Mungo rested his head on his paws as he looked out at the Junkyard. He and Teazer had slept in his old television last night. They were still in the west side of the Junkyard until the early morning; Griddlebone looked none too pleased that Rumpelteazer was in the area for such a long time, Mungo figured that it was because of what the others had said – jealously. He had to admit that he was rather jealous himself, what with Rumpelteazer spending so much time with all the others that night. She barely said 'boo' to him until they began to walk home; too tired to make it back to Victoria Grove. She shifted beside him, looking outside at the heavy rainfall.
"Do you think that the humans are worried," she asked quietly, "We both haven't been away from home this long before. One of us usually stop by to eat some food, make it look like we were back so they wouldn't fret. We should get back soon."
"We haven't been there since yesterday morning," Mungo said, worrying over their humans as well, "And who knows what time it is, can't see the bloody sun."
"Do you think they're alright?"
"They managed to take care of themselves before we came along, I'm sure that they'll be fine," Mungo comforted as he licked her cheek. She purred back at him, resting her head on his shoulders, "I promise that they'll be alright."
"Okay," she sighed sadly, tail flicking about. Mungo sighed, hoping that their humans weren't getting into too much trouble. He had to get their minds off of them, for a bit at least.
"The nice weather will be here soon Tea," he remarked, her purr growing louder, "You still got those pearls?"
"As always," she said as she licked him between his ears, "You still have your promise?"
"Of course," he smiled.
"Jerrie, what are we doing here," Rumpel asked suddenly.
"Well, we were dead tired last night and it's raining now..."
"We used to live out in that rain! We would play in it; and now look at us! Sitting inside like Jennyanydots and Jellylorum," she exclaimed, standing up. "Our humans are at home; they need us and we refuse to get them because of water and some mud. Well I for one am not going to stay here," She jumped out of the box yelling, "Hold on Mason; Sally Anne is on her way!"
"Rumpelteazer," Mungojerrie yelled, seeing that she landed in a mud puddle, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going home to my babies! Are you coming or what?"
Mungo looked at her, mud splattered up her bottom half, and smiled. "Joe Alex is coming too!" He jumped beside her, "The rain's rather cold though." She giggled and began to run out of the Junkyard and towards Victoria Grove. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer ran most of the way back to their two storied haven; dodging cars, loose Pollicles and humans who were rushing to get out of the bad weather. The mud from the Junkyard had washed off of them as they ran; their fur now soaked and clinging to their bodies. They leapt onto the back porch where their kitty door was located and collapsed. Mungo took a deep breath as he tried to gain control over his breathing; neither of them had stopped running since they left the Junkyard and the forty five minute run had certainly worn them out.
"I'm coming Kate," Rumpelteazer mewed, taking deep ragged breaths, "I'm almost there."
The door opened and Amanda stepped out and looked across the yard. She sighed sadly as her eyes fell upon the two calicos at her feet. "Mom, I found them," she yelled into the house, "They're exhausted!"
The familiar clicking of the Missus' heels on the tile floor could be heard as she approached the door to outside, "And they're drenched. Mason, grab two of those towels from the dryer. They're going to catch a death of cold."
Mungo pushed himself to his paws, they shook underneath his weight and he fell back down once he tried to take another step. "Maybe we should've taken a break once we got to Louie's," Mungo sighed. Rumpelteazer murmured in agreement as Mason's heavy footsteps came near. Mungo felt something warm fall upon him as he was picked up. He opened his eyes and saw Amanda's worried face looking down at him.
"My poor Joey," she crooned, carrying him inside to the living room. She sat on the sofa, placing him on her lap, and began to gently dry him with the towel that was wrapped around him. He could hear Rumpelteazer's purr coming from somewhere to his right. He peacefully closed his eyes, allow a purr to rise up and join Rumpel's. His nose twitched as the scent from the fireplace tickled it; he gave a yawn, and he fell asleep.
Mungo awoke sometime during the night; Rumpelteazer was curled up against him, sleeping calmly, not even a whisker was twitching. He raised his head and looked around; somewhere between the large armoire and the vanity mirrors he realized that they were in the Master Bedroom; not only that they were sleeping on the bed – which Mason had made very clear the first week they were there was forbidden. He nudged his sleeping partner with his nose, gently waking her up, "Tea, we've got to go."
"Jerrie," she whined groggily, "What is it?"
"We're on the human's bed," he said in a panicky voice, "We got to get off before we get caught and-"
"Mason put us here," she said, placing a paw over Mungo's mouth. "The Missus' wanted to keep an eye on us; she was worried, what with us being gone for so long. He suggested that we sleep with them tonight. You slept through him putting us on the bed, I woke up and he coaxed me back to sleep."
"Mason did," Mungo asked, slightly muffled through Rumpel's paw. She gave him a nod as she yawned, "He's the last one I would have expected to put us here."
"I know," she said, laying her head back down on her paws, "Even though he's mean at times he still cares about us."
"Yeah, he does," Mungo agreed as she fell asleep. Mungo had a bit more trouble falling asleep then she did. It's not that he was uncomfortable; the master's water bed was comfy beyond all means. He just couldn't stop thinking, about how Mason did care – deep down inside, and how Macavity seemed to care for Rumpelteazer. Sure Macavity wasn't the friendliest thing he ever came across, he did threaten him the first time he met him. He did apologize for it, quickly; he just lost his head is all. Was it right to dislike him over one minor incident that was spoken for? And he has been nice ever since. He seems too interested in Rumpelteazer though; that's just because she's the long-lost-sister to his dead friend; nothing wrong with that right? Right... 'I hope'
Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer relaxed on the old red car, the weather was mild, the kittens were playing, and while the sun was not at it's peak it was still perfect to bath in.
"So," Jellylorum said, striking up a new conversation, "Tugger has told me that you have a new friend Rumpelteazer." Rumpel nodded, rolling over to sun her other side, "So, tell me about him."
The clicking from the other side of the car's trunk stopped as Jennyanydots looked up, "Him; it's a tom?"
"Mom"
"Jenny," Rumpel said, at the same time as Mungo, "It's nothing to worry about; he's just a friend."
"Well, you and Mungojerrie were at one point 'just friends'," she reasoned, gripping her needles unnecessarily tight.
"Yeah but that's different, somehow," Rumpelteazer frowned, "I don't feel anything towards my friend, not like how I feel towards Mungo at least. Don't worry Jenny."
"Why are you worried Mom," Mungojerrie asked, sitting up, "You're acting like I'm being cheated just because Tea has a new friend. I mean, lots of queens are friends with multiple toms without being involved with all of them."
"Well, it's just that you haven't really shown any great interest in queens," Jennyanydots said, ashamed, "I just don't want to think that you're going to loose her."
"Because you don't think that I can get any other queen," he accused. Jennyanydots' ears twitched nervously before she began to knit again.
"Well I'm glad that you can't," Rumpel comforted lightly, crawling over towards him, "I don't want to beat the other queens off with a stick like Bombalurina has to do with Tugger."
Jennyanydots smiled, that seemed to have pleased her enough. "So tell us about your friend," Jellylorum repeated.
"Well, he knew my bother; helped him when I was still real little; he's been re-introducing me to my brother's old friends."
"Where does he live at?"
"The Junkyard, he's a stray."
"Well, that's understandable," Jellylorum said, grabbing a new ball of yarn, "Plenty of stray cats live in the other parts of the Junkyard. What's his name? Tugger never told me."
"It's-"
"Tumble! Give me back my collar now!" The four stopped and looked down and saw Jemima tackling Tumblebrutus into the ground and trying to pry her spiked collar out of his paws. The two began to claw and bite (albeit playfully) at each other as they tried to hold the strap of leather.
"Now really," Jennyanydots scolded, "It's nearly supper time. Give Jemima back her collar and the two of you go get cleaned up."
"It's nearly supper, already? We best get heading back home Teazer," Mungojerrie said, standing up, "We don't want to give our humans a scare again. It was hard enough to sneak out of the house as it was this morning."
"You're right," Rumpel nodded, standing up and stretching herself out, "See you both later." They jumped off the car and began to walk out when they were stopped by Etcetera who, apparently, needed Rumpelteazer to help with something.
"Don't worry," Mungo said as he spotted Tugger who was sitting on the pipe and was, uncommonly, alone. "I'll be back in a minute." Rumpel gave him a strange look as she was dragged away to a private spot to talk as he walked over to Tugger. "Um, Tugger," the Main Coon looked down at him, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"What is it Mungo," Tugger asked, hanging a paw over the rim of the duct.
"Tell my mom that you'll check on us tonight. I know that you're the only one in the Junkyard that will say you will but won't do it," he said, Tugger giving him a skeptical look, "Me and Rumpel have been getting closer and I thought that we could... you know..."
"Take a tumble," Tugger smirked, leaning in close.
"For lack of better words; yes," he nodded, feeling his face grow hot.
"Sure," he said giving Mungojerrie a noogie, "You're going to owe me though."
"Of course, thanks," Mungo said, trying to fix his head fur. He turned and saw Rumpelteazer standing a few piles away, waiting for him. "I have to go."
"Have fun," Tugger smiled, giving him a wink. Mungo gave him a wave as he approached the queen. Rumpel gave him a quick nuzzle, grabbed his paw, and pulled him out of the yard at a run.
"What did Etcetera want," Mungo asked, Rumpel slowing her pace now that they were a few piles away from the clearing.
"She and the other kittens wanted to know the best was to sneak up on Tugger," she said with a grin. Their ears twitched as Tugger's yell and several squeals were heard from behind them, "And it sounds like they succeeded. What were you talking to Tugger about?"
"We were talking about," Mungo said slowly, hoping to buy some time, "the new stop sign on High Street."
"There's a new stop sign," Rumpel was oddly interested and excited about it, "Can we see it?"
"Maybe tomorrow," he said uneasily, confused as to why she was so fascinated by the latest form of traffic control. He nuzzled her, realizing that he hadn't had the chance to before she pulled him out of the yard. Rumpel began to purr and nuzzle him back. The two carried on like that for the rest of the way home. They hadn't run into Macavity and, frankly, Mungojerrie was happy; he didn't need Macavity to come along and damped the mood.
"Morning Love," Mungojerrie yawned, waking up to find Rumpelteazer pressed up against him. He licked her between the ears, they twitched in return. Rumpelteazer began to purr, nuzzling her face into his chest contently. "How are you feeling?"
She looked up at him with a warm smile and gave a small shrug, "I suppose that I'm good, and you?"
"Can't complain," he grinned.
"Well, that's good," she said as she nuzzled in to him, "Mungo, last night was..." she shook her head, at a lost of words, "It was just amazing."
"I know, it was; you going to get up?"
"No," she yawned, "I'm not."
"The humans left a good hour ago Tea," he said, rubbing his head against hers, "I never seen you sleep so much."
"It's not so much sleeping as it is I don't want to stop lying here with you. Why, did you want to get up?"
Mungojerrie looked down at her and rested his head on top of hers, "No, not now anyways."
A/N: I'll have to make this quick – I don't really know who much time I got. I'm going in a few minutes to see Oliver and... Yeah. Well, if anyone's wondering how my life is going – it's good, I haven't died yet. And I'm looking forward to the next two chapters - they're my babies.
Mima-Love – I did know that it would make you laugh – that's why I put it there. I was quote again feels special
Chimmy-Lava - titters Goober. You're learning. He is know for his deeds – and they missed the second chance of stopping them. I'll tell you if the little Misto is a Stud or not – I'll be serenading it all day.
Zazzie – Does it rock? I'll find out soon enough
We got no clothes but to sell the cow...
What?
