Okk, So I had this huge rush of typage the other day and came up with half of this chapter, I feel SO accomplished right now ;) Eeeek, it was so fun writing all the cute slashiness- er... I mean... :P
EVERYONE NEEDS TO CHILL ON JERRIE! He's cool :P If anything, people need to be hatin on Tumble for being a tool... but don't do that 'cause he doesn't get much attention in the base and he'd come after me for starting stuff on him xP
They walked in silence for about half an hour. Tugger was fuming as he stormed down the path, walking just a little too fast for the tux to keep out of a light jog. "Tug, stop," he panted as he planted his feet into the dirt, unfortunately not stopping him any. "Tugger..." he tried again but was still being quite rudely ignored. He ran up and rounded the ominous tom, putting his hand firm against his chest in hopes of getting his point across. "Stop!-"
Tugger turned to him sharply, his golden eyes burning with fiery passion. "Why'd you run off?" Quaxo froze in fear at the unusually fervid tone, he had never seen the usually blase and blithe tom so bothered. "Well, you wanted to talk; talk! Tell me why you ran off!" There was no response aside from the shocked and wide-eyed stare of the shorter tom. fervently, Tugger reached out and grabbed the tux by the shoulders; he shook him lightly as a new and demanding excitement took over him. "Were you off to slit your wrists or something? Hang yourself?... Answer me, damn it!"
The magician's mouth opened to respond but he was so caught off guard that only strained stuttering noises. "I-I didn't run, I- No." He shook his head slowly, not quite sure what to do now that he finally had the coon's attention. His golden eyes smouldered fiercely as they tried to find the answers in his own icy blues. "Stop, please? You're scaring me," his voice rested on a soft whisper, his eyes darting to the ground worriedly.
The leopard spotted tom sighed heavily, drawing the quiet tom into his arms. "Quax..." he groaned exasperatedly. Quaxo rested his head lightly on Tugger's broad chest, the short hairs of his speedily growing mane tickled his cheek lightly; he too sighed deeply. "I-I don't know what to think anymore," Tugger began, his voice returning to its soft and velvety smooth feel as the words flowed from his mouth. One could see why he was so effective with the queens, Quaxo just found it rather comforting to listen to and envied the deep and ranging vocals. He would always taunt the coon by saying that he was one of those sirens that came out of the fairy tales the humans read to their kittens; the ones with the beautiful voice that made everyone fall in love with them. It suited him very well: The Rum Tum Tugger, Siren of the junkyard.
"What am I supposed to do? What do you want me to say?..." He paused to take a few loud breaths. The tiny magician hugged himself tighter in the coon's embrace, flinching slightly when Tugger's gloved paw moved to stroke his back comfortingly. The surprise only lasted for a second before he melted into the contact. He hated how he used to like being touched; whether it be a friendly stroke from a human or a soft nuzzle from a friend, he loved it. Now, no one touched him except for Tugger, Munkustrap, and Jenny... Sometimes Jelly. He hated feeling so isolated: his sister didn't even want to look at him anymore, let alone lay a paw on him. "I don't-"
"I wasn't going to kill myself, Tug," he breathed as he slowly began to grow sleepy, too caught up in the feeling of a feather-light paw ghosting over his sensitive, scarred skin. The other froze, surprised. Tugger grabbed him again by the shoulders to pull him away so that he could make sure that he wasn't just telling him what he wanted to hear. Quaxo met his gaze for a few moments before they instinctively dropped to the ground again. "...You weren't going to...?"
Quaxo shook his head 'no'. He hadn't stopped thinking about ending his life, he just felt more afraid of death since he had stared it in the face. Luckily that kept him far enough away from the edge that it felt safe to try to breathe again. Tugger smiled warmly, quite pleased that he no longer had to face the threat of losing his best friend to his own anguish. "Good," he said simply. They separated and started again down the path towards the clearing, more slowly this time.
Oo oO
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Oo oO
"So, I'm staying here for the night? What happened to Jenny's den?" Tugger plopped the tux's beloved blanket onto the cushion-y mattress that served as his bed. He frowned grimly at the bed: there were only four good pillows left, he would have to sacrifice one of them to the tux if that blanket didn't come complete with its own. Sadly, it didn't.
"Ummm..." he looked around distractedly for anything that could stand in for a replacement, all he found were more blankets; they would have to do. "Munkus is going back to work tonight, giving Alonzo a break. Aaaaaaaaaaand the kittens are moving back into their den since Jenny said you didn't need to stick around to get your bandages changed," he explained. Oddly enough they didn't bother telling him about the new arrangement. He rolled up a small, fuzzy, orange blanket into a pillow-shaped lump. "You wanna pick a pillow?" he asked, nodding towards the four on the bed.
Quaxo eyed them from his position at the end of the large mattress, there were only four left. What happened to the other three he had no interest in knowing, he just knew that the coon liked to sleep with as many pillows as he could get a hold of. He also knew that whenever he was forced to lend or share one of his beloved pillows, he was often found in a sour mood the next day. "I'm fine, I don't really use them too often," he shrugged as he followed the coon across the den. Sure he was lying, but he knew how irritated the Tugger could get and he'd rather spend the night without a pillow than a day tied to a moody drama tom.
"Alright, suit yourself," the golden tom shrugged. The other smiled internally at his little facade but refused to show his bemusement for the sake of argument. He followed the coon around as he tried to tidy up the cozy, dark den. The things he found lying around were both intriguing and revolting. Moldy foods and various bottles of alcohol were taken from the two conjoined rooms and thrown out the back window that looked out to the lower part of the junkyard.
"So!" Tugger began as he turned from his disposal, giving a great sigh as he swept the room with one last scrutinizing glance. "What do you wanna do?" Quaxo bit his lip in thought, he wasn't sure what there was to do with the sun setting in an hour."Wanna to play cards?" he suggested when the tux gave no answer. He smiled broadly when the young tom's features cracked with a cheeky and knowing smirk.
"You're going to lose," he winked playfully. The coon smiled internally, his heart skipping a beat at the utterly beautiful smile. He couldn't help but think it was a shame that he didn't smile more often, it was a rather beautiful sight. He led his companion to the designated card table; famous among the more risky gamblers who dared face the flirt and his incredible card handling. They moved to the second room that would be the equivalent of a proper human lounge. Aside from the left over bottles of liquor and rat carcasses, the room was very inviting and cozy: perfect for hosting visitors and everyday living.
He pulled out the master's deck and motioned for his young friend to sit in the seat across from him. They shuffled awkwardly as they tried to manipulate the rope between them so that they could sit comfortably. The coon skillfully shuffled the deck and handed out the cards until a full game of poker had been ritualistically set up.
The Tugger took a fleeting glance up at the mirror that was set up cleverly on the ceiling above his opponent. Thinking twice, he decided to give the less experienced tom the upper hand and keep his eyes to his own deck.
A few decks flew by and the coon was finding himself at the losing end of their games. When he found most of his chips sitting at the opposite end of the table, he decided to take a little of his card fate into his own paws. His eyes slid stealthily to the mirror placed behind the young tux, spotting each individual card and planning out his attack.
Quaxo looked to the golden tom, cocking an eyebrow when he saw that his gaze was focused somewhere over his head. "What are you looking at...?" he followed the coon's gaze up over his head. Tugger's mind quickly reacted to the magician's inquisitive gaze; he stood to avert the tux's mind but ended up pulling the rope taught and sending Quaxo flying onto the table. He too tripped from the sudden jerk of the chord and the weight of the table along with the thrown tux.
"Holy crap!" He landed on the floor roughly, the table toppled at his side.
Quaxo groaned impatiently. "Why do we have to have this ridiculous rope on inside the den?" Tugger sat up and peeked over the lying table at the slim tom. "You OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as he rubbed his arm slightly. The coon replaced the table before moving to help his younger counterpart to his feet; Quaxo stood and stretched out his back. A mischievous grin crept across his lips when he spotted and pointed out the mirror placed behind his seat at the table, conveniently reflecting its vicinity.
"I-I just like looking at myself," he explained, fixing his headfur and making kissing faces at himself in the reflective surface above.
"Uh huh, sure," Quaxo chortled. He knelt down to pick up the cards strewn about on the plywood floor. "So, I guess you were letting me win the whole time?" he inquired.
"Well... Only the first two; then I was giving you a bit of a challenge." He joined the tux on the floor and gathered the poker chips. He groaned angrily when the chord grew taught once again and jerked the lithe tom to the ground next to him. Fed up, he reached over and untied the end attached to Quaxo's waist; tending to his side once the other had been set free. "This is complete bull! I'll be damned if I have to be tripping all over my own den for some stupid string!"
Quaxo's brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "Technically, I'm the one tripping everywhere-"
"Well, I'll be damned if you have to trip all over my den for some stupid rope, then," he corrected snootily. Once he had tossed the rope haphazardly onto a perfectly cat-sized replica of a sofa, he held the tux's paws in his. "Now, promise me that you won't run off." the other tom frowned bitterly, he didn't run off! And it wasn't like he was going to be leaving the comfort and safety of the den now that the sun had gone down.
He sighed before humouring the leopard spotted tom. "I won't leave-"
"Promise me you won't leave," he repeated with more authority. Honestly, it was hard to take him seriously when he demanded the respect that he assumed was owed to him. It was like treating a kitten like an adult when it was crying for its string. But, if it meant that he didn't have to be tied up to the impulsive and quick-paced coon, he would say anything he wanted to hear. "I promise that I won't leave." After a moment's thought, Tugger nodded in satisfaction before releasing the tom to finish his pick-up of the deck of cards; he himself returning to the scattered poker chips.
After the two had finished cleaning up, Tugger made Quaxo vow to never reveal the secret mirrors on the ceilings. Quaxo found it a surprise that no one had noticed a large mirror glaring over the contenders' shoulders over the years. Tugger smiled wryly but said no more. They soon found themselves lost in conversation and in a moment's notice the hours had flown by.
Tugger stood up tiredly; stretching out his tired muscles before declaring it time to turn in. Quaxo nodded in agreement, disappointed that the conversation had to be dropped on his topic of interest, but appreciative of the invitation to sleep. They both dragged themselves tiredly to the other room that had been blocked off from the other half of the den by a sheer, navy blue sheet. Tugger trudged up to the bed and lazily flopped himself face first into the soft mattress.
Quaxo looked around the room inquisitively. "Umm... Where do I sleep?" He asked before the coon could begin to fall asleep. He groggily lifted his head, scanning the room confusedly.
"I thought you were going to sleep in the bed." He shrugged before letting his head fall onto the pillow, his expectant gaze not leaving the tux. Quaxo thought it over for a minute before reluctantly crawling into bed beside the Tugger; enveloping himself in his big, billowy duvet before curling into much welcomed sleep.
"Good night, Quax," the coon yawned as he yanked the covers up to his chin.
"...Night, Tug," was the tux's murmured response. Their breaths soon grew deep and calmed as they fell silently into blissful sleep. In his sleep, Tugger's arms unconsciously clutched a large, forest coloured pillow and snuggled comfortably into the tux's sweet smelling blanket and back.
Awwww, happy Quaxo is happy... relatively? I feel bad for the guy with that damned rope. Every time something happens he's the one who has to deal with the bacl-lash... literally!
Typing rush is still on! And don't worry if you read my other fic; I will be updating that too. Also, there is a new story that is currently being developed. Does anyone have any OCs they would like to donate for the sake of having their OC in a story? And (for survey purposes) who would actually be interested in a fic where there is an OC that plays a main character (next to Misto of course ;) ) Of course it's a baddy, does that change is any?
