Tugger loved this so much, at first he kept thinking of things but he just emptied his head after some point and simply enjoyed Quaxo's presence eventually even wrapping his arms loosely around him.

Both of them took short naps between their little game of 'nothing' but woke up soon after only to look at each other and continue their nap shortly after, but they enjoyed it, it was just nothing, but that nothing meant a lot to both of them.

The two had skipped lunch so when Victoria knocked on their door asking if they wanted dinner both of them were a little relieved, they hadn't eaten since breakfast of course but neither of them wanted to end the moment of nothing-ness themselves. Now there was no thought of making Tugger leave in Quaxo's mind, he only wanted to spend time around Tugger doing anything or even nothing! "Quaxo we're going to bring you dinner!"said Victoria smiling from the other side of the door "I think there's stew on the menu tonight but I'm not sure!I'll bring two bowls in case you get hungry!"she added a giggle escaping her but Quaxo opened the door letting her and Plato inside "I'm not letting you carry our food again!"said Quaxo with a huff. Tugger was too busy thinking of the delicious meal he was going to have. "It'd be less suspicious if we bring it, someone will think that you are sick and that's why you haven't come out of your kupe, but if you make an appearance why would you take two bowls of stew instead of one?"pointed out Plato raising an eyebrow with a small proud smirk on his face "You don't plan on sharing a plate with Tugger are you?I mean you didn't have lunch you're probably hungry-"continued Plato and Quaxo sighed "I-It makes more sense that way -"he mumbled.

Soon the couple left the kupe saying that they'd bring the other two stew at some point. "Your sister is really nice!"said Tugger grinning "I really like her fiance too!"added Tugger. "Yeah they are really important to me, they are well the only ones that i can say that they know me, I mean i love my uncle and all but Vicky and Plato know me better-"said Quaxo with a nervous chuckle, he was debating on weather Tugger belonged in the category of people that knew him. He was himself around Tugger and he felt as if they'd known each other for years but it was honestly just some days. "Do you think I know you-?"Asked Tugger, smirking a little, leaving Quaxo speechless since he honestly didn't know the answer. "I-It's been a few days-"simply said Quaxo not knowing what else to say. "You didn't exactly answer my question ~"pointed out Tugger, his smirk growing wider by the second as he looked at Quaxo.

"I feel somewhat comfortable around you I guess"lied Quaxo with a casual shrug while he actually had been trying to make himself feel uncomfortable around Tugger but was failing miserably. "Somewhat comfortable, I can work with that~"purred Tugger playfully and Quaxo smiled and eye rolled. "Somewhat comfortable!?"asked Victoria in disbelief from the other side of the door "V-Vicky!?"hissed Quaxo as he quickly opened the door for his sister "Plato's waiting for me at our table and I brought your dinner, but what were you two talking about?"asked Victoria her curious and a little childish side taking over her.

"Nothing, if you'll excuse I will go to the restroom-"said Quaxo nervously as he took one of the two kupe keys and left.

Tugger sighed nervously and Victoria smiled softly "You have helped my brother a lot, so keep doing your thing, please Tugger-"she said nervously and Tugger looked at her with surprise and disbelief in his eyes. "You probably know about how his life was in London-"mumbled Victoria who felt like Quaxo's condition was partially her fault "Dull and lonely?"asked Tugger and the girl nodded "Yes he hasn't felt comfortable to be vulnerable and let his guard down around in years and you come and manage all that in 3 days today Quaxo followed his usual sleeping schedule, he usually wakes up late and skips breakfast of lunch" she said and Tugger nodded as he processed everything "So you think that maybe I have, you know a chance at…"said Tugger nervously. This caused Victoria's face to heat up, she knew the 'romance' was there but actually hearing it from Tugger was a whole different thing. "If you don't like it I won't!"added Tugger quickly not wanting to make Victoria feel weird but the girl quickly shook her head and smirked playfully "No no I don't mind what you do as long as Quaxo and you are happy!If that's what you two want, go ahead, i feel like it'd help him!"she said before peeking out of the kupe's door and spot Quaxo who was walking back here "I better get going" said "Hey, thank you!"yelled Tugger as Victoria left and Quaxo hurried inside "Don't be so loud!"scolded him Quaxo and Tugger smirked playfully.

They ate, Tugger felt like he was in heaven but Quaxo wasn't that impressed with the stew, then Plato came over to pick their tray and Quaxo and Tugger were alone once again, in their private little heaven. Quaxo didn't want to resist whatever he felt for Tugger so heaving a long sigh he sat next to Tugger, he felt lost he didn't know what to do now but Tugger wrapped his arms around his torso gently guiding him to relax and to lean on him "Better now?"asked Tugger and Quaxo smiled and nodded as a reply. "Not gonna shove me away?Not calling me a bore-?"Asked Tugger looking down at Quaxo as he held him a little closely "Don't give me ideas and you're always going to be a bore, I'm deciding to not pretend at all around you" breathed out Quaxo and Tugger chuckled "Were you pretending the whole time?"asked Tugger but he knew the answer "No it's just that i think i like you, it's awful and wrong and even illegal i tried to prove it wrong but i can't so I'll try not to fight it-"said Quaxo yawning a little. Tugger smiled and kissed Quaxo's cheek gently "I'm generous enough to forgive your dishonesty~"purred Tugger and Quaxo eye rolled "Oh I will be forever grateful-"joked Quaxo as he eye rolled and shifted a little to be more comfortable in the other's arms. They cuddled and Tugger started reading War and peace to Quaxo until the shorter male fell asleep and Tugger gently caressed his sides until he fell asleep himself. The two were beyond happy, they both knew what they felt and what they wanted, Tugger had realized what Quaxo meant to him and Quaxo was no longer denying his feelings, as much as he wanted to avoid it he was indeed homosexual.

Quaxo woke up again in the middle of the night and gently shook Tugger "W-What's wrong Angel?"asked Tugger sleepily and Quaxo yawned "We can't sleep like this-"said Quaxo as he held back another yawn "Help me put one blanket o-on the floor, we'll use the other one to cover up, that way we'll have more space than when sharing a-a berth"said Quaxo stopping occasionally to yawn or to close his eyes. Tugger was used to waking up in the middle of the night and having to do things, since him and his friends traveled a lot he'd have to get off on stops early in the morning. "You take your nap I'll do it-"offered Tugger, giving Quaxo a kiss on the cheek and gently letting go off him. After 5 minutes he had placed the blanket on the floor and adding the 4 fluffy pillows "Your bed is ready~"he purred and Quaxo chuckled and smiled "I could have done that myself-"he said while yawning and Tugger nodded "I know that-"he said as he laid down Quaxo soon laying next to him. They covered up and wrapped their arms around each other cuddling all night until morning.

CHAPTER 5

This time Quaxo woke up first, he was surprised when he woke up on the floor but soon remembered what had happened the previous night and immediately turned to look at Tugger who was sleeping, snoring a little as part of the blanket was wrapped around his left leg. Quaxo chuckled and snuggled up to Tugger heaving a happy sigh, he indeed liked this feeling and fighting it made him even more miserable than he usually was, so he would enjoy Tugger's presence for as long as he could. After some moments Tugger woke up and was pleasantly surprised when he saw Quaxo snuggled up to him "Morning beautiful~"purred Tugger and Quaxo eye rolled and struggled to move away from Tugger who was now holding him tightly "No no don't move I liked it!"whined Tugger who was easily hugging Quaxo as he squirmed against his grip. Quaxo simply huffed and stopped squirming now letting Tugger hug him "Thank you!"thanked Tugger with a grin on his face.

"How did you sleep?"asked Tugger and Quaxo smiled softly "Good, surprisingly good considering we slept on the floor, but you move too much in your sleep and you're not only a bore but a blanket hogger-"mumbled Quaxo glaring at Tugger who laughed "Oh well i even tried to contain this habit of mine for you~!"he joked and Quaxo shrugged "The result was the same"said Quaxo dryly and Tugger laughed once again before shrugging "Next time i'll try to improve~"purred Tugger still smiling at the other only to have Quaxo give him another eye roll and a small smirk as a response. It was late, they had probably missed Victoria's usual door knocking asking them to go to breakfast, so despite Tugger's efforts to hold down Quaxo and continue their nap the shorter male managed to stand up and to walk out of the kupe to get breakfast.

Tugger felt bad that the others were serving him; he felt so useless but he couldn't really do much other than accept it and try to repay Quaxo. His breakfast had soon arrived though and Tugger quickly got over the guilt he was previously feeling, the smell of warm coffee, a nice breakfast brought to him by his lovely Quaxo was just too good to cause any sort of negative emotion in Tugger. The older male was amazed by the other's graceful movements, he had noticed it before of course but the sunrays slipping through the curtains complemented Quaxo's gentle, smooth, graceful movements. The ballet and dance skills Quaxo possessed were obvious even when the male was simply walking or doing simple everyday things and Tugger loved observing Quaxo even when he was doing the most ordinary and common actions, the sheer fact that it was Quaxo made everything look beautiful.

They sat next to each other, the tray was on the table and of course Quaxo had the seat by the window, the kupe was silent but it wasn't an awkward silence the silence between them meant intimacy and showed how close they had gotten the past few days. Tugger tied his shoulder length hair in a messy bun and took a sip from his coffee as he looked at Quaxo with a peaceful, sincere smile on his face "These days have been, too perfect than i'd ever expect them Quaxo-"mumbled Tugger with a nervous chuckle and Quaxo smiled softly and nodded in agreement still leaning against the window looking through the small gap between the two curtains as the train moved, then Tugger slided a bit closer to Quaxo "I have to ask you something, it's a little weird maybe crazy, but I'm leaving tomorrow a-and, i'd seriously love it if you could come with me, to Beijing and to anywhere else i go, I can even take you back to London after China!"said Tugger quietly he was sure of his feelings and almost sure of Quaxo's feelings, but he was terrified or the prospect of rejection, attempting to make things easier Tugger leaned in to give Quaxo a peck on the cheek, but Quaxo had turned around quickly with a surprised expression on his face and even a hint of excitement. Instead of kissing Quaxo's cheek Tugger had kissed the other male's lips, Tugger took it as a yes - obviously not realizing it was an accident- and he happily closed his eyes, the first few seconds felt like heaven to Quaxo but the sunrays from the crack of the curtains were enough to ruin his happy moment. Quickly Quaxo shoved Tugger away any hint of the previous excitement was now gone from his face and Tugger could only see fear and sadness.

Tugger had never believed that such a short and thin person could shove him to the ground but Quaxo was far more strong than he looked and Tugger had indeed fallen on the blankets at the floor of the kupe "Angel are you alright?"asked Tugger worriedly who shot up and attempted to sit next to Quaxo only to receive a sad glare from the other.

Hesitantly -and clearly without wanting to- Tugger sat across from Quaxo his gaze fixated on the other as he waited for him to say some time had passed -to Tugger it seemed like hours but he knew that realistically it must have been a couple of minutes- Quaxo spoke up his eyes a little watery but he was avoiding Tugger's gaze so it was hard to tell if Quaxo had cried yet or not "T-Tugger, a-are we… ill?"he asked in a mumble-like tone as he was curled up to the corner of the berth next to the window and hugged his legs tightly. The blond male simply looked puzzled "Ill?Why would we be ill?I feel fine if you're not feeling well i can ask Victoria to get you some t-"said Tugger nervously while in reality he knew what Quaxo meant he was just trying not to think of it "Don't play stupid you know what i mean!"hissed Quaxo giving Tugger a glare.

Tugger chuckled leaning casually against the other window himself "Well in that case it really depends on the country, I mean here we'd be more like criminals or sexual offenders-"mumbled Tugger jokingly only to get another glare of Quaxo. "No Quaxo we're not ill if that's what we feel like!"said Tugger in a soft tone, "I don't want to be ill, nor a criminal or a homosexual-"mumbled Quaxo looking at his knees now hugging his legs even tighter. "You didn't seem to mind before the kiss-"pointed out Tugger crossing his arms. "There is no treatment Tugger what are we going to do!?"mumbled Quaxo again who was by now practically ranting as he held back tears. Now Quaxo was also shaking and rocking his body back and forth "I want this but i don't want to deal with everything that comes with it, we should stop, we can talk again once there is a cure alright Tugger?I'm sorry!Please leave, I can't do this-"mumbled Quaxo and just when Tugger was about to speak up Quaxo shivered "No no stay here instead what if someone sees you, stay I'll leave-"said Quaxo again in a quiet tone.

"Quaxo we're not ill there's no need for a cure the world just needs to open their fucking eyes and read something before judging us and any other homosexual couple!"said Tugger eye rolling "D-Don't call us a couple-"mumbled Quaxo who was hating himself right now for not minding the 'couple' thing as much as he should, he felt like vomiting but the only thing that was disgusting him was the lies he was telling to Tugger. "No no you will listen to me! A couple of years ago an American author published 'The Homosexual in America: A Subjective Approach' do you realize that the world is changing!?In Los Angeles there is the Mattachine society which is like a gay organization a member of them even won a trial this summer!Or in ancient Greece many guys had sexual and romantic relationships with each other. The beliefs the world has now aren't nessecerally right and trust me the world will change, society will evolve, why don't you want to be part of that change with me-?"said Tugger, his voice had started with excitement but seeing Quaxo so troubled just wasn't something he could shrug off so gradually his voice lost most of his previous excitement and hope.

Quaxo was listening his full attention on Tugger, he had somewhat snapped out of his previous breakdown but he was still far too stressed and surely against their 'relationship' "Think of this!Try to picture us together, we can't be ourselves outside of my kupe-"mumbled Quaxo as he heaved a sigh. "That's why I'm asking you to come with me!We will share a room together in hotels and in smaller cities he can even hold hands and once we're not in the soviet union heck i can even kiss you!"said Tugger giving Quaxo a smile full of hope.

How badly Quaxo wanted to agree to travel with Tugger all around the world listening to his songs and supporting his band, get away from his large empty house in London, the parties and social gatherings that just reminded him of his loneliness, say goodbye to the gloomy sky of London and be with someone that had made 4 days far more interesting than 2 years. "We are ill Tugger, I don't want to be treated differently, I don't want to go to prison, I don't want to be a social outcast!Thank you, thank you for the wonderful 4 days you spent with me, but I don't like this-"said Quaxo groaning under his breath, he was sure of his feelings now and sure of his sexuality but he wasn't brave enough to deal with the world and to leave his safe life back in London, yes that was what his life was, it was safe, better safe than sorry.

"You don't like this, but you like me right?"asked Tugger but Quaxo remained still and silent. Taking this as his que to leave Tugger picked up his leather jacket and his spare of clothes before putting on his jacket and walking to the door giving Quaxo one final look. Though the other didn't return the look and was still burying his face in his knees. "My offer still stands Quaxo, I'm sure of the way I feel about you!"said Tugger forcing a smile on his face "I leave tomorrow morning at 10-"he continued taking his sweet time opening the kupe's door not caring about being seen, he was trying to stall his goodbye with Quaxo as he was fearing this would be the last time he was going to see him. Tugger was still hoping that Quaxo would change his mind but it didn't happen and Tugger had now left the kupe and the first class wagons.

"'ey Tugs how was your date~?"purred Jerrie loudly as he saw his friend approaching from a distance and Teazer jumped on the table "Spill the tea Tugs!"she yelled with a smirk but her expression changed when she noticed that Tugger wasn't looking so happy. As he went by his friends' table he just gave them a look and left to go to his berth. Munkustrap and the twins looked at each other worriedly "What do you think happened?"asked Jerrie, breaking the awkward silence between the three of them. "I don't see a ticket inspector so Tugger didn't get caught and Quaxo didn't turn him in -"mumbled Teazer "Maybe Tugger didn't do well in bed-?"suggested Jerrie "Maybe Quaxo is married-"said Teazer looking at her brother "Scandalous!"commented Jerrie but then the twins sighed once they noticed that they weren't of much help "I will go talk to him-"said Munkustrap who stood up and walked in the large wagon only to find his little brother laying on his bed and braiding his hair "I don't want to talk about it-"muttered Tugger but Munkustrap sat at the edge of the bed and his brother knew all too well what that meant, they would talk about it.
"Why can't you just respect my wishes-?"Asked Tugger with a groan but his brother simply sighed and raised an eyebrow in response. "He likes me but values everyone and everything else except me more than his own happiness!"exclaimed Tugger looking away "He thinks that we are 'ill' and he doesn't want to come with me!"he continued as his brother nodded "And the worst part is that I'm not sad about myself but I am sad about him, he is miserable in London, he knows it his sister knows it and i don't want him to feel that way but i can't go to London, if we aren't going to accepted by a social group it'll surely be the high society of England. He prefers to just sit and rot away in his library, he doesn't care about my feelings but the worst is that he doesn't even care about his own. He has let these snobbish opinions into his head!"said Tugger and huffed letting his head drop on the thin pillow of his berth. "You should be more understanding"said Munkustrap firmly and Tugger laughed "What exactly do you mean, I honestly see no problem in him coming with us, he has money he doesn't have anything to hold him back!Just his stubbornness and his cowardness!"

"No Tugger, you see Quaxo grew up in a different environment, he cares a lot about his image and one mistake will affect him and his whole family, eloping with a stranger he met on a train claiming to be 'in love' isn't something that would exactly help his reputation" explained Munkustrap but Tugger eye rolled "So he cares about a bunch of strangers more than he cares about me and his own self?"asked Tugger looking at his brother who sighed and shook his head "No not really, you see he was raised to care about the impact his actions would have on his family's name. By coming with us he might have to turn his back on his name, his family, his whole life and everything that he was that is not an easy choice to make Tugger especially when there is a short deadline"explained Munkustrap and Tugger remained silent in thought for a moment and before he could open his mouth to protest "There's no point in arguing Tugger, I know you've understood what i meant, just think about it. And the two of you have spend a lot of time together, one doesn't simply spend 4 days with someone he just met, you do mean a lot to him so don't worry, things will work out!.. and if they don't, you will always have me and our friends, it might even be for the best-"said Munkustrap nervously, he was always anxious when giving advice he could make decisions sure but he couldn't give advice especially not about love issues to Tugger who knew his way around everyone's hearts.

The older brother stood up from the bed and ruffled the other's hair gently "I'm here if you need anything-"he said and walked to his own berth, he didn't plan on leaving Tugger alone.

Quaxo spent the day on his bed thinking about what had happened with Tugger, his sister kept trying to get him out of his kupe but it was locked and there's nothing she could do. He blocked out her words as much as he could but one of the things she said just stuck to him 'That's what you did when you turned out the ballet offer and look at you now', that's the last thing she said and Quaxo just hugged on his pillow tightly wishing that he had never met Tugger in the first place, everything would be so much better now, yes even better if he had never boarded on that stupid train, he would now be peacefully reading 'War and peace' by his fireplace, yes that is what he would do.

Shutting his eyes tight he tried to bring the memory of his nice warm living room, though his house was more empty and sad than cozy so he just grabbed his book and started reading it skipping through certain boring parts he wasn't interested in the plot he used it as a distraction.

"Everything i used to love has now become a distraction-"mumbled Quaxo and it was true, he danced since it was his job which was mostly an excuse to get out of the house, he did magic to add something in his life, he talked to his uncle but instead of sharing experiences -which he himself didn't have anymore- they mostly talked about other people, same with Victoria and Plato, he read just to make himself feel better. Shaking his head Quaxo kept reading and during one of Pierre's inner dilemas he couldn't help but recall Tugger's words 'That Pierre guy is just a fool, he sits at home reading and drinking while he could have tried to be happy' "Well Tugger it's not that easy, he thought that the engagement was a good idea at the time and his best friend is away!"said Quaxo under his breath.

The book ended up in an argument between Quaxo and an imaginary Tugger which was not distracting for Quaxo at all. "If i was at home i'd be happy-"he mumbled and got up to look through his clothes, it always made him happy, he soon stumbled upon a sequin bowtie he owned, it was really sparkly and beautiful it had a suit to go with it. His uncle had gotten it especially made for Quaxo but at the time he was already entering his shy and distant days so the suit was hanging on his closet. The bowtie made Quaxo recall all the lost chances in his life just cause he was too scared, the chance to become a professional ballet dancer, the chance to wear a perfect sparkly suit, tons of excuses flooded Quaxo's mind, excuses that at the time had saved him but later on ended up to slowly worsen Quaxo's psychological state. Now he was missing out on the chance to travel around the world with people that made him feel like home and with the only person that was enough to make him question all of his life in the span of 4 days.

But the worry of what would the world think ruled over Quaxo's mind, the fancy families of England wouldn't invite him anywhere he was a prodigy, really polite and well-liked though so they'd probably make up silly excuses and blame everything on the 'illness' yes they kept calling everything they didn't understand sick. Why did Quaxo care so much?He didn't like these, other than his uncle the rest of the high society was manipulative or two-faced and selfish, so focused on stereotypes with a few exceptions. Tugger's sincere actions were new to him, there was no motive unlike the people in London who always had something in mind even if it was as simple as improving relations between themselves and the other person. "Why do I want to return to this?Why do I even care, if being ill sets me apart from them then I hope I'm never cured-" said Quaxo as he held tightly on his sparkly bowtie before tying it around the collar of the white shirt he was wearing and a smile spread across his face. He checked the time, it was 2 AM he quickly took a smaller bag, threw his book and some clothes instead before rushing out of his kupe, his wallet and his bag in his hands. "Vicky!"he whispered and knocked on his sister's door "Plato!"he called still in a whisper-like tone and kept knocking and when Plato opened the door Quaxo hugged him "Guys can you lend me some money-?"

CHAPTER 6

Victoria rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked at her brother in confusion before noticing the bowtie he was wearing and a smile spread across her face "You are going?"she asked before running up to him and giving him a tight hug. Plato thought of joining the hug but instead he just opened his wallet placing almost all of his money on the table for Quaxo who had now pulled away from the hug "This is too much-"mumbled Quaxo but Victoria sighed "Well you are running away you might as well have some money with you-"pointed out Plato smiling at his friend "And you know that we don't need them"added Victoria quickly and at that Quaxo smiled and nodded "You have a point-"he said before placing the money in his wallet, they were all rubles but Quaxo could convert them into whatever they had in China. "Is this a mistake-?"asked Quaxo looking at the other two the smile still on his face "It was a mistake when you let yourself be all sad and mopey for years-"replied Victoria before yawning "Do you think uncle will mind!?"asked Quaxo a terrified expression on his face now as he thought of his uncle's reaction.

Plato laughed at that and Victoria sighed "Quaxo you and Vicky mean the world to that man, you have no idea how concerned he was about you, if he finds out you are now happy and you've found yourself, he'd just be glad actually!"said Plato and Victoria nodded quickly "Sure he will be shocked at first since you ran away with a male and you like each other romantically and he's a poor musician BUT Quaxo your happiness means so much more to us!"said Victoria before giving her brother another tight hug "Promise to give uncle a call though?And call me from time to time as well alright?"she asked and Quaxo chuckled and nodded as he returned the hug "Sure, thank you for everything-"breathed out Quaxo hugging his sister tightly who tightened her grip on him as well.

"Oh oh Plato!Give him the thing!"said Victoria smiling as she pulled away from the hug and looked at her fiance who smiled and nodded before going to open up his luggage "What thing-?"mumbled Quaxo in confusion right before Plato pulled out a sparkly sequin blazer neatly folded and held it out for Quaxo "We brought it in case you felt like wearing it-"explained Plato with a soft smile and Victoria nodded happily "And you are wearing the matching bowtie, sorry it might be wrinkled and we didn't bring the matching pair of pants-"she said giggling nervously. "I can't thank you enough-"mumbled Quaxo as he took and put on his favorite blazer for the first time before hugging his sister again this time pulling Plato into the hug as well. Plato was somewhat towering over the two siblings due to him being much taller than the two, but this was a hug they had all longed for. They hadn't hugged each other while feeling so many mixed emotions for a long time, this simple show of physical affection meant a lot to all of them, it was a goodbye but it was far more than a simple or even a sad goodbye.

For once in his life Quaxo was doing what he wanted to do not caring about anything and anyone else and Victoria and Plato couldn't be happier for him, they would miss him, they would be worried but these feelings were insignificant to the wave of relief and happiness Quaxo was currently feeling.

"Take care, call us, and if you and your friends ever need help or money don't hesitate to ask!"said Victoria smiling as he brother left the kupe to go find Tugger. "And say hello to Tugger from us!"added Plato a little too loudly as he smiled. "I'll miss you-"said Quaxo rather loudly, especially considering the time, before smiling back at the two.

Quaxo started making his way to the third class wagons as he got confused looks from the passengers or the ticket inspectors that weren't asleep. "May i help you-?"Asked a ticket inspector as he patted Quaxo's shoulder once he had entered the large living room-like wagon "No no, thank you though"said Quaxo politely with a pure happy smile leaving a puzzled ticket inspector behind.

"Quaxo-!?Whatcha doin' here-?"asked a female voice from afar, it was Rumpleteazer and Quaxo was so glad to see -actually hear- someone he knew. Quickly he approached her and her brother who were sitting at their usual table "And most importantly whatcha wearin'-?"asked Jerrie who chuckled when he saw Quaxo's sparkly outfit. "I came to see Tugger and i happen to really like my blazer thank you-"replied Quaxo with a smirk on his face as he looked at Jerrie who shrugged "Ya know what ya like!"replied Jerrie smirking but it was a little hard to see his smirk since it was dark in the wagon. "I thought you n' Tugs 'ad an argument-"said Teazer looking at Quaxo curiously. Quaxo nodded "Yes it was all my fault-"admitted Quaxo with a nervous chuckle and the twins shrugged "Just tell us what' 'appened!"said Teazer and Jerrie nodded "Yeah Munk won't tell us-"added the male twin. With a chuckle Quaxo sat down and basically explained everything to the curious twins quietly in order not to disturb anyone, he actually wanted to go wake up Tugger and apologize but he knew that the two wouldn't leave him alone unless he explained what had happened.

"Well glad ya figured out yehr shit-"commented Mungojerrie when he knew what had happened and his sister nodded and chuckled "Yeah!Now you 'ave our permission to leave-"she said as she nudged Quaxo gently motioning for him to go find Tugger. Smiling and nodding at the two Quaxo took his small bag and ran inside the wagon in which the third class passengers slept. Tugger's berth was close to the entrance so Quaxo had no trouble spotting him, he was sleeping, Quaxo couldn't tell if he was snoring tonight or not. The wagon was cold, smelly and full of people. Some of them were snoring, others were talking in their sleep but almost everyone -with maybe a few exceptions- was sleeping.

Quaxo heaved a sigh and placed his back next to Tugger's berth before gently nudging the sleeping male "T-Tugger-"he whispered "Wake up!"he hissed quietly but Tugger was still sleeping. Quaxo groaned, he was trying to do something nice even romantic and Tugger was sleeping, "Tugger wake the fuck up already-!"he hissed quietly again before taking the blanket off and kept nudging his shoulder, Tugger jumped a little in surprise and blinked a few times with an annoyed expression on his face, but as soon as his eyes landed on Quaxo he couldn't help but smile softly and make space for the shorter male on the bed. "So what are you doing here~?"purred Tugger curiously despite the fact that he knew very well what was Quaxo doing here. "I-I thought that…."mumbled Quaxo looking away nervously "Please go on dear Angel-"said Tugger trying to put a serious expression on his face and Quaxo smirked and looked at him "Well there's no cure, so if i have to be ill I might as well be with you!"said Quaxo, the previous smirk now being replaced by a soft smile as he sat at the empty space on the bed.

Tugger quickly sat next to Quaxo and wrapped his arm around his shoulders bringing him close "I'm glad you came to your senses"said Tugger quietly before starting to lay butterfly kisses on the side of Quaxo's neck who was squirming trying to get out of Tugger's grip as he tried not to feel ticklish and laugh. "Keep your pants on!"hissed Quaxo as he tried to shove Tugger away and the other chuckled "Come on everyone's asleep and you're finally accepting our relationship~"whined Tugger as he attempted to kiss Quaxo again only to be blocked by Quaxo's hand "Don't get too cocky, if we are to do something other than sit close we will do it in a private place-"said Quaxo with a chuckle and the other nodded smiling "Yes sir~"purred Tugger with a wink and Quaxo eye rolled "Less than 5 minutes and you're already being a bore- God how am i going to survive spending more weeks around you… "he mumbled teasingly and Tugger shrugged "I'm sure you can manage you're pretty clever~"he purred once again and Quaxo laughed quietly.

They sat close for what seemed like hours not talking doing nothing and admiring each other's presence, as they both realized that they were going to be together for more days to come, even weeks, months maybe years and that seemed like a dream to both of them. Soon though Quaxo's stomach growled, he hadn't eaten anything all day and he had noticed how hungry he was before he left from Victoria's kupe but ignored it, "Your stomach growls too much around me, why is that-?"asked Tugger jokingly and Quaxo sighed "Well i haven't eaten something all day-"he said with an eye roll and Tugger shrugged "That or maybe you carve something else~ maybe someone~"suggested Tugger smirking as he gave the other a 'seductive' look only to earn another eye roll from the shorter male.

"Fine fine, i hope you like canned fruit you'll be eating that for the rest of your life-"joked Tugger as he got up to look through his luggage for the familiar tin can, once he found one he tossed it at Tugger and Quaxo took it smiling softly "Oh I love canned fruit-"said Quaxo, jokingly of course, as he tried to open the can, he was already finding his new life hard, "If your uncle heard that he'd be dissapointed~"commented Tugger teasingly only to get a glare from Quaxo who was clearly holding back a laugh and a smirk. Then Tugger snatched the can away from Quaxo easily opening it and giving it back to the other "Where's the fork-?"asked Quaxo raising an eyebrow curiously and Tugger chuckled "We don't have that here-"he replied and Quaxo shrugged.

Tugger couldn't wait to see Quaxo struggle to eat the fruit, it didn't sound polite but eating without any piece of silverware would be hard for Quaxo considering how his life had been until now, also Tugger wanted badly to have Quaxo ask for his help and advice. Though the blond man's dreams crashed when Quaxo easily took out a fork from his jacket's sleeve "W-What!?"asked Tugger surprised as Quaxo looked at him as if nothing weird had happened and neatly ate the fruit out of the tin can. "You can make knives disappear and reappear and you can conjure a fork out of thin air!You're magical Quaxo you truly are!"pointed out Tugger, his eyes sparkling from amazement and surprise, he was just so impressed by the short male's magic skills.

"Oh oh remember the ring trick you did when you first met me!? That was sick, literally, the rings where in your hand and then poof they were fucking gone, you even put one in my pocket! Or the card trick you did 10 minutes after that, you know where you made the card appear in the front seat! Ohhh oh! When you teleported inside the kupe, yeah there was smoke and it was freaky! The, the one with the cork, remember? When that guy dared you to try and do something with whatever item he gave you, and he chose the cork and you like did what, 6 or 7 different tricks with a cork? You can play any trick with a cork Quaxo it was impressive -!" and this is just as small part of Tugger mentioning, in a quiet tone, almost every trick Quaxo had ever shown him, he ranted and ranted talking extremely fast and Quaxo was just admiring how handsome Tugger looked when he was excited about something occasionally nodding or chuckling as he ate.

The rest of the night Tugger just kept talking about Quaxo's magic tricks and Quaxo ate 2 cans and planned on eating another one after he woke up, canned fruit wasn't that bad or at least didn't seem that bad due to how hungry he was. The couple took a quick nap together but as everyone would be walking up soon Tugger left his bed to Quaxo and went to sleep on Mungojerrie's bed which was empty. The twins had fallen asleep in the living room Teazer laying on the table her head falling off it and Jerrie was sleeping on 3 chairs that were placed close together but his legs were falling off the chair, they were also snoring and drooling Teazer's drool being a little too close to Jerrie's face, anyway Tugger had no problem in sleeping on Jerrie's bed. At 9 PM Munkustrap had woken all of them up including Quaxo, but Quaxo had fallen asleep again on the chair being too tired from last day to actually wake up and function. What woke Quaxo up was the loud train whistle and Teazer's constant poking.

Nervously the short male carried his bag out of the train followed by his 3 new friends and Tugger who by now wasn't simply a 'friend' anymore, Tugger was so much more and Quaxo couldn't wait to live with Tugger, see new places, make new memories and experiences with people much more suited to him than anyone left in London, let alone his uncle but they talked they didn't hang out. Plus Tugger made Quaxo feel a brand new feeling, something so pleasant and perfect he hadn't felt before but he could definitely get used to feeling.

They were now off the transsiberian express on their way to Beijing.

CHARACTER INFO

/I just wanted to make clear their appearances, ages, clothing and everything idk you don't have to read it, it's additional info, also i love the number 7 so i just kind of wanted to have 7 chapters instead of 6!heh~

Name: Mungo Jerry Clinton

Nicknames: Mungojerrie, Jerrie

Explanation: Mungo and Jerry are both real names Clinton is a surname that belonged to a rich family in London, it'll have something to do with his and Teazer's past so no more info revealed here!

Age: 22

Height: 5'7-5'8

Hair description: Red hair but the roots are this copper color, he has a spiky hair pixie haircut but it's a little longer than the usual one.

Eye color: Dark brown

Extra: He has orange freckles

Style: Usually wears his usual brown bomber jacket, they were pretty popular in the 50s, casual pants and on top he has a brown crop woolen patched vest and might wear a t-shirt or hawaian shirts.

Position in band: Knows how to play the saxophone and piano so he is the pianist and plays keyboard.

Name: Jo Clinton

Nicknames: Rumpleteazer, Teazer

Explanation: Jo is Teazer's actor in the 1998 musical and I LOVE that name for human Teazer! Clinton is a surname that belonged to a rich family in London, it'll have something to do with her and Jerrie's past so no more info revealed here!

Age: 22

Height: 5'6

Hair description: Red hair but the roots are this copper color, she has a spiky hair pixie haircut but it's a little longer than the usual one.

Eye color: Dark brown

Extra: She has dark orange freckles

Style: Being extremely ahead of her time Teazer doesn't usually wear skirts but she has a few long skirts but they aren't too lady-like or too fancy. She wears a blue and red bomber jacket and she takes her brother's shirts, women did wear shirts sometimes in the 50s, but she likes the looser fit of a male shirt. Loves wearing too many expensive jewelry for the heck of it, she has stolen pearls, diamonds and rubies in all sorts of jewelry.

Position in band: Drummer and self-taught but she's amazing. Sometimes does vocals but rarely

Name: Dawsey (old name) Tugger Page

Nicknames: Tugs

Explanation: Rum is a sweet drink and Dawsey (his old name) means something 'sweet' as well. Page is the name of Ken Page the actor of Old Deut

Age: 23

Height: 6'1-6'2

Hair description: Dark golden blond wavy hair that are just above shoulder length - if his hair was shorter then it would probably be curlier-

Eye color: Hazel

Extra: Has tried to smoke but coughs so he has cigarettes to show them off.

Style: Leather motorbike jacket a little old and oversized, he always wears it. He mostly wears t-shirts usually white but sometimes black if it's really really cold he wears a blouse. He also wears chokers and gets teased about it. He also wears fingerless gloves and might wear a ring or two but not too much

Position in band: Lead vocalist, might play guitar or bass but doesn't know many notes and chords so the other members help him with that and he just memories it. He's also the founder of the band.

Name: Edmund Page

Nicknames: Munkustrap, Munk

Explanation: Page is the surname of Ken Page who plays Old Deuteronomy in the 1998 filmed version. Edmund is an English and German name, it means protector of wealth, I found it pretty cool cause it has 'mun' and it means protector.

Age: 27-28 (I feel like I've made Munkustrap much older than the rest -)

Height: 6'0

Hair description: Black messy hair but also has achromotrichia caused by too much stress so he has some grey hair but it doesn't look bad it suits him actually.

Eye color: Grey

Extra: Rarely smokes, he doesn't like the smoke but people drive him nuts and he is so stressed that he needs it. But he doesn't smoke in front of people since he doesn't want to give off this 'bad/rebel American boy' vibe.

Style: Dress pants, shirts and cardigans, might wear a vest and never wears a blazer or any short of jacket if he has to, he wears a coat. Might wear gloves occasionally if it's too cold.

Position in band: Leader of the band kind of, he is the one that arranges almost everything even rehearsals and he is the one that writes most of the songs though the rest of the band (especially Jerrie Teazer and Tugger) always ends up changing up his song. He's also a vocalist and plays the bass sometimes. Lastly he handles the financial issue of the group.

Name: Quaxo Jones

Nicknames: Mr Mistoffelees (sometimes but will be more used later one), Angel (by Tugger), +many other cheesy nicknames (by Tugger)

Explanation: I headcanon Quaxo to be the same character as Mr Mistoffelees, many rich families do shit with their kids names so in the Jones family they give their first born son a unique name so Quaxo is named Quaxo. Jones is the surname of his uncle Bustopher Jones (another first born son btw), Quaxo's father didn't come from such an important family so he let his wife give her surname -Jones- to Quaxo and Victoria.

Age: 20

Height: 5'6

Hair description: Black (too black, they sometimes even look shiny just cause they're so dark) wavy short hair.

Eye color: Blue

Extra: He does magic tricks-

Style: Really close to 1920s style and they tell him he's old fashioned, he likes to wear shirts and suspenders or bowties or vests on top, he never wears shorts despite them being in fashion during the 50s, doesn't wear ties only bowties. He often wears black dress pants or black and white striped dress pants. Never wears too much color BUT he always some sequin and sparkly thing on, his favorite piece of clothing is his sequin bright blazer- He loves wearing rings and hats they are so fancy ~

Position in band: Ηe's not in the band BUT he does something to help them out during a concert (maybe) , you'll see later on.

Name: Victoria Jones

Nicknames: Vicky, Vic, Tori.

Explanation: Victoria is a human name, Jones is the surname of her uncle Bustopher Jones, Vicky's father didn't come from such an important family so he let his wife give her surname -Jones- to Quaxo and Victoria.

Age: 20

Height: 5'5-5'6

Hair description: Shoulder length straight platinum blond hair, really close to white.

Eye color: Blue

Extra: None

Style: Expensive dresses and long skirts, really elegant and beautiful style but she's not one to show off her wealth at least not in a snobbish way. She doesn't wear many jewelry but might wear a hat.

Position in band: -

Name: Plato Wayne

Nicknames: None

Explanation: Plato is a human name, Wayne is the surname of the actor who played Plato and Admetus in OLC (Steven Wayne)..

Age: 20-21

Height: 5'9-5'10

Hair description: Short chocolate brown hair naturally messy but he combes them oftenly.

Eye color: Brown

Extra: None

Style: Good quality cardigans and shirts, always wears long dress pants and never wears shorts much like Quaxo. He also likes to wear coats and gloves when it's cold.

Position in band: -

Characters that were mentioned and will appear in the potential sequel:

Name: Demeter Hall

Nicknames: None

Explanation: Demeter will keep her name, her surname is Hall like the actor who played Demeter in a 1999-2000 production. Her and Bombalurina share a mother but not a mother so they have different surnames.

Age: 26

Height: 5'7

Hair description: Bob cut, curly golden blonde hair, it has a really soft look and is a little messy but always looks nice.

Eye color: Chocolate brown

Extra: None

Style: Shirts and pants that are the latest fashion trend sometimes her pants mostly with patterns. Also wears dresses but not when she's alone or with a few people she feels too vulnerable and exposed. Doesn't wear jewelry much but she does wear earrings.

Position in band: Makeup artist, stylish and might do backup vocals. She's also the first one to hear Munkustrap's songs and occasionally helps Munkustrap with all of his responsibilities.

Name: Tana Ford

Nicknames: Bombalurina

Explanation: Bombalurina will be named Tana, it means light or fire or something like that. I used that name because of 'bomb' and she's also a fiery red cat so I wanted something fire related, it's also Greek like Demeter. Ford is the surname of the 1998 actor of Bombalurina, and her and Demeter have a different surname due to having a different father.

Age: 24

Height: 5'9

Hair description: Short, boyish red messy wavy hair that unlike her sister has a rough texture and look.

Eye color: Brown

Extra: None

Style: She enjoys wearing dresses with a leather jacket doing something unique considering the 1950s fashion. She also enjoys extreme colors especially if she's wearing pants and shirts. Also wears a choker sometimes after she saw Tugger. Almost always wears boots and not any other type of shoe.

Position in band: She is a vocalist, helps out her sister with makeup and wardrobe.

Name: Alonzo Morente

Nicknames: Lonzo, Lonz, Lonzie.

Explanation: Alonzo is a human name, Morente is a beautiful Spanish surname and since many people headcanon Alonzo to be Spanish i decided to go with it!

Age: 26

Height: 5'9-5'10

Hair description: Wavy black short hair but like not too short they reach a few inches below his ears but they're not shoulder length, he has also done the Elvis Presley haircut but everyone mocked him -

Eye color: Black.

Extra: He has a birthmark which is like a whiter small patch at the right side of his lips.

Style: Hawaian shirts shorts during the summer, he also wears shirts with loose and baggy sleeves, always black or brown pants if he's not wearing shorts and he might wear his leather jacket but he's grown out of his leather phase.

Position in band: Bassist and assists Munkustrap with all of his duties.