Wow. That last one took me awhile. It wasn't very long but when you get
interrupted every five minutes by a little Peke (or brother) name Nick, it
can take longer than it needs to.
Chapter six ~**Chilling Confession and Righteous Revenge**~
Mungojerry snuck in through the hole as quietly as he could. Having seemed so sure of himself when he left Sophanispa, he had suddenly lost all his courage at the scent of his partner in crime.
He didn't see her sprawled on the cushion as he tip toed past, trying to find a place to hide before she discovered him. Little did he know, she'd already spotted him and was following him as silently as he was hiding from her. She jumped up onto the oak table just as Mungojerry turned to look behind him. When he turned back to front, she was there before him, smiling sweetly, her hands held at the hips.
"Whot did'ya bring beck?" she asked him expectantly.
"Eh," he stammered. He didn't have anything because he hadn't gone anywhere.
"Ya mean ya dint go no 'ere!?"
"Uh, yea," he answered downcast.
She turned her back on him and his face fell. How could he tell her now! She was mad at him. 'Oi've failed ya, Sopha,' he thought silently. Then an idea occurred to him he looked up at Rumpleteazer who still had her back turned.
"The truth is, Teaza," he began shyly. "Oi cain't do anythin' wit'out me pa'tner 'n croime." She still didn't turn around.
"Whot Oi mean is," he continued foolhardily. "Oi cain't do anythin' wit'out ya 'cause you be me pa'tner 'n croime, ya know!"
"Oh really," her voice sounded strange for some reason. Mungojerry hoped that was a good sign. She turned her head partway, her face completely serious.
"Oi jus' realoized tonoight," he stumbled along. "'At Oi-a-um. AHEM! Oi a koinda loi-" 'Oi cain't do it!' he thought. Then he came out with it completely.
"Sopha sed Oi shou' tell ya 'ow Oi feel an' Oi'm gonna do it!" he closed his eyes tightly so as not to see her face. "Oi loik ya, Teaza! Oi mean, Oi loik ya in 'AT wai!"
He listened to the silence around him and slowly opened his eyes to find Rumpleteazer staring at him in complete shock. Her eyes were open wide and her lips apart in a silent gasp. Mungojerry saw that and took it as a rejection. He turned to run, making his way towards the escape hole. Like before with Tugger, Rumpleteazer made a leap and landed on his back, this time taking the tom down to the ground.
They landed with Mungojerry on the bottom, Rumpleteazer perched upon his stomach. His hands were on her waist and she leaned on his chest like he was her prey.
"Did ya mean all 'at?" she whispered into his face. He nodded slowly and she grinned.
She kissed him demandingly with her eyes closed. He was so surprised that he just lay there, letting her do it, but then he reciprocated, fulfilling his promise to Sophanispa.
Rumpleteazer rolled off to his side and whispered in his ear, "Oi loik you, too."
This was when they heard the scream off in the distance. They looked at each other and said in unison, "Macavity!"
~}~}~}~}~}~}~}{~{~{~{~{~{~{~
Bombalurina stood off to the side of her old car and gazed across the expanse of the junkyard at the tree. The little golden cat hadn't come down from the tree and neither had the object of her affections. Jemima poked her head out of the car window and called to her sister.
"Bombalurina," she whispered. "Come inside! You'll be there all night if you wait for her." Bombalurina gave one last look to the tree and decided Jemima was right.
She slinked in through the open window and sat upon the back seat, pouting miserably.
"Why is she up there!?" she cried. "Tugger's never had any queen stay the night before. What's going on!?"
"I'm sure there's an explanation to it," Jemima comforted. "After all, Sophanispa's only arrived today. I don't think anything like that is going on."
"But she's been around him all day!" Bombalurina cried, hiding her face in her hands.
"But did you notice that she's the only queen not enamored with him?" Jemima pointed out. "We were all chasing him, you, Cassandra, and Tantomile watching with quite some interest, while she only glanced at him. She was more interested with what we were doing to stop him and in the end, she's the one who caught him and ended up with him chasing her!"
"He never wants what he has," Bombalurina moaned. "Only what he can't have, or what doesn't want him. He looked so shocked! I've never seen him with that look on his face before."
"No queen has ever gotten the best of him before," Jemima said obviously. "A new reaction for a new event. I don't think anyone's ever gotten the best of him."
"No," Bombalurina agreed. "But Macavity almost did. If Sophanispa hadn't jumped back down from the tree, Macavity would have torn Tugger to bits."
"Do you think he cannot fight?" Jemima asked.
"Oh, he can fight," she answered somberly. "He'd just rather not if he has to. It's when he's not threatened that he really fights. He'll pretend to fight shadows with a fervor reserved for war but when he needs to fight, he'll run or talk his opponent out of the mood." She looked utterly miserable as she rested her chin on the headrest of the seat in front of her.
"Bombalurina," Jemima said firmly. "You have no reason to be sad right now! There is nothing going on between them!"
"Then why did he try to save her from Macavity?" Bombalurina asked. "She took his collar and out maneuvered him in front of the majority of the Jellicle tribe. He had every reason to leave her down there for Macavity to take and he missed the opportunity. That means something to me, Jemima."
"Maybe he wants to use her to get his collar back," Jemima thought aloud. She didn't know how right she was; only she was a few hours late on that conclusion. Tugger's interests had already shifted.
"Maybe you're right," Bombalurina sighed. She rolled over and stretched out on the seat, falling listlessly into sleep in a matter of moments.
"That was easier than I thought," Jemima whispered to herself, thinking of another tom that was clearly passing Tugger in her opinion. She fell asleep dreaming of his face.
~}~}~}~}~}~}~}{~{~{~{~{~{~{~
Mungojerry sat up, his ears perked. "'At was Sopha! We go'ta 'elp her!"
He held his paw out to Rumpleteazer who threaded her smaller one into it. He stood and pulled her to her feet as well and suddenly they were out of the compound and running full out across the lawn in Victoria Grove. It didn't take them long to get to the clearing but by the time they did arrive, everyone was gone. The notorious couple moved into the shadows and listened. Mungojerry was looking around the terrain but Rumpleteazer's ears were in the air as she heard hushed voices coming from Tugger's tree. She recognized her brother's voice and what might have been Bombalurina or the new cat.
"Jerry," she whispered. "'Oose 'n Tugga's tree?"
"Sounds loik Sopha ta me," he said after intently listening. "She's so smot! Oi don' know whot Oi wou' 'ave done wit'out her 'elp."
Rumpleteazer, however, wasn't listening. She had a sly little grin on her sweet face and a gleam in her eye that screamed of a plan.
"Les go 'ome, Jerry," she said after a while.
~}~}~}~}~}~}~}{~{~{~{~{~{~{~
"It's Macavity, isn't it," Tugger asked seriously. He was sunk comfortably into his beanbag chair and gazing at Sophanispa who lounged on the floor.
"What do you mean?" she retorted defensively.
"He's the one you used to live with! The one who kept you under wraps all the time, and also the one who sent you on maraudinous errands."
She looked at him in consideration, wondering if she should tell him the entire story. She decided no one needed to know that much about her, especially not the heartthrob of the Jellicle tribe.
"You're partly right," she allowed. "Macavity was my holder and he did order me to run his dirty errands for him once in a while, but the conditions under which I stayed were not living at all, merely existing. I would not wish that on anyone, no matter whom they were."
"So you're like Demeter," he added after a moment of silence. He was utterly void of his usual air, which was a relief to Sophanispa. She flinched when He playfully rolled off the beanbag and nudged her.
"Who's she?" Sophanispa asked. She lay upon her stomach; her upper body supported by her arms, bent at the elbow the, lower arm resting on the floor. He moved to mimick her, lying just beside her.
"Do you remember earlier today when you freaked out during the fight over my collar," he thumbed one of the spikes on the object as it was mentioned. "You were trembling all over and sitting on me so I couldn't move?"
"How could I forget," she said flatly.
"Well," he continued. "Then you must also remember the queen that screamed and reached out to you from the crowd."
"Vaguely," she answered. "I remember her coloring and her actions but her face will not register if I see her again."
"That was Demeter," Tugger told her. "She had been kept for two years by Macavity. I believe they used to have a thing going on before he turned into the monster he's known as today. She somehow escaped a while back and ran back here. We've protected her ever since but Macavity stopped coming around. Tonight is the first time I have seen him in months. In fact, hardly noticeable unless one had touched him, he feels different, stronger somehow."
"As much as I detest doing it," she added. "I agree with you." She gave him a glance and a grin.
He grinned back and waited for her to turn her head. He then hit her with his hip and sent her rolling towards the edge of the floor. He had obviously misjudged the distance for when she tumbled off the edge, he was genuinely surprised. He stumbled to the edge and was about to look down when Sophanispa gave a great kick from where she hung, propelling herself back over the edge. Little did she know that Tugger was nearly at the cusp when she did so.
There was a crash in which a barrel of buttons tipped over, raining buttons on the ground below the tree. Sophanispa had her eyes shut tightly and her paws clutched to her chest. She hadn't known he'd been there and hadn't meant to hit him but how was he going to know that? 'He's going to throw me out now,' she thought. 'Then Macavity's going to eat me!' She opened her eyes slowly and got an even bigger shock.
He was but inches away with that serious look on his face. She realized that one of his arms was under her side and curved around, supporting her back, the other placed firmly at her waist. She was full of confusion and fear but his face was impassive and void of anything. He breathed in and out normally while she held hers, afraid of moving any closer. She was rendered completely speechless.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tugger spoke. "Do you really feel nothing?"
She blinked and found her voice. "What do you mean?"
He laughed shortly, not moving from his position.
She frowned at him and pushed on his chest a bit with her paws.
"I mean," he continued, full of mirth. "That you do not succumb to my charms as the other queens do. Are you taken or are you just a closed book?"
"That is none of your business," she told him curtly. She began to push harder against him and he consequentially tightened his grip on her. His face had retained its seriousness.
"What is up with you?" she asked a bit strained. "You were so playful a minute ago. Why are you acting all weird all of a sudden?" She had stopped struggling but rather than let him bring her closer, she held him at bay by stiffening her arms against his chest.
"Maybe I'm just trying to get a reaction out of you," he whispered.
"And maybe I'm going to kick your flirtatious ass if you don't let me go this instant!" Tugger only stared at her with strangely dilated eyes.
'I'm going to bite him,' she thought. She prepared to strike when finally Tugger let her go and rolled away with all the liquid grace a cat possesses. She was left dumbstruck, suddenly cold with lack of bodily heat.
"What was that all about?" she asked when he was a safe distance away.
"I told you," he answered. "I refuse to believe that you can look at me and not have some feeling for me."
"My," she giggled. "Aren't we modest?"
He only smiled at her.
"If you don't mind," she told him. "I'm going to sleep now."
And that was exactly what she did. She curled up, using a small cushion that had been wedged somewhere, and soon her breathing became labored.
Tugger waited awhile before trying his plan out. He didn't know how well she slept but judging by the last time he'd woken her, he guessed that she would sleep heavy enough to enact the plan. Things are revealed within sleep and certain things could extract the secret Tugger wanted.
He carefully pulled her over, after an adequate time had elapsed. He did this by manipulating her small shoulders, taking care not to jar her too roughly, lest she wake. He made a dent in the beanbag and placed her within it. It was big enough that they would both fit nicely within the center.
After he'd arranged her so she would be comfortable, he breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, she was still sleeping and looked most peaceful, even after her unconscious shifting via Tugger. He smiled and slid in beside her, His weight causing the beanbag to dip in his favor and also causing the little queen to fall gently against his chest of her own accord, or rather gravity's accord. He smiled again as he wrapped his arms around her sleeping form thinking, 'No one gets the best of the one and only Rum Tum Tugger.'
~}{~
Far off, in the Victoria Grove yard, someone thought, 'No one gets the best of the notorious Rumpleteazer.'
~}{~
"No one gets the best of the Hidden Paw," someone growled in the darkness within the confines of a far away hideout.
Well, we'll see won't we? Who do you guys think Sophanispa is! HINT* Read the summary. Send me your answers (and your email) as to who you think she is. The winner gets a prize! Also, whom should I pair her with? If she doesn't like Tugger (which it seems she doesn't) who else is out there?! Send me answers people! I AM DESPERATE FOR THEM!!!
Chapter six ~**Chilling Confession and Righteous Revenge**~
Mungojerry snuck in through the hole as quietly as he could. Having seemed so sure of himself when he left Sophanispa, he had suddenly lost all his courage at the scent of his partner in crime.
He didn't see her sprawled on the cushion as he tip toed past, trying to find a place to hide before she discovered him. Little did he know, she'd already spotted him and was following him as silently as he was hiding from her. She jumped up onto the oak table just as Mungojerry turned to look behind him. When he turned back to front, she was there before him, smiling sweetly, her hands held at the hips.
"Whot did'ya bring beck?" she asked him expectantly.
"Eh," he stammered. He didn't have anything because he hadn't gone anywhere.
"Ya mean ya dint go no 'ere!?"
"Uh, yea," he answered downcast.
She turned her back on him and his face fell. How could he tell her now! She was mad at him. 'Oi've failed ya, Sopha,' he thought silently. Then an idea occurred to him he looked up at Rumpleteazer who still had her back turned.
"The truth is, Teaza," he began shyly. "Oi cain't do anythin' wit'out me pa'tner 'n croime." She still didn't turn around.
"Whot Oi mean is," he continued foolhardily. "Oi cain't do anythin' wit'out ya 'cause you be me pa'tner 'n croime, ya know!"
"Oh really," her voice sounded strange for some reason. Mungojerry hoped that was a good sign. She turned her head partway, her face completely serious.
"Oi jus' realoized tonoight," he stumbled along. "'At Oi-a-um. AHEM! Oi a koinda loi-" 'Oi cain't do it!' he thought. Then he came out with it completely.
"Sopha sed Oi shou' tell ya 'ow Oi feel an' Oi'm gonna do it!" he closed his eyes tightly so as not to see her face. "Oi loik ya, Teaza! Oi mean, Oi loik ya in 'AT wai!"
He listened to the silence around him and slowly opened his eyes to find Rumpleteazer staring at him in complete shock. Her eyes were open wide and her lips apart in a silent gasp. Mungojerry saw that and took it as a rejection. He turned to run, making his way towards the escape hole. Like before with Tugger, Rumpleteazer made a leap and landed on his back, this time taking the tom down to the ground.
They landed with Mungojerry on the bottom, Rumpleteazer perched upon his stomach. His hands were on her waist and she leaned on his chest like he was her prey.
"Did ya mean all 'at?" she whispered into his face. He nodded slowly and she grinned.
She kissed him demandingly with her eyes closed. He was so surprised that he just lay there, letting her do it, but then he reciprocated, fulfilling his promise to Sophanispa.
Rumpleteazer rolled off to his side and whispered in his ear, "Oi loik you, too."
This was when they heard the scream off in the distance. They looked at each other and said in unison, "Macavity!"
~}~}~}~}~}~}~}{~{~{~{~{~{~{~
Bombalurina stood off to the side of her old car and gazed across the expanse of the junkyard at the tree. The little golden cat hadn't come down from the tree and neither had the object of her affections. Jemima poked her head out of the car window and called to her sister.
"Bombalurina," she whispered. "Come inside! You'll be there all night if you wait for her." Bombalurina gave one last look to the tree and decided Jemima was right.
She slinked in through the open window and sat upon the back seat, pouting miserably.
"Why is she up there!?" she cried. "Tugger's never had any queen stay the night before. What's going on!?"
"I'm sure there's an explanation to it," Jemima comforted. "After all, Sophanispa's only arrived today. I don't think anything like that is going on."
"But she's been around him all day!" Bombalurina cried, hiding her face in her hands.
"But did you notice that she's the only queen not enamored with him?" Jemima pointed out. "We were all chasing him, you, Cassandra, and Tantomile watching with quite some interest, while she only glanced at him. She was more interested with what we were doing to stop him and in the end, she's the one who caught him and ended up with him chasing her!"
"He never wants what he has," Bombalurina moaned. "Only what he can't have, or what doesn't want him. He looked so shocked! I've never seen him with that look on his face before."
"No queen has ever gotten the best of him before," Jemima said obviously. "A new reaction for a new event. I don't think anyone's ever gotten the best of him."
"No," Bombalurina agreed. "But Macavity almost did. If Sophanispa hadn't jumped back down from the tree, Macavity would have torn Tugger to bits."
"Do you think he cannot fight?" Jemima asked.
"Oh, he can fight," she answered somberly. "He'd just rather not if he has to. It's when he's not threatened that he really fights. He'll pretend to fight shadows with a fervor reserved for war but when he needs to fight, he'll run or talk his opponent out of the mood." She looked utterly miserable as she rested her chin on the headrest of the seat in front of her.
"Bombalurina," Jemima said firmly. "You have no reason to be sad right now! There is nothing going on between them!"
"Then why did he try to save her from Macavity?" Bombalurina asked. "She took his collar and out maneuvered him in front of the majority of the Jellicle tribe. He had every reason to leave her down there for Macavity to take and he missed the opportunity. That means something to me, Jemima."
"Maybe he wants to use her to get his collar back," Jemima thought aloud. She didn't know how right she was; only she was a few hours late on that conclusion. Tugger's interests had already shifted.
"Maybe you're right," Bombalurina sighed. She rolled over and stretched out on the seat, falling listlessly into sleep in a matter of moments.
"That was easier than I thought," Jemima whispered to herself, thinking of another tom that was clearly passing Tugger in her opinion. She fell asleep dreaming of his face.
~}~}~}~}~}~}~}{~{~{~{~{~{~{~
Mungojerry sat up, his ears perked. "'At was Sopha! We go'ta 'elp her!"
He held his paw out to Rumpleteazer who threaded her smaller one into it. He stood and pulled her to her feet as well and suddenly they were out of the compound and running full out across the lawn in Victoria Grove. It didn't take them long to get to the clearing but by the time they did arrive, everyone was gone. The notorious couple moved into the shadows and listened. Mungojerry was looking around the terrain but Rumpleteazer's ears were in the air as she heard hushed voices coming from Tugger's tree. She recognized her brother's voice and what might have been Bombalurina or the new cat.
"Jerry," she whispered. "'Oose 'n Tugga's tree?"
"Sounds loik Sopha ta me," he said after intently listening. "She's so smot! Oi don' know whot Oi wou' 'ave done wit'out her 'elp."
Rumpleteazer, however, wasn't listening. She had a sly little grin on her sweet face and a gleam in her eye that screamed of a plan.
"Les go 'ome, Jerry," she said after a while.
~}~}~}~}~}~}~}{~{~{~{~{~{~{~
"It's Macavity, isn't it," Tugger asked seriously. He was sunk comfortably into his beanbag chair and gazing at Sophanispa who lounged on the floor.
"What do you mean?" she retorted defensively.
"He's the one you used to live with! The one who kept you under wraps all the time, and also the one who sent you on maraudinous errands."
She looked at him in consideration, wondering if she should tell him the entire story. She decided no one needed to know that much about her, especially not the heartthrob of the Jellicle tribe.
"You're partly right," she allowed. "Macavity was my holder and he did order me to run his dirty errands for him once in a while, but the conditions under which I stayed were not living at all, merely existing. I would not wish that on anyone, no matter whom they were."
"So you're like Demeter," he added after a moment of silence. He was utterly void of his usual air, which was a relief to Sophanispa. She flinched when He playfully rolled off the beanbag and nudged her.
"Who's she?" Sophanispa asked. She lay upon her stomach; her upper body supported by her arms, bent at the elbow the, lower arm resting on the floor. He moved to mimick her, lying just beside her.
"Do you remember earlier today when you freaked out during the fight over my collar," he thumbed one of the spikes on the object as it was mentioned. "You were trembling all over and sitting on me so I couldn't move?"
"How could I forget," she said flatly.
"Well," he continued. "Then you must also remember the queen that screamed and reached out to you from the crowd."
"Vaguely," she answered. "I remember her coloring and her actions but her face will not register if I see her again."
"That was Demeter," Tugger told her. "She had been kept for two years by Macavity. I believe they used to have a thing going on before he turned into the monster he's known as today. She somehow escaped a while back and ran back here. We've protected her ever since but Macavity stopped coming around. Tonight is the first time I have seen him in months. In fact, hardly noticeable unless one had touched him, he feels different, stronger somehow."
"As much as I detest doing it," she added. "I agree with you." She gave him a glance and a grin.
He grinned back and waited for her to turn her head. He then hit her with his hip and sent her rolling towards the edge of the floor. He had obviously misjudged the distance for when she tumbled off the edge, he was genuinely surprised. He stumbled to the edge and was about to look down when Sophanispa gave a great kick from where she hung, propelling herself back over the edge. Little did she know that Tugger was nearly at the cusp when she did so.
There was a crash in which a barrel of buttons tipped over, raining buttons on the ground below the tree. Sophanispa had her eyes shut tightly and her paws clutched to her chest. She hadn't known he'd been there and hadn't meant to hit him but how was he going to know that? 'He's going to throw me out now,' she thought. 'Then Macavity's going to eat me!' She opened her eyes slowly and got an even bigger shock.
He was but inches away with that serious look on his face. She realized that one of his arms was under her side and curved around, supporting her back, the other placed firmly at her waist. She was full of confusion and fear but his face was impassive and void of anything. He breathed in and out normally while she held hers, afraid of moving any closer. She was rendered completely speechless.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tugger spoke. "Do you really feel nothing?"
She blinked and found her voice. "What do you mean?"
He laughed shortly, not moving from his position.
She frowned at him and pushed on his chest a bit with her paws.
"I mean," he continued, full of mirth. "That you do not succumb to my charms as the other queens do. Are you taken or are you just a closed book?"
"That is none of your business," she told him curtly. She began to push harder against him and he consequentially tightened his grip on her. His face had retained its seriousness.
"What is up with you?" she asked a bit strained. "You were so playful a minute ago. Why are you acting all weird all of a sudden?" She had stopped struggling but rather than let him bring her closer, she held him at bay by stiffening her arms against his chest.
"Maybe I'm just trying to get a reaction out of you," he whispered.
"And maybe I'm going to kick your flirtatious ass if you don't let me go this instant!" Tugger only stared at her with strangely dilated eyes.
'I'm going to bite him,' she thought. She prepared to strike when finally Tugger let her go and rolled away with all the liquid grace a cat possesses. She was left dumbstruck, suddenly cold with lack of bodily heat.
"What was that all about?" she asked when he was a safe distance away.
"I told you," he answered. "I refuse to believe that you can look at me and not have some feeling for me."
"My," she giggled. "Aren't we modest?"
He only smiled at her.
"If you don't mind," she told him. "I'm going to sleep now."
And that was exactly what she did. She curled up, using a small cushion that had been wedged somewhere, and soon her breathing became labored.
Tugger waited awhile before trying his plan out. He didn't know how well she slept but judging by the last time he'd woken her, he guessed that she would sleep heavy enough to enact the plan. Things are revealed within sleep and certain things could extract the secret Tugger wanted.
He carefully pulled her over, after an adequate time had elapsed. He did this by manipulating her small shoulders, taking care not to jar her too roughly, lest she wake. He made a dent in the beanbag and placed her within it. It was big enough that they would both fit nicely within the center.
After he'd arranged her so she would be comfortable, he breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, she was still sleeping and looked most peaceful, even after her unconscious shifting via Tugger. He smiled and slid in beside her, His weight causing the beanbag to dip in his favor and also causing the little queen to fall gently against his chest of her own accord, or rather gravity's accord. He smiled again as he wrapped his arms around her sleeping form thinking, 'No one gets the best of the one and only Rum Tum Tugger.'
~}{~
Far off, in the Victoria Grove yard, someone thought, 'No one gets the best of the notorious Rumpleteazer.'
~}{~
"No one gets the best of the Hidden Paw," someone growled in the darkness within the confines of a far away hideout.
Well, we'll see won't we? Who do you guys think Sophanispa is! HINT* Read the summary. Send me your answers (and your email) as to who you think she is. The winner gets a prize! Also, whom should I pair her with? If she doesn't like Tugger (which it seems she doesn't) who else is out there?! Send me answers people! I AM DESPERATE FOR THEM!!!