((again, all the thanks to Penguin and my reviewers c: ! also again i own none of this...though i'd like to D: maybe if i cleaned mr. webber's house for the rest of my life he'd let me have cats. what do yall think? lmao. ooh, but merrytus is mine. he doesn't have her D ooh! Clorinda the kitten is definitely not mine. she is Penguin's c: ))

Merrytus was on cloud nine, and with good reason. It'd been about a week since she and Mistoffelees had rescued Demeter, but the elation had never really left. She sat near a pack of kittens, hesitantly joining in with their play. The kittens accepted her, though they knew she was still a little nervous around them.

A kitten named Clorinda pounced forward, her backside in the air as she watched Merrytus toss around a little cricket. "Show me one of your tricks!" She half-demanded, and half-requested. Some of the other kittens gathered, leaving poor Merrytus nervous.

She shuffled where she sat, looking at all of their eyes on her. She looked down, and gulped. "Al…alright, I'll try," she mumbled, thinking very slowly as the cats grew impatient. She went through a few tricks in her head, glancing around for her pack of cards.

"Okay, I have one," Merrytus said, and she nudged the pack of cards towards Clorinda. "Pick a card at random."

Clorinda did so, taking a card from the middle of the pack and sharing it with her friends, all of them giggling with excitement. Merrytus leaned down and began to shuffle nervously, a few cards coming out of the pack. She frowned, picking them back up. Could she do this without the watchful eye of Mistoffelees? Without him, she was quite nervous.

"Right…" she continued, and was finally done shuffling. Merrytus took out a card, and showed the kitten a Four of Hearts. "Is this your card?" She asked.

Clorinda frowned. "No." Merrytus waited for it. The kit was supposed to look at her card, and realize it had changed. She looked, but nothing happened. "You got your trick wrong!" the kitten teased.

Merrytus backed up, and finally tore away from the circle of kittens. She hid behind an old refrigerator, trying to pretend none of that had happened. What happened to the kitten who brought back Demeter? Was she only good when Mistoffelees was around? Soon the noon sun began to sink, and she heard the Rum Tum Tugger shouting, no doubt for her. She saw him come closer and shrank, not wanting to show her spotted face. Maybe it was just a parlor trick, but that was it. It was just a parlor trick. It was simple, and it barely took any real magical powers at all. She thought she could do better than basic.

"Kitten whose name I have already forgotten!" he called, casually walking though the junkyard before finally spotting an all-black kitten's tail. He laughed, and tugged at it. "For a magical cat you're not that great at hiding," he said, and she poked her head out. "You know, you're causing quite a stir by disappearing." Tugger rose and expected her to follow, but when she didn't, he stopped and rolled his eyes. "Come on, I really don't feel like carrying you."

"I'm not going back," Merrytus said, shaking her head. When the Tugger tried to grab her to pick up, she scratched at him. "I said I'm not going back."

He tugged his mane disdainfully, shrugging. "It's no skin off my nose, kid." He walked off, but soon caught up with Mistoffelees and informed him of her hiding place. When Mistoffelees began to walk off, Tugger stopped him. "Hey! Why don't you just conjure her back?"

Mistoffelees looked at the Tugger like he was mad. "Because that's rude," he responded, very matter-of-factly.

--

The sky was very dark blue, with the stars blinking down on him. Mistoffelees finally came upon the old refrigerator, sniffing around it and recognizing Merrytus. Something told him that she didn't move from the spot because she wanted to be found.

He cleared his throat, but she didn't move. "Why did you run off?" he asked. Mistoffelees thought asking her about why she ran off in the first place would be a bit nicer than to immediately demand she go back. After a moment she turned around and looked up at him from behind the fridge, and he smiled down at her politely.

"I messed up the Deceit," Merrytus mumbled. "The kittens wanted a trick, so I did it, but her card didn't change. It didn't work. They made fun of me." She looked down, breathing in very slowly. "Just like the others."

Mistoffelees nodded, taking in her story. "I think it's time for another lesson. What to do when a trick backfires."

"I don't want a lesson right now."

"When a trick goes wrong, all you can possibly do is work with it." Mistoffelees smiled, putting himself in the tricky situation of a failed trick. "Pretend you meant to mess up. Perhaps do something flashy…you've mastered lightning." He sat down, looking down at him. "You must get back in the game. Do you understand?" She nodded, but he was sure she didn't understand.

All was silent until Merrytus finally spoke. "What if they don't like me? I mean…they like my magic. But what if they don't like me?" She looked up to him, waiting for an answer to a seemingly simple question.

The problem was that Mistoffelees had often wondered this himself. What sort of cat would he be if it weren't for his magic? He scratched behind his ear, quite perplexed but her question. It stung him that she was already asking him this.

"I like you," he said, finally. "If they don't…then what can you honestly do?" Merrytus and Mistoffelees both knew that this was something neither of them really knew, so he decided to just stay silent. The silence lasted for what felt like forever. During that silence he pondered what it felt like to fail in front of an audience—you've let them down! He'd done that once or twice, and it was brutal. He couldn't blame her for feeling so afraid, especially after the stunt they had pulled for Demeter. It hurt to fail at being who other people expect you to be.

He finally looked down at her, after he had enough with this silence. "Would you like to sleep here tonight?"

Merrytus nodded, and came out to curl up next to Mistoffelees, both of them falling asleep very quickly.

--

The following morning, Mistoffelees made his way back with a white rabbit in his mouth, which he had managed to wrestle out of a bucket. He set the rabbit down and nodded Merrytus, who slowly began to rise, looking up to him with a yawn.

"Morning." He nudged the rabbit over to her more, and she began to nibble on it gently. Mistoffelees allowed her to have her fill before he chowed down, keeping a close eye on her as she explored. He watched as she juggled some milk bottles with ease, laughing to himself as she did. When he was finally done eating, he found her levitating one of them. She was getting better.

"I think we ought to return," Mistoffelees said, wondering how worried the tribe was. Victoria especially…he had never even thought of her. They sauntered back into the area, and Jennyanydots was having a field day checking up on poor Merrytus.

Four kittens came up to Merrytus, all of whom were looking down at their paws. "We're sorry we teased you," they said, under the watchful eye of Jellylorum. Merrytus softly accepted their apology, and they immediately invited her to play. She looked up to Mistoffelees, who nudged her along.

Misto left to find Munkustrap and Alonzo sitting on an old car, talking to each other quietly. "Macavity came once more," Alonzo said, eyeing Mistoffelees carefully. "No one was hurt, but he almost got away with Bombalurina," the tom recalled.

Mistoffelees frowned. "That's awful!" he exclaimed, looking around the area. "I'm sorry, but…Merrytus didn't really feel like returning to the area. The kittens really upset her."

"We noticed," Munkustrap said flatly.

Mistoffelees frowned. "And what precisely are you saying?" Perhaps his paranoia was getting to him. He had been wondering about why Macavity had been returning not long after Merrytus joining their tribe. He didn't want to believe she had fallen for his trap, however. Mistoffelees knew how deceitful and manipulative he could be, after all, and a young kitten like her would be easily sucked in, especially if she was looking for security.

"Perhaps it's a happy coincidence," Alonzo said. "But he began showing up when she did. And we all know how naive magical cats can be about Macavity and what he has to offer."

Mistoffelees rose up, shaking his head. "No. No, she is not with him, I would swear it on the Everlasting Cat." But even they could see his hesitance to say that statement. This was quite the coincidence. He growled and glared at them. "And to suggest that a kitten like her would fall for what he has to say…it's madness." He walked off, heading to his den to sulk.

When playtime was over, Merrytus returned to Mistoffelees' den, grinning happily. She cuddled up to him, but he seemed…different. She looked up to him, frowning. She knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Mr. Mistoffelees?"

Mistoffelees looked away, feeling sick. "You wouldn't hurt the tribe, would you?" he asked, looking down at her. "You wouldn't go against us, or…or me, would you?" Mistoffelees didn't want to believe she was with Macavity. She was such a good kitten, but so naïve and scared. What if the only other kind like him (that he knew of, anyway) turned against him? He remembered the empty feeling, the feeling he would have after performing. The feeling that no one would understand what it was like not knowing who were really were.

"Of course not," Merrytus responded, very quietly and almost sadly. "I wouldn't think of it, Mr. Mistoffelees." She paused, and looked down, thinking over what he could have possibly meant. "Why would you think I would betray--?"

Victoria entered, and at once, Mistoffelees put his paw over Merrytus', silencing her. "Get some rest," He purred, and nuzzled her. He watched as she closed her eyes, and he couldn't help but worry. What if Munkustrap and Alonzo were right? But worst of all…what if he did end up alone again?