((all the thanks to both Penguin and my reviewers c: ! i own none of this but merrytus.))
The following morning, Mistoffelees found Old Deuteronomy with ease. After all, he was quite old, and had trouble moving—even Miss Jennyanydots moved about a little more than he did, and that was saying something. He'd spoken to his elder at great length and speed about Merrytus, and that even though she was more of a rascal than Pouncival was, she did require the safety of a tribe. Unsurprisingly, Old Deuteronomy allowed Merrytus in with the promise that Mistoffelees was going to look after her. He agreed, naturally, but was pretty sure that it was Jenny who would do most of the mothering—she was quite good at it.
Now, the real chore was to get through to Munkustrap. He knew that technically he didn't have to have his permission, but he knew his friend liked to keep the tribe as safe as he could, and this may have been a breach in his own personal security plan for everyone. He walked up to Munkustrap, who was sitting contently next to Demeter, and offered a friendly smile before sitting down. Almost immediately he delved into the story of Merrytus' mother, and his encounter with the queen. Munkustrap listened, his face quite emotionless the whole time.
"So I suppose we haven't a choice but to allow this kitten in?" Munkustrap asked. He wasn't entirely sure they could handle another kitten. The numbers of Macavity sightings were also going up, and Munkustrap was not one to take chances on new cats.
Mistoffelees nodded. "I know she wasn't kind to you, but you have to remember her situation, I guess," he said, smiling to Demeter. At least she looked understanding, having been put in awkward situations like this herself. He shuffled his feet, knowing he had Munkustrap's "permission", albeit begrudgingly so. "I know you don't exactly enjoy welcoming others into our tribe, but she will grow to be more open with the others."
"You did," Demeter said suddenly, about Mistoffelees. After a moment, Munkustrap nodded. It was true…Mistoffelees was taken in as a kitten himself, though at that point, Munkustrap wasn't in charge of the tribe because of his age. Mistoffelees nodded to Munkustrap with the same friendly grin he'd walked up with.
--
Mistoffelees made his way down the familiar alley, anxious to show Merrytus the tribe, only to find her quite absent. After a quick moment of panic, he remembered where he'd instructed her to go if there was an emergency of some kind. He made his way down the street hurriedly, finally coming across the house he had once lived in. He stepped quickly up the fire escape and through the small crack (which he remembered being bigger). He saw Merrytus sleeping in the corner. He made his way over and nudged her to wake her, smiling.
"Are you alright?" he asked, but noticed she was unharmed.
Merrytus nodded, yawning and stretching. "You told me to come here if I had to. Well…it may have been nothing, but I heard two cats talking, and then this awful laugh," she said, frowning as she recalled all of this. "It was coming from down the alley. I didn't see much…but the cat had wild hair, and extra long claws. His fur was white, orange, and red…he was awful looking." She sat down, looking ahead with a distant stare. "I ran off, but I knocked down the trash can. I thought he'd be chasing after me so I looked back, but he wasn't there."
Mistoffelees nodded. "Macavity," he said, and thought for a moment. He would definitely have to mention this to Munkustrap. "Well, he won't be around. I promise. Now…" He smiled down to her despite her incredibly anxious look, and he nodded for her to follow. "The kittens are nice—nicer than the ones you knew, anyway. They enjoy the tricks," he explained, knowing she was quite shy, and with good reason. He spoke about the tribe as they made the trip back to the junkyard, trying to familiarize her with the cats. Finally, he entered, and unsurprisingly, Munkustrap seemed to have stayed waiting.
Meeting the cats was a blur for Merrytus. First she met a queen named Jennyanydots, who reminded her vaguely of her grandmother. Next she was introduced to the kittens whose names she couldn't remember, but they seemed wary of her. Afterwards, Demeter and Bombularina came to welcome her politely, though Bombalurina seemed a bit more interested in what Tugger was up to than meeting a kitten. Munkustrap nodded stiffly, and a very attractive tom winked at her from across the junkyard, leaving her knees weak—she would have to keep an eye on him.
--
The entire day was her meeting the tribe, as well as maybe getting to know some of the kittens more. When the sky was a dark combination of blue and purple, Merrytus finally managed to find her way back to Mistoffelees. She looked grim and a little ill as she lay down, resting her head on his paws.
"There's a lot of you," she said slowly, and he laughed at that. She must have been exhausted.
"Tomorrow, we can go into my den and work on some sleight of hand," he said to her, and lay down, nudging her softly.
"I would like that quite a bit," she said to him, softly. "I did meet a lot of the kits, though. They were fun." She wasn't sure if she really considered them to be friends just yet, however, because she wasn't sure if they considered her a friend, though they were friendly. Merrytus sighed, and closed her eyes, not wanting to wrap her head around that until tomorrow. "They told me about a ball."
Mistoffelees smiled at the memory of his recent Jellicle Ball, a few months before this night. "The Jellicle Ball is when a night when the Jellicles come out, and dance throughout the entire night, celebrating the choice made by Old Deuteronomy for one cat to be reborn into the tribe, and live a different life," he explained, though maybe not as smoothly as he had in the past. Merrytus took in the importance of this, even if she didn't quite understand it. She also allowed Mistoffelees to revisit the fun times he'd had at the Jellicle Ball. She drifted into sleep, awakened briefly by a pure white queen picking her up, but she soon fell back into a good night's sleep.
--
The following day, Merrytus found herself sitting in an area of the junkyard with Mistoffelees, working on a particularly flashy trick. He sat in front of her, watching her practice conjuring a cork, only to make it disappear once more. Each time she would make it successfully disappear, Mistoffelees chose a spot she would have to bring it back to, the spots getting more difficult every go. She smiled, conjuring the cork right onto Mr. Mistoffelees' head, which made him temporarily lose focus and laugh.
After a moment of this laughter Jennyanydots walked by, smiling. "Haven't you worked with her enough, Mistoffelees?" she asked, and she looked over to Merrytus, who shrunk a little bit. "Would you like to visit with the kittens?"
"You could show them your newest trick!" exclaimed Mistoffelees. "Your first audience! Great idea Jenny—come!" he said to Merrytus, nodding her along, even though everything about her said she would rather not have performed just yet. He put her in front of the kittens, gathering them around in a half-circle. After finally settling them down, he walked in front of them, head held high.
"Tomcats and queens, may I present, the phenomenal, Magical Miss Mer--!" But before she could make any corks appear on any kittens' heads, a loud cackle rang through the junkyard and Macavity appeared from behind a drier.
Demeter screamed his name and scampered. There was chaos; Jenny was ushering all of the kittens in the half-circle to safety, Rumpleteazer was searching fruitlessly for Mungojerrie, and Munkustrap stood in front of Macavity, daring him to attack. Mistoffelees reacted quickly, shoving Merrytus into a large PVC pipe and standing in front of there. What happened was out of both ear- and eyeshot from the two cats in the pipe, but whatever happened, it happened very quickly. After a moment Munkustrap yelled that it was clear. Mistoffelees led Merrytus out of the pipe, her tail between her legs.
It was then that Mistoffelees decided he was not going to inform Munkustrap about the fact that she had seen Macavity two nights before. He knew Munkustrap jumped to conclusions, after all. Mistoffelees only hoped his vague suspicion wouldn't be picked up by others.