"Ow! Jerrie!"
"Sorry, luv," Mungojerrie apologised, blinking hard. His vision was swimming and he couldn't manage to focus on the female in front of him, his stumpy claws combing through the fur of her back.
It was barely half an hour since they had eaten the daily bucket of meat and he was feeling oddly drowsy, sitting on the edge of the mattress that stood along the back wall of the cage that they shared.
Only two days before, the racket outside their room had finally stopped and the little female's furtive peeks through the window, high in the wall, standing on the young tom's shoulders, had informed them that the trucks and building people had finally left them in peace.
Outside the window, there was apparently a massive enclosure, which had trees and what looked like a massive climbing frame in the middle of it, in all, everything that the two felids had ever imagined playing on.
Unfortunately, they were still trapped indoors, while all the good stuff was outside.
As they did daily, after eating and playing, they took turns grooming each other's coats, removing knots and tangles. It was soothing and it stopped them from going crazy with nothing to do.
Rumpleteaser was lazing on her belly on the floor in front of him, as he untangled the thick fur on her back, brushing straw and dirt out of it. Her eyes were half-closed, her tail tip flicking from side to side over her calves, and she yawned.
"Bloimey, Oi'm sleepy..."
"You too?" Turning to look at him, her head still resting on her crossed arms, her eyes were half-closed. "Do... they said something sedating us... do you think they might have... something... in the food?"
"Drugged it? Oi..." Rubbing his knuckles against his forehead, he yawned, revealing sharp white teeth and smacking his lips. "Dunno 'bout you, Teasah, but Oi'm pretty sure d'ey'd do that."
"And you peed on him, so he might have done it for fun."
Mungojerrie's nose wrinkled. "Don' tell me 'e wosn't askin' for it," he grumbled, trying to negotiate the blunt tip of a claw under a knit, to loosen it. "Standin' there, all shiny and propah... s'enough ter make yer puke, is that!"
"Or pee," Rumpleteaser suggested with a giggle.
"Dat an' all," the tom beamed at her, then hit the floor with a solid thump, landing squarely on his tail. "Bloimey! Where'd the bleedin' bed run off to?"
"You must have fallen..."
Sniffing indignantly, Mungojerrie levered himself back onto the edge of the bed and dropped his rear on it. Somehow, he managed to miss and landed on the floor in a heap again, looking very offended when Rumpleteaser started giggling.
"Now, Teasah! Dat just ain't funny, dat ain't!"
The queen stuffed her fingers in her mouth, choking on a giggle fit, eyes streaming with tears of mirth, as he picked up his bruised tail and rubbed it as if offended, a pout on his lips.
"I-I'm sorry," she hiccupped, one paw still at her mouth.
"Yeah, roight," Mungojerrie stuck his tongue out, still petting his bushy tail. "Oi dun fink so. Moi tail is all 'urt and you're sittin' there, gigglin'! Oi'll 'ave you know Oi moight 'ave done some permanent damage!"
"Good thing you didn't fall on your head then," Rumpleteaser grinned at him, showing all her teeth. "We'd be in real trouble then."
"Oi!"
Ducking a feeble swat, the little queen beamed at him. "Y'missed!"
"Yeah.." Mungojerrie looked at his paw, blinking in confusion. "Oi... Oi did..."
"Jerrie...?"
The tiger-striped tom raised unfocused amber eyes to her. Blinking again, he raised a paw to his head and rubbed his temple, his expression turning to one of confusion a second before he toppled over.
"Jerrie!"
Scrambling to his side, Rumpleteaser tried to stave off her own dizziness, turning him onto his back and pressing her ear against his chest. His heart was pounding, but slower than usual.
Giving him a shake, she patted his face. "Jerrie, wake up..." she moaned. "Please... I don't like being on my own... please... don't die... don't die..."
Swaying where she knelt, her hands on his shoulders started to feel numb. She tried to shake him again, but it felt like such and effort, blackness seeping into her vision and she tried to find the energy to lift herself, to move, to cry out.
It was like having a thick, dark blanket thrown over her, the air tightening in her chest, her lungs tightening. She sank forward, the warmth of Mungojerrie's chest pressing against her face, as her consciousness was snatched away from her.
By the time she came around, it seemed like hours had passed, sunlight oozing in through the high window at the top of the wall, the beam of light slashing across her eyes and making her flinch.
Struggling to sit, she raised a heavy arm to shield her eyes, blinking.
Daylight.
Brilliantly bright daylight.
"Jerrie," she croaked, nudging the tom, who was sprawled on his back beside her.
That was when she remembered the incidents that had lead up to her finding herself draped over the tiger tom's body: dizziness, mention of drugged food, Mungojerrie falling and then darkness...
Her head was throbbing and she still felt dizzy and sick. Whatever they had eaten in the food, it hadn't been something good and she had to blink several times to stop the world from spinning around her.
She had eaten less than he had, so it did look like it had been the food, especially since he was still obviously unconscious.
Or at least closer to unconsciousness than being awake and aware.
Quiet whimpers were escaping him and he was shaking, his face contorted in a combination of pain and fear. His lips peeled back from his teeth, his paw trembling wildly by his sides.
Edging closer, Rumpleteaser hesitantly touched his arm. "J-Jerrie?"
His arm savagely jerked free from her paw and he curled in on himself. His knees were pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapping over his head, as a low, painful whine escaped his throat.
Touching his shoulder, her paw trembling, Rumpleteaser shook him. "Jerrie, wake up," she whispered tearfully. "Please... wake up..."
The whining sound he was making rose in pitch and Rumpleteaser screamed aloud, when he jerked around, his blunt-clawed paws lashing out and striking her in the face and chest, sending her crashing against the bars of the pen.
Crying out in pain, she connected with the parallel rods of metal, blood seeping from her nose and lips, which had burst when he had struck her across the face, bruises blossoming on her back.
Shaking, she pushed herself upright using the bars, the pads of her paws slipping on the metal and she stared wildly at the tom, who was cringing back against the wall on the opposite side of the cage.
"J-Jerrie?"
His arms folded over his head, he was rocking back and forward, whimpering softly, his tail thrashing wildly from side to side.
"Not 'ere... not 'ere... dey can' be...not 'ere... not again... not again..." His frantic whispers reached her ears and she cocked her head, confused, one ear sinking to one side, worry etched on her face.
"Jerrie?"
"Dey can't be 'ere... dey can't be... not again..."
Wiping her bloody lip and nose on the back of her paw, her back aching, she started to crawl towards him, wondering if it was safe to go anywhere near him, when he was in this kind of mood.
"Jerrie, can you hear me?"
The tom was whimpering again, his body shivering. She could see that his blunt claws were pressed so hard against the flesh of his upper arms that they were biting through the coarse fur and actually drawing blood.
Less than an arm's length from him, she hesitantly stretched out an arm and touched his toes, yanking her arm back quickly enough to avoid a reflex kick.
"Jerrie," she called out, a little louder. "Jerrie, listen... it's Teaser. Can you hear me, Jerrie?" His whines softened slightly and she continued to repeat his name over and over again. "Come on, Jerrie... come on... come back to me, Jerrie... tell me what's wrong... tell me what happened..."
Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, Mungojerrie started to lower his arms, his shaking black-furred paws hiding his face for several minutes.
"Don't be afraid, Jerrie... it's just me... it's just Teaser... no one else..."
Amber eyes, the pupils enormous, squinted between black fingers and Mungojerrie uttered a frenzied sob, his hands falling away from his face, as he launched himself into her arms, clinging to her and shuddering with sobs.
Hugging him tightly, Rumpleteaser felt his wiry arms lock securely around her waist, his face buried in the curve of her throat and shoulder, his tears soaking her fur as he clung to her.
"Oi-Oi-Oi had a dream..." he whispered, as his cries started to tail off. "It... Oi fought they 'ad taken me back... taken me back to the labs... Oi... Oi fought dey'd taken me away... away from you... an' were gonna 'urt me again..."
"You're safe, Jerrie, you're safe," Nuzzling his shoulder, neck and mane, she rocked him in her arms, his heart racing wildly against her side, so rapidly she was convinced it would burst out of his chest. "I'm here... you're safe..."
"Oi... Oi don't wanna leave ya, Teasah..." he whispered desperately. "Oi don't wanna be on my own again... Oi can't be on my own again... Oi... Oi coulden go back to fing like that... Oi coulden..."
"I won't let them hurt you, Jerrie, I promise," Rumpleteaser replied, her voice low, combing her fingers through his mane. "You and me... we'll be together forever... I won't let anyone take you away..."
Mungojerrie nodded against her shoulder and slowly lifted his face to hers, the weak smile that was on his lips fading the moment he saw her face. His ears flattened out, a horrified look on his face.
"Jerrie? What is it?"
A shaking hand pointed at her and he pulled back. "Oi... Oi 'urt ya..." he gasped, horror and panic etched on his features. "Oi... Oi 'urt ya and Oi didden even realise... bloody 'ell... Oi... Oi shoulden be near ya..."
Rumpleteaser raised a hand to her face, touching the tender spots. Blood was still trickling from her nose, her cracked lip scabbing over already. "It's all right, Jerrie," she said, trying to smile without it hurting. "I'm okay."
"But yer... yer bleedin'! I made yer bleed!" Staring at his black paws as if they had betrayed him, his shaking began again, tears filling his eyes. Scrambling backwards, he pressed into the corner of the room. "You shoulden come near me, Teasah... Oi moight 'urt ya again..."
"You were having a nightmare, Jerrie," Rumpleteaser said softly, approaching him.
"But Oi moight 'ave anover one!"
"Not if you sleep beside me, Jerrie..." she said, her hands raised in a calming, placating gesture. "You can't have a nightmare about being on your own, if I'm right there beside you..."
Shaking his head wildly, Mungojerrie wrapped his arms over his head again, a soft whimpering escaping him. "Oi dun wanna 'urt you..." he whispered shakily. "Oi dun wanna 'urt you, Teasah..."
Coming alongside him, Rumpleteaser gently grasped his wrists and pulled his paws down from his head, releasing his arms and lifting his face between her paws, a small smile on her lips.
"You didn't hurt me this time, did you?" she said, stroking his cheek.
"But wot if Oi..."
"Sh," Her fingertips pressed lightly against his lips and she shook her head. "You aren't going to hurt me, Jerrie, and if you do, I'll know that it was an accident."
"Yer... ye're gonna stay..." His voice was so timid and plaintive, that she couldn't help leaning in and gathering him up in her arms. Burying her face in his mane, she purred comfortingly, hugging him tightly.
"I am, Jerrie," she whispered, thrusting her fingers into his wiry mane and holding him tightly to her. "You're not getting rid of me. You're never getting rid of me, I promise. Even when you want rid of me..."
"S'nevah gonna 'appen, Teasah..."
Kneeling up, she bit him sharply on the edge of his ear, making him yell in surprised indignation. "Even if I do that?" she asked, giving him a light grin.
Mungojerrie wrinkled his nose, his eyes still glassy with tears, but a tiny suggestion of a smile touched the corner of his lips. "Oi dunno, luv," he replied, as she snuggled against his chest. "Oi could get used to dat."
"How about this?" She nipped his neck. Mungojerrie closed his eyes, drawing a slow breath to try and smother the tingle of pleasure that shot through him from that tiny bit of contact.
"Could like dat an' all," he managed to reply.
Green eyes met amber and she gave him a coy smile. "And this?" she asked softly, before pressing her lips to his.
When she pulled back, Mungojerrie's face cracked into a broad, delight grin. "Oi fink Oi moight be able ter cope wif dat an' all, y'know," he said, then sniffed proudly. "Oi'm a tough bloke, Oi am!"
"Is that so?"
"Yeah!"
"In that case..." A wicked grin crept onto Rumpleteaser's face and Mungojerrie - sensing danger - immediately tried to squirm free and flee from her, but nowhere near fast enough. "Take this like a tom!"
Girly screams rang out as the tom was slide-tackled, rolled across the floor onto his back, then was pinned and tickled mercilessly by Rumpleteaser, who laughed with madcap glee as Mungojerrie wailed futilely for mercy.