During the Ball
the1andonlyofo, thank you! I love to think of Old D as a sweet grandpa type. HGP, thank you, as always!
A big thank-you to CrazyIndigoChild for beta-reading!
7. Advance and Retreat
(This chapter takes place during "The Awe-ful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles." No particular naughtiness in this one, just a lot of kissing.)
We really should be paying attention to the song, Mistoffelees mused. From behind the well-secluded junkpile, he could hear Munkustrap begin the epic tale of the Pekes and the Pollicles. Of course, it was difficult to concentrate on the story while arched back on a pile of old newspapers, pawing at Tugger's body while the maned tom's tongue was deep in his mouth.
The lyrics to the song and the on-cue barks (and he didn't even have the presence of mind to recognize who was playing the initial peke and pollicle) soon dissolved into a unimportant jumble as the kiss continued with fever. Tugger's hand slipped down to his hips, pressing him closer, and this time Mistoffelees didn't even put up a token protest. He wanted this, badly.
Mistoffelees broke the kiss and, with a slow, happy sigh, rested his head on Tugger's chest for a moment, listening to the racing heartbeat.
"How did we get started like this, again?" he asked languidly.
"Your fault," Tugger panted, face buried in Mistoffelees' head fur. "You asked me to help you put on your pollicle costume…"
"Mm-hm…" A series of kisses on Tugger's chest and neck ended with a quick nip to his jaw line.
"And then…" Tugger grabbed hold of his face between large paws, kissing him before continuing, "As I innocently attempted to slide someone's pollicle shoe on, that same someone thought it would be hilarious to slide his other leg right around my neck."
Another kiss, before Mistoffelees could cheekily answer, "That's not how I remember it."
"You know how I love your legs."
"Mm-hm. Flirt."
Mistoffelees pouted slightly as Tugger gave him a final kiss and released him, bending down to retrieve the pollicle head from his costume. Dusting it off, he then delicately placed it atop Mistoffelees' head.
"There," Tugger brightly said. "Now you look perfectly ridiculous."
"Thank you," Mistoffelees sighed. He suddenly felt chilly without Tugger pressing against him, and just a little disappointed that he was ending up more clothed instead of less. He watched as Tugger next retrieved one of the makeshift pollicle-paws, waiting for the small tom to hold out his own paw so he could slip it on. "You know… we could skip this song too."
"And miss the Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles? Misto, I'm surprised at you! What about your role?"
He shrugged, though didn't resist when Tugger covered his other paw with the costume piece. "Skimble can handle it alone. And Munk's already banned you from the performance, so you need to stay here anyway."
"Admetus as the Rumpus Cat," Tugger grumbled, pulling a little too tightly on the fastening around Mistoffelees' wrist. "Munk's making a big mistake. He'll see."
Mistoffelees' ear twitched against the pollicle-head costume, listening to Munkustrap in the distance and trying to discern where the story was up to. If, oddly enough, he wasn't going to convince Tugger to sit out the song with him, he didn't want to miss his cue. He'd just noticed that the Marching Song of the Pollicles was about to begin when Tugger's words sank in.
"Wait- what do you mean, 'he'll see?' Tugger! What are you planning?"
Instead of answering, Tugger strode over to a nearby junk pile, rifling behind it until he'd pulled out a device unfamiliar to Mistoffelees: a brown leather ball of some sort, with makeshift tubes sticking out the top. Tugger smirked and stuck the leather ball under his arm.
"What in Heaviside is that?" Mistoffelees asked. "What does it do? It's not dangerous, is it?"
"Oh, you'll see. It's nothing harmful, just a bit of entertainment. Munk might even think it's fun!"
"Where did you ever find a thing like that?"
"Yes, that is a good question, isn't it?"
Tugger's kittenish attitude was contagious. Instead of being outraged at the possibility of his mate making a spectacle of himself (or a disaster of the song), Mistoffelees found that he rather looked forward to seeing what Tugger had planned. He grinned and shook his head.
"You're definitely starting to rub off on me."
"Oh, I know. I can smell myself on you."
"That's not what I-"
He was interrupted by a sudden and deep kiss. "You'd better go," Tugger whispered against his lips. "Or you'll miss your cue."
"Hmm," Mistoffelees sighed glumly. He hopped off the pile on which he was sitting, staggering slightly until he realized what was wrong: he only had one costume pollicle-foot on. Well, of course! He'd wrapped his other leg around Tugger's neck before he had a chance to slide the other piece on.
"I'm missing a shoe…" Mistoffelees urgently said, looking around for the missing piece. "Tug, I'm missing a shoe!"
With his strange instrument still in hand, Tugger gave a quick glance about and spotted the stray paw, kicking it over to Mistoffelees. It was awkward to put on with his own hands already in the pollicle-hands; he could do little better than awkwardly stick his foot inside and hope it would stay on until the end of the song.
Skimble cast him a puzzled look as he came racing into position, stepping out on cue to Munkustrap's lyrics. Mistoffelees lost sight of Tugger for a moment, but the other tom's presence was heard quickly enough as a loud, piped tune began to play. Mistoffelees nearly giggled at Munkustrap's look of dismay.
As far as Tugger's 'improvisations' went, this one was much less disruptive and much more pleasant than the norm. He was surprised that only had Tugger managed to acquire the strange instrument, he also knew how to play it quite well, even as he leapt and dodged as Munkustrap attempted to chase him down. Artful and knowing, indeed.
Caught up the moment, Mistoffelees couldn't help but dance to the catchy tune Tugger was managing to put out. His hastily-slipped-on pollicle shoe flew off as he spun about, tumbling off in the middle of the clearing.
He stared dolefully at his lost shoe, wincing as the queens stepped out and nearly tripped on it, and almost missed Skimble's long-suffering sigh. "I knew it was a mistake to tell the lad about bagpipes…"
Sing it with me now… "the Great Rumpus Caaaaat!"
When I was performing in a play last summer, I discovered a co-star was a huge CATS fan. The two of us sang this entire song in the dressing room. Barks and all! :)