by MistyBom
Gilbert looked proudly over Growltiger's ship. He had killed the "Terror of the Thames," quite easily. It was too bad, he thought, that they had to kill Griddlebone also. She was such a beautiful Queen, with her pure white fur. He sighed. His head had been filled with thoughts of hate for Growltiger, the dog that had killed his father in battle, since his youth. And now? Growltiger was dead, and he had nothing to do. He was older now, and even though he could have any Siamese queen he wanted, they were all too young or adoring for his tastes. He needed a real Queen, a Queen like Griddlebone. He shook his head forlornly as he walked off the pier and onto the beach, wishing again he had not killed her. He looked to the moon, a center of worship for all Jellicles, including himself. He followed the moonbeams onto the water, and about six feet in front of him was a white blotch on the dark sand. He ran to it, hoping it was who he thought it was. When he reached it, it was who he thought it was. It was the Lady Griddlebone. He checked for a pulse, and found a faint one. Gently he lifted her off the sand and carried her back to his royal sampan.
Gilbert and Griddlebone, after sometime fell in love, after much resistance by Griddlebone. Griddlebone would give birth to one kitten, a son, and the Prince of Siam.
*O*O*
Cassandra bounced happily down the junkyard path. She was so excited. In her hand she held a letter, and she could barely contain the excitement that the letter gave her. He was coming! And now she had to tell Munkustrap.
Exotica peeked her head out as she saw her cousin happily run by.
"Hey! Cassie! What's going on?" She asked. Cassandra didn't even pay heed. Exotica sighed and headed back into her home, which was a TV with a missing screen. She had removed all the mechanical things, and replaced them with blankets and pillows, along with a small cracked mirror. Everyone seemed to ignore her. Her sister, Tantomile, always hung out with her mate Coricopat, because they clicked. It was like that for all mates. If you found the perfect mate, then it would just click, and you and your mate were inseperatable. You would know how to comfort one another, and you hardly ever argued. She wished she had that good of a mate. Tanta had Corico, Munku had Demi, Bombi had Tugger, Cassie had Alonzo, Jelly had Tumble, Rumple had Mungo, and Jenny had Bustopher, Vicki had Plato. So that left Mistoffelees, Asparagus, Admetus, Pouncival, Rumpus Cat, and of course Macavity. Not like she'd want Macavity anyway. Pouncival was way too young, and Admetus was much too geeky, Asparagus was too old, and that left Mistoffelees. And Mistoffelees, although they were the best of friends, wouldn't make it as a couple. They were both extremely too shy. She sighed, and decided to follow Cassie to the mainyard.
*O*O*
On an ancient train, a lean Siamese reclined on the old red velvet seats. He was headed for London, to meet his pen pal, Cassandra. His father had sent him away, to get experience in the world. He had come to make peace with the Jellicles. His father had killed Growltiger, and he knew that the Jellicles hated him for it. But they didn't know the whole story. There was more to Growltiger than a simply bigoted Tom, who occasionally taunted the humans. He had killed his Grandfather in his sleep, an badly maimed his Grandmother. But now the hatchet had to be buried, and he was determined to dig the hole. That was, if they let him in the first place. He decided to get in first, and then try to change their minds. He sighed as he stepped off the roaring train, and got on the next one, headed for the city of London. His second mission, deemed upon him by himself, and secretly, probably by his parents, was that he was to find a mate. His mother spoke highly of British Jellicle Queens, saying they were polite, and very sweet.
*O*O*
"Munku! Munku!" Cassandra screamed as she entered the mainyard. Munkustrap turned to the voice and saw an excited Cassandra and a curious Exotica.
"What Cassandra?"
"My pen pal! Koko, he's coming all the way from Siam to visit me! Please, can he stay here?" Cassandra whined. By this time the whole junkyard had showed up, curious to see what's going on.
Mistoffelees tried to see, but everyone else kept pushing him away, and so he decide to appear next to his best friend, since she wouldn't shove him. Disappearing in a puff of smoke, to reappear by the tallest queen in the tribe, Exotica. Exotica jumped, then smiled weakly as she saw a curious Mistoffelees looking at the scene below them.
"Jeepers Mistoffelees! You scared me!" She whispered in his ear. Mistoffelees grinned sheepishly then looked back to the hyper Cassandra.
"Do you know anything about the new guy?" He asked.
"Nope, Cassandra doesn't tell me anything."
"How can you not KNOW HIM?" Victoria exclaimed.
"What do you mean Vicki?" Exotica asked.
"Koko, is the dreamiest Siamese of Siam. Cassandra showed me a picture. Although I shouldn't be suprised you don't know him Exotica." Victoria ended snottily. Exotica nodded then turned away, trying to hold back her tears. Nobody liked her except Mistoffelees. She wouldn't ever find a mate.
"Vicki, that wasn't very nice." Mistoffelees reprimanded. He was glad that he wasn't Vicki's mate, he doubted he could stand her. They were friends, but Vicki wasn't always the nicest of people.
"Well she isn't Misto, you know that. You know if you tried you could be popular like the rest of the cool cats. Exotica's just too tall, she's not even pretty, there's no way she would ever find a Tom." Vicki said, trying to entice him.
"Vicki, why don't you see what Plato's doing?" Mistoffelees said, snarling. Electrical energy danced on his paws and started to snake around his tail. He knew that now, there would be no way that he and Vicki could be friends. What a horrible thing to say to Exotica, she couldn't help the way she looked. And Victoria wouldn't know true beauty if it hit her on the head, and proceeded to strangle her.
Vicki took the hint. "Well, I guess if you're going to act like that, I'm just going to have to remove my graceful presence from you." She said before flouncing off to Plato's side. She rubbed seductively on his arm, trying to entice jealousy in Mistoffelees. She knew he had a crush on her. She would make him regret making his threats against her, and protecting the rather plain Exotica.
Mistoffelees saw what she was trying to do, and shook himself violently to remove any thoughts of he and her being mates. He turned his back to her, scraping his back feet at her.
Victoria felt her anger rise at the final show of disrespect in her direction. The back feet gesture was the ultimate sign of it. He had scraped her from his life, like cat litter. She would make him pay.
"Thanks, Misto." Exotica blubbered. "I know you liked her and all."
"No way I could like someone who would say such things about a good cat." Mistoffelees replied, rubbing against her comfortingly. "Come on, let's get you home." Mistoffelees said as he helped her to her feet. They were halfway there, before...
"She's right though! Nobody 'cept you likes me! No Tom wants me!" She wailed.
"Exotica, you'll find someone. There's got to be some Tom out there that wants you. I'm just sad it can't be me. Exotica, you're beautiful, I don't see how Vicki could say that about you. You're the nicest person I ever met, and certainly much better than most of the Queens here." Mistoffelees comforted, desperately denying his friend's doubts.
"You know what Misto?" Exotica sniffed as she began to smile.
"What Exi?" Misto asked, glad that she was beginning to brighten.
"You'd make a Queen a wonderful mate someday. Come on, let's see who he is." Exotica said, her wonderful smile beaming through.
"Who's he?" A foreign voice asked. Exotica and Mistoffelees turned around to see a tall sleek Siamese tom, staring at them with curious ice blue eyes. Exotica stared at him with awe. He was the most handsome Tom she had ever met. He had a lean build, and was a little taller than Munkustrap even! Her joy was squelched when she realized that every other Queen would want him for their own. But she didn't care, she would be the first to meet him, and that was all that mattered.
*O*O*
Koko had entered the junkyard unnoticed, and happened upon a Queen and a Tom talking. It was an odd parody to see them together. The Queen was about as tall as him, and the Tom looked like a kitten, although his tone and manners caused him to doubt that. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that the Queen was upset about something, and the Tom was trying to comfort. The Tom was obviously not her mate, which relieved him for reasons he couldn't comprehend. He shrugged it off, and asked about who 'he' was. He smiled when they mentioned his name, obviously Cassandra had just received his letter.
"Well, the mail travels slow here. Hello, I'm Koko." He greeted, as he jumped down, and bowed to them.
"Oh, hello, Mr. Koko. My name is Exotica." Exotica said faintly, as she bowed.
"And I'm Mistoffelees, Mr. Koko, pleased to make your acquaintance." Mistoffelees said with a nod of his head. "Well, before Cassie gets anymore riled up, we'd better get you to Munkustrap."
"Cassie?" Koko asked.
"Cassandra, we call her Cassie for short. They call me Misto, or Misty take your pick, and they call Exotica..." Mistoffelees said before he was cut off.
"Exi." Exotica said dreamily. Mistoffelees looked at her, and could tell from the glazed look in her eyes, that she was head over heels in love with Koko. He just hoped he wouldn't break her heart, he'd known others who had. One night after Alonzo had dumped her, he had to pull her out of a container of catnip and cream. She had decided to drown her sorrows. He prayed to the Heavyside he wouldn't have to do it again.
"Nice to meet you. Well, let's get the formalities over with." Koko said with a shrug.
"Right. Come on Exi." Mistoffelees urged, with a pull on her arm. He headed towards the proper, checking behind his back occasionally to see if they were still following.
*O*O*
As soon as Koko had entered the junkyard, all talk had stopped, and stared at the entrants. The silence was broken by Jemima's scream: "It's him!" Before she promptly fainted. The Queen's were all quickly in a buzz as they whispered amongst themselves. Koko, jumped down and pulled Cassandra in a bear hug.
"So I finally meet you at last Cassie." Cassandra giggled, and that was pretty much all she could do. Koko hand her over to the black and white Tom who looked fiercely at him. Munkustrap stepped down from the tire to greet the new Siamese. When he got up close he realized that the Siamese was a little taller than him! He began to clear his throat.
"Hello, I'm Munkustrap, second in command for the Jellicle Tribe of London. Nice to meet you Mr. Koko. Cassandra has told us so much about you." He said formally.
"Hopefully it's all good?" Koko said with some amusement playing in his eyes.
"Oh Koko your so funny!" Cassandra exclaimed before falling back into her mate, Alonzo's, arms, laughing. Koko merely cocked an eyebrow, before refocusing on Munkustrap.
"Well, I suppose one of the Queens would like to show you around." There was a squeal that arose from ninety percent of the Queens. "But I want a Tom around you, incase Macavity or one of his thugs show up. I guess you can take your pick." Munkustrap said as he motioned to the horde of Queens.
Koko looked over the group. The Queens all had a obsessed fan look in their eyes. If he wanted to meet a Queen like that, he could have stayed in Siam. There were plenty there. He saw in the corner, a hopeful look in Exi's eyes. He smiled and pointed to her. "How about Exotica?" He saw her nod and slowly walk up to the front. He looked about at all the Tom's and saw that most of them looked cross with him, and he had a feeling that it had to do with their Queens. He didn't know who to ask.
"I'll go." replied a voice from the back. Koko, Exi, and Munku all looked to the back, and saw Mistoffelees standing at full height, barely making it over the seated Tugger's mane.
"Misto, you couldn't fight..." Munkustrap started.
"Need I remind you of my full name and what I do?" Mistoffelees pointed out, as he started making his way through the crowd. Munkustrap groaned, he hated it when Mistoffelees pointed it out. It made him feel like an idiot, and made him look like one in front of the tribe.
"Fine, just don't get into any trouble." He grumbled, before retrieving the glassy eyed Demeter, and heading back to their nook. The crowd slowly dispersed, many the queens taking multiple last looks at the new Tom.
"Shall we go?" Mistoffelees asked politely. He liked Koko, he was a nice guy, but he was determined to protect Exotica from another heart break.
"Yeah, let's go." Exotica said softly. Koko nodded. Mistoffelees decided to bring Exotica to the present, it wouldn't do her any good if she was acting like an awed fan around him, if she wanted him. He knew he wouldn't want a fan.
"Hey, Exi, why don't you tell him about the places, and I'll guard?" Mistoffelees offered, then dropped behind the both of them.
"Okay. Oh, yeah, sure Misto." Exotica said, quickly. "Well, this is our junkyard, and everyone has a little place in which they sleep, etc. The boundaries over there are marked by a line of cans on strings. So we can tell if Macavity comes in. Although I think he sets them off just to spook us. I know he could get in here without setting them off if he wanted." Exotica said with disdain. It was a rather stupid idea proposed by one of the toms, and was obviously flawed. "Well, that's basically it, I guess. Why don't you meet the other members of the tribe?" Exotica said sadly, she knew that as soon as he found someone more popular than her, that he would disappear forever.
Koko heard the sadness in her voice. He didn't really want to meet the others yet anyway. Most of them he could already tell what they would be like. Zip for personality fans. He decided he could wait meeting them for another day. "No, I'm rather tired, actually. If you could show me an appropriate place to sleep, I'd be most grateful."
"Oh, yes! A place to sleep. I know! Follow me!" Exotica shouted excitedly. She dashed off towards her house. Mistoffelees and Koko chased after her.
*O*O*
Tumblebrutus snarled. He was sure he'd seen that Siamese somewhere before. But where? The junkyard was abandoned, and so he spoke out loud to himself.
"Why did Munkustrap have to let that cat in here? He's a freakin' Siamese, all the way from Siam! Who knows what his relations are to..." He ranted.
"To who?" Asked Munkustrap, suddenly appearing.
"To Gilbert, surely you remember him?"
"Yes, I've paid attention, but what does Koko have to do with it?"
"He could be a bloody relative of Gilbert, traitor to all Jellicles! Who knows, maybe Gilbert sent him to spy on us, so he can find the weak spot in our defenses, and then comeback to slaughter us all!" Tumblebrutus shouted.
"Keep it down, the younger Toms might hear!" Munkustrap whispered. "Look, Gilbert has to be at least as old as Gus now, and he was younger than Growltiger when he killed him."
"Yeah, well I was there. And I'm not old!" Tumblebrutus snarled.
"Yeah, sure, your father maybe." Munkustrap retorted. Tumblebrutus hung his head in admission of defeat. "Now all I ask is that you treat him with respect, and you don't tell any of the other Tom's about his possible relations with Gilbert. That will only rile them up, and it's exactly what we don't need. Got it?" Tumblebrutus nodded. "Good." Munkustrap nodded in return, the walked back to his trunk.
*O*O*
"Here, you go." Exotica puffed. "This is the perfect place to stay." She said as she pointed gracefully with one lithe arm to a broken TV set, with blankets and a mirror. Mistoffelees groaned, but said nothing. Koko cocked his eyebrow at this, and swished his tail about indecision. His tail, Exotica belatedly realized, was plumed as was the rest of his coat. It was short and smooth, but longer golden hairs shot out everywhere. She smiled as she saw they looked like beams of light glistening of him in the sunlight, and she wondered what he would like in the light of the full Jellicle moon.
"Are you sure no one's living here?" Koko asked. Exotica lost herself in his ice blue eyes, but as he ended the question, she shook and concentrated on the situation at hand.
"Oh, no, no one's living here." Exotica confirmed.
"Well..." Koko debated for a second more, before yawning, twitching his white whiskers as he did. "I guess, it's a nice place. Thanks Exi." Koko said cordially. He bowed and kissed her hand. Exotica almost fainted then and there. Mistoffelees watched on, shaking his head and clucking his tongue. He knew where Exotica was staying tonight.
"Your welcome, Koko." Exotica said softly, before turning to Mistoffelees.
"Well I bid you two goodnight, I'm rather tired." Koko said with another yawn, and then without further ado, he retired. Exotica walked off in a dream-like state. Mistoffelees steadied her, and took her by her waist, since he couldn't reach her shoulders.
"Come on Exi. Let's get to bed, it's noon, and time for the nap of the afternoon." He said, then led her to his car trunk.
*O*O*
Victoria glowered when Koko had chosen _Exotica_ as his tour guide. She wondered if he had even seen her at all, surely if he had, then he wouldn't have picked _her_. So she had followed them. Exotica obviously fell hard for the Siamese. She growled and stomped off, unwilling to see anymore. There had to be something she could find that would break Exotica from Koko. More observation would be needed. She found Exotica and Misto parting ways with Koko, who happened to be sleeping in Exotica's bed. She watched as Mistoffelees guided the absent minded Exotica to his quarters. She smiled, as she imagined the gossip. She ran off to tell Etcetera, who would tell it to Demeter, who would tell Jennyanydots, and Jenny would tell Jelly, and Jelly would tell Skimble, and soon the whole junkyard would know.
*O*O*
It was late night when Mistoffelees and Exotica left the car trunk. By then the gossip was in full circle, each story getting more imaginative. Mistoffelees and Exotica parted their separate ways to their favourite nocturnal haunts.
Mistoffelees arrived in a smaller cleared area of the junkyard. This was his favourite place to practice magic, and catch the occasional mouse. It was an abandoned part of the junkyard, known only to him, Exotica, and now regrettably Victoria. Or at least he thought it was. When he arrived, Asparagus, Bill Bailey, Victoria, Plato, and Rum Tum Tugger were waiting for him. They all hooted and hollered when he entered. Mistoffelees suddenly felt very uncomfortable, from the devilish smile on Plato's face, he knew something was up.
"Ummmm..." Mistoffelees whispered, trying to fill the suffocating deadspace.
"Congratulations, buddy! You finally got yourself a girl!" Tugger hooted.
Mistoffelees curled a corner of his upperlip in confusion. "What?"
"You know, you and Exotica, we all know about what you two were doing in there." Plato said with a sly tone in his voice as he cuddled closer to Victoria. Mistoffelees stared into her cold green eyes, which seemed only to shrug. Her smile however, betrayed that she had been a part of it all.
"Me and Exotica?" He asked incredulously. "No, you misunderstand. Exotica gave her home to Koko, and she needed a place to stay."
"Sure Misto." Bill Bailey jeered.
"It's the truth. I'd swear my magical abilities on it." Mistoffelees said, flustered by the innuendoes. Victoria seemed to have a look of triumph on her face, which grew as he got angrier. He breathed deeply, and cooled himself off. He wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of him blowing up.
"You cad!" Asparagus shouted. "I believe you are going to become the tom of one night stands. Well with Exotica anyway, I doubt any Queen would want him." He continued. The others laughed. Mistoffelees almost lost it then, but he bit his cheek, to prevent any ill words to spill from his mouth.
"Excuse me. Gentlemen." He said in a low growl, meaning danger to those aware. He stomped away, trying to block out their jeers. Victoria jaunted alongside him.
"You know." She said lightly. "If you hadn't been so mean to me earlier today, I might have stepped in on your behalf." She said finished in a sing-song voice. Mistoffelees turned on her, his hair along his spine spiking out, his tail a bush, and his claws gleaming in the late sun. She involuntarily pulled back as she saw a current of electricity shoot from his eyes and spiral around his waist and up to his tail. She suddenly realized that she might of crossed the line. She had never seen Mistoffelees so angry.
"That's Pollicle snot and you know it, Victoria." Mistoffelees said coldly. Victoria was taken back by the way he cut off her name, her full name. Panicked she began to scream:
"Plato! Oh, Plato!! Come here quickly." She gave Mistoffelees a triumphal grin, just before Plato arrived. "Oh Plato! That dog that dares call himself cat, Mistoffelees, called me a liar! And he threatened to hurt me!!!" Victoria sobbed on Plato's shoulder. Plato's eyes burned brightly with each word that fell out of her mouth. When she had finished, he sat her down. Then said:
"I'll take care of it Vicki." He said coldly. Mistoffelees shuddered. He was in for it. It was his word against hers, and he had a feeling that Plato was more inclined to believe her than him. He braced himself for the claws that would come streaking down his body. Plato circled him several times, causing Mistoffelees shudder harder. Plato stuck down his back. Mistoffelees jumped a little, and bit his tongue, preventing his shout from being heard. He instead focussed his anger and pain on Victoria who had a twisted smile on her face. Plato stood in front of him, glaring into his eyes. Mistoffelees clamped his eyes shut. Plato laughed.
"Coward! You don't even try to defend yourself! Now come on, and fight!" Plato said, then knocked Mistoffelees feet out from beneath him. Mistoffelees rolled away, but refused to strike. Plato took several more swats for him, coming close to his face everytime, until a strong dark arm pulled his arms back.
"Leave him alone." Koko said firmly. He'd seen the whole conversation. And he already decided that he didn't like this Victoria. Plato looked ready to challenge him, but he realized that Koko was taller than him.
"Come on Victoria." Plato said, then walked off in a huff, Victoria following close behind.
"Thanks Koko." Mistoffelees said, as he dusted himself off.
"Are you going to be okay, he got your back pretty bad." Koko said, concerned.
"I'll be fine." Mistoffelees said with a sigh.
"Why don't you fight them?" Koko asked. Mistoffelees uttered a sick laugh.
"Yes, that would be funny, me, smaller than all the full grown Queens trying to beat up someone two times my height. Not only would I lose, but I'd never live it down." Mistoffelees said, sighing again.
"Oh." Koko said, suddenly at a loss for conversation. He thought over the previous hours he had been here, and see if he could ask about anything. He had the 'big' question, but first he had to ease into an easier topic. He choose the second most important thing, or as it was more likely, interesting thing for him. "So, what's Exotica like?" He asked. Mistoffelees looked up and studied him. Koko turned his head. There was something distinct about Exotica, something that attracted him to her. She was sweet, and very shy, and he wanted to know her better. Mistoffelees seemed to realize this, and smiled. "Well, what I mean is she anything like Victoria?" Mistoffelees laughed.
"Oh, no. Nothing like. She's very kind, and very polite. But for more information, you're going to have to ask her." Mistoffelees said with some amusement in his voice. Well, part amusement, part joy. Obviously he was a little interested in her. And looked like he wasn't a playboy. Since he could of had any queen as a guide. He smiled, and he wondered how she'd react when she heard that, since she was obviously head over heels for him. "Why don't you ask her out, nothing fancy, just to go eat and get to know each other." Mistoffelees said with a smile.
"Oh, I don't know, she seems rather shy..." Koko said nervously.
"Okay, I'll talk her into it after you ask her." Mistoffelees said. They continued their conversation about Exotica, to various other topics for hours, until Koko asked his 'big' question.
"So," Koko said casually, "What do you think of Gilbert?"
Mistoffelees shifted uncomfortably. "You mean Siamese emperor Gilbert, the one who killed Growltiger, and supposedly Griddlebone?" Koko, grimaced slightly at the thought that cats over here thought she was dead.
"Yes, you know if it's uncomfortable for you, I'll understand." Koko said, trying to back pedal.
"No, it's just that I'm not real familiar with the battle and the events concerning it. I'm not from around here. And all that I've ever heard here was that Gilbert was a murderous cat, tarnishing the Jellicles good name." Koko flinched at the words used to describe his father. "But I don't know Gilbert's reason for attacking and killing Growltiger, and I don't think anyone does." Mistoffelees concluded. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, what if, let's just say that hypothetically here, that Gilbert killed Growltiger in revenge for the death of his father. How do you think that the rest of the tribe would react?" Koko asked nervously.
"I don't know. They've been told for awhile that Gilbert was evil. It may be hard for them to grasp." Mistoffelees said with a sigh. Koko nodded, and sighed mournfully. Mistoffelees looked at him through the corner of his eye. "Why do you ask?" He said with curiosity. If he was from Siam, why would he care what the Jellicles thought of Gilbert, and their view on the events that happened that fateful summer night. Koko merely smiled, but his eyes were troubled.
"Oh, no reason." He said trying to sound uncaring. Mistoffelees saw straight through it, but decided not to press. "So, yesterday you were talking about your full name. What is so big about Mistoffelees?" Koko asked, trying to focus attention off himself. Mistoffelees cocked an eyebrow, and chuckled.
"It's not my full name, actually." Mistoffelees said uncomfortably. "Well, it's not that I'm egotistical or anything. My mother had a thing for long names, especially names with 'M'. Me, being her first child, after which she got spayed, called me, and I quote, 'Marvelous Mystical Magical Mr. Mistoffelees'. As you can see, not a name that you'd exactly want to be introduced as. So when I came here, I shortened it to Mr. Mistoffelees. Of course I told Munkustrap my full name, which was about an hour of arguing over whether it was really my full name, since I was barely a six months at the time." He said with a slight smile on his face as he thought of his enigma of a mother. Koko chuckled a bit.
"I'll agree that is pretty bad. My parents named me Kay Koa Kung, They had a thing for 'K'." Koko said. "I couldn't say it at all until I was about seven months and even then it was Kokay Kang Kug." Koko said, now chuckling again.
"Well, welcome to the club. Let's see, it was just before I left when I finally was able to pronounce my name in the correct order."
"Where did you come from?" Koko asked, interested. He felt a little better that there was someone else who had moved here, instead of being born and raised in the junkyard.
"I really don't know, I just found myself on a ship here." Mistoffelees said, editing out the part of being an American. He didn't dare tell anyone. He trusted Koko, but things naturally come out during a conversation, and he was determined that his heritage would not be a part of it. Koko seemed to accept that.
"So, your magical?" Koko asked with a kittenish curiosity. Mistoffelees gave a quirk of a smile.
"Yeah, I guess. It's rather infrequent however, so I don't use it alot. Maybe I'll show you a couple of tricks sometime. Well, let's go find Exotica, she's around here somewhere." Mistoffelees said, leaping to his feet.
*O*O*
Exotica walked into a smaller cleared area of the junkyard, intent on joining the rest of the girls in their little circle. She knew she wasn't invited but she wanted to keep up on the gossip. She hoped that they would talk more about Koko, she was dying to know more about him, without having to ask him of course. She sat a little ways away, and strained to hear what they were saying. She however didn't have to, since they all turned and stared at her as soon as she sat down. Then they began to giggle and point. Exotica blushed, but was confused by it all.
"What?" she asked softly, her tone confused.
"What do you mean 'what?'" Bombalurina chortled. "We know what you were doing last night, I see you finally found a mate." Exotica looked more baffled than a Pollicle. "Shorty finally won you over." Exotica's eyebrows shot up at the mention of 'Shorty'. There was only one Jellicle that went by that, rather protestingly also. Exotica sputtered, causing Jemima, Demeter, Electra, Etcetera and Bombalurina to laugh harder.
"No, no, it's not like that at all. I just needed a place to sleep..." Exotica spewed but was cut off by Bombalurina's laughter.
"I thought you had your own quarters, Exotica."
"Well, umm..." Exotica looked about uncomfortably. "I gave it away. To Koko." All the laughter was cut off. They stared at her with half disbelief, half jealousy.
"Liar." Victoria snorted as she trotted in. "You liar! I saw you go into Mistoffelees trunk and you two were practically falling over each other. You abandoned Koko, and he told me that he never wanted to see you again!" Victoria screeched, enjoying every flinch on Exotica's part.
Hot tears streamed down Exotica's cheeks as she shook with anger. She hadn't been angrier in her whole life. She felt like ripping out Victoria's throat. Before she could complete it though, she ran off. She ran to the only place she knew she could be safe, her own house, which was of course now Koko's, who hated her, but she didn't care. She'd explain to him that it was her house, and that she'd help him find a new one. She flopped onto her favourite blanket, a leopard spotted one, and cried, hugging the soft velvety material to her chest.
*O*O*
Koko and Mistoffelees were wandering around the junkyard, Mistoffelees a little slower because of the scratches, looking for Exotica with an absence of success. Mistoffelees yawned.
"Well, I'm beat, I'm gonna head to bed. Sorry. Exotica will show up somewhere, she doesn't stray far from here." Mistoffelees said, carefully stretching.
"It's okay. When you say that Exotica never strays far, do you mean she lives here?" Koko asked. Mistoffelees nodded.
"Yeah, goodnight." Mistoffelees said, before going to crash in his bed.
*O*O*
Koko slowly walked over to his bed, pondering Exotica. Ever since he'd met her, there was this unfeedable curiousity he had about her. He didn't know what attracted him, only that it did, and it wasn't going to let him go any time soon. When he reached his bed, he however found Exotica snuggled inside, the blankets thrown about fitfully. He smiled and then joined her by her side.
TO BE CONTINUED...