Hey. It's me again, with chapter 2. I hope you guys aren't bored yet.
And if you're wondering, the romance thing is gonna tie in later. It'll come soon enough. Oh, by the way, since this'll probably get too long, it'll probably be a continuation. :3
DISCLAIMER: I'm only saying this one more time, and that's it. I don't own CATS, because if I did, Mistoffelees would be Supreme Jellicle Ruler and Pouncival would ride a llama around the junkyard for me. :3
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"So, then. This is where we live." Munkustrap guided me into the junkyard, which, from a distance, just looked like what it was; a junkyard. But inside, I found it was teeming with life. Two young cats, maybe a little younger than me, a dark tabby and a pale one, scurried after each other, giggling. A handsome tom with a mane of well-groomed hair and a jacket with an enormous ruff was flirting with a scarlet queen while her black and gold friend looked on disapprovingly. A couple of young toms raced after each other, laughing and yelling, and a black cat with a white chest and face sat up on a heap of old trash parts talking with a white queen. All around there were things happening, all around cats living, breathing, talking, playing. It was amazing. Just amazing.
"Jellicles!" called Munkustrap, and his deep voice carried out over the 'yard, stopping most of the cats in their tracks. The kits that didn't were rounded up by a pair of older cats that looked like mates, a marmalade tabby and an older queen whose fur was covered in spots and stripes, all intermingled. Which was frankly cool.
Okay, so, here I was, a short little charcoal-gray tabby standing between two toms, both at least a head taller than me, and now surrounded by other cats who I didn't know, all of which were staring at me like I crawled out of a toaster or something.
"This," Munkustrap began, "is..."
I cut him off, introducing myself. "Luvarium. My name is Luvarium."
"What a pretty name!" whispered the pale grayish tabby to her dark companion, earning her a jab in the ribs. I couldn't help but smile; the latter caught my eye and offered a smile back, which really made me feel at home. Y'know?
"Luvarium has...ah..." He looked at me briefly, and in that moment I figured out how to do that cool eye-conversation thing. So I told him to tell them I was lost, got a concussion, and lost a few of my memories. A few. "Luvarium was in an unfortunate accident that gave her a concussion and took a few of her memories." I heard a young tom with a brown patch over his left eye mumble, "Cool!" and earn a swat from the elder cat behind him. The cat beside him, who I guessed was his brother due to the fact he had a similar patch on the other side of his face, snickered. "So," continued Munkustrap, "Alonzo and I offered to take her in for a while." He looked at me, and this time I couldn't read his thoughts, so I gave him a "What?" look. "Luvarium, can you sing or dance at all?"
"Huh? Oh. Well, I can sing okay, I guess, and I don't know any dances, so I'm pretty sure I'm not all that good, but..."
"Why don't you give us a show?" called the black tom I'd seen talking with the white queen. He was smiling in a friendly, if subdued manner, and I took a liking to him quickly. Apparently I was also a good judge of character.
"Y-yeah, sure," I muttered, then took a deep breath and started to sing. It was a brief tidbit of a lullaby I think – and I'm grasping at shadows here – my mother sang to me when I was a kit.
"Hush now, little one
Sleep the morn away
The moon above calls you home
Sleep the golden day away
The sun above calls you away
Hush now, hush now, little princess
Don't you cry
Just sleep the morning light away
Beneath pale sunlight..."
The bubbly pale tabby started applauding, and a nearby calico smiled, her eyes sparkling.
"Uh, th-thank you." I bowed shakily. "And, uh, I don't really know any dances, so I guess you'll have to teach me." I smiled, feeling rather on the spot as of now. "I don't think I'm very good..."
"We'll see about that," Munkustrap said reassuringly, putting a hand on my shoulder. Oh, Rumpus, juts get me out of here already, I hated having so many cats staring at me like they were expecting something.
But of course, it wasn't over.
"Allright, then. Electra." The dark brown tabby perked up and stepped forward. She was young, maybe my age or a little younger, but already taller than me. She smiled a friendly smile at me before turning her attention back to the silver tabby. "How about you and your friends show Luvarium around, have her get to know her new fellow Jellicles?"
I hated how he said that. It made it sound like I was going to stay here forever.
Which I so wasn't. Too many cats around. Not that I was a sociopath or anything, I just...no. I didn't like crowds.
"'Kay." Electra dipped her head to Munkustrap. "What about Old Deuteronomy?"
"Old who?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Old Deuteronomy is my father and the leader of the Jellicle tribe," explained Munkustrap. "I'm just the protector, and Alonzo is my second-in-command." He looked back at Electra, obviously still expecting an explanation. "Old Deuteronomy isn't feeling well today. We'll take her to see him later."
"Allright," agreed Electra, bobbing her head. "C'mon, Luva. I'll show you around. You've gotta meet my friends." She grabbed my paw and began half-dragging me towards a group of giggling young queens about the same age as her, though the white one, who looked a little older, seemed closer to my age.
Luva. My first nickname. Yay.
"Uh, yeah, sure." I forced a grin, nervous and uncomfortable amidst all these new cats. It was shocking enough to meet Munkustrap and Alonzo, but surrounded by all these new faces, I found out I was more than a little shy. Plus, I was basically living a lie, considering I hadn't just gotten a concussion, and I was pretty sure my name wasn't Luvarium. Well. Pretty sure.
"Okay, so." Electra jolted me back to reality as we arrived at her little posse. "This is Etcetera," – she motioned to the pale tabby who had clapped for me earlier, who grinned widely at me and shook my paw emphatically – "and this is Jemima," – the calico I'd spotted, who gave me a kind smile and gently shook my paw – "and this is Victoria." The slightly older white cat gave me a soft, pleasant look as she was introduced.
"...hi," I managed, after a moment of hesitation. "I'm Luvarium."
"Yeah, we know." Jemima's smile didn't suggest she was trying to make me look bad with that comment, but I still blushed, feeling stupid.
"Oh...yeah."
"Okay, girls!" Electra bounced slightly. "I'm gonna take Luva to meet some other cats...like Tugger!" They all squealed and jumped up and down, but I just looked on in confusion.
"...Tugger?" I asked finally, tilting my head, with a confused look in my eye.
They all gasped.
"Only the Rum Tum Tugger!" Etcetera cried out, giddy with her fandom. "He's the sexiest tom ever!" The other queen-kits chorused their agreement, including Victoria, who I would've thought to be somewhat saner than the rest. Oh, well. First impressions die hard.
"Electra, you have to let us introduce her!" Jemima added, standing up and grabbing my other paw, yanking me along as Electra lost her grip on my other wrist.
"H-h-hey, Jemima, wait a second..." But the other queens were already hurrying towards the cat with the big hair and the huge coat fringe I'd seen earlier.
"Tugger! Tugger!" they all called, and he turned his head to look towards the group of queens running towards him. Immediately, he grinned like some sort of pedophile, and I shrunk back a little bit, only to lurch forward with a jerk from Jemima.
"Tugger, this is Luvarium!" Electra announced, motioning to me. He fixed his eyes on me and I shivered, unhappy with my situation.
"H-hi." I offered a slight wave, and I knew I looked embarrassed and bashful, the age my height suggested.
I nearly jerked out of Jemima's grip and ran when he flashed me a wide grin. "Hello, beautiful," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Where do you come from? The Heaviside Layer?"
Oh, sweet Everlasting Cat. I was definitely going to be sick.
"Ah, no," I muttered, and I hated how low my confidence sounded. I had been just fine with Alonzo, because he wasn't flirting with me, nor was he all up in my face like this. Speaking of which... "Could you excuse me?" I took a few steps back to get out of his way, pulled free of Jemima, and grabbed Electra's wrist, dragging her off to the side. "Okay, this was great and everything, but I'm not a big fan of pedos, 'kay?"
"Tugger is not a pedo!" Electra looked genuinely hurt.
"Okay, okay, that's fine, but could we move on, please and thank you? It's great that you like him and everything, but I don't."
"How could you not?" Oh, Rumpus. It was the kitten whimper.
"Electra, please, please just do this for me? I have an inferiority complex." That was a lie, but I wanted to get out of range of this...rock star child molester.
"Oh." That seemed to click into the tabby's brain. "I'm so sorry, Luva! I totally understand now. Tugger's just so amazing that..."
"Yeah, yeah, completely, he's just so..." I waved my hands in front of my face for emphasis. I felt like shit lying, but I'd tell her otherwise later if it really bugged me. "We can move on, then?"
"Yeah, sure." She brought me back over to Tugger, where the other queen-kits were fawning over him, curled up around his legs as he smiled and played along. "Hey, girls, let's keep going!" she called, then waved at the Maine Coon with a sly smile. "Bye, Tugger."
"Yeah, bye Tugger!" the others chorused, hurrying to catch up with Electra and me. They were all giggling like they were high on catnip.
It was sick. Just...sick.