Sorry that this chapter is so short. I promise the next one will be longer.
It was the evening before the Jellicle Ball, and Misto woke up almost immediately as dusk set in; he could sleep no longer due to the nervous anxiety he was experiencing. Tomorrow was going to be his first time dancing in front of more than just a couple of cats, and simply thinking of that made most of the blood drain from his cheeks as his heart sank.
Instead of getting up, he rolled over so he was facing the makeshift window of the den and stared out, completely consumed by his nervousness. Tugger started to wake up and immediately noticed his partner's breathing to be erratic and fast; he wondered if it was similar to the pre-performance anxiety that he had experienced in past years. Shifting over, he rubbed Misto's shoulder and said, "Hey, are you alright?"
Misto took a deep breath and replied, "Yeah, but I'm experiencing a state of anxiety-ridden panic. I'm really excited about tomorrow night, but I'm also really, really scared at the same time."
Tugger moved closer to his partner in their makeshift bed and hugged him to his chest fur. "Listen, you'll do great. And I'll be there singing the whole time. Just try not to worry about it until the time comes."
"I wish I could, but my mind seems fixated on it. I can't relax; it's making me really tense."
Reaching up, Tugger started to massage Misto's shoulders, hoping it could release some of that tension. Almost immediately, Misto started to purr, and said, "Wow, you're really good at that…Ah! Right there."
Tugger continued and said, "I'm glad I could help a bit. Hey, do you want to watch me practice for my song tomorrow? Maybe watching me will stop you from fretting over your own song."
Misto replied, "Sure; I'd like that." After his tension was mostly gone from the massage, he continued, "Here, I'll save us the walk over all the junk to that little clearing." He grasped his partner's hand and they disappeared in a puff of white smoke, reappearing in their preferred practice spot.
Misto watched his partner dance in that sexy way that came so naturally to him and let all his worries slip from his mind.
It was the evening of the Jellicle Ball, and Misto was feeling a massive amount of anxiety again. He had only woken up a few minutes ago; Tugger was still asleep. He nudged his partner and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes – you don't need to get up." With that, he started out to go see Jenny, the older Gumbie Cat that knew so much about healing and medicine, figuring that she might be able to help him with the anxiety that was quickly evolving into a state of hysteria.
Arriving at Jenny's, he knocked on the door. The older cat opened it and said, "Oh, hey Misto, what's going on?" After he explained the pre-performance anxiety, she replied, "Aw, I'm really sorry to hear that. Come in and sit down; I'll try to find you something."
Mumbling as she rummaged through bins of random stuff in no particular order, she said, "Teazer gets me medicines from the pharmacy down the road when she can... And if I recall correctly... Ah!" Jenny produced an orange prescription bottle that was relatively large compared to her size. Removing one of the light green pills inside, she said, "This is called Ativan - don't ask me how it works because I honestly don't know, but it gets rid of anxiety. These are designed for human use and are 0.5 mg, but the dose for a small cat like you would be 0.1 mg, so I'll break it into five pieces."
Misto replied, "No need." With that, he used a few sparks to perfectly split the pill into five slices exactly equal, and took one from the palm of Jenny's paw. He took the segment with a bit of water and said, "Thanks, Jenny - you're awesome. Can I have a few of those in case my anxiety comes back?"
She handed him the other four pieces and said, "Sure, but don't take them more than four times a day, and only every 6 hours."
"Hey, do you mind if I just sit down for a few minutes and wait for the Ativan to kick in?"
"Not at all." After a few moments of silence, she said, "The air feels strange and heavy this evening. I don't know - maybe it's just the magic of the Ball and I've never noticed before."
"Yeah, I've noticed that too. It's playing havoc with my magic. Look." Misto held out his hand to show Jenny the sparks dancing around his fingers that were an unnatural purple shade. "That's been going on for only about fifteen minutes."
Jenny's heart sank like a stone, and she suspected right away that this effect was an unknown interaction between his and Macavity's magic coming in close proximity to each other. She tried to stay calm and convinced herself that she was just paranoid. "Ah, it's probably nothing. With the magic of the Ball and everything, you know." But deep down, she knew that Macavity was coming.
"Thanks, Jenny. Anyway, I better get going; I'll see you at the Ball."
Arriving back at their den, Misto said to his partner, "I've been experiencing that awful anxiety again, so I went and got some help from Jenny. She gave me some sort of green pill – Ativan, I think – and it really worked."
Tugger said, "Aw, you should have woken me up and I could have tried to help. At any rate, I'm glad to hear that you're okay now." They hugged for a moment, and then Tugger said, "Hey, you better fix your fur up a bit - the Ball's in 20 minutes."
A few sparks danced around Misto's fur and left his coat absolutely pristine. He said, "Let's go; we don't want to be late."
Dusk was just setting in the evening after the Ball; Tugger and Misto were holding each other and fast asleep. The song of the Magical, Mystical Mr. Mistoffelees went really well, and everyone especially loved the bolts of lightning and the little explosions. All in all, the entire thing was a success, as it would continue to be for many years.