Chapter 6 - How Older Kittens Play

Cuts mend together. Scrapes scab over and disappear. Bruises yellow and fade in time. If only emotions could heal that easily. It was bad when Grizabella left, but nearly unbearable for them to realize that she may never come back. Demeter began to dread being alone. It seemed every time she turned around someone important would leave. Though she knew she could count on her sister to always be there, there was always that nagging feeling that if she left her side, her sister would be gone. And again, she would have driven someone away…

Over time, however, the kittens grew older. Demeter was growing to be a fine, knowledgeable kitten. Although she was still young, not yet to the point of up and coming cathood, like her sister was inching towards, she was considered very smart among the cats of the tribe. Jellylorum and Jennyanydots became very found of her, and she found herself spending more time with the older cats than the other kittens, when not with her sister.

Bombalurina, on the other hand, was growing to be quite the beauty queen. She would flirt incessantly with any young tom that crossed her path. In an attempt to make her sister more open to things, Bombalurina planned on giving Demeter a lesson in flirting.

"Now," she began, her sister sitting on the second shelf of a thrown out bookcase, "The key is to just go with it. You're not trying for a long term relationship or anything here. We're just kittens, we don't need that. BUT we do want to get them to notice. Oh, shh! Go hide, here comes one." Demeter jumped to a higher section of the junk pile they were near and hid in a hollowed out television set. She loved her sister, but she was hunting toms to flirt with like they were mice!

The first prey came near. He was the older Alonzo. While he was nearing cathood, he certainly didn't act like it at times. "Hello, Alonzo," the young queen smiled as she spoke with a hint of musical tone to her words. The tom, who was using his walk alone to clean the weeds out of his bushy tail, stopped cold. A goofy smile came across his face as he realized that the seductive smile she was giving him wasn't just in his mind.

"Hi, Bomba," he said, letting go of his tail and standing up straight.

"I was just wondering," her eyes dropped to the floor before she turned her head away in a playful manner. "…if you had the time."

At this, Alonzo stared. He didn't seem too sure of what to say. Demeter was sure that he didn't even know what the question was. He was just kind of staring…goofily, at that. Demeter tried to hold back a laugh. Alonzo was at a loss for words. Surely, Bombalurina was done with him, because she looked off into the distance, and smiled a normal smile. "Oh, I think I see Cassandra!"

Alonzo snapped out of his daze and looked around as though he did something wrong. Bombalurina laughed lightly, and then nodded her head for her sister to follow. When Alonzo saw young Demeter hop out of the television set, smiling to herself while walking over to her sister, he realized he had just been victim to the red queen's game.

"So this is how older kittens play?" Demeter asked her sister as they walked a whiles to more populated area. She had to admit, any queen who could turn a question about the time into something to drool over was pretty amazing.

"You'll learn it soon enough, my sister," the young Bombalurina smiled, stretching her arms out in back of her. "You will soon have a power of appeal that NO tom will be able to resist! Just like me!"

"I think I would rather try for a different kind of appeal," Demeter said softly. She hardly wanted to be in her sister's shadow. What's more…beauty seemed to be parted too easily. Her mother knew that. Grizabella knew that. When that was all one counted on, their happiness was too fragile and fleeting a thing. She didn't want her sister to become what the former beauty queens had become…

"Oh, here come two of them. Watch, this will be fun. Go, hide, hide!" Her sister seemed giddy with her game, but Demeter resented having to become invisible for her sister's enjoyment. "Hey there, kittens," Bombalurina winked at Pouncival and Tumblebrutus as they walked by. They were still very young, but they reveled in the attention.

"She was saying hi to me," Pouncival whacked his brother in the head when he started to wave to the gorgeous kitten in front of them. (Apparently, the fact that she used the plural form of kitten escaped their grasp.)

"No, she was to me!" But before Tumblebrutus could retaliate, Bombalurina made a movement, and the two went still. She lifted her paw up to her forehead and dabbed the non-existent sweat delicately with a handkerchief that seemed to appear out of nowhere. She then casually let it fall before she started walking off. Before it even touched the ground—

"SHE GAVE THAT TO ME!" Tumblebrutus yelled, snatching at the handkerchief. But Pouncival grabbed it first.

"It's MINE!" While the two fought over who should have the handkerchief with the fake sweat on it, Demeter snuck out of her hiding place and leaped over the two young, quarreling kittens to join up with her sister.

"Don't turn them against one another," Demeter chided. But Bombalurina giggled at the fun.

"Oh, soon, my dear sister, you will be able to graduate from the school of flirting. All we need to do is get you out of your shell." Then she fell silent and smiled. In front of them was the ultimate catch to any queen: The Rum Tum Tugger.

He was surrounded by his tiny entourage. The youngest kitten was clinging onto his leg, the second youngest clinging onto his other leg. He tried to be nonchalant about shaking them off, but Victoria, Jemima, Cassandra, and one of the new kittens, Tantomile, were surrounding him. Demeter momentarily wondered if he was getting any circulation in his legs at all. Demeter looked over to the side to see Tantomile's twin looking annoyed in the corner, not wanting to leave his sister's side.

"Ah, Graduate School level flirting," Bombalurina said. "Watch and learn, Demi. This is better left to the professionals." She licked her paw and fixed the fur on her head before patting down her tail, making sure it looked it's sleekest. Then she did a very sultry walk over to the Tugger. Demeter rolled her eyes as Tugger caught the gaze of her sister. "Well, hello there, stranger," said the red queen.

Little Electra and Etcetera stuck their tongues out at the queen, but she hardly noticed. They clamped on tight to the Tugger, and Tugger lost his composure for only a moment as the kittens dug their claws into him. "Bombalurina," he said, smiling. His left paw tried to shoo the kittens off his leg, as his right was busy resting around Victoria's shoulder. "Don't you look lovely today?"

'Shameless,' Demeter thought. 'He's almost a cat, and he still acts like a kitten. And flirting with my sister while the others are around him! Has he no shame?' The words might have been mimicked from her hours spent with the adult cats, but she certainly didn't like Tugger's flirtation with her sister.

"I just got out of bed, I look so awful," she said, waving her paw in the air. "But thank you for the compliment, Tugger." The last word flowed from her lips with a musical connotation to it. "And you're looking lovely, yourself."

"I know," he said, as the females all swooned over him.

"Ugh!" Demeter said out loud. This wasn't flirting; it was a symbiotic relationship. She walked over to her sister, and all the queens looked over to her in shock. "Come on, let's go, Bombie."

"Oh, looks like someone else wants to have some of the Tugger," the Maine Coon said, releasing his arm from around Victoria and scratching the chin of a caught off guard Demeter. "I was wondering when you would come around." Demeter looked very unimpressed. But before anything else could be said, all the female cats scattered as Bombalurina shoved Tugger forcefully against the surface of the oven he was standing next to.

"Don't you ever come within three feet of my sister with a sexy swagger, you got that Tugger? I'll scratch your eyes out if you do!" The shocked Tugger looked at the red queen who had somehow tapped into an otherwise unseen force meant to punish those who would bother her sister. Perhaps it's the untapped power of beauty and jealousy combined. (It should be studied…)

"Whoa, Bomba, kitten, you misunderstood!" The other kittens smiled to one another as Bombalurina would probably be one of Tugger's least favorite after this. "I was just trying to make her smile."

"Oh, and you're the only one who can make her smile?" Bombalurina asked. "You're the cure-all for everything that makes a kitten sad? You think you're that hot?" Bombalurina looked over to her sister with her face contorted in rage. Demeter backed away slowly. As Bombalurina turned her assault back onto Tugger, Demeter thought it best to get out of the area. So as she turned to slink away, she heard, "You are so full of it, Tugger! I don't think I've ever seen cat with such a stupid fur-do in my life! I mean, what the heck is that you've got going on in the top of your head, anyway! A cinnamon roll?"

Her sister's words faded out of ear shot after that. But as Demeter walked some more, she suddenly realized how alone she was. It had been a while since she separated herself from her sister, and not been with some other cat. Panic started to creep up her spine. The simple act of walking from one location to another had become nerve wracking. She looked around at every single creak or noise she heard. Then she stopped dead. There was something chewing flesh nearby. What could be making such a horrible sound?

Her breathing increased as she thought she would hyperventilate. Then when she heard what she thought was the sound of teeth crunching into bone, she jumped up and screamed, causing said horrible creature to gasp and cough, apparently chocking on whatever it was eating.

"AHH!" she screamed and raced over to an old night stand and hid under it. The perpetrator came out of his hiding place, gasping for air. Demeter peered out cautiously, then breathed a sigh of relief. "MUNKUSTRAP!" she cried. The silver tabby looked up, his eyes slightly glazed over from his near death experience. "Why did you scare me like that!" Demeter stormed out from her hiding place.

"Me!" He asked incredulously. He took a moment to catch his breath. He coughed a little, and then continued on with a raspy voice. (Chocking on fish bones does that to you…) "You're the one who screamed! I was eating, Demeter! I could have chocked!"

"I heard something scary!" she defended. "I didn't know you were it!" Munkustrap gave her a look of 'oh, come on,' then grabbed her paw and took her over to where he was laying earlier. He pointed to the fish remains.

"I didn't know you were so scared of aquatic creatures," he said with some annoyance.

"The SOUNDS were scary," Demeter protested. "I haven't been in this part of the yard alone before. I just…" She looked down to the ground, sighing. "I'm sorry I nearly killed you, Munkustrap." (Now there's something you don't expect a kitten to say.)

Munkustrap tried to calm himself down as the nervous little queen wringed her paws. After a few moments, he coughed slightly, and then sighed out his frustrations. "Are you okay now?" he asked her. She nodded slightly, but he noticed she was trembling. He couldn't have scared her that much…Maybe she was worried about him now? "I'm not mad, Demeter," he said. The younger kitten looked up at him and shook her head.

"It's not that. I know you can't get mad," she said. Munkustrap's shoulders sunk down slightly as his eye twitched. "I just…it's been a while." But before she could continue on her thoughts, she noticed something. "Munkustrap! You've been having a bad day!" The other cat looked at her in confusion. She pointed at his scratches.

"Oh, that. Macavity wanted my fish." There was a moment of silence.

"Can't he find his own?" Demeter asked.

"OF COURSE he can find his own," Munkustrap threw up his paws in frustration. "But I can't imagine the fun in that for him. He wouldn't have to fight me if he found it on his own. He wouldn't have to make the kittens cry to find it on his own. He certainly wouldn't need to pop a balloon in front of Etcetera to find it on his own. (She cried for days about that one…she named it Tugger.) He definitely wouldn't need to knock Mistoffelees off the narrowest rail to find it on his own." The kitten was flying off into a tangent…

"Munkustrap? You're not making sense." The silver kitten looked at the queen next to him and sighed. "Macavity's never done anything bad to me," she said, slightly dumbfounded. (Memory is, of course, a fickle thing.)

"Really?" Munkustrap asked, surprised. Demeter nodded her confirmation. "Good," he said, relaxing a bit. When the kitten looked at him, he quickly added, "I mean, for your sake!"

Little Demeter shrugged. "I didn't think he was that bad…"

Then a red queen came around the corner, looking slightly frazzled. "Well, he is!" she said. "Why did you leave? You could have helped me when the kittens started wrestling with me."

"They were wrestling with you?" Demeter asked. "Why?"

"Oh, I think it had something to do with me slapping Tugger," Bombalurina put her paws on her hips. "As if he didn't deserve it…flirting with my sister!"

Munkustrap smiled slightly. "You slapped Tugger?"

"Trust me, he's earned it," she said coldly. "Now what's all this about Macavity? Was he bothering you? If I have to get in a fight with him, I will." Her adrenaline was still pumping furiously.

"Don't!" Munkustrap said quickly. "It hurts. Anyway, he wouldn't hurt Demeter," he said. "He wouldn't attack someone who's always with another cat."

Bombalurina went over to her sister and put an arm around her. "Thanks for keeping her company while I was dealing with Tugger, then." She turned to her sister. "See, he'll protect you if something goes wrong."

"Hey, wait a minute," Munkustrap said.

"Look at his muscles," Bombalurina said, dragging the tom over to them and poking his bicep before the silver tabby pulled away. "Good enough to keep Macavity at bay while you run to me! In fact, if your ever alone and scared, you should call for him right away. He's like the Rumpus Cat, he'll come running."

"I never agreed to this," Munkustrap said, blushing at the unneeded attention and having been volunteered for a job he already does anyway. "Why wouldn't she just call for the Rumpus Cat himself?" He added as an afterthought.

Demeter wasn't sure what to think of this. Calling randomly for a tom to rescue her? Seemed a little embarrassing, really. "Now, we should get going, I still have some things to teach you," Bombalurina said. Munkustrap was looking off, his brows furrowed in thought. Bombalurina then got an idea. She gave Demeter a knowing smile and nodded her head to Munkustrap.

Demeter took a moment to process her sister's body language before her jaw dropped and she shook her head. Bombalurina nodded furiously and nudged her sister forward. "Well, we're off!" Bombalurina said. Munkustrap nodded absentmindedly (probably still wondering how he could magically appear if Demeter were to call for him.) Demeter took the chance to rub up against him gently, and flicked her tail at him. Munkustrap hardly moved as they rounded the corner.

"It didn't work," Demeter pouted, peering around the corner with her sister. "You made me do that for nothing!"

"He's a little slow on the uptake," Bombalurina said, knowledgeable from past experiences. "Wait for it. Five…four…three...two…one…"

Munkustrap looked up suddenly, a look of surprise on his face. Then he craned his neck to look in the direction the two sisters had gone. Demeter and Bombalurina raced off in the opposite direction before falling into a fit of giggles. "That was great!" Bombalurina hugged her sister. "Congratulations! It took me a while to get to that level! The double take! I think you are nearing graduation!" Demeter just blushed and covered her face. Though thoroughly embarrassed the rest of the day by her sister's recant of the events, she hadn't had that much fun in quite a while.

Ultra Special Blah-Blah-Blah (props to Natsuki-sensei for that title)

Krissy4 - As long as you eventually review! Lol, yeah, reading at 6:30 in the morning is not the funnest thing in the world. You scared me with that "you know what doesn't work" line. I was all "NOOOO! oh wait! Lol!" And sorry for no laughter! I know, it sucks to get serious sometimes. Thank you again for reviewing!

Satin-n-Crimson - You're story was great, what can I say! takes the offered tissue I was even thinking about it in school, oddly enough. Only two sad stories have done that for me so far, lol. Anyways, I do try and put alot of forethought in my stories...

BUT THIS CHAPTER KILLED ME! It wasn't supposed to be like this AT ALL. This was supposed to be the chapter after. I wrote it, and it just didn't flow, so i rewrote it, and then abandoned one part and wrote something else, but it was too redundant, then I threw that out completely though it would make a good short and wrote a completely different chapter. Then I finally gave up on trying to make the chapter flow now and put it for later, then took the different chapter and merged it with the chapter after this, and that took me all weekend. ...DEATH TO EDITING! Anyways, I've said too much. Thanks to all who reviewed! Now to have some peice of mind while doing physics...