~Chapter Three~
Jellicle Christmas?
Jellylorum had already been awake for about an hour when Asparagus decided to open his eyes. His sandpaper tongue uncurled stiffly as he yawned.
"Mmm, you're up early."
"Well, the early bird gets the worm," she chanted. She didn't even look up from the scarf she was knitting.
Asparagus did his best to get in a comfortable sitting position without disturbing his injuries.
"I'm surprised that anyone could get to sleep with your neighbor snoring all night. I thought you said this place was insulated!"
"Insulated. Not soundproof." She giggled gently. "And I wouldn't go out and file a complaint if I were you. It's Tugger."
Asparagus stared into space for a brief moment, and then just settled on "Ah." They sat in silence for a few minutes, only interrupted by the rhythmic chinking of Jellylorum's knitting needles.
"Hey...Jelly?" he nearly whispered.
She looked up at him, taken slightly aback that he wasn't looking her in the eye.
"Um...you've got a place to go over the holidays, right?"
Jellylorum was startled at the question. During the winter holidays, the Junkyard was locked up by the humans. Nobody got in or out. So the Jellicles all had to find places to stay during the cold season. All of the house cats usually just went home to their owners, while the street cats had to improvise. Some stayed with other street cat friends in the alleys, and some whined pathetically outside of random doors and played the "temporary pet" card, running away when the day came to open the Junkyard doors again.
"Oh, uh...yes, actually..." she bumbled, gesturing awkwardly to her braided collar.
"Oh! Of-of course. Yeah..." She could tell that he felt incredibly stupid for not seeing her indication of ownership.
"You've got somewhere too, right?"
"Oh yeah, yeah. Don't you worry about me. Yeah, I-I got a friend that'll take me in," he answered a little too quickly.
She wanted to interrogate him more, for the combination of his line of questioning and his fake tone were making her quite worried, but she let it go and continued knitting in silence.