I Give You 6
I Give You... VI

Tugger walked past the big tire in the center of the Junkyard. He smiled at the trail of queens and queen kits he had following him, keeping up the fascade of the ultimate ladies' tom that he was so known for. At his feet, Etcetera giggled and occasionally made a move to tag his tail, Bombalurina stayed away an exact distance from him, wanting him to know that she was there, but at the same time not wanting to make herself look too avalible. She was still sore about being rebuffed the previous evening. Electra, Victoria and Jemima also trailed Tugger closely, but were kept at a slightly larger distance because of Etcetera's exhuberant bouncing around. Tantomile was absent tonight, as was Cassandra.

"Tugger, could you sing for us?!" Etcetra asked, bouncing a little as she asked. "Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaase?! It's been forever since you did it last!" Electra gave her friend a look and a small bap to the head.

"Silly." she stuck her tungue out at Etcetera, "You asked him to last night, and he did for a solid hour."

Victoria and Jemima nodded. "Yeah, you keep asking and he won't do it for us anymore." Jemima added. Etcetera's ears drooped a little, and her tail curved under her legs.

"Sorry." she said quietly, circling her toe in the dirt. Tugger looked at the queen kit's abashed look and sighed. It was going to take forever to make sure that Quaxo had gotten back to his pipe safely.

***

Quaxo staggered around in the blackness. Mistoffelees? he cried out, fustrated, at the mysterious voices. What does that mean?

::Contenplate the word. The meaning will become clear...:: the voice answered, slowly trailing off into nothingness.

Quaxo dashed frantically every which way, trying to find the source of the voice, but unable to do so. Wait! Please!

After a moment, there was nothing but the sound of Quaxo's tired breathing. He looked up.

The stars had come back out again, as had the Moon.

Beautiful... All thoughts of the voice gone at the magnificant sight. So close... He would never see them this close in the Junkyard.

::Ineffable...::

What was it the voice had said? Mistoffelees? What did that mean. It was nonsense to him...

::Effable...::

Quaxo felt something stir in the back of his mind. There was something to it... But what?

::Effanineffable...::

A tightness welled up in Quaxo's throat. What that..? No, it couldn't be! Cats were supposed to contemplate it, not actually find it until they went to the Heaviside Layer!

::Deep and inscrutable...::

Heat. The same heat as that which had seized him the night before. Quaxo felt it welling up, this time from within his body. More intense this time, as if it were trying to burn every last bit of what used to be Quaxo out of him to make way for someone new.

::Singular name... name... name... name... name...::

Quaxo let out a silent scream, falling to his knees, doing everything he could to get the heat out. But it was useless. The heat continued to rise until even the stars went out...

***

Quickly slipping away from the queens while they were bickering over just who would get to dance with him, Tugger made his way quietly towards Quaxo's pipe. Checking to make sure that he had not been followed, the maned tom crept towards his goal. He was momentarily unnerved; however, when he heard the sounds of a cat thrashing about, and soft moans that sounded that they were emminating from Quaxo reached his ears. To his horror, upon ducking into the pipe, he found the small tom curled in a ball, hands covering his head. His tail was between his legs, and Tugger could hear a faint wimpering coming from Quaxo's shivering figure. Gently grabbing Quaxo's shoulders, Tugger pulled the black tom close to him, disregarding the mud that still caked his fur. "Quaxo..." he whispered softly into the other tom's ear. "Quaxo, it's okay. I'm here." he said, trying to comfort Quaxo as best he could, gently stroking his head and keeping him close with his arm.

After a few minutes, Quaxo's body seemed to shake less, and his eyes began to focus again. Slowly, he looked up at Tugger, confused. "Wh... what happened?" he asked shakily. Tugger kept gently stroking the back of Quaxo's head.

"You looked like you got a little upset over something." Tugger said softly. "But whatever it was, it's gone now." The two of them sat quietly for a while, Quaxo content just to hear the soft heartbeat and feel the rhythmic rise and fall of Tugger's chest. The smaller tom nuzzled the side of his face to Tugger's chest, feeling secure and warm. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" Tugger asked. "You know I'll listen to whatever's bothering you."

Quaxo sighed. How could he tell Tugger anything, dispite how much he wanted to. Jellicle's never told their third names to anyone... Of course, Jellicles also didn't usually have their third names told to them by mysterious voices. "Tugger..." Quaxo half-whispered/half-wimpered, "I don't know if I can." He looked down, ashamed.

Tugger frowned a little. "Quaxo?"

Quaxo winced at the hint of hurt that he heard in Tugger's voice. He knew that he should be able to trust Tugger, especialy after the previous night. Quaxo felt his eyes start to dampen. "Tugger, I'm sorry!" He cried, pulling himself closer to Tugger, wanting the older tom to see that he didn't mean to hurt him. "I want to tell you..!"

"Then why can't you?" Tugger asked, gently pushing Quaxo back by the shoulders. "Quaxo, if you want this... Us, to work, don't lock yourself away from me." He looked down at Quaxo, but the smaller tom couldn't meet his gaze. With a sigh, Tugger lifted his hands from Quaxo's shoulders and stood up to leave.

Quaxo stayed on the floor, silent shudders threatening to overcome his body. "Tugger... please..." he begged. The maned tom stopped, but didn't turn.

"What do you want me to do, Quaxo?" he asked. "You won't let me get close to help you. I thought I proved myself to you last night, but I guess I was wrong."

Quaxo jumped up. "Tugger, that's not fair!" he protested. "I can't help that I'm frightened."

"Then let me help you!" Tugger shot back.

"Tugger, it isn't that easy!" Quaxo practically shouted at Tugger. " There's just too much! I'm hearing these voices, feeling like I'm being burned from the inside out, being told that my Ineffible Name is 'Mistoffelees' and..." His voice trailed off in a sob as he crouched down, resting on the balls of his feet, his face held in his hands. Quaxo's body shook from crying. Why can't he understand?

"Mistoffelees?" Tugger asked, turning around. Curious Cat he was indeed.

::Mistoffelees...:: Quaxo let out a yelp, this time more from shock than pain, as a blue flare surrounded his hands, scorching the air around them. Tugger took a step forward to help Quaxo, but had to back off from the heat, which oddly enough, did not seem to be affecting Quaxo so much as the light was. The small tom's eyes were glazed over and didn't seem to be looking at anything. He slowly stood, using the wall of the pipe as support. Tugger could see that he was laboring to breathe. Once again he moved to help Quaxo, and was once again rebuffed by the intense heat.

Quaxo gasped as he felt the light start to cover him again, following the same path as it had the night before. But it wasn't painful this time. It was an odd sensation, like something was filling him. The seeds of what had been planted within his body the night before were growing, filling every last bit of him. Quaxo wanted to call to Tugger, wanted to feel the warm safety of his arms around him... but his voice failed him. Tugger could only watch Quaxo as the small tom struggled to stay on his feet. Quaxo's blue eyes momentarily fixed on him, pleading for Tugger to offer some solice.

Suddenly the blue seemed to engulf Quaxo entirely, forcing Tugger to turn away to shield his eyes. When it had subsided, Tugger turned back to see Quaxo looking like he had the previous night: sleek, black, beautiful.

All energy seemed to flood out of the small tom. "Tugger..." Quaxo tried to step forwards, but his legs seemed to give out from beneath him. Moving quickly, Tugger surged forward to catch Quaxo in his arms now that the heat had vanished. The small tom folded into Tugger's grasp, and huddled in his embrace. "Why Tugger?" he wimpered softly. "Why did you call me that name?"

"Because you said it." Tugger answered softly, gently stroking Quaxo's trembling body. "Is it really that? Your Ineffible Name?"

Quaxo was still for a moment, and then slowly nodded his head. "I think so." he whispered. "Why else would this happen?"

"I donno, Quaxo." Tugger replied.

Quaxo... He was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he shook his head slowly. "No." he sighed. "No, that's not right anymore. I can't run from it anymore. I can't pretend it's not happening to me."

"So you're Mistoffelees now?" Tugger asked quietly, praying that his saying that would not cause the small tom more pain.

"I think it depends... I think when I'm this way," Mistoffelees said slowly as he indicated his present state, "I'm Mistoffelees. When I'm back the other way, I'm Quaxo."

Tugger sighed. "That's going to be confusing."

Mistoffelees looked up. "Tugger?"

"Yeah?"

"Could... Could we keep this just between the two of us for right now?" Mistoffelees asked. "I don't know how I could really go about telling the others."

Tugger nodded. "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. Explaining how you got so clean as Quaxo is going to be hard enough."

"And I still have to figure out the why of this." Mistofelees added. "This wouldn't happen without a reason behind it. The Everlasting Cat wouldn't permit it."

For a while the two simply lay there, nither wanting to do anything to disturb the moment. Slowly, Mistoffelees raised a hand, tentitively, towards Tugger's face. When his fingertips reached Tugger's cheek, the older tom looked down with a questioning look. Mistoffelees drew his hand away for a brief moment, but then placed it gently along Tugger's strong jaw again.

"Tugger," he said softly, "I wanted to say I'm sorry. I should have trusted you more."

Tugger smiled and pulled Mistoffelees closer to him. "I should be apologizing to you." he replied. "You had every right to be scared. I should have been more understanding."

"Does that make everything even?" Mistoffelees smiled.

"Yeah, I guess it does." Tugger smiled back, at the same time letting a hand fall and brush Mistoffelees' back. The black tom shivered a little, this time from pleasure. He knew what could lie ahead this time. "Like that?" Tugger grinned a bit at Mistoffelees' reaction.

"Tease." Mistoffelees purred, in spite of himself. He looked down at Tugger's chest. "You know you're filthy." he whispered.

Tugger grinned. "That would be your fault."

"My fault?" Misoffelees pretended to look shocked. "As I seem to recall, the mud disguise was your idea."

"But you got it all over me." Tugger pointed out.

A mischivious grin passed over Misoffelees' face. It was that same impish smile that Tugger had seen earlier, and he decided that it very defenitely fit Mistoffelees' face. "So I suppose I should be the one to do something about it?"

Tugger nodded. "You could at least help me find a water hole to clean up..." he paused when he felt something gently running along the legnth of his chest. Mistoffelees' tungue gently ran over Tugger's smooth fur, cleaning it of the dirt that the smaller tom had rubbed off on him earlier. Gradually, the grooming became more tender and more sensual as the smaller tom came closer to Tugger's face. Moaning softly, Tugger reclined onto his back, giving Mistoffelees more freedom of movement. Slowly, soft kisses replaced the gentle tungue. Mistoffelees straddled Tugger's hips and slowly made his way up from the larger tom's chest to his neck, leaving a trail of kisses behind. "Mistoffelees..." Tugger groaned softly as he felt the small tom's lips. Mistoffelees paused and lay his chin on Tugger's chest.

"Yes?" He asked quietly.

"You're going to have to stop."

Mistoffelees sat up and looked puzzled. "Why? I... I thought..."

It was Tugger's turn to smile. "Don't want you getting skewered." he aswered, reaching a hand back to unfasten his collar. Tossing the spiked collar to one side, Tugger wrapped his arms around Mistoffelees and gently pulled him back down against his own body. "Ready?" he asked. Mistoffelees nodded with a small smile. "Good." Tugger purred as he drew Mistoffelees closer.

Mistoffelees felt a warm surge rush through his body as their lips touched. He moaned a little, and his body pressed itself against Tugger's. Tugger's fingers stroked his back lightly, massaging the legnth from his neck to the base of his tail. One hand carelessly found its way over to Mistoffelees' font, and the small tom gave a surprised gasp which faded into a moan of pleasure as he felt a unfamiliar, but increadibly pleasurable, wave of heat well up. Tugger smiled and brushed Mistoffelees' face with the back of his hand. "Did you like that?" Mistoffelees nodded, a little shaken, and enjoying the lingering feeling of the touch. "Then how about I show you a little more?"

Before Mistoffelees could say annything, the small tom found himself on his back looking into the rich brown eyes of the Rum Tum Tugger. He knew instinctively what was about to happen, but wanted to let Tugger lead him. Gently, Tugger lowered himself so that he was only inches from Mistoffelees. "Let me know if you want me to stop." he whispered into Mistoffelees' ear. "I don't want to hurt you." Mistoffelees nodded, his heart racing.

Those words never came.

The only sounds were soft moans of pleasure from both toms throughout the night.