Forbidden Love (Volume I)

Chapter Three

They returned home, but little did they expect Macavity to be there, "Hello, there, my darlings!" He quipped as grinned widely. Mistoffelees screamed in horror once again, hiding under the blankets.

"Mac!!!" Tugger snarled.
"What? I just wanted to have some fun with the little one!" Macavity laughed.
"Why do you make such heavy jokes on him? I'm in charge of him; you didn't want to! I'm glad you didn't."
"Why? Because you couldn't have imagined what I could've been doing to him?"
"Yes! You're mean! Very mean!"
"Oh, you're the youngest in this family. You still have so much time to reach my age; you won't like it when you do, brother. Your feelings get mixed up all the—"
"No wonder you're always so either menacing or depressed."
"Shut up!"
"See?"
"Ugh, look. I'm warning ya."

Tugger raised an eyebrow: he was being sarcastic, "Warning us about what?"

Silence...

"You know what? Screw it. I should be chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn. Then, I will not have to deal with idiots like you. You're the most miserable creatures I've ever seen in my life—and I count Munkustrap and Victoria in this one—and for that, I hate being around when others come visiting.
"I would have preferred to have been born to some other family: I don't like being Royal. It burns. It's so much work. You always have to act so elegantly; that's not me at all! You wouldn't expect that from me! I'm no..." The ginger tabby eyed the white muzzle beneath the blankets and growled, "I'm no tuxedo cat: I don't have the class you'd expect me to have." He slowly left the room once again.

Tugger stood there, like a statue, for quite a while, before he felt Mistoffelees' wet nose on his pelt, "Hey..."

Of course, the duo didn't understand what they'd just been told.
"Macavity scares me, Tugger." Mistoffelees murmured.
"Who wouldn't be... He's a big bully. He used to beat me up whenever I didn't do what he wanted me to do, despite being so small. I was your age when used to do that, Mistoffelees."
"M-My age?"
"Yes. He was the one in charge of me and Munkustrap whenever Mom and Dad were off to somewhere. In the end, it would be Munku who'd end up checking on me without doing me any harm, except he had to live it himself, too."

Mistoffelees shivered in fear at the thought of it. (If it wasn't hard for Macavity to scare him like this—not even a week passed—it wouldn't be hard to abuse of him in the future.)

Tugger looked down at Misto, "Do you want anything to eat?"
"Yes, please. I haven't eaten since yesterday."
"Oh, poor you! I can't imagine how hungry you must be—no, you're starving!" Tugger frowned quite a lot and cooed.
"I am," Misto nodded, "What can we eat?"
"Come..." Tugger reached out his paw and Mistoffelees took hold of it, being guided to a room that smelt of fresh food; fish, chicken, mice... It smelled delicious, didn't it? Mistoffelees got excited and faced Tugger with a wide grin, "Where is the food???"
"Here..." Tugger gave him a complete dish of cooked fish, birds and rodents.
The salmon was Misto's favorite, "Where did you get all this from?!" He spoke, his mouth being full muffling his voice.
"Mother keeps it in case we are still hungry."

The tux stopped munching and eyed the other coldly, "You're feeding me leftovers?!"
"They're not exactly leftovers—I mean, yeah... They're not. Be glad that the food is still fresh enough to eat." Tugger chuckled and shrugged.
"You're right... Thank you, though."
"It's nothing... If I'm to take care of someone I have to do it right."
"You're very sweet."
"I'm kind." He winked and stuck out his tongue.

The two giggled at this.
"What can we do next?"
"I'm not so sure, Mistoffelees. We can't get out of the yard again... at least not now. What do you like doing?"
"I like dancing!"
"Perfect! Then you'll be a grand success whenever you're old enough to attend The Ball."
"The Ball?" Misto tilted his head.
"Yes, The Ball! You know, us Jellicles believe in something called the Heaviside Layer. The Heaviside Layer is similar to what you call Heaven, for when you die you're reborn. But to go there you have to impress the Everlasting Cat and have to be chosen by the Jellicle leader—or in this case, my dad. And they usually organize a ball for the impression. Now, how good are you at your dancing?"