Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Drama, Angst, some Humor, Sap
Warnings: Slash, Het, mention of sex, some blood, swearing, incest (there cats, there's nothing unnatural about it)
Pairings: Misto/Munku, Tugger/Bomba, mention of Munku/Dem, some Cass/Munku, past Bomba/Munku,
Timeline: two weeks from the Jellicle ball in the movie.
Description: Love cannot exist for a magical cat; in fact, it's fatal if it does.
Disclaimer: I do not own CATS, or any portions thereof. None of the following events took place in the original CATS plotline, and I do not claim that they do.
Songs to Read With: (not mandatory) Take on Me (Ah-Ha), If You Could See What I See (Geoff Moore and the Distance), I Must Be Dreaming (Frou-Frou)
Between Death and Love
Chapter Four
By Edenrising
(Recap from Chapter Three)
'which shouldn't have happened, because the injury had healed over two days before.
The next day, Mistoffelees awoke feeling hazy and drained. The blood from the night before had dried on his leg, but in his currant state of mind, he didn't notice it or the smell of it. He came out of his den into the sun, and stretched, the weather clearing his mind a bit. It was a nice day, not a scorcher, as it was nearing fall and he planned to go around fixing any holes under the Junkyard fences that occurred because of the rainstorm.
Winding his way through the piles of trash, he made his way silently to the west side of the fence. It was still early morning, but Mistoffelees had always been an early riser, hating to waste a day of studying or helping out. The week of getting back to health seemed like ages, and Mr. Mistoffelees was frankly sick of being inside.
Approaching the fence, he fought back a curse; the entire fence was almost destroyed due to the storm a week ago, the dirt washed from underneath and the metal twisted from lack of support. Macavity could have attacked at any time, or a Pollicle could have squeezed under and it would have been his fault. This was his job, making sure the fences were impenetrable; he was the only one who could do it, since he was magical.
'You were injured,' reminded a voice, but Mistoffelees wasn't listening. Instead he used his magic to straighten the fence and clear the rust, levitating huge mounds of dirt into the cracks underneath and then patting and smoothing it with a nearby tabletop. Once completed, he sat back on a tire and admired his work, it was as if nothing had ever been wrong in the first place and the fence had never been damaged. But now, he reminded himself, he was tired, and he probably didn't have the strength to finish the other sides. Damn him and his perfectionism.
A whistle behind him caught his attention, and he turned so fast he almost fell off the tire, behind him was the very tom he wished to see.
"Wow, it looks brand new." Said Munkustrap.
Mistoffelees fought to calm himself, "I try." He panted. Standing to face the other tom, and feeling a wave of dizziness as he did it, he wiped a paw across his sweat-covered forehead. Everything was taking on that dream-like quality you get when you are tired or very sick, and Mistoffelees barely registered that he was leaning slightly to one side- almost falling over.
Munkustrap frowned, what was wrong with Mistoffelees, wasn't he well? "Are you sure you should be doing this so soon after your accident?" when Mistoffelees didn't answer, he stepped closer and noticed the blood matted in the dark fur of the magician's leg, "What happened to your leg!" Munkustrap said with alarm. Hadn't that cut healed? Had the other tom hurt himself again? He walked up close to Mistoffelees placing a paw on the other tom's shoulder, looking at him in concern.
Misto felt a coolness spread from the hand on his shoulder, and felt a bit better. But he still felt dizzy, and at Munkustrap's question of his leg had looked down. He hazily noted the blood on his leg, and was mutely surprised he hadn't noticed it. Unfortunately, the action of looking down disoriented him and looking back at the silver tabby, his eyes rolled into his head and he fell unconscious.
Munkustrap caught the small tom in his arms, and looked at him in alarm. Feeling Mistoffelees' forehead, he noted the sweat and the pained expression he wore. This Mistoffelees was so different from the magician a day ago, who had been smiling and friendly. 'He must be sicker than I imagined,' thought the tom, and brought the unconscious magician into a bridal-style position, making the long trek back to his den.
Mistoffelees would later muse on the reactions he got from when Munkustrap re-wrapped his leg that day; cool, warm, alien and comforting all at the same time. He also noted the warm glances he received from the other tom as he was being treated with some satisfaction, 'Oh yes,' he thought 'I feel much better now.' He regarded the friendly affection as a small step, a very small step, but a step nonetheless.
Munkustrap gave him a broth of mice, spices and a touch of catnip to deal with the disorientation from the blood loss, it wasn't necessarily very tasty, but it was good and settled his stomach, which was grumbling from no food that day. Munkustrap then left for a while, making his rounds and checking the sentries at their posts, leaving Mistoffelees to take in the smell of his desired.
Munkustrap smelled like grass and earth, and a bit of metal from his collar. Mistoffelees felt good, very good, and the cat nip did nothing to halt the sensation. He buried himself in the covers, reveling in the comfort, and he would later believe that at that moment he knew the ultimate happiness that his magic was striving for.
He'd never been happy, always slightly alone, never touching any of the other toms and always being around the queens. The small magician had never been completely masculine because of this, and he had never had the chance to know any of the other males than by name at the most. With a tug of his heart, Mistoffelees realized that as soon as the silver tabby came back, he would have to leave again, and to be quite honest… he wasn't sure he wanted to go. Besides, he had so much ground to cover before he and Munkustrap became any closer. Being away from the silver tabby was the last thing he needed, physically and mentally, so he needed to encourage Munku to want him there… But was there any real reason for Munkustrap to want him?
It was then, that he thought of his physical appearance. After all, to survive, he needed Munkustrap to fall in love with him and mate with him before the month was out. Looking down at his coat, he realized how little he took care of himself; his fur was hardly clean or sticking in the right direction. He only made a point to really clean up if it was for the Jellicle ball, and to be quite honest he really didn't even try then. He came to a decision, to snare the Jellicle protector he would have to act like a queen in his mannerisms; washing his fur, grooming himself, moving his body in a slightly sexual manner and going out of his way to talk and meet the tabby.
But, he had to be subtle; he had to remain as much of a male as possible. This was the way to become as close as possible to Munkustrap, to be his friend, to always be at his side without the tabby knowing it. He would join the guard, he realized, this would help him establish a friendship and also would be good for the protection of the tribe as well. He shivered at the thought of something hurting the kittens or the queens, and then felt his heart drop when he considered a life without the silver tabby.
It wasn't so much the fact that he would die without the other tom, but more that the silver tabby's presence would be missing from Mistoffelees' life. The magician had become horribly attached to the tom over the week of his stay, without the tabby there; he didn't know what he'd do.
It was at this time that the said tabby entered, brushing dirt of his paws, and rubbing his temples in a tired manner. Mistoffelees felt his attention fixate unto Munkustrap immediately, and became concerned.
"Are you alright?" he asked, "You look tired." He waved a paw through the air and a teacup filled with a Jasmine brew appeared in his hand. He climbed out of the bed and handed the tea to the silver tabby, who hesitantly took the drink and sipped it.
'Perfect.' Munkustrap thought, 'Just what I needed.'
"Thanks." The protector said, then he seemed to realize that the smaller cat was standing, "Are you sure you should be up?" he asked, not without an edge of reprimand.
Mistoffelees narrowed his eyes and smacked the tabby on the head, which caused Munkustrap to 'ooff!', and replied back smartly, "It was just a scratch, dimwit! Nothing to worry about, honestly you're such a worrywart" He rolled his eyes, and conjured up some tea for himself. "Besides, I feel much better now."
Rubbing his abused scalp, Munkustrap chuckled, Mistoffelees was right, he worried too much. "I'll take your word for it." He watched in silence as Mistoffelees sat on a chair, tucking one foot behind the other and leaning towards the backing of it his flat stomach stretching nicely. Munkustrap didn't know what to think of that, if he didn't know better, the position was intended to be preocative… but somehow, it wasn't quite. He shrugged it off, adding the pose to one of the many peculiarities of one Mr. Mistoffelees, and sat on another chair opposite of the magician.
"So, how did the patrol go?" asked Mistoffelees, shifting a bit.
Munkustrap laid his arms on his thighs and put his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes, "Good, as always. But I honestly don't know what possessed me to put Admetus on post, he's a nice enough cat, large too, but give him a chance and he'll talk your bloody ear off." He grimaced.
Mistoffelees hesitated, "Does he like being on sentry though?"
"No, not really. I just put him there 'cause I didn't know what else to do with him."
"Then switch him with me."
"Actually, that's not a- what?" Munkustrap stopped suddenly, "Wait. You- you on post?" then his entire face seemed to freeze into a surprised expression.
Mistoffelees smiled, Munkustrap was absolutely flabbergasted, staring at the magician as if he'd just told him he was pregnant. The silver tabby stared a few more moments, and then looked away, his mouth opening and closing as if on a hinge. The magician was thoroughly enjoying himself, watching the handsome cat in front of him take in his proposition with some amount of shock.
Then Munkustrap's face settled into a hard look, "No. Absolutely not."
Mistoffelees wasn't expecting this, "W-What! And why not!" he snapped.
"Because you- um… Ah! You're too small! What if someone attacked during the night?" Munkustrap fired back, "What would you do? You wouldn't be able to get help fast enough." He crossed his arms in typical tom fashion, and stubbornly set his jaw.
"Oh, really." Mistoffelees growled, catching the silver tabby's attention, Munkustrap's eyes widened at the magician's anger.
Stooping over Munkustrap, Mistoffelees narrowed his eyes, glaring…. Too small was he? Too weak to protect himself, huh!
Munkustrap was terrified.
'We'll have to see about that.' Mistoffelees thought angrily. He was the Original Conjuring cat and he always got his way when a moronic tom was being stubborn. His size was a sore point on his part, how dare this… this TOM poke at it. He could sentry! He knew he could!
Munkustrap never knew what hit him.