Chapter 14. Contravertical Cats

In Which Things Get Very Crazy

The theatre was filling in rapidly, the sounds of rambunctious children and anxious adults filled the halls and the lobby, even though the show didn't start for another forty-five minutes. The dressing rooms were crowded and hot, and many of the Jellicles were in cat form out of sheer necessity for space. Mistoffelees was completing the last of the glamours on Jenny and Jelly, making sure they looked indistinguishable from Susie and Susan, even under the light of the stage or on film, because he knew that at least a few people had snuck cameras in. He was waiting for Andrew to ask him to change the wording on the programs, which had come in earlier than expected a week before but too late to send back to be reprinted to reflect the changes in the cast.

The black cat wondered briefly why he was willing to do all that he did for something that was little more than a children's show to him. He supposed, before Alicia had added extra incentive, that he did it out of respect for Jake and the fact that he liked Andrew and knew the older man needed help with certain things that only magic would get taken care of. It bothered him slightly, how much he did for the humans, when just a year ago he'd been comfortably tucked away in Queens with Jake and Shelby, spending his days as a sleepy housecat and moonlighting as a Jellicle with both the local tribe and his own imported tribe members from London.

It was funny, when he thought about it, how the musical had pulled the tribe together on a more permanent basis. He saw more of some of them now than he ever had. He saw his uncle and sister a lot less than he would have liked, up until the comeback had started up. Of course, Bustopher was always a social butterfly with the local queens in London, and it made sense he wanted to stay with them as much as possible, though now that he was mated, he'd be staying in the U. S. And Victoria had her considerable brood with Plato to raise, and another on the way, so her absence from his everyday made sense.

He had discussed it with his father several times. Things were changing for the tribe, and for other tribes around the world. Old Deuteronomy had known it for decades, known it even before he'd initially told Mr. Eliot of the Jellicles, but had said nothing, not knowing exactly when the changes would get to the level of drasticity he had forseen. The Jellicle elder explained that he was allowing the cats to interact with the humans to get them used to the changes while he could. It was the same reason, the old tom said, that he was allowing Mistoffelees to use his magic so much. He would need the experience and the power he was gaining in the coming years.

The black cat had not missed the significant looks his father had given both him and Alicia after Christmas. A chill ran down his back at the thought of his father knowing just what they'd been up to, and he knew nothing slipped past Old Deuteronomy for very long. He was certain that Deuteronomy was letting his indiscretion slip because Alicia had held a Jellicle form. He noticed the small, semi-permanent look of dissaproval on Munkustrap's face, his older brother not privy to the knowledge of changes and disliking change in general. A gnaw of worry ate at his gut, compounded by the worry he had for Alicia. She had started to notice the looks too, the cold shoulder of his elder brother, the constant knot of tension on Mistoffelees spine that even her deft fingers couldn't flicker away.

She had been horrendously sick the last week; unable to hold down anything for very long, working herself into a dangerous exhaustion, losing ten pounds that she really didn't need to lose. Even this morning, she'd thrown up three times before they'd met up at the theatre. He hadn't been able to miss the scents of the three separate sicks on her breath, even underneath the stink of too-strong mint gum. There were dark circles under her eyes, and he could tell she'd been crying, most likely out of frustration and not knowing whether her parents were going to come or not.

The black cat wondered backstage, dodging feet and parking his cat-formed self on one of the railings, out of the way. He saw Alicia buzzing around, helping various actors with their wigs and faces, a needle with a long straggler of white thread in her mouth. Her unitard hung off he shoulders, caught on the top of her bra. Charlotte finally grabbed her by the strap of the thing and tossed her bodily into a chair to do her face.

He watched as Alicia's eyes darted around the backstage, her face (what wasn't already smeared with greasepaint) blotched in a patchy flush. He heard Charlotte cluck her tongue at the girl, but couldn't make out the words said.

Alicia sat in the make-up chair, her heart hammering. She hadn't heard from her parents, and dispite the fact that she couldn't really stand her father anymore, they were still her parents. She wanted them to see her here, if just to prove what she was doing was worthwile. They'd been trying to convince her that Theatre was dying off, and she refused to believe it. This was her proof that they were wrong, her proof that she could, and in fact had, made it. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do if they didn't show up.

She heard the orchestra tuning up outside, the noise of children and parents and the chatter of actors. A few of the newly appointed understudies were going over footwork, making her nervous that she'd forget her own. She'd been unable to warm up her voice, because every time she did, she got sick. Every time someone tried to talk to her, she found a quick way to dodge out of it, because she was so keyed up she was afraid she'd snap at them.

The second the wig was on her head she sprang out of the chair and began to bolt nervously from place to place backstage.

That was how Mistoffelees found her a half hour before the show; wringing her hands and trying not to vomit behind the Growltiger props.

"Alicia, what's the matter?" He asked, though he knew perfectly well what the problem was. He could practically smell her nervousness. The girl darted for him, grabbing him about the chest and letting all her worries fall from her in one big rush.

"Misto, what on earth was I thinking? I can't do this! I can't be Victoria! I can't! It's such a technical part, so visible, I know I'm just going to butcher it!"

"Stop that right now!" the tux tom reprimanded her gently, taking her chin in his paw so she'd look at him. "Obviously you can, or you wouldn't be here right now, in that costume. Jillian's seen more than her fair share of dancers play this part, and she still picked you! If that doesn't' tell you you can do this I don't know what will."

"But…"

"No buts. Not today. Not ever, as far as this is concerned. You've more than proven yourself. Where's the girl who'd near kill a boyfriend over a cat go? Where's the confidence of the Marine? Hmm? Come on, Cici, I know you can do this."

She gave him a tremulous smile. "You're right, of course. I'm just being silly. But I am still nervous to the point of stupidity."

Misto grinned…she'd been so nervous and exhausted the last week that they'd somehow managed to go that whole time without anything more than a cuddle before her falling into a jittery sleep, and he had a good feeling a bit of alone time would help calm her down tremendously. "I believe I can solve that," he whispered lasciviously into her ear, leaving her no doubt as to exactly how he meant to do so. Alicia giggled, snuck a look at her watch and then looked around. "Just a quick one…I have to be out in the rows in fifteen."

"Well, we'd best get to it then, shan't we?"

They snuck to a nearby supply closet and shut the door, not noticing that Tugger and John both saw them in passing.

Mistoffelees whispered two spells in quick succession, one to ensure the face paint stayed undamaged and another to shift the material of the unitard out of his way, before he backed Alicia into a wall and pinned her to it.

"Do you know how weird this feels? You look like my sister."

"But I'm not your sister," Alicia murmured, wrapping her legs around his waist, letting him hold her up as she kissed him, her tongue fighting for entrance past his lips.

Misto let her in gladly, quickly proceeding to duel back, barbs and slickness causing the opposite to shiver. His hands drifted between her legs as he held her up and began teasing her. He found her ready and felt her moan into his mouth in less than a minute and released her lips as he slid in, groaning. He'd missed this. He'd missed her.

"Hurry," he heard her gasp as they moved apart and came back together slowly, her body taking longer to adjust than normal. "Hurry, Misto! Oh! If they-if they find us…!"

"It doesn't matter…" He assured her, tightening his grip and quickening his pace nonetheless, "It doesn't matter. Not anymore. They can't touch us."

"Misto…"

"Shh."

He shifted and jerked back, carrying her with him before setting her down on an empty shelf so he could lay her back. Alicia cried out as he thrust at the new angle, hitting something he hadn't been before. She ground her heels into the base of his tail and bit his neck to urge him on, losing all track of time in the dark…

Sir Lloyd Webber looked at his watch impatiently, wondering where some of his cast was. He knew Elaine was in her dressing room, praying as she always did before a show. A few of the cast was out in the aisles, prowling as usual as the crowd filtered in. A few last minute costume repairs and makeup touch up jobs were going on, as usual, and Frank was poking the backstage rigging with a broom, trying to retrieve his shoe-Andrew did not want to know about that one. The older man swept over the actors again, wondering where Miss Connors and Mistoffelees were. The tux cat was playing himself for the next couple of days, since Jake had come down with a bout of the same flu his little girl had been fighting with on and off all winter. He hoped she wasn't ill, but it was getting dangerously close to the time she needed to be out.

Quietly posing the question if anyone had seen her, John got up and muttered something about thinking he'd seen her run to the supply closet.

John stuck his head in the supply closet and closed the door as quickly as he could, a pink stain dotting his cheeks.

"They're…practicing. Give them a minute."

Andrew huffed and stated that they'd had more than enough practice and they both needed to be out by now. John tried to stop him from opening the door, especially since both Munkustrap and Bryn were in line of sight with the door now, but Andrew was having none of it.

"Andrew! I really wouldn't interrupt them…" John called, rather too late.

Alicia let out a shuddering sigh as Mistoffelees sucked at her breast, his teeth sending jolts of electricity down her torso to where they were joined. They were both so close, lost in each other as Misto set the pace frantic, his hips bucking. The Jellicle felt her muscles contracting around him as her climax began, and he thrust harder, moving his mouth from her nipple back to her lips. He heard her muffled cry under his lips, and grinned.

Then he saw the open door, with the faces of Andrew, Munkustrap, Bryn, and several others in the line of sight, all getting an eyeful of him and Alicia an a position that absolutely could not be mistaken for anything else.

Slamming the door closed with a wave of magic, he noticed Alicia, looking panicked and close to tears.

"Forget about it," He said, intent on making her do so. He kissed her eyes and her lips, and proceeded to take up where he'd left off. He drew another orgasm from her before reaching his own, set the both of them to rights with a few whispered words, and repaired the costume and makeup to its normal mundane state.

"Misto….they know. They saw! What are we going to do?" Alicia moaned, looking miserable, not having any clue just what kind of trouble she'd be getting him into, just knowing it was a lot. Misto looked at her, and took her hand in his.

"We are going to go out on stage, dance our hearts out for that audience out there, and not give a damn what my tribe or the cast thinks about us until well after the performance, do you hear me?" Misto said, his voice strained, almost desperate to make her see that he didn't care and that she shouldn't worry, shouldn't let this ruin her moment. She grinned, her eyes still a bit teary, but bright. "You're right. That's exactly what we'll do, because I'm not ashamed of this, and I refuse to let them make me!"

"There's my girl," Misto said.

When they left the supply closet, the crowd gathered around had the decency to look embarrassed. Munkustrap's face was clouded over by a shadow of barely constrained rage, Bryn looked about ready to throw a snit, and Andrew was somehow managing to look as if this sort of thing happened all the time and was no big deal.

"You've got about ten minutes till curtain call if you want to run about," he said, not quite able to look them in the eyes "If everything's…put to rights, that is."

"Of course, Mr. Webber," Alicia said, sounding properly abashed.

Misto nodded to John and Andrew in turn, an indeterminate expression on his face. Munkustrap was making his way to the two of them, and his mouth open to protest before Misto set him with a glare, the tux's voice glacial as he growled at his brother.

"Later. You will not ruin this for her, Munkustrap. You will not."

The Musical

As the first strains of music swelled from the orchestra, Alicia ran on all fours out of the aisle she was in and disappeared up the back stairs to the stage. She'd looked for her parents, but between her little interlude with Misto and what had happened after, she'd only had about five minutes, and hadn't seen them. She gulped, and then decided that she wasn't going to let it bother her.

As the tune changed from the overture to Jellicle Songs, Alicia felt her heart catch in her throat as her cue came nearer. A pair of black and white arms snaked around her and she felt something brush against where her ear was under the wig. Misto's embrace calmed her, and she nodded silently as she slid away from him and slipped onstage.

The next few minutes were a blur of dancing and song, Alicia's feet somehow remembering the choreography with out her thinking about it and her voice ringing out with all the rest as she swung and leapt, blinded by the stage lights. She could still see a bit of the audience, but no matter how she squinted, her parents never came into view.

She got a better chance to look during The Naming, but it didn't matter, she still couldn't see them. She bit her lip, but before she could let it bother her, it was time for her to sneak away and drift into the Invitation. She took her solitary place on the stage with her heart hammering in her ears as she felt her body twist and contort in ways she wasn't sure how she managed. She tried to imagine what she looked like to the audience, the curvier lines of her body most likely detracting from the overall effect of the dance itself. Her lines had never been clean. But before her imagination could get away from her, there was Misto, and the rest of the cast, and the whirlwind started all over again.

By the time the Rum Tum Tugger's song rolled around, Alicia's anticipation had dulled to a slow simmer in the pit of her stomach, and she'd actually began to have fun. The tap dance scene in The Old Gumbie Cat had always been energetic and silly and she loved it. She'd noticed that a few of the cast and cats had given her odd looks throughout the numbers, but whenever she started to doubt herself, Misto was right there to give her a quick glance or touch that would boost her back up again.

Jellylorum found a moment to give her a hug during Bustopher's number, and Perry and Mungojerrie (both of whom were playing themselves) managed to pull her aside before the intermission to give her a quick hug, wink, and affirmation that it'd be okay.

Alicia drifted her way through the songs, watching the other actors as they played their roles. She could see how ingrained Elaine's own mannerisms were in the Grizabella character. She had a hard time not laughing at James Barrons' Bustopher, now that she'd met the real one.

When everyone ran backstage for the first of the Macavity scares, during the Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer bit, Alicia found herself surrounded by her friends, telling her what a wonderful job she was doing. Tugger came up from behind and buried her in a huge hug, his mane tickling her neck, and Michael gave her a rueful grin and nodded at Misto "That certainly explains a lot," he started. "Are the two of you happy?"

"Yes," Alicia said with a shy smile. Michael grinned back. "Well, I'm glad for that. You need a bit of happiness, both of you."

Alicia grinned and went off to go find her water bottle while she could. A hand snaked out of nowhere and grabbed her roughly by the wrist, spinning her around before pinning her to the wall. Bryn glared down at her, his face inches from her own.

"I guess that explains it, huh, you little skank? You've been shagging the cat this whole time. Huh. When you kept saying no to me I figured you must've been gay like half this damn cast. Silly me, for thinking it was the other type of puss you favored. Fucking a cat, who'd have thought! Ha. Must be a damn good pussy if you don't want anything to do with me!"

Alicia struggled against him as he held her, but he was too strong for her to do much against. "You're disgusting!" She hissed at him after he was done with his tirade. The big man only laughed. And then he kissed her. Before she knew what was happening, his mouth was on hers and his tongue down her throat. She gave a muffled cry and struggled, one arm coming loose. She beat on his chest, but that only seemed to encourage him, and he grabbed one of her breasts. Then, with a yell, he was gone. Alicia opened her eyes to see Misto glaring at the man on the ground, a smudge of face paint on his clenched fist.

"If you so much as think of touching her like that again, I'll castrate you!" the tom growled, his hackles raised and crackling with electricity. "I'll let you go, just so the play isn't ruined, but don't you dare think for an instant that I'll forget this."

Bryn glared up at Misto, who had his teeth bared. The cat looked at Alicia "Shall I tell Andrew now or wait until after the show?"

Alicia looked from Bryn to Misto, realizing that the man's career was in her hands. He hated her enough. "No. Andrew doesn't need to know. We'll finish tonight's show with him and the three of us will discuss what happened here tonight after you and I deal with everything else, Misto. If he's smart he'll realize I'm saving his ass-though even I don't know why I'm doing it." Alicia spat, her voice cold. Misto nodded, and with a wave, fixed the smudges he'd left on Bryn's face paint. Bryn, his eyes filled with an odd mix of rage, distaste, respect and relief, nodded to the both of them and stalked off.

"Are you alright?" Misto asked as he held Alicia. She shook a little, but smiled up at him. "I will be. I know I still have to dance with him, but I'm going to accept the challenge and make it look as if nothing happened. It just proves I'm a better actor than he is. I should have expected something like this, he's been hounding me since we started, and the closeness has only made it worse."

"You should have told me…I can't notice everything."

"I know, but I didn't want to worry you. I thought I could handle it. Seems I was wrong and need my panther after all."

Misto smiled at that, hoping she didn't notice the slight glow on his fingers as he surreptitiously calmed her. Bryn, he had another spell saved for. A collar only Misto could see sat hovering at his neck, poised to incapacitate him if he tried anything else. It wouldn't hurt him, much as the black cat wished it would, but he certainly wouldn't lay another of his filthy hands on Cici. Misto wished he could do more, but Cici had made her decision and there were the human laws to consider.

After a few long moments just holding each other, Misto let Alicia go, letting her run off to the bathroom.

Alicia made it back on stage just in time to chase off Mungojerrie and Jojo. The stage went quiet for a moment, and the next thing Alicia knew, she was crawling on the floor, following Ken up to the Great Tyre, during the Deuteronomy number, and then watching the rest of the crew go through the Pekes and Pollicles paces before she slipped away to get into her Pom head.

The Jellicle Ball had her stomach flipping like crazy again, but as the music continued, she found herself getting lost in it once again. She was blinded by the stage lights as she took her place in the front of the formation, but she scanned for her parents nonetheless. She couldn't see them, and her chest tightened, but her feet didn't seem to listen, and she felt herself spinning around the stage, lights blurring as she danced. The music slowed, and before she knew it, she was facing a Plato faced Bryn. His was smiling, but the mix of anger and attraction in his eyes belied the expression. Alicia knew her eyes were steel, even if the rest of her face radiated 'Victoria's' happiness.

Bryn rubbed his head against her belly, and she shied away, before coming back to him and twisting together. Her hands gripped her waist and she felt a slight moment of disorientation as she leapt and he helped her flip upside-down. The fingers he ran down her thigh dug in a bit to hard, and the hand in question passed far to close to certain places, but the rest of the pas de deux went smoothly, Alicia flipping over gracefully and being brought to rest over Geoffrey's stomach. She felt a familiar hand scratch her head as she lay back, and peeped to see Misto wink at her, even as Bryn's too-rough fingers dug into her breasts. Misto had to let that one go, since that bit of fondling was part of the choreography. There was nothing she could do about having to lay down next to Walters on the stage, so she suffered through it, waiting for the trill of the trumpets to announce Grizabella crashing the ball. She was up as soon as she heard her cue, and the next few minutes passed in a multicolored whirl of lights and music and movement that left her dizzy and excited with her heart beating in her throat.

When the roaring applause died down and they called intermission over the intercom, she darted away like a shot, her vision going black for a second before the vertigo of excitement and exertion passed.

Misto watched from his spot behind the Growltiger props as Alicia bolted backstage. He knew her routine from filming and rehearsal; knew she stripped, took a quick whore's bath in one of the sinks and dried out her costume under the hand dryers before running out to mingle with the audience in the few short minutes she had before Moments of Happiness began to play.

Mistoffelees saw a grey tabby cat slinking into the ladies room. He glared and cast a silent spell before going to scoop up his brother.

"I told you to wait, Munkustrap. I didn't want to have to force the issue."

Alicia was still catching her breath when Ken's deep voice began to float through the theatre as the play roared back to life with The Moments of Happiness. She'd run around the audience again, but had been so preoccupied talking to some little kids that she'd missed her parents. Her blood was zinging around so fast that she didn't actually have the ability to concentrate on that bit of misfortune too long. So she sat on the stage in a rather tangled pose, batting playfully at Frank and just relaxing to the sound of Ken's voice. She really ought to tell him how much she liked his voice, she thought vaguely as the song ended.

She didn't have much to do during the next number, so she just sat with the other Kitten Girls and watched as Jellylorum and Mr. Gambon's understudy Bobby went through the Gus duet. She almost missed her cue the last time FireFrorFiddle appeared, she was so busy still trying to figure out how that mirror trick worked with John. Mungojerrie shooed her off at the last moment before chasing after her to get ready for the Growltiger number.

Alicia slunk into the Siamese unitard and ridiculous mascot head and waited, sword fighting with the other girls and peeping out of the scenery to watch the boys play pirates. 'Growltiger' and 'Griddlebone' were absorbed in a epic tickle fight/come-and-catch-me game that had the audience in stitches when she could finally slink out.

The choreographed sword fighting soon dissolved into chaos and ad-libbed cat-sults to the instrumental parts of the song. Alicia and Jojo's understudy Amanda were having far too much fun dueling with Karl and Fergus right up until Mungojerrie, done up gloriously as Ghengis, somersaulted to Centre stage in front of Bobby. The two proceeded into a swashbuckling battle that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Bobby eventually fell to Mungojerrie's sword, and was forced to walk the plank, his splashing, gargling demise broadcast over the theatre and followed by a harrowing crescendo.

There was a crazy flurry of movement as the Growltiger set was dragged back into place by the cast. Mistoffelees watched as Cici ran about, grinning from all the fun as she got into place for Geoff's number. He had already started scoping out the rigging, knowing his own bit of the show was coming soon. Geoff made a good Skimble, his natural hyperness and silly streak matching the real tom to a 'T'. Misto watched the girl dressed like his sister for a moment more before looking out into the audience. He hadn't told Alicia, but he knew her parents weren't there. The why of it was lost to him, but he couldn't find them, no matter how hard he hunted with eyes or mind.

Alicia watched Bryn, Frank, Karl, Fergus and John all scatter backstage after the Irish jigging and collapse of the rubbish train. Two were going for Macavity costumes and the rest for the soot-stained henchcat getups. The rest of the cast scattered at Macavity's evil cackle. She saw Misto sprinting to his place up on the lift rope as she dove under he brass pipes of the bed. Rose Marie and Aeva's understudy Tammy made their gyrating way across the stage, crooning about the Napoleon of Crime. The rest of the female cast darted out at the last verse for their chorus line. Alicia found she liked it in the back as well. It was nice not being the main focus.

Bryn shambled on stage in the Old Deuteronomy coat and mask as John mimed in the corner as his double. Tammy threw her hissy-fit perfectly, zipping across the stage to hiss manically at everyone flamboyantly before almost tackling Bryn as she dove at him. He threw her off and knocked away Michael before diving back to kidnap Tammy. Jason grabbed her away as Michael joined in the weird tug of war. The action escalated from there until the whole tribe joined in in an enormous choreographed fight scene where everyone got a crack at Macavity. Frank, Karl, and Fergus even popped back in as Hench cats for a few swipes before being chased off. Bryn finally made his way to the jumper cables, which set off the lights flashing and pyrotechnics flaring throughout the theatre. Alicia heard the audience screaming and almost jumped out of her skin.

In the dark of the stage, she saw Tammy and Michael meet in the dark and heard the call go up to find old Deuteronomy. John's voice slithered through the blackness before the spotlight found him, and she slunk away to hid near the pipe, waiting for Misto.

Misto felt himself lowered on the rope on cue and clicked on that ridiculous fifteen pound light vest. He didn't see how Jake danced in the damn thing. He was off dancing and hamming things up with John the minute his feet touched the ground. He sang a little in this one, and flipped through the staged magic tricks as fast as he could, laughing as Veerle and Jo ran off with that silly rainbow ribbon. He grinned when he made Cici 'appear' from nowhere by way of pyrotechnics that blinded the audience for a moment. He spun his way through the conjuring turn easily, though he was sure his eyes were crossed for a second afterward.

Rebecca and Ken pulled off the switch-a-roo flawlessly, thought he'd expected nothing else, practiced old hats that they were, though Ken's knees seemed to bother him a bit more than they used to.

At the last second of his number, the lights strobed and he managed to disappear in the confusion.

Veerle began to sing softly as the lights refocused, and Elaine made her liming way out to center stage, where the 'older' cats went about guarding the kittens.

Alicia sat watching as Elaine sang, waiting for her cue, and felt tears damp her lashes. The night was almost over. When she went to accept Grizabella back into the tribe, Elaine smiled at her, noticing the tears. Cici handed her off to Misto and then watched as Elaine was lead to the descending walkway on the hydraulic tyre and smiled. The tears flowed freely as the memory of another cat meeting their end and beginning came to mind. And just like then, warm and thin-furred fingers found their way between hers and made everything okay.

Before she knew it, she was singing the chorus to The Ad-Dressing of Cats and flowing through what little choreography it had and then standing between Frank and Rose Marie and taking her bows to deafening applause.

After the Musical

The next half hour was a blur, but eventually she found herself backstage, wrapped in Misto's arms as she cried.

"They weren't here!" She cried "I worked so hard, and they didn't even bother to come!"

"And yet, you were still wonderful. The news that this musical came back is going to be everywhere, and that we had such a great opening night just as much. They'll hear and regret not coming…if it was a conscious decision. Call your sister when everything's done with, see if they had car trouble or something…it is four hours away."

"You really need to stop saying exactly the right thing, or I'm going to think you're reading my mind and cheating."

"Heaviside forbid…I'd get lost in that mess."

"Ahem." came a voice behind them. Munkustrap stood there, his eyes ablaze and his arms crossed. "We will discuss this, now, Quaxo."

Mistoffelees moved slightly in front of Alicia, an odd noise coming from his throat. He heard her swallow hard. He doubted she'd ever seen Munkustrap so angry.

"Please tell me I did not see what my mind is screaming at me that I saw."

"And what is it exactly you think you saw, Munk?"

"You know damn well. You, and her, twined up around each other like eels. Tell me I'm just an old pervert and that you were'nt stupid enough to do something that will get you exiled."

Misto heard Cici's sharp intake of breath. Feeling guilty for a moment for not telling her the consequences, he decided to deal with that later and put his older brother back in his place.

"Old pervert or not, you saw exactly what you think you did. I'm not ashamed of it."

Munkustraps eyes grew wider, his pupils going to slits, and he drew back his shoulders as if braced for a slap.

"Are you mad? She's human!"

"Quite possibly. And…what exactly is the problem with that?"

"Aside from being disgusting? The fact that it breaks more laws than I can even name!"

"Munkustrap…" Misto began; Munkustrap cut him off with a hissed "NO!" and a stinging slap.

"How could you do this? Do you realize what a danger this is to the tribe? How long has this been going on under my nose? Since Christmas? Before? When this bloody musical debacle all started?" Munkustrap hissed, shaking his younger brother by the shoulders, his teeth clenched in ill hidden rage

"I hardly see how it's any of your business how I could do 'this.'"

"Don't try being cute! Do you realize what you've done? The laws you've broken? Mistoffelees, I cannot allow this to go on! As guardian of the tribe, I forbid you to ever see her again-in ANY form!"

"Forbid? You can't forbid me from doing anything! And don't you ever try to lecture me on the laws of our people again!"

"Watch your tongue!"

"My tongue, my arse! Watch your own, Munkustrap!"

"This is insubordination! You are not to see that, that human again, and I'll see to it myself that you're punished"

"You can't punish me. I'm not some defenseless little kit you need to stand up for anymore. I can make my own decisions, Munk, and this is one of them."

"You're still a member of this tribe, and under my authority because of it, little brother."

"Didn't I tell you to hold your own bloody tongue? Don't make me pull rank on you Munkustrap. I've never had to before, but I swear to Bast I will if you don't Drop It!"

"Pull rank?"

"Yes, brother, rank."

"You can't pull rank on me, you little shit!"

"Oh, but I can, brother." Mistoffelees hissed dangerously, his voice dropping and his eyes going dark. "Have you been guardian so long you've forgotten where the rest of us stand? Forgotten who I am!? I am the heir to Deuteronomy's throne. I am the next leader of our tribe. I know more about our ways and laws than you'll ever hope to hear hints of." Munkustrap opened his mouth to object, but the smaller tom wouldn't let him.

"I know our laws backwards, forwards, slantwise and sideways, and I know exactly what I'm doing with Alicia, and I'll denounce the whole bloody lot of you to prove it if I have to!" Mistoffelees roared, his voice going harsh and deep as sparks flew uncontained from his fingers. Munkustrap's eyes were wide, fear flashing in their depths. Mistoffelees deflated suddenly. "I love her Munkus, why can't you just accept that and go on?"

"Because this is dangerous! She could get us all killed!"

"Killed? Killed! Look at her! She's more cat than some cats I've met, and she'd do nothing to harm any of us and you know it!"

"That you know of! If we mix with humans any more…father's loosing his mind, letting this happen. You know what they're like, what they do to their own kind for even the slightest bit of difference. They'll use us all up and the lot of us could be dead in a year! I'm not going to let your blindness hurt my family!"

"Things are changing, Munkustrap. I don't know how fast or why, but they are. We were going to be found out sooner or later anyway. Whether it be hundred years from right now or a hundred days, I don't know. But things are changing, and I'd rather be in control of the situation than someone else when they do. If you take her away from me…Munkustrap, if you separate us, I will leave the tribe, and you will never see either of us again. Then you won't have to worry about us being a danger to anyone"

"So, you'd leave us all leaderless just for her?"

"Yes."

"Abandon your family, your tribe, everything, for a little human dancer with no magic and with no way to get back in if things go wrong?"

"Yes."

"You're a fool Mistoffelees."

"No, Munkustrap, you're the fool. A fool for automatically throwing Alicia to the wolves for something as small as the fact that she's human."

"Small? I'd say that's a pretty large something, Quaxo!"

"No, Munk, it's tiny in the scheme of things, and that inability to see that it is is exactly why Father chose not to go against tradition with you. Had you more of an open mind, you would be the heir and not me. Yes, I see you know it, somewhere in that thick head of yours. Your inability to see, to bend, holds you back, and it always will. I am through with this. Make your choice and live with it, and then come to me when you get your head out of your ass."

"Mistoffelees…"

"Make you're choice, Munkustrap. Because I've already made mine."

Munkustrap stood stupid with shock as his younger brother walked away, his arms around Alicia.

Mistoffelees walked away, not caring that he hadn't settled things with Bryn, not caring that he had just destroyed his relationship with his brother and possibly alienated the tribe, not caring that he'd soon have to answer to his father. The only thing he cared about was getting Cici out of the hostility and explaining everything before the whole situation got crazy, which he knew it would. He could almost smell the proverbial shit he'd thrown into the fan.