Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Adjusting to Jellicle Arts was easier than Mistoffelees had expected it to be.

Most of the classes took some getting used to as well as the whole feel of the school and other students, and the school still felt too big and he had to rely on Victoria, Tugger and his classmates to help him find the right classroom for weeks. And despite having danced for his entire life, some of his new classes were a lot to get used to. And getting used to others looking at him and performing moves or acting exercises in front of the rest of the class was hard. It was still very new and scary to stand on the stage or feel everyone's eyes on him, even if it usually only lasted for five to ten minutes at a time. 

But other than that Mistoffelees found himself adjusting to the school itself fairly quickly. 

He had expected his father to make a big fuss over Mistoffelees wanting to transfer and officially enroll into Jellicle Arts, but he hadn't. He had questioned if Mistoffelees was entirely sure he wanted this and that he could go back to his old school whenever he wanted, but once Mistoffelees put his foot down he had accepted it and didn't say much else on the subject. Mistoffelees suspected that Old Deuteronomy had something to do with this, but wasn't sure how he managed to convince him to let him stay. But he wasn't going to complain or question it too much.

And as days became weeks, he started to feel more and more comfortable in this chaotic school and eased more and more into their way of doing things. He found himself a little shocked when suddenly a whole month had passed and he felt much more at home alongside all these crazy and creative cats than he ever did in any of his old schools. What he had learned was that about 75% of the time the classes were very similar to how it was in his old school. It was only the performance classes that were different and had their own way of doing things and involved a lot of lectures and practical work rather than reading all the facts from books or silently sitting and writing essays or solving equations.

It was a lot and he still wasn't quite used to it all, but having Victoria, Tugger and all his new friends to support him and explain and show him how everything worked really helped. And having Tugger so close to him at all times was also very nice and at times fun because of how angry and clearly jealous Amaryl was.

He wasn't sure if she had genuine feelings for him or if she just expected the most handsome cat in school to be her boyfriend, just as she expected everyone else around her to adore her for being pretty, rich and talented. But it was still very fun to see how mad she was that Tugger paid her absolutely no attention and instead chose to spend his time with Mistoffelees instead.

Amaryl had been gone from school for a whole week after the fur-dye incident and when she finally did return her fur was back to its previous platinum blond color again. She'd spent the entirety of the following week at a safe distance from Mistoffelees. Though it didn't save him from her glares or the occasional comment or remark. 

The stunt with her disastrous fur-dye had been all everyone had been talking about for the whole week and everyone were speculating and theorizing about who could have done it. And Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had spent the entire week swearing up and down that they hadn't done anything and they had no idea what had happened with Amaryl's fur.

The teachers had been very suspicious and clearly believed that they were lying, but Amaryl wasn't pointing fingers at anyone, especially not Mungojerrie or Rumpleteazer, even saying that they didn't do it but didn't elaborate beyond that. And since there was no clear proof and no one else was saying anything that could prove anyone else was guilty of the stunt, they couldn't do anything about it. But they had still been throwing suspicious glances at Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer the entire week, as if waiting to catch them with their paws in the cookie jar. 

But no one uttered a word accusing him of the stunt to the teachers. And even though Mistoffelees was convinced that it was mostly out of lack of proof and a general dislike for Amaryl rather than any sense of loyalty to him, he was also pretty sure that everyone disliked her too much to want to tattle on the New Kid.

Despite how no one could know for sure, since there was no proof and only speculation, it didn't stop cats from talking about it and coming up with their own theories on what happened. And by his third day at Jellicle Arts, the rumors had already reached his ears.

"I bet Tugger told him to do it and Bomba helped them with it! Tugger has never liked Amaryl and Bomba shares a lot of classes with her. They probably put him up to it."

"Tori probably told him what her brand was and helped him switch them out!"

"Guys, he's tiny and super quiet! He probably managed to sneak away from class with Skimbleshanks noticing and switched the bottles before anyone noticed he was gone."

 It was strangely amusing to hear all these rumors, as some of them were pretty ridiculous. And not a single one of the theories or rumors were about magic powers, which he was immensely grateful for.

And the best thing about his standing up to Amaryl and making it clear he wasn't putting up with her garbage attitude was that he had gained quite a bit of respect from his peers. Oh sure, they still teased and made fun of him a little for not knowing everything they did yet, but it seemed the 'hazing the new kid' was over before it had properly begun.

Again, Mistoffelees was very grateful for this.

And of course, there were his Magic classes as he called them. 

Magic class meant spending one hour after school twice a week with Old Deuteronomy and working controlling and practicing his magic powers.

The first two weeks they did this Mistoffelees had been extremely reluctant to use his powers at all. He had never used his powers in front of anyone except for Victoria and his father so the idea of using his powers in front of anyone else was terrifying. And so Mistoffelees had been very quiet and unresponsive for the first sessions, refusing to perform even the smallest spell. He was aware that he was being very difficult and was making Old Deuteronomy's job much harder than it needed to be, but he couldn't help it. After a lifetime of holding his magic back unless he was alone or with his sister, it was very hard to open himself up and use it in front of someone else. And so he retreated back to his default mode of being cold, reserved and hard to reach and refused to use his magic at all.

But Old Deuteronomy was a very warm, patient and comforting teacher and never pushed him to get out of his comfort zone before he was ready but rather allowed him to move at his own pace. Instead they spent the hour just talking. They talked about magic, about the Magic cats that Old Deuteronomy had met and things he had learned about magic over the course of his long life and relayed his knowledge to Mistoffelees. They talked about what Mistoffelees knew about magic, how he had used his magic when he was a child and how the public tended to view Magic cats.

It was hard and very emotionally draining because it meant talking about things he had never talked about with anyone and opening doors to the past that he had kept closed and locked for years. He had yet to mention anything of how his father didn't love him like he loved his sister or how he was clearly ashamed of him, because that might make Old Deuteronomy call his father and tell him what he had told him and that could absolutely not happen.

Old Deuteronomy did ask him questions about his relationship with his father and what he had taught him about magic, but Mistoffelees kept his answers vague and never gave any more details than the bare minimum. And Old Deuteronomy never pressed him for answers. He always backed off and changed the subject to avoid making him uncomfortable. 

It would do no good to alienate his student before they got anywhere.

In the third week Mistoffelees felt comfortable enough to perform some simple magic tricks for practice and to ease himself back into using his magic and seeing it less as his enemy. It hadn't been anything hard, at first he had just been turning lights on and off, then moved on to lighting candles and turning himself invisible. And today he was practicing some light telekinesis, lifting books and moving them from the couch table to Old Deuteronomy's desk. But whether or not the magic was difficult or not didn't matter at all, because it was such a wonderful feeling to finally loosen his tight grip on his magic and allow himself to use his powers. It felt like he had been carrying a heavy boulder on his back for years and now it had finally been lifted off him and he could finally breathe the free air again.

He could feel his powers’ happiness and relief at finally being allowed to be used and be released from its leash throughout his whole body. That wild, bound horse that he had always pictured his powers as was finally allowed to run free for a bit and it was a great feeling. The fear and stress he'd been carrying on his back for years melted away and he felt just so free, if only for one hour. 

Old Deuteronomy smiled warmly as he watched Mistoffelees practice his powers. He was seated in front of him on the couch and was currently lifting books from the bookshelf and letting them float through the air in the room before slowly letting them float over to the coffee table and gently dropping them in a nice and neat stack in front of him.

"Very good, Mistoffelees. And remember, every time you use your magic and get more comfortable with it, it's a step closer to having stronger control of it. Your magic will stop fighting you when you stop fighting it and try to repress it. Your magic is not your enemy or something to fear or be ashamed about. It's a rare and beautiful gift and you should be proud of it." 

Mistoffelees smiled, feeling like a child on Christmas morning as he felt completely at ease with his magic and himself. He lifted the books again and let them float back to the bookcase and back into their original places, smiling widely and proudly. 

Old Deuteronomy stood up from his armchair, clapping his paws together and smiled widely. "Well, I believe that will be enough for today. But next week perhaps we can start working a little on teleporting an object from one point to another? I believe you're ready to try something different."

Mistoffelees felt the anxiety come crawling back and his stomach clenched, his ears folded back and he bit his lip nervously. Even now as he was getting more comfortable using his magic, doing new tricks that he hadn't done in years, he still found himself worried about things going wrong. 

Magic was unpredictable and he didn't work well with unpredictable.

But Old Deuteronomy had started to recognize how Mistoffelees immediate reaction to moving forward was wanting to retreat back into his shell and had learned to respond accordingly. He reached out to grab Mistoffelees' paw and gripped it reassuringly. "It will be alright, Mistoffelees. We will start slowly and go from there and if we go too fast, you just say so. But you have been making amazing progress and I truly believe you are ready for this."

And maybe it was because he'd never had a strong paternal figure in his life, but Mistoffelees truly felt like Old Deuteronomy was being the father he should have had when he was a child. He was supportive and warm but also making sure to push Mistoffelees so he was moving forward rather than staying stagnant. He trusted Old Deuteronomy to help him and guide him with his powers, which was a new and wonderful feeling. 

"Thank you Old Deuteronomy." He grabbed his bag and started towards the door. "I'll see you next week then." 

Old Deuteronomy smiled back and waved as he walked back towards his desk. "Have a lovely weekend, Mistoffelees. I'll see you on Monday. We're going to have a very exciting next week, I'm sure."

Mistoffelees, curious, stopped in the door and looked over his shoulder at his principal. "Oh, why's that?" But Old Deuteronomy just shook his head with a cheeky smile while holding a finger over his lips.

"Oh, you'll find out on Monday. It's going to be a surprise for everyone. Until then it's going to remain a secret." Then he winked mischievously at Mistoffelees and his smile widened a little.

Mistoffelees tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. His curiosity was peaked now and he wanted to know what exciting news he was going to share on Monday. But he was also fairly sure he wouldn't be getting any clues out of Old Deuteronomy, seeing as he wanted it to be a secret.

So he just shrugged, smiled and said a quick goodbye before closing the door behind him again and started walking towards the stairs that led to the dance studio.

Because, as already stated, these Magic classes were very draining on his mind and emotions. So once that hour was over, he always headed to one of the empty dance studios so he could practise dancing for another hour before lunch, so he could sort out his thoughts and feelings while doing something productive and that he loved.

For the first few weeks he spent this hour alone, which was very nice. As much as he liked spending time with his new friends, he also appreciated his alone time where he could reflect and digest new information in his own time by himself.

Though he should have realized he wouldn't be alone for too long. 

“There you are, kitt! I was looking for you.” Tugger grinned as he came into the empty dance studio where Mistoffelees was standing by the barres and stretching before starting to dance. 

Mistoffelees only glanced up for a second, tugged on his lips in a small smile before turning back to the barres. “Hi Tugger.”

Tugger had a talent for always managing to sniff him out no matter where he was, except for- thankfully- whenever he was working on his magic with Old Deuteronomy. But he couldn't really be too annoyed about it anymore. Oh, he'd act annoyed and roll his eyes, pretending to only tolerate his company as per normal, but if he was being honest with himself the Maine Coon had really grown on him since their talk in Old Deuteronomy's office. 

Not that he'd ever admit it, mind you. Tugger's head was big enough as it was, he did not need more fuel for his ego.

Tugger sat down on the bench by the wall, threw one leg over the other and tossed his bag up on the floor and started to dig around in it. Mistoffelees took a break from his stretching to sit down on the bench, slightly curious to see what Tugger came dragging to him this time.

“Congratulations kitt! You win a free water bottle!" He placed a plastic water bottle down on the bench next to Mistoffelees with a wide grin on his face.

Mistoffelees looked down at the water bottle with narrowed eyes before looking over at Tugger questioningly, who just shrugged and dropped the wide grin.

“Eh, I paid for one bottle but the machine spat out two, so…” 

“Oh, great.” Mistoffelees took the bottle and looked it over before putting it back down again. “But I don't drink spring water."

Narrowing his eyebrows, Tugger tilted his head as he unscrewed his own bottle. “Why not?"

“There's fish in the water.” Mistoffelees said with a slightly disgusted face.

“So? We're cats, we eat fish!" Tugger argued, raising the bottle to his lips and taking a sip. 

Mistoffelees threw him his most disgusted expression. “Fish pee .” And when Tugger just shrugged again, he just tilted his head slightly to the side and his face became entirely blank. 

“You are drinking fish pee ."

And suddenly Tugger's face went from confused to utterly disgusted, only barely stopping himself from spraying the floor with water just and spat the water back into the bottle before he started gagging and wiping at his tongue and mouth. 

Mistoffelees snickered lowly, covering his mouth with his paw to hide his laughter as Tugger sputtered and gagged, still wiping his tongue with the back of his paw.

“Ugh, bleh! Gross!” He then turned to the small tuxedo cat with a disgusted frown on his face only to lose it when he saw the smirk on his face and narrowed his eyes at his friend. “You are a seriously evil little cat, you know that right?” 

Mistoffelees laughed again and took the water bottle he had been given, opened it and took a sip. “It's not my fault that you're gullible." He then walked over to the barres to continue to stretch. 

Tugger wanted to be more annoyed than he was, because this happened a bit too often when he hung out with Mistoffelees. For all his rich, proper and dry demeanor the tux was incredibly cheeky, mischievous and all too eager to pull pranks or make him look like an idiot. 

And succeeded a little too often. 

But it was hard to be too angry or annoyed with him, because it was so much better than him being quiet, cold and too shy to even speak. And this had all become part of their banter and Tugger really liked it. It was much more fun than Mistoffelees' just being cold and rolling his eyes at him, as he had done for weeks before they'd had their little talk on his first day.

Since then, Tugger had made a point of being a good friend to Mistoffelees and even had even stopped skipping the classes they had together to make sure he wouldn't feel lonely or abandoned. And he found himself really enjoying Mistoffelees' company, despite how often he found himself the butt of his jokes or having a small prank pulled on him.

It was annoying and frustrating but also strangely invigorating. 

Mistoffelees continued stretching at the barre, smirking to himself as he felt Tugger eyes on him, watching his every move.

He had no idea why Tugger was so interested in him, why he kept hanging after him or why he was so fascinated by watching him dance. He could only imagine that among the many colorful personalities in this school, he had to be extremely boring by comparison. But he couldn't say that it didn't feel good that someone thought he was good. 

Heaviside, listening to Tugger you would believe that Mistoffelees was the best thing since sliced tuna.

Which was quite a feat, considering that they didn't share all their classes.

Victoria told him that once you enroll in Jellicle Arts your classes would reflect your interests and talent. There were some mandatory classes of course, like basic acting, singing and dancing, but there were also a few classes that the teachers and principal placed you in or that you got to apply for- if you were a sophomore or older. This was to make sure that your classes would reflect your talent and skill set.

Like, it wouldn't be fair to force the cats who've danced ballet since kittenhood to only do basic ballet just because they were freshmen.

This meant that- while he and Tugger shared academic classes, as well as acting and singing class- Tugger was not in all of his dance classes- save for one or two classes. Despite being a very good dancer, Tugger's true passion was singing and playing music and so his classes reflected that. But Tugger had still made himself into Mistoffelees' biggest supporter. Even bigger than Victoria at times. Whenever they were in the same classes he was always there beside him with his arm around his shoulders, ready to support and encourage him, as well as give advice to help him where he could, like in singing class. And he also made a point of saying that Mistoffelees had a very good singing voice, despite not a singer like he was.

Mistoffelees wasn't sure if that was actually true or if he was just saying that to encourage him, but he appreciated the compliments nonetheless. 

One thing was clear though; Tugger had clearly taken a liking to him and at times he couldn't decide if he was annoyed by Tugger's constant talking and touching him or if he felt good about having someone in his corner who wasn't his sister. 

But dammit if there wasn't something annoyingly charming about him. 

As he continued to stretch, stretching one leg up and holding it up with one paw on his foot, he turned to look at Tugger.

“So, any specific reason you knew you would find me here? Should I be worried about you stalking me or something?” He made sure to keep his tone light and gave him a small smirk.

Tugger smirked back and leaned back against the wall, one leg thrown over the other and his tail thrown over his lap.

“Nah, I heard it from your sister. She said that you like to dance during free-period before lunch and that you like to practice new dances here.” 

Mistoffelees smiled and nodded, dropping his leg and started rolling his shoulders a little, stretching his arms and making sure his loins and limbs were properly warmed up. “Yeah, these contemporary dance classes are killing me. And I hate not getting it 100% right. Call me a perfectionist, but I don't settle for anything below the very best."

Tugger grinned and let out a very low snort. “Oh I wasn't aware that you could move beyond perfection, kitt."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and finished stretching before walking over to his bag, dug out his phone and plugged into the speaker system. “Flattery will get you nowhere, you diva.”

Dance had always been Mistoffelees' number one passion and he knew he was very good at it. Of course he would be after a lifetime of practice and he had been working very hard for over a decade to become as good at it as he was. So he had never really worried about how he would do in his new dance classes. And he did really well in most of them. He obviously did very well with his ballet classes and he had dabbled in classic jazz before so he was able to keep up with the others very well and didn't struggle too much with the new choreography and moves.

Contemporary dance however was a brutal wake-up call. 

Ballet was all about control, position and it took years of building up strength and flexibility to master, not to mention it was very strict about stance and movements. Every single movement needed to be done correctly or you'd risk hurting yourself badly. 

And while contemporary dance did share a lot of qualities with ballet and jazz, it was nothing like anything Mistoffelees had ever seen before. Tumblebrutus and Pouncival were both amazing at it and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer mixed in a lot of acrobatics into their dancing and Mistoffelees was blown away by the things they could do with their bodies. 

Because, as it turned out, there were a lot of acrobatic movements in this dancing. Or perhaps acrobatic wasn't the right word, but the way these cats were twisting their bodies, arms and legs and that they could jump around the way they did left Mistoffelees gobsmacked. 

And the teacher was absolutely ruthless and it was only due to his own life-long dancing and his strong, flexible body that he was able to keep up, if only slightly at times. After a lifetime of ballet dancing, as well as spending a lot of his time being- as Victoria so eloquently put it- as stiff as a board, it was hard to relax his body enough to make his body do some of the movements that were required in the choreography the teacher was putting them through. 

And ballet was already very physically demanding and Mistoffelees had always considering himself as a cat with a very high tolerance for pain, but the way his body ached and cramped after his contemporary dancing classes was nothing short of torture. 

It was also the most fun he had ever had while dancing in his whole life.

Ballet had always been and would always be his passion, but he very quickly fell in love with this way of dancing. And though he'd still say that Tumblebrutus and Pouncival were better at it, going by the teacher and several of the other dancers in this class he was picking it up very quickly.

But Mistoffelees had never been one to settle for a grade below 100%, so he spent a lot of his free periods in the dance studios, practicing the moves and dances to get all the way to perfection.

And while he had definitely gotten better, he still wasn't satisfied. 

He picked out the song they had been practicing to while in class before moving into position, took a deep breath and started to dance.

The choreography was practically ingrained into his brain after having practised so many times, and though the moves still felt a little tough, he moved a lot more fluid and flexibly than the first he attempted this dance. Flexibility was not a problem, he could easily lift his leg straight up in the air or go down into different kinds of splits, but it was definitely draining when doing the moves to music that was moving much faster than he was used to.   

He was definitely better now, but still had a ways to go if he wanted to maintain his Straight A's track record. Still, he was nothing if not determined and hardworking. 

Mistofflees repeated the dance three times before deciding that he had done enough for the day. Tugger applauded once the dance concluded, but Mistoffelees barely acknowledged it, just trudged over to the bench, plopped down and took a long swig from his water bottle. 

"I will never not be amazed by the things you guys can do to your bodies, kitt. You make it look so easy! Whenever I try to do anything like that I feel like I might tear something."

Mistoffelees smiled and chuckled lowly, though it was barely audible as he was panting hard and took another sip of water. His fur was soaked with sweat and he poured a little water into his paw, wiping it over his face to cool down.  "Years of practice and many painful nights where you curse yourself for not picking up painting or chess or another less painful hobby." 

Tugger laughed and shook his head and Mistoffelees got up from his seat, starting to stretch. Normally, when he was at home, he liked to do the routine a few more times in order to get it right. But while dancing in school, with only one hour and several hours of school left, he didn't want to drain himself too much or overdo it so he would walk through the rest of the day with aching muscles. 

As he started cooling down and stretching, he looked over his shoulder at Tugger. "Hey, can you give me my thera-band? It's in my bag." 

Tugger nodded and looked through Mistoffelees' gym bag before finding the blue rubber band and handed it over to his friend. Mistoffelees smiled, thanked him and lay down on his back to start stretching out his legs and knees. 

He glanced up at Tugger with a tired smirk.  "So, what brought you down here anyway? Couldn't find anyone else who could put up with you for two hours?"  

Tugger laughed and took a sip of his water. "Well, you're half right. I was trying to study with Bomba in the library-" 

"By which you mean she was trying to study and you were constantly talking about anything and everything except school work, right?" Mistoffelees glanced for a split second to smirk at Tugger before looking back down to his feet. 

Tugger rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at him with a small smile. "Oh haha, very funny. Aren't we cheeky?" Then he shook his head. "Anyway, we were studying and then I asked if she had seen you since we got out of Acting class and she hadn't. Which got me thinking-"

"Imagine that." Mistoffelees muttered under his breath so Tugger wouldn't hear him and rolled his eyes.

"-that during free-period you just disappear without a trace. So I found Victoria and asked her if she knew where you were and she told me I'd most likely find you here but that I should ask you about what you were up to with your time. So well, here I am."

Mistoffelees snorted as he switched positions and smirked up at Tugger while stretching his leg straight up and holding it in place with one paw on his foot. "So you really are stalking me then? Can't survive two hours without hanging after me? Should I be worried for my safety?" 

He made sure to keep his tone light, teasing, and Tugger put on a show of looking wounded, placing a paw over his heart as he looked down at Mistoffelees with wide eyes. "Is it a crime to want to spend some time with my new best friend?"

Mistoffelees' head snapped up at Tugger and he stared a bit shocked for a long few seconds, then raised his eyebrow at him. "Best friend? I thought Bomba was your best friend?" Then he narrowed his eyebrows a little and tilted his head slightly to the side. "Or are you… something else?"

Grimacing a little, Tugger shook his head and took a sip of his water. "Ehh, we tried dating last year. It didn't work out, it was too weird."

Mistoffelees tilted his head to the side, eyes still narrowed but now sparkling with curiosity. "Oh? How come?"

Tugger shrugged and leaned back against the wall, sighing. "I mean, we've known each other since we were in diapers. She's more like my sister than anything else, so when we started dating it just felt too weird. Like we knew each other too well to ever be boyfriend and girlfriend, you know? We barely made it three months before deciding to just be friends. We were better suited that way."

He sighed again, then looked down at the little tux on the floor and smiled. "So yeah, you're my best friend."

Mistoffelees didn't really know how to respond to that. He'd always thought the process of going from friends to best friends was a long one, like it tended to be in the books he tended to read. But considering how fast Tugger moved with everything and much he'd been hanging around Mistoffelees the last few weeks, maybe calling him his best friend made total sense for him. And it wasn't like Mistoffelees had many cats competing over who got to be his best friend.

Part of him was unnerved by how fast Tugger was moving and wanted to turn around and run. He had only been going to this school for a month and was only starting to get used to having friends to talk to and in a lot of ways Tugger was moving far too fast for him, making him want to step on the breaks so he could think clearly for a moment. Sure, he'd been wishing and dreaming of having at least one really close friend that he could talk to and trust with his deepest and darkest secrets. Someone he could rely on, have fun with and someone who he could have fun with and who could make him smile. But Tugger had never been the kind of cat he'd been conjuring up in his imagination when indulging in those silly daydreams and fantasies. In his fantasies his friends were like him, quiet and gentle but also understanding and compassionate while also sharing his interests in dance and good books. If anything Demeter fit that bill much better than Tugger did and they didn't hang out nearly as much.

Tugger, however, was the complete opposite of Mistoffelees in every single way. He was always talking, always getting up in other cats' personal space and was not afraid to say or do whatever he wanted without giving any thought to the consequences. Because of this there had been times when he crossed one of Mistoffelees' lines and made him either uncomfortable or genuinely upset or annoyed, making him retreat back into his shell and he'd go into his default mode of being a bit cold and distant, hard to reach and barely emoted at all.

But there was something very genuine about him. For all of his posturing, flirting and his cavalier and careless attitude, he had never given Mistoffelees' the impression that he was lying or saying things he didn't mean. He was also annoyingly good at making Mistoffelees laugh and smile, even if it was just a small snort and an eyeroll. 

So for him to call him his best friend was equal parts touching and terrifying.  

"Oh." He said as he lowered his leg and sat with his legs crossed and looked down at the floor as he flushed. "Well… I've never really had a best friend before." He said and almost wanted to smack himself after saying that.

'Everlasting, how pathetic doesn't that sound? You really sound like a lonely loser!' 

But Tugger just smiled softly and genuinely and reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "Well, now you do." His voice was gentle and it almost didn't sound like the Tugger he had gotten to know. It was much kinder and gentler than his usual loud and cocky voice and Mistoffelees found himself very touched by this very simple declaration. Like Tugger actually meant it and wasn't just speaking of his newest interest for the next five minutes. He looked up from the floor and their eyes met, smiling without feeling the need to say anything. 

Then after about a minute, Tugger's smile turned into a smirk and squeezed his shoulder before leaning back against the wall again. "And imagine how lucky you are, little kitten, that you end up being best friends with The Rum Tum Tugger himself. I know many cats who would kill to be in your shoes." He winked teasingly at the tux. "Aren't you the lucky one?"

Rolling his eyes and not responding, Mistoffelees shook his head and bit his lip so Tugger wouldn't see him smiling. 

After Mistoffelees finished up his stretching he got up from the floor to pack his things, Tugger looked down at his phone to check the time. It read 11:50. Lunch would be ready in ten minutes.  

"Hey, you should get ready to leave soon. Lunch is in ten minutes and I am not letting you skip lunch after all that dancing. Your sister will kill me."

Huffing another soft laugh, Mistoffelees got up from the bench and stretched out his back, arms and legs before taking off his shoes. "Yes, yes, I'm coming. Just give me two minutes so I can take a quick shower and change." He unplugged his phone from the stereo system and put it back in his bag, along with his shoes and water bottle before running off into the locker room, coming back two minutes later. The black fur on his head was damp and shiny in the bright lights of the dance studio and he had changed his dance tights to a black polo shirt and jeans. 

He had his bag and slung it over his shoulder, gripping the strap with one paw and had his water bottle in the other. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go. I'm starving." Tugger grinned and they walked out the room together and headed up the stairs towards the cafetera. 

As they reached the school entrance and joined the rest of the students heading towards the cafeteria, Mistoffelees stopped in front of his locker. "Hang on, let me just leave my stuff here." 

On his first day as an official student, he'd been given his own locker but he had yet to come up with a design for it yet so it still looked like a regular grey locker that could be found in any other school in London. 

Mistoffelees opened his locker to leave his gym bag and Tugger leaned back against the locker on his left side, folding his arms over his chest with one foot up against the locker underneath, and looking over the cold, grey metal.  "Still haven't come up with a design yet?"  

Mistoffelees snorted and closed the locker, shaking his head while his blue eyes sparkled with mirth. "No, not yet. I'm still learning to stretch my imagination and creativity so I haven't come up with anything good yet. At least nothing that I feel satisfied with yet."

Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Tugger pulled Mistoffelees closer and grinned at him. "Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. You've got four years to figure something out. If you pick a design and decide that you don't like it, you can always change it. Works for me."

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Mistoffelees just removed his arm from his shoulders and turned around to look towards the other lockers. "Remind me which one is yours?"

Tugger grinned and pointed across the hallway at a black locker with a red electric guitar painted on one side and a set of bagpipes on the other, complete with tartan patterns and everything. And Mistoffelees snorted as he looked at it before looking back to the Maine Coon. "Why do I get the feeling that if you could you would change it every week or so?"

Once again making show of looking hurt, Tugger placed a paw over his heart and gaped down at Mistoffelees. "How dare you?" Mistoffelees looked up at him expectantly with a raised eyebrow. "You truly believe that I could settle with just one measly design for four years? Where's fun in that?"

This made Mistoffelees actually laugh and he covered his mouth with his paw as his shoulders shook with each laugh. ' Seriously? How bad is your sense of humor that you laugh at that?' He chastised himself, but he couldn't help it. Tugger was too good at making him laugh at really bad and stupid jokes.

Tugger grinned widely at his little friend. He had gotten Mistoffelees to laugh before, but it was rare he got him to laugh out loud rather than a small snort or a low giggle, so he loved it whenever he managed it. 

Shaking his head and taking a breath to stop laughing, Mistoffelees looked up at him with his eyebrow raised again and looking a little annoyed at having actually laughed at that stupid comment at all. "You, Rum Tum Tugger, are incorrigible. Absolutely incorrigible."

Grinning, Tugger placed his arm around Mistoffelees' shoulders and his other paw over his heart as they started to walk towards the cafeteria. "Why thank you, my dear Mister Mistoffelees. That means a lot to me. I mean, I don't know what that means, but I appreciate a nice compliment."

Groaning and rolling his eyes, Mistoffelees rested his face in his paw while shaking his head, both frustrated and annoyed. "Good grief! Why do I put up with you?" But there was a smile tugging at his lips again and a small giggle escaped his mouth, which just made Tugger grin wider.

"Because of my charming personality, amazing sense of humor and my marvelous powers of persuasion?" Tugger pulled him a little closer and Mistoffelees just let himself be led, allowing his body to lightly bump against Tugger without making any resistance.

"Ooh be careful there, Tugger. That's a five pound word there."

"Don't push it, short-stuff." 

Once they sat down to eat lunch, Tugger rested his chin in his paw and smirked at Mistoffelees. "So, how is your first official month as a Jellicle Cat treating you?" 

Mistoffelees smiled but kept his eyes down at his food. "Oh, it's been… good. I mean, this school is a lot to get used to but everyone has been nice." Then he smirked and bit his lip cheekily. "Although I'm pretty sure Amaryl has been trying to set me on fire with her glares." 

Tugger laughed out loud, throwing his head back and cackled. "Hah! Everlasting, kitten, she hates you! I mean, she hates everyone who doesn't unquestioningly adore her, but she really hates you. I heard her whine to her little cronies about you the other day and I swear I have never heard that much vitriol from her before! I swear, the way she talks it sounds like you killed her mom or something." 

Mistoffelees looked up from his food with a small smirk. "Honestly, I think the biggest reason she hates me is because you keep hanging around me. She might've eventually let go of me talking back to her, but everytime she sees you talk to me or sit next to me, it looks like her head is about to explode."

Tugger laughed again and shifted a little closer to Mistoffelees before nibbling on his pasta. "Well then, I hope you don't mind me hanging around you some more. Her being angry and upset is my favorite thing in the world."

Mistoffelees raised an eyebrow, his expression going blank but there was a very tiny smile tugging at his lips. "Oh, so that's what all this is? The only reason you're hanging around me is so you can laugh at Amaryl?" He shook his head before turning back to his food. "Gee, do I feel special."

His voice was fairly unemotional, with only a hint of sarcasm, and for one split second Tugger worried that Mistoffelees had misunderstood him. But once he saw the very small smile, he relaxed and smiled but much more genuinely than he usually did. 

"Well, there aren't that many cats around here that make Amaryl as angry as you at the moment, so it's just a little bonus that comes with being your friend." 

They laughed together again before sitting in a comfortable silence for a while. Suddenly Mistoffelees remembered what Old Deuteronomy had said about next week and turned back to Tugger. "Hey, by the way, is there something fun happening next week?"

Tugger narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side. "Not that I know of. Why?" 

Mistoffelees shrugged his shoulders. "It was something Old Deuteronomy told me today. He asked me to come by to ask me how this month had gone and stuff. And when I was about to leave he told me that next week was going to be exciting but wouldn't elaborate on why. You wouldn't know what that's about?" 

Humming and biting his lip, Tugger turned away as he thought hard, trying to remember if there was anything special about next week. He came up blank. 

But before he could answer, another voice entered their conversation. "It probably has something to do with the school anniversary." 

Mistoffelees and Tugger turned around and saw Munkustrap standing behind them, with a lunch tray in his paws and Demeter standing close beside him. Mistoffelees raised one eyebrow and looked up at Munkustrap. "Anniversary?"

Munkustrap nodded and placed the tray down on the table before sitting down in front of him, Demeter sitting down beside him with a gentle smile. "Yes. On the 11th next month it's the Anniversary of when this school opened. Which of course is very special, but this year it's even more special. Jellicle Arts will be turning 40 years old next month."

"Ooh, that's right." Tugger said and nodded slowly. "I'd totally forgotten about that." He turned to his brother with slightly narrowed eyes. "40 years, really? Wow, that's big." 

Munkustrap smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it is. I remember hearing Gus talking about how they celebrated with a big party for the 30th anniversary, so I can imagine dad will want to celebrate with something big for this year." He turned to Mistoffelees and smiled warmly at the little tux. "Great timing for you to start going to this school when you did, Misto. It's not every year a school turns 40 years old."

Mistoffelees smiled. He liked Munkustrap, he was very warm and had been more than welcoming, helping him adjust to the school and had given him advice whenever he could. And though they didn't share any classes and only met up in between classes or during lunch, Munkustrap had been a constant presence for Mistoffelees and had been very helpful during this month.

"Well no, I suppose not." Then he frowned contemplatively and hummed thoughtfully. "Although, I think my old school is over 100 years old and hit some major milestone a few years back." He shrugged and shook his head. "Though that was before I started going there, so I don't know."

Demeter smiled warmly and leaned forward on the table, resting her elbows in front of her. "Really? That's pretty cool, where did you go before?" 

"Kensington Prep." Mistoffelees answered with a tired smile. "It's a very prestigious and strict private school. Everyone is working hard for high grades and education is everything." He rolled his eyes and shook his head wryly. "Honestly, if your average grade is not A+ then you wouldn't stand a chance there. And missing class unless you're sick with the flu or got appendicitis is unacceptable."

Tugger snorted and took a sip of his water. "Hah, I'm sure your teachers would hate me. That does not sound like a good time."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and elbowed Tugger in the side. "No, of course you wouldn't like it there. When was the last time you didn't spend math class not doing the work and pretending to be a rock star?"

Snorting and placing a paw over his mouth to suppress it, Munkustrap smiled at Mistoffelees and pointed a finger at him. "See, it's that attitude that I like about you, Misto. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find cats these days who don't entertain this moron." He pointed his thumb at Tugger, who just stuck out his tongue at him. 

"Ugh, whatever Straps." But he decided not to press it any further. They were both having a good day and if a fight would surface before this day was over he'd rather they'd save it until they were home from school.

Mistoffelees snorted and shook his head, then turned back to Munkustrap with a dry smile. "Well someone has to make sure his head doesn't swell so much that he lifts off the ground and floats off into the clouds." 

His comment was met with laughter from Munkustrap and Demeter and a mock-offended gasp from Tugger. "Oh! Misto, mate, I'm wounded. I can't believe I'm hearing these hurtful words. And after I called you my best friend too."

Mistoffelees shrugged and turned to him with a small, small smirk. "Tough." Then he turned back to his sandwich, smirking a little when he felt Tugger smack him lightly on the arm.

If everything else about Tugger was annoying or hard to deal with at times, it was a lot of fun to tease him.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, before Mistoffelees remembered a question that had been mulling over in his head for weeks now and he looked up at Munkustrap.

"Hey, Munkustrap?" Munkustrap looked up from his salad and smiled. "I have to ask, what does Jellicle mean? I mean, I understand why we're called that, the school is called Jellicle Arts and so we're Jellicle Cats, I understand that. But what is a Jellicle, what does it mean?"

Munkustrap lit up and put his fork down. "Oh! That's a very interesting story actually." 

Tugger rolled his eyes and muttered "Oh boy, here we go again," under his breath, shaking his head and turned back to his pasta.

'Seriously, how has it possible that he had not only learned the entire history behind their school and remembered it, but was also waiting for someone to ask him about it constantly? How is it possible to be so incredibly boring?'

Munkustrap ignored him and just kept his eyes on Mistoffelees. "You see, the school is named after its founder Alfonso Webb Jellicle. He, like all of us, had a big passion for performance art and entertainment in all forms. And he was a fairly big name in the music business for years, but in the 70's his career in the business was fading as he was growing older. But he still wanted to keep working with his passion, and not just with music but with everything. So he decided to open a school, where young cats of all talents and dreams could get a chance to learn to become the stars they dreamed of becoming. So they could work with the things they loved the most, just like he did. It took a lot of work and time of course, but it was done, and so in 1981, the school finally opened its doors and the rest is history."

He paused to take a sip of his water then kept going. "Although, back then the school was called AL.W Jellicles' Performing Arts School For Gifted Cats."

Mistoffelees just looked at him with a very blank look on his face before pursing his lips. "That's quite a mouthful." He stated, taking a bite from his sandwich. Munkustrap snorted and nodded.

"Yes, they realized that too, very quickly. So they shortened it down to Jellicle Performing Arts School For Gifted Cats, which even then was shortened down to Jellicle Arts. But Jellicle was the word that always stuck and whenever Alfonso, the teachers or the students talked about the school in interviews, they kept referring to themselves as Jellicle Cats. And even after Alfonso died, they kept calling themselves Jellicle Cats and it clearly stuck."

Demeter, who had been looking at Munkustrap with an indulgent smile, shook her head gently before turning to Mistoffelees. "Yes, the word Jellicle doesn't mean anything in particular really, it's just a name. But the school creed was written by Alfonso and it is something that we as his students take great pride in."

Tugger, who hadn't looked like he had listened too much to the history lesson, finally looked up from his food and placed his paws out in front of him with one paw covering the other while adopting a solemn frown. "Ah yes! Feline, fearless, faithful and true to others who do what Jellicles can and Jellicles do . That is what we strive to be and do!"

Munkustrap rolled his eyes but kept his mouth firmly shut. He knew Tugger didn't mean anything with it, that he was only having fun, but it still sounded a bit like he was mocking their school and its pride. But this was about as close to a civil conversation as he could get with his little brother these days, so he would take what he could get.

Demeter shook her head with a tolerating smile. She had long since grown used to Tugger and his childish antics and no longer felt the need to mention them. Instead she turned to Mistoffelees, smiling gently and resting her arms on the table, only glancing at Tugger for a moment.

"Yes, thank you Tugger." She smiled at Mistoffelees. "He jokes, but he's also right. Our passion, creativity and talents are extremely valuable to us, but so is loyalty, faithfulness and showing friendship and support to our fellow Jellicles. We may not become close friends with everyone, but we do our best to include everyone and try to make everyone feel welcome and like a valuable part of this school."

She didn't mention his name, but Mistoffelees knew that she was talking about him, or at least had him in mind when she said this. And Mistoffelees felt that warm, comforting feeling spread through his stomach and the rest of his body.

That warm feeling had gotten more and more consistent since that second day here and Mistoffelees wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. Because even though it was a very nice, warm and welcoming feeling, it also drew attention to the realization that he hadn't felt anything like that in almost a decade, which in turn just made him sad. And that in turn only reminded him of what his father had taught him his whole life and warned him about losing sight of reality.

'Don't let yourself get too carried away, Misto. Remember who and what you are. They'll never truly accept you for all of you and you know it. Do you truly believe Tugger of all cats would still like you and want to be your friend if he learned that you have magic? He'll hate you or at least ditch you.' 

'To believe you can truly, truly be accepted is a dream. And it's dangerous to dream.'

Still, he smiled back at Demeter and allowed himself to be comforted by that warm feeling for just a little while. But it was quickly interrupted by a loud call from another table. 

"I don't know why Jellylorum keeps telling me to work on my technique, my singing is amazing! Has she never heard true talent before or what? Daddy says I have an Angel's voice so why would I need to work on it?"

The smile turned into a tired and annoyed grimace and Mistoffelees rolled his eyes as he turned to look over his shoulder to locate the source of the complaint. 

At the table ten feet away was Amaryl sitting with Rose and Lily, complaining loudly as she looked into a small pocket mirror and touched up her make-up. 

Lily, both meek and kind, placed her paw on Amaryl's shoulder comfortingly. She was obviously the nicer of the three, but seemed very spineless and too afraid of her boss to not be her 'friend.' "I'm sorry Amaryl. I'm sure miss Jellylorum only wants to help you get even better than you are now."

Amaryl scoffed and threw a condescending and scathing look at Lily. "Ugh, are you an idiot or something? I am already a perfect singer, Lily. There is nothing to improve on." She turned back to her pocket mirror, gently touching up her mascara. "Maybe you would know that if you had even a scrap of true talent."

Lily blinked hard and looked down at the table, biting her lip and swallowed hard. "Yes, Amaryl. Maybe I would. I'm sorry." Amaryl didn't answer, just made a dismissive sound without looking away from her mirror. And even though Lily wasn't his friend by a long shot, Mistoffelees felt his heart go out to Lily. She was never openly mean to anyone, just followed Amaryl's lead on everything, and he was sure that she was a much better singer than Amaryl would ever be. 

She deserved better friends than that witch, that was for sure.

Rose, who was a very talented dancer and seemed too smart to actually want to be friends with someone like Amaryl, looked partly frustrated at her 'friend' and her complaining and partly angry at how she was treating Lily, gritting her teeth as Lily wiped her cheek with one paw. But she still patted Amaryl on the shoulder and tried to smile. 

"She's probably just doing it to make everyone else feel better, Amy. Think about it, since you are such a perfect singer, she probably feels she has to assign homework to you just to make the rest of the class feel like they have a chance to reach your level one day. If they're lucky that is."

Amaryl glanced up from her mirror and started to preen under the praise and ego-boost she was given, smiling smugly at Rose before closing her mirror and putting it back in her make-up bag.

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. But still, she really should spend more time with that little runt instead. Seriously, he may be a half-way decent dancer but he can barely carry a tune! He could use all the help he can get."

Mistoffelees growled and clenched his paws tightly, his claws digging into his palms and he turned around again, taking a long swig of water from his bottle to cool down and stop himself from saying something stupid. He heard Demeter groan and when he looked at her he saw she was rolling her eyes. 

"Well, keyword there being 'try'." She muttered and threw dirty looks at Amaryl and Munkustrap glared at her like a scolding parent might look at their bratty child."I swear, there are times I wish I was a teacher so I could dish out actual punishments for her attitude. Something of actual consequence and not just detention."

Tugger rolled his eyes and for one second his attention was back on his brother. 'Oh I don't know, it has never stopped you with me.' Then he turned around again to glare at Amaryl over his shoulder.

"You would think California would have at least one school like Jellicle Arts somewhere shoved in between the beaches and theme parks in Hollywood. And if not there, there has to be one somewhere . Maybe in New York? New York has everything! Why did they have to send her over here to make our lives harder?"

Mistoffelees snorted and puffed him in the side with a small smirk. "Maybe she was so horrible that they kicked her out of America and she had no choice but to come here?" 

This got a laugh out of his friends and Munkustrap was quick to change the subject once they stopped, asking Mistoffelees how his month had gone, how he was feeling at their school now and how he was doing in his classes, giving out advice where he could and praising him for his hard work. 

But when the bell rang, signaling class would begin again in five minutes, and they started to collect their things to get to their respective classes, Tugger grabbed Mistoffelees' arm and pulled him a little closer.

"Just for the record, your singing is great. Especially considering you're a dancer and not a singer. Just a bit of work with the technique and you'll be fantastic! Don't listen to what The Wicked Witch of The West says, she clearly has no idea what she's talking about."

And yes, Mistoffelees had realized very quickly that Amaryl didn't know half as much about singing or music or anything as she tried to make it sound like she did and tried not to let her demeaning comments get to him. But he still smiled up at Tugger before pulling his arm out of his grip and threw his bag over his shoulder.

"Thanks Tugger. That means a lot." 

Tugger was clearly not perfect, he had plenty of annoying quirks, habits and sides that he still hadn't gotten used to and that rubbed him the wrong way. But he still appreciated him and his company very much.

Maybe he wasn't the best friend he had always wished for, but he was a very good and supportive friend and that was all Mistoffelees could ask for.

Chapter Text

"I'm just saying that a little variety every now and then might be good for you. Honestly Misto, don't you ever grow sick of the same colors on your clothes day in and day out?"

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes as he opened his locker, leaving his dance gear and taking out his Math book. "It's stylish, Tori. And besides, I have changed my wardrobe since I started here. Back at my old school I wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything else other than my blazers and button-downs. So really this is a big step forward for me."

Victoria rolled her eyes back at him so hard that she rolled her with her whole head, and pushed him in the shoulder. "Oh, so you've gone from black blazers and white button-downs to black polo-shirts and hoodies? Wow, what a massive change." She sighed and folded her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "Oh well, at least those shirts aren't so damn old-fashioned."

Mistoffelees snorted and looked away from his locker and to his sister, one eyebrow raised incredulously and eyed her up and down. "Do you seriously wanna talk about old-fashioned clothing with me while wearing that? The 1950's called and want their dress back."

Gasping in offense, Victoria spread out her arms and twirled around, showing off her clothing. She was wearing a light pink dress with white polka dots and the pleated skirt was slightly plumped up with a petticoat. On her feet was a pair of low white heels and she kicked up one foot to show them off to her brother. 

"This, dear brother, is retro! And it has a lot more personality than your polo shirts and hoodies. Not to mention color and variety."

Smirking and shaking his head, Mistoffelees closed his locker and adjusted his bag over his shoulder. "Call it what you will, Tori, it's still old-fashioned."

She grumbled and pushed him in the side, but still smiled when he wasn't looking. All this bickering was really just for the sake of it on her side. She knew that Mistoffelees was actively changing, becoming less anxious and uptight and she was so happy that he was growing more and more comfortable in her school. 

Or, well, their school now.

"Although, credit where credit is due," Mistoffelees said, closing his locker and turning to his sister with a soft smile. "These clothes are a lot more comfortable. I mean, I like looking proper but this is a lot nicer than those private school dress codes." He gestured down at his clothes, a slim, black sweater that was showing off his lean figure very nicely, a pair of equally slim jeans and a pair of brand new sneakers.

Victoria smiled and playfully pushed him in the shoulder. "See, I told you! You can look good without also being uncomfortable and stiff."

He just rolled his eyes with a small smile, shaking his head slightly. And even though they were just talking about clothes and it didn't truly matter what either one of them was wearing, Victoria was truly happy to see this change in him. Not just concerning his fashion sense but also everything else. 

She knew that he was still struggling to fully adjust to everything, as well as having friends, and his powers were still a skeleton in his closet that he wanted to remain hidden. But she had also seen some very noticable changes in his attitude and behavior. He was more relaxed and didn't constantly jump every time someone grazed his arm or grabbed his shoulder. But the biggest thing was that he just seemed much happier than he had been in so many years.

It was really moving, to finally see him reach outside of his comfort zone and see him grow more comfortable and happier. 

Victoria scampered over to her locker to leave her things and also started to chat with Jemima and Rumpleteazer as she did. And from the looks of it, both of them really liked her dress, as she preened and once again twirled around to show it off while smiling widely.

"Hey Misto." Mistoffelees looked up and saw Plato coming up to him, smiling warmly and opening his own locker, only two lockers away from Mistoffelees'. 

"Hi Plato." He greeted him back and rummaged through his bag, looking for his phone.

Plato threw his gym bag into his locker before closing it and turned back to Mistoffelees. "So, how are things going? Still surviving Comp class?"

Mistoffelees' looked up from his bag with narrowed eyes and a confused frown and turned to Plato. "Comp class?" 

Plato grimaced sheepishly before smiling apologetically at him. "Oh, right. Sorry, I keep forgetting you're still pretty new. I mean contemporary dance class, but we generally don't call it. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer started calling it comp class because the full thing was just such a mouthful and the rest of us just went along with it."

"Oh." Mistoffelees smiled, albeit a bit awkwardly. "Well, I think I'm doing pretty well. I've been spending a lot of time practicing at home and in school whenever I can. But it's still hard to keep up with you guys sometimes." 

Plato came up to him and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Oh come on, you are not giving yourself enough credit, mate. Considering you've only danced contemporary dance for a month, you've been doing great. And I'm sure you'll be just as good as the rest of us with just a bit more practice. Just keep going at it, you're doing great." 

The paw on his shoulder was warm and reassuring, and though Mistoffelees still felt uncomfortable being touched, it still felt very good to know his classmates had his back. 

"Thanks Plato." Plato smiled, then both of them heard Victoria giggle and looked up to see her giggle with her friends as they were playing around a little with their make-up. Jemima was trying to apply a little blush on Victoria's cheeks but Victoria had turned her head at just the wrong moment so she'd accidentally got her on the nose, leaving a big pink spot on her already pink nose, thus the fits of giggles. 

Plato, suddenly, seemed to lose all focus on Mistoffelees and now stared at his sister. His brown eyes were a little dazed and a soft smile grazed his face.

"She's so pretty…" He whispered, very softly, as he looked at her and was probably thinking no one could hear him. But Mistoffelees had very good ears and was also standing very close to him and could hear him very well.

"What was that?" He asked coyly, one eyebrow raised and turned to look up at the taller tom. Plato's smile dropped from his face, as well as his paw on Mistoffelees' shoulder, and he turned back to Mistoffelees with a both bashful and slightly worried look on his face.

"Uh, I mean, that is to say, um… her dress! It's very pretty, I-I mean the color looks very nice on her! That's all I meant, I-"

Snorting softly, Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and shook his head. Clearly these two both liked each other, that had been made very clear for him ever since he started going to this school. Though Plato was a lot more subtle about it than Victoria was, they were both seemingly oblivious to the other's feelings and equally reluctant to act on those feelings. 

Mistoffelees had made a point of staying out of his sister's love life, mainly so he could focus on adjusting to the school as well as trying to build his friendships and social network away from her, but also because he figured it was none of his business who she liked. He was not her babysitter, just as she wasn't his and he wasn't going to play the Protective Brother unless he felt he absolutely had to.

You know, like if the guys she liked were total creeps, jerks or bullies, but she had never really had a thing for bad boys anyway so that was likely not going to happen.

So he just smiled and shook his head at Plato. "Relax Plato, I'm only teasing you. And really, I don't mind you liking my sister."

Plato froze, mid-sentence, then looked down at Mistoffelees with wide eyes. "You don't?" 

He shook his head. "No, of course not. Victoria's a big cat, she can decide for herself whoever she likes and wants to date or not. I'm not going to get to get involved unless I have reason to believe she's going to get hurt. And you don't strike me as the kind of cat who'd hurt her or try to use her."

Plato's eyes widened in horror and he raised his paws defensively while shaking his head furiously. " No ! No, no I would never! Not to Victoria or anyone, I swear!"

His response was so genuinely horrified that Mistoffelees almost started laughing. "No, no I know. My point is that I don't have a problem with you liking Victoria and I'm not going to tell you to stay away from her or to leave her alone. That's none of my business." 

Then he smiled and leaned a little closer to Plato and lowered his voice. "And, just between the two of us-"

But before he could finish, a loud signal was heard from the school's loudspeakers which caused all the students to look up from whatever they were doing to listen as a voice started speaking.

"Attention. All students are to be in the auditorium at 9 AM. I repeat, all students are to be in the auditorium at 9 AM."

All the students looked around, a little confused by what could be going on, seeing as it was just another monday in October. But Mistoffelees remembered Old Deuteronomy's words from last Friday and was now excited to see what announcement he was going to make. Especially if Munkustrap was right and it had something to do with the anniversary.

He looked down at his phone to check the time. 8:50 AM. They'd need to be there in ten minutes. He adjusted his bag over his shoulder and motioned with his head towards the auditorium at Plato.

"Come on, we'd better get going."

The auditorium was a very big, half-circular room with many long rows of seats, looking very much like a big theatre with enough chairs and room for several hundreds of cats. Mistoffelees had seen this while visiting during rehearsals for the Showcase, but for some reason it hadn't clicked in his brain that hundreds of cats had seen his and Victoria's performance during the Showcase. But now, seeing the whole room filled with students, it suddenly felt more real.

Several hundreds of cats had seen him dance. He, who had only ever danced alone, with his sister or at the occasional party that his father threw had danced in front of hundreds. And that wasn't even counting the views on the clip that had been uploaded on their website. That was a little head to wrap his head around.

Plato and Mistoffelees had barely managed to find a pair of empty seats and sit down before Old Deuteronomy walked out onto the stage. He walked up to a podium placed at the center of the stage and spoke into the microphone, raising one paw to quiet the murmuring students. 

"Good morning, my dear Jellicles. I hope you all had a lovely weekend." He received a round of happy applause from the students, which made him smile widely. "Oh, that's wonderful to hear." 

He cleared his throat, turned to look over his shoulders, where the teachers of the school were standing behind him, also smiling widely. "Well, I'm sure you all are wondering why I've called you all here today and that you all have classes that you need to get to, so I will try to keep myself short."

Old Deuteronomy leaned in closer to the microphone, a soft smile on his face. "So, some of you may already know or have figured this out, but for those of you who don't, I will enlighten you. November 11th will be this school's anniversary."

There was applause heard throughout the room, as well as a few happy shouts and whistles here and there.

As he spoke his soft smile grew wider and sunnier. "Now that alone is a very important date, but this year it will be even more important. Why, you may ask. Well, because this year Jellicle Arts will turn 40 years old."

This was met with even more applause, loud and thunderous, as well as loud whoops and cheers from the entire student body. Mistoffelees saw several cats, among them Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, stand up and raise their fingers to their mouths, letting out loud wolf-whistles before starting clapping again. 

"Yeah! Whoo! Go, Jellicle Arts!"

"We're the best!"

Old Deuteronomy let the applause and cheers go on for about a minute or two before he raised his paw again, waiting until the room was silent again until he started talking again. "Yes, this is all exciting news indeed, and of course this has to be celebrated. Now, I am aware that we're only a month past the Showcase and your teachers obviously have other classes and assignments that are important, so classes will proceed as usual."

There was a loud groan of disappointment from a big chunk of the students and Old Deuteronomy raised his paw again. "However, a 40th anniversary doesn't happen every year after all, so we have come up with a compromise of sorts.

"We will be throwing a party on the 11th and there will be an open stage. Any and all students who want to perform at this party will be allowed to, but you will need to sign up at least two weeks in advance so we can plan ahead. However practicing and rehearsing for these performances will happen on your time and not on school time. And if you perform you might be able to improve your grades, but not lower it."

He paused to smile his warm smile, looking like the sun was shining from his eyes. "This is after all a celebration, not school work. We will gather together to celebrate our wonderful school."

He then clapped his paws together, smiling widely and looking out over the sea of students. "Now, I believe that will be all. If you have any questions you may seek me or turn to your teachers. We will also put up sign-up sheets for any cats who want to perform on the bulletin board by the entrance. Now, you all go back to your classes!"

There was a lot of excited and animated chatter as everyone excited the auditorium, already talking amongst themselves about what songs they would sing or dances they would do or maybe even putting on a very small acting performance if time allowed it.  

Mistoffelees and Plato walked out of the room together, heading towards Gus' classroom, also talking about the celebration. 

"Are you going to do something for the party?" Plato asked, turning to Mistoffelees with a smile. Pursing his lips and shrugging his shoulders, Mistoffelees shook his head.

"I don't know. Maybe? I mean, I certainly need to get used to the stage if I'm gonna go to this school, right? And honestly, I need to improve my singing if I want to maintain my straight A's. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to sing on stage. Maybe I'll stick with dancing for now." He turned to Plato and smiled. "What about you?"

Plato also shrugged. "I'd like to. Though I don't really like to dance alone and it can be a little hard to find dance partners. Perhaps Tumble and Pounce will let me dance with them, but I always dance with those guys."

They reached the classroom, sitting down beside each other, waiting for Gus to come as the rest of the freshmen and sophomores filed in. Mistoffelees saw Victoria walk in with Jemima and her other friends and she waved at both him and Plato as she sat down, still talking with her friends. 

And once again Plato looked at her with soft, dazed eyes and Mistoffelees almost expected him to rest his head in his paw and sigh longingly. But as he looked at both his friend and his sister, he got an idea that might be able to help them get closer. Maybe even close enough to admit their feelings for each other.

"You should ask Tori if she wants to dance with you." Plato snapped his head up and turned to him, eyes wide and a flush covering his cheeks. 

"What?"

Mistoffelees shrugged with a smile. "Victoria. You should ask if she wants to dance with you. I think she'd like that."

Plato stared at him and a very small smile tugged at his lips. "You think?" He turned to look at Victoria, eyeing her quickly before turning back to Mistoffelees.

"Oh, absolutely." Mistoffelees leaned a little closer to Plato, lowering his voice and eyed his sister quickly to make sure she didn't hear him. "Don't tell her I said this, but she was really disappointed that you couldn't dance together at the Showcase. She was really looking forward to dancing with you and I know she'd love it to get a second chance to do it." 

Plato swallowed hard, once again turning to look at Victoria before looking back to Mistoffelees, then back to Victoria and back to Mistoffelees again. Then he smiled and nodded, albeit a little nervously. 

"Okay. I'll go ask her." Mistoffelees nodded encouragingly at him and Plato got up from his seat before walking over to Victoria, who stopped talking with her friends to look at him. 

Mistoffelees had to strain his ears to hear what was said and he only heard it vaguely over the chatter going on in the room. But he managed to make it out, though just barely at times.

"Uh, Tori? I… I have something to ask you?" Somehow he managed to make it sound like a question, but Victoria just smiled sweetly and a bit excitedly. 

"Yes Plato?" Mistoffelees smiled fondly. He had turned his head away from them so Victoria wouldn't see him look and think he was involved in this, but he could still hear her smile in her voice. 

"Um… I was- I mean, I was thinking about, you know, the party? And about us getting to perform." 

"Yeah?" 

"Well… I um, I mean, we didn't get to dance at the Showcase, so… I was wondering if you.. i-if you'd want to, maybe, dance with me?" 

Victoria inhaled sharply and Mistoffelees turned around slowly to see her reaction. She was smiling very widely and it looked like she was fighting hard so she wouldn't squeal, cover her mouth with her paws or get up from her chair and jump up and down in place. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and looked up at Plato. 

"I would love to, Plato."

"Yeah?" Plato said, looking a little surprised by her answer but also very happy. She nodded and stood up, gently taking him by the arm. 

"Yes, of course. I would love to dance with you. Maybe we could sit down at lunch together and talk about the details?" 

And poor Plato looked like he hadn't expected her to actually say yes and didn't know what to say after she gave her response and he looked a little dazed. He started nodding and a dumb smile spread across his face.

"Yeah, sure. Let's do that." Victoria beamed at him before sitting down again and Plato tried to walk back to his seat but looked more like he was stumbling. And before he made it back to Mistoffelees, Tumblebrutus grabbed him and pulled him down next to him and he and Pouncival started bombarding him with questions and pats on the back and shoulders. Although Plato seemed way too out of it to answer any of them. 

Mistoffelees smiled at both of them before turning back around in his seat. He was happy for his sister, because she had been really disappointed that Plato had hurt his ankle that day. She never said she was sad she had to dance with him, of course, but he knew she had been so happy about being paired with him. And now they were allowed a chance to do it over and that in turn might help them confess their feelings. 

Until he realized that he had just gotten his go-to dancer partnered with another cat and now, if he wanted to dance at the party, he needed to find another partner or dance alone. 

Which he definitely wasn't ready for yet.

"Dammit." He muttered under his breath, shrugging his bag off his shoulder and placed it on the floor by his feet. He hadn't really thought that far ahead. But oh well, he'd cross that bridge when he got there. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to perform yet anyway. 

"Hey there, Misto! I was looking for you before. I was hoping I'd catch you before the gathering."

Mistoffelees felt a familiar paw on his shoulder and he looked up to see Tugger stand next to him with a wide grin. He rolled his eyes and shrugged the paw off, starting to dig around in his bag for his notebook and pen.

"And I was hoping if I could have one moment without you breathing down my neck. Honestly, the way you hang after me all the time one could be excused for believing that you have no other friends."

Tugger laughed as he sat down, putting his arm on the back of Mistoffelees' chair and barely acknowledged that Mistoffelees was still digging around in his bag. "Oh I do, but Bomba decided she was too tired to deal with me this morning. She said something about, 'not having drunk enough coffee to deal with my shit.'" He smirked and shrugged. "I'm sure she didn't mean it." 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes but still smiled a small smile that Tugger couldn't see before he sat back up again with his notebook placed in his lap and a pen in his paw. "So, is it safe to assume that you're going to perform at the party next month?"

Tugger grinned widely, pulling Mistoffelees a little closer to him only to get his arm shrugged off again. "You know it, kitt. The Rum Tum Tugger never misses a chance to show what he's got!"

"Never misses a chance to show off, you mean." Mistoffelees rolled his eyes again, throwing one leg over the other, placing his notebook on his thigh and started looking through some of his acting notes. 

Some of his classmates had questioned why he took notes during acting class since 90% of it tended to be acting exercises rather than long lectures and most of his friends never bothered to write anything down. Especially since Gus' tests and exams were either to perform a specific scene in front of the class or putting on a play. But whenever Gus gave feedback, advice or had a lecture about the different kinds of acting, Mistoffelees always took notes. And it tended to help whenever he practised his acting, to remember the little things for the future.

All advice tended to be useful in some way, even if it wasn't always in the way it was intended.

Tugger grinned and shrugged, resting one foot on his knee. "Hey, if you've got it, flaunt it. I can't help it if I'm so talented and handsome that others can't get enough of me."

Mistoffelees didn't look up or change his expression, just scribbled a little in his notebook. "Oh, so if you're not handsome or talented you can't show off?" He looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "So everyone here who doesn't strut around the place aren't as talented as you?"

Tugger's grin froze and turned into an unsure grimace and stared down at the smaller cat, unsure of how to respond to this. Had he screwed up? Had he said something stupid and insulted him? Sweet Everlasting Cat, this tux was hard to read sometimes.

He shook his head. "N-no, that's not what I meant." 

Mistoffelees glanced up from his notebook again, eyebrow still raised and his mouth a firm line. "Then what did you mean?" 

"I, uh..." Tugger floundered and swallowed hard, wracking his brain for something good to say. His lines and flirty ways were never really questioned, even by Cassandra who had never entertained him, so now when he was asked to explain himself he found himself stumped. 

Mistoffelees however, despite keeping his face straight and blank, was smirking devilishly on the inside. This was way too easy, making Tugger lose any and all of his charisma and showing that all that bravado was just a facade. That, while many other cats in school may have been fooled by his showy persona, he wasn't and could easily tear it down if he wanted to. 

"I just mean, um... " Tugger swallowed again and took a deep breath. "Well, if you have the talent and have the looks, why not be proud of it?"

"Oh I see, so you're not proud of your talents if you don't show off. Is that it?" Mistoffelees looked up again and a very, very tiny smile was tugging at his lips. Tugger however didn't spot it immediately and started wracking his brain again for a good answer.

"No, I just… I mean, I just think that-" He paused when he heard Mistoffelees snort a little and blinked at him a few times. Mistoffelees patted his arm and shook his head, finally allowing himself to smile.

"You really are too easy to get a rise out of, you know that?" He shook his head before turning back to his notebook again. Tugger kept staring at him for a good long minute before realizing he had been played again and smacked Mistoffelees on the shoulder. 

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: you are a seriously evil little cat. Evil little Mister Mistoffelees." This just made Mistoffelees laugh more and shook his head.

"And I'll say what I always say to that: it's not my fault that you're gullible." 

Tugger glared at him a little, but before he could say anything else, Gus came into the room and walked up to the stage and the whiteboard. 

"Alright, alright class, settle down. I'm sure you are very excited about next month and are already making plans, but for now we need to get on with our actual work." He turned towards the class, his too large coat flapping around him with every movement. 

"Now, today we're going to talk about acting with body language."

The rest of the day followed just like any other day, at least as far as classes went. The teachers tried to go about the day and their classes like it was any other day, but most of the student body seemed utterly unable to focus on anything but the party and what they would do at said party. 

Mistoffelees felt like he was the only one actually paying attention to what the teachers were saying, taking notes and doing the work like he always did. Which was significantly harder than usual, because Tugger kept on talking about what he would do, how great the parties at the school were and how he would love it. He also kept asking if Mistoffelees were going to perform, a question that Mistoffelees kept giving vague answers to, as he wasn't even sure if he wanted to perform. And if he did decide if he wanted to, he would either have to find a different dance partner or do something completely different. 

And he wasn't quite sure if he was ready for that yet.

He almost felt relieved when the bell rang and everyone started to head towards the cafeteria to have lunch, if only to get a break from the studies and wouldn't need to not focus so hard to block everyone out. And hopefully he might be able to finally get Tugger to change the topic so he wouldn't have to hear any more about this party.

A cat could only bear so much after all. 

But before they could get to the cafeteria, a voice called after them. 

"Hey, Tugger!"

Tugger groaned loudly and rolled his eyes exaggeratedly before turning around to see Munkustrap come running up to him. He folded his arms over his chest and stared at his older brother with only a slightly annoyed frown. "What do you want?"

Munkustrap frowned a little at the reaction he was given but chose not to comment on it, just stopped a few feet away from them and adjusted the bag over his shoulder. "The principal asked me to tell you he wants to see you." 

Scoffing and rolling his eyes again, Tugger tilted his head to the side and stared at Munkustrap. "The principal? Just call him dad, Straps. It's not like anyone at this school doesn't know he's our dad."

Munkustrap closed his eyes, took a deep breath and forced himself to count to ten in his head before saying anything else. 

'Just deliver the message, Munkustrap.' He told himself. 'Don't take the bait, just deliver the message.'

He opened his eyes again and fought to keep his face neutral. "Yes, well, he wants to talk to you." His tone was fairly neutral, but there was still a little bit of frustration slipping in there. 

Tilting his head back, Tugger narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? What does he want?" 

Munkustrap shrugged and grabbed at the strap of his bag. "How should I know? Contrary to what you seem to think, Tugger, I have better things to do with my time than keeping tabs on you all the time. Like re-organizing my school books by color and size and my pens by the sharpest to bluntest."

His voice was dripping with sarcasm and Tugger growled under his breath, really wanting to say something to hurt him back. But he swallowed down his frustrations before turning to Mistoffelees with a small smile. "You will be fine on your own for a while, right?"

Mistoffelees looked at him with a blank look, silently grateful for a small break away from Tugger and his constant chatter. "I shall try to prevail."

Munkustrap snorted and stepped up to him, placing his paw on his shoulder. "Don't worry Tugger, I can look after him for you. Although honestly I think he'll survive a few minutes away from you. I know I do."

Tugger growled again and started off towards his dad's office while Munkustrap followed Mistoffelees towards the cafeteria. 

When he made it to the office, he didn't even bother knocking and just walked right in. Old Deuteronomy was sitting by his desk, looking through some papers. But when he heard the door open, he looked up and smiled at his son.

"Ah, there you are, Tugger. Good, I was hoping Munkustrap would find you sooner rather than later." 

Tugger walked up to the desk, gripping the strap of his bag with one paw and rested the other paw on his hip. "Straps said you wanted to see me." He said, a bit casually. He knew he hadn't done anything outside the ordinary recently, so this was probably nothing major.

Old Deuteronomy sighed and sorted through his papers before looking up again. "Yes. I assume you are planning on signing up for the Anniversary Party to perform." 

Tugger grinned. "Yeah. I can't wait to start working on it. I have this song I started writing a while back and with a bit of polish, I know it will be-" 

Old Deuteronomy held up one paw and picked up the papers with the other. "Well, I'm sad to say that I can't allow that." 

Tugger was left completely gobsmacked and just stared at his father with wide eyes and jaw hanging open. 

"What?"

Old Deuteronomy looked down at his papers, sighed disapprovingly and then looked up again, looking both sad and disappointed. "Tugger, when it became clear you had to redo Freshman Year, you promised you would do better. But looking at your grades and attendance, I see little to no improvement."

Tugger felt a rock form in his stomach as he heard this, a sinking feeling of dread spreading from his stomach and to the rest of his body. He swallowed, his mouth and throat suddenly feeling very dry. "I have! My music teachers say my songs are even better than the ones I wrote last year and my singing and dancing is also-"

Old Deuteronomy held up his paw. "I am not talking about those grades. I am talking about your academic classes. Math, English, History, etc. On average your grades hover on a D. Much like they were last year." He looked up at his son with both serious and sad eyes. "You promised me you would do better, Tugger, and you haven't. I have to say, I'm disappointed in you."

Tugger's ears drooped and he lowered his head in shame, his tail between his legs. Okay, so maybe he had been ditching class a bit too much and maybe his grades weren't that great in all subjects, but he never felt too bad about it. But hearing his father's very clear disappointment in him was very hard.

"I'm sorry dad. I'm trying, I swear! It's just-" Old Deuteronomy shook his head and held up his paw again.

"Yes, you keep saying that, Tugger. But I have yet to see any actual proof that you are actually trying to improve your behavior or grades. You may have passable grades in some of your classes, but in others you are barely staying afloat." He looked down at the papers again and smiled a small smile. "I realize that you're young and that this school is focused on your passions, so obviously your interest is going to be in those specific classes. But school is not all about having fun, it's about responsibility and learning things that will help you in the future."

He looked his son up and down with a somewhat disapproving frown. "You're almost sixteen years old, Tugger. I really shouldn't have to lecture you about the importance of doing your homework and showing up on time anymore." He sighed heavily and rested his face in his paw, rubbing his temple with two fingers. "I just don't know what to do with you anymore."

He sighed again and said, under his breath this time, "Munkustrap was never this difficult." 

It was clear Tugger wasn't actually supposed to hear the last part, but he did and he was caught between being angry, hurt and ashamed. His dad very rarely compared him with his older brother, but every once in a while it happened and it always made Tugger feel worthless. Like Old Deuteronomy was admitting that he would much rather have had a son more like Munkustrap than Tugger. 

This made Tugger lower his head, both so his dad couldn't see the hurt and anger in his face and because of the shame from his father's words weighing him down. Because his father's disappointment was so much worse than him being angry with him. "I'm sorry dad. But I have been doing better this last month, I promise. I go to class now and I have been trying to listen, I really have. I just… don't get it."

That excuse sounded terrible, even before he said it, but it was all he could think of saying. And sure enough, Old Deuteronomy looked up with a sad frown. Like it was hurting for him to do this.

"Yes, I have seen your attendance getting better over the last month, which is a small improvement. However, I'm sure you understand that this simply isn't good enough. And I simply can't allow you to play your way through school, skip classes and barely pass your classes without any consequences anymore."

Tugger bit his lip nervously, clenching his paws into fists. He didn't like where this was going.

"To perform in order to maintain your grades is one thing, but I'm sorry to say I can't allow you to perform for fun unless you can improve your grades."

Tugger's head snapped up and he stared at his father, looking horrified. "What?! No! No, you can't do that!"

Old Deuteronomy however was unfazed. "As a matter of fact I can. As your principal and your father I very much can do this." Then he turned sympathetic. "Tugger, you have to understand I don't want to do this, don't you? I know how much you love to sing and dance and perform and I'd hate to take that away from you. And I honestly hoped that you would improve your behavior this year. But since you haven't, I have to draw the line somewhere. Especially since you insist on spending your time playing games rather than doing your work." 

By this point Tugger was breathing hard, his heart was pounding in his chest and he didn't know if he should get angry or start crying. This couldn't be happening.

"No. No, dad, please, please you can't take this away from me. Music is all I have, it's the only thing I'm good at! I'm nothing without my music."

His words however didn't get through to his father, he simply looked him straight in the eyes and said, very sternly, "If you are nothing without your music, you need to take a step away from it. There is more to life than music and games."

Then his face softened a little. "Tugger, son, you know I want what's best for you, right?" Tugger swallowed hard and nodded quietly. "Well, that means that I want you to be the best that you can be, in every aspect of your life. I truly believe that you can improve, if you just put in the effort. And if that means I have to take away your music until I see some results, then I will."

Blinking hard against the tears, Tugger swallowed again and looked up at his father, shoulders slumped, head hanging and feeling defeated. "What do you want me to do? Isn't there anything I can do that can change your mind and let me perform next month? Please, I'll do anything."

Old Deuteronomy hummed, stroking his chin as he thought it over. He looked down at his papers again. He sorted through them a little, hummed to himself again, then looked up again. "You have a math test this Friday, don't you?"

A feeling of dread started to spread through his stomach. He was sure he definitely didn't like where this was going. "Yes...?"

His father nodded to himself, clasped his paws together and once again looked Tugger right in the eyes. "Alright. I am going to make you a deal. If you pass this test, with at least a C+, I will let you perform at the celebration." 

"And if I don't?" Tugger asked nervously, fearing he already knew the answer. There was a very small pang of relief in his chest, but he refused to get too far ahead of himself yet. These things always came with a catch.

"Then I will not allow you to perform until you improve your grades. And if you do pass the test but go back to the same behavior as before, the same will happen."

Tugger sighed heavily, letting his head fall forward until his chin hit his collar bone. He absolutely hated math with a burning passion, he could never make sense of it. He'd been doing fine before starting high school, but then they suddenly started putting letters in there and it made everything a million times harder. And now his future of performing has hanging on him passing a math test? He might as well have told him he needed to catch the moon and bring it to him by Friday. But what could he do? He loved music and to sing and dance on stage was the thing he loved the most. He couldn't bear to have it taken away from him in any way, shape or form. And if this was the only way he could make sure to maintain it, what choice did he have?

He sighed again and looked up at his father, ears still drooping a little and nodded. "Alright. Deal."

"Good." Old Deuteronomy smiled gently and got up from his chair walking up to him. "Just maintain a C+ for the future and nothing will happen." He stopped in front of his son, placing both paws on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Please son, just try to do your work. I really do not wish to do this to you."

Tugger nodded slowly and tried to smile. "I'll try." Then he turned around and left the room. Once he closed the door behind him he leaned back against the door, sighing in despair and leaning his head back against the wood. How the hell was he going to study hard enough to get a C+ on a math test in 5 days? He had barely managed to pass his tests in the past with weeks of studying, so how was he going to do this? But if he didn't do it, he wouldn't get to perform anymore unless it was necessary for his grades. Which was not something he wanted to happen. 

He groaned and slowly started to trudge towards the cafeteria, hoping desperately that Mistoffelees wouldn't be sitting and eating lunch with Munkustrap today. He really didn't want to deal with his brother right now, or anyone else for that matter. He wanted to think of something else and maybe get a little bit of advice from his friend. But mostly he wanted a distraction from the fear that his performing days were over.   

When he finally got to the cafeteria he was happy to see that not only was Mistoffelees not sitting Munkustrap, but he was also sitting alone with his nose in his notebook and a school book, seemingly taking notes while also eating his own lunch. Tugger silently thanked the Everlasting Cat for this before making his way over to the table, sitting down in the chair across from Mistoffelees.

"Hey Misto." He said, not even bothering to put on his usual charm. He didn't have the energy to do it at the moment. Mistoffelees only glanced up for one second before looking back at his notes. 

"Hello again." He reached out to grab his water bottle and took a sip without even looking away from his notes. He wrote something down and Tugger  stretched his neck to try and see what he was writing. 

"Do you really need to study while eating lunch? You know lunch is for eating and getting a break from school for one hour, right?" Mistoffelees shrugged, looked back at the school book for two seconds before scribbling something down again.

"We have a test coming up this Friday. I'm not going to waste time making sure I won't get the very best grade. Besides, I'd much rather use my spare time dancing or practicing my singing or acting. That's where I really need to work." 

Tugger groaned under his breath when Mistoffelees mentioned the upcoming math test. So that was what he was studying for. He didn't really understand why Mistoffelees felt the need to study so hard, he was always doing great during math class, always getting answers right and had even corrected the teacher at one point. But then again, he had mentioned being a perfectionist and liked getting everything 100% right, so maybe it made sense after all. Especially if studying had been all he did besides dancing before he started going here and made some friends. 

Mistoffelees finally looked up with a small smile. "So, what did Old Deuteronomy want?" Tugger grimaced and rested his chin in his paw, poking his lasagna with his fork, his appetite having completely vacated the premises. Mistoffelees frowned, suddenly noticing how down Tugger seemed and how he wasn't even trying to look as cocky and confident as he usually did. Even his mane seemed to droop a little, along with his ears and tail. "Hey, are you alright?"

Tugger sighed and looked up at his friend. "Dad said he won't let me perform at the party if I don't pass the test on Friday." Mistoffelees grimaced silently, feeling a sting of pity for his friend. Yeah, it had been a bit annoying to listen to Tugger talk about it for so long, but it clearly meant a lot to him. He clearly loved to perform and this had to hurt a lot to be told he couldn't.

"And even if I do pass, I still need to pass with a C+ if I want to be able to perform and also maintain that grade if I want to keep performing." He muttered, finally taking a reluctant bite of his lunch.

Mistoffelees frowned. A C+? That didn't sound so bad. Sure, he couldn't remember ever getting anything below an A since he started going to school, but a C+ sounded doable. And he said as much too. 

"Only a C+? That shouldn't be so hard. If you just put in a little effort and do a bit of math every day, you could easily make that." 

Tugger glared up at him, looking a little offended and angry. "Oh sure, and while I'm at it I might as well join you and Victoria in your ballet classes." He slammed his fork down on the table and placed his head in both paws. "I can't do it, Misto!"

"Why not?" Mistoffelees tilted his head slightly to the side, feeling genuinely confused. Again, he had never had problems learning and getting his homework done and never really got anything wrong. At least not by much. And he had always been surrounded by cats who were equally good with their homework, so he couldn't understand why Tugger was making such a fuss about this.

"Because I can't do math. I don't get it, never have. I'm much better with music and singing and stuff. I have never been good at math, so I know I'm going to fail, I just know it. Me getting a C+ is never going to happen."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes with a very small, exasperated smile. "Well, not with that attitude. You'll just have to put away the phone and guitar for a few days and actually study. Shouldn't be too hard."

Tugger looked up at him and Mistoffelees was a bit taken aback by how vulnerable he suddenly looked. "Well, it's not like I want to fail. My chances to perform are on the line here!" He sighed and sniffled softly. "Which means everything to me. If I can't perform, sing and dance, I'm nothing."

His voice was suddenly a little fragile and he hunched over, leaning over his plate and looked down at his food so Mistoffelees couldn't see his face. But Mistoffelees reached out his paw and rubbed it over his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

"That's not true." He said, squeezing his arm and patting it lightly. "You're still a talented and gifted cat. And if you don't understand the work, there's no shame in asking for help."

Tugger sighed, resting his head in both paws. "Ask who? Bomba has never had the patience to help me. She's tried to help me for years but has sorta given up trying because I can never focus. And I don't blame her, I'm a handful, I know I am. And the same goes for Professor Albus. He hates me and has since I first started going here. I bet he'd love it to see me fail on this test."

'I seriously doubt that.' Mistoffelees thought but didn't say out loud. Based on what he had seen of Professor Albus, he was definitely tired and annoyed of Tugger's behavior, but he seemed more disappointed in him than anything else. A teacher's job is to teach and if one student refuses to try and learn that means they fail too. So Professor Albus wanting Tugger to fail and enjoying watching him fail over and over again was probably just Tugger being dramatic and very far from being true.

Honestly, it didn't look like Tugger didn't have anyone to ask for help, but rather that he didn't feel he could because of his pride. Imagine if The Rum Tum Tugger asked anyone for help with anything? Oh the horror! How could he possibly be seen as the coolest cat in school if anyone saw him being tutored in math? And Heaveside knows he was never going to ask his older brother for any help at all. 

Personally Mistoffelees thought it was a million shades of stupid to let your own pride and grudges with others get in between you and your grades, but he also had a stubborn streak to him that had prevented him from doing things he truly wanted deep down, so perhaps he had no room to judge.

Then he looked down at his notebook and the open math book on the table and got an idea. Or, maybe not an idea as much as a realization of what he had to do. This last month had been very challenging for him and Tugger had been there to support him every day, giving advice for singing and for acting, things he was better at than Mistoffelees or had just been a strong shoulder to lean on whenever he needed it. And he clearly thought Mistoffelees was his best friend, had said as much last Friday. So what kind of friend would he be if he wasn't willing to do the same for Tugger? Especially since he could see how much this meant to Tugger and how much he didn't want to fail. 

Sure, it was a big step forward to do this. To spend time with someone outside of the school, but any step forward was a good one, right? And he had better control over his magic now, so he only needed to remember to keep it hidden and under control, which wouldn't be a problem, right?

He nodded to himself and patted Tugger on the arm again. "You are not going to fail." Tugger looked up from his plate and at him, rubbing his arm under his eyes in a manner he hoped looked inconspicuous.

"I'm not?" Mistoffelees shook his head with a smile.

"No, you're not. Because I am going to help you. I won't let you fail this test." Tugger stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. 

"Y-you, you will?" He asked a little tentatively, as if wondering if he had heard wrong. But Mistoffelees just nodded and smiled a little wider.

"Of course. We're friends, aren't we? And that's what friends do, help each other out when they need it. We can go to my place after school so no one has to know if that's an issue for you. I know you care about your persona." 

Tugger didn't know what to say at first. A part of him wanted to revert back to his usual Tugger charm and shrug it off, but figured this wasn't the right moment for it. After all, Mistoffelees might take it the wrong way and take back his offer to help him, which was definitely not something he wanted.  He took a breath to collect himself and then smiled at his friend.

"Thank you, Misto. But if I'm honest, you could probably find something more productive to do with your time than try to tutor me. In case you haven't noticed I'm not really the smartest cat in school and I've been told I have the attention span of a fruit fly. You're probably going to end up wasting your time with me."

But Mistoffelees just grinned and gestured with his paw at himself. "Let me be the judge of that. I've been helping Victoria with math since we were kittens and she can be easily distracted by her surroundings too. I have my ways and strategies of helping her so I can surely help you too." He winked playfully at Tugger with a smirk. "Straight A student, remember? With a little help, discipline and hard work I'm sure you'll do great."

Tugger grimaced a little, twiddling a little with his fingers. "Discipline and hard work aren't exactly my strong sides." He muttered, looking down at the floor. But Mistoffelees was undeterred. 

"Oh, I've noticed. But don't worry, I can work with that. All I need from you is a promise to actually try to do your work. No trying to weasel out of it or trying to make me do the work for you. Is that a deal?" 

For good measure he held out a paw for Tugger to shake, but made a point of looking somewhat serious. He wanted to help, but he also didn't want to waste time with someone who wasn't even going to try.

Tugger looked down at his paw and thought for one second longer than he normally did. He knew he wasn't a very good student, he did. And he knew that he was most likely not going to get it and probably drive Mistoffelees crazy before too long. But with his chances to perform on the line, what could he do? The least he could do was try.

He smiled and shook his paw. "Alright, you've got a deal." Mistoffelees smiled lightly and moved to collect his notebook and math book, putting it back in his bag.

"Great. We'll go to my place after school and we'll work this out. Trust me, when I'm done with you, you are going to ace that test with an A and that's a promise."

Chapter Text

Mistoffelees had never invited another cat home before, not even as a kitten. When he started going to school his father had already started to tell him that magic scared other cats and this had resulted in him not even trying to make friends or get too close to other cats. So asking any of his classmates if they wanted to come with him to play at his house was never an option. So he wasn't quite sure what to do as he led Tugger into his house, unlocking the door to find the house empty.

"Looks like father isn't home yet." He said as he shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the coat hanger and toed off his shoes. "And Victoria was going to be with Plato after school, so we have the house to ourselves."

"Lucky us." Tugger said a little vaguely as he shrugged off his leather jacket and hung it next to Mistoffelees' before taking another good long look at the hallway with wide eyes. "Wow, this place is huge. Like, really, really huge." He turned back to Mistoffelees, kicked off his boots before placing them by the other shoes. "Your dad must be seriously loaded if you can afford living in a damn mansion! I mean, my dad's pretty well-off too, but not like this."

Mistoffelees smirked cheekily and shrugged. "I don't know if I'd call it a mansion, but yeah, I suppose it is a pretty big house." 

Tugger whirled around and stared at him, very much like how Plato had stared at Victoria the first time he had come by their house. "Pretty big? Understatement of the decade! When you said that your dad makes millions of pounds a year, I thought you were exaggerating."

Laughing softly, Mistoffelees shook his head and started to lead Tugger further into the house. "Well, in a way I suppose I both was and wasn't. Father comes from a very wealthy family, so he already had a big sum of money to his name. But he also owns a lot of very popular and upscale clubs in the city, which makes him a lot of money every year. A big sum of that money goes back into his clubs, in order to keep making those big sums of money. But he still gets to keep-" He paused to think for a moment. "Hm, I believe about 50 percent of it. So if he makes 5 million pounds in one year, he still gets to keep 2.5 million."

Tugger's jaw looked like it was close to falling off his face as he stared at Mistoffelees. Then he blinked and started to quietly mumble under his breath and counted on his fingers, then his eyes widened. "Dude, that's still 200 000 pounds a month! What the hell does he even do with that much money? Your bills can't be that much!"

Laughing again, Mistoffelees held up his paw and started counting on his fingers. "Cleaning staff, personal chef, tuition and school related costs, top of the line dancing gear and instructors for me and Victoria, his own personal parties...  food." Mistoffelees sighed and shook his head exasperatedly. "Lots and lots of food. It's all very good food, the best he can find, but it's all a bit much. Especially since Victoria and I don't eat anywhere near as much as he does."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. "There are cats starving in Africa and here we are, buying enough food to feed an entire army for months every week. It's sad, really." Then he shook his head again and turned back to Tugger with a small smile. 

"And of course he gives me and Tori an allowance every month. But he only gives us a small amount, I don't think he's ever given us more than a hundred pounds each. He says he has no problem paying for school and the things we need or make us happy, but he doesn't want us to rely on him for everything. He values hard work and working for your success and doesn't want to spoil us to the point where we expect him to hand us everything in life."

Tugger nodded and tilted his head to the side. "Hm, that's pretty smart. Don't want to spoil your kids so they end up like Amaryl." 

This made Mistoffelees laugh and he covered his mouth with his paw. "No, you really don't." He took a deep breath and licked his lips. "My father and I have different views on a lot of things, but I respect that he has always wanted to teach us the value of hard work and encouraged us to find our own success rather than lean on his wealth."

They entered the dining room and Mistoffelees placed his bag in one of the chairs, prompting Tugger to do the same. "Let's sit in here. It's the most comfortable place to do homework in."

Mistoffelees, still very unsure of what to do, remembered how his father usually treated his guests when he invited his friends over and made his way towards the kitchen. "Can I get you anything, by the way? Water, tea, coffee?"

Tugger grinned widely. "Yeah, can I have some fur dye in my coffee?" This got them both snickering for a good long minute before calming down. 

"Well, I don't think we have any fur dye in the house at the moment, unfortunately, but I can go and get some of my father's fur tonic if that's alright." This got them laughing again before Mistoffelees waved at him to come with him into the kitchen. 

"It's probably best that you make your own coffee, so you can pick what you want for yourself." 

Their coffee machine was very nice, made out of metal and black plastic with a touch display showing several different kinds of coffee you could have. From regular coffee, espresso, cappuccino, latte and much more. The Deuteronomys' had a similar one back at home, but the one they had could only make coffee, espresso and cappuccino. Tugger tended to make two cappuccinos at once in a big cup, which was fairly similar to a latte but not quite the same. This was a bit more luxurious, that was for sure. 

He looked up at Mistoffelees, who was rummaging around in a cupboard for tea bags. "I thought you said you weren't a big coffee person."

Mistoffelees paused in his rummaging to turn and look at Tugger, one eyebrow raised and his mouth a straight line. "Oh, yeah you're right, I'm not. I suppose we really should just get rid of it then, since there's no one else in this house who likes to drink coffee." He turned back to the cupboard and took out a box with tea with a long, exaggerated sigh. "Oh, what a waste of two thousand pounds."

At first Tugger smirked and turned back to the display, but then his words registered in his brain and he whirled around to stare at Mistoffelees. "Your dad bought a coffee machine for two thousand pounds?!"

Groaning loudly, Mistoffelees turned around to Tugger with a large tea mug in his paw which he placed on the counter before filling it with hot water. "Yes, that was my reaction too. I couldn't believe that he'd spent that much money on a coffee machine when there are so many others out there at a much more reasonable price. But he and Victoria both really love coffee so they wanted the best they could find." He poured a little milk into his tea and then turned back to Tugger. "Me, I'm fine with just sticking with tea and the occasional cup of coffee. Never saw the appeal in it and I still don't."

Tugger kept staring at him for a good long minute before he finally blinked and turned back to the coffee machine, shaking his head and grumbling under his breath. "The life of the one percent." Which prompted a small chuckle from Mistoffelees.

His own family was far from poor, but they were limited to one income since it was only their dad working to support them all. Munkustrap had a part-time job at a bookstore and was able to pay for some of his things himself and Tugger had also tried to find a job, but he'd had no luck yet. So while they did have money, they did not have this much money that they could throw on a coffee machine. 

"The day I become rich," He said, accepting a mug from Mistoffelees and pressed on the screen to make himself a latte. "I am going to buy myself a house like this and fill it with all of the expensive stuff, just because I can. And I'll commission huge paintings of myself that'll hang all over the damn house! Screw all of that typical rich-cat facade, I'll have five rooms with instruments, video games, an actual movie theatre in the living room and a damn bowling alley in the basement." 

Mistoffelees snorted and shook his head. "You act as though there aren't rich cats out there in the world who have all those things." Then he turned around and opened another cupboard. "There's probably some snacks in here-" He cut himself off and let out an irritated groan. Tugger turned to look over his shoulder at his friend, who had taken out several bags of cookies with a very annoyed and frustrated frown on his face.

" Why does he buy so many cookies? Whatever happened to not eating too much sugar because it's bad for your teeth?" He rolled his eyes and put some of them back in the cupboard but held on to one of them. "Oh well, more for us, I guess. I hope you like chocolate." He said to Tugger before opening the bag and pouring cookies out on a big plate.

"Of course, who doesn't?" Tugger grinned, then raised one eyebrow and tilted his head to the side with a small smirk. "But won't your dad realize some of his cookies are missing?" 

But Mistoffelees just shrugged while looking very nonchalant. "He never does. And even if he does, he never says anything about it. And really, I am simply making sure he doesn't eat too much sugar and fat." He looked back up at Tugger with a cheeky smile, shrugging again. "I'm simply doing what is best for my father, really. Someone has to look after his health after all."

Tugger just laughed and took his latte from the coffee machine, taking a sip before groaning in pleasure. This was really good coffee. But it really should be the best coffee he'd ever tasted if it cost that much money. After all, if the machine cost two thousand, how much did the coffee beans cost? Did he even want to know the answer to that?

Mistoffelees placed the plate of cookies and his tea down on the table before sitting down and dug out his math book, placing it in front of him, ready to get to work. 

"Alright, let's get to it." He opened the first page of the chapter they were working on, looking over a few problems and trying to figure out how to best go about this. "So, why don't you show me how you solve for x?" He asked, pointing to a problem with his pen. 

Tugger sat down in front of him, glanced down at the problem, winced and his ears folded back before he tried to smile, though it looked more like a grimace. "Uh, you just… dig, right? 'Cause X marks the spot." 

Mistoffelees looked up at him with narrowed eyes and one eyebrow raised. "Okay, I know you're not serious right now, but please tell me you have actually looked in this book before."

Tugger dropped his smile and leaned back in his chair, sighing and rested his head against the back of their chair. "Sorry, it's just…" He groaned and smacked his paw against the book. "School has never been my thing, but it was fine before this. Why did they have to add letters? I was fine with math until they started adding letters and stuff into it! Now it's all confusing and I don't get it." He groaned and folded his arms over his chest, looking a bit defensive. 

Mistoffelees had to take a sip of his tea and a deep breath to swallow down his own frustration. He had felt the same way about some of his new classes that talked about things he didn't understand and he still did every now and then. And Tugger had patiently explained it to him every time. He just needed to do the same thing. Somehow.

"Well, that's the point of algebra. You need to figure out what x is supposed to be, not count it as a number. It's like..." He bit his lip, wracking his brain for a good metaphor. "It's like a puzzle, only instead of already having all the pieces, you need to connect the pieces to other pieces in order to piece it all together. "

Tugger looked at with a dead-panned stare. "So in other words there are two puzzles rather than one. First solve one puzzle so you can solve the other." 

His voice was dry and sarcastic, making it very clear that he wasn't amused or any more eager to try and learn. And when hearing it phrased that way, Mistoffelees could understand his frustration with the subject. Still, he shrugged and pursed his lips as he muttered, "More or less."

Tugger swallowed and looked back down at the book. "Well, I don't get it. I could barely keep up before there were letters or equations and stuff, but now? Forget about it. And every time I try to ask, they think I'm being difficult." He snorted a low, humorless laugh and rolled his eyes. "Or maybe they think I'm too dumb to figure it out."

Mistoffelees had just lifted his cup to his mouth to drink, but lowered before he could and stared at Tugger for a good ten seconds. "You're not dumb."

Tugger snorted in a way that was supposed to sound like a laugh, but it actually came out more as a scoff. "Sure I am. I mean why else do my grades never reach above a C? Why else did I get held back and have to redo Freshman year? Everyone in school knows that the only reason I haven't flunked out yet is because of my music and talent."

He paused to take a sip from his latte before turning back to Mistoffelees. "You know, I've heard others make Blonde Jokes about me before."

Mistoffelees' mouth fell open and he stared at Tugger with wide, incredulous eyes. "No… to your face?" He couldn't imagine anyone being so mean as to make those kinds of comments to someone's face. It's one thing to make those kinds of jokes about someone in the first place, but to say them to their face?

But Tugger shook his head. "No, they try to be sneaky about it. They think I don't hear them, but I do. I've heard plenty of them. Not just Blonde Jokes, but all kinds of comments. 'Well, at least he's handsome.' 'With a face like that, who needs brains?' Or 'The lights are on, but nobody's home.'  

He fought hard to sound nonchalant and like he didn't care about what anyone else thought, but it was hard to ignore the sting of hurt in his heart whenever he remembered the passive aggressive comments from teachers or the snorts of laughter from his classmates when he answered a question incorrectly in class because he hadn't been paying attention in the first place, or the jokes that said classmates made behind his back.

Mistoffelees' bit his lip and looked down at the table, suddenly feeling very guilty. Because he had been one of those cats who judged Tugger by his looks and how he acted. He'd called him a dumb blonde, a himbo and had more or less assumed that he wasn't very smart based soley on his appearance and how he acted.

Maybe he had been affected by his many years in private schools, where the rules were strict, everyone was driven to be the best in class and no one scored below a B. There was no room for slackers, class clowns or rule-breakers in his old schools and getting poor grades, breaking the rules or not wearing uniform could result in you getting kicked out, no second chances. Victoria had always been a bit relaxed regarding her school work, despite them going to the same school before she started going to Jellicle Arts. But she always took her school work seriously and usually came to him for help regarding the subjects she didn't understand.

Still, he knew that it wasn't okay to judge people like that. Hadn't he spent his entire life worrying that cats would treat him differently if they learned about his magic? What gave him the right to judge someone without knowing them or to immediately assume something without knowing all the facts?

He should know better than that.

He raised his head and looked Tugger in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

Tugger, who assumed Mistoffelees was pitying him, tried to shrug it off and smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Eh, it's cool. They can think they're funny all they want, I don't care." Lie. "You don't need to pity me."

"No." Mistoffelees shook his head, then nodded. "I mean, yes, I'm sorry that you have to deal with that. That is not okay. But what I meant was," He took a deep breath and swallowed. "I'm sorry, because… I was one of those cats. I made jokes and stupid comments behind your back, called you a dumb blonde and a himbo, and judged you entirely on how you acted that first day met. I didn't really give you a chance until after our talk in Old Deuteronomy's office on my first day. And I'm really sorry for that."

Tugger swallowed hard and looked down at the books in front of them, reaching out to grab a cookie without looking up. He wouldn't lie, that stung a little bit. "Eh, I can't really blame you for that. A lot of cats only see the Rum Tum Tugger because that's who I want them to see. So I can't get upset when others judge me based on Rum Tum Tugger and how I act. And hey, it's not really mean if it's true."

But Mistoffelees wasn't about to have that. He shook his head and raised his voice slightly, making Tugger look up again. "Stop that. You are not stupid. I've seen you in English class and History, you do keep up with the rest of us. And you still learned to play five different kinds of instruments, write your own music and songs. An idiot wouldn't be able to do any of that."

Tugger groaned and ran his fingers through his mane before getting up from his chair and started to pace restlessly around the room. "Yeah, but that's fun. I love playing and writing music because it's fun. And no one gets a pat on the shoulder for doing what you love and makes you happy. They want you to be good at the stuff that's boring or you're no good at."

Mistoffelees felt pity for his friend, but felt he had to inject some common sense into his way of thinking. "Not everything in life is about having fun. It's great to have passions and things you're good at, but you also have responsibilities. You can't just ignore the stuff you don't like or find hard or boring because you don't want to deal with it."

Glaring at Mistoffelees, Tugger crossed his arms over his chest. "And if dealing with those things only means that I'll fail anyway then? What's the purpose in trying to deal with this stuff, if I'll only keep failing?"

Mistoffelees bit his lip as he flushed, turning to look down at his books. 'Well, you've got me there.' He wracked his brain for a good response to that that didn't sound condescending or lame, but before he could find one, Tugger looked away from the table and smiled widely.

"Oh, cool piano!" He stood up and walked over to the grand piano that stood a few feet away. It was mostly part of the decor of the house and no one in the house ever seemed to play it. Victoria had chosen to learn to play the violin when she had started going to Jellicle Arts and Mistoffelees had never seen their father play, so he assumed he couldn't play either. And Mistoffelees obviously hadn't either, but when he had been told that every student had to play at least one instrument, he had chosen the piano so that he could practice at home. 

It seemed such a pity to waste such a beautiful instrument and just leave it standing there with no one ever playing.

Because it really was a beautiful grand piano, painted black and looked very shiny under the chandelier that lit up the room. Tugger walked up to it, carefully running his paw over before sitting down and carefully started to play a soft melody, smiling widely as he heard the music. "And it sounds really good too." He turned to Mistoffelees with a smile. "Do you play?" 

Mistoffelees got up from the chair and walked over to the piano. "Well, I'm learning to. They told me I needed to learn to play an instrument so I decided on the piano because we have one. Also, they told me it's a good instrument for beginners. But honestly I think father just bought it because all rich cats need to own an expensive grand piano just because. It's like an unwritten rule or something."

Tugger grinned and kept playing, his fingers flying over the keys without even looking down at them. It all seemed like second nature to him and Mistoffelees couldn't help but be a little impressed. To him, chords and notes still seemed like a new language, what with all the numbers and the letters…

And then, suddenly, it hit him like a bolt from a clear sky. 

"That's it!" He exclaimed and clapped his paws together, startling Tugger out of his playing. He stared up at Mistoffelees with wide eyes.

"What? What's it?" But Mistoffelees had run back to his bag, digging around through his books looking for his chord book.

"Please tell me I brought it home with me today…" He muttered to himself, looking through all of his notebooks, schoolbooks and other things before he finally found what he was looking for. "Ah-ha! Here it is!" He exclaimed, holding his chord book up triumphantly before hurrying back to Tugger, sitting next to him on the stool, placing the math book in front of them on the music holder in front of them.

"Okay, so here's what we're gonna do." He said and started looking through his book before landing on a page with guitar chords that had both numbers and letters as well as pictures showing how to play them.

Considering that the guitar seemed to be Tugger's favorite instrument, it seemed appropriate to incorporate elements of something he loved into this.

"Alright, so when you're playing the guitar there are plenty of chords that have both letters and numbers in them, both to know from which scale you're playing and the letters show whether it is a major or minor chord. True or false?" 

He turned to Tugger, who looked incredibly confused but still nodded slowly. "True..." Mistoffelees nodded and looked back to the page.

"Right. So, what if, instead of counting with x or y or z, you switch it out with a chord? Or what you need to do is figure out which chord it is. Or, in other words, what said chord represents what numbers?"

Now Tugger looked even more confused and just stared at him. Mistoffelees however was undeterred and picked up a pen, pointing at the chords on the page. "How many fingers do you use for D7?"

Still really confused, Tugger didn't answer at first, blinking owlishly at Mistoffelees before his brain finally registered the question. "Three, but-"

Mistoffelees cut him off and scribbled it down on the page of his book. "And A7?" Tugger blinked, looked down at the piano for one second and the math book before looking back at Mistoffelees. 

Where was he going with this?

"Four." He eventually answered and Mistoffelees wrote it down too. 

"Right, now multiply three with seven, what is that?" Mistoffelees glanced up and now Tugger was starting to get annoyed with him. He had no idea where he was going with this and was getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of answers. Still he sighed and rolled his eyes when he gave the answer after a few seconds of thought.

"Twenty one." Mistoffelees wrote that down. 

"And four times seven?"

"Twenty eight." 

Mistoffelees wrote that down, hummed for a moment and then looked back at the page of chords. "Alright," He said softly. "Now, just a little bit more. How many fingers for F?"

At this point Tugger really hoped that Mistoffelees had an idea with all of this and just answered without any seconds to think or pause for annoyance. "Four." 

"Right." Mistoffelees wrote it down before finally showing Tugger what he had written and pointed at it with his pen. "Now, we have twenty one plus fourteen here, divided by four. What does that give us?"

This time Tugger had to dig out his phone and use the calculator on it to get the answer, but once he had calculated it he looked up and said, "8,75."

"Correct!" Mistoffelees smiled as he wrote it down but before he could go on and confuse him even more, Tugger raised his paw and waved it around to get Mistoffelees' attention.

"Misto, I really do appreciate that you're trying to help and all, but how exactly is this helping? What exactly are we doing here?" But rather than offer an explanation, Mistoffelees just smirked and pointed towards the math book in front of them on the piano.

"You tell me." Tugger looked at Mistoffelees for one confused second and turned to look towards the book. The first problem on the page read x= 3x + 4x ÷ y =8.75.

For a long moment Tugger just stared at the page, unsure of what to do or think. Had he done it? Had he solved the problem? He turned back to Mistoffelees, who smiled warmly and pointed to the problem. "So, can you tell me what x equals?"

Tugger, still a bit confused but also feeling hopeful that he'd gotten it, turned back to look at the problem one more time, then turned back to Mistoffelees with a tentative smile. "Seven?"

Mistoffelees nodded, still smiling widely. "And y?" 

Tugger glanced back at the math page, then down at Mistoffelees, his smile growing a little more confident. "Four?"

His smile widening, Mistoffelees nodded and put the book down, showing him the equation he had written down with the chords. "That's right! See, you can do it! We just need to find a way of explaining it or adjusting the problem so you can understand it."

Tugger was completely and utterly stunned. Not only had he solved the problem, Mistoffelees had found a way for him to solve it that he actually understood. He had never had anyone sit him down and work with to help realize he could learn. That he was a complete idiot for not understanding it and that he could actually learn.

"I… I did it?" And slowly, slowly, a smile spread over his face as he looked down at the math book, then Mistoffelees' little music equation and then to Mistoffelees who was also smiling, widely and happily before turning back to his music book and the paper in front of him. 

"Yeah, you did it! And this is good, I can definitely work with this. Now I know the best way to help you learn and how to explain it without confusing you." He looked up at Tugger and smiled playfully. "Wanna try again?"

And for possibly the first time in his life, Tugger felt excited and giddy to work on math. He smiled back, equally as playfully and nodded. "Yeah, let's do it!"

They moved back to the table and Mistoffelees helped him work through a handful of equations. He didn't get impatient or annoyed whenever Tugger got it wrong or asked questions, he calmly explained it and even incorporated music logic into it, which helped Tugger catch on much faster. 

And, miracle of miracles, Tugger started to understand it! Not all of it and not immediately, but he slowly but surely started to understand it. Suddenly the letters and numbers that had confused him only a few hours earlier started to become understandable and his confidence grew with every equation he got right.

By the end of the hour, Mistoffelees wrote down a few equations that weren't in the book on a piece of paper and handed it to Tugger. "As a preparation." He said. "Like a small test before the actual test. To see how much you have learned."

It was hard, especially as he couldn't ask Mistoffelees for help with these ones, but as he went over the equations and problems in his head, he started to answer them and felt fairly confident as he handed it back to Mistoffelees. Mistoffelees looked over the test, making a small x or o after every problem before writing something down at the top of the paper and handing it back to Tugger.

"6 out of 10. That's not bad at all. It's not quite a C+, but you're definitely closer now."

Tugger beamed down at the paper in front of him. There was a bright red D written at the top of the paper, as well as a 6/10 written next to it. This was amazing! He had never thought he could learn something so boring and difficult so fast. It had only been an hour.

Sure, it wasn't as high as he needed or wanted it to be, but this was a massive step forward and more than he ever could have expected! If it kept going like this, he'd easily get a C+ on Friday's test.

Then Mistoffelees' took the paper back and started going over the problems that he had gotten wrong, gently asking him if he could see what he had gotten wrong the first time around and patiently explaining it to him when he didn't. 

When they were done with that, Tugger leaned back in his seat with a wide smile on his face and looked towards the ceiling, as if thanking the candelabra for helping him see the light.

"Oh Sweet Everlasting, I finally get it! It's so easy! I had no idea that algebra could be so easy."

Mistoffelees smiled and took a sip from his tea before reaching towards the plate for another cookie. "Well of course, it's math. Say what you will about the subject, but it's predictable. It always follows the rules because it's made up around rules and formulas. If you learn the rules, the rest is easy. Sometimes you just need to find a different way to explain the rules so everyone can understand."

"Well, no one has ever tried to explain it any other way to me. Ever." Tugger muttered to himself as he grabbed his latte and took a long sip. Then he looked down at the paper with the D written on it and smiled wider. "Well anyway, I'm so close to a C+ now, I can taste it! I'll actually get to perform at the party now!"

Mistoffelees frowned at him, a little confused and put down the cookie. "You're not aiming for higher? You're only going for a C+? I'd have thought you'd like to get an A or at least a B on your test."

Tugger snorted, as if Mistoffelees had said something funny or outlandish. "Yeah, sure, in any other reality. But getting a D on this was hard enough, getting A is seriously overreaching for me. And I only need a C+ to be allowed to play, so why would I need a higher score?"

"Hm, well that's interesting." Mistoffelees said before looking back at his notebook and writing something down. "Well, if we keep working like this, I predict you probably will pass,"

"Yes!" Tugger fistpumped the sky and grinned widely.

"most likely in the bottom percent of the class." Mistoffelees finished, prompting an upset "what?!" from Tugger, before looking back at his friend with a patronizing smile and gave him thumbs up. "But hey, if you're going for mediocre then you're doing fantastic." 

Tugger's face was now a mix between upset and angry. The bottom percent? Mediocre? As much he hated math and despite knowing he didn't have the best grades, hearing that he was in the bottom percentage of anything was a massive blow to his ego. The Rum Tum Tugger was second to no one! "That's not fair!"

Mistoffelees, who didn't really seem to care about his friend's inner turmoil, glanced back down at his paper. "And of course there's the percentage error to consider."

"Percentage error?" Tugger asked with an eyebrow raised, now suddenly looking more curious.

"Yes." Mistoffelees looked up from the paper again. "There is always a percentage error. If you aim for C+ and only that, there's always, always, always , a chance you're going to score beneath that. Not always by a lot, but it can happen. That's why I always aim for A+, so if I do make a mistake or not go all the way, I tend to fall back on an A rather than a C. You don't wanna trip on the finish line, do you?"

 Tugger frowned and looked back down at his books and papers. Yeah, he'd come quite a long way today, but it still wasn't enough. Not yet. And yeah, he could choose to do minimal work and just barely skate by with a C+. But if there was a chance that minimal wasn't enough?

He sighed heavily and looked up again. "No, I don't. But I'm not as smart or good at school work as you are. This stuff seems to come so easy to you, but I can't ever get anything right. I mean, that's why I was held back, right? Because I was too stupid to learn all this."

The protest was ready on Mistoffelees' tongue and he was ready to say 'You're not stupid, Tugger! Look at the test you just did, you're not stupid, you hear me?' But before he could say it, he remembered their conversation back in Old Deuteronomy's office on his terrible first day at Jellicle Arts. And what Tugger had told him about why he wasn't in sophomore year. 

"You told me you were held back because you kept changing your mind about things and not following through on things. That you were too indecisive, unfocused and fickle to move on to the tenth grade."

Tugger looked up at Mistoffelees, a little surprised that Mistoffelees had even remembered him saying that, but he was right. His teachers and dad had told him that was the reason he wasn't moving, but Tugger had just sort of assumed that they only said that because they couldn't actually say that he was too stupid to pass Freshman year. 

He pursed his lips and moved his head from side to side while shrugging. "Well, I mean, yeah I did but-"

Mistoffelees threw out his arm and gestured at him with his paw. "Well, there you are then! It's not because of you being dumb or unable to learn, it's because you don't focus and don't follow through. Look at what you just did here. You obviously can learn once you make an effort to. So that's what needs to change, not who you are, but how you approach your work." He smiled and took another cookie from the plate. "I can help you with that if you want."

Tugger stared incredulously at Mistoffelees, unsure what to say or do with this information. Had anyone ever said that to him? That he was actually smart and just needed to approach school work differently and even offer to help? Oh sure, they had tried when he was younger, but as he grew older most of his friends and teachers wrote him off as deliberately obtuse, stubborn and unfocused and had no patience with him or his antics anymore. 

And maybe it was because Mistoffelees had only known him for a month, as opposed to Bombalurina who had known him since they were little, and so wasn't as used to him at his worst as most of his teachers and friends, so that's why he was more patient. Or maybe because he was one of the few cats he knew that Tugger could confidently say was his friend and really wanted to help. Bombalurina- bless her soul- had tried for years, but she clearly didn't have enough patience to deal with him after all of their years of being friends and being in school together. 

Mistoffelees really, truly seemed willing to help him and had a different way of going about it. Most of those who tried all tried to explain how they did it and didn't seem interested in helping him find a way to do it that suited him. But still, what if it wasn't enough? Mistoffelees might be super smart and have the patience of a saint, but one hour of studying wasn't enough, right?

He sighed and rested his arms on the table in front of him, looking down at the math equations in front of him. They seemed to be taunting him, laughing at him and reminding him of what was at stake here. "But what if I can't do it? All this work today isn't going to magically give me an A by Friday. But I don't want to fail this either."

But Mistoffelees smiled, seemingly undeterred, and rested his arms on the table, mirroring Tugger's position. "No, that's true. But if you study a little bit at home and if we study together everyday after school or during free-period, I know we can do it. I already know a lot of this, so I can spend my time helping you and making sure you understand everything. It'll help both of us studying, really."

Tugger looked up and stared at his friend again. At this point he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You'll help me study... every day?"

Mistoffelees shrugged and smiled. "I said I would, didn't I? I'm not one to go back on my word. And besides, we've made great progress today! If you keep working like this, you'll do great."

Man, was someone cutting onions in the room or was Tugger actually feeling tears in his eyes? He blinked hard to kill them before Mistoffelees would see them but his whole body felt warm and his heart pounded hard in his chest. He didn't have many friends who were willing to help him this much, and someone who had only known him for a short time?

Yeah, definitely onions. 

He blinked hard again and then bit his lip as another thought entered his head. "But how do I stay focused? I mean, I've got dad's ultimatum hanging over my head, but what if that's not enough? It's one thing when we're doing it together, but what about when I'm home alone, surrounded by the things I love and would rather be doing?"

"Hm…" Mistoffelees held one paw over his mouth as he mulled this question over. Then he smiled and turned back to Tugger.

"Well, how about this? Whenever you try to study, but think about other things or wish you were doing something else, think about all those cats who doubt you. Those who make jokes, roll their eyes at you and think you can't learn. Don't you wanna prove them wrong? Don't you wanna make them eat their words?"

As he spoke his smile turned into a competitive smirk and he leaned across the table, closer to Tugger and suddenly Tugger's brain was full of images from throughout his whole life. Classmates who laughed at him for getting answers wrong, teachers who rolled their eyes in annoyance or frustration when he still didn't understand the subject while comparing him to his older brother, and his father's disappointment from earlier that day. 

Oh yes, he wanted to make them change their tune. He wanted them to see he was smarter than they thought, for their smug smirks or frustrated eye rolls to turn into stupid, shocked gaping. And maybe making his father proud in the process. 

He leaned in closer to Mistoffelees, mirroring his expression, and he felt a fire now burning within him. A fire and a determination to win and prove everyone wrong.

"Yes! Of course!"

Mistoffelees' smirk widened and he nodded resolutely. "Then let's go all the way. When I said I'd help you get an A on this test, I meant it. And the best way to prove everyone wrong is to get the highest score." 

His smile softened a little and he gestured towards the trial-test he'd given Tugger. "Your dad said C+ was the lowest you had to get to be allowed to play. Think of how great it will feel and how proud he will be when you hand in a test with an A on it."

And Tugger imagined it. That feeling of proudly and happily telling his dad that he'd not only passed the test, but got an A on it. The fire in his stomach grew warmer and stronger and he knew in his bones that he wanted it. He wanted it so much. Yes, he also wanted to play music and perform at the party, but he also wanted to show his dad, teachers and classmates that he was smarter than they believed. 

"You feel that?" He blinked out of his daydreams and looked back to Mistoffelees. "That fire, that determination. You feel that?" Tugger nodded. "Good. Now, whenever you feel conflicted or unsure or like you'd rather do something fun, remember what you want. 1, to play at the party and for every other celebration and 2, proving those other cats wrong. Use that drive and fire to keep going. Think you can do that?"

Tugger took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I can do that." Then he looked back to his books and picked up his pen again. 'Better use this fire while it's still there.'   

"Come on, let's get back to it!" 

They went back to studying, repeating the cycle from the last hour with Tugger solving problems from the book and then being given another test to see if he was learning. This time Mistoffelees had written down 15 questions as opposed to 10, which had thrown Tugger off at first, but he managed reasonably. 

"10 out of 15." He said as he handed it back to Tugger, having written down a big C- at the top of the paper. "Still about on the same level as the first time, but still really good. About 70% percent, which is a C-." He looked up and smiled reassuringly at Tugger. "You're improving." 

Tugger grinned, leaning back in his chair, feeling immensely proud of himself. "I can't believe this is real. Even if I don't get an A on Friday's test, this will be a much better grade than I'll have ever gotten in math."

Mistoffelees smiled fondly and proudly at his friend before taking another cookie. "Well, keep up the good work and I wouldn't be surprised if you get it."

They were both jolted out of their conversation when they heard the door open and close and running footsteps making their way towards the dining room. "Misto, are you home?" Victoria called as appeared in the doorway but froze when she saw her brother sitting with Tugger at the table, school books out and with drinks and snacks in front of them. 

"Oh. I'm sorry, am I interrupting anything?"  

Mistoffelees stared at her, a little surprised to see her, then shook his head and gestured to Tugger and the books in front of them. "Uh, no, not at all. We were just studying for the math test on Friday."

Victoria inhaled sharply, clearly trying to not gasp dramatically and somewhat failed, and smiled widely at him. "Oh. How nice." She turned to Tugger and waved. "Hello Tugger." 

He waved back, his usual Rum Tum Tugger smile spreading across his face without him even needing to think about it. "Hello, my dear queen Victoria. I hope this afternoon is treating you well."

She giggled before walking further into the room, dumping her backpack onto one of the chairs and taking a cookie from the plate on the table. "Oh, I'm quite alright, thank you. Although I'm a little surprised you're studying this late. It's almost six, dad will be home for dinner soon."

"Wait, six?" Mistoffelees looked down at his wristwatch, and sure enough, it read 17:48. "Oh Everlasting, we've been at this for hours. I completely lost track of time."

Tugger, who had also stopped to look down at his watch, had now gotten up from his seat and grabbed his things, shoving them into his bag. "Yeah, I should probably get going. Dad will want me home for dinner." 

Mistoffelees also got up and walked around the table. "I'll walk you to the door." 

He'd grabbed a piece of paper while walking around the table, but Tugger didn't pay much attention,  as he turned to Victoria and waved at her.  "Sorry I couldn't see more of you, Victoria. Hopefully we'll get to talk more tomorrow."

Victoria giggled and Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, smacking him on the arm as they left the room. "Stop flirting with my sister, Casanova." 

While Tugger put on his jacket and boots, Mistoffelees stood close by and fingered awkwardly on the paper he'd taken with him. And as Tugger turned to him to say goodbye, he handed him the paper. "Here you go. It might help you study at home."

Tugger looked at the paper, then at Mistoffelees, then accepted the paper and looked it over. "What is it?"

"A cheat sheet, of sorts. I made it while you did the second test. Considering that we only have three more days of studying, I figured you might appreciate all the help you can get. Although if you need help, feel free to text or call me."

Tugger grinned and folded it up before putting it in his pocket. "Thanks, Misto. Seriously, I really appreciate all of this. More than you can imagine."

Mistoffelees smiled and shrugged. "You don't need to thank me. You've helped me adjust to classes that I didn't understand or found difficult for a whole month. Considering it a favor from one friend to another."

Tugger smiled, adjusted the bag over his shoulder before he waved, said goodbye and left the house.

Mistoffelees came back into the dining room to collect his things, only to find Victoria still there, smiling widely and bouncing up and down as she watched him put his books, pencils and things back into his bag. She clearly wanted to say something, so badly she might actually burst if didn't get to say it. 

"What?" He finally asked, once all of his things were back in his bag, and turned back to her. She stopped bouncing, raised both paws and shook her head with a smile that tried to be innocent but actually looked more smug.

"Nothing. Just," She walked up to him before playfully punching him in the shoulder. "I'm proud of you." 

He snorted and shook his head, rolling his eyes fondly. "Thanks, Tori." He placed the bag over his shoulder before they started heading up the stairs to their rooms. "So, where have you been all afternoon? You only said you were going to be with Plato."

It was honestly a little hard not to smile when he saw how excited and happy she became once he asked that. Her smile got even wider, her eyes were sparkling with joy and she started bouncing again. 

"Oh Everlasting, Misto, you are never going to believe this! As if the news of the party wasn't amazing enough. I might actually have died and gone to the Heaviside Layer, I refuse to believe my luck."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes fondly while his back was turned, throwing his school bag down on his bed. "Oh please, do tell, the suspense is killing me." 

If Victoria heard his deadpan tone, she ignored it. She clasped her paws under her chin and was positively vibrating with energy. "Oh Everlasting Cat, Misto. I had only just started thinking about it, when it happened. The girls and I were talking about the party, if we were going to perform and what we were going to do when," She paused to take a breath, before rushing it out. "Plato asked me to dance with him!"

She rushed forward to Mistoffelees' bed, yanked one of his pillows from its place, plumped down on the bed and screamed her joy and excitement into the pillow. Mistoffelees actually jumped a little at the reaction, a little taken aback by her loud scream, even though the pillow muffled it fairly well. 

When Victoria had run out of air and looked up from the pillow, her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily, her eyes still sparkling with joy. 

Mistoffelees smiled and sat down beside her on his bed.  "Oh, really? What did he say?"

Victoria took a deep breath, pulling herself together before turning to her brother, hugging the pillow to herself. "He said he felt bad for injuring himself just before the Showcase- which totally wasn't his fault, if Etcetera could learn to pick after herself already it wouldn't have happened, but whatever," She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed and frustrated with her friend before getting back to her story. "Anyway, he felt bad we didn't get to dance together, so he asked if I wanted to dance with him for the party next month! Aah!" She squealed and hugged the pillow even tighter to her chest.

Mistoffelees smiled warmly at her. It felt good to see her so happy, it warmed his heart and whole body. At that moment he didn't even care that he might have to perform alone or not at all, it was worth it to see his sister so happy.

"That's wonderful news, Tori. I'm happy that you two get a second chance to perform together. I know how much it meant to you that he was your partner." Victoria beamed up at him and hugged the pillow even tighter to herself.

"Thanks, Misto. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love you for stepping in and being my partner at the Showcase and all, but... well, Plato's… he's different, you know." 

He smiled reassuringly at her. "Yeah, I know." Then his smile turned a bit teasing. "And who knows, maybe all of this might actually help you get the courage to ask him out."

Victoria blinked and stared up at him like she'd never seen him before. "What? Ask him-" Then her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. "Oh, oh no, I don't- I mean, I-I'm not sure if he feels the same. Not yet anyway. Besides, I can't tell him now, it might make things weird."

She gasped and pressed the pillow tightly to her stomach. "Or worse. He might say he won't dance with me anymore! No. No, no, I can't tell him. Not yet."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, partially annoyed and partially amused. The fact that both Victoria and Plato were clearly pining for each other was so very obvious to him and everyone else around them, except for the two of them. He had no idea how Victoria couldn't see that Plato was asking her- not just so they could get a second chance to do it right- but because he really liked her and wanted to spend time with her, but he wasn't going to push it.

Victoria's love life was none of his business, as stated earlier. He wasn't going to make it his job to get them together. Just, maybe give them a little push here or there when he could.

Then they could hear their father's voice from downstairs, calling up to them from the bottom of the stairs. "Victoria? Mistoffelees? Dinner is ready!"

Victoria got up from the bed, threw the pillow back into its place and rubbed her paws over her face to ease the flushing in her cheeks. "We're coming!" She called, licking her paw and cleaning her face and then turned to Mistoffelees. "We'd better not make him wait. You know how he gets." 

Mistoffelees nodded, straightened his shirt and also cleaned his face quickly before they both started down the stairs.

Despite his hurrying to get home, Munkustrap and dad were already sitting at the dinner table when Tugger came home.But this was hardly anything new, so Tugger just sauntered into the kitchen to make himself a plate, throwing his father an apologetic look.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I lost track of time." It was a rather automatic excuse at this point, but his dad never seemed to make a huge deal out of it. It wasn't missing curfew after all, so he wasn't breaking rules.

Tonight however, Old Deuteronomy seemed a little curious and looked up as his son sat down next to Munkustrap- who was throwing his brother dirty looks but didn't say anything- and leaned forward to look at his son.

"Oh? And what have you been doing all afternoon? I hope you remember our little talk earlier today." Tugger winced but nodded, eyes darting to look at Munkustrap, who now looked very curious. So he hadn't told Munkustrap about it. That was good. He'd rather not have his older brother breathe down his neck about this too. He already had way too much on his plate, he couldn't deal with his older brother's overbearingness. 

"No, no I remember. I was actually studying for the math test this Friday. With Misto." He added hastily, as if that might make his story more credible. Old Deuteronomy raised both eyebrows, surprised, but didn't say anything. He was happy that his son was making an attempt, but he wasn't going to count that chicken before it hatched. He had Tugger say that he spent hours studying with friends, only for his grades to stay stagnant. 

Still, one could still hope. 

Munkustrap however, rolled his eyes and scoffed lowly before turning back to his dinner. Studying with Misto, indeed. Tugger's idea of studying had always been to do literally anything else than actually study. Like talking his friends ears off, playing music or letting his thoughts drift off to wherever his thoughts went when he wasn't using his brain. That excuse was old and he wondered how long his father was going to buy it.

He'd hoped that his scoff hadn't been heard, but Tugger's head immediately turned to look at him, his face suddenly tense and his eyes narrowed in anger. "Do you have something to say, Straps?" His voice was also tense, loaded with annoyance and anger. 

Munkustrap cursed himself for not being quieter, but put his knife and fork down and turned to Tugger, keeping his face blank and expressionless. 

"Just that your idea of studying doesn't usually involve any actual studying. Demeter has told me that Bomba says that you usually sit around talking or playing games, disturbing her when she's trying to study. That's all."

Tugger's eyes narrowed even more, gripping his utensils tighter in his paws, feeling his claws dig into his palms. "Not today I didn't. Mistoffelees offered to help me study for the test and he did. And I did really well! He believes if I study hard enough everyday until Friday, I might get an A!"

Old Deuteronomy eyed his sons warily and felt a little torn. On the one hand he was happy to hear Tugger was actually trying to study and that Mistoffelees was helping him was also a relief, as he was a very gifted and intelligent young cat. But this was quickly turning into another fight and having one at the dinner table was not ideal. 

"Boys…" He said warningly, but they didn't acknowledge him. Munkustrap rolled his eyes and turned back to his plate, lifting his glass of water to his lips to take a sip while muttering. 

"Keyword there being if, since you have the attention span of a fruit fly."

In Tugger's stomach there was now a fire of anger burning and it took a lot of restraint not to start yelling and turning this into a full-blown fight. There were also tears forming in his eyes, out of hurt, anger or frustration he wasn't sure, but blinked hard to kill them before anyone would see them.

"You don't know a damn thing about me and my brain! I've learned more about math in two hours than I've done in two months and Mistoffelees believes in me. He's promised to help me ace this test and that's exactly what I'm going to do!"

Munkustrap turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised and his lip curved in a sarcastic smile. "And it does him credit that he wants to try and wants to help. But that doesn't exclude the fact that you have no self-discipline or work ethic. I mean, why else are you still in 9th grade?"

"Munkustrap!" Old Deuteronomy scolded and Munkustrap flinced, almost dropping his utensils when he heard his father's voice. It wasn't very often that he was scolded so it was always a bit of a shock whenever he was. "Do not speak of your brother in that way. How your brother spends his free-time or how he chooses to study is none of your business. And if Mistoffelees believes he can learn that much that quickly, then that is only a good thing.That is all you need to know and all you need to care about."

Munkustrap looked down at the table, feeling a little ashamed at being scolded.

"You're right, dad." He muttered before looking back at Tugger. "I'm sorry, Tugger. That was out of line." But Tugger barely heard the apology. He was still burning with anger and frustration, clenching his paws into fists before making a decision before impulsiveness got the better of him. 

"I think I'll finish this in my room, actually." He muttered, getting up from his chair and carrying his plate out of the dining room, snatching up his bag as he walked and stomped up the stairs to his room. He heard his father call after him, asking him to come back, but he didn't stop until he reached his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

He threw his school bag down on the floor and placed his plate on his desk, before he started to pace the floor like a caged animal, tugging at his mane and muttering angry curse words under his breath. 

'Damn you, Straps.' He thought as he paced around the room. 'Damn you and your perfect, narcissistic ass! Why can't you ever just mind your own business and leave me the hell alone?'

He was seriously tempted to finish his dinner as fast as possible so that he could go down to the basement and play some angry music, to get rid of his anger and restless energy so he wouldn't say or do something stupid with it.

But before he could decide that, his eyes fell on his bag and the first thing he saw was his math book and the cheat sheet Mistoffelees had made for him, and it got his brain working and Mistoffelees' words echoed in his head.

"Think about all those cats who doubt you. Those who make jokes or roll their eyes at you or think you can't learn. Don't you wanna prove them wrong? Don't you wanna make them eat their words?"

"The best way to prove everyone wrong is to get the highest score." 

"You feel that? That fire, that determination. Good. Now, whenever you feel conflicted or unsure or like you'd rather do something fun, remember what you want. 1, to play at the party and for every other celebration and 2, proving those other cats wrong. Use that drive and fire to keep going. Think you can do that?"

Tugger took a deep breath and clenched his fists. Well, that fire was there right now and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to use it now. Especially now, after Munkustrap had practically told him that he couldn't do it.

"Yes." He muttered as he snatched the book and cheat sheet out of the bag and sat down at his desk. He quickly finished dinner in less than five minutes, then grabbed a pen and opened the book. "Yes, I can."

And so, with his pen raised and eyes focused entirely on the math book in front of him, he got to work.

Chapter Text

The following days consisted mostly of studying, which was a very new thing for Tugger. Especially as his focus at times tended to drift back to his instruments and he wanted to work on his music rather than work on equations. Several times he had to force himself to keep working despite how much he wanted to do literally anything else. He even removed everything from his room that reminded him of his music and took it down to the basement, so he wouldn't be distracted by it. It was hard, and certainly made his father and brother look at him funny, but with Mistoffelees' words ringing in his ears, he pushed all unwanted thoughts out of his head and stuck to his books.

Mistoffelees was very supportive but also a relentless teacher. He always pushed Tugger further and harder with every preparation test, adding more questions and making them harder every time.

"There's going to be all kinds of questions on that test, you know. If you want to get an A, you need to be on the A level."

It was extremely frustrating and there were several times where Tugger wanted to pull all his fur out or throw all the books and papers off the table, but it did give results. With every day and every test, Tugger got more confident and felt sure that he was actually gonna pass the test. He wasn't sure if he was actually gonna get an A on it, but he was sure he was over C+ level.

Mistoffelees clearly also felt that way, as when they sat down to study together again later that day, while his test was a little harder, he was very encouraging the whole time.

"22 out of 25. That's a B+!" Mistoffelees grinned as he handed back the test to Tugger. "You've been making fantastic progress." Tugger fistpumped the sky and grinned as he took back the test. 

They were sitting together in the library, studying with Bombalurina. Mistoffelees was helping Tugger studying for the fourth day in a row, while also sitting with his laptop and a notebook in front of him, and Bombalurina was sitting with her laptop in front of her and her history book and notebooks at her sides, working on an essay. She looked up to smile at Mistoffelees.

"I have to say, Misto, I'm impressed. I never would have thought I'd see the day where Tugger not only actually studies for a test. I've been trying for years to help him learn and you somehow did it in one week. You really are quite the miracle worker, aren't you?"

Mistoffelees smiled awkwardly and blushed, but Tugger looked down at his test to hide the angry frown. He knew that she didn't mean to insult him, this was really part of their banter. But it still felt like a backhanded insult to hear her sound so surprised that he could learn. 

Like he was a complete idiot before this week.

He swallowed down the anger before looking up at her with a smirk. "I don't see why you're so surprised, Bomba. Haven't you heard? The Rum Tum Tugger is artful and knowing. Of course I can learn this stuff easily, it's not my fault our teachers are terrible at teaching."

Bombalurina rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him, but Mistoffelees frowned, eyebrows narrowed and head tilted slightly to the side."Artful and knowing?"

Tugger turned to Mistoffelees. "Yeah, you know, from my song. 'The Rum Tum Tugger is artful and knowing.' It's part of my charm." 

But Mistoffelees just slowly shook his head. "Artful and knowing? I thought it was 'awfully annoying.' Are you sure that's right?"

Bombalurina almost burst out laughing and she had to press her paw hard over her mouth so she wouldn't laugh out loud and get them kicked out of the library. But her shoulders still shook with every suppressed laugh and she had to lean forward with her elbows on the table for support. The sight of her laughing made Mistoffelees smirk and congratulate himself on a job well done. Getting Bombalurina to laugh, especially this hard, was quite the achievement. She was a lot like him in that aspect, she liked to play it cool and didn't wear her emotions on her sleeve. Although nowhere near to the same extent as he did as she still allowed herself to be happy or angry or amused, whereas he was still getting used to allowing himself to feel these things, nevermind showing his feelings to others. Normally, whenever he managed to play one over on Tugger or just made a small joke, Bombalurina's reaction was usually just a smirk or her laugh was soft and quiet, not this big or loud.  

Tugger gaped at Mistoffelees, who was now smiling cheekily at him. He narrowed his eyes and frowned at him. "It's artful and knowing. I should know, I wrote the lyrics."

Still smiling, Mistoffelees shook his head and unscrewed his water bottle to take a sip. "No, I'm pretty sure that it's awfully annoying. You must have heard it wrong."

"Heard it wrong? I wrote the damn song! How would I not know the words to my own song?" 

"I don't know, maybe you're getting slow and deaf in your old age." Mistoffelees shrugged, turning back to look at his book, laughing softly under his breath as he looked out of the corner of his eye to catch Tugger's outraged expression as he sputtered.

"Old age-?! I'm only one year older than you!" Tugger cried, then flinched as several cats around them turned to shush him loudly, including the librarian, Miss Molly. She was frowning, her sharp eyes gleaming dangerously from behind her reading glasses. 

She didn't have to say anything, the expression on her face was clear enough. 'Lower your voices or get the hell out of my library.'

He smiled apologetically towards her before turning to glare at Mistoffelees, who was covering his mouth with his paw so he wouldn't be heard laughing. "You just love this, don't you? Making me look stupid and getting me in trouble." 

But Mistoffelees simply shook head and pretended to write something down in his notebook, while holding in his laughter. "I don't make you look stupid or get you in trouble, Tugger. You do that perfectly well on your own." He turned to look at him, smirking with one eyebrow raised. "One would think you'd be used to that by now." 

Bombalurina, who was still laughing under her breath, raised her paw to him and he smacked his paw against hers in a high-five. "That was a good one, Misto." She said and smirked then turned back to her laptop, still chuckling to herself. 

Tugger glared at his friends. He wanted to be mad at both of them for making fun of him, but secretly he was happy to see, not only his two best friends get along, but also that Mistoffelees was getting more comfortable around Bombalurina. He'd been a little intimidated by her the first week, both because of her Cool Cat attitude and the fact that she was older than him. 

Although Bombalurina did have that effect on a lot of cats. She was tall, muscular and very beautiful with her fiery red coat, slim yet curvy body and intense green eyes that told everyone, 'I know I look good, but if you try anything I don't like I'll make you regret it. ' She was sassy, outspoken and confident in a way that a lot of guys found intimidating. She knew exactly how to handle anyone who didn't act like they should. She was also a firecracker on stage, both as a dancer and singer, and had a talent for stealing the spotlight from anyone whenever she walked out on stage. Few guys dared talking to her without respect- nevermind asking her out- and few girls made jokes or degrading comments of her clothing or how so many guys lusted after her. Even Amaryl knew better than to piss off Bombalurina. 

Some people- stupid people, in Tugger's opinion- thought Bombalurina wanted to knock Amaryl off her throne and become Queen B of Jellicle Arts or was antagonistic towards girls and went from one boy to another before discarding them all without a second thought. But she was actually very kind, fiercely protective of her friends and family and used her position as Older and Popular to look after younger and 'weaker' cats. As witnessed- obviously- with both her sisters and now Mistoffelees. 

He had never worried that Bombalurina wouldn't like Mistoffelees, the fact that he liked to tease and make fun of him and how he had handled Amaryl on his second day had cemented the fact that she would. But Mistoffelees was still so shy and uncomfortable around other cats that he'd worried he would be too unnerved to be near her. 

He was glad to see his worries had been unfounded.

Still, he rolled his eyes and took a sip of his water. "Yes, yes, haha, very funny guys." He muttered. "I need to find better friends who don't like to make fun of me or gang up on me all the time. Who appreciate me and don't constantly make me look dumb." 

Bombalurina smirked and leaned back in her chair again, turning back to her essay. "Yeah, good luck with that Tugger. I think you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone else who can put up with you and your crap. I should know, I've literally been stuck with you since we were in kindergarten."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and shook his head before tapping his pen on Tugger's math book, catching his attention again. "Shall we get back to it?" And Tugger nodded and they went back to studying. 

They sat in a comfortable silence for another fifteen minutes, all of them working on their own homework. Mistoffelees had gone back to typing on his laptop, when felt his powers gently warn him about something and looked up for the laptop. It wasn't strong, barely even a tingle in his brain, but enough to catch his attention. His ear twitched as he tried to listen for anyone close by and looked over his shoulder but saw no one. 

Bombalurina, who was sitting next to him and had seen him look up and turn around, looked up from her laptop and turned to him. "Are you okay? What is it?" 

Mistoffelees looked over his other shoulder before slowly turning back to the table. "I thought I-" Then he felt the tingle again, a little stronger this time and then he also heard a giggle followed by a sharp "shh!". Then he realized what his powers were trying to tell him. It wasn't about something around him, but under him. 

He pushed out his chair a bit and leaned down to look under the table. What he found was, not too shockingly, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, sitting on their knees under the table with a bag between them. They stared at him with a deer in headlights look on their faces and their bodies froze mid-movement, with Mungojerrie holding the bag and Rumpleteazer had one arm stuck into the bag. They both looked like a pair of kittens caught with their paws in the cookie jar.

Mistoffelees smiled wryly at them, one eyebrow raised and the one corner of his lip slightly quirked. "Hello Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer. I see you're studying very hard." 

Mungojerrie placed a finger over his lips without saying anything, but Rumpleteazer shifted a little closer to Mistoffelees and whispered. "How did you know we were here?" She sounded incredulous, as if she hadn't just giggled and Mungojerrie hadn't shushed her right under his nose. One didn't need powers to hear what was right in front of you.

Still, he shrugged, eyebrow still raised and pursed his lips. "You're not exactly sneaky when you're giggling and shushing loud enough for everyone in the room to hear you, you know." This made Rumpleteazer pout and Mungojerrie glared at his sister.

By this point Tugger and Bombalurina had also heard them and leaned down to look under the table to see what was going on. Bombalurina looked very suspicious, her eyebrows narrowed and her green eyes drilled into them.

"What are you two up to?" Rumpleteazer pulled her paw out of the bag and put both paws behind her back, shaking her head as she tried to look innocent.

"Nothin'."

Tugger narrowed his eyes before glancing over to Mistoffelees and they both shook their heads at each other. Nothing indeed. "What's going on?" Tugger asked, pushing his head further under the table and he tried to mimic Munkustrap's stern lecture voice.

But Mungojerrie gesticulated with his arm at them, keeping his voice down but forceful enough to be heard.

"Oi! Get your heads out of here, will ya? You'll make Miss Molly suspicious. We'll explain, just look like you're still studying."

Mistoffelees, Tugger and Bombalurina eyed each other suspiciously. Mistoffelees had learned, even during the rehearsals for the Showcase, that Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were always up to some kind of mischief. Either they were stealing snacks, scaring some of the cats by sneaking up on them or pulling a prank on a whole class.

They were very good, but not as good as him. Especially seeing as he never got caught and they occasionally got caught by teachers or older students who told the teachers. And even if they didn't get caught, everyone knew them well enough to know that if some prank had been pulled or someone was missing something, it was likely the two of them.

And they were clearly up to something now, something inside that bag, and they would probably do better to stay out of it. Whenever Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were up to something, it was in your own best interest to stay out of it, so that teachers wouldn't think you were involved somehow.

Then they heard Miss Molly clear her throat and when they turned to look at her, she had her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "Are you three having fun there under the table?" 

Thankfully Mistoffelees was a quick thinker and managed to- with a small help of his magic- make one of his pencils appear in his paw and he held it up for her to see while smiling sheepishly. 

"I dropped my pen and couldn't find it. They were only trying to help me find it, that's all." 

She didn't look entirely convinced but chose to drop it and walked back to her desk. Exhaling in relief, they all sat up and pretended to go back to their school work, leaning over their books and laptops.

"What the hell are you playing at?" Tugger hissed, while going over Mistoffelees' cheat sheet. He had it all memorized by now, but he still went over it while also pretending to write and solve equations while talking.

"Amaryl is in here too. She always comes in here to pretend to study, when she's actually just sitting around, gossiping with her friends and shopping for clothes online. So we're going to get back at her for her accusations about ruining her fur." Rumpleteazer hissed back and Mistoffelees could feel her shifting and moving around his legs and he took a deep breath, clenching his paws while also looking at his laptop as she grazed his leg with her arm.

He had much better control over his magic these days and didn't feel the need to fight so hard to keep it concealed anymore. But there were still times when he needed to remember himself, especially whenever he was surprised or uncomfortable. And touch still made him a little uneasy and uncomfortable. He had grown a bit accustomed to it, but it still made his skin crawl and made him raise his guard. It was practically second nature after all these years.

"Shouldn't you guys still be keeping a low profile?" Bombalurina whispered, while checking her notes before writing something down in her essay. "Aren't the teachers still suspicious that you actually did mess up her fur?"

"We have!" Mungojerrie cried indignantly. "We haven't pulled a single prank or done anything in a month and we are slowly going stir crazy." He muttered and there was a low rustling, presumably they were digging around in their bag.

"So we've been keeping ourselves busy by looking for whoever it was who actually messed up her fur." Rumpleteazer whispered, sounding both annoyed and impressed at the same time. "But whoever it was did a really good job cleaning up their tracks. We can't find any clues that point us to who did it or how."

"But they're obviously good at what they're doing and they've besmirched our reputation!" Mungojerrie added, sounding equally annoyed and reluctantly impressed. "We intend to find who did it and demand to know how they did it and make them confess to the teacher." Then he added, after a few seconds of awkward silence. "And maybe teach us a thing or two about how not to get caught."

Mistoffelees snorted and rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, good luck with that mate.' He knew they had been looking for the culprit, mainly to get some of the heat off of themselves and to clear their names. But of course, they had been unsuccessful. Because Mistoffelees was a master at getting away with whatever he wanted, both in thanks to his magic and also because no one ever assumed he would do something like messing with someone's fur dye. No, not him. Not sweet, innocent little Mistoffelees. Yes, he could be a bit cheeky every now and then, but he could never do something so childish and petty.

No one had pointed fingers at him and accused him of doing it and he intended to keep it that way.

"So what are you planning to do?" He asked, still leaning over his laptop and pretended to write something down in his notebook. He could hear Rumpleteazer laugh again, only to be shushed by Mungojerrie again, and she said. 

"We've got stink bombs here in the bag. We're going to dump them in her purse and then watch her reaction."  

Bombalurina stiffened and it took all of her restraint to not dive in under the table and drag them out. "Wait, what? What's this about stink bombs? You know I have class with her after Study Hall, right? I am not going to get caught in the crossfire of one of your childish, petty games!"

"Chill, Bomba, chill." Rumpleteazer said in a tone that was attempting to be reassuring. "They start smelling within minutes and I seriously doubt she's going to go to class with a smell bag or while smelling rotten eggs. You'll be fine."

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Mungojerrie said, also trying to sound reassuring but actually came across more as flippant. "Everything will be fine. If nothing else, Miss Molly will kick her out of here for making a fuss. Now, shh. We're going in."

And with that, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer started to sneak away, moving further into the room and towards the table where Amaryl and her friends were sitting. Mistoffelees, Tugger and Bombalurina looked towards that table then turned back to each other.

"Wanna get out of here before we get caught up in this madness?" Bombalurina asked, but there was a small smirk on her face. Tugger shook his head with a grin.

"Are you kidding? No way, I am not missing this! You know I love seeing her getting knocked down a peg." 

Bombalurina rolled her eyes, still smiling, and turned to Mistoffelees. "What about you, Misto?" Mistoffelees thought it over, then looked over to Tugger and then towards the table where Amaryl, Lily and Rose were sitting. 

"No, I think it's best to stay here. Someone has to make sure this lug doesn't make the situation worse." Bombalurina smirked and turned back to her laptop.

"Yeah, I thought so." She said and went back to working on her essay.

Mistoffelees and Tugger went back to studying. Well, Mistoffelees' tried to get Tugger back to studying and gave him another trial test to complete, but now he was so distracted by the knowledge of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer sneaking towards Amaryl and dumping stink bombs in her purse that he couldn't focus.  

"You really love seeing her suffer, don't you?" Mistoffelees sardonically, after the third time Tugger looked away from the book and at Amaryl. 

Tugger grinned and looked back at Mistoffelees. "Well yeah, obviously. Don't you? After how she humiliated you on your day, don't you like seeing her get knocked down a peg?"

Mistoffelees shrugged. "Of course, but you take more glee in it than I do. Besides, aside from a few snide comments and looks, she hasn't done anything to me since that first day." 

Bombalurina grimaced and shook her head regretfully. "Well, I hate to break it to you Misto, but it's coming. She loves to make everyone miserable, especially the ones who clearly don't like her. I mean, no one really likes her, but the ones who make a point of actively showing it really get on her nerves."

She leaned in closer to whisper, prompting Mistoffelees to lean in so he could hear her. "Don't let all the pink she's wearing fool you, she is ruthless . She's disliked, but she has power and she knows how to use it. Especially on the younger and weaker students."

Tugger nodded and leaned in so he could whisper too. "Last year, when we were all in Freshman year, there was another girl who wore the same dress as her one day. She made that poor girl change into her gym clothes for the rest of the day after making her cry in front of the whole class." 

Mistoffelees gaped at him before turning to stare at Amaryl. "She didn't…"

"She did." Tugger said, placing one paw on Mistoffelees' arm and gripping tightly. "Believe us when we say, she's coming for you. She's just biding her time, waiting for the right moment and the right plan."

Mistoffelees bit his lip and turned back to his laptop. He swallowed and took a deep breath. "I think I can handle that." He eventually said. "I've dealt with bullies before. They usually learn very quickly after I'm done with them. Say what you will about my old classmates, but they learned fast that I'm not someone they should mess with."

Tugger smirked and grabbed Mistoffelees' arm and squeezed it reassuringly. "Yeah and you know we've got your back. If she's going to mess with you she's gonna have to deal with us, too." He looked at Bombalurina. "Right?"

Bombalurina smiled and nodded, but still looked a little apprehensive. "Of course. Just be careful, will you, Misto? I know she can come across as a dumb bimbo or a spoiled brat, but she can be seriously ruthless when she wants to be and she's smarter than she looks."

Mistoffelees nodded and they sat in quiet for another few minutes, occasionally glancing back to her table to see if anything had happened yet. As Tugger kept on working through his trial test, he glanced up at Mistoffelees, who was back to typing on his laptop, then paused to write something down into his notebook again. 

His curiosity peaked and he leaned forward to try and see what he was doing. "Hey Misto, what are you studying for?" 

Without looking up, Mistoffelees just finished writing in his notebook before going back to his laptop. "Nothing at the moment. I'm looking for inspiration for a design for my locker. I've been leaving it bare and grey for a month now and I'd really like to do something with it."

"Ooh, what have you got?" Tugger asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table for support. Mistoffelees froze and blushed a little before he tentatively picked up his notebook and began to read aloud. 

"Um, so far I have… Stars and planets, a full moon with stars, a Tardis, Saturn with its rings or just a simple night sky." He looked up again and smiled a bit awkwardly at his friends as he awaited their judgement. 

Bombalurina had looked up from her laptop to listen to their conversation, and frowned confusedly. "What's a Tardis?" 

Mistoffelees blushed, suddenly looked very embarrassed, and put his notebook down. "Um… there's this TV Show-" 

But before he could finish, Tugger interrupted, staring at Bombalurina with wide and outraged eyes. "What's a Tardis? How can you not know that? Have you never heard of Doctor Who?" 

She shrugged, looking a bit bored. "I have, a little bit. I'm not really into science fiction, you know that."

Tugger rolled his eyes, very exaggeratedly, and shook his head. "Yeah, but I didn't think you were completely uncultured! It's, like, a huge part of British TV history! How can you not know about it?" 

Mistoffelees stared at Tugger, a bit taken aback by his reaction, then smiled tentatively. "Have you watched it?" He knew Doctor Who was popular and a lot of cats watched it, but Tugger hadn't struck him as a fan of the show.

Tugger grinned widely at him. "Of course I did! I loved that show when I was a kid. Me, Straps and Mac used to watch it together all the time." Then, as fast as it had appeared, his smile froze and turned into a frown. "But then… Well, I guess we stopped after… you know, he left."

The silence that followed was heavy and awkward. Tugger looked down at his book, trying to conceal his emotions. He had continued to watch Doctor Who even as Macavity got more unstable, but he'd been watching it less and less as the years passed. And once Macavity had gotten kicked out, he'd stopped completely. Munkustrap never had time to watch it with him anymore and there were too many painful memories connected to that show.

Bombalurina and Mistoffelees stared at him, unsure what to say.

Eventually Mistoffelees, still looking a little awkward, cleared his throat and turned to Bombalurina with a small smile. "The Tardis is a spaceship that The Doctor uses in the show. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's how he travels across Space and Time." He showed her a few pictures that he had Googled. "It's disguised as an old Police Box but it's bigger on the inside, it's part of his technology."

Bombalurina looked over the pictures, then smiled as she recognised them. "Oh yeah, I've seen that before." She looked up and smiled at him and Mistoffelees felt relieved that she wasn't mocking him. "I've never really watched it, so I don't know much about it. But I've seen those images." 

She leaned back in her seat before glancing down at his list. "So you like Space and sci-fi? That's cool."

Mistoffelees blushed again, shrugged and glanced back to his laptop and his list. He never really talked about his interests with others, and while a big reason for that was that he'd never really talked with other cats at all, there was also a fear of being judged for liking 'nerdy things'. But whenever he did, he tended to double down on being a fan, if only to to be judged quicker. If they were going to judge you regardless, might as well get it all over with immediately. 

"I like the aesthetic. Also I am kind of a nerd, so I like science fiction and fantasy-" 

But Tugger, who had snapped out of his funk, shook his head and pushed him in the shoulder. "Hey, stop that! You don't need to defend yourself and your interests. We're your friends, we're not going to judge you for it." He shrugged at him with a smile. "So you like fantasy and science fiction. That's cool, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Mistoffelees stared at him, then blushed again and looked down at his list as he bit his lip. "Uh, thanks Tugger." He swallowed and looked up at him again. "So, what do you think? Which sounds best?"

Tugger leaned back in his chair and hummed as he thought it over. "Hm, well I kinda like the idea of seeing a Tardis locker. Although the stars and planets also sound really coo"l.

Bombalurina nodded and smiled. "Yeah, a locker with planets would be really cool. But I also really like the image of a big full moon surrounded by stars." She turned to him and her smile widened. "I do agree with you on that, the aesthetic of stars, moons and planets really is beautiful." 

Mistoffelees smiled back, but before he could answer, he was suddenly made aware of a horrible, rotten smell in the room and grimaced before covering his nose. Bombalurina and Tugger also felt it and covered their own noses, just before they heard a loud shriek from across the room.

"OH EVERLASTING!" Amaryl shrieked as she stood up from her table, throwing her purse across the room, spreading her personal things all over the floor. And in the midst of all her things, a few small plastic containers that Mistoffelees could only guess were the stink bombs Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had planted.

By now everyone was aware of the smell and was either hurrying to leave the room or just covered their noses and waited to see if there was an explanation for the smell. 

Miss Molly, who was the only one in the room who wasn't covering her nose, stalked up to Amaryl and glared at her. "What is the meaning of this, Diamonds?"

Amaryl stared at her, incredulous, before she pointed to her bag. "It wasn't me! Someone planted something in my bag! It was probably Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer-" Miss Molly raised her paw, cutting Amaryl off and looked down at her with a very stern face. 

"Be that as it may, I do not tolerate any form of chaos in my library." She then turned to look under the table, catching Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer as they tried to crawl away. "You two, stay right where you are. We are going to have a talk with the principal about this." 

She then stood up straight again, looking over all the cats that were still in the room. "The rest of you, please leave the library immediately. We will need to air out the whole room before it can be of use again." 

She didn't need to ask twice. Everyone started to collect their things in a hurry to get out of the library, which was made much harder as they were covering their noses with their paws.

Bombalurina, Mistoffelees and Tugger hurried to collect their things before almost running out of the library. Mistoffelees was holding his breath, so he would have both paws free, but the second they got out of the room he exhaled with a loud gasp. Tugger had been holding his paw over his nose and grimaced once they left the room.

"Ugh, stink bombs… why do they have to love stink bombs so much?" He muttered, his nose twitching a little. Bombalurina also grimaced and sniffed herself to see if the smell had stuck to her clothes. Thankfully it hadn't.

"Because they have no sense of subtlety." She said as she swung her bag over her shoulder before carefully placing her laptop, which she had been carrying under her arm, in her bag. 

Once they reached the hallway and their lockers, Bombalurina looked down at her watch. "Well, I must get going. I have ten minutes before my next class and Demeter and I have to talk a bit about our number for the party." She looked up and smiled at them, waved goodbye and then walked off to her locker. "I'll see you guys later!"

Tugger grimaced and glanced down at the math book he carried under his arm. He hated to be reminded of the fact that so many had already started putting their acts together all while he was still under the risk of not getting to perform at all. 

Mistoffelees placed a paw on Tugger's arm and patted it. "It'll be fine, Tugger." He said with a soft smile. "Even if you don't get an A on the test tomorrow, you will pass. I know you will."

Tugger looked down at his shorter friend and smiled back. It felt good to have someone actually believe in him. But he was still worried about how things would turn out tomorrow and so he swallowed and looked down at his book again.

The day wasn't over yet. They still had one class left for the day and, of course, it was math class so Tugger wasn't exactly thrilled. He felt comfortable enough with his knowledge to believe that he was going to pass the test, but he was still worried. Because Professor Albus had never really liked him and he was a little afraid that he was just going to fail him anyway because of that.

Though he hadn't voiced this worry to Mistoffelees, because he realized how stupid it sounded, even to himself. But it was still there nonetheless. 

As they made their way towards the classroom, Mistoffelees glanced up at Tugger with a concerned frown. He'd seen Tugger grow and learn very much in just a few days and he felt confident in saying that he would pass tomorrow's test. But there was still something holding him back, that much was clear. At first he thought it was his focus- or lack of thereof in this case- but he'd quickly proven that he could focus when he wanted to. Sure, finding that drive was a little hard sometimes, but still seemed able to pick it up when he wanted or needed to. 

So it was something else. Something holding him back from truly reaching as far as he could-

He was thrown out of his thoughts by giggling and high voices. "Hi Tugger!" They'd passed a group of queens on their way to class, and they were waving and smiling widely at them. Or, well, really they only had eyes for Tugger. They were very beautiful, but Mistoffelees was sure they were sophomores, because he didn't remember their faces enough to remember their names. 

Tugger grinned widely, saluting the girls, and bowed his head. "Hello ladies." He winked at them and they immediately started giggling again. Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and suppressed a groan. And just like that, the Rum Tum Tugger was back. Yeah, it wasn't as insufferable as it had been before he and Tugger became friends, but it was still annoying. 

"What are you up to?" One of them asked, a tabby queen with brown and black fur and hazel eyes and she was dressed in tight jeans and a black tank-top. Tugger grinned and showed off his math book."Off to math class, I'm afraid." He shrugged and smiled in a 'eh, what are you gonna do' way when the girls groaned sympathetically. 

"Yeah, I know, but what can you do? I'm a slave to the halls of academia." He said as he rested the back of his paw against his forehead. Mistoffelees almost expected him to say "woe is me," to complete the image. 

"You're so strong." Another girl asked with silver grey fur and green eyes, dressed in shorts and pink top. "I never bother with math class anymore. Like, who can be bothered when there's fun to be had?"

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, but made sure to turn his head away so no one would see it. 'Here we have another one who really needs to hit the books more often. She even sounds like-'

But he stopped himself before he could finish that thought and he chided himself. He really needed to stop judging cats based on how they looked, acted or sounded. Just because this wasn't a private school with strict rules, uniforms and high expectations for grades, doesn't mean cats who aren't as driven as him are stupid. 

Tugger smirked at the girl and shrugged. "Well, what can I tell you, The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat. And besides, if I ever get bored, I can always find ways to entertain myself." 

Mistoffelees frowned and stared up at his friend. Suddenly it clicked for him, what was truly holding Tugger back. Because, while he had definitely worked hard and proven he was smarter than even he himself believed, he insisted on maintaining his Rum Tum Tugger persona while doing it. Which of course made him look and sound like a slacker who was just going to class because he had to. 

"You could always skip and have some fun with us." Another one of the queens said with a very suggestive tone of voice. She had fluffy chocolate brown fur, pale green eyes and was dressed in a knee-length skirt and a blouse. 

Mistoffelees glanced up at Tugger, who for a split second seemed to be considering it. He had been spending so much time studying and it was starting to become dreary. He'd really liked to have some actual fun and spending time with a few beautiful ladies definitely fit that bill. 

But then he glanced down at Mistoffelees, then the book in his arms and sighed. Would it be enough? He'd scored a B+ on that test Mistoffelees had made for him, that was over what his dad had told him he needed to score. Perhaps that was enough?

But then he remembered Munkustrap's doubtful remark when he'd said he was aiming for an A on the test, Bombalurina's surprise when she saw him actually studying and how far he had come these last few days and how close he was to actually getting that A. 

So he shook his head with a smile that felt a bit hollow. "Sorry ladies, not today. I would love to spend time with you lovely queens, but unfortunately I must go." He placed his paw on Mistoffelees' shoulder and pulled him closer. "My friend here doesn't like to be alone and I need to support him." 

And though the girls cooed over him and how sweet he was, Mistoffelees felt angry and indignated and tore himself out of Tugger's grip and stalked off towards the classroom.

"Oh screw off, Tugger!" He snapped as he stormed away, his tail swishing angrily after him. He clutched his books tighter to his chest and walked fast to get to the classroom before most of the other students got there. They still had ten minutes to spare before class started.

But he only just made it into the classroom and sat down by his desk before Tugger ran into the classroom after him and hurried over to the chair next to him. Mistoffelees looked around and saw they were almost alone, just a few other cats on the other side of the room.

"Misto are you alright?" Tugger asked, looking both worried and upset, but Mistoffelees side-eyed just him for one second before turning back to his book. 

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine." He opened the math book and kept his eyes locked on the page without actually reading the words.

Tugger frowned, tilting his head to the side and narrowed his eyes slightly. Where was this coming from? They had been fine and joking about only two minutes ago, why had suddenly Mistoffelees snapped at him and was now giving him the cold shoulder?

Internally he was rolling his eyes at himself and he could practically hear Munkustrap's scolding voice in his head, chiding him for messing up again.

'Everlasting Cat, what did you do this time?'

He shifted a little bit closer to Mistoffelees, but still made sure to give him space, and tilted his head forward in an attempt to look him in the eyes.

"No, you're not. You're mad at me, Misto, I can see you are. What did I do? Was it something I said? I'm sorry if you felt I ignored you there for a second."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and shook his head.

'Right, because I would totally feel left out if you didn't pay attention to me for one hot minute. Not everything is about you, you overgrown kitten.'

He glanced up from his book and looked up at Tugger. "Look Tugger, how and where you find a good time is your own business and I am not going to judge you or think poorly of you because you like to flirt. But all I ask is that you leave me out of it. I am not going to entertain you or your flings."

Tugger recoiled a little, his ears folded back at Mistoffelees' cold voice but Mistoffelees was now looking him dead in the eye and making it impossible for him to look away. 

"I am not going to tell you're bad for liking to flirt and entertain other cats the way you do, but I don't want to be a prop in your games, Tugger. Tell whatever excuse you want to these cats that make you look good if you must, but don't tell them like I'm some frail flower who needs you to survive the school day."

 Tugger swallowed and worked his mouth a bit before he finally found his voice. "I- I'm sorry, Misto. I didn't mean to hurt you or make you upset, I was just… I mean, the girls-"

"You wanna make yourself look good in front of the girls and apparently going to class, doing your homework and doing well in school doesn't make you look good, does it?" Mistoffelees said, a little less aggressively but still fairly coldly. 

Tugger grimaced and his eyes darted around the room and he tried to look anywhere but at his friend. "No, no, it's not like that, it's just- well, The Rum Tum Tugger is a cool cat and cool cats-"

Just as he was about to fish for a good way to finish that sentence, he caught Mistoffelees' look and he was somehow even colder and icier. "Oh, I see. So cool cats don't go to class and don't do their homework or show they're smart. Because being smart isn't cool, is it?" He raised his eyebrow challengingly. "Should I move and sit somewhere else, lest I bring your image down with my uncoolness?" 

"NO!" Tugger yelled before quickly looking around as the few cats that had entered the room looked at them to see what they were fighting about. He then turned back to Mistoffelees. "No, it's not like that at all. You know I like you and I like hanging with you. But, it's just, the Rum Tum-"

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes again but his eyes and face got a little warmer. "Tugger, I don't if you noticed before, but every time you turn on your Rum Tum Tugger charm, your IQ goes down to 40. Maybe even less."

Tugger stared at him blankly. "Huh?"

Mistoffelees turned to him, now being a bit more friendly with him again. "Look, I know it's not my business what you do with your time or how you should or shouldn't be, but could it be possible that the real thing in your way is that you're still trying to maintain your Rum Tum Tugger persona while also wanting to prove you're more than that?"

He reached out and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Because you can't have both here, Tugger. Either you're smarter than everyone believes or you're Too Cool For School, but you can't have it both ways." He pulled his paw back and turned back to his math book. "Pick one of your options and then get back to me."

Tugger stared at Mistoffelees for a long while as he took in everything he had just said. Then, suddenly, it all clicked into place.

Yes.

Mistoffelees had hit the nail right on the head with that. He wanted to be smart, but because most cats associated smart with nerdy or uncool, whenever he flirted, he for some reason didn't want to look smart and wanted to instead be seen as a slacker. Because that's what he had always been, so of course that's what he should be to be the center of attention, right?

But right now that was messing it up for him. Because if he still wanted to be seen as cool, it might hold him back from being seen as smart. Because he didn't ask or try to answer questions during class and would rather pretend he wasn't actually studying for the rest of the class because… why? He couldn't really answer that anymore. 

He always talked a big game about being clever, artful and knowing, but when it came to proving that he was coming up short. 

As he realized this, he turned to Mistoffelees to say something but before he could, Professor Albus came into the room and the class begun.

Professor Albus spent most of the hour revising everything for tomorrow's test, quizzing the class on everything they'd learned so far to see if they had learned or if they needed help. They'd been doing this all week or were allowed to sit and study for part of it. Tugger hadn't been active in solving the problems. He'd been sitting close to Mistoffelees the whole week, either studying with his nose in his book or observing and listening to Professor Albus explaining the subject or the other students as they answered his questions. He'd been happy to sit back and listen to other cats- often Mistoffelees- answer, making calculations and guesses in his head rather than try to answer himself. And to his immense surprise and delight he got it right more often than he got it wrong. 

And today was no different. After Professor Albus walked in, he once again started writing up equations on the whiteboard and would ask students for the answer. At first Tugger spent his time going through his notes and listening to the other students to see if he was thinking correctly when they answered the questions. But after a while, he decided that he was going for it. He wanted to prove he was actually smarter than cats gave him credit for and that meant actually showing it. And Mistoffelees' words had also hit their mark and he wanted to prove to him that he was serious and wasn't just using him to get better grades or thought he was uncool or something.

Which was likely the reason why he eventually found the courage to raise his paw to try and answer when Professor Albus had written up a new equation on the whiteboard. 

Professor Albus froze when he saw Tugger's paw raised, looking both surprised and wary, but decided to ignore Mistoffelees- who was now looking at him a bit surprised- and looked at Tugger. "Yes, Tugger?" 

A lot of cats in the classroom turned to him, suddenly much more intrigued and curious about the class, but Tugger tried to ignore them. Mistoffelees looked to his side, a little surprised, but lowered his paw and smiled encouragingly at him. Tugger looked over the equation, going over his reasoning in his head one last time, before he opened his mouth.

"Um, I think I know the answer." There was a soft murmur going through the class, some snickers and some curious mutters, but he tried his best to ignore them.

Professor Albus raised one eyebrow at him, clearly intrigued, but also wary. Tugger had been going to class more the last month, and he'd had his nose inches away from the book the whole week, seemingly working harder than he ever had in his class. But still, this was very uncharacteristic of him, so he was almost sure that it was too good to be true.

Still, he nodded and gestured at Tugger. "Oh you do, do you? Well then, enlighten us."

Tugger paused, swallowed and then glanced over at Mistoffelees, who smiled and nodded encouragingly at him. He took a breath and looked back to the Professor. "Um, I think it's… um, a= 1, b= 3 and c=10?"

Again, there were some low snickers and muttering around the classroom and Tugger turned to look over both shoulders to glare at the cats around him. Professor Albus just raised both eyebrows, but it wasn't clear if he was impressed or thinking that he was cheating. He turned to the whiteboard and then back to Tugger. "And would you care to show us how you came to this conclusion?"

He gestured to the whiteboard and Tugger turned to Mistoffelees, panicked and worried, but Mistoffelees had just smiled and gestured to him to go on. So he walked up to the whiteboard and took the pen from the Professor. 

He slowly and unsurely started to solve the problem, a heavy stone in his stomach and a voice in his head repeating, 'Don't get this wrong, Tugger. Don't get this wrong, Tugger' over and over again.

He made sure to take his time, going over the problem in his head over and over again to make sure he hadn't gotten it wrong. His paw was shaking as he wrote and he had to bite down on his tongue so could keep his focus on the whiteboard and not glance back at Mistoffelees. The classroom was dead silent, waiting to see what would happen next.

Once he was done, Professor Albus examined the whiteboard with a careful and stern eye, adjusting his glasses so he could see properly. Tugger swallowed hard and kept both paws tightly clenched around his belt so he wouldn't fidget or shake. He hoped he looked cooler and more confident than he actually was, because he was sure that his fur was soaking wet all over his body.

Finally, after what had felt like forever, Professor Albus turned to him with a very shocked and incredulous look on his face. "Tugger, that is 100% correct."

The rock in his stomach immediately lifted and relief flooded through his body, immediately followed by sheer shock and happiness. He'd gotten it right. He'd actually gotten it right. Had that actually happened since elementary school?

"Oh Everlasting…" He whispered, over and over as he stared back at the whiteboard. 

The rest of the class started murmuring in amazement, but Tugger barely heard it as he fought back his smile, so he wouldn't look like an idiot. Instead he hurried back to his seat and grinned widely at Mistoffelees, who was grinning right back and raised his paw at him, giving him a thumbs up. 

"Great job." He whispered and raised his paw to lightly punch him in the shoulder. And Tugger was so full of happiness, relief and pride that he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He wanted to get up from his seat and dance around the classroom, but figured that wasn't quite the right time and place to do that yet. 

Tugger spent the rest of that class riding that high, feeling immensely proud and happy with himself. His hard work was actually paying off and he felt more sure than ever that he would ace tomorrow's test. Tugger went through his work with renewed vigour for the rest of the class, raising his paw to answer for problems and was pleased that he kept doing really well. 

After class Professor Albus had asked to stay behind for a minute. He hadn't said much, but what he said had made Tugger feel like he could throw his arms around him and kiss him. "I'm very impressed with your work this week, Tugger. I sincerely hope you'll keep up the good work, you've certainly proved you can learn when you try." And Tugger wasn't entirely sure, but he was almost convinced that Professor Albus had smiled at him when he said that.

He hurried out of the classroom and met up with Mistoffelees and finally released the pent up energy he'd been holding in for the entire class. "Oh Everlasting Cat, did you see me in there? I was on fire! I am so acing that test tomorrow, I just know it!"

Mistoffelees laughed softly at his friend's enthusiasm and grabbed one of his papers and handed it to Tugger. "Oh I'm sure you will. Especially if you do as well as you did here." 

Tugger frowned at the paper, confused. "What's that?"

"Your last trial test. I didn't get the chance to grade it before Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer's stunt in the library, but I did during class."

Tugger took the test and turned it over to see the grade. And he was greeted with a big red A written at the top of the paper, as well as 19/20 written under it in smaller letters. He gaped down at the grade before staring at Mistoffelees, a smile spreading over his face.

"An A?" Mistoffelees nodded and smiled. 

"Yes. You've done fantastic work today and this week. I really do believe you'll get an A tomorrow." He then shrugged and smirked. "You may not even need my help for the rest of the day, you'll probably be able to study well enough on your own."

Tugger had been smiling at the paper, but when Mistoffelees said that, he looked up and his smile dropped from his face. "But we still can, right?" He then realized how desperate that sounded and tried to cover it up. "I-I mean, you know, just to be safe? I mean, you may be right, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd still help me." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder towards the doors. "We can go the café and hang out, or the library or my place or-" 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and bit his tongue to suppress his laugh. It really was entertaining to see Tugger lose all of his charisma around him, but he still felt warm inside about how much Tugger wanted and appreciated his help. Even if he may not need it as much anymore, it was still more fun to hang around him than go home to practice his dancing or playing music at home alone.

"Of course I'll still help you if you want me to. And yeah, I could go for a nice Chai right now, so we can go." He gestured at his locker over his shoulder. "Let me just take my jacket and things and we can leave."

Tugger's flustered and worried look turned into a relieved smile and he nodded. "Yeah, sure! I'll grab my stuff too and I'm good to go too."

 Mistoffelees smiled as Tugger hurried off to his locker and felt something close to pride as he watched him. He'd really exceeded his expectations over this week, he'd been ready for a lot of fighting and trying to weasel out of doing his work, but there had been very little of it. Aside from the occasional groaning and moaning, he'd been very determined to win first price. 

And he'd really been something to see in the classroom, and Mistoffelees was so happy to have been there to see it. Because the equation had been on the harder side and he'd aced with flying colors. He was very close now, so very close to an A.

He snorted to himself and glanced down at his own math book, shook his head and glanced back at Tugger.

"Guess you never can tell with the Rum Tum Tugger." He said softly to himself before turning around and walked up to his locker, still bare and grey.

As Mistoffelees opened his locker to grab his things, Plato came walking up beside him and stared at Tugger where he was standing by his own locker. "I can't believe that actually happened." He said incredulously. "When did Tugger suddenly become good at math?"

Tumblebrutus and Pouncival, who were hanging around behind them, were also looking incredulously at Tugger. "You think he just woke up one morning and said, 'I think I'm gonna learn math today.'" Tumblebrutus said, arms folded over his chest and stared at Tugger's back.

"Maybe there's actually a brain in there under all that blonde fluff, after all? Who'd have thought?" Pouncival smirked and elbowed his brother with a smirk. 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes as he grabbed his other school books to take home for the day. It was funny how much could change in just a couple days, because if this had happened without him trying to help Tugger, he probably would have said the same thing. But as it was, he already knew that Tugger was smart and capable of learning, once he actually made an effort and dropped the Rum Tum Tugger persona for five minutes, so to hear his friends make fun of him even when he actually got it right was a bit infuriating. 

And especially after their little argument earlier, it was now very clear that Tugger wanted to be seen as smarter than everyone thought. He'd shown the whole class that, so these jabs were infuriating. 

Still, he knew that was something that Tugger likely wanted to remain secret for now, so he just closed his locker and turned to his friends with a slightly reprimanding look. "Hey stop that, guys. I agree that Tugger can be seem a bit unfocused and dense at times, but he's far from stupid. Today proved that if nothing else."

Plato raised both paws, shaking his head. "We never said that. I'm just saying that I've never seen this side of him. He's always been an insufferable flirt and indifferent when it comes to school work." He shrugged and pursed his lips. "You know, when he bothers to show up at all."

Pouncival nodded. "Yeah, and he's always put more effort into flirting, looking cool and playing music than math. It is a bit weird to see him suddenly so invested in school work that doesn't involve music in any way."

Tumblebrutus looked back at Tugger again, eyeing him as he put his math book in his school bag. "I wonder what made him change his tune so suddenly. And if he's always been so smart, how come we haven't seen it before?"

Mistoffelees smirked and turned to look back at Tugger, who was smiling widely as he looked down at the test in his paws. "Well, haven't you heard? The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat." He turned back to his friends. "I suppose that means he'll always be able to surprise you." 

Mistoffelees liked to think he was very intelligent and very rarely found himself being wrong, but whenever it happened, he was always strong enough to admit it and stand by it. And Tugger had surprised him more than once over this last month. He'd gone from an annoyance and a dumb blonde himbo and flirt, to a supportive, occationaly insightful, yet still annoying friend, to a smart, determined and dedicated person. But there was something else there, a curtain vulnerability that he'd only glimpsed once or twice that showed him there was more than The Rum Tum Tugger to him. There was more underneath the surface and he'd only just started to learn about who Tugger really was under all of his posturing and preening.

He thought back to his thoughts when Tugger had called him his best friend and how he may not have been the best friend he had imagined for himself in his fantasies. And now, after the last week of hard studying, he had started to see beyond the cat that Tugger wanted everyone else to see. There was probably even more to discover about him and Mistoffelees was eager to learn all that he could.

Tugger came to him with a wide smile, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "Ready to go?" 

Mistoffelees nodded and placed his own bag over his shoulder. "Yeah, let's go. " He turned to wave at his friends. "I'll see you tomorrow guys." And with that they started walking off towards the café.

Chapter Text

Friday morning finally came and Tugger was a ball of nerves.

Mornings tended to be fairly calm in the Deuteronomy household. Tugger had never really been a morning person and tended to be glued to his coffee cup for the first half hour before properly waking up. After having hit the snooze button at least five times before he actually got up and out of bed. Yes, this meant he could be a little grumpy, but he and Munkustrap had an agreement: No fights or arguments before nine in the morning. Or at least before everyone has had their coffee. It was better for everyone that way. 

Speaking of Munkustrap, he was- of course- the definition of a morning person and was always up the second the alarm rang to take a shower before heading down to have breakfast. Because of course the studious, perfect Munkustrap had no issues with getting up early in the morning and was always ready to tackle the day head on. 

This day however, Tugger was wide awake before his alarm even rang. His stomach was clenching with nerves and his eyes kept darting over to his bag where his math book was packed. And after twenty minutes of staring up at the ceiling and agonizing over the day's test, he saw no point in lying about. He sat up and got out of bed to start getting ready. Maybe a steaming hot shower would help with his nerves. 

Getting ready in the morning was always quite a project for Tugger, as getting his mane brushed and styled to perfection for the day took quite a bit of time. On days where he felt especially picky, it could take him close to an hour before he felt satisfied. This was especially frustrating for Munkustrap, who always got on his case for taking too long to get ready and making them late. But today, he was going through the motions more than anything else, combing through his unruly morning hair, blow-drying it and styling it. His heart wasn't quite as into it as he would be on a normal day, but he still managed to make himself look like himself, rather than a nervous wreck or like he wasn't even trying. 

He sighed, put his brush down and looked himself over in the mirror. Yeah, he still looked like the Rum Tum Tugger- who had never been nervous or worried in his life, and would dance and sing through life without a care in the world. Good. If he could fool the world then he could fool himself too. 

He took a deep breath before smirking at his reflection, turning on the Rum Tum Tugger charm like he was flipping a switch. "You got this, Tugger. So long as you keep smiling, they'll never know." And with that, he turned to walk back to his room to get dressed.

Tugger's bedroom tended to be quite messy, with clothes and stuff strewn across the floor, his school bag thrown into a corner and he never bothered making the bed. It was a bit chaotic, but not overly so. And while he wasn't very good at picking up after himself, his wardrobe tended to be very neat and well-sorted. He couldn't very well go to school in clothes that he'd thrown on the floor the night before, right?

Rum Tum Tugger was a lot of things, but he was also very fashionable and stylish. It wouldn't do to go outside without picking out the perfect outfit for the day.

But today, as he tried to pick out a good shirt along with his black jeans with leopard prints on the shins, his nerves about the math test kept distracting him. He groaned and eventually picked out a shirt with leopard prints and pulled it on. 

"At least it will match my jeans." He muttered to himself as he put his studded belt with silver chains before looking over the mirror, checking to see if he'd messed up his mane. 

The sound of a door opening and closing and then running water told him that Munkustrap was now up and had gone to the bathroom. That made him smile to himself. For the first time in years he was up and ready before Munkustrap had even gotten up.That was a little satisfying. Then he glanced over at his bag and dug out his math book and notebook before he walked out of his room. Hopefully he might get some last minute studying done before school.

As he traipsed down the stairs, he could hear the coffee maker brewing and Old Deuteronomy humming to himself as he was making breakfast. Tugger smiled softly. His father was also a morning person, but for some reason it didn't annoy him nearly as much as Munkustrap being a morning person did. 

Old Deuteronomy looked up from the stove as Tugger walked into the room and smiled, surprised but also happy. "Tugger. You're up early today." 

Tugger smiled as he made himself a cup of coffee before sitting down by the table, placing his math book and notebook next to himself. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep." He glanced over at his books. "I got a test today after all."

And once again, he started feeling nervous and worried again. It was funny, he'd never considered himself a nervous or anxious person. He'd always prided himself on being cool, easy-going and rolling with life's punches without worrying too much about the consequences. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd had stage fright, since he'd been performing for as long as he could remember and was very used to being on stage and having thousands of eyes on him. 

But today he was so nervous and tense that he felt like he was going to throw up.

Old Deuteronomy glanced up from his cooking again and looked over at his youngest son. He had to admit that he had been surprised to have seen Tugger being so focused on studying this whole week, even saying that Mistoffelees had been helping him study the whole week. He had clearly been working hard on this, especially with the threat of not being allowed to perform for fun anymore hanging over his head. But now he was seeing a certain vulnerability in his eyes as he was looking at his math book. This meant a lot to him, that much was clear, and he almost felt bad for making that ultimatum with his son. 

'No.' He chided himself. 'No, he needs to learn that actions have consequences. If he fails he will lose something that he loves, and if he succeeds then he will be rewarded. You cannot keep coddling him.'

Still, he felt his paternal instincts tell him to comfort and reassure his son. So he turned off the stove and walked over the table, sitting down next to Tugger, taking his paw and squeezing it reassuringly.

"It will be alright, Tugger. I've seen you work hard and keep your focus on this all week. And Mistoffelees is clearly a gifted student and a good friend. Even if you don't get the highest grade on this, I'm sure you will do well today."

Tugger glanced up at his father, his eyes a little wet and smiled tentatively. "You think so?"

Old Deuteronomy smiled and hugged his son to his side. "I'm sure. If you try your best, then I have no doubts you will pass this test." He smiled warmly at his son and stroked a gentle paw over his cheek. "It will be alright."

Tugger smiled up at his father and nuzzled his face against his paw, purring as he did. "Thanks dad." 

Old Deuteronomy smiled and squeezed his shoulder before walking back over to the stove, going back to making breakfast. "I am making pancakes this morning. Do you want some?" 

Tugger nodded and made an affirmative noise, but still felt nauseous and was worried he wouldn't be able to stomach any food. He sipped on his coffee and turned to his books, opening a page in his math book to get some last minute studying done before school. Math class was the first class for the day (because of course it was) and he really couldn't figure out if he'd rather call in sick and skip the day or if he wanted to get to school as soon as possible so he could get it all over with. 

Steps were heard coming down the stairs, but Tugger didn't look up from his book. Munkustrap's voice was then heard as he walked closer to the kitchen. "Dad, will you please tell Tugger that if he's not ready by 8:30 then he'll have to get to school by himself? I really need to be at school early, I have so much to do and I can't deal with his tardiness today." 

Tugger rolled his eyes but didn't say anything and just kept reading and going over equations in his head. 

Old Deuteronomy shook his head with a slightly amused smile as he piled pancakes onto a plate and placed it in front of Tugger. "And why can't you tell him yourself, Munkustrap?"

Munkustrap scoffed as he came into the kitchen, brushing his fur with a comb as he walked. "Oh yeah, as if he's ever up before 7:30 on a weekday. And if I try to tell him, he'll just bite my head off-" He cut himself off as he looked up from combing his fur and saw Tugger sitting at the table and froze. 

Tugger looked up and smiled sardonically, raising his paw to wave at his brother. "Morning, Straps. You're up late this morning." He wasn't actually, but he knew that him saying that would really get under his skin.

His fur was damp and shiny from his shower, and he was dressed in jeans and a light gray dress shirt which was carefully tucked under his pants, which were also held up by a belt. Tugger wanted to roll his eyes. He looked so preppy and put together, it made him want to barf. 

"Tugger…" Munkustrap stared at him, flushing hard and opened and closed his mouth like a fish. He swallowed and then tried to smile, which ended up looking pretty awkward. "Um, good morning. I- I didn't think, I mean," He cleared his throat. "You're up early today. I'm, uh, sorry about… you know."

Tugger gave him a sarcastic grin before gesturing at his books. "Just wanted to get some studying done before school. It's not my fault you're lazy." He shrugged and started to eat his breakfast, fighting hard to look as non-caring as possible. In reality he was still fighting back his nausea, but still forced himself to eat, while also going through his notes. 

He was so damn sick of math that once this day was over, he was going to throw this book against the wall and not pick it up until the following Monday. And he would only do it because he had to.

The morning crawled slowly forward until finally it was time to leave for school. Munkustrap had a very big bag, stuffed to the brim with books and school things, and Tugger secretly wondered how that bag hadn't burst at the seams yet. He also had no idea how Munkustrap managed to squeeze in so many classes and extracurriculars in just one day, let alone a whole school week, but he was also sure that he didn't care.

After a quick stop at the coffee place before school, the brothers arrived and parted ways as they entered the building. As he walked into the school, Tugger's eyes immediately fell on Mistoffelees, who was sitting on the hallway steps while writing in a notebook with a pair of headphones over his ears. He was dressed in black jeans, sneakers and a black sweater over a white button-up. He seemed completely unaware of what was going on around him, except for the occasional shifting or moving as other cats walked up or down the stairs, but didn't look away from his notebook.

Tugger grinned and walked up to sit down next to him, making sure to leave a few inches between them for Mistoffelees' comfort, and gently poked him in the shoulder. Mistoffelees jumped, startled, and turned to look at him while pulling his headphones off his head.

"Good morning Mistoffelees." Tugger grinned and took a sip of his coffee. "How are you this lovely morning?"

Once he realized Tugger was sitting beside him, Mistoffelees pulled his headphones down and around his neck and gave him an awkward smile.

"Oh, good morning, Tugger." He put his phone down in his pocket and closed his notebook. "Uh, I'm alright, thank you. What about you?"

"I'm good, thanks." Tugger grinned. His ears picked up the low music coming from Mistoffelees' headphones and reached for them. "What are you listening to?" And without waiting for a response, he pulled the headphones from his neck and moved to place them over his ears.

Mistoffelees made a surprised and weak sound of protest, reaching to grab them back, but it was too late. At first Tugger only heard soft strings and a flute, before the singer was heard.

"In my own little corner, in my own little chair, I can be whoever I want to be."

"On the wings of my fancy I can fly anywhere. And the world will opens its arms to me"

He smiled as he recognised the song and pulled the headphones off his ears and gave them back to Mistoffelees. "Cinderella, huh? A classic."

Mistoffelees flushed as he took them back and placed them around his neck again, pulling his phone out of his pocket and pausing the music. "Miss Jellylorum gave me a few suggestions of musical soundtracks I should listen to. You know, to learn more about the genre."

"Yeah? And what do you think so far?" Tugger smiled as he took another sip from his coffee. 

Mistoffelees shrugged and with a wry smile. "Eh, I'm not terribly impressed so far. I like Cinderella alright, but I don't love it. But I do like listening to music and audio books. It helps me clear my head when I feel overwhelmed or when there's too much going on around me."

Tugger looked up at all the other cats around them, talking, laughing, moaning about school and wanting the weekend to come already. It was pretty loud and while Tugger didn't mind it so much, he could understand why some cats might be overwhelmed by it. 

"Yeah I can imagine." He turned back to Mistoffelees and gestured down to the notebook in his lap. "So, what are you doing? Studying or taking notes?"

Mistoffelees looked down at his notebook like he had forgotten about it, then picked it up and closed it. "Uh, just going over some of this one last time before we go into math class. Just to be on the safe side."

Tugger rolled his eyes, swallowing hard to hide his own nervousness and playfully pushed him with his shoulder. "Yeah, as if you're not going to ace this test. You're one of the smartest kids in our class, do you really have to study even more?"

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, trying to look annoyed but there was a small smile tugging at his lips. A very, very, small smile. "Everlasting, you sound like Victoria. Am I wrong for wanting to get as high a grade as I can?"

Grinning, Tugger shook his head and shrugged. "Of course not. I just think it's funny how much time you spend going over school books and notes. Didn't you say you like reading? Do you even find time for that since you study so much?"

Mistoffelees snorted and put his notebook back down in his bag. "Of course, all the time. But between homework, dance class, singing class, music class and everything, there's only so much time left for it. But I always squeeze in a little reading before going to bed. It's the perfect way to unwind after a long day."

He closed his bag before turning back to Tugger. "So, how's your morning? Ready for the test?"

Tugger swallowed again and took a breath through his nose before attempting to smile. "Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." He tried to sound cool and like he wasn't worried at all, but Mistoffelees of course saw right through him. Or he was just really off his game today. 

Both were equally plausible, really.

He placed his paw on Tugger's shoulder. "You are going to do fine today, I know it. You have done so well on our study sessions and trial tests, I know you will do just fine today. You should be proud of yourself for how hard you've worked this week, even if you don't get an A today."

Tugger glanced up at Mistoffelees and smiled, still feeling nervous and a little nauseous, but also reassured.

If the last month hadn't already cemented it, then this week had really proved that Mistoffelees truly was his best friend.

"Thanks Misto." His smile turned a bit more cheeky and turned to look around them. "By the way, where do you have your lovely sister? I can't seem to hear any laughing or talking between her and her friends this morning."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, making a show of looking annoyed. "Ah, I see how it is. You're pretending to be my friend, but it's actually my sister you're after." Then he smiled up at his best friend, then glanced over his shoulder at the lockers behind him. "Well, if you truly want to know where my sister is, I believe you're looking in the wrong place." 

He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at the row of lockers behind them and when Tugger turned to look, he saw Plato leaning against his locker and trying to look cool and laid back. Victoria was standing next to him, clutching a book to her chest, dressed in a knee-length, layered light blue skirt and a white blouse. Her big blue eyes were sparkling as she laughed at something Plato had said and looked like she was in the Heaviside Layer standing so close to him. And he looked like he was both very happy to be so close to her but also terrified of saying or doing the wrong thing in front of her. And whenever she was looking away, he gave her the most love-struck expression he had seen. Save for the expressions Munkustrap gave Demeter of course.

"Ooh…" Tugger crooned and smiled widely and rested his chin in his paw as he watched the two cats. "Looks like somebody is hoping to win our lovely Queen Victoria's paw. Can't say I blame him, she is quite lovely."

Mistoffelees eyed him with narrowed eyes and elbowed him hard in the side. "Watch it Casanova. That's my sister you're talking about." He smirked a little at Tugger's huff of pain and rubbed a paw over the spot where Mistoffelees' elbow had struck him, then rolled his eyes and looked over at his sister. "Besides, it might take a while for either of them to fess up. I know Victoria really likes him, but Heaviside knows when she'll actually tell him. It's not like he doesn't clearly like her, so it's just frustrating to see them dance around each other."

Still rubbing a paw over his ribs and grimacing in pain, Tugger managed a snort and rolled his eyes. "They can't be any worse than Straps and his mooning over Demeter. I swear, that guy has been head over heels for her since we were kids. If I have to hear about how she's a goddess among cats or how her coat shines like gold in the sunlight one more time, I might actually lose my mind!"

Glancing back at Tugger, Mistoffelees found himself smiling before he turned back to smile at his sister. Yes, Munkustrap's feelings for Demeter were very obvious to everyone, except for Demeter it seemed. And Demeter was clearly charmed by him, though seemed too shy to act on it. In fact, they both did and it was clearly driving their siblings and friends crazy. But Mistoffelees wasn't sure how much room Tugger had to complain about being annoyed by his brother, considering how much pleasure he took in giving Munkustrap a hard time every single day. 

'What goes around comes around, my flirtatious friend.'

He glanced down at his watch and started to stand up, gathering his things as he did. "We should probably get going. Class starts in five minutes."

Tugger swallowed down the last of his coffee and got to his feet, throwing his take-away cup in the trash, before following Mistoffelees towards the classroom, unsure if he'd rather throw up or run away and hide somewhere rather than go through with the test.

As they entered the classroom to take the test, Tugger saw that the desks had been moved a few but significant inches from each other, leaving just enough space between them that cheating would be impossible. Not that Tugger had thought about cheating mind you, but if he had he wouldn't have been able to.

He took a seat, with Mistoffelees taking the seat next to him, took a deep breath and tried to reign in his nerves. 

'I can do this. I can do this.' He told himself. 'I've been studying very hard all week, I can do this.'  

Tugger kept repeating this in my head, over and over, until Professor Albus walked past him and placed a paper in front of him, and grabbed a pen ready to write. 

"Alright class, you have 60 minutes, starting…" Professor Albus pressed a button on his phone. "Now." 

And with that, papers were flipped over and pens started scribbling as everyone started writing. 

Tugger swallowed hard, stalling for time as he wrote down his name and the day's date at the top of the page before finally looking over the first problem and started working it out.

Unsurprisingly, Mistoffelees was one of the first students in the room to finish the test and leave the classroom with it graded, along with Jemima, Victoria, Plato and a few others. Tugger was convinced that he would get an A+ on it, whereas he was still terrified he would walk away with a D, like he always did. 

Still, he felt somewhat alright as he went through the equations, even though the nerves wouldn't quite leave him alone. 

Finally he finished the last equation, read through the test a few times, looked for any errors or if he felt unsure about any answers, before he slowly got up from his seat and walked over to Professor Albus' desk.

"I'm done, Professor." He said, a little shakily, as he handed it over to him. Professor Albus looked up and with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.

"Well, I'll grade it for you." He said and picked up a red ink pen and started going over the test. Tugger tried to see how he was grading it, but Professor Albus was covering it with his arm, so he couldn't see anything. It felt like an eternity before Professor Albus looked up and Tugger saw something on his face that he had never seen before. Awe and respect.

"Tugger, you really have been working hard this week, haven't you?" Tugger stared at him, a little taken aback, but nodded. Professor Albus smiled, and to Tugger's surprise the smile was very genuine and happy. Which was weird to say the least.

"Well, I am so happy to see you actually put in the effort here. I've been trying to find ways to help you learn, and I don't know who or how you did, but I am so glad that you're doing better. You really can learn when you make an effort, right? Keep up the good work."

And with those words, he handed the paper over to Tugger with a happy smile. Tugger stared at him like he'd never seen him before, then looked down at the paper in his paw. And his jaw dropped when he saw the result and the grade. 

A- 18/20

Tugger stared at the paper, completely dumbfounded and didn't know what to say or do at that moment. But he managed to look up at Professor Albus, swallowed and smiled at him. "Uh, T-thank you, Professor." And with that he stumbled out of the classroom, barely managing to close the door behind him because he was so shocked. 

He leaned back against the wall, staring out into space before looking down at his grade again. A-. He had done it. Not only had he passed the test, he'd gotten an A! An A-, sure, but an A nonetheless! 

A wide smile started to spread over his face as he looked at the test and bit his lip so he wouldn't squeal in delight and happiness. Much as he wanted to. Instead, he hurried down the corridor to find Mistoffelees so he could share the happy news. 

Mistoffelees was standing by his locker with Plato, Tumblebrutus and Pouncival, listening to his friends as they talked about the test.

"So what did you guys get?" Plato asked, glancing down at the paper in his paw with a bright red A written on it. 

Pouncival looked down at his test and shrugged. "I got a B." He said with a smile. "I'm just happy I passed. Mom would've killed me if I came home with another C. She has crazy high standards."

Tumblebrutus snickered and playfully shoved his brother. "That's only because you hate doing homework." He smirked and shoved off his own B+. "I always come home with B's and A's on my tests."

Pouncival growled and elbowed his brother in the side. "Mommy's little pet." He grumbled and then turned to Mistoffelees. "I suppose you walked away with an A too, Misto."

Mistoffelees flushed, but also smiled as he shoved off his test. "A+, actually. Father doesn't like anything short of perfection, so- eeh!"

He yelped as he felt arms wrap around him from behind, lift off the floor and spin him around. He felt himself tense up and clenched his paws tightly so he wouldn't accidentally reveal his magic. 

"Ah, thank you, thank you, thank you!" He heard Tugger say, his voice so incredibly happy that it almost made Mistoffelees forget how uncomfortable he felt. Almost.

"Alright, alright, take it easy." He said, taking a breath so he could calm his magic, and turned his head to try and see Tugger. "And thank you for what?" 

Tugger put him back down again, still smiling so widely that it threatened to split his face in two. He lifted his test and showed off the grade, bouncing up and down a little. 

"I got an A-!" He exclaimed, grinning widely. "I passed the test and got an A- and it's all thanks to you, Misto!" He surged forward and hugged him again, though not quite as tightly and he remained standing on his feet. "So thank you. I couldn't have done it without you." 

Mistoffelees, despite the slight discomfort at being hugged- twice!- smiled and raised his paws to hug him back. "An A-, that's fantastic!" He pulled back and gently punched him in the shoulder. "Although you certainly should pat yourself on the back too, Tugger. You've really worked hard and earned that grade too."

Tugger's smile turned softer and he felt his eyes get a little wet. He had never gotten this kind of support and help from any of his friends or teachers before, and the fact that Mistoffelees had been helping him so much and had been a really good friend for this whole week was really touching.

"Thanks, Misto. You're a really good friend, you know." 

Mistoffelees smiled and punched him again. "Well, aren't you going to show your dad?"

Tugger lit up. He hadn't even thought of that yet, he'd been so eager to show Mistoffelees, but now he really wanted to tell his father the good news. He nodded and hurried off down the hallway towards the principal's office. Then, as he ran, he turned to shout over his shoulder.

"Thanks again, Misto! You're a real life-saver!"

Mistoffelees smiled as he ran further down the hallway and shook his head, amused and fondly. 

'You really can't ever tell with The Rum Tum Tugger, can you?'

"You helped Tugger study?" He heard Plato ask and he jumped a little, having forgotten his other friends were still there. He turned back to them and nodded, a little bashful.

"Uh, yeah, a little. I mean, he asked for help for the test and so we've been studying together this week." He shrugged and pursed his lips. "He's really good at it, once you try and explain it in a way that he understands."

Pouncival stared at him with wide eyes and his jaw hanging wide open. "Can you help me study for the next test?" He asked. "I wanna get an A, too." 

Tumblebrutus smacked him on the arm. "Do your own homework, you lazy prick!"

Plato rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Well, that was very nice of you to do, Misto. Tugger's right, you're a really good friend." 

Mistoffelees blushed furiously and stared down at his bag. "Oh, shut up."

Tugger ran down the hallways, completely ignorant of the teachers reprimanding him for running in the hallways, and didn't stop until he reached his father's office and yanked the door open, with a wide grin on his face.

"Dad, I did it!" 

Old Deuteronomy looked up at the door. He had been having a conversation with Ms. Jennyanydots, the school nurse and one of the dance teachers, before he had been interrupted by his son. He looked very annoyed at having been interrupted. 

"Tugger, I'm the in the middle of a conversation with Jenny-" 

"No no, that's quite alright, Deuteronomy. It can wait a moment." Jennyanydots smiled and took a small step back. Jennyanydots had known Old Deuteronomy for years and her daughters were very close with his sons. She knew Tugger like he was her own son and knew what this was about. She had been told about the deal Tugger had made with his father and was confident it was about that.

Tugger ran up to the desk and showed off his test to his dad. "I did it dad! I passed and I got an A!"

Old Deuteronomy had to squint and take the test and bring it closer to his eyes so he could see properly, but after he had taken a good long look at it, his face burst out in a big smile and he got up from his chair and stretched out his arms.

"Oh Tugger, this is wonderful. I'm so proud of you!" Tugger threw himself into his father's arms, nuzzling his face into his warm fur like he was still a little kitten. And yes, it had felt amazing to have passed the test with an A, it felt even better to hear that his dad was proud of him. 

It all made this whole week of studying and hard work worth it.

"Thanks, dad." He whispered, feeling his dad nuzzle his ears. Then Old Deuteronomy gently pushed him away, holding him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"You've done fantastic work this week, son. I do hope you keep it up, now that you see that you are capable of getting better grades."

Tugger nodded into his dad's fur. "I will, dad. Thanks." Then he bit his lip and glanced up at his father with a hopeful look in his eyes. "So... does this mean I get to perform at the party next month?" He knew he had fulfilled his end of the bargain, but he still wanted to hear it from his dad's mouth. Just to be safe.

Old Deuteronomy smiled warmly at his son and nodded. "Yes. It does." But then he got serious again. "But remember, I still mean what I said before. I want you to maintain your grades above a C in the future, or I will follow through with not allowing you to perform."

Tugger nodded, only barely hearing his father and smiled widely. "Yes, yes, I promise!" He surged forward again and hugged him tightly. "Thanks dad, I love you!"

He then let go of his father and turned to leave, then he remembered himself and turned to Jennyanydots, who was also smiling warmly and proudly at him. "And, um, I'm sorry for interrupting you Jenny."

But Jennyanydots just smiled, took his face in her paws and kissed his cheek, as she had done so many times before, even though he was so much taller than her now and he had to bend down a little so she could reach. "Oh, it's quite alright, my dear. I know you've worked hard on this, so I can cut you a little slack." Then she winked playfully at him. "This time."

He laughed and hugged her. "Thanks Jenny." Then he turned to leave the room, closing the door behind him and hurried off to his next class. 

Old Deuteronomy smiled at the door after his son had closed it before turning to Jennyanydots, who was smiling gently at him. "Well, I must say I'm quite surprised. I've always known Tugger was bright, but I'm glad he's actually started to put in some effort in his work."

Old Deuteronomy chuckled and started reorganizing the papers on his desk. "Well, we have tried our best to help him learn, but perhaps he needed help from someone else. Someone with the ability to get through to him in a way we can't."

"You're thinking of Mistoffelees, aren't you?" Jennyanydots asked, one eyebrow raised a cheeky smile on her face. "He's a very bright and intelligent boy. And Tugger is very clearly attached to him. I've seen them together a lot over this week, they have clearly been studying together."

Old Deuteronomy smiled and nodded. "Yes, I believe they will be good for each other. Mistoffelees is still learning to come out of his shell and to be more comfortable here and with his new classes. And Tugger needs someone who can ground him and keep his head on his shoulders instead of in the clouds."

He, of course, hadn't mentioned anything about Mistoffelees' magic to Jennyanydots. It wasn't his secret to tell and he'd promised his father it would remain a secret. Of course he wouldn't have needed to promise anything, he would never tell a soul without Mistoffelees' explicit permission, but the point still stood. And he knew that if any cat would support and praise his magic, it was Tugger. Despite his less than pleasant memories with his older brother and his magic, Tugger had always been fascinated by magic and thought it was, to quote his son, so cool that there were cats out there in the world who could do actual, literal magic.

This warmed Old Deuteronomy's heart. He had feared that Tugger and Munkustrap would start to hate magic cats, or at least fear them because of their trauma. And while Munkustrap was a little weary of the subject, he was not hateful or blamed magic for driving their brother insane. Tugger on the other hand, had always been amazed by magic and had wished when he was younger that he could have been born a magic cat or at least know someone else who could do magic. Not just his estranged older brother who no one had seen or heard from in eight years.

No, Old Deuteronomy wouldn't reveal Mistoffelees' secret. Of course he wouldn't. But he was certain that if Mistoffelees ever did decide to tell Tugger about his magic, he would gain himself a life-long friend, a supportive rock to cling to and an admirer of all the beautiful and magical things he could do. 

And of course Mistoffelees was just the kind of friend he had wished for Tugger for years. Tugger had a lot of friends, but a lot of those friends bordered on being admirers, and that was not the same thing. He had Bombalurina, of course, they had known each other since they were very, very young and saw each other as siblings by this age. And considering how strained his relationship was with his brother, it was probably better than nothing, but he still worried that Tugger was lonelier than he let on. That he played up his Rum Tum Tugger persona so much that he never let anyone get to know the real Tugger.

But Mistoffelees had made it clear from the start that he didn't much care for the Rum Tum Tugger, but had grown to like Tugger. And he was happy to see that Mistoffelees' calmer, kind yet snarky personality had had a good impact on Tugger. He still had ways to go, to learn to open up and let himself feel and live in a way he hadn't let himself do in years, but he was definitely a grounding and level-headed presence for Tugger and he was happy for that.

He smiled softly to himself. Yes, they were good for each other.

Tugger had a hard time focusing on anything for the rest of that school day. All he could think about was how he had gotten A on his test and it gave him such a dopamine rush. And it was also so incredibly satisfying to show off his test to Bombalurina and see her jaw drop and her eyes widen when she saw the A- on the top of the page.

"Wow, I can't believe it. That's amazing Tugger, great work. And Mistoffelees, you truly are a miracle worker." She had said at lunch today, and even though it had annoyed him a little that she had praised Mistoffelees for 'giving him a brain' rather than acknowledge that he was smart on his own, he was also happy for her compliments. 

He really couldn't wait until he got home and could shove his test in Munkustrap's face. And throw his words of being lazy, unfocused and dumb back in his face as well.

"So, what are we doing today?" He asked as he and Mistoffelees exited the last class for the day and made to collect their things and go home for the day.

Mistoffelees looked up from his bag and looked a little confused. "Doing? What do you mean?" 

Tugger turned to him with a wide smile. "Aw come on, it's the weekend! And you've helped me study and score an A! We have to celebrate this." Then he paused and looked a little uncertain. "Unless, of course, you have plans for the afternoon?"

Mistoffelees shook his head. "No, I don't. I mean," He rolled his eyes and looked a little annoyed. "Father is throwing a dinner party for a few friends tomorrow, which means a full day of putting up with his stuck-up, snobby friends and being on our best behavior. And every Sunday after that I tend to have a lazy day, so I can recover from them. Those dinner parties tend to take a lot out of me."

He didn't mention how he tended to spend those evenings taking back-handed insult after back-handed insult from those cats, had to give minimal answers to their questions about him because his father demanded it and also being forced to hearing them gush over Victoria and how lovely, charming and delightful she was and forget about him for the rest of the evening, until he was finally excused from the table. 

Unless, of course, his father's friends wanted them to dance for them. 

He sighed and turned to Tugger with a resigned smile. "So unfortunately I can't spend any time with you Satuday or Sunday, but today I'm free."

Tugger tried his hardest to swallow down his disappointment and grinned, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. 

"Great! We can go to my place if you want? We've been at your house and at the café for the last few days, so we can go to my house. We'll have the house to ourselves because dad is working late and Straps is working after school." 

Mistoffelees smiled and nodded and so they turned to walk out the school and towards the Deuteronomy estate. It wasn't a long walk, about twenty minutes, and once they got there Tugger was relieved to see that the car was already gone. Good, that meant that Munkustrap had already left for work. 

As they only had one car at the moment, Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap had to share it, which worked very well for the most part. Old Deuteronomy didn't need to drive to work and he liked walking home, but the store where Munkustrap worked was further into town and it was easier to drive. 

And now, since he had already left, that meant they wouldn't have any unpleasant encounters in front of Mistoffelees. Which was quite the relief.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home!" Tugger said as he opened the door for Mistoffeelees before shrugging off his jacket and kicking off his boots. "It's no Buckingham Palace or a mansion, but it's home."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes as he took off his jacket and shoes and neatly placed them next to other pairs of shoes. "I told you, it's not a mansion. We just live in a big house."

Tugger shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that, but it's definitely a mansion. Which tracks, considering your dad's a millionaire."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and then took a better look around the hallway. Their house was big, clean and looked very nice, but it was also nowhere near as fancy as his own home was. But in a way it looked nicer, more homey and lived in than his own huge house with way too much space and empty possessions. This house felt lived in and had a certain personality that he'd never felt from a house before. 

It was very nice, very homey and cozy.

Tugger placed an arm around Mistoffelees' shoulders and led him further into the house, towards the stairs that led to the basement. "Let's go down here. I keep most of my stuff down in the basement anyway."

Mistoffelees frowned and looked up at him, shrugging off his arm without really thinking about it. "The basement?" 

Tugger winked secretively and just gestured towards the stairs. "You'll see." Was all he said before they started walking down the stairs. 

Mistoffelees' first impression of the basement was that it was cleaner than he had thought it would be. It was a little messy, sure, with some things just lying about in the open like they had been tossed and left there. But it was definitely not the Man Cave that he had expected.

'There you go, judging him again.' He chided himself and he felt a little bad, but that was forgotten as he got a closer look around the room.

There were a lot of instruments in the room. There was a drum set by one wall and a keyboard by the opposite wall, with several notebooks and books with chords and notes on the music holder. By another wall there were two acoustic and one electric guitar and a base on a rock stand and a pair of bagpipes clothed in red tartan on a smaller instrument stand. There was also a large speaker and a microphone on a stand by the rock stand. 

It was mostly instruments, but there was also an old, ratty second hand couch and a coffee table in the middle of the room, a desk by the wall and a small mini-fridge plugged in by the wall. Mistoffelees gawked around the room at all the equipment and things. 

"All of this is yours?" Tugger nodded and walked across the room, tossing his bag down on the couch before spreading out his arms, gesturing to the whole room.

"Yup. This is mine. I got the basement as a birthday gift last year, so dad and Straps would get some peace and quiet whenever I wanted to practice." He snorted and shrugged. "Especially after I started learning to play the bagpipes. Everlasting, I thought Munkustrap was going to tear his fur out." 

He glanced around the room and smiled softly at it all. "It was for the best for everyone really. They get the peace and quiet they want and I get a whole room for all my instruments and music all to myself. Best birthday gift ever ."

Mistoffelees eyed all the instruments and equipment, gently drawing his fingers over the keyboard, gently drawing his fingers over the keys. "But all of this must have cost a fortune! All these instruments and equipment, how did you afford all of it?"

Tugger shrugged and sat down on the back of the couch, smiling proudly as Mistoffelees examined his stuff. He took a lot of pride in his equipment and instruments and was happy whenever someone acknowledged it. 

"Yup. Took a lot of time to save up for all of this. Yeah, some of this I got for my birthdays or Christmas, but other things I had to save up for for months. Or I ran around doing chores and work for neighbors, family and friends to get money." He shrugged and looked over at his drum-set and guitars. "And yeah, some of it is second hand, but it's still good stuff. But I've also been trying to get a part-time job, like Straps, so I can get some even better stuff."

Mistoffelees turned around to stare at Tugger, his mouth hanging open. "Tugger, that's amazing! You've saved for all this on your own?" 

Tugger grinned wryly and looked around the room again. "Well, not all of it. I got my first proper guitar as a birthday gift when I turned 10, as well as my electric one when I turned 11. The keyboard and drum set were Christmas gifts and the bagpipes are technically still school property, but I'm saving up for a pair of my own."

He grimaced and then tilted his head back and forth. "Well, I mean I will. Right now I'm saving up for a small mixer table. Now whenever I write my songs and I wanna work on them, I have to do it at school. You know, add instruments, effects or other producing stuff. It'd be great to do it at home so I wouldn't have to do it all during school hours. But then again, they have really good equipment."

He got up from the couch and walked over to the mini-fridge, opened it and grabbed a can of soda before grabbing a second one, gesturing at Mistoffelees with it. "You want one?" Mistoffelees nodded and accepted the soda. 

"But still. Even if you got it second hand and some of them are gifts, saving up for all of this is amazing." And suddenly he felt incredibly spoiled in comparison to Tugger, as his allowance was pretty high and his father paid for a lot of his things. He couldn't imagine saving for months or getting a part-time job to get himself a new pair of dance shoes or books. Yes, his father had done a good job teaching him the value of hard work and to not throw away all of his money on things he didn't need, but he rarely needed to save for long periods of time to get anything. 

Tugger had made jokes about him and his family being part of the one percent, but suddenly he felt like that was closer to the truth than he wanted it to be. 

He took a sip of soda and sat down on the couch, placing his bag by his feet. "So, now that you're free to perform for the party, what are your plans? Got everything ready to go?"

Tugger smirked and grabbed one of his many notebooks and started flipping through it. "Well, almost. I've been working on a new song for the last few weeks, and I've been thinking about performing it in the show. If I can finish it in time, that is." He grimaced as he looked over the notes, chords and words. "The lyrics are giving me a bit of trouble. I've got the verse down, but the chorus is eluding me." 

"Oh, how come?" Mistoffelees asked, raising his soda to his lips to drink. He was still very new to the world of music, but Tugger was clearly good at it and the little he had heard of his music was also very good. 

"Eeh, I don't know." Tugger groaned and pulled his fingers through his mane as he glared at the pages in his notebook. "Maybe because I don't tend to write too many slow songs, so maybe that's it? Or just these kinds of songs in general."

"These kinds of songs?" Mistoffelees asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. Tugger shrugged and gestured with one paw in the air. 

"Well, you know, I-want-songs. Inspirational, The World is My Oyster, Dreams Are There For The Taking kind of songs." He grimaced and shrugged. "It's not really my style, but I do write the occasional one. But this one is giving me trouble."

Mistoffelees shifted a little on the couch before pointing to the notebook. "Do you mind if I hear you playing? Maybe I can help? I know I'm new to music, but I've read poetry before, so maybe I can help with ideas."

Tugger looked at him, a little surprised, then smiled and walked over to the keyboard, sitting down behind it and propped up the notebook in front of himself so he could read the notes.  "Sure. I'm always open for an audience." 

Mistoffelees snorted and rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything as Tugger played. The melody was soft, gentle and very unlike all the rock 'n roll vibe that Tugger always seemed to emit. 

"I close my eyes and I can see, a world that's waiting up for me, that I call my own."  

His voice was also softer than he'd ever heard him, though it was quite lovely. Mistoffelees moved closer, smiling as he heard the music and singing.

"Through the dark, through the door, through where no one's been before, but it feels like home." 

Tugger glanced up from his playing to look over at Mistoffelees and smiled when he saw Mistoffelees' soft smile. Mistoffelees wasn't quite as vocal as him when it came to praise, but his expression was definitely enough to tell he liked it.

"They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy. They can say, they can say I've lost my mind. I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy. We can live in a world that we design."

After he played that, the pre-chorus Mistoffelees remembered it was called from music class, he went into the chorus but just hummed the melody rather than singing any words, as he didn't have any before going into the second verse. 

"There's a house we can build, every room inside is filled with things from far away. Special things I compile, each one there to make you smile on a rainy day."

After he played through the pre-chorus again, he stopped playing and looked over to Mistoffelees with a wry smile."That's about as far as I've got."

Mistoffelees smiled and applauded softly before getting up from the couch, walking over to stand next to him. 

"I like it. It's very nice." He looked over the notebook, over all the chords and notes and words written down before smiling at Tugger. "You're very good at that. Writing your own music and the like. I could never write my own music and make it sound that good."

Tugger grinned and shrugged. "Hey, don't say that. Who knows, you might sign up for singer-songwriter class next year or so." He grinned and looked back at the book. "I know I am. When I finally move onto sophomore year, I'm going to take my song-writing to the next level."

Mistoffelees smiled back and shook his head. "I don't know about that. I mean, I've written a little bit of poetry over the years, but it was never that good." Then he shrugged. "Although my English teachers always said I had a way with words, always very nicely written and beautiful to read."

He turned back to Tugger. "So, what do you usually do when you don't know how to find the right words. For your music, I mean."

Tugger grimaced again and picked up his notebook. "I don't know, usually it comes to me eventually. Just, something with the verse and everything just fits together, or you just play around with different versions, but in this case I've got nothing. At least nothing that sounds good or connects to what I've already written."

He grunted in frustration, slamming down his paws on the keys, making a loud and un-harmonic mess of notes. Then he took a deep breath and turned back to look at Mistoffelees. 

"Eh, it's not the end of the world if I don't get it finished in time for the party. I've got plenty of other songs I can play. Or I can just sing a cover of another song if I find a fitting one." Then he got a sullen look on his face and once again turned back to the notebook, resting his chin in his paw. "But still, it would be fun to perform something new at the party."

Mistoffelees smiled sympathetically at him, then looked back at the notebook. "Do you mind if I try?" 

The words were out of his mouth before he even realized he was thinking them, and he was a little surprised at himself for trying, since he had never written lyrics before. Tugger looked up, also a little surprised by the question. But he nodded and smiled gently.

"Uh, yeah, sure, if you'd like." He scooted over on his seat, leaving room for Mistoffelees to sit next to him. "Here, you can sit down. In case you need to see better." 

Mistoffelees hesitated for a moment. The stool was definitely big enough to fit two cats sitting next to each other, but it would still be very close to Tugger if he sat down. A little too close maybe. 

Then he swallowed and sat down next to him anyway, though making sure to leave at least two inches between them, just to be safe. He took a deep breath before he turned to Tugger and tried to smile as if he wasn't extremely nervous over how close they were now and hoped to death that Tugger didn't have the same magic-sensing gift that Old Deuteronomy seemed to possess. 

"Alright. Let's take it from the first verse."

And as Tugger started to play, Mistoffelees looked over the lyrics written and kept his eyes locked on the page as he began to sing.

"I close my eyes and I can see, a world that's waiting up for me, that I call my own. Through the dark, through the door, through where no one's been before. But it feels like home."

His voice was even softer than Tugger's had been before, mainly because he was not as experienced as a singer yet and kept holding back a little. It was something even their teacher, Jellylorum, had mentioned. That there was talent there, but that he needed to allow himself to feel the passion and use his muscles and body, not just his vocal chords when singing and he would definitely get better very soon. But he wasn't quite there yet. 

Still, he was on key, and did pretty well through the verse and pre-chorus, if a little bit weaker and softer than was strictly necessary. 

"They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy. They can say, they can say I've lost my mind. I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy. We can live in a world that we design."

Then, as he heard the music build up and they got closer to the chorus, something happened. He closed his eyes, suddenly emerged in the music and his brain seemed to go on auto-pilot.

"'Cause every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head.

A million dreams are keeping me awake."

Tugger blinked as he heard Mistoffelees singing, almost forgetting to keep playing. He stared at his friend, who didn't seem to be aware of the rest of the world at the moment. His eyes were closed and his head was swaying a bit in time with the music.

"I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see

A million dreams is all it's gonna take. A million dreams for the world we're gonna make."

Tugger slowed down his playing, eventually coming to a stop, and Mistoffelees blinked a little before fully opening his eyes and turned to look at Tugger. He blushed a little before smiling sheepishly. 

"Uh, sorry, I zoned out for a second. So, how was that?" Tugger just stared at him and he suddenly felt a little unsure. His ears drooped a little and he bit his lip. "Oh, that bad, huh?"

That startled Tugger out of his staring and he shook his head widely, lifting both paws from the keyboard, holding them up in front of himself. "No! No, no, no! That was great! Fantastic even! I really, really liked it."

Mistoffelees stared at him, a bit taken aback by the strong reaction and even jumped back a little at Tugger's loud voice. Then he slowly smiled at him. "Really? You liked it?"

"Absolutely! I love it!" Then he remembered himself. "Oh! I need to write it down." He flew up to find a pencil, taking the notebook with him, and hurried to write down what Mistoffelees had come up with. Then he remembered himself and looked up at Mistoffelees, looking a little sheepish.

"Um, you don't mind if I use these lyrics, right?" But Mistoffelees just shook his head with a smile and got up from the seat. 

"Not at all. You can use the lyrics if you like them, I don't mind. It's not like I'll find much use for them anyway." 

Tugger grinned and closed the book, putting his pen down. "You really are a life-saver, Misto. In more ways than one." After he put the book down, he grabbed his soda can to drink, before turning back to Mistoffelees. "Hey, by the way, what about you?" 

Mistoffelees frowned, confused, and grabbed his own soda can from the coffee table. "What about me?"

"Are you going to perform at the party? I would love to see you dance on stage again. You and Victoria were fantastic at the Showcase."

Mistoffelees bit his lip, unsure of what to say. He hadn't been thinking about performing at the party for the whole week. He'd been too busy helping Tugger study, as well as doing his own school work, and now that it came up he wasn't sure how to respond.

He shrugged and took a small sip from his soda. "I don't know. I mean it's already been a week at this point, and most cats have already paired up or sarted rehearsing their own acts by now. Tumblebrutus and Pouncival have paired up, so have Plato and Victoria and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are of course going to dance together too. And I don't think I'm ready to take to the stage all alone yet, so that's off the table."

He took another sip, suddenly feeling a little despondent. "And I know I have to get used to performing, since I go to a performing arts school now. But I don't want to be alone on stage yet. So since I don't have a dance partner, I probably have to skip this one."

Tugger frowned, feeling a little guilty about having monopolized his friend's time this whole week, even if it did help him get an A- on this test. Mistoffelees might have liked to dance with his friends for the party, or at least his sister. He would gladly have danced with him if he could, but there was no way he'd be able to match Mistoffelees' talent in less than a month. He was a good dancer, no doubt about it, but Mistoffelees was a fantastic dancer and he couldn't do half the things Mistoffelees could.

If it was singing or playing music then he might have been able to help but-

He froze as an idea struck him. Wait. But he could. He grinned widely and ran up to Mistoffelees. "I'll perform with you!" 

Mistoffelees jumped a little, surprised by the outburst, and stared at Tugger. "What?"

"You can sing with me!" He gestured wildly with his paws, splashing some soda on his paw but ignored it. 

"What are you on about?" Mistoffelees asked, very taken aback by this sudden burst of energy from Tugger, as well as a little confused.

"I mean it, we can sing together at the party! I have sung my entire life, I can help you with everything you need. Exercises, technique, harmonies, the whole nine yards. It'll be great!"

Mistoffelees stared at Tugger like he'd never seen him before. He couldn't be serious, could he? Sure, Mistoffelees knew he wasn't a bad singer and needed to get used to the stage, but this was a bit fast, wasn't it?

"Tugger, I appreciate that you want to help and all, but I've never sung on stage before. Everlasting, I've been singing for a little more than a month, there's no way I'll be as good as you in three weeks." 

Tugger waved him off. "I can help you with that. I'll teach you and help you with everything you need. If there's one thing I know how to do, it's performing. We'll do it all together. You get to improve your singing and get a higher grade and I'll get to perform like I've been wanting this whole week, it's a win-win!"

Mistoffelees was still just staring at him, incredulously. "But…" He said, glancing over at the notebook he had tossed aside. "But it's your song." He said, still very unsure. 

"It's our song now!" Tugger said. "You helped with it."

"I barely did anything." Mistoffelees protested, shaking his head.

"You helped with my lyrics, that's a very big help if you ask me. If nothing else, I'll give you a writing credit anyway, because you did help." Tugger said, waving off Mistoffelees' protest again like it was an annoying fly. 

Mistoffelees bit his lip and looked down at the floor. He could feel a light tingle in his paws and he swallowed hard. He felt torn, because while he knew that nothing bad was going to happen, the idea of not only being on stage with someone beside his sister was scary enough, but not even dancing on stage? He'd only been singing for a few weeks, he did not feel comfortable enough in his skills to sing in front of the whole school yet.

"I don't know…" He said lowly, gripping his paws and biting his lip nervously. 

Tugger, finally seeing how uncomfortable and unsure his friend felt, turned a little softer and placed his paw on his shoulder. "Look, Misto, you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm not going to force you to do anything. But I really think we could be great together, you and me. I'll be there the whole time, I'll teach you everything you need to learn and you'll sound great by the end of the month. I promise."

Mistoffelees glanced up at Tugger, his big blue eyes shining like sapphires under the light above them, which did make him look a lot more vulnerable. But there was also a very smile tugging at his lips. Tugger smiled back and squeezed his shoulder.

"Come on. It’s the least I can do after everything you've done to help me this week. You helped me get an A, so let me help you get one too. If you're worried about being on stage, you won't be alone. I'll be there with you the whole time."

Mistoffelees looked him in the eyes for a long minute, before letting out a small snort and he shook his head. 

Tugger had definitely gotten his convincing skills from his dad, because this conversation felt very familiar. 

He bit his lip and thought it over. He'd never really sung, not even in the shower, so the idea of singing on stage was very new as well as pretty scary. But the idea of dancing on stage had been equally as scary a month ago, and at least now it wasn't sprung on him at the last second. And, just like when he was dancing, he wouldn't be alone on stage. He'd danced with Victoria before, and now Tugger was offering to help him and sing with him.

It was strange and new and scary, but also felt… good. In a nice, warm kind of way.

'I must really be out of my mind to agree to this.'

His smile widened a little and took a deep breath before looking up at Tugger. "Alright, let's do it."

Tugger's smile widened. "Awesome!" He raised his arms to hug him, then caught himself and took a step back, lowering his arms with a sheepish smile. "Oh, uh, sorry. I know you don't like being touched, sorry."

Mistoffelees rolld his eyes and then took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he was about to say. "It's alright, I'm glad you remembered yourself." He didn't mention how Tugger had already hugged him twice today without asking him. He might have let Tugger him again, if not for those two hugs from earlier today. 

He had his limits, after all.

They walked over and sat down on the couch, talking about the song and how they might wanna sing it together. Tugger made a point of saying that, since it wasn't a very fast-paced song, they probably didn't need to do anything too crazy but that just standing perfectly still on stage wasn't very fun to look at either.

"I mean, it doesn't have to be some elaborate dance number or anything, but some simple choreography will definitely spice it up a little, you know?"

Mistoffelees bit his lip and swallowed, once again happy for the fact that he had perfected the art of hiding his true feelings, because he felt extremely nervous just talking about the party and the performance. 

"Shouldn't we think more about finishing the song and learning to sing it together before we start worrying about choreography and things like that?" He asked, sounding much calmer than he felt. He also secretly hoped that Tugger might take a few days to finish the whole song, if only to give him a little time to think about this and maybe be more at ease with the idea of singing with him.

But Tugger just waved him off with a big smile. "Eh, I'll probably have it finished by Monday or Tuesday. Now that I have a chorus down, I'm sure the rest will be a breeze." 

'Oh, great.' Mistoffelees smiled through his nervousness, and Tugger finally looked up long enough to realize that Mistoffelees wasn't quite on the same page as him at the moment and dialed back his enthusiasm a little.

"But I promise we won't go faster than what you're comfortable with. Of course we'll start practising the song together and go over the singing before we start doing anything else. I have to talk to the orchestra anyway, so they can learn the song and everything will be ready for the party, so you don't have to be scared."He smiled softly and placed his arm around Mistoffelees' shoulders. "And hey, if I ever do go too fast or you just feel nervous, scared or uncomfortable, just tell me. I don't want you to feel you have to do this for my sake, if you don't want to do something or have opinions of your own or whatever, just talk to me." 

And for once Mistoffelees' didn't shake off Tugger's arm from his shoulders. It was a warm, reassuring weight and it did ease his nerves a little. He snorted softly and smiled up at Tugger.

"Thanks, Tugger." Then he took a deep, somewhat shaky breath. "It's not that I don't want to do this, but…" He trailed off and bit his lip. "Well, I've never done this before and well, the idea of putting on this big, loud music number with singing and dancing feels…"

  "Too much?"

Mistoffelees lt out a small laugh and nodded. "A bit." 

And that wasn't even going into how upset his father would be if he found out that Mistoffelees was going to perform with someone who wasn't his sister. Because what if his secret was revealed? He would be furious when he found out.

"I get it." Tugger smiled and tightened his grip around Mistoffelees' shoulders. "And look, it won't be a big music number with singing and dancing anyway. It might be big, but the song is a ballad, it won't be loud and energetic unless we want it to be. At least not in that big, loud Broadway way you might be thinking of. Just you, me, a few strings and pianos and some simple choreography. And either way, we don't have to decide anything at this moment. We still have three weeks to practice and work something out."

Mistoffelees mulled it over and smiled at Tugger before gently shrugging off his arm. He felt a little better now, but his thoughts were still on his father. While he already knew that Victoria would dance at the party, as far as he knew, Mistoffelees would not. And what would he say when he learned that Mistoffelees would perform with Tugger?

That is… if he found out.

Mistoffelees' eyes widened slightly as he thought it over. Yes, that could work. If Mistoffelees just acted like he had no plans to perform with Tugger, his father would never know and wouldn't try to stop him or make a fuss over it or his magic.

After all, what father didn't know wouldn't kill him, right? 

By the time they had started to make a plan for rehearsals and how they wanted to do the song, it was getting late and Mistoffelees packed up his things to leave. 

"Dinner will be ready in half an hour," He said as he placed his bag over his shoulder. "I need to get home before my father gets cranky."

Tugger had stood up and was following him to the door. "Well, this wasn't quite the celebration for that A- that I had in mind, but we can always do that next week. We could go have lunch some day or something, if you'd want to."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and smiled. "Sure, that sounds nice."

As they headed towards the door, they bumped into Munkustrap, who was just coming home from his shift at the bookstore. "Oh, hello Mistoffelees." He said with a smile, though he looked very tired and a little disheveled. "I didn't expect to see you here. I wish I could've been home earlier to see you properly."

Mistoffelees smiled but Tugger just rolled his eyes, though he refrained from saying anything. He'd save his snarky comments for when he was asked about the test. Which came faster than he had expected, because as Munkustrap dropped his bag on the floor and took off his jacket, he turned to them both and asked, "So, how did you do on your math test?"

And before Mistoffelees could answer, Tugger piped up and threw his arm over Mistoffelees' shoulders. "Oh, we did great! We both got A's on our tests!" He took great pressure in sounding as smug as possible.

Munkustrap froze where he stood, on one knee and untying his shoes, then stared up at Tugger like he'd never seen him before. "... excuse me?" He eventually said after a long silence. 

Tugger smirked smugly and pulled the paper out of his pocket and handed it over to his brother. "Read 'em and weep." 

Munkustrap jerked the paper out of his paw and stood up again so he could look it over. His eyes widened as he looked it over, jaw dropping lower and lower with every passing second and then he looked up, looking completely gobsmacked. 

"Wow… you really- I mean, you actually…" He shook his head and swallowed. "Wow, well, congratulations Tugger. I'm… I'm really impressed." He said, sounding very surprised and unsure of what to say. Tugger enjoyed it so much, he kinda wished he had filmed the whole thing, because it felt so good to see his brother so shocked and speechless.

"Why thank you, Straps." He said, his voice still dripping with smugness, and Mistoffelees rolled his eyes at his friend. He'd put on his jacket and shoes and was ready to leave.

"Well, I'll see you on Monday Tugger." He turned to Munkustrap with a smile and waved. "It was nice to see you, Munkustrap." 

Tugger, momentarily forgetting about his brother, turned towards the door and waved at Mistoffelees. "Bye Misto, see you on Monday. And thanks again for all your help." Mistoffelees just smiled, waved again and left the house.

After the door had closed, Tugger turned to walk back towards the basement when he heard Munkustrap call after him. "Tugger?" He turned to look at his brother, the test still in his paw and looked a little lost. "You… you said that Mistoffelees helped you study, right?"

Tugger nodded, keeping his face as blank as possible because he wasn't quite sure what Munkustrap wanted to say yet, so he wasn't sure if he should be angry or smug or whatever.

But Munkustrap only looked at the door, as if he could still see Mistoffelees standing there, then turned back to Tugger again. "And he said he was sure you'd get an A? And helped you study for this test every day?"

Tugger grinned and walked back to his brother to take his test back. "Yup, he did. He also said that I was smart and learned very quickly, considering we only had a week to study." 

Munkstrap stared at him, still looking very shocked and then smiled a very small, weak smile. "Well, that was very nice of him." He said. "You're lucky he started to like you enough to agree to help you study."

Tugger's smug grin faltered a bit when he heard that last bit, but chose not to remark on it. He was in such a good mood from today and he didn't want to ruin it with another fight. He just shrugged and then headed back towards the stairs. "What can I say? I've got a good eye for making good friends." 

And as he headed down the stairs, he glanced down at the test in his paw and smiled down at the A- on it. 

'Yup. Definitely my best friend.'

Chapter Text

Mistoffelees was standing in the hallway, by the lockers, and with his back against the wall. And in front of him was every single student in the school, either looking at him in fear or with hatred in their expressions. 

"Please, please just leave me alone- just get away-" He raised his paws in to protect himself, but as he did he accidentally released a ball of sparkles and lightning from both paws and it flew towards the the students in front of him, who only barely managed to duck before the lockers behind them blew up, leaving a scored, smoking mess with papers and books burning. 

Tugger stared at the burned lockers in horror before he turned to Mistoffelees, fear turning to hatred as he pointed at him, not a trace of that comradery or friendliness that he had gotten used to over the last month. 

"You lied to us! You're not supposed to be here, you're a freak! A monster!"

Mistoffelees tried to back away, but just backed right into the wall, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at Tugger as he felt his heart break in his chest. 

"No… no, Tugger, I didn't… you said we were friends." 

Tugger shook his head with disgust. "We're not friends. Not anymore. I could never be friends with someone who's like Macavity!"

And if Mistoffelees' heart hadn't broken earlier, it would have when he heard that. His ears folded back and he had tears streaming down his face as he shook his head. "No, I'm not Macavity! Please, I'm not Macavity, you have to believe me!" 

Old Deuteronomy stepped forward, placing one protective arm around Tugger and pushed him back and leveled Mistoffelees with a glare. "Get out of my school, this instant. I will not have anyone hurting my students."

Mistoffelees flew up from his pillow with a scream lodged in his throat, his heart racing in his chest as he panted heavily. Sweat soaking his fur and his mind still racing with the images from his nightmare. He sat up in his bed, his paws clenching his covers as swallowed hard and tried to calm his breathing. 

It was just a nightmare, nothing more. Just a dream, it wasn't real. It was just a dream, it wasn't real.

But even as he tried to convince himself of this, he could still hear his classmates' voices in his head, echoing in his memory.

'Freak!'

'Monster!

'You're just like Macavity!'

'Get away from him, he's dangerous!' 

Tears filled Mistoffelees' eyes, his stomach was clenching and tried to focus on his breathing.

'I will not cry, I'm fine. It was only a nightmare, I'm fine. Everything's fine, I'm-'

A strong wave of nausea hit him hard, even as he tried to calm down breathing and racing heart, and he was both sweaty and shivering at the same time. He flew up from his bed and rushed off towards the bathroom, only barely managing to yank the door open and run inside before he had to throw himself down on the floor by the toilet and vomit. His stomach cramped and his throat burned as his dinner made its way back up and into the toilet bowl while he was choking on his breath and tears blurred his vision and soaked his already damp fur. 

Finally, once his stomach was emptied and had finally settled, he sank down on the floor, panting and spitting one last time into the toilet before flushing. He leaned back against the cool tile wall, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. He wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in his knees, finally allowing himself to cry. 

He and Victoria had their own separate bathrooms, which were connected to their bedrooms. This had been quite a blessing for the two of them, because it allowed them their own space to shower, brush their teeth and get ready in the mornings. And in situations like these, Mistoffelees was extremely grateful for this, because it meant that no one could hear him throwing up and crying on the bathroom floor like a little kid. 

Mistoffelees really didn't want to deal with his sister, even though he knew that she would no doubt want to help him. Which made him feel bad for shutting her out, but not as bad as he probably should. Which in turn just made him feel worse altogether. But it was true. Victoria was a lovely, wonderful person and he loved her very much and he didn't want to burden her with even more of his issues, especially not in the middle of the night after he'd just had a panic attack brought on by nightmares.

All of his life he'd been dragging her down with his problems, issues and powers and even though he was now going to a new school and was starting to feel better and less reliant on her, she was still always ready to drop everything to help and look after him. Besides, she'd been so happy ever since Plato had asked her to dance with him at the party and he didn't want to ruin that. She deserved to be happy and not to be burdened by her brother's issues. 

He sobbed shakely and tried to wipe his eyes on his sleeves, but it was a pointless attempt because more just came immediately after. Victoria truly deserved a better brother than him, that was for sure. Someone who wasn't so weak, fragile and pathetic- not to mention a freak of nature. But he was very happy to have her, since he couldn't exactly go to his father about this. He had never been able to talk with his father about anything, not even school work, so why would nightmares and panic attacks be any different?

While he could say that it was because he and his father had never been close and that he'd always been fiercely independent and hadn't needed help from his father for years, the ugly truth was that he didn't trust his father. That he couldn't know for sure that his father would tell him everything would be okay, would take him in his arms and cradle him like when he was a little kitten and would tell him that he loved him very much and would always be there for him. He hadn't done any of that since Mistoffelees was seven years old, so why would he start now?

Still crying and sobbing so hard it shook his whole body, Mistoffelees slowly crawled up to his feet to rinse his mouth and brush his teeth before he stumbled out of the bathroom and back to his bedroom, still heaving with sobs but trying to cover his mouth with his paw to stifle the worst of it. He certainly didn't want to wake anyone with his stupid crying. 

It wasn't often that he woke up after a nightmare or had a panic attack in the middle of the night, but whenever it did happen, his response was always to take a warm shower, take a cup of calming tea and put some music or audio book on his phone to get his mind off his anxiety. But tonight, he just crawled back into bed, pulled the covers tightly around himself and just leaned back against the headrest, pressing his mouth against his knees to muffle his crying. 

'Freak!'

'Monster!

'You're just like Macavity!'

'Get away from him, he's dangerous!'

A small whimper escaped his lips and he clenched his arms so tightly, his claws dug into his skin and drew little blood. The images of classmates looking at him in terror, distrust and fear was now seared in his memory and he just couldn't distract himself from it. And now, after a month of going to Jellicle Arts and finally having started to see them as his friends, the very thought of them fearing or hating him was a real punch in the stomach and his heart.

'You're letting yourself forget what you are.' A small but powerful voice in his head chided him. 'You're forgetting that this is your reality. Even if Tugger and the others truly like you and see you as their friend, that will go away instantly if they ever learn what you are. And you know that. '

He looked up, eyes still blurry with tears, and raised his paws to look at them. His paws were shaking and sparkles were dancing over his fingers and palms. It was terrifying to even consider how much power he truly possessed and just how much that power could truly destroy his life if anyone ever learned about what he could do.

Just look at what happened to Macavity.

He leaned over to his bedside table and opened one of the drawers, pulling out a pair of soft, black gloves that he slipped over his paws while still sobbing as tears blurred his vision. His father had given him a pair of gloves when he was eight, in an attempt to help Mistoffelees 'keep the magic inside' as he phrased it. And he had made a habit of wearing them everywhere for years, and no one ever thought too much about it, as they were black and blended seamlessly into his fur that no one ever noticed the gloves. As he got older and got better control over his powers-especially now after his lessons with Old Deuteronomy- he stopped wearing them as much as it wasn't necessary anymore. But every now and again, like after having a tough day or a panic attack, he liked to wear them to calm himself and his magic down. 

'Some kittens had stuffed animals or blankets. I have a pair of silk gloves.' Mistoffelees thought self-deprecatingly to himself. But even though he was sure it was mostly in his head, he felt that the gloves really did help him not lose control over himself and his magic.

And even though he had started to learn to ignore that voice in his head, the sad and bitter truth of the matter was that he could never be like the other cats in his class, the rest of the school or the world. Well, aside from a small percentage of cats that had also been cursed at birth, just like him. And the equally sad truth was that his friends at school would mostly likely turn their backs on him the second they learned that he had magic powers. Even Tugger would.

He took a deep breath, trying to reign in his emotions and turn on his logical and practical mindset. Yes, he would never be like his friends and they would immediately turn away if they ever learned about his magic, that much was true. Which was why no one could ever, ever , learn about his powers and what he really was. 

Which was made all the more difficult now that Tugger had decided that he was his best friend and was hanging after him like a pollicle after a bone. It was hard, practically impossible, to shake him off. And if Mistoffelees was quite honest with himself, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to. Yes, Tugger could be annoying, too much and too loud and there were times Mistoffelees really wanted to smack him. But he was also kind, supportive and had proven to be so much more than Mistoffelees had thought he was when they first met. He was a good friend and Mistoffelees didn't really want him to leave him alone, despite all the things he did that rubbed him the wrong way. 

It was hard to admit to himself, as he sat crying in his bed alone in his room with only his thoughts for company, but it was true. 

He'd spent so many years alone, telling himself that he was better off alone and that it was better for everyone around him to stay away from him. So now that he had cats around him that called him their friend and seemed to genuinely like him for who he was and he liked them back, he didn't want that to go away. But he wasn't sure what other choice he had but to keep them at arm's length and never let them see who he was under the facade. 

But now he had agreed to sing with Tugger at the Anniversary Party next month, and he wasn't sure he could back out. So Mistoffelees had to be very, very cautious. Much more cautious than he had been before. He had to make sure that Tugger would never know about his magic, never give any reason for Tugger to think that he was anything more than a normal cat. Nobody could ever know, or his life would be over, forever. 

The following morning, Mistoffelees was quietly sitting at the breakfast table and slowly eating his breakfast. He had also made himself a large cup of coffee to go along with his oatmeal, which he'd practically gulped down before getting himself a second one. 

This alone would have been reason enough for his father and sister to raise their eyebrows and be concerned, since Mistoffelees rarely ever drank coffee. But the fact that he was barely saying anything, just humming in response to everything Victoria was saying, which was strangely different from how he'd acted over the last month.

Sure, Mistoffelees had never been an active talker or had boundless energy, that has always been Victoria. But this was very quiet and still, even for him. It was worrying them both to say the least.

Meanwhile, Mistoffelees was both exhausted and emotionally drained. He'd been awake for hours after his nightmare, unable to go back to sleep and now the lack of sleep was hitting him like a ton of bricks. But at the same time, the images from his nightmares refused to leave his brain. 

His brain felt like a swamp full of sludge, his thoughts were slow and heavy, and his body felt heavy like lead. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive the school day on less than five hours of sleep, but if he had to drink even more coffee to feel like a normal person and get through school without falling asleep in class, then he would.

"Mistoffelees, son, are you alright?" Mistoffelees looked up at his father and he suddenly looked as close to being concerned that Mistoffelees had ever seen him. "You've barely touched your food." 

Mistoffelees shrugged and tried to smile, despite how all of his facial muscles felt like they were made of lead. "I'm fine." He said and took another sip of his coffee. "I just… didn't sleep very well last night."

Victoria looked him over with a suspicious frown, but she didn't say anything. She'd been a bit distracted this whole week, since she'd been spending so much time with Plato, but she had seen how much more relaxed and at ease her brother had been this whole week. So to see him having retreated back into his shell and barely saying anything at all was worrying her. And clearly their father was concerned too, even if he didn't show it very well.  

But apparently his words had put a fire under Mistoffelees, because he quickly finished his breakfast before he grabbed his cup of coffee and hurried upstairs to get ready. Victoria wondered whether or not she should follow him and make sure he was okay, but before she could decide, her father placed his paw on her arm and smiled softly at her.

"You shouldn't worry so much, Victoria. He's just a little tired. You know how he gets after too many impressions, he's probably just a little drained of energy. This has all been very new for him, all he needs is some time to recover."

Victoria did not feel convinced. She knew her brother very well, better than most, even their own father. Especially their own father. She felt like he didn't know his own son at all. And Mistoffelees was clearly bothered by something, and she wanted to know what so she could help him. But perhaps her father was right, that he might need a little space. If she started pushing him for an answer right now, he would only clam up even more and refuse to talk to her. So maybe she should give him a little time and if he didn't come to her or relax more over the day, she would talk to him after school.

She nodded with a small smile at her father, then got up from her seat to leave her plate in the kitchen before hurrying up the stairs to get ready.

Meanwhile, in his bathroom, Mistoffelees was standing in front of his mirror and trying to breathe deeply to calm his nerves and get the horrifying images from his nightmares out of his head. He took a deep, shaky breath before raising his head and looked himself in the eyes.

"You're fine, Mistoffelees. You're fine . No one will ever know, no one will ever see. Conceal yourself, hide yourself. Don't let them see your weakness and no one will ever know." He swallowed and let out a huff before slowly walking out of the bathroom and grabbed his school bag, ready to go.

Victoria was waiting outside of his door, leaning against the wall, but stood up to greet him as he walked through the door. Despite the cold and grey autumn weather, she was still dressed in warm and bright colors, a pair of pale blue jeans and an oversized sweater that shifted from turquoise to bubblegum pink. 

"Are you ready to go, Misto?" Her small smile froze when she saw that he was dressed very similarly to how he used to dress a month ago, white button-up, black blazer and black jeans and a bow-tie around his neck. He looked very much like how he used to before going to Jellicle Arts and she had to bite the inside of her cheeks so he wouldn't see how disappointed she was. But in her head she was asking a million questions.

'What is going on?'

'Did something happen on Friday that he didn't tell me?'

'Why is he retreating back in his shell?'

'He's been doing fine for weeks, why the sudden change in attitude?'

But she just kept smiling, hoping he wouldn't catch onto what she was thinking. And even though he smiled at her as he looked up, she could see that his eyes were dull and didn't have that small spark that she'd gotten used to seeing.

"Yeah, let's go."

On their way to school, Mistoffelees was even more distant and barely even spoke. Which was not completely out of the ordinary, but it was still a bit disheartening to see him so unemotional and disconnected from the world. Especially after having seen him being more happy and at ease for weeks. And maybe it was just her and her general dislike for autumn weather, but somehow the colder wind and grey London sky really seemed to make him look miserable. Especially as it started to drizzle around them. 

"Misto, bro," He turned to her, blinking a few times as he woke up from his deep thinking. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem a bit…" She trailed off as she searched for the right word, swallowing nervously when she saw him raise an eyebrow at her. "a bit under the weather today." She eventually settled with. 

Mistoffelees tried to smile, but he still looked tired and yet somehow tense and on-guard at the same time. "I'm fine, Tori, honest. I just didn't get much sleep last night. You know how I get when I stay up late reading all night. I'll be okay." He reached out his paw and patted her on the shoulder before starting to walk again, biting his lip and digging his claws into his palms as he felt the guilt rising in his chest. He hated lying to Victoria, but he tried to reassure himself that it was for the best. He couldn't ruin her happiness of dancing with Plato and just having a good life. He just needed to find ways to deal with his issues on his own and let her be happy.

The hallway was packed with students as they entered the school and Victoria was quickly distracted by Plato and hurried over to talk to him, though she did glance over her shoulder at Mistoffelees as he walked over to his own locker, feeling concerned for her brother.

Mistoffelees' opened his locker, left a few books and picked a few others, before closing his locker and leaning his forehead against the cool metal. He was dead-tired, and his lack of energy was slowly becoming crankiness and irritation, especially at the other cats around him despite them barely noticing he was there.

He yawned widely and made his way over to the tom's bathroom and splashed some cold water in his face, hoping it would help wake him up. And thankfully the bathroom was empty, which helped him feel less like an idiot to stand by one of the hand basins throwing water in his face like people only did in movies.

He took a deep breath with water still dripping from his fur, then grabbed a handful of hand towels and started drying his face. He took another breath and then looked at himself in the mirror. And while his face looked pretty blank and free of emotion, an art he'd long since mastered, his brain was running rampant with nasty memories.

'Freak!'

'Monster!

'You're just like Macavity!'

'Get away from him, he's dangerous!' 

He swallowed hard and straightened up, shoulders back and chin raised and steeled himself.

'Posture is very important to a proper cat, son.' His father's voice echoed in his mind. 'No slouching and no fidgeting. If you want others to respect you, you need to look respectful.'

Mistoffelees looked himself in the eye through the mirror and exhaled softly before fixing his fur to look a bit more presentable and not like he just got out of the shower. He took several deep breaths, all the way down to his stomach, to try and ease the anxiety and repeated the same mantra to himself, over and over, under his breath.

"Conceal yourself, hide yourself. Don't let them see your weakness and no one will ever know. Conceal yourself, hide yourself. Don't let them see your weakness and no one will ever know."

He was startled out of his thoughts as he heard the bell ring and he realized that class would start any minute and he would soon be late. He cursed to himself for forgetting the time, quickly snatched his bag off the floor and started running towards the classroom.

By the time Mistoffelees made it to Gus' classroom everyone else had found their seats and Gus was writing something on the whiteboard, preparing for today's lesson. He turned to look over his shoulder and smiled at Mistoffelees. "Ah, there you are Mistoffelees. You're just in time, class is just about to start."

A few heads turned to look as he hurried into the classroom but he ignored them, keeping his head down as he walked over to the one chair that was still free and sat down.

Well, he would have, but before he could sit, the chair was yanked out from under him at the last second and he fell to the floor with a small yelp of surprise and pain as he landed on his tail. A few snickers were heard and a sickenly sweet and patronizing voice was heard above him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. That was an accident, I swear." 

Mistoffelees groaned inwards, biting down on his tongue and had to close his eyes and count to ten so he wouldn't lose his temper. He looked up and saw Amaryl sitting in the chair right behind his, with Lily and Rose sitting beside her. Amaryl had hooked her foot around one of the chair legs and pulled it back just as he was about to sit.

'Just my luck, isn't it? Couldn't have one good thing happen to me this morning, could I?'  

A few other cats around them were also snickering while others looked either annoyed or angry at her. Victoria was glaring daggers at Amaryl and would probably have marched over to her a piece of her mind, if not for Plato's paw on her arm. Though he also looked at Amaryl like he had just been served a tall glass of lemon juice. 

"Real mature, Amaryl. Last I checked this was a high school, not a kindergarten." Bombalurina muttered from another corner of the classroom and Tugger was also glaring over at Amaryl like he wanted to do something stupid, but held himself back from actually doing it. 

Or maybe Bombalurina was the one holding him back, that seemed more plausible.

Though that didn't stop him from talking. "Seriously, don't you have anything better to do than picking on cats smaller and younger than you? Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Mistoffelees bit down on the insides of his cheeks, trying not to feel offended at being called young and small.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, who were sitting a few rows behind Amaryl, were snickering into their paws, obviously trying to be quiet but failed miserably. 

"It was kinda funny…" Mungojerrie whispered to his sister and she nodded, but both of them stopped immediately when Victoria turned to glare at them both. Her usually bright eyes were now dark like storm clouds and Mistoffelees could almost hear the lighting strike as she gave them a look that promised pain if they kept laughing. 

Gus turned around, now looking a little annoyed, and raised his paws and voice to be heard. "Alright, alright that's enough, settle down."

By this time, Mistoffelees had gotten up on his feet and dusted himself off before turning back to his chair. Amaryl still had her foot hooked around the leg, and if he wasn't already in such a bad mood he probably wouldn't have dared to say and do what he did. 

He grabbed the back of the chair tightly with one paw and yanked it forward to free it from Amaryl's grip. She flew forward but managed to stay in the chair, thanks to Lily grabbing onto her shoulder and pulling her back before she fell. Amaryl looked shocked but Mistoffelees didn't even spare her a glance as he pulled the chair back to its original spot and placed his bag down by his feet. But before he sat down, he raised his head and looked Amaryl dead in the eye, keeping his face and voice as blank as possible.

"If you would be so kind as to keep your mouth and legs closed in the future, that would be lovely." 

The classroom became dead silent, but Mistoffelees just pretended like he didn't notice and just turned around and took his seat. Jemima, who was sitting next to him, was covering her mouth with both paws and her eyes were wide, though Mistoffelees wasn't sure if she was shocked or trying to suppress laughter. 

Amaryl stared at Mistoffelees with wide eyes and her jaw practically hitting the floor. But before she could start screaming or make a scene, Gus raised his voice even more, making every cat in the room look up at him.

"Alright, that is enough! I am trying to teach a class for teenagers, not three year olds. Now, Amaryl stop picking on your classmates or you'll have to report to the principal. And Mistoffelees, that kind of language is not tolerated in this classroom. Is that clear?"

Mistoffelees nodded and muttered an apology before he yanked out his notebook from his bag, pretending to write something down while just trying to keep a low profile until class was over. 

He felt a light tap on his shoulder and looked up to see Jemima looking at him, concerned. She mouthed 'Are you okay?' at him, her head slightly tilted and eyebrows narrowed. 

Mistoffelees swallowed and nodded, mouthing 'I'm fine' back at her and gave her a small smile before turning back to his notebook. He tried paying attention to Gus and his lectures, but his mind kept wandering off to thoughts he didn't want to have. Especially not at school while surrounded by his classmates and friends.

'Freak!'

'Monster!

'You're just like Macavity!'

'Get away from him, he's dangerous!' 

He took a deep breath and steeled himself so he wouldn't shudder or give away what he was feeling by changing facial expressions. 

And maybe that was why he wasn't paying attention when his brain started tingling again, warning him about something going on behind him and he tried to ignore it just as he tried to ignore his thoughts, feelings and powers. That turned out to be an unwise move and it came back to bite him later at the end of the class. 

As he stood up and grabbed his bag to throw it over his shoulder, the bottom of the bag tore wide open and all his books, papers and stuff fell out and down on the floor in a big messy pile. 

He let out a small yelp of shock as it happened, but once he got a moment to take it all in, his head dropped backwards and faced the ceiling, though his eyes were shut as he tried to breathe calmly.

'Are you freaking kidding me?'

Jemima also gasped as it happened and took a small step back, taking it all in. "Oh my Everlasting, what happened?" 

Mistoffelees looked back at her, then down at his bag and then down at his feet and all the books, notebooks, papers and other things. But before he could say anything, he heard a low snicker from a girl. 

"What do you think happened, Jemi? That thing was so old and overstuffed with garbage it was only a matter of time before it tore wide open. It's only common sense." 

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Mistoffelees looked up and saw Amaryl stand a few feet away with a smug look on her face and her paw on her hip as she looked down at the mess at his feet. And as he looked up at her, he could see a pair of scissors sticking out from her bag, which immediately sealed the deal that she had destroyed his bag when his back was turned.

And his magic had tried to warn him about it, but like an idiot he had ignored his senses. 

He gritted his teeth and clenched his paws tightly so he wouldn't say something stupid. If he had been alone, this wouldn't be an issue, he could fix his bag easily with a spell and be done with it. But now the whole class had seen it break and it would raise way too many questions if it was suddenly fixed out of nowhere and he was definitely not in the mood for that today. 

Instead he kneeled down to start collecting his things while holding on to his dignity.

Victoria was glaring at Amaryl, having made the same connection that he had about her being responsible, but swallowed it and kneeled down on the floor to help Mistoffelees pick up his things. Thankfully it wasn't a lot, but some of the loose items were hard to find. The most frustrating thing was when Mistoffelees picked up his phone from the floor and saw that the screen was cracked and it almost made him want to snap at someone or something. 

Instead he took a deep through his nose and with a small, barely noticeable flick of his paw, he fixed it with a small spell before anyone had even noticed it was broken. But it was another hit to his already thin patience and he bit down on his tongue so hard it almost started to bleed. This morning was getting worse by the minute and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold himself before snapping.

While he and Victoria were collecting his things, with the help of Plato, Electra and Etcetera, Jemima had picked up his bag and looked over the damage. The bottom was torn open as the weight of his books and stuff had overpowered it and fallen through, but the fabric was still mostly intact. She sat down on one of the chairs, dug around in her own bag and pulled out a thick needle and thread before delicately sewing it back together again. Victoria had mentioned once or twice that Jemima was very good at sewing- a talent she's inherited from her mother- but this was the first time he saw her talent in action and she seemed very steady and sure with the needle. She worked surprisingly fast too and by the time they had all picked up Mistoffelees' things, she stood up and handed it back to him with a big smile.

"Here. It should hold for the rest of the day, but I would probably think of buying a new bag soon." And despite his increasingly worsening mood, Mistoffelees felt warm by her genuine kindness and smiled as he took it back, gently placing half of his books in his bag, while carrying the other half.

"Thanks Jemima. I really appreciate it." He turned to smile at his other friends. "And you too, guys. Thanks." Plato smiled and shrugged, Electra just smiled and Etcetera reached out and hugged him, seemingly oblivious to how tense and rigid he got as she did. 

"Of course, Misto. We're friends, aren't we? Friends help friends when they're down, right?" She turned to smile at Electra, who nodded but seemed to realize how uncomfortable Mistoffelees was and placed her paw on her sister's shoulder, gently pulling her back.

"Yeah, of course. Especially when we all know it was that witch who did it." She growled and squeezed Etcera's shoulder tightly, causing her to wince and hiss in pain. "I saw those scissors, I know she did it."

Plato rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest with a small scoff. "Of course she did. Everyone in the room knows she did it. But she's good at covering her tracks, the little rat."

And just like that, Mistoffelees' bad mood was back with a vengeance and he bit down on his tongue to try and disguise his frown as his usual blank face. He took a breath and looked down at his watch, seeing they only had five minutes until math class started and quickly excused himself to leave some of his stuff back in his locker before the next class, ignoring Victoria calling after him and asking if he was okay.

The hallway was almost empty when he got there, which Mistoffelees was thankful for. The more he could be left alone for the rest of the day, the better. He was not in the mood to be sociable today. 

He hurried over to his locker, tried to open it and then cursed as he remembered he hadn't entered the combination yet. He turned the lock, got the combination wrong, cursed again and then finally managed to open his locker and then somehow managed to drop the books on the floor again as he yanked it open.

He closed his eyes, took a breath through his nose and counted to 10 slowly in his head as he crouched down again to collect his things.

'1, 2, 3, deep breaths, Mistoffelees. Stay calm and collected. Everything is fine.'

He tried to focus on his books, picking one book at a time and keeping his eyes on the title or small details on the cover, trying to keep his angry and frustrated thoughts away.

'4, 5, 6, nothing will be solved by you losing your temper. Just stay calm and keep breathing.

He stood up with his books in his arms and started to put them into the locker, a bit more forcefully than was really necessary.

'There you go, nice and easy Mistoffelees, 7, 8, 9-'

"Ah, there you are!"

Mistoffelees jumped, startled out of his thoughts and almost dropped the last book and clutched it tightly to his chest, then grimaced and groaned under his breath as he recognized Tugger's voice from behind him. He took a deep breath through his nose and placed the last book in the locker but he didn't close the locker yet. Instead he pretended to be looking for something in his locker to avoid looking at Tugger.

He was really not in the mood for Tugger and his antics right now. 

"Here I am." He muttered lowly, refusing to look away, and couldn't bring the tiniest amount of energy to his voice. 

Maybe he needed more coffee, that always seemed to help Victoria get energy whenever she needed it. 

Tugger leaned back against the locker next to Mistoffelees, a wide grin on his face and nudged him in the shoulder, oblivious to how tense Mistoffelees was. Even more so than usual.

"I've barely seen you all morning, it's been crazy. I don't think I've ever seen you late for class, or so un-involved in a lesson. And now you're sneaking off before I catch you. If I didn't know better I'd say you were avoiding me." 

He had a smirk on his face and he was clearly teasing, but Mistoffelees was really not in the mood for this kind of teasing today. He snatched his math book from his locker and shoved it into his bag, forgetting how it was a bit fragile, while still refusing to look at Tugger

"What makes you think it has anything to do with you ?" He snapped, not even trying to hide his irritation anymore. "Not everything is about you, you egocentric diva."

Tugger paused, taken completely aback and dropped the smirk. He wouldn't lie, that stung a little bit, but he was more confused than hurt by the swig at his ego. Yes, Mistoffelees often teased him and liked to knock him down a peg, but this was different. More angry and hurtful than teasing or indifferent. He hadn't been on the receiving end of this attitude in weeks, they'd been pretty cool since Mistoffelees' first day.

Something was clearly wrong here.

He stood up from his leaning position against the locker and placed a paw on Mistoffelees' shoulder. "Hey, are you alright Misto?"

Mistoffelees bit back a snarl and grabbed his headphones and put them in the bag. "I'm fine ." He huffed out, shoving Tugger's paw off his shoulder, with far more force than he usually did. "Why would you think I wasn't?" 

Tugger took a step back when he heard Mistoffelees' harsh tone and retracted his paw. It felt weird to be intimidated by a cat who was so much shorter and smaller than him, but Tugger was under no delusion that Mistoffelees' couldn't take him in a fight. Mistoffelees was far more athletic than him, thanks to all of his years of dancing and strength training, and he was much stronger than he looked. And that wasn't even mentioning his feisty attitude and how dangerously clever he was.

Yeah, Tugger probably wouldn't stand a chance.

"Well, it's just…" He paused, licked his lips and shrugged. "you seem a little, erm, upset today."

Mistoffelees slammed his locker shut and turned around, pinning him down with his glare and narrowed his eyes. "Nothing is wrong with me, Tugger. The only thing that's wrong with me is that idiots insist on talking to me when all I want is to be left alone! Now why don't you just mind your own business for once and back off."

And with that he turned on his heel and stalked off towards the next class, leaving a stunned and confused Tugger behind him.

It was easy to slip back into his old role of being invisible and sticking to the background. It was so ingrained into him after all these years that becoming one with the walls and the furniture and the surroundings was second nature. And since he'd never been one to draw attention to himself anyway, most of his classmates didn't seem to notice too much.

Well, most of them did, anyway. 

He could feel the looks from his friends and hear them whispering behind his back, speculating about why he was acting so stand-offish all of a sudden and had started to shut them out. He'd barely said a word to any of them for the whole day, only speaking when spoken to, and speaking as few words as possible. The main thing that stood out in his behavior was the frustration and anger that had been burning in his gut most of the day and was a lingering presence in his mind. Whenever someone came up to him and asked how he was doing or if he was okay, his responses were cold, snippy and made it clear he wanted to be alone. His chilly demeanor also did a good job of letting others know to keep their distance from him. 

Which both made him feel good and sad at the same time. It felt good because that's what he wanted, to be alone and for his friends to stay away from their own safety. But it also made him sad because he'd gotten used to talking to them and despite knowing it was for the best to keep them at arm's length, it made him feel sad to go back to being invisible again.

He could feel Victoria's worried and concerned looks on him and it seemed she was always close by, sitting in a desk close to his and was always within hearing and seeing distance from him. Which annoyed him, reassured him and made him feel guilty at once. Annoyed because of how she couldn't leave him alone, reassured that she still loved him and wanted to help him, and guilty because he didn't want her help. He wanted her to be happy for her friends and Plato, not constantly hanging after him because she worried he needed her help.

He didn't. He was fine. He just needed to remember that he needed to keep his distance from most cats. Not entirely, just enough to keep everyone safe from him and his powers. So long as no one got too close, they would be safe.

He also knew that Tugger was close by most of the day, which was a bit surprising. He'd almost expected him to start ditching classes again, now that they'd have a bit of an argument and he might just start ditching class again and didn't have to keep hanging after him all the time. But no, he was still sitting next to him throughout their classes, though he managed to stay quiet and never asked him what was wrong, or pressed him for answers about why he'd snapped at him earlier.

Mistoffelees didn't really know what to make of this. He was still so new to having friends and he'd expected Tugger to be angry at him for snapping at him, and maybe he was, but he certainly wasn't acting like he was. If anything he seemed to give him space while still showing he was there. Which just made Mistoffelees even more frustrated. He almost wanted Tugger to be mad at him, so they could have another, more proper fight. That way Tugger might leave him alone and stop bothering him with these ideas that they could be equal.

That Mistoffelees could be like him. 

Like he wasn't fated to always be a black sheep in an ocean of white sheep.

But at the same time he knew he didn't want that. He'd sort of grown attached to Tugger and liked him as a friend, even if he was annoying and pushed his button pretty often. And he knew that really should just apologize for losing his temper and taking out his anger on him. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it, because that would require answers he wasn't sure he could give. Not yet. Maybe not ever. 

So he still refused to speak to him and put as much distance as possible between them during class. He snuck away from everyone at lunch, sneaking off to one of the school's vending machines and bought an energy drink, a few nut and fruit bars and a bag of chips. Not the healthiest or most filling lunch, he knew that, but it was better than being forced to sit through an awkward hour with his friends trying to ask him what was wrong or if he was okay. Instead he went to the library and worked on his homework in his lonesome. 

But as the school day came to an end, most of that anger and frustration had burned out and what he was left with was an empty sort of feeling. Which was a bit of a bummer, because it was his frustration that had been fueling his body and mind the whole day and now he was just drained. And felt more emotional than he usually did when out in public. 

Maybe it was a combination of his sleep-deprived brain, the horrible images from his nightmare leaving him shaken and the realization that he'd never truly be a part of the same world as his friends. The world that he had slowly started to fall in love with, despite the emphasis on the spotlight and how scary it still was to get out of his comfort zone.

Once the school day was finally over he quickly grabbed his things and hurried out of the building before Victoria could spot him and start demanding answers for why he'd been acting so strange today or why he had gone out of his way to avoid her and his friends. He still wasn't willing to talk to anyone and just wanted to be alone.

It was a strange thing to realize, but this was probably the most quiet he'd been in a whole day since he'd started going to Jellicle Arts, but that was beside the point.

He just hefted his bag over his shoulder and started walking without really thinking about where he was going. He passed several other cats, none of them even giving him a passing glance as he walked by and it didn't surprise him in the slightest. Bustopher had been teaching him how to stay invisible since he was eight years old, he knew no one ever paid attention to him. 

'These guys probably wouldn't notice if I just vanished into thin air right under their noses.' He thought to himself, rolling his eyes and gritting his teeth, trying to hold back tears.

Without really paying attention to the path under his feet, Mistoffelees started walking into the woods that surrounded the school, walking along a thin dirt path that led away from the school. The sounds from the busy London road, the cars driving by and the chattering from hundreds of cats died down and were slowly replaced by bird song, the soft crunching under his feet as he walked on fallen, dried up leaves and the soft wind in the trees. It was very relaxing and started to lighten his mood a little.

Despite them being well and truly in the month of October by now, the grass was still green, and the trees and ground shifted in lovely shades of red, orange and gold around him. And the sun, while chilly, was still shining brightly and it made the ground glimmer in the drops from the rain from earlier that day. 

It was quite a lovely image, really.

As he walked, the path came to an end as the forest opened itself up and he stepped into a large glen. It was very well shielded from the school and the rest of the world, with thick trees and vegetation, almost making him forget that he wasn't that far away from the city. The grass was still green and there were a few flowers still visible, though they seemed to be wilting in the autumn cold, being the sole survivors of the summer beauty.

But most noticeable was a huge tree right in the middle of the glen. It looked to be ancient, several hundreds, if not thousand, years old and it reminded Mistoffelees of a oak tree. The only thing making it clear it wasn't were the few flowers still growing on the tree, clinging to life, despite clearly wilting and being close to dying. 

Mistoffelees smiled softly, suddenly feeling at ease and entered the glen, walking up to the tree, brushing his paw over the lowest branches and leaves. And when his fingers touched the one of the wilting flowers, one by one they all suddenly seemed to perk up, the color returned and their original beauty returned within seconds. Normally this would probably make Mistoffelees anxious, as it had happened without him intending it to, but for some reason he felt at ease. He was relaxed and happy but couldn't quite put his fingers on why. Maybe it was because of just being in nature or because he was completely alone, but he suddenly felt like he was just existing in the world, without a thought to his powers or his anxiety from today or nightmare from the night before.

He just was, existing as himself without any thoughts to later or tomorrow. It was very… soothing and relaxing. 

He brushed his finger over a leaf and felt the rain drops brush over his fingers and dampen his fur, which just made him smile. He looked up into the tree, which consisted mostly of very thick branches spreading out in every which way, and a thought entered his head.

How long had it been since he climbed a tree?

Had he ever climbed a tree?

He couldn't remember. He had been so young when his father had started to teach him how to be a proper cat. And proper cats didn't climb trees, didn't get their clothes dirty or tattered and especially didn't use magic.

Well, his father wasn't here. And it's not like he would ever know, right?

After dumping his bag on the ground, Mistoffelees crouched down and jumped up, grabbing onto the lowest branch and heaved himself up. Then he started climbing further up into the tree, getting higher and higher up without even realizing just how high up he was. He just kept going, managing to get a few dirty spots on his jeans and blazer, but didn't spare it a second thought. They were only clothes, he could clean them later. 

Finally he sat down and made himself comfortable on a branch, leaning back against the trunk of the tree and looking out over the view. The forest was big, spreading on for miles in several directions, but ahead of him he could see the city spread out and he could also see the school from up here. It was a beautiful view and despite being at least twenty feet above the ground, he felt very relaxed and at ease. He closed his eyes, just letting himself exist in the moment. This quiet, gentle moment where his magic was not a burden or a curse for him to carry everywhere he went, it was just there, like one of his limbs or the nose on his face. And he didn't have to act or be a certain way, because there was nobody there to judge him or look at him funny. 

It didn't last for very long though.

"Of all the places you could go, somehow you ended up here." 

Mistoffelees peaked one eye open and looked down at the ground, one eyebrow raised. Down the ground he saw Tugger with his paws on his hips and smirking up at him. Any other time he might freak out and worry if Tugger had seen him use his magic, but for some reason that idea didn't even cross his mind. 

'If he had then this wouldn't be the first thing he would say, right?'

He certainly hoped so.

Instead he smirked back, a much smaller one in comparison to his friend, and huffed a low laugh. "And of all cats it's, of course, you who manage to find me when I just want to be alone. You really can't stay away from me, can you?"

Tugger snorted and shrugged with a small innocent smile. "You're irresistible, what can I say? How can I possibly stay away from you?"

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, hoping he was high enough up away that Tugger couldn't see him blush. 

'This cat really has no shame, does he?'

Tugger's smile widened, happy that his friend seemed to be in a better mood now, but still decided to take it slow. He didn't want to make him angry again. 

"Mind if I join you up there?"

Mistoffelees shrugged and made a show of rolling his eyes and groaning, even as he gestured at the branch next to him. "Oh fine, if you must."

Grinning even wider, Tugger dropped his own backpack at his feet, before reaching for the lower branch and started to climb up to sit next to Mistoffelees on the branch next to him, leaving enough distance between them for Mistoffelees to be comfortable.

They sat in silence for a while, the sound of chirping birds and the rustling of leaves being the only sound that could be heard. But unlike the silence from ten minutes ago, this silence was awkward rather than pleasant and Mistoffelees felt his stomach squirm as he waited for whatever Tugger wanted to say. 

Little did he know that Tugger felt just as awkward and unsure of what to say. Mistoffelees had always been hard to read and it had taken quite a lot to even get him to tolerate him, nevermind liking him. And it was quite a tightrope walk to understand him sometimes and sometimes saying the wrong thing could make things ten times worse and he wouldn't even know why his friend had gotten upset. 

But Mistoffelees had clearly been upset about something today, even before Tugger had opened his stupid mouth and offended him without even realizing it. 

He took a deep breath. He needed to be careful, he decided. Choose his words carefully and tread lightly. He licked his lips and cleared his throat. "I, uh…" He hesitated and cleared his throat again. "I didn't see you at lunch today. I- well, um, we, were wondering if you were okay."

Mistoffelees sighed and drew his legs up on the branch, wrapping his arms around them and wrapping his tail around himself, like he tended to do when he felt vulnerable. 

"I'm fine. I just wasn't hungry." He muttered, barely audible but Tugger still heard him and shook his head, suddenly looking firm but still gentle.

"You're not fine, Misto, you're clearly bothered by something. You haven't been acting like yourself all day, you've been super quiet and kept your distance from everyone. Which is saying a lot, considering it's you."

His voice became even gentler and he placed a paw on Mistoffelees' shoulders, squeezing it tightly. "Your friends are worried about you, Misto. I'm worried about you. Plato and the others were wondering if something happened. They told me about what Amaryl did with your bag today-"

Mistoffelees shook his head but did not shake Tugger's hand off his shoulder. It did feel kinda good to be touched for the first time all day, if a little weird too. 

"No, no, it's not about her. I just-" He hesitated, then sighed again and rested his chin on his knees. "I just had a rough night. Couldn't sleep very well. I've been running on reserve energy all day and it's been one long string of bad luck and me getting more and more frustrated about it."

He swallowed hard and bit his lip. He had to do it, he knew he did. Mistoffelees turned to look Tugger in the eyes. "It wasn't fair of me to take that out on you, you did nothing wrong. It was literally just a case of wrong place, wrong time. And I'm so sorry."

Mistoffelees' big eyes made him look so vulnerable and that was something Tugger was unsure how to deal with. He could use a thousand words to describe Mistoffelees Jones, but vulnerable was not a word he would choose. Even at moments when it might be expected of him, like on his first day when Amaryl poured coffee all over him or when he was dragged in to perform with Victoria at the Showcase, he always showed a great deal of control and powered through it with dignity, strength and a boatload of wit and sarcasm, never letting his emotions get the better of him or did something reckless or stupid that got him in trouble. He was just too smart for that and it was one of the things that Tugger truly admired about him. Even with his small stature and thin body, Tugger still saw him as a strong and powerful cat. Hell, their shared dancing classes had proven this to him. Tugger had seen how strong dancers were first hand and they should not be underestimated. Dancing was a sport and dancers were athletes, no matter what insecure man-kittens might think, and they were strong, powerful and had a mastery of control over their bodies that Tugger could only dream of achieving. 

So to see Mistoffelees look at him with- for lack of a better word- kitten eyes, was a little jarring. 

'But that makes sense, doesn't it?' He thought to himself and he bit his lip. 'He's mentioned how high his dad's expectations are. He has to be under an insane amount of pressure, especially since he didn't even want him to go here in the first place.'

Tugger felt his heart go out to Mistoffelees and placed his arm around him, pulling him closer. It wasn't quite a hug, but pretty close and his grip was weak enough for Mistoffelees to break out of it if he was uncomfortable.

"Hey, it's alright. I'm not mad or upset, I'm not that fragile. To tell you the truth, I was more concerned about you than hurt over one comment. It's not like you to act like that." Then he snorted and grinned at him. "Although, that comment you threw at Amaryl was pretty funny."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes but he was smiling a very tiny smile. "You think every slightly mean comment directed at Amaryl is funny."

Tugger grinned wider and gripped him a little tighter. "Well yeah, but your comments are so much funnier than most. You are a little savage, Mister Mistoffelees."

This time Mistoffelees snorted a small laugh and shook his head. Damnit, Tugger was really good at making him laugh, even when he didn't want to. He gently pulled away from his embrace and leaned back against the tree, taking a deep breath.

"Still, I'm sorry for being mean to you. And avoiding you all day. It's just-" He paused and grimaced as he searched for the right words. 

"A bad day?" 

Mistoffelees looked at him and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's as good a way as any to put it."

Tugger grimaced sympathetically at him and pursed his lips. Then turned a little unsure. He knew he wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure how Mistoffelees would react to the question. He might just clam up again, which he didn't want.

But in the end, his curiosity won out and he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, does it have anything to do with that dinner party your dad was gonna throw last week?" 

Mistoffelees looked up, completely taken aback by this question. It was not the question he had expected to receive. 

Tugger kept going. "I mean, you said that they take a lot of you and that they're a bunch of stuck-up, snobby rich cats. Did they take more out of you than normally?" 

Mistoffelees floundered for a bit. He wasn't sure what to answer, but at least it was better than being asked about magic, so maybe he should just count his blessings? And hey, it was true that those damn dinner parties were pure torture from beginning to end, so Tugger might be on to something with his reasoning.

He shrugged and wrapped his arms around his legs. "No,not really, they're pretty standard. Those cats show up and me and Victoria have to be around to help father entertain them for hours, then have dinner with them, which also goes on forever, and they completely ignore me in favor of being charmed by Victoria." 

Tugger frowned a little as Mistoffelees' voice became more and more bitter with every word. This was a side of Mistoffelees he hadn't seen before. He always spoke so fondly of his sister and they were clearly close, much closer than he was with Munkustrap that was for sure. 

So why the sudden bitterness?

"What do you mean?" He asked, shifting a little closer to Mistoffelees. Mistoffelees just sighed and his voice suddenly just sounded defeated. 

"Well in their eyes, she's the Golden Kitten. Father's Little Angel who's so charming and lovely and talented and everything she does is so delightful. Not to mention she's so beautiful, intelligent and has such a bright future ahead of her as an accomplished dancer."

Then he sighed again and rested his chin on his arms, which rested on his knees. "And then there's me. That other one, the one who no one ever remembers." He scoffed and rolled his eyes, once again sounding a bit bitter. "They can't even get my name right."

Tugger narrowed his eyes, feeling both outraged and confused. Yeah, he agreed that Victoria was very lovely and charming, definitely. But just ignoring Mistoffelees didn't make sense. The cat was clearly just as gifted as his sister so why completely ignore him?

"What? Man, are you tripping? You're a straight-A student, smart as hell, a fantastic dancer, you're witty and funny. Not to mention you go to one of the most prestigious schools in Great Britain, and hey," He shrugged and threw him a small smirk. "you're not ugly. One might almost say you're perfect."

Mistoffelees stared at Tugger as he started to list up all his accomplishments and the things he was good at, completely lost for a way to react to it all. No one except for Victoria had ever done that for him and he didn't know how to handle it.

Then Tugger said he was perfect and he had to laugh, covering his mouth with his paw to stifle it. "Pfft, I am not perfect! You have no idea." Then he lost his smile and looked away, down at the ground below them.

"You didn't know me before I started going here. Yes I was good in school, always got the highest grades, I behaved and did everything that was expected of me. But I had no ambitions, at least none that were expected from a model son. I didn't want to be a lawyer or a doctor or wanted to get into the Parliament." His nose wrinkled as he said and shook his head as if the mere idea disgusted him.

"And I never had any dreams or wishes to be anything more than the model son. I had no idea what I would do with my life once I graduated high school, but chances are I'd force myself to become something that would make me miserable."

He had to pause to take a deep breath so he could keep his voice steady and swallowed hard. "This place." He looked up and looked in the direction of their school, a small smile tug at his lips. "It's different from everything I've ever experienced in my life. It's weird and strange and scary and there are days I can't make head or tail of anything." He snorted and his smile widened. "But it's also the happiest I've been in my whole life. I finally have friends, a place where I feel like I might belong. And it feels like I finally have a direction to go that won't make me miserable in the future."

Then his face fell and he drew his knees closer to his chest. "But it's still not enough for some people. I will never be good enough for my father's friends, I realized that a long time ago. But that doesn't mean it doesn't sting when they ignore me in favor of my sister."

'I will never be good enough for my father either.' He thought but didn't say.

Then he shrugged, the same defeated frown on his face as earlier. "Not that I blame them, she is lovely, I know she is. But… still."

Tugger bit his tongue and had to turn away for a moment, blinking away tears from his eyes. His heart was definitely going out to Mistoffelees, but this was all hitting a bit too close to home.

How many times hadn't grown-ups encouraged him to be more like Munkustrap or completely ignored him in favor of his perfect older brother? Far too many times for him to count, but it still hurt every single time it happened. One might think you'd get used to it after so many years, but you didn't. Not really. You just told yourself you did, as you started to expect it more.

Even his dad did it every now and then. Not very often, but it still happened.

"I just don't know what to do with you anymore. Munkustrap was never this difficult."

The comment echoed in his brain as he blinked back more tears, took a deep breath and turned back to Mistoffelees, who still had his arms around himself and looked defeated and empty. Like he had just accepted he'd never be good enough for his family and didn't have any fight left in him.

He sighed and wrapped his arm around Mistoffelees' shoulders and pulled him a little closer again, once again making sure that Mistoffelees could break his grip if he wanted to. 

"Yeah. I know that feeling all too well. Trust me, I know exactly how you're feeling. It sucks to feel like you'll never be good enough for some people. Especially when they seem to favor your siblings." He sighed and pulled Mistoffelees a little closer. "But hey, at least we'll have each other, right?"

Mistoffelees, who had just let Tugger hug him without really reacting to the touch as he normally would, but at those words he looked up and stared at Tugger with wide eyes. 

Was he being serious? 

If he was being honest with himself, a part of him had worried that Tugger was only being his friend at all because he was new and interesting and once his interest faded he would be discarded like yesterday's leftovers. Which he might have wanted to speed up a bit today, just to get it over with already. If he was going to be abandoned, might as well get it over with as soon as possible, right?

 But right now, after what he had said and done earlier that day and how he treated Tugger, he was still here. Still wanted to comfort and help him and took his feelings and thoughts seriously. Against his better judgement, he started to feel that worry starting to fade little by little.

Mistoffelees smiled and then did something he had never done before with anyone else except his sister.

He leaned into Tugger's embrace, resting his head on his shoulder and let himself be comforted. He sighed and whispered slowly. "Yeah, I guess we will."

Tugger stared down at Mistoffelees, eyes blown wide and almost pulled back in shock. Yeah sure, Tugger was a very touch-y person and kept touching Mistoffelees, despite how many times Mistoffelees kept shaking him off, but he'd sort of gotten used to being shaken off. It had been part of their interactions for so long that he almost always expected it whenever he placed a paw on his shoulder or an arm around him.

But here he was, not only letting Tugger touch him, but also leaning into him and letting himself be comforted. It was quite the shock, but he didn't remove his arm or pull away. After the worst of his shock had settled, he tightened his hold and they just sat like that for who knows how long.

Tugger's butt had long since fallen asleep from sitting on that branch for so long, but he didn't mind. He actually liked seeing how Mistoffelees was slowly peeking out of his shell and showing what was under that cold facade he kept putting on. And he felt a bit honored that he was one of few cats to be trusted enough to be allowed to see Mistoffelees when he was this vulnerable. 

Like someone trusted and liked him enough to show him their ugly sides.

But after a while his body started to ache from the uncomfortable position and he started to shift a bit to get more comfortable. Mistoffelees clearly thought the same thing, because he lowered his legs from his position with them pressed against his chest and started stretching them a bit to get the blood flowing again. 

But Tugger didn't quite want the afternoon to end yet. He liked hanging out with Mistoffelees and he didn't want to go home yet. 

An idea struck him and he turned to Mistofflees with a smile. "Hey, are you hungry?"

Mistoffelees looked up at him, still swinging and stretching his legs, a little confused but then smiled a bit sheepishly. "Well, I did have a very small lunch, so… yeah, I am."

Tugger grinned wider and gently nudged him in the shoulder. "I know a great place not far from here. They have the best fries and milkshakes ever! And I bet both of us could use a bit of a pick-me-up right now. What do you say? My treat!"

Mistoffelees shook his head with a smile and raised his paws. "You don't have to do that, I have money."

"I know." Tugger responded, still smiling widely. "But I want to. I still owe you for helping me ace my math test last week."

Mistoffelees bit his tongue, then smiled and rolled his eyes. "You truly are incorrigible, Tugger." Then he sighed and his smile turned a bit more sincere. "But alright, if you insist."

And Tugger's grin got even wider. "I do. I very much insist." They laughed together and then started to climb down to get their bags. Finally the day was starting to feel good again. For both of them.

Chapter Text

They ended up in a small but charming diner somewhere in Central London. Mistoffelees had never been there before, but he didn't spend a lot of time in diners in general. Not because he disliked them, he just prefered quiet and small cafés where he could sit with his books or homework with a nice cup of tea rather than busy diners that reeked of frying grease. 

But he had to admit, this was a rather charming restaurant all things considered. It had a retro, 1950's theme and there was rock music playing at a low volume and the color palette went in white, black and red as well bright neon on the walls and seats clothed in red leather which matched the tables.

It wasn't exactly Mistoffelees' taste, but it was pretty charming nonetheless. And it was also nice that it was largely empty.

After having ordered their food and taking a seat in the corner of the restaurant, Tugger placed his elbows on the table, resting his head in his paws and grinned at Mistoffelees. 

"So, what do you think? It's not the Ritz but I hope it's good enough for you upper-class cats." 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and shook his head as he placed his bag next to him in the booth then turned back to Tugger with a very small smile. "Oh stop it, just because my father is rich doesn't mean I'm that spoiled. I've never even been to the Ritz."

'We don't even eat out that often, father has a personal chef,' he thought, but decided against saying it out loud. It didn't exactly sound like a good defense against being rich and spoiled.

He then took another look around the diner and smiled. "And, well, it's nice. Maybe not the decor and color scheme I would have chosen, but it's nice, very charming." He turned back to Tugger. "It's very you."

Tugger grinned wider and took a sip of his milkshake, groaning in pleasure as he felt the taste on his tongue. "Ooh, that's soo good!" He moaned and Mistoffelees raised his eyebrow at the sound, a teasing smirk grazing his face.

"Should I leave you two alone for a moment?" Tugger waved him off but also snorted a small laugh, a few pink droplets dripping down his chin. 

"Oh hush you, this is a genuine milkshake, made with real ice cream! There's even pieces of actual strawberries in here! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find strawberry milkshakes that don't taste phony?" 

Mistoffelees didn't say anything in response, just handed over a napkin and gestured at his own chin. Tugger took it and wiped his chin without any particular embarrassment about being seen with pink ice cream and cream on his face.

He'd been seen with worse. 

"Well, to answer your question," Mistoffelees droned, taking a fry from his plate and pointing at him with it. "I do not. Victoria and I don't eat a whole lot of fast foods or sugar." Then he took a bite of the fry and closed his eyes in pleasure, a soft shiver running through his body.

"Mm, my first fry in months." He groaned and then placed the rest into his mouth. His stomach growled in pleasure as it was finally being properly fed since breakfast. Sure, it was not much healthier than his lunch, but still. 

Tugger smirked as he took in Mistoffelees' reaction at the taste of fries, and lifted his burger to his mouth, taking a bite. "You haven't eaten french fries in months?" 

Mistoffelees shook his head and swallowed before opening his mouth again. "Can't. We're not allowed." He gestured at his slim figure, his fingers grazing over his coat. "These ballet bodies don't come for free, you know. And all of that dancing, strength training and working out requires a balanced and nutritional diet. You need to check yourself and make sure you eat enough healthy food to maintain it." 

He rolled his eyes and sipped on his chocolate milkshake. "Although it's better than the alternative. I've heard of several cats who dance and don't eat enough and faint from lack of nutrition. Or worse. Which is not much better." 

Tugger grimaced as he ate his burger, eyeing it as he chewed. He really loved burgers, pizzas and other fast foods and he wasn't sure he could stay away from them for months at a time, even if it meant maintaining his figure. Then again he wasn't a dancer, so he didn't need to maintain his figure for any other reason than that he wanted to. 

But for months?!

"Sheesh, you've got a stronger will than me. I don't think I could stay away from fast food for that long." He took another sip of his milkshake.

Mistoffelees shrugged and smirked. "Eh, it's not a major sacrifice for me. Father has had a private chef employed in our house for as long as I can remember and we've never gone hungry or lacking for good food. It's just not McDonalds or pizzas every weekend, just every once in a while."

He shrugged again and took a bite of his own burger. "Although, I probably can't speak for Victoria. What she does when she's out with her friends is her own business, but personally I'm more interested in paying for things I love. Like more books, or good dance gear or stuff like that." 

"And nice clothes too, I imagine." Tugger grinned and took a sip of his milkshake. "You always wear really nice clothes and you always look great."

Mistoffelees blushed and looked down at the table sheepishly, biting his lip. He shrugged and tilted his head back and forth. "Um, no, not really. Victoria has always been more interested in clothes than I ever have. I've been going to private schools all my life and those have very strict dress codes. I've just modeled my style after those."

Tugger snorted and shook his head. "Hey if it works for you. I still think you look great in everything you wear.”

Mistoffelees flushed and quickly grabbed his milkshake to try and cover it up. How do you respond to something like that?

He swallowed and tried to smile. “Um, thank you Tugger.” 

Tugger smiled and took a handful of fries, stuffing them into his mouth. They sat together in a somewhat comfortable silence and just ate their food. But after a while, Mistoffelees remembered their talk about performing at the party and the song that Tugger was writing. 

“How’s the song coming along, by the way?” He asked, lowering his burger from his mouth.

Tugger looked up from his own burger, a few droplets of sauce in the corners of his mouth. “Hm?”

Mistoffelees put the burger down on the plate in front of him and leaned forward, resting his weight on his arms. “You said last Friday that you’d have the song finished by today or Tuesday. Well, have you finished it?”

Tugger grimaced and shrugged, also putting his burger down and wiping his mouth with the back of his paw. “Mm, yes and no. I have written a few different versions of the bridge but I’m not completely satisfied yet. I might need to keep working on it.” 

Then he lit up and smiled widely at Mistoffelees. “Or maybe we could do it together? If we are going to sing this song together, I’d like some of your input too.”

Mistoffelees wasn’t quite sure how much he’d really be able to help with writing a song. Sure, he’d gotten lucky with helping him write the chorus, but how big were the chances that it would happen again? 

Still, he smiled and nodded, nibbling on a fry. “Sure. If I can help, I definitely will. And we’ll still need to talk about how this number’s gonna be. Choreography and how the song is gonna be sung and stuff.”

Tugger’s smile widened. “Awesome. We can go to my place after school tomorrow and look it over together. We could also go over how we wanna do the number. We still have time, sure, but it’s only three weeks.”

Mistoffelees still felt more than a little uncomfortable at the idea of performing with someone other than his sister, as well as doing something other than dancing. And Tugger’s tendency to go overboard and push too hard was not exactly reassuring. 

He took a deep breath through his nose and closed his eyes. ‘You can do this, Mistoffelees.’ He told himself. ‘You just need to control your powers and don’t get too carried away and you’ll be fine.’

"How'd you find me anyway?" Mistoffelees eventually asked, looking up from his food and at Tugger, one eyebrow raised and his head tilted to the side. "In the forest, I mean. How'd you know I was there?"

Tugger looked up, at first a little confused, but then tilted his head to the side, matching Mistoffelees' pose. "How did you find that place? I thought only me and Straps knew about it." 

He didn't mention his oldest brother yet. Perhaps he wouldn't have to.

Mistoffelees shrugged and sipped on his milkshake. "I don't know. School was over, I needed to be alone and think for a while, and just started walking. I guess I just sort of… stumbled over it. I had no idea it was there."

Tugger grinned wryly and stuffed a few fries into his mouth. "Hm, alright. Didn't expect anyone to find it that easily. As far as I know, no one else knows about it. At least not from school."

"How do you know about it then?" Mistoffelees asked, resting his arms on the table. 

"Because I used to play there all the same as a kitten. I'm very familiar with the place." As he said this, a soft smile spread over his face as memories of him playing with his brothers in the summer, chasing butterflies in the field and having picnics with his whole family. They were vague, but he also had memories of a warm embrace, a woman’s soft laughter and the vague scent of flowery perfume as he dove into a warm embrace. 

‘Will you come back, mommy?’

‘Of course I will. No doubt about it. 

‘I love you mommy.’

I love you too, my little Tugger. I love you and your brothers to the moon and back and that will never change.’

Then that soft smile turned into a despondent frown and he glanced down at the table. Oh, those memories felt so distant and that happiness was so far away from ever achieving again. 

"Tugger?" Mistoffelees leaned forward, his ears folding slightly. He hadn't meant to make his friend sad with his question.

Tugger took a breath and swallowed before looking up, smiling a small smile. "I'm fine, it's just…" He took another deeper breath and blinked hard to suppress tears. "We used to do everything there. Me, Straps and… and Mac. We would play games, have family picnics or just hang out together all the time, the whole family together." He tried to laugh, but it sounded like a strangled sob. "And Macavity used to practice his magic there."

He sighed and went over the memories of a young Macavity using his magic, pushing further and further to see what more he could do, and he and Munkustrap had been there to encourage him. 

"It was like… it was like his magic was always at its best there. At home or in school he would always struggle, at least a little here and there, but when we were in that glen it always seemed like he was in the most control of it. And the place seemed to welcome us and him. It was almost like a second home in a strange way."

Then he frowned harder, his whiskers and ears drooping. "But then he… lost control and his magic got more aggressive, it seemed like that glen also got more unwelcoming towards us. The air always felt colder and it felt like we weren't supposed to be there. And as Macavity became more-" He paused, searching for the right word, then just shook his head. "you know, we just sort of stopped going there. I just didn't feel welcome there anymore." 

"And did you feel like that today?" Mistoffelees asked, his voice soft, barely above a whisper, and he was very gentle. 

Tugger looked up and smiled. "Surprisingly, no. It just felt like a normal forest." He snorted a small laugh, but still looked a bit despondent. "It's strange. It hasn't felt like that in years. I usually go there whenever I'm… not super happy about stuff. Feels weird to leave the place and feel good."

Mistoffelees felt his heart clench in his chest and before his head got the better of him, he reached out his paw and placed it on Tugger's arm, squeezing it gently. Tugger glanced up and stared at him with wide eyes, then smiled softly.

"I wasn't going there to look for you, that was just a coincidence. But I'm glad you were there. It's nice to have a new memory of that place that's happy."

Mistoffelees smiled back, squeezing his arm a little tighter. "And I'm glad that I was able to help with that. Even if I didn't know the whole story. And I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

Tugger smiled and placed his paw over Mistoffelees' on his arm. "Thanks Misto. And I'm glad you talked to me earlier. If you have a bad day, I hope you know you can just tell me. I'm not an idiot, if you tell me you're having a bad day and need space, I can take it. Just say the word and I'll back off."

Snorting a small laugh, Mistoffelees smiled and nodded. "Thanks Tugger. That means a lot to hear."

Tugger grinned and squeezed his paw, then frowned as he felt his fingers brush over something soft, but it didn't feel like fur. He glanced down and gripped Mistoffelees' paw a little tighter so he couldn't pull away immediately. 

Mistoffelees immediately froze as he realized that Tugger had spotted the gloves and fought against the urge to clench his paw or yank it back. That would only make it look even weirder than it already was.

Tugger lifted his paw to get a closer look and gently pulled on the hem of his glove. "Are these… gloves? Are you wearing gloves?"

'Breathe. Remember to breathe and don't do anything stupid!' The voice in Mistoffelees' head was shouting at him and he prayed to the Everlasting Cat Tugger wouldn't try to pull them off or anything.

"Mm-hm." He managed to squeak out, nodding his head and trying to swallow down the big lump in his throat. "Yeah, I am."

Tugger ran a finger over the back of his paw, feeling the soft silk and hummed to himself. Then he smiled and let go of Mistoffelees' paw. "Hm, subtle but tasteful. It suits you, it's very fashionable." 

And just like that Mistoffelees felt like a massive boulder had been lifted off his back, or like he had literally dodged a bullet. He exhaled and his shoulders dropped from their tense position and he smiled awkwardly as he pulled his paw back.

"Um, thank you. I um… I don't wear them normally but-" He racked his brain for a good explanation. But all he could think of was how his father had given them and told him to wear them at his parties.

'Eh, better than the truth I suppose. And it's not really a lie anyway.'

"The gloves were a gift from Father. He wants me to wear them at his parties. But I like wearing them sometimes. They're very soft and comforting when I'm having a bad day." 

He rolled his eyes. "Victoria doesn't like them. She thinks I should try new styles. Not just wear the kind of clothes I used to wear at my old school or what Father likes and the like. She's always going on and on about me needing to dress in more colors or at least find a style that's not so monotone. But just because she likes every single color under the sun and looks good in all of them doesn’t mean that I do." 

He shrugged and pulled on the hem of his button-up. "I have started to like new things, but sometimes it's easy to fall back into old habits, I guess."

Tugger nodded and folded his arms on the table. "Yeah I get that. Honestly, so long as you're comfortable with how you look, then it's nobody's business what you wear." He grinned and pulled on his leather jacket and fluffed up his mane. "I mean, look at me. Straps hates my clothes and thinks I should try to dress more 'maturely' and 'look my age' and whatever, but who cares about what he thinks? I look great!"

"It is a bit too much." Mistoffelees interjected, resting his face in his paw and smirked at Tugger, who just waved him off.

"Quiet you, I look awesome. I mean, it's not like I'm walking around school with my pants hanging around my knees, showing off my underwear for the world to see or wearing shirts that are see-through or so v-lined that I show off my chest or anything so he has no right to complain."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and shook his head at the mental image those words produced. "Ugh, I will never understand that look. Why would anyone wanna show off their underwear to the whole world? Is that some strange trend that I just don't understand?"

Tugger shrugged with his shoulders and arms and pursed his lips. "Your guess is as good as mine." Then he shook his head and smiled. "But anyway, my point is, if you like how you look then that's all there is to it. But there's nothing wrong with looking at something new and finding a style that's all your own, you know? It's kinda liberating to find a style and way to dress that is all you, not what your parents, siblings or friends like. It's like finding a part of your true self."

Mistoffelees looked at him for a long while. He'd never thought about clothes like that before. Yes, he always made sure to look good and well-put together, but in his head clothes had never been more than that, clothes. But the idea that they reflected who you were was a new concept for him. 

But it made sense. Victoria's clothes were a clear representation of her personality: colorful, bright and friendly as well as sweet, creative and inviting. You looked at her and saw a friendly, lovely social butterfly who cared about the people around her. And Tugger's clothing perfectly showed off who he was, an in-your-face show-off who loved being the center of attention but who still cared about looking good. It was a cocky, confident and self-assured style from a cat who knew exactly who he was.

Huh, who'd have thought clothes could say so much about you? Why had he never thought about it like that? 

He smiled and ate the last of his burger. "Well, thanks for the advice. I might think about that in the future. Especially since I'm going to a less strict school with no dress-code."

Tugger opened his mouth to interject, because Jellicle Arts did have a dress-code, but Mistoffelees shot him a glare before he could say anything. "Tugger, your school doesn't force you to wear the same clothes every day, don't force queens to wear skirts that are thigh-length or longer, and there's more color than black, navy and white. You do not have a dress-code."

This just made Tugger chuckle and shake his head. He also finished the last of his burger and then smiled at Mistoffelees. "So, what now? You wanna do something else?" 

Mistoffelees glanced down at his bag and eyed the stitches that Jemima had sewn earlier that day and thought about how she'd recommended getting a new bag as this one likely wouldn't remain intact for very long. 

Well, he was out on the town now. Might as well do it now.

"I should probably find a new bag. One that Amaryl hasn't destroyed or cut open the bottom of." 

Tugger grimaced and rolled his eyes so hard that they threatened to roll out of their sockets at the mention of Amaryl, but moved to get up with a smile. 

"Great, let's go! I'll help you find something."

They left the diner and went around looking for a shop that might have good bags to replace the one Amaryl had destroyed. It took a bit of looking, as most stores they walked past only seemed to have clothes or bags that didn't speak to Mistoffelees in any way. 

If he had been out alone, or even with Victoria, he might have just picked the first best plain black bag because he didn't need anything super pretty. It was just a school bag, it only needed to contain his books and school work, why would it need to be pretty? But after his talk with Tugger about style and his own thought of aesthetics, he thought about finding something a little more pleasing to look at.

Something that wasn't just plain and boring. 

Eventually they stumbled over a shop which looked promising, with clothes and accessories that looked eye-catching, in every color, style and patterns. And they also seemed to have a big collection of backpacks in different sizes and colors too. 

"Come on, let's go in here." He said to Tugger and they went inside. 

Tugger whistled as he took in the many mannequins which were dressed up in all kinds of different clothes, like leather jackets, jeans and tank tops, or dresses, skirts or blouses. Some of it looked bohemian, others more punk-like and everything in between.

"Wow. How have I not been here before? This is a store I can get behind!" He grabbed a hanger with a leather jacket with gold details and studs covering the shoulders. Mistoffelees personally thought that looked a bit tacky, but who was he to judge really? 

He just rolled his eyes and started looking around the shelves for a bag that he liked. There were many, but he wasn't particularly interested in pink or yellow or orange or any other colors. He liked darker colors, so if he was going to get something that wasn't black or grey, it would probably be dark blue, green or even red. 

Though it wasn't very likely.

He grabbed a bag that was very simple, entirely black but with white and grey skulls printed all over it. Not really his style, but a step in the right direction he supposed. At least it had prints and wasn't just plain. Even if it did look like something closer to what Jemima might like. She seemed to like skulls and studs and spikes. 

Mistoffelees shrugged and put it back, moving onto the next one. 

He saw another one that made him think of Victoria. It was bright pink with blue, green and yellow stripes across it in watercolor fashion, which she would probably like. 

'I might just buy it for her if nothing else. She would really like it.'

The next bag he picked was black with a big silver star in the bottom right corner. That one he liked, simple but still with some personality to it. Not a lot, sure, but still. Mistoffelees decided to hold onto it for now, while moving onto the other ones. 

"Hey, found anything yet?" Tugger came jogging up to him, holding a studded leather belt in one paw and a leopard printed scarf in the other. Mistoffelees held up the one he liked so far, smiling a small smile.

"Just this one. It's a bit more fun than the one I have but it would be fun to find something a little new, you know? But this one at least has the right color."

Tugger grinned, but inside he wasn't crazy about the bag. He liked things that stood out and made a mark on the people around him, and this bag looked a bit too plain for his liking. But this wasn't about him, he knew that. If Mistoffelees liked it, then that was all that mattered. His opinion on the matter wasn't important here. 

"Nice." He looked up at the shelves and looked over the long lines of different kinds of bags. He saw a dark red and black checkered one that made him think of Jemima, and a plain dark blue one that made him think of Munkustrap. 

He also saw a backpack on wheels that looked very much like a suit case, that made him chuckle. That was the kind of bag that Munkustrap really needed. It was sturdy, big and would definitely fit all of his books and work and he wouldn't have to carry all of it at once. Sure he was strong, but even he had to get tired after carrying around ten books a whole day. He was almost tempted to buy it for him, if only to see his reaction.

But when he voiced this thought to Mistoffelees, he only smiled and nodded encouragingly at him. "Yeah, you should definitely do that! He would probably really appreciate that. I heard him complain that his bag was getting too tattered and he might need a new one soon."

That was a thought that he hadn't had in a while. Except for birthdays and Christmas, Tugger never really gave his brother any gifts. And even when he did get him gifts, it was always hard to find him something that he would actually like. 

He looked down at the bag again, thought it over, then kept walking. He'd have to think about it. 

Mistoffelees saw another bag and showed it to Tugger. "What do you think of this one?" It was black, and covered in small white stars that formed constellations, as well as their names written in small text next to them. 

Tugger nodded approvingly at it, smiling widely. "That one looks good, very you! Didn't you say that you liked space and sci-fi?" 

Mistoffelees nodded and looked it over himself, smiling widely. He really liked this one. This was a strong contender, much stronger than the one with the big silver star. He put that one back and held onto the new one. He had always been fascinated by space, ever since he was a kid, so having a bag with stars on it seemed appropriate. 

Then Tugger made a small noise and hurried over to another part of the store and Mistoffelees just stared after him before slowly following him. Maybe he had seen another cool leather jacket or ripped jeans that he liked. 

But no, Tugger had found another bag which he proudly held up to Mistoffelees with a wide grin. "This! This is the one, it's perfect." 

He practically shoved the bag in Mistoffelees' face and he had to take a few steps back before he got a good view of it. 

It was also black with stars on it but it took the space theme another level. It had stars, moons, planets, galaxies and constellations on it. It was just the right size too, perfect for carrying school books and his dance gear at the same time. 

Tugger was right, it was the perfect one. 

He took it, placed his old bag on the floor before trying it on and turned to Tugger with a smile. "How does it look?"

Tugger gave him thumbs up, still grinning widely. "It's so you. I'm telling you, you should buy that one. It'll match your star locker once you pick which image you're gonna make."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and turned to look at himself in the mirror. It was surreal, seeing himself wearing something that wasn't plain, but it was very pretty. And it did fit him, Tugger was right about that.

Ooh Victoria was going to pop a vessel when she saw this bag. She'd been on his case for weeks about how it would do him good to change his style a little and not just dress in black or pick everything that looked plain. When he came home with this bag, she might actually faint. 

Either from shock or joy, that was a little unclear. 

He smiled to himself and took the bag off. "You know what? I think you're right. This is the perfect one. I'll buy this one." 

"Awesome!" Tugger cheered and raised both his paws in a fist pump. This was the first step on the path of helping Mistoffelees find his own style. Sure, it was just a backpack so far, but the first step was always the most important one. Who knows, this one bag might be the stone that causes a rock slide. 

And he was going to help in every way he could.

"Do you wanna look at anything else? There's plenty of cool stuff in here, you might find something else you'll like." 

Mistoffelees bit his lip and took a look around the store. Yes, there were a lot of clothes, and Mistoffelees was way overdue for a shopping trip anyway. Victoria had bought him a couple of shirts in different colors, but so far he'd only ever worn the black ones. He just didn't feel comfortable in other colors. 

But there were a lot of clothes in black here that looked different than most of the clothes he had back home. A quick look around probably wouldn't hurt, right?

"Yeah, why not? I probably need some new clothes anyway. Something a bit more casual or Victoria might actually drag me out on the town and force me to buy some."

Tugger chuckled and they started browsing the store. Tugger also looked over some of the clothes that he liked. Jackets, jeans, shirts and accessories that suited his style, but whenever he found something that he thought Mistoffelees might like, he stopped to show it to him. 

He also made sure to stick to the darker colors, since that's what Mistoffelees seemed to prefer. Mostly black, but some shades of grey also slipped in there. 

Mistoffelees held up a long cardigan with a hood that looked a lot like a cape from a fantasy movie. He smiled as he looked it up and down before holding it in front of himself. "I like this one. Comfortable but also stylish." He rubbed the fabric and smiled wider. "And very soft too."

Tugger grinned as he held up a black t-shirt with a low chuckle. "This feels like something you'd say." On the shirt was the white text, 'Yet Despite The Look On My Face, You're Still Talking' . This made Mistoffelees snort and then laugh and Tugger was quick to join him.

In the back of his head he couldn't help but wonder what his father would say if he saw him shopping for clothes like this. But in the moment he was happy. He was spending time with his best friend, laughing and having fun while looking over new clothes. 

Considering how the day had started, it certainly could feel a lot worse. 

Mistoffelees found a sweater that- in the right light- glittered in a way that reminded him of stars. It was much more subtle than a lot of other sweaters or shirts with glitter, which he liked. He also found a new pair of boots which better suited the autumn months, one long sleeved shirt that was plain black and another that was also coated in a very thin layer of glitter. Tugger found a long sleeved shirt in dark shades of grey, a long black autumn coat with silver details and a hoodie that reached down to his thighs with cat ears on the hood. 

A bit gimmicky in Mistoffelees' opinion but it was kinda charming too. He could see himself wearing it at home while studying or just on a lazy day.

Speaking of Tugger, he found a pair of ripped black jeans that he really liked, a pair of fingerless faux-leather gloves with studs on the knuckles and the leather jacket with gold details he looked at earlier, along with the belt and scarf he'd been carrying around as they had looked.

As they left the store and started walking, they ended up in Trafalgar Square and sat down on the edge of the fountain, allowing Mistoffelees to empty his school bag and put it into his new bag, so he could discard the old one as soon as possible.

As Mistoffelees was emptying his bag,Tugger looked out over the square and smiled as he took in the busy city and the old beautiful architecture mixed with the modern world. 

Yes London was a loud, messy and crowded city and far from perfect, but it was still so beautiful. 

A bus drove by and he smiled as he saw that the sides were covered with posters advertising Phantom of The Opera at the West End. Oh he loved that show, hopefully he'd get to see it again one day. But there were still so many musicals he hadn't seen yet that he wanted to see, so who knew when that would happen?

Oh well, it ran all the time, he'd find time eventually.

Tugger sighed happily and leaned back on his arms, looking over at Mistoffelees, who'd now placed all his stuff in his new bag and placed his old one in the bag with his new clothes.

"Phantom's running on the West End again." He said and gestured with his head at the bus as it drove by. Mistoffelees glanced up and nodded as he saw the bus.

"Yeah, looks like it is." Listening to the tone of his voice, you would think that Tugger had just told him that it was cloudy or raining. 

But Tugger was undeterred. "I really love that show. I remember seeing the movie version when I was a kid and I could not understand what the fuss was all about, it was just okay at best. Everlasting, the cat who played the Phantom couldn't even sing! Why would they cast someone who can't sing in the leading role in a musical movie?"

"Mm-hm…" Mistoffelees said, barely paying attention to Tugger's talking, instead looking up at the sky, trying to find any stars out tonight. Sure, it was still early, but you never knew. And it was getting darker every day now so maybe he’d spot some at this hour.

"But then Munkustrap wanted to see it live for his birthday a few years ago and I loved it! It was like, finally I got it, it's so good! Like, it's not my favorite show by a long shot, but it's still really good! Although to be honest movie adaptations of musicals are rarely that good. They rarely ever capture that same energy that you get from watching a show, you know?"

"Sure, if you say so." Mistoffelees said, eyeing his friend with a small smirk before turning back to the sky. Damn the London pollution, it was blocking the stars from here. 

"I mean, I know that it's not the same thing. A movie and a musical are so different and I'm not expecting the same kind of experience. But still, is it so hard to find actors who can sing or directors who know squat about music or feel comfortable directing a musical?"

Then he chuckled and turned to smirk at Mistoffelees, who was still looking up at the sky, squinting to try and spot any stars. "Did you see the movie adaptation of Les Mis? Wow, I have never seen so many dumb choices in regards to singing and music in a movie! Who the hell wants to belt their heart out while crying their eyes out? The fact that she pulled it off as well as she did is nothing short of a miracle."

"Uh-huh." Mistoffelees nodded, still not looking at him.

Tugger finally seemed to hear how disinterested Mistoffelees sounded and smiled sheepishly at him. "Uh, hehe, sorry. I don't mean to bore you or anything. But you gotta admit it's a way different experience watching it live than on a screen, right?"

Mistoffelees shrugged and smiled a tiny, wry smile. "I wouldn't know. I've never seen a musical live." He said it very flippantly, as if he didn't really care that much.

Tugger could swear he heard a record scratch and just stared at Mistoffelees, his eyes almost popping out of his skull.

"... What? Not even one? How is that even possible, we live in London! There are musicals running literally all the time. Have you never seen a single musical?"

But Mistoffelees just shrugged, not really seeing what the big deal was. "Not really." Then he paused as he thought it over again. "Well, my family did go see the Sound of Music when Victoria and I were small. Everlasting, we must have been, like, six or seven years old or something, it was a very long time ago."

Tugger fought to hold back a grimace. The Sound of Music? Really? Of all musicals to be the only one to have ever seen, why did it have to be that one? Maybe that was the reason why Mistoffelees had never seen another musical since.

"Ah yes, The Sound of Music." Tugger said, trying to smile through the grimace that wanted to break out. "A true classic, love that one."

Mistoffelees finally turned to look at him and stared at him incredulously. "Really? I have never liked it, it's awful! We have been forced to see that musical and movie for our entire lives and I've hated it for years." 

Tugger exhaled in relief. "Oh thank the Everlasting Cat, me too." Then he laughed a little awkwardly. "It's just so… precious, you know? Way too cutesy for my taste."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a tolerant smile. "I think the word you're looking for is saccharine, and yes, it is." He rolled his eyes again and groaned. "But it's my grandmother's favorite musical and we were dragged to that show and have been forced to watch the movie version far too many times. Every year on her birthday she forces us all to watch the movie and it’s the worst. It is one of the few things that me and Percy can agree on, that sitting through it is pure torture."

Tugger frowned, tilting his head to the side. "Who's Percy?" 

Mistoffelees blinked, then turned to stare at Tugger. Had he just said that out loud? Ugh, damnit, why was it so easy to bring these things up with Tugger.

He groaned and grimaced. "He's my cousin. My father's sister's son and he's a nightmare. He hates me and the feeling is quite mutual." He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue. "We've been going to the same school all our lives and he's had it out for me as long as I can remember. He always has to be better than me in everything, turning everything into a contest and always wants to knock me down a peg."

Then he smirked and winked at Tugger. "Too bad for him he's not smart enough to keep up with my brain." And the smirked widened a bit as Tugger chuckled at him, then it dropped and he sighed, pulling his legs up on the edge of the fountain to sit cross-legged. 

"I have no idea why he's always been so jealous of me, but we've never been friends. Thank the Everlasting Cat for Jade- that's his sister- or I might have lost it years ago. At least she's nice."

He didn’t mention how Percy had always been teasing and mocking him for having no friends, no clear ambitions in life and ‘having no personality’. Percy took every opportunity to make fun of him or make him feel like garbage and always seemed to blame him when Aunt Castalia punished him for his behavior or when Jade defended him and called her brother a bully. As if it was somehow Mistoffelees’ fault that he was a horrible person. Mistoffelees really didn’t like talking about his cousin at all and it was quite a blessing to not be forced to see him every single day anymore. 

Tugger grimaced at him. Wow, what a pain to deal with. He didn't have any aunts or uncles, nevermind any cousins, but he did have a strained relationship with his brother, so maybe he could understand on some level how it felt when your family seemed to hate you for reasons they hadn't told you.

He reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "That's rough, buddy. I'm sorry you're related to such a moron."

Mistoffelees snorted and shook his head, then shrugged and pursed his lips. "Eh, it's not so bad. We rarely ever see my aunt, because she works a lot, so we rarely have to spend time with our cousins either. And yes, I had to see them at school, but we rarely ever talked or anything." He paused, then shrugged again. "Well, maybe Jade, every now and then. She’s not so bad, just a bit bossy."

Then he smiled and turned to Tugger. "And hey, now I go to Jellicle Arts, so I don't have to see his stupid face every day or hear his dumb comments every class." 

Tugger smirked and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Always a plus. And we're so lucky to have you with us. The world deserves to see your dancing."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes again and punched him back, a little harder and Tugger had to hide his wince and hold back from rubbing the spot on her arm. That actually hurt a little.

"Oh shut up, you terrible bore."

They laughed together again, then fell into a comfortable silence again. But when Tugger looked up again and saw another bus with a poster for the Phantom of the Opera. 

So the only musical Mistoffelees had ever seen was The Sound of Music and it had been almost ten years ago? That wouldn't do, not at all. Especially not now, when he was going to a school learning music, dancing and acting. At some point they'd put on a musical at the school and Mistoffelees would need to understand the feeling of seeing one if he was going to be in one. Even if just as a dancer in the background.

He narrowed his eyes and set his chin.

"We need to fix this. I'm taking you to see a musical." 

Mistoffelees' head snapped around as he stared at him, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "What?" 

Tugger smiled widely and turned to him, nodding as he spoke. "I am taking you to see a musical! If you're gonna be a Jellicle Cat, you're gonna need to know the feeling of seeing a show live. I promise you it's quite different from seeing a movie."

Shaking his head slowly, Mistoffelees wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. When Tugger got like this, so sure that whatever idea he was having was a brilliant one, it was close to impossible to convince him otherwise. But this was very quick and he wasn't sure what to say.

"Tugger, you really don't have to do that. Musical tickets are like 30 pounds each at a bare minimum. That's pretty expensive-" 

But Tugger just waved him off, not even paying attention to Mistoffelees' annoyed face at having been interrupted. "Eh, that's a minor problem. This is for the greater good! An investment, you might say. Thirty pounds may be a big cost now, but in the future when you're a famous dancer who just got a big role in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, those 30 pounds aren't going to be seen as a big deal!"

Tugger's strange yet vivid 'logic' was so baffling that it made Mistoffelees chuckle and he shook his head. "Okay, even if that were to happen, you don't have to go with me. I could go with Tori or even by myself. It's a lot of money and you don't have to feel like you need to spend so much money on me." 

Once again, Tugger waved him off, shaking his head and smiling. "Oh come on, of course we have to go together! You can't go to a musical alone, that's no fun at all. And I've been wanting to see a musical again for a while now, it'll be fun! And hey, if we're lucky we can find a few cheap seats, there sometimes are. Besides, it's just money, it won't mean anything in a hundred years."

Mistoffelees stared at him, then sighed heavily, letting his head fall forward with his chin hitting his collarbone. He looked up with tired and defeated eyes. "You're not gonna let this go, are you?" 

"Nope." Tugger said, popping the p and grinning widely at him while shaking his head. "So you might as well just give in or I’m just gonna keep bringing it up until you cave in. And I’m warning you, I can be really annoying when I want to be."

“No, really? You don’t say.” Mistoffelees muttered sarcastically, then sighed again and took a deep breath as he lifted his head. "Do I at least get a say in what we're watching? I am not going to watch something without knowing about the options and having my say on the matter."

Tugger shrugged with a wry grin. "That's fair."

Mistoffelees sighed again, then chuckled and nodded with a defeated smile. "Alright, fine. Even if I don't see why this is such a big deal, fine. I do have one condition, though."

"Oh?" Tugger narrowed his eyebrows, leaning in closer.

Mistoffelees nodded and a small smirk spread over his face. "Yes. This time it's my treat."

This surprised Tugger, as he had expected something a little more serious, but he decided to just take it. This way there wouldn't be any more arguing about it. And hey, a night out with his best friend where he wouldn't spend any money on a theater ticket? Could be worse. 

Mistoffelees glanced down at his watch before getting up, collecting his new school bag and the bag with new clothes. "I need to get home. Dinner will be ready soon and father will be expecting me home on time."

Tugger looked down at his own watch and got up too. It was almost 17:15 and his dad would be expecting him home soon too. "Yeah, I need to get going too. But hey, I'll text you later and we can talk more about this later."

"Sure." Mistoffelees smiled and the look in his eyes said that he was only doing this because it would shut him up, but Tugger wasn't worried. He knew in his bones that if they picked the right one, Mistoffelees would absolutely love the experience.

'Leave it to me, Misto. By the time I'm done with you, you will be a true blue theater kid like the rest of us!'  

Mistoffelees hurried home, glancing down at the watch as he jogged down the street. It wasn’t very late yet, he wasn’t late for dinner and it wasn’t a very long walk from Trafalgar Square, but he wanted to raise as few questions as possible as he came home. Today had already been a strange day, if he was also late for dinner he’d never hear the end of how strange he’d been acting all day. 

He was in such a hurry to get home that he didn’t stop to think of the state of his clothes or fur, but was quickly reminded of it as he came home, slammed the door behind him and hurried into the dining room to see if he was late. He wasn’t, but Victoria immediately stared at him as he hurried into the room.

“I’m home, sorry if I’m late.”

Victoria looked him up and down, eyebrows raised and made no move to speak at first. She shook her head slowly then moved her mouth slowly, as if carefully choosing her words. 

“Uh, no, you’re fine, you’re just in time actually. But what have you done-”

Before she could finish the question, Bustopher walked in the room but stopped short when he saw Mistoffelees, staring at his clothes with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. Then his eyes narrowed and he placed his paws on his hips. 

“Mistoffelees Quaxo Jones, what have you done with your clothes?”

Mistoffelees winced at the full name and just stared at his father, unable to understand what he meant. It was just his normal clothes that he’d been wearing for years, what was wrong with them?

Then he glanced down at himself and winced again as he realized he hadn’t cleaned himself up after his little walk through the woods and climbing in the tree.

His jeans had dirty brown spots and stains all over, as was his pristine white shirt and his blazer had a tear at the shoulder along with a few scratches from the branches. His bowtie- which had been tied very carefully and had looked immaculate this morning was now very sloppy and looked like it had been tied by a child on the first attempt and looked like it was about to loosen up. 

Mistoffelees turned to glance in the mirror that was hanging on the wall close by and saw that his fur was also messy, tousled and- was that a twig? He reached up and pulled it out from his fur and looked it over. Huh, it was. It even had a tiny leaf on it and everything.

“Um…” He said eloquently, trying to think up a good explanation as to why he looked like this. 

He didn’t get that far. Bustopher walked up to him and started dusting him off, rather harshly actually, as he muttered to himself. 

“Honestly Mistoffelees, what have you been doing all afternoon to end up looking like this? While wearing such nice clothes? What were you thinking?”

Mistoffelees bit his lip and shrugged, as best as he could with his father batting his paws over his shoulders to get the worst of the dirt off him. “I was just… taking a walk. In the woods.” He muttered, staring down at the floor and tried to avoid his father’s probing eyes. 

“And did what, exactly? Did you also walk in mud puddles, jump in piles of leaves and roll around in the grass while you were at it? How on Earth did you end up looking like this after a walk?” Bustopher asked and finally stopped trying to dust him off and took a step back, staring at the tear in the blazer and clicked his tongue in dislike. 

Mistoffelees still looked down at the floor, pressing his lips together and refused to meet his eyes. But he didn’t feel ashamed or bad for making his father upset, like he probably should. No, he felt angry. Why was this such a big deal? He hadn’t done anything wrong, he’d just taken a walk through the woods and climbed a tree. Was that a crime all of a sudden? And yes, his clothes were dirty and a little torn here and there, but so what?

“So what if I did?” He muttered, equal parts defensive and challengingly and finally looked up to meet his father’s eyes, eyebrows narrowed and lips pressed together in a frown. “What's wrong with that?”

Bustopher stared down at his son, a little taken aback by that response. Had he actually- no, he couldn’t have, right? Surely Mistoffelees was too old for such childish antics. 

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked down at his son, who was still frowning defiantly at him. Well fine, if he insisted on acting like a child then he would treat him as one.

“Do not take that disrespectful tone of voice with me, young man. I will not tolerate you talking back to me, Mistofflees. You are not a child anymore. Such antics may be acceptable when you’re five years old but you are fifteen now. And you know better than to wear nice clothes and go and play around in the mud. One cannot walk around the town with mud on your clothes at your age, you know that.” 

Mistoffelees’ frown turned into a petulant glare but he didn’t say anything. 

While this was going on, Victoria was staring at her father and brother, unable to say anything or move an inch. She watched the argument like a ping pong game, eyes darting back and forth and waiting for what was going to come next.

This side of her brother was definitely new and after having seen him act so strange all day, she wasn’t sure what to make of it. He’d spent all day keeping his distance, retreating back into his shell and barely saying anything to anyone, and now he was suddenly coming home all dirty and messy and also talking back to their dad?

What was going on today?

Finally Bustopher just sighed and waved him off. “Now go clean yourself up and come back here. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.” 

Mistoffelees breathed out through his nose, making a small huffing noise, and nodded. “Yes father.” He said, still sounding a bit defiant, before he turned on his heel and stalked off towards the stairs, resisting the urge to stomp up the stairs or slam his door as he walked in.

He threw his bag with new clothes on the bed and his new school bag on the floor before he started to take off his dirty clothes, with a lot more force than he normally did. As he tore off the blazer he made the tear even bigger and the sleeve started hanging awkwardly from the rest of the garment, but he just tossed it on the floor to deal with it later. 

The rest of his clothes, which were mostly just dirty, he tossed into the hamper before stalking off to take a quick shower. 

As he washed himself off, he realized that he did not feel bad or ashamed of himself for making his father upset with him or for talking back. No, he felt frustrated and a bit undignified. All that fuss over a little mud and a torn blazer. That was an easy fix, a small spell and the blazer would be fixed and it would all be over and done with. And his father’s response was to scold him like he was a stupid child for it. 

Mistoffelees growled and stepped out of the shower, snatching up his towel and violently started drying himself off. He sighed heavily and hung his towel up for drying when he was done.

Figures that his fun and good afternoon would end like this.

When Mistoffelees walked out the bathroom, he found Victoria sitting on his bed waiting for him. She got up the second she saw him and hurried over to him.

"Misto, are you okay?"

Mistoffelees stared at her, not entirely sure why she was asking. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine."

But Victoria shook her head. "No, you're not. You've been acting strange all day and I know that it's not just because of a bad night's sleep. Something's going and I want you to tell me what."

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and turned around, walking over to his closet and started picking out new clean clothes. "Why do you ask me if I'm okay if you already 'know' the answer?" He asked her, the air quotes on the word 'know' very audible despite him not making the gesture with his fingers. 

Victoria blinked, staring at her brother. Wow, she knew that Mistoffelees had always been sassy, but this much sass in such a short time? And with this kind of attitude? This was new. And she wasn't sure if she liked that he was allowing himself to show his emotions or was concerned that was avoiding talking about what was actually bothering him. 

She decided she was concerned and walked over to him, placing her paw on his shoulder and squeezed it. "Misto, you're stalling. I know that something's been bothering you all day, you haven't been acting like yourself all day."

Mistoffelees gently shook off her shoulder as he pulled out a t-shirt from his closet and pulled it on. "Nothing's wrong, Tori, honest. I'm just a bit drained from a weekend dealing with father's friends and his dinner party. You know how they drain me. I just needed some space and time to myself all day, that's all." 

But Victoria just shook her head, refusing to back away, even as he got dressed and walked over to his bed and pulled out the clothes he'd bought today. He placed the boots on the floor by the bed and then pulled the tags off the clothes and folded them neatly so he could place them in his closet.

"You've been cold and snippy all day, even more than usual, and everyone's been worrying that they've said or done something that has offended you or if you've been hurt by something." When Mistoffelees said nothing and just kept looking at his clothes, she narrowed her eyes and made her voice even more stern and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him.

"Mistoffelees, if something's happened that upset you and it gets worse because you won't tell me what's wrong-"

Finally Mistoffelees felt his patience wear thin and turned around to glare at her, shaking her paw off his shoulder as he did. "Nothing's wrong, Victoria!"

He didn't yell, but he had raised his voice and it was enough to make Victoria take a small step back, completely taken aback by this and just stared at him with wide eyes. Even Mistoffelees was a bit surprised by his own reaction to her concern and stared back at her.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to snap, I just-" He stopped himself, taking a deep breath and closed his eyes. Yes, Victoria was a bit annoying when she got like this but he knew she only did it because she cared. He just didn't want to bother her with his problems anymore.

He took another deep breath and opened his eyes. "Look, Tori, I just had a bad day, that's all. We all have days when the world seems to be against you or you're just in a bad mood and want to be alone for a while. There's nothing weird or wrong with that. All it was was a rough night, I didn't sleep very well and I got a bit cranky and anti-social because of it. That's all there is. Okay?"

Victoria looked at him, searching for any sign that he might be lying or trying to redirect her attention, but found nothing. He was very good at downplaying his emotions, so she couldn't be sure if he was actually genuine or not. 

Still, she nodded and tried to smile. "Okay." Then her eyes fell on his bed and she finally noticed the pile of new clothes, the ripped off tags and the new school bag on the floor. Her eyes widened and she stared at Mistoffelees again.

"You went shopping today?" Mistoffelees blinked, looking down the folded t-shirt he was holding, then at the pile on the bed and finally on his new bag before looking back at his sister and nodded with a small smile.

"Uh, yeah I did. I, uh…" He trailed off then shrugged, looking over at his bed rather than looking at his sister. "I met up with Tugger after school today, we talked a bit, had a late lunch together and then we went to look for a new bag. And, well, while we did I found some new clothes too."

Victoria stared at him with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open, then she squealed and hurried over to the pile on the bed and started looking over the clothes, ignoring Mistoffelees' protests and complaining over how he'd just folded them.

She held up the hoodie and smiled when she saw the cat ears on the hood, grinning at him even as he rolled his eyes at her smile. He grabbed the cardigan and took the hoodie from her and hung them up in the closet, before grabbing the shirts, folded them again and put them with the others. 

Victoria was so happy and grinned even wider when she saw the new school bag on the floor, lifting it up to look it over. It had white stars, planets, galaxies and other space related details on it, as well as silver details that went quite nicely with the colors. It was so much nicer than his old plain black bag and it made her so happy to see him expand his style and find new things he liked that weren't just plain black, white or grey. 

Sure, she'd be happy if he liked some other colors too, but hey, it was a step in the right direction. A step closer to him finding his own style.

It seemed Tugger was helping Mistoffelees bring out these sides of himself that she was unable to. Maybe because she was his sister and he didn't want to share every single thing with her, but Tugger seemed very good at bringing out the cheeky, sassy and braver side of her brother. The side that she hadn't seen in years and was much more akin to the behavior of an actual teenager rather than an emotionless robot. 

Victoria had always tried to be gentle with him, while also pushing him to be himself, rather than the cat their dad wanted him to be, but there tended to be some pushback from him and it could be very hard to reach him sometimes. She encouraged him but never forced him, which sometimes meant he didn't actually do anything. 

Tugger however seemed capable of reaching Mistoffelees in ways that she couldn't. Maybe it was his pushy yet engaging personality that helped Mistoffelees feel comfortable in being a bit more like himself. And they had been spending a lot more time together over the last week, with them studying together and all so they might be growing closer as friends.

She was happy about this. She was grateful that Tugger was being such a good friend for Mistoffelees and was able to help him come out of his shell and find his way back to himself or find out who he was. Even if it was still a little hard to reach him some time. But hey, maybe this was just part of the process of becoming a different cat? One step forward, two steps back, right? He'd told her that he didn't know how much time he needed and had asked her to be patient with him, which she assured him she would. 

So yeah, maybe this was just a small hurdle. One bad day that made him retreat back into his shell, but Tugger helped coax him out of it again, even if he may not have realized it. 

Yeah, that was probably it. She was likely overreacting about this, Mistoffelees had just had a bad day and that was that. 

"Dinner's ready!" Bustopher called from the dining room and Mistoffelees turned to Victoria, smiling. 

"Ready to go down?" 

She smiled back and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go." 

And with that, they hurried out of Mistoffelees' room and jogged down the stairs down the dining room.

Chapter Text

Bustopher Jones had never really fancied himself as a family cat.

When he was young, fresh out of University and had started to work, he’d made a promise to himself that he'd remain wife and child-free for the rest of his life. He was Bustopher Jones- The Cat About Town, he didn’t have time for a love-life or a family to look after, there was far too much work to do, fun to be had and a family was not part of his plans at the time. He was young, handsome and had the whole world in the palm of his paw.

Careful planning and creating goals for life was all well and good for some cats, but not for him. 

And maybe it was because of a lack of strong familial relationships in his own life. He was very close to his mother, but his father had been very absent in his life, too busy working or going to important business dinners and parties to secure his position in his work, so Bustopher had never had much of a relationship with him. 

And yes he also had his sister, Castalia, but they had never been particularly close. Despite her being three year younger than him, she had always acted like she was the older one of the two of them, always busy with her school work and was determined to become a successful business woman. He couldn't remember them ever playing together and whatever time they did spend together wasn’t very friendly or affectionate. Especially as she’d always been so driven and competitive and had seen every single thing between them as a contest and had been determined to be the best in absolutely everything. Which had driven a wedge between them from an early age and it only got wider as the years passed. 

So maybe that was why he'd insisted on not having a family of his own? Because how his father was never there, leaving their loving mother to look after their children on her own and his own sister had only ever seen him as an obstacle to overcome. And as he grew and got more and more successful with his clubs, he grew to see his friends more as family than his actual flesh and blood.

So he definitely wasn't lacking in meaningful relationships, and he was more than happy for his friends when they settled down and started their own families. But he had never thought that he would ever settle down one day, nevermind having kittens. That wasn't to say he disliked children, but he simply didn't think that he'd ever want that life for himself. If he had a family to take care of, he wouldn't have the time to go to his parties, dine at fine restaurants with his friends and enjoy his life as a bachelor. And considering that families came with a lot of work and took a lot of time from you when you could spend that time doing things that brought you joy, he didn't think that it was worth it.

All of that came to a head when he met Lucille, a… ahem, dancer at a less upscale club that he had tended to visit every now and then in his youth.

Upper class cat or not, every cat has their desires .

 And while he'd had no romantic feelings for her, they had both shared some alone time together every now and again. 

And honestly, no one could blame him for that. Lucille was a very beautiful queen with her snow white fur, her sparkling blue eyes and she was very nice to spend private time with. And despite it being made very clear that their time together was strictly business, no strings attached, he still considered her a friend of sorts. Not a particularly close friend perhaps, but a friend nonetheless.

But then, she'd suddenly disappeared and was gone for weeks without any explanation and though Bustopher had been disappointed that he couldn't see her, he had simply shrugged his shoulders and moved onto the other queens at the club without giving her sudden disappearance too much thought. Perhaps she had gotten a better job and stopped dancing, which in that case he was only happy for her. Either way, he moved on very quickly.

Then, on a cold and rainy evening, she showed up on his doorstep, a basket with two tiny kittens wrapped in blankets with her, one of them with their mother's pure white fur and the other had his black and white tuxedo fur. Lucille had placed the basket on his front porch, said they were his, that she couldn't take care of them and that he had the means to give them a better life than she ever could. That was all she had said before she had turned around and walked out of his life forever.

Bustopher had been left completely gobsmacked by what she had said and couldn't say or do anything as she walked away. He simply stared off into the rain after her, then down at the basket at his feet, where the two kittens were peacefully sleeping unaware of what had just happened. After what felt like hours, he mechanically took the basket and brought it inside, determined to make a decision, but not while standing in his front door while it was pouring rain and blowing cold outside.

His first instinct after the initial shock had settled had been to leave them at the first best orphanage in the city. The idea of raising kittens was nothing short of terrifying and he was sure that he was not ready for that kind of responsibility. 

He was not father material. His own father had never played a big part in his and Castalia's life and was still rarely around because of work, so he had no one to guide him or to ask for advice on the matter. He had no idea how to care for two small kittens, he worked all the time and would surely be a terrible father. Better save these kittens the trouble of having a bad father and life and make sure they got someone better. 

Someone who knew what they were doing.

He'd grabbed his phone, ready to dial the number to the first best orphanage in the city, but then he heard a small noise from the kittens. The white queen had squeaked in her sleep and swifted closer to the tuxedo tom, nuzzling his cheek as he yawned widely before nuzzling her back. And as he looked over them, these two small defenseless kittens, he had felt something change in him. His heart seemed to soften and his worry, while still there, calmed significantly as he smiled at them.

They were small and likely hadn't even opened their eyes yet. These kittens were both innocent in this matter, they didn't know anything about the world they had been born into or who their parents were. None of this was their fault, so why should they have to suffer the consequences of his mistakes? He was the one who had been irresponsible and thoughtless, he shouldn't try to load his responsibilities onto others, especially not when they concerned innocent children.

And besides, while adoption was a beautiful thing and they could very well end up with a wonderful family, the risk was also very high that they would end up with someone who would not treat them well. Or they might even be separated despite being twins. And so, given his very wealthy and comfortable position in life, they certainly could not have it better anywhere else than with him, their father. 

As he looked over these kittens, his kittens, he felt his heart soften and was filled with a love and affection that he was sure he had never felt before.

He gently picked them up up, resting his daughter on one arm and his son on the other, sat down in his armchair and just looked over his kittens in awe. He had not known that it was possible to love anyone so much so quickly, but he did. He had only known these kittens for a few hours but they already had his heart in their tiny paws and he knew he would do anything for them.

These were his kittens, his children, and he would be damned if he didn't give them everything he could to make sure they were loved, cared for and would want for nothing. He would give them the love and affection that he never received from his own father, make sure they'd want for absolutely nothing and that they were loved and cared for, no matter what. 

He leaned forward to kiss his daughter on the forehead and then kissed his son, smiling fondly as they squirmed in their blankets. 

"Hello my little darlings. I'm your father. You were certainly a surprise, I can tell you that. But don't you worry. I'll always be here to care for you, provide for you and love you. I promise."

And so, the story of Bustopher Jones The Cat About Town had come to an end, and the story of Bustopher Jones The Father had begun.

The transition from Socialite to Single Father was tough, but thankfully he managed to find help from his mother. Despite how she had been very upset when he told her about his relationship with Lucille (leaving out a lot of details about the nature of their relationship) and scolded him over how irresponsible he had been, she had been very eager to meet her first grandchildren. And she had been very quick to love both of them and came over every day to help him look after both of them and teach him everything he would need to know to take care of kittens as a single parent.

His father, who had retired at this point, also came over with his wife and seemed very interested in the kids, barely sparing him a glance, and loved to hold and play with them whenever he got the chance. And though the conversations between him and Bustopher remained short and awkward, especially since his father also disapproved of him having children out of wedlock, especially with a hired dancer of all cats, he was happy to bond with the babies. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than Bustopher had expected, so he'd take it.

His relationship with Castalia however got significantly worse after Victoria and Mistoffelees were born. She had been absolutely furious about the fact that he’d had kids before her, despite not even being married while she’d been dating her husband for five years before marrying him and they'd been only weeks away from having their children, only for Bustopher to get two without even being married. She did not know a lot of Lucille and he intended to keep it that way, he did not want to be on the receiving end of her comments about having children with a 'stripper'. Especially when she later rubbed it in his face when she'd finally given birth and kept bragging about the fact that she’d married the love of her life and had two lovely children. She was always so smug about the fact that she had the perfect lovely family while he was a 'widower' and had yet to find a wife and felt pity for his children, 'because they'll be forced to grow up with no mother.' This always made Bustopher's blood boil but he never said anything in response except for "I think we'll do just fine, thank you."  

Yes, widower, that's the story he had told most people. While his parents knew most of the truth, to everyone else the story was that he'd been in love and engaged with a lovely woman only to accidentally get her pregnant before they'd gotten married and unfortunately the delivery had claimed her life. It was mostly to save face and it was a million times better than the truth getting out about how his children's mother had been a hired dancer at a lower class club in Soho. He could face the shame himself, but he did not want his children to be seen as lesser because of their mother. And his parents had been more than happy to keep this secret, 'to keep the family name clean' which meant that Castalia was the only one in his immediate family who didn't know the truth. He was surprisingly alright with this and it didn't cause him to lose sleep for not being honest.

And yet, despite all of her comments about him and his life, she insisted on copying everything he’d done in regards to the kids. She enrolled them in the same schools, pushing her own son and daughter to be perfect while doting on Victoria and Mistoffelees like they were her children. Which made Bustopher even angrier with her, as they were his children, not hers, and she needed to focus on her own son and daughter and mind her own business.

He was honestly shocked that she hadn't 'offered' to adopt them, so they could have a 'proper family' with a father and mother and he could go back to his carefree life. Although he supposed she was far too prideful to ever want to consider raising his children rather than her own. She had never wanted to accept any help or advice from him so why would she want to take his children?

All of this had soured their relationship significantly and they only ever saw each other when their mother threw her dinner parties or for holidays and only because they absolutely had to, for their mother’s sake. He did not want Victoria and Mistoffelees around her or her kids if she was still gonna insist on treating everything like a contest between them.

Instead, he focused on being there for his own family and taking care of them. Sure, he’d known right from the start that he’d make mistakes and wouldn’t be the perfect parent, but he liked to believe he was doing a decent job as a father. And the kids, despite being energized, mischievous and cheeky, like all children, were also very well-mannered and polite. Victoria was a little ray of sunshine, always happy and smiling yet he always needed to keep an eye on her. She was very energetic and loved running around the house and climbing on the furniture, seemingly unafraid of anything. And she'd usually try to drag her brother into her adventures. And Mistoffelees, while a bit more cautious and shyer than his sister, was very cheeky and imaginative. He loved to come up with his own games and or he'd tell stories to Victoria that he came up with on his own, which she adored, to the point where, when they started learning to read, she still insisted on him telling his own stories rather than reading to her from a storybook. 

It warmed his heart to see how close they had been, right from the start. They were always playing together, eating together, napping together and just doing everything together. In fact, for the first few years Victoria refused to sleep and would throw tantrums if she wasn't allowed to lie next to her brother. And Mistoffelees clearly loved snuggling with his sister at nap or bedtime, though he wasn't as fussy about it as she was. It was nice to see, since it was the kind of relationship he himself had never had with his own sister, so he loved to see them getting along as well as they did. 

It didn’t feel possible, but every day he felt himself loving them even more as he watched them grow. 

But things got all the more difficult once Mistoffelees’ powers had started to manifest and he started to play around with his magic. True, he never did any harm with his magic, only to pull pranks on him and his sister and use his powers to steal cookies or make things disappear. But Bustopher still found himself at a loss of what to do. As if raising two children on his own wasn't hard enough, how would he go about raising a child with magical powers? There weren't exactly any parenting books on the subject, so what was he supposed to do? Also, it was only a few months after his good friend Old Deuteronomy's son Macavity had started to lose control of his powers, went off the deep end and then disappeared off to who knows where to do who knows what.

Mistoffelees was such a sweet and gentle child, despite his cheeky and mischievous side, and the last thing he wanted was for his sweet little boy to be compared to someone like Macavity. And magic was still so new and rare, cats might get scared and anxious around Mistoffelees if they learned about his powers. After all, social services might decide that a kitten with magical powers was too dangerous to stay in a normal home and they'd take him away from his family to be studied and tested, so they could learn more of how his powers worked and why certain cats had magic to begin with And his son would be nothing more than a guinea pig in these studies and might never have a normal life.

His conscience tried to reassure him that he was irrational, that the world would surely see that his son was nothing like Macavity and his powers were nothing to be scared of. The worst thing he ever did with his powers was stealing cookies by making himself invisible, making things disappear and reappear somewhere else or he made himself invisible so he could sneak up on and scare his sister. Not all the makings of a monster.

But then again, Macavity had also started out as a sweet and helpful young lad and look how he had turned out. At the time people were so shocked to see his downward spiral into fury and aggression since, despite always having had a hefty temper since childhood, no one had expected this type of behavior from him. It definitely started to get worse after Grizabella left her family, but he hadn't truly begun to lose control until he started high school and it only got worse from there. Explosive fits of anger, violent fights, using his magic to destroy property, all of it was so out of character for the energetic, curious and playful kitten Bustopher had once known. 

And bless his heart, Old Deuteronomy had truly tried his best to help his son deal with his anger issues and curb this bad behavior before it got worse. Therapy, medication, talks with doctors and psychiatrists, trying to teach him ways to deal with his anger and emotions in a healthy way, but nothing seemed to work. If anything, Macavity had only been triggered by this and only got angrier and angrier, accusing his father of thinking that he was 'broken' and needed to be 'fixed.' And his behavior only escalated until finally he crossed the line when he physically hurt his brothers and got kicked out. 

Bustopher had shuddered at the very thought of something similar happening to Mistoffelees or others comparing him to Macavity. At the idea of being forced to kick out and disown his own son.

He knew deep down in his heart of hearts that his son would never turn out like Macavity, but other cats may not and might shun him, hate him or, Heaviside forbid, actually hurt him because of his powers and that was something he could not allow to happen. So he started to tell Mistoffelees to hide his powers and keep them a secret, about how cats tended to be scared of things they didn't understand and it may be for the best that no one except him and his sister knew about them. At least for now.

Only 'for now' ended up being for a very, very long time.

He had yet to tell his own mother about his Mistoffelees' magic powers. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. She loved both her grandchildren so very much, he didn't want to risk her loving Mistoffelees any less or not at all, simply because he was born with a gift others tended to see as a curse. 

It just wasn't worth the risk.

And so the years went on and Mistoffelees turned from a shy yet cheeky kitten to a reserved, quiet and seemingly emotionless young tom, which was disheartening to see. And their relationship went from loving and warm to cold and distant and now Bustopher had no idea of how to rekindle it. 

The protective side of him told him that it was all for the better. That this way his son would remain safe and he'd much rather his son be safe than hurt by strangers or led astray by his powers.

But the father in him berated him for how he had let his son turn out. Because, while Mistoffelees was very studious, responsible and well-mannered, he was also too obedient, very quiet, always kept to himself and had no friends to talk about. Everlasting, the boy barely even smiled . At least not from what Bustopher had seen. And if he wasn’t spending his time studying, he was always dancing or had his nose in a book. And though Bustopher approved very much of his son and daughter's interest in dance and was very proud of them and their talent, he would like it if his son had other things he liked. Not just reading, studying and dancing. 

It did provide an outlet for Mistoffelees and his magic and he had always loved to dance, but he always looked so very lonely, and it broke Bustopher's heart to see him like that.

Especially since Victoria was a very social and friendly cat who loved to spend time with her friends whenever she could, which often left Mistoffelees to dance alone in their studio, read his books or do his homework up in his room. And while Mistoffelees obviously loved to dance, he wasn't exactly laughing wildly as he did it.

He knew how lonely Mistoffelees were. He knew that he did not have any friends, as Bustopher had done perhaps too good a job teaching him to be wary of other cats, and loneliness was absolutely miserable and he absolutely did not want his son to be miserable.

But he always tried to tell himself that it was all for the best. He was only doing what he needed to, in order to make sure his boy wouldn't get hurt. 

Which was why he felt so conflicted right now. 

Mistoffelees had only been going to Jellicle Arts for a little over a month now but there was already a stark contrast in behavior and attitude from before. 

As if coming home after his first day saying it hadn't gone very well but he was going to try again wasn't surprising enough, he had also started to stand up to him more. Not in the ways that Victoria usually did, but enough to make it clear he wasn't going to budge.

Then, on his second day, he came home later than Victoria, which had never happened before. And when asked about why he was so late, he said that he had been studying with friends at a coffee shop, which was definitely something that had never happened before. 

Had he already made friends on his second day at this new school?

And as the weeks passed, Bustopher saw Mistoffelees change more and more. While still being his reserved and quiet self, he was clearly happier now. He also started to dress a bit more casually and when asked about this simply asked, "Is there a problem?" To which Bustopher always said no. 

Because there wasn't. Of course there wasn't. But it was a very quick and shocking turnaround, to say the least. 

And though he didn't talk much about his new friends or how he liked this school, the little information he gave was more than enough for Bustopher to realize what was going on here.

His son liked this school and was already much happier there than he had ever been in his old schools. 

And though he was happy that his son was happy, he wasn't quite sure how he felt about the ways his son was changing. To enroll in such a chaotic school that was all about putting on a show and placing yourself in the spotlight was a risk that might eventually put his son in danger. With so many wild emotions running around under one roof, what would happen if his secret was revealed? Especially since Macavity had also gone to Jellicle Arts once upon a time.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that but felt extremely unsure on how to handle the situation. Especially after yesterday, when Mistoffelees had come home covered in dirt, leaves in his fur and his clothes torn. And when questioned about how he ended up looking like that he had responded by talking back and being disrespectful to him.

And he knew in his bones that this wouldn't be the end of it. 

The following day Mistoffelees was more or less back to his normal self again. Or at least not as frigid and distant as the day before. He’d still packed his gloves in a small pocket inside his bag, as he'd had another nightmare that night, nearly identical to the one he'd had the night before. And while he hadn't had any panic attacks, he'd still woken up in a cold sweat and he froze up whenever he thought about his dreams. And as much as he wanted to challenge himself and not be so dependent on his old habits and ways of protecting himself, it was hard to forget years of harsh truths and what-ifs in regards to his powers. So knowing that his gloves were still with him, packed away safely in his bag, made him feel a bit more at ease. 

'Worse case scenario is that nothing happens at all and I’ve packed them for no reason. It's not like they take up much space in the bag anyway.' He'd reasoned with himself as he felt stupid packing them down, trying to ignore what the actual worse case scenario actually was.

And to compensate for his fear and worry, Mistoffelees had decided to wear  his new grey shirt and cardigan and almost dared his father to say anything negative about them when he came down the stairs, throwing him a challenging, defiant look.

But Bustopher didn't seem to particularly dislike the clothes, at least not openly, but seemed more surprised and frustrated with Mistoffelees' rebellious glare. He was really not used to receiving this kind of attitude from his son and wasn't quite sure how to handle it. 

What was happening with his polite and obedient son to make him look at him with such challenging eyes and his jaw set like that? Yes, Victoria would also challenge him sometimes, but she'd learned that her kitten eyes were the best way to get what she wanted from him. And, loathed as he was to admit it, he more often than not found himself unable to say no to those eyes.

He was soft for his little girl, what else could he say?

But Mistoffelees rarely ever acted out, so he'd never developed a way to counteract him or how to handle it when it happened. So now when it was suddenly becoming more and more common for him to do so he had no idea what to do about it.

In the end all he decided to remain firm and not show weakness. He’d simply raised his eyebrow, pressed his lips together and gave his son a stern look. "Don't you dare give me that look, Mistoffelees. I will not accept that kind of attitude from you."

Mistoffelees had kept glaring for one more second, before losing it and trying to smile without looking too defiant . "No, father." And although his voice was soft, it was a little too sweet yet sharp at the same time.  

Victoria came running down the stairs after brother, dressed in a knee length skirt and a light pink sweater over a white blouse. She waved her paw at their father with a wide smile before taking her brother's paw. “Bye daddy, see you after school!”

He smiled and waved back at her. “Goodbye Victoria, Mistoffelees. Have a good day."

Mistoffelees eyed him with empty eyes, but still waved and smiled, though it also looked a bit empty. “Goodbye father." Then Victoria pulled on his paw and dragged him towards the door. Bustopher heard it open and close, signaling their departure. 

He sighed again and pressed his paws over his face. 

At times like these, he found himself thinking back on all his life choices and wondering how he’d ended up where he was. How he’d gone from a bachelor and had been happy being on his own or with his friends, to meeting and knowing Lucille for a few months before suddenly finding himself with a pair of twins dropped in his lap while their mother disappeared into the ether, never to be heard from again.

It definitely wasn’t how he'd thought his life would turn out, but did he regret it? No, of course not. He loved his children with all his heart and if given the choice he'd go through it all over again for the privilege of having them in his life. And most importantly, he wanted them to be safe and happy. 

He’d seen how his son had danced at the Showcase and how at ease and how happy he had been on that stage. It had nearly brought him to tears, to see his son put his walls and facades down and shine in the spotlight with his sister. But he’d also let his guard down enough to let some of his magic sneak out, making his coat and clothes shine with sparkles that Bustopher knew wasn’t part of his costume.

So yes, his son had been happy and at ease, but in doing so had been losing his grip on his powers. And what if that happened again? What if Mistoffelees being happy meant that he would lose more and more control of himself? And what might happen if he got angry and lost control of himself, what would happen then? Yes, Old Deuteronomy had been helping him learn more about how to use and control his magic and had been calling him every week to tell him of his wonderful progress, but Bustopher still couldn’t help but worry. Because Old Deuteronomy was not a Magical Cat and there was only so much he knew and could teach. What if it just wasn’t enough? If Mistoffelees ended up losing control one day, what would happen? Would his classmates and friends turn on him, calling him a monster or try to hurt him? Would someone call the police, telling of a ‘dangerous monster’, like they did with Macavity? Would the NSPCC come and deem it too dangerous for Mistoffelees to stay with his family and take him away to a home for troubled young cats, only allowing him to visit his family once in a while if he behaved himself?

Bustopher swallowed hard and blinked hard against the tears in his eyes, covering his muzzle with both hands in an attempt to keep from sobbing. The thought terrified him to his very core. His children were the only truly good things he had in his life and he’d do anything to protect them from anything that might hurt them. He’d never had much of a family with his parents or sister, but now he had his children and if anything happened to either of them…

He shuddered and took a long sip of his tea. No, the thought was far too much to bear.

No one had told him that being a father would be this hard fifteen years ago. He had always known that being a parent was hard, even before he became one, but he had no idea it would be this hard. There were so many conflicting emotions and thoughts, instincts and feelings that contradicted each other at every turn. Especially where Mistoffelees was concerned. 

Yes, Victoria could be a challenge at times too, especially since they had no mother in their lives. But she could always turn to their grandmother or aunt whenever she had problems or thoughts that she couldn't talk to him with. And she also had her cousin Jade and her many friends to talk to about girl problems if she wanted to. Mistoffelees had been a challenge ever since his powers were discovered, if for no other reason than that he had no idea how to deal with his son's powers. 

All he knew was that if it were up to him, he'd cradle his son close, to protect him from the world. Just hold him tightly in his arms and never let him go, never let anyone hurt him or try to take him away. Anything to make sure his powers remained a secret for his whole life so that no one would ever know and try to hurt him. 

‘But that isn't up to you , now is it?’ 

And that was the thought he kept coming back to. 

As much as a part of him wanted to tell Mistoffelees to go back to his regular school and for things to go back to how they were before, he realized that not only was it incredibly selfish but also bordered on obsessive control issues. 

He knew he couldn't control his son for his entire life and he knew that if he tried to do that, his son might start to rebel against him even more and fight back against everything he'd say or he'd start resenting him and grow to hate him.

That is… if he wasn't already. 

It would certainly explain his sudden moodiness and defiance.

Bustopher sighed heavily and took another long sip of his tea. He took a deep breath.

No, parenting didn't come with a manual or map, that much was clear. But he loved his children more than anything in this world. And despite how unnerving and utterly terrifying it was to see Mistoffelees change, there was also a part of him that was proud to see him grow and happy to see him happy.

Bustopher sighed heavily and rested his face in paws. Yes, parenting was hard, especially now when they were teenagers, but he also knew in his heart that he wouldn't trade it for anything. All this fear and pain and uncertainty was worth all the love and affection and warmth that came with it. 

It was a cloudy day and it was certain to rain later, which certainly reflected Mistofflees' mood at the moment. He was biting down hard on his tongue to keep the frustration inside so Victoria wouldn't notice it.

"Don't you dare give me that look, Mistoffelees. I will not accept that kind of attitude from you."

What attitude? He'd just been looking at his father to see if he'd dislike his clothing. He hadn't even said anything. It was hardly worse than Victoria's mood swings that came by every month, that was for sure, so Mistofflees couldn't understand why he was so unhappy with him.

Well, at least he hadn't criticized his clothing or told him to go and change into something 'proper' before leaving the house. That was always something, right?

Mistoffelees snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Victoria's paw gently cover his and he looked down at their paws. He had been so deep in thought he hadn't even realized that he'd clenched his paws, so tightly that his claws were digging into the pads on his paws, almost drawing blood. 

He looked up at his sister's face and she was smiling warmly and softly. "Don't mind what he says. You look great and honestly, a little bit of rebellion from you is probably due at this point. It's common knowledge that rebelling against your parents is required by every teenager. Heaviside, it's probably even healthy." She said, gently prying Mistoffelees' paw open and gripped it tightly. "And to be honest with you Misto, I'm really happy to see you stand up to him and not let him control your every action anymore."

She smiled gently and carefully brushed a strand of his fur out of eyes, suddenly looking very remorseful. "I'm sorry I pushed you last night after only one bad day, especially since you have been going outside your comfort-zone all month now and it's only natural for you to retreat back and fall back into old habits every now and then. I know it will be a struggle for you. And I know it may be a 'one step forward, two steps back' type of thing, but so long as you're happy and want to try, then that's good enough for me. You've asked me to be patient and I will. But I just want to say that I'm so happy to see that you're happy." 

Mistoffelees stared at her, unsure of how to respond, but in a way he felt really bad. He knew he was keeping secrets and hadn't told her about the nightmares, the performance he was planning with Tugger or how he truly felt about their father and how he clearly loved her more, but that was just not something he wanted to talk about with her. And that wasn't something he usually did.

Obviously he couldn't tell her how jealous he sometimes was over how their father so openly showered Victoria with affection, love and acceptance whereas he rarely got anything at all, and now suddenly he was receiving scoldings or was just plain ignored, or how Victoria could do whatever she wanted, try whatever she wanted and make mistakes and still be loved whereas he had been forced had to play the perfect model son his whole life and still received nothing for it. Not even a pat on the shoulder or back. And yes, he agreed, she was lovely and wonderful and deserved all that praise, but he couldn't deny feeling jealous and bitter about the unfairness of it all. Victoria had always been the Golden Child who could do no wrong, whereas he had been forced to be perfect and proper since he was eight years old and yet somehow couldn't do anything right. Could never just be good enough for his own father.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing back the tears and swallowed hard. tNo, if he told her that she would just feel terrible and he couldn't do that to her. It wasn't her fault that their family loved her and only tolerated him.

But the nightmares and the fear that came with them… he just didn't feel ready to share that. If he told her, she would worry and want to help him, maybe even pulling away from her friends to reassure him and make sure he was alright. She might even pull away from Plato and cancel their plans to dance together. And she was clearly so happy to spend time with him and he couldn't take that from her. And even though there was a small part of him that felt bad for not telling her, since he usually told her everything, he couldn't take that happiness from her.

Because Victoria had put him first so many times over the years, cancelling plans and ditching friends to spend time with him instead, even when he didn't ask her to and specifically told her to go hang out with her friends and that he could take care of himself. She rarely ever listened and chose him over her friends, to the point that he felt relieved when they started going to seperate schools so that she couldn't keep tabs on him all the time and he could keep certain things from her. Because, while he loved her so much and knew she would do anything for him if he asked, he hated that he took so much from her too. Victoria deserved to be happy and have fun with her friends, spend time with Plato and get together with him sometime in the future and not have her brother drag her down like dead weight. She deserved so much better than to look after him like he was a child who needed to be looked after. 

Still, her support and love meant the world to him, so he smiled and squeezed her paw. "Thanks Tori, it means a lot to hear that. And yeah, I know it won't be easy either, but I'm glad I have you in my corner." 

Victoria smiled widely, squeezed his paw back and then started to pull him along again as they resumed their walk to school.

By the time they made it to school Mistoffelees was in a better mood, though he kept tugging at his grey shirt and the long cardigan he was wearing. He wasn't used to wearing clothes like these out in public, especially not at school, and felt a little out of place. And especially eye-catching was his new backpack which was a far cry from his old, plain black one. 

He had never cared for being the center of attention, or cats just staring at him, so this made his stomach clench and his paws started to sweat. But it was a necessary step forward for him and he knew that. You'd never grow and change if you stayed inside your comfort zone forever, right?

But he quickly realized he had nothing to worry about. Most cats barely gave him a second look, either just giving him a quick look or a smile with a wave before going back to what they were doing. Which was quite the relief and he felt the nervous clench in his stomach loosen more and more. 

Victoria waved at him before heading up to her locker, where Jemima and Electra were already standing by their own lockers and getting their things, quickly joining their conversation and giggling. Mistoffelees walked up to his own, still grey, locker to leave his books and just take dance gear to their first class. And as he emptied his bag, he remembered all the ideas he’d gone over for a good design. He’d sort of put that aside over the weekend and then kind of forgotten about it, but he’d definitely have to pick it up again soon. He couldn’t just leave it bare forever.

“Good morning, Misto.” Mistoffelees looked up and saw Tumblebrutus and Pouncival walk past him to their lockers, but they had stopped next to him, smiling a bit nervously. 

It was strange, Mistoffelees thought, that some siblings could be so different and others you could barely tell apart. Victoria and Mistoffelees could not look more different and Electra and Etcetera also looked very different from each other. But then you had others, like Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, who you could only tell apart because Rumpleteazer was slightly smaller and shorter than her brother and not quite as muscular. And even then you had to look very closely to be able to see it. The same could be said for Tumblebrutus and Pouncival. When he’d met them, it had taken him a few weeks to fully learn who was who because they looked so similar. The only big thing that made it easy to tell them apart was the brown patch on their faces. Tumblebrutus had his over his right eye and Pouncival had his over his left eye. 

“Good morning, guys. How’s your morning?” He closed his locker, his new bag slung over his shoulder. Tumblebrutus shrugged with a small grin. He was dressed in a reddish brown jacket, a black t-shirt and cargo pants, while Pouncival was wearing a checkered jacket, a button-up shirt with multicolored fish on it and jeans.

“Eh, it’s alright. Same old, same old.” He gestured at Pouncival with a crooked smile. “We were practicing our number for the party last night and he’s still pretty out of it.”

Pouncival growled and smacked his brother on the shoulder, prompting a laugh out of him. “Screw off, I am not !” Then he turned back to Mistoffelees with a small, tentative smile. “So… are you feeling better today?”

Mistoffelees nodded, fingering nervously on the hem of his t-shirt. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just had a case of the Mondays yesterday, that’s all. I just wanted some space.”

Pouncival and Tumblebrutus nodded "That's cool. Just glad you're alright mate." Pouncival said with an almost uncharacteristically serious face. Pouncival was nowhere near as austentatious and immature as Tugger could be at times, he did have a habit of acting younger than he was. Tumblebrutus, who was the calmer and snarkier, coming across as the older one of the two, had told him once that Pouncival really looked up to Tugger and wanted to be just like him, but hadn't quite figured out how to act both cool and silly at the same time. Which, loath as Mistoffelees was to admit it, Tugger had turned into something of an art form. 

It was no secret Mistoffelees was not a big fan of The Rum Tum Tugger, but it was clear many others were very charmed by his flirty, showy and colorful personality, either wanting to date him or be him, and it was no secret why he was so popular and beloved by their peers as he could be very charming and was already attractive, talented and good at getting others to like him.

It all came across as insincere and an act to Mistoffelees, who had never been charmed by The Rum Tum Tugger, and even though he had grown used to it and it didn't get under his skin the way it used to, he liked it much better when Tugger was acting more like himself. But he wasn't going to judge Pouncival if he saw Tugger as his idol and wanted to be like him. But now it was a little weird to see Pouncival suddenly act serious. Still, he smiled and adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder, muttering a low thanks.

Tumblebrutus nodded and placed a paw on his arm and looked him in the eyes, smiling gently. "Yeah, you know you can talk to us if something's wrong, right? I know we all have bad days and all, but you don't have to pull away from us and shut us out when you do. We're your friends, just tell us if you need space or if you wanna talk about it."

Mistoffelees, who hadn't even recovered from Pouncival's sudden concern, was very taken aback by this and had no idea how to respond to this. He had gotten somewhat used to Tugger's overwhelming support and constant reassurance, but to receive it from others was still very new. And even Tugger's way of supporting him was overwhelming more often than not. 

Still, he smiled, a bit stiffly and nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate it." 

Then Pouncival's eyes zeroed in on Mistoffelees’ bag and grinned widely. “Ooh! Where’d you buy your bag, it looks awesome!”

Mistoffelees blinked, once again thrown by the sudden change in subjects, glanced over his shoulder at his bag. He shrugged with a blush over his cheeks and smiled awkwardly. “Oh, um, some shop in the city. I don’t remember the name, I just kinda… stumbled over it I guess.”

Pouncival looked over all the stars, planets and galaxies with big eyes, then took a step back and smiled widely at him. “Well, it looks awesome! Really suits you. Doesn’t it, Tumble?” He turned to grin at his brother with a big smile.

Tumblebrutus nodded, arms folded over his chest and smiled. “Yeah, it does. It’s nice to see you try some new things, finding a new style.” He eyed his clothes and grinned approvingly. “Nice cardigan.” 

Mistoffelees blushed. He had no idea how to react to this. He didn’t normally get praise for how he looked, except for his father’s friends, his grandmother or aunt. And from his father’s friends it was always in a very empty kind of way, like it was required of them to say it. Or it made him feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure he wanted to look ‘grown-up and handsome’ in the eyes of women in their fifties or older.

It always made his skin crawl whenever they said that.

The only one who openly praised him was Tugger, and he did it to such a loud, almost comical degree. He couldn't just say he had nice clothes on, he had to say it in as grand and loud a way as possible that at times it was hard for Mistoffelees to take it seriously. Yes, it made him happy to have Tugger's loud and obvious support, but he could certainly tone it down a little. 

He bit his lip and tried to smile in a way that didn’t betray how uncomfortable he felt. “Um, thank you.” 

Tumblebrutus and Pouncival walked off to get their dancing gear and Mistoffelees hurried towards the stairs to the locker room to get changed. All of this interacting with his friends was strange, nice and exhausting as well as terrifying and it was way too early in the morning to get emotional over praise for his clothes or bare minimum support and concern in regards to his well being.

As he was walking down the stairs, he took deep breaths and clenched his paws before gently unclenching them. 'I am fine, no need to get emotional about this. Pounce and Tumble were just being nice, nothing more. Get a hold of yourself and stop being so emotional about this.'

He took another deep breath. Suddenly he heard steps hurry after him and then an arm grabbed him around the shoulders, pulling him into their side. 

It really said something about how used he had become to Tugger and his annoying habits that he didn’t even flinch, freeze up or trip from surprise.

“Hey Misto, almost missed you there! Thought you’d managed to sneak away from me, didn't you?” Mistoffelees looked up Tugger, one eyebrow raised and lips slightly pursed. Tugger was dressed in his newly bought jacket, grey jeans, leather boots and a pair of black fingerless gloves. And as per usual, his mane reeked of furspray and gel, almost making Mistoffelees' nose burn and eyes tear up. He'd always been a bit sensitive to strong smells, sounds and tastes but he had a hard time wrapping his head around how other cats didn't keep their distance because of the smell.

'I realize he must need a lot of that stuff for his mane to look like that, but how does he not get a headache from that smell? I know I certainly am.'

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes, shrugged his arm off and took a half-step to the side to put some distance between them, adjusting his bag over his shoulder. “Well excuse me for hoping to get some space away from you, you terrible bore. You’re always hanging after me like a lost puppy, maybe I just wanted a small break. Honestly, the smell of all those furproducts alone are enough to give anyone a headache. And at that point we haven't even gotten to your obnoxious personality."  His voice was, as always, pretty emotionless but there was a small smirk tugging on his lips to show he was teasing him.

Tugger’s grin dropped and he let out a loud offended squawk, gaping at Mistoffelees with played up offense.  

"Rude!" He cried, as overdramatically as he always did, emphatically rolling the r which made Mistoffelees snort. Tugger fluffed up his mane indignantly as they headed into the locker room. "Come on Misto, who could possibly get tired of The Rum Tum Tugger? I am charm and appeal personified! Everyone loves me.” 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and put his bag down, pulling out his gym bag and then took off his cardigan, hanging it in the locker. “Whatever you need to tell yourself, Tugger, if it helps you sleep at night.” 

Tugger grinned as he shrugged off his own jacket, hung it into his locker and carefully pulled off his shirt so he wouldn't mess up his mane. Funny how being on the receiving end of near constant snark and attitude had become part of his regular routine. Usually he only got that from Munkustrap, Bombalurina and Cassandra, most other cats at school seemed to love or admire him. But he really loved to start his day bantering with his best friend, it just didn't feel the same if he didn't. Yesterday's little argument had made that very clear to him. 

He pulled out his dance clothes before glancing over to Mistoffelees, who was already fully clothed and was now putting on his shoes. “Speaking of appealing, those clothes look great on you! I know you like black, but grey looks really good on you too.” 

Mistoffelees glanced up from where he was sitting on the bench. “Thank you.” He said with a somewhat stiff smile before carefully pulling on his shoes. He really didn't know how to take all these compliments, it was bizarre.

Once they’d changed into their dancing gear they walked out into the dance studio, where several of their classmates were already warming up or chatting amongst themselves. 

Bombalurina was standing by the mirrors, talking with Cassandra and another older cat that Mistofflees didn't know very well, but was certain her name was Tantomile. But as they walked into the room, she turned around and waved at him and Tugger before turning back to her friends.

Plato and Victoria were warming up together, though both of them seemed a bit distracted, wanting to look at each other the whole time while trying not to make the other one realize it. 

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were standing close to each other, whispering to each other about something, likely planning their next prank or mischief. Mistoffelees pitied the poor cat who was their focus this time.

As they walked up to the barre and also started warming up, Tugger turned to look at Mistoffelees, trying not to feel inferior as he observed how flexible Mistoffelees was, stretching one leg straight up towards the ceiling. 

“So, I was thinking about rehearsing for our number. We could go to my place after school and just go over the song together and go from there. I can help you with singing techniques if you want.” 

Mistoffelees lowered his leg and stretched up the other without looking away from Tugger, smiling and nodding at him as Tugger tried not to gawk at his flexibility. 

“Sure, let’s do that.”

Before they could talk more, Skimbleshanks came hurrying in, clapping his paws together to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, let’s get started everyone. Please gather around please, we have a lot to do today.”

Chapter Text

Said and done, once school was over for the day, Tugger and Mistoffelees made their way over to the Deuteronomy estate. Once again the house was empty which Tugger was very happy about. Munkustrap was working on a big project at school and dad was working late, so he could sing and play his music as loud as he wanted and no one would care.

Then he winced to himself and glanced over to Mistoffelees, who was taking off his shoes and jacket. 'Well, maybe not quite that loud.'

Tugger led him down the stairs and to the basement, closing the door behind them, then opening his mini-fridge to pull out two bottles of water.

"Alright, first thing's first, it's important to stay hydrated." He said and handed one of them Mistoffelees. "If you sing and don't drink water often, it'll affect your performance and might even damage your vocal cords."

"Really?" Mistoffelees asked as he opened the bottle, taking a small sip. "It's that important?" 

Mistoffelees wasn't exactly what he would consider an athlete, but he knew enough about physical exercise to know the importance of drinking water and eating properly in order to stay healthy and maintain a good performance. But he knew very little about singing or taking care of your vocal cords, so he was open to all information that would help. 

"Mm-hm." Tugger grunted around the bottle while taking a generous swig of his water. "Yeah. You might not find this in many school books, but in the professional world 8 cups of water a day is a bare minimum for a vocalist."

He snorted as he plumped down on the couch, throwing one leg over the other and his free arm over the back of the couch. "And that's just water. I’ve heard about vocalists who cut out dairy, coffee and sugar from their diet and don't speak for several days before and after a performance to preserve their voice. Hell, I know about Opera singers that don't even fully sing at rehearsals to preserve their voices so they can save their voices for the big day." 

He turned to look at Mistoffelees, who was staring at him as if trying to figure out if he was joking or not. 

"I'm not making this up." He said, his smile dropping a little and shifted closer to Mistoffelees. "Singing is just as much a sport as dancing is. There are techniques you need to learn, warm-ups are super important and you need to take good care of your voice . And if you don't take care of yourself, you might risk severely damaging your vocal cords. And I don't mean that you may get a sore throat for a while. No, I mean that as in, you may damage your vocal cords to the point of never being able to speak properly again." 

Mistoffelees gaped at him. This was not something they had gone over in Singing Class with Jellylorum, but now that he mentioned all of that, it did make sense. Jellylorum always stressed the importance of drinking water, doing your vocal warm-ups and how important it was to do every technique right and not overexert yourself.

And, if he looked through it with the lens that singing was like dancing, if he interchanged singing warm-ups with dance warm-ups, then it suddenly made him respect singing much more.

"Wow…" He said, staring straight out into space before blinking and turning back to Tugger. "I never knew singing was so… hardcore." 

Tugger snorted and leaned back against the couch. "I'm not saying any of this to scare you, Misto. Or to make you worry about damaging your voice. I'm just saying this because it really is important to take care of your voice. It's like stretching after a workout or taking a day for your body to recover. If you don't do it, you risk hurting yourself just as much as if you tear a muscle." 

He smirked and nudged Mistoffelees with his elbow playfully. "And lucky for you, I'm here to teach and guide you through it." 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes with dismissive snort, but Tugger just stood up and led him over the keyboard, sitting down while Mistoffelees stood awkwardly in front of him. "Okay. Let's get this show on the road."

They spent quite a bit of time on warm-ups, with Tugger going through different kinds as well giving pointers and advice on how to do it better. Mistoffelees always felt silly during this whole exercise, because it was a long series of making silly sounds or noises which just made him feel self conscious. And he felt especially silly and ridiculous as he stood there in front of Tugger at the keyboard, making noises or humming melodies in different keys like it was a completely normal thing to do. It felt especially awkward the way he stood with his paws on his sides, making sure the muscles in his stomach were working too, as it wasn’t a stance that he felt very comfortable with.

Tugger however stressed the point of making sure your core was working along with your voice. 

"Make sure you have the correct support when you sing. Breathing from your diaphragm will help support and strengthen your singing." 

It was strange, Mistoffelees thought, that he'd never seen this side from Tugger before. For someone who had made the impression of not liking school and being a bit of a slacker when they met, he sounded an awful lot like a strict teacher right now. A strict but also very supportive teacher. And he also clearly knew what he was talking about too, considering he was one of the best singers in their class, if not their whole school.

Credit where credit was due, Tugger had a very good voice and had clearly worked very hard to get it to that point. 

He knew that he'd never be as good as Tugger, but if he'd manage to become half as good a singer as him, then that would be a victory in its own right.

But then again, Mistoffelees had never once settled for 'good enough' in his whole life and was determined to do what he had to do to get 100% or die trying. And so he fought against the embarrassment as Tugger pushed him to be louder and make even more noises that made him want to roll his eyes and sit down as he blushed. 

Once Tugger finally decided they were done, he pulled out his notebook, placing it in front of him and looked it over. Mistoffelees used this small break to snatch up his water, take several big mouthfuls and then a few long breaths.

"Okay, so, what I am proposing is that we start by deciding how to sing the song before anything else. Like, who will sing what, then go into harmonies, choreography and all that stuff. It will make things easier in the future as we keep practicing. When I started writing this it was meant to be a solo, not a duet, but that's okay, we can fix that!"

He gestured over at Mistoffelees to come and stand next to him, which he tentatively did, and looked over the pages as Tugger pointed to the lyrics with a pen.

"What do you think about singing every other line? Like, I'll sing one line, then you sing the next one and so on. It might be the easiest solution, at least for the verse. With the chorus we can sing it together or do it a little differently. We might be able to change it if we don't like it, but at least this way we have something to go on for now."

Mistoffelees, who did not feel he had any place of saying how a song performance should be done in order to be good, nevermind great, just nodded and smiled. "That sounds good. Let's see how it sounds before we write anything in stone." 

Tugger smiled but had to bite back a small frown. Mistoffelees seemed to be just nodding along to whatever he was saying rather than giving an honest opinion, which wasn't exactly what he would have preferred. But then again, Mistoffelees was still very new to the performing world, so maybe he just felt out of his element. Especially in regards to singing when he was a dancer at his core. 

He probably just needed to give him a little time to find his footing, then he would be back to his more outspoken self.

So he just smiled and started to play the intro to the song.

After going through the song together a few times, Tugger said it was probably good to take a little break and they sat down on the couch again. Mistoffelees grabbed his bottle and took several mouthfuls of water and then let out a long, heavy exhale. He had gotten more used to singing since he first began taking singing classes, but it still left him a bit drained. Especially today, considering how Tugger was constantly pushing him and encouraging him to put more emotion and passion into it. 

Tugger smirked, also looking a bit tired but nowhere near as much as Mistoffelees. He took a sip of water and playfully nudged Mistoffelees with his shoulder. "Are you okay? I haven't scared you away from ever singing again, have I?"

"I'm fine." Mistoffelees said curtly, wanting to maintain his dignity after all the silly vocal exercises he'd been put through. The singing itself wasn't that bad, it was kinda fun if he was being honest with himself. But staying on key was hard while Tugger was sitting next to him singing a completely different harmony. And he kept holding himself back from singing too loudly or using his whole body, as Tugger and their teachers kept telling him to. 

Too much emotion and might accidentally let himself slip up. And something else might slip out.

But Tugger was uncharacteristically patient and kept telling him that it was okay, while also trying to encourage him to try. That he'd do fine and there were only the two of them here and he wasn't going to laugh if it didn't sound perfect.

He sighed and took another sip of water. "I'm fine." He said again, softer this time. "It's just… I'm just not used to this much singing. I'm a dancer, that's what I'm good at.”

Tugger smiled and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “Eh don’t worry about it, you’ll get the hang of it soon enough. Just gotta keep practicing and you’re gonna be a great singer in no time.” 

Then his smile turned into a smirk and he puffed out his chest as he straightened up a bit. “Just, you know, not quite as great as me. But that’s okay, few people are on the same level as The Rum Tum Tugger. No need to feel bad about it, it’s just the way of the world.”

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes with a scoff and elbowed him in the side making him yelp then laugh. “Oh shut up, you wanker.”

Tugger snorted, but still rubbed his paw over his ribs with a pained grimace. Seriously, how was it fair that such a small cat was so good at causing him pain? At this point he was going to give him actual bruises if he kept this up.

Mistoffelees leaned back against the couch, taking a few long breaths and seemed determined to use this break to regain some more energy. But Tugger was still buzzing with it and wanted to do something while not working on his song. For a moment he considered trying to pick up a conversation with Mistoffelees about their number, but didn’t look like he was up for that at the moment, so he’d just have to entertain himself some other way.

Tugger took another long sip of water while thinking of something to do, then remembered the conversation they’d had yesterday. About how Mistoffelees had never seen a musical and Tugger was determined to change that. 

Well, no time like the present!

He shot up, snatched up his bag and pulled out his laptop, nearly splashing his water all over the couch. Mistoffelees yelped and jumped back in surprise at the sudden explosion of movement, then quickly got up to pry the bottle out of Tugger’s paw and put it on the table in front of them. 

“Goodness Tugger, be careful! I know you just said that water was very important for singers but I don’t think your laptop would appreciate a shower!”

But Tugger barely heard him, he was already typing away on his laptop with it placed in his now somewhat damp lap. "While we're taking this break, we should have a look at what show we'd like to see. If we’re gonna go see your first official musical, it should definitely be a good one. There's so many to choose from, we're bound to find something you'll like."

Mistoffelees blinked, a little thrown by the sudden change in subjects. He had to think for a moment before he also remembered their conversation from yesterday, then rolled his eyes and took a sip of his water. "You know, the way you jump from one subject to another with little warning is starting to give me whiplash." He muttered even as he shifted closer to Tugger, to see what he was doing. 

But Tugger was already looking over a list of musicals that were active in London at the moment and barely heard what Mistoffelees said, humming to himself as he scrolled down the page. 

"Okay, in my experience with musicals, the ones that are based on a non-musical movie tend to be the weak ones. They're not all bad, of course, some of them are really good. But if you really wanna get the full musical experience, you don't wanna be distracted by watching a plot you've already seen before. So my advice would be to pick one of the classics that aren't based on any pre-existing media."

Mistoffelees raised his eyebrow at him, then glanced down at the list, where he saw several shows- both active and ones that weren’t- that he knew for a fact were based on 'preexisting media'. Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserablés, Springtime Awakening, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, Cabaret and several others. 

'Should I tell him many of these are based on books, plays or urban legends, which count as pre-existing media?' He asked himself, then decided against it. That was not a discussion he wanted to have at the moment. Especially since he hadn’t read or seen all of said pre-existing media and he didn’t like to enter a debate without being sure he could give good arguments.

"Whatever you say, Tugger." He still couldn’t understand why Tugger thought this was such a big deal or why it was sooo important that he had to see a musical live. But he was not in the mood to be annoyed by Tugger constantly bugging him about it until he gave in, so he figured he might as well just go with it.

"What about Les Mis?" Tugger asked, hovering over the title with his finger on the touch pad. "You must have heard about that one, right? It's a classic."

Mistoffelees nodded. While he'd never had a big interest in musicals, he'd have to be blind and deaf to miss all the commercials and posters advertising musicals. He had grown up in London after all. And the commercials and posters for Les Miserables were definitely ones he had seen more than once in his life.

"Yeah, I read the book." He said, shifting a little closer so he could look over the poster and the 4.8 stars it had received from over 500 cats had left.

Tugger blinked then turned to look at him with big eyes. "There's a book?" 

“Mm-hm.” Mistoffelees nodded and smirked a little at how surprised he looked. 

Tugger blinked again, looked back at his laptop. "Huh. I always thought it was based on real historical events and people. You know, with the French Revolution and the poor making standing up against the wealthy and all that stuff." He snorted self-deprecatingly and rolled his eyes. “Shows what I know.” 

Mistoffelees shrugged, but inwardly was frustrated by how once again Tugger was putting himself down for not knowing something. 

‘You are not dumb for not knowing some things Tugger!’ He wanted to say but didn’t. It just didn’t seem appropriate for the conversation. Instead he focused on what he was good at, remembering useless facts from all his years being a poindexter.

“Well, it kinda is, to be fair. I mean, the characters are mostly fictional of course, but the plot is partially based on The June Rebellion that took place after the French Revolution. The republicans in Paris rebelled against the monarchy following the death of General Lamarque who was one of the few who spoke out against said monarchy for how it treated the poor. It only lasted for two days, but still a lot of people died during the fights between soldiers and rebels during those two days. And while maybe it didn’t change a lot in the immediate aftermath, it did eventually lead to better times for the poor even if took quite a bit of time to get there.”

Mistoffelees barely realized what he was saying until he had finished, but once he did he paled and wanted to bite his lips to keep himself from saying anything else. What was he thinking? No one was interested in this kind of trivia, that much had been made clear from all his years of private school. While he had never been the one to go on and on about ‘nerd stuff’ in school, he’d seen other cats who were, and they were often told to shut up, lest they’d be dubbed boring nerds, losers or teacher’s pets. 

And while Tugger didn’t strike him as someone who’d be mean to anyone for being a nerd, he was likely to bore him to tears if he went on like this.  

But Tugger just looked at him, looking mostly fascinated and impressed. “Really?” 

Mistoffelees nodded. “Yeah, we learned about it at my old school.” Though he left out the part where he had looked up Les Miserables on his own, as well the June Rebellion because he was curious and wanted to learn more. Let Tugger believe he wasn’t quite that pathetic. 

But to Mistoffelees’ surprise Tugger grinned at him like he was impressed. “That’s cool” He said and to Mistoffelees’ surprise he sounded like he genuinely meant it. “You’re really smart, aren’t you?” He said with a smile, then turned back to the laptop again. He didn't see how Mistoffelees' cheeks flushed and he turned away to hide it.  "Anyway, like I said, it's a classic. I went and saw it with Bomba last year and it was fantastic."

Mistoffelees glanced up at him, lips pursed and his head tilted slightly to the side. "Really? Doesn't seem like your style. I would've thought you'd like rock and electric guitars and stuff."

Tugger threw him an annoyed scowl and raised one eyebrow at him. "What, just because I play electric guitars, dress like a rock star and like listening to Mick Jagger, Queen and classic rock ‘n roll, that means I can't like anything else?" He rolled his eyes and turned back to the laptop. "Sheesh, don't be so narrow-minded, mate. I can like more than one genre of music, you know." 

Mistoffelees flushed and looked down at his lap. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I just…" He shrugged and pursed his lips. "I mean, what little I have heard of this musical all seemed like things that you wouldn't like. All historical, dramatic and grand and stuff."

Tugger glanced at him, one eyebrow raised and then smirked widely before letting out a loud laugh. "Hah! Well, yeah , that's why I love it! Because it's so dramatic and grand and just grabs you by the collar and refuses to let go. And the drama, ooph,” He raised his fingers to his lips and made a Chef’s kiss. “I love it!”

Mistoffelees pursed his lips and then shrugged. “Yeah that sounds good, I guess. Maybe that one would be good.” He didn’t really have a strong opinion on musicals and no preference that he’d rather go see over any other.  He was mostly going along with this whole thing to get Tugger to shut up about it. And unless he’d be forced to watch something stupid or mindless then he really could care less. 

But Tugger wasn’t having any of that. He wanted the first proper musical Mistoffelees saw live on stage to be a really good one. One that he wanted to see, not just one that he’d be fine with seeing. That was the exact opposite of what he was trying to accomplish with this mission.

“Oh no, we’re not doing ‘sounds okay’ or ‘yeah I guess’. This is your first proper musical, it needs to be something you actually want to see. So Les Mis didn’t quite grab you, but that’s okay! There’s plenty more on this list, we should keep looking. Don’t you worry your pretty little head over this, Misto. We will find a good one on this list that you’ll want to watch, not just something you think will be fine, or my name isn’t Rum Tum Tugger.” He turned to smirk at him. “Which it is, isn’t it?”

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and muttered to himself while sipping on his water. “I don’t know, you haven’t really mentioned your name that many times. What was it again?” 

But Tugger just laughed off his snarky reply, he chose to ignore him and continued to scroll down to look at what else was available in theaters.

As they kept looking, Tugger tried to interest him with almost every single musical on the list, but Mistoffelees just kept nodding and smiled with everyone that they passed, saying that it sounded good. 

Phantom of the Opera? It’s also a classic, it’s been running for decades. Sure, that sounds alright.

Lion King? The Disney movie? I’ve already seen it like a hundred times, but sure, why not?

How about Newsies? That one’s got a lot of dancing in it! Yeah, I guess.

After a few attempts to try and get Mistoffelees interested in at least one of the many musicals on the list with little to no results, at least not the ones he was looking for, Tugger was getting more and more frustrated with his friend.

“Come on Misto, would it kill you to try and sound at least a little enthusiastic?” Tugger eventually said, finally letting his frustration seep through and he scowled at his friend. 

“How can I be enthusiastic about this when it’s all your idea that you’re dragging me into?" Mistoffelees shrugged and pursed his lips. "Honestly Tugger, I don’t know what you want me to say here, I’m not that interested in musicals so-” He stopped and looked back at the laptop as a teaser started playing while the sound was muted. 

The video showed a queen with dark green fur, dressed in black and a witch hat on her head, waving her hands over a leather-bound book. Then it cut to another queen with white fur, a long wand in her paw and dressed in a light blue, shimmery dress, then to big ensembles dancing around on stage while wearing bright, colorful costumes.

“What’s that one?” He asked, finding himself somewhat fascinated by the video. Maybe it was his soft-spot for stories that seemed to include magic (which was quite ironic to say the least) but a story where at least one of the characters seemed to be able to use magic already made him a lot more interested than he’d been in any of the others they’d gone through.

Tugger blinked, looked back at the screen and smiled when he saw the teaser. “Oh, that’s Wicked! I love that show, it was one of the first musicals I ever saw.” He turned back to Mistoffelees. “You know the Wizard of Oz?”

“The children’s book? Sure, it was one of my favorites when I was little.” Mistoffelees smiled and shrugged but Tugger just stared at him incredulously with his jaw hanging open. 

“... seriously? You haven’t seen that movie either? The Wizard of Oz, one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time? Like, I know it’s old but seriously?” 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes with a low sigh. “Tugger, how many times do I have to tell you that I’ve never had much interest in these things before I started going to Jellicle Arts? I love to dance, but I don’t go out of my way to watch movies that are all about dance.”

“Well yeah, but I didn’t think you were completely uncultured!” Tugger exclaimed, using the exact same words he’d used on Bombalurina when he learned she hadn’t watched Doctor Who. Then he rolled his eyes and shook his head, muttering to himself under his breath as he looked back at the laptop again. “The cat spends all his time studying, has obscure facts about history ready to pull out at any point and is fascinated by space but musicals are too much for him.”

Mistoffelees had to stifle his laugh behind his paw when he heard the frustration in Tugger’s voice. He had, in fact, watched the Wizard of Oz many, many times. He’d been unable to escape it, as it was one of Victoria’s favorite movies and she had forced him to watch it with her hundreds of times in the past. 

He liked it, it was a very charming movie. Not one of his favorites by any means, but it was leagues better than Sound of Music, that was for sure. Which was a low bar to clear, but still. And he had seen a large amount of musical movies, if only because Victoria loved them and forced him to watch them with her, so he wasn't completely out of the loop about them.

He just couldn’t help himself, it was far too much fun to pretend not to know any of these things, just to see Tugger get so worked up over it. 

Once Tugger had stopped grumbling to himself, he turned back to Mistoffelees and gestured to the screen. “Well, the story is something of a prequel to the movie. It’s about how the Wicked Witch of the West became The Wicked Witch, why she was born with green fur and magic powers, her relationship with Glinda, and everything else that happened before Dorothy showed up in Oz, crushing one witch under her house and melting the other. It paints her up as a misunderstood outcast rather than an unsympathetic thug like in the movie.”

And wow, didn’t that hit close to home for Mistoffelees? A cat born with magic who felt misunderstood in her world because of how she was born? Who else could possibly relate to that better than him? Sure, he’d read stories about characters who felt that same way about magic or other oddities they had, but somehow this felt different. Maybe because Tugger was the one who brought it up? Or because he recommended a show about witches and magic and stuff?

Part of him wanted to say maybe not this one, if only to steer clear of the topic of magic and avoid Tugger’s reaction to magic as a real-life subject. But he couldn’t deny this was the first one on the list that genuinely made him feel interested. 

'And hey, magic is a common plot device in a lot of stories and has been for centuries. It doesn't have to mean anything, right?'

Instead he pursed his lips and went for snark. "Well, that's not at all political." He also made sure to keep his voice as unemotional as possible so he wouldn't give away any thoughts or feelings on the subject. 

'Conceal yourself, hide yourself.'

Tugger snorted, but more out of frustration than humor this time, and rolled his eyes so hard his head moved in a semi-circle. "Oh, don't get me started! You have no idea how many stupid people think this show is controversial because of the fact that there's magic in it. 'Ooh, it's not portraying magic accurately!' 'It's not politically correct to showcase magic as something positive!' 'Is there any way to tell the story without magic?' Sweet Heaviside above, it's fantasy! It's not supposed to be realistic, you myopic manatee! And just because it's one of the few good musicals that has a Magic Cat in the leading role and doesn't use magic as something purely negative, doesn't mean it has a hidden political agenda!"

He groaned and slumped back against the couch, staring off into space for a minute. Then he picked up his bottle again, but instead of drinking from it, he clawed at the label around it.

"And besides, if they really cared about making it PC they would want to finally cast an actual Magic Cat as Elphaba already. It's 2021 people, let's act like it. I swear, sometimes it feels like we're still living in the witch burning-era." He muttered before finally taking a sip of his water, his face a mask of frustration and bitterness.

Mistoffelees stared at his friend, at a complete loss for how to respond to this rant. He hadn't meant to get an actual political debate going, least of all about magic, but here they were. And going by Tugger's words and response to the 'criticism' he didn't sound to be against magic in itself. But he didn't want to get ahead of himself on that, because it wasn't clear enough for him. Not yet.

Instead, he tried to relax himself and act like he hadn't just gotten a bombshell dropped in his lap and like he was surprised by this rant. He swallowed and tried to come up with something to say to diffuse the awkwardness in the room. 

But before he could Tugger sighed, rubbed his paw over his face before he turned to Mistoffelees, looking more tired all of a sudden. "... sorry about that, I didn't mean to unload all of that on you. I just.." He sighed again and slumped back against the couch again. "It's a touchy subject for me I guess."

Mistoffelees nodded, gently took the laptop away from Tugger, putting it on the table, then turned back to him. "It's okay," He said tentatively, making sure to pick his words very carefully. He was walking on thin ice right now and saying the wrong thing now could make him crash right through into the cold abyss below him.

He also found himself cursing himself for packing his gloves but not putting them on at any point. They would have been very useful right about now, if only to be on the safe side. But there was nothing to do about it now, he just needed to keep his head cool and not say or do anything rash. 

Instead he swallowed hard, took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to relax his body and nerves. Then he slowly shifted a little bit closer, if only to make the situation feel more casual than it truly was, and clasped his paws in his lap. He could feel a soft tingle in his fingertips and he needed to keep his magic in check. 

'Conceal yourself, hide yourself. Don't let your weaknesses show and you'll be fine.'

"I guess I was just… a little surprised." 

'Understatement of a lifetime.' 

"I didn't expect you to have such…" He paused again, then shrugged and pursed his lips, trying to ignore how his claws were digging into his skin. 

"At the risk of sounding ignorant, I guess I didn't expect you to have such strong political views on… this subject. Not many cats I have met do." Mistoffelees was a little shocked himself by how casual he sounded even to his own ears. Forget butterflies in his stomach, he felt like he had hundreds of butterflies inside his whole body that wanted to escape through his throat and out his mouth. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't going to throw up in the very near future.

Tugger sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling. "Not many do. Think I have these opinions, I mean." He sighed again then groaned as he sat up properly again. The excited energy that he'd had all afternoon, coaching Mistoffelees' singing and then discussing musicals with him had seemingly disappeared, like bath water going down the drain, and he suddenly looked very tired. 

"I guess most cats assume that because of Mac- '' He cut himself off, his facial muscles tensed up for a moment, then relaxed again and he sighed again. "You-know-who. It's like, because he was a horrible person and treated our family like shit, they expect me to hate magic on principle. Like it was the magic that made him a bad person, or that I'd be traumatized by everything that has to do with magic. They seem to think they have me all figured out and how I feel and think about it."

Mistoffelees felt something form in his throat, like he was going to throw up or couldn't breathe properly. The butterflies in his body were now flapping up a storm and he had no idea what to do with himself. He tried to ease his grip on his paws and breathe normally, because he was sure he looked like a statue at the moment and that didn't help his attempts to look normal. But this was not a conversation he had ever, ever, had with any of his peers before and he felt completely out of his depth. 

So, in an attempt to appear more casual, he shifted a little closer to Tugger and softened his voice, almost to a whisper. "... and do you? How do you feel, truly?" As terrified as he was of the answer he couldn't deny that he was dying to know the answer to this question. It had been burning in his mind for weeks and he had never had a good opportunity to bring it up or ask. Now here he was given a good moment on a silver platter and he wasn't sure when it might come again.

Tugger turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised and a frown, as if trying to see if Mistoffelees was playing with or trying to pull one over on him. Like he was trying to make a joke out of him. But when he didn't find any, he swallowed and exhaled. 

"I think it's…" He stopped, shook his head then shifted a little so he could look Mistoffelees in the eyes. And Mistoffelees in turn shifted a little closer and leaned in a little. "It's like, a lot of cats really only see magic as something bad, right? Like, there are cats that are capable of doing whatever they want with magic and are scared they can't be controlled. Because cats are scared of what they don't understand and all that jazz, right?"

"Yes, I'm with you." Mistoffelees nodded, fighting to remain casual, but was sitting on the edge of his seat equal parts terrified and curious of where Tugger was going with this.

"Right. But, to me, the first part has always been the crazy part that the rest of the world seems to miss. Like, there are cats who can do literally anything they want with actual, literal magic! And so many see that as a bad thing? Wanting to keep an eye on these cats so they don't break laws or so horrible things. And meanwhile I'm over here going, they can do actual, literal magic! How is that nothing short of freaking amazing?!"

For a moment Mistoffelees was sure he must have misheard him. He must have, right? Tugger couldn't possibly have said what he thought he had said. Cats didn't like magic, they feared and despised it, that's what he’d heard all his life. His father had been very clear that most cats saw magic as something bad, mostly because of Macavity. So how was magic something someone like Tugger saw as something amazing?

He tried to swallow down the lump in his throat and smile tentatively. "Really?"

Tugger nodded vigorously and smiled widely, the energy suddenly coming back to him. "Absolutely! When I was a kitten I was so jealous that I hadn't been given the same magic Mac had. He could lift me up and make me fly, give life back to plants, light the house up with a wave of his paws and I couldn't! It was so cool, watching all the things that he could do, all the new things he learned with time and so much more." 

Then his smile turned into a sad frown, he glanced down at the floor for a moment and then looked back up at Mistoffelees again. "Look, I know that Macavity wasn't a good person. Or at least he went from a good person to a bad person with time. But, like, that wasn't the magic's fault, right?"

"It wasn't?" Mistoffelees asked before he could stop himself. 

But Tugger didn't seem offended by this question. He just shook his head and shrugged. "No, I don't think so anyway. Look, I'm the last person you'll find who'll try to defend Macavity, but I don't think he was bad because he happened to be a Magic Cat. His magic changed as he changed, not the other way around."

He shrugged and smiled wryly. "Honestly, magic is far too cool in my eyes for one cat to ruin it for me. Color me weird but I think magic is one of the coolest things to exist in the world. The fact that magic exists at all and isn't just a thing that exists in fairy tales and stories blows my mind." 

Mistoffelees was stunned. Completely and utterly stunned and had no idea how to respond to this. Sure, Tugger had always struck him as someone who was fairly inclusive but magic was such a touchy subject for some many cats that he couldn't be completely sure. And here he was saying that he might be cool with knowing someone with magic.

He shifted a little closer, took a deep breath and swallowed, gathering his courage and thinking over his words long and hard before speaking. "So… hypothetically speaking, if you met a cat with magic powers- say at school or at a party-"

Tugger turned to him with a wide grin, now more relaxed as he leaned back against the couch. "I'd probably declare myself their number one fan on the spot." Then he seemed to catch what he actually said and suddenly looked a little disgusted. "Did I really just say that? Ugh, that feels weird."

This made Mistoffelees snort a small laugh and suddenly the air in the room felt a little lighter. Then he cleared his throat and tried to smile, like he wasn't trying to look as normal and unbothered as possible. 

'Nothing to see here. Everything's great, everything's fine.'

"Well um, that's pretty decent of you Tugger. I mean, magic has always been a taboo subject in my school so I can't say for sure, but I always got the impression that most of them either didn't care or actively disliked them."

Tugger scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Well, that's really messed up. The way I see it, other cats' right to exist is not up for debate. I don't care about where they're from, how much money they do or don't have, who they love or if they have magic powers. No one asks to be born, so why should some cats be punished for not being born in the correct place?" 

He then placed a paw on Mistoffelees' shoulder and Mistoffelees had been so tense that he almost jumped a foot in the air. Thankfully Tugger didn't seem to take it as anything out of the ordinary.

"Like, thanks for your compliment Misto, but I don't see how believing that all cats should be allowed to exist as they are without hatred thrown at them is something that should be praised. And I'll say it as many times as I have to, I am the most pro-magic as a guy you’ll ever meet in your life. I love magic, I wish I knew more Magic Cats and I don't have some deep-rooted hatred or a grudge against magic. Macavity is an a-hole who happens to have magic powers. There are thousands of cats who are a-holes without magic, so should the reverse not be true?"

Mistoffelees stared at him for a long while, a million thoughts running through his head at the speed of sound and had no idea what to make of this conversation. But while these thoughts were running wild, he still managed to smile and placed a paw on Tugger's arm.

"Well, either way I still think it's very good of you." He raised an eyebrow and gave a teasing grin and playfully elbowed him in the side. "I guess there's some caring for other cats under all that ego after all. Who'd have thought?"

Tugger snorted, rolled his eyes and elbowed him back. "Oh shut up pipsqueak. And don't you go around telling you people, I have a reputation to maintain."

"Of course, of course. Your secret caring for other cats other than yourself is safe with me." Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and shook his head with an amused smile.

They sat in silence for a while, neither of them quite sure where to go from here. But after a minute or two, Tugger glanced back at the laptop and the teaser for Wicked was playing again. He turned back to Mistoffelees and smiled tentatively. 

"So… we're going with Wicked, then?"

Mistoffelees looked up, reminded of what they'd actually been talking about earlier. He also glanced back at the teaser, then back at Tugger. And maybe it was because his head was not completely clear at the moment, because of their magic-conversation and how confused he felt about it all. Because he heard himself say, without fully knowing what he was saying.

"Yeah, looks like we are." 

Tugger's grin widened and he raised both clenched fists in celebration. "Awesome! I knew we'd find one that you'd like. And it's a really good one to start with too!" 

He grabbed his laptop again and started to type again, looking for good dates. "So, I'm assuming that a weekend will be best. We obviously have school on weekdays, but if you have anything on weekends that would be good to know."

Mistoffelees shook his head. "No, not really. Well, we have to go to my grandmother's birthday party next weekend but nothing other than that. At least that I can think of at the moment" 

"Got it." Tugger replied, typing away then made a cry of excitement! "Oh, jackpot!" He waved at Mistoffelees to come closer and look before gesturing at the screen. "A couple of people canceled their tickets for this weekend last minute, so there are a few seats open this Saturday! And pretty decent seats too, that's great" He turned back to grin at Mistoffelees. "This Saturday at 16:30, does that work for you?"

Mistoffelees, who still felt a little fuzzy in the head but had started to catch on to what was happening through the haze of rapid thoughts. Tugger was moving along very fast and Mistoffelees wanted to ask him to slow down and give him time to think. But he also knew Tugger well enough to realize that if he did, Tugger would bring this up for weeks until a new good opening came along. Which, again, he wasn't really up for weeks of Tugger bringing this up until he caved in.

Now that the door was semi-opened he might as well go through immediately, just to get it over with.

"Yeah, that should work just fine."

"Fantastic!" Tugger grinned and immediately started typing again to get the tickets before anyone else could get their hands on them. "We could meet up earlier and get a bite to eat before the show. Or just hang out beforehand. We'll make a day out of it, it'll be fun!"

Mistoffelees found himself smiling and nodding along, making sure to enter his card information so he could pay for the tickets, but felt like he was running on auto-pilot through the whole thing.

'What in name of the Everlasting Cat just happened here?'

Later that night, when Mistoffelees was back in his bedroom, he was sitting on his bed trying to focus on reading his newest book before going to bed. But his mind kept wandering back to the conversation he and Tugger had had earlier that day. 

He sighed, leaned back against his pillows, put his book aside and raised his paws to look at them, letting some of his magic dance across his fingers. Today had been the first time he had ever talked to someone his own age about magic that wasn't his sister and he didn't entirely know what to make of it. And while what Tugger had said sounded very reassuring, which he should be relieved about- happy even- he wasn't sure what to make of it. 

"There are cats who can do literally anything they want with actual, literal magic! And so many see that as a bad thing? Wanting to keep an eye on these cats so they don't break laws or so horrible things. And meanwhile I'm over here going, they can do actual, literal magic! How is that nothing short of freaking amazing?!"

Tugger also made magic sound like something beautiful and awe inspiring, something to be admired rather than feared. The only one who ever made magic sound like that was Victoria and he'd come to expect that from her after all these years. She’d grown up with his magic, of course she loved it and saw it as something positive. But to hear it from someone else, especially someone like Tugger who had grown up with someone who had used his magic to hurt those around him, was both bizarre and kinda nice in a way.

And the way that Tugger had talked about magic as a real thing, rather than something strange and to be feared, Mistoffelees couldn't help but feel warm about it. 

"He could lift me up and make me fly, give life back to plants, light the house up with a wave of his paws and I couldn't! It was so cool, watching all the things that he could do, all the new things he learned with time and so much more." 

"Honestly, magic is far too cool in my eyes for one cat to ruin it for me. Color me weird but I think magic is one of the coolest things to exist in the world. The fact that magic exists at all and isn't just a thing that exists in fairy tales and stories blows my mind." 

Mistoffelees had never really looked at it that way before. That he was capable of wonderful, fantastic things with just a wave of his paw that others might find equally as amazing was… well, it was something of a foreign thought to him. He'd always been told others would be scared of it, maybe even of him. So to hear Tugger talk about the way he had- with Tugger's ego being what it was- was… strange but also left him feeling kinda warm.

He glanced up and looked around his room. There was not a lot of furniture, not a lot that showed his interest or personality. He had his desk, with his laptop, school books, and a lamp on the wall above it. His wardrobe, made of dark wood, a full length mirror, his bed with black and white bedding and pillows. Little to pictures on the walls, save for one of him and Victoria as children on his bedside table and a large poster of the full moon over his bed. His walls were painted in a dark grey color, which was the closest thing to black he could get, since his father said it wouldn't look good to have pitch black walls. 

All in all, it was very plain and except for the abundance of black, white and grey, and said very little about him. Much like his clothing, his room had very little personality that told anyone of who he was 

'It's about as personal as a hotel room with an emo phase' Victoria had said once, rolling her eyes and saying that it could do with a few more personal touches to it. But Mistoffelees had just brushed her off and said he liked it fine as it was.

Could he do something about that? He had started to find himself a new style with clothes, maybe his room was next?

Then he looked up at the pot of pothos he had on top of his bookshelf. He had gotten it to hopefully create a nicer, cozier and bookworm-y aesthetic, but had discovered he was very bad at remembering to water and care for it. It was still very much alive, but looked very tired. Several of the leaves had gotten dark spots, some had started to get dryer and some of the green had started to become yellow and even a little brown. 

He got up from his bed, placed his book on the bedside table and walked over to the bookshelf. He looked up at the plant, then glanced down at his paws and watched the sparkles dance over his fingers. He hesitated. His father had told him over and over how he shouldn't use his magic and how it was better to be safe than sorry. And even with all the magic sessions with Old Deuteronomy, how he had better control of his powers these days and how Old Deuteronomy had encouraged him to use his magic because it was the key to better control over it, it was a very hard habit to break. 

But then again, he was alone in his bedroom right now. Victoria was in her room, either doing homework or talking with her friends over Zoom and their father was most likely down in the living room, an entire floor between them.

It wasn't any different from climbing out of the roof and doing magic there, right?

And he remembered the moment in the forest, when he'd managed to bring life back to the flowers in that tree. Perhaps it wasn't just a matter of a magic tree giving him more control, maybe that was something he could always do and the tree had managed to bring out the inner calm he needed to be able to do it? Perhaps… perhaps he could do that again?

Slowly, carefully, Mistoffelees raised his paw and lightly grazed his fingers over the browner leaves on his pothos. As he did, rainbow colored sparkles left his fingers and they started crawling over the leaves, stems and climbing all over the plant, up to the roots, to the tip of every single leaf. And as they did, the spots vanished, the dying leaves became full of life again and the lush green color returned. And on top of that, it grew longer and curled itself around the shelf the way he had wanted it to when he first bought it. Suddenly it was covering the whole shelf on both sides, from top to bottom and twirling around the open shelves making it look like something with a cozy, bohemian feel in between his modern, bare and monochrome aesthetic.

Mistoffelees took several shocked steps back and took it all in, his jaw hanging wide open. He stared at his now lush, beautiful climbing plant which was draping over his book-shelf like a curtain, then down at his paws. Had he done that? All of that from a simple touch of his fingers? 

How was he supposed to explain this to his father? Plants didn't grow like this overnight, he would surely notice how a big portion of his wall was now covered in green luscious leaves. And was there something he needed to do in order to keep it looking like that, or would it just go back to normal by tomorrow? 

… what else would happen if he touched it? 

Taking another deep breath, Mistoffelees looked up from his paws again and took another look around the room, then up at the ceiling as a memory struck him.

When he was a child and had gotten his own room, he'd had glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, which he had absolutely loved. He and Victoria had spent many a night in his room, under his stars and pretending to be sleeping under the bare sky. He'd always loved stars, moons and everything connected to space and those stars were some of his earliest memories of that love. But then he'd gotten older and his father decided that he was too old for those stars and had gotten them removed. Mistoffelees hadn't made a fuss about it at the time, but he'd secretly been very upset about it and even as he'd grown into his teen years he missed them. 

When Victoria had asked if he had been okay with their father removing the stars he'd said yes. That he was too old for childish decorations on the ceiling and he needed to act his age. She'd said that was too bad because she missed their nights together in his room.

It had hurt his heart to hear that, but he hadn't dared asking for his stars back. 

Now, several years later, as he looked up at his bare ceiling an idea struck him. He jumped up on his bed then reached up his paw, stretching as far as he could to touch the ceiling. After a minute of trying, while cursing his short stature, he gave in and started jumping on the bed to get up higher. He hadn't jumped on his bed since he was very young, he'd gotten too old for such antics. But desperate times, right?

After a couple of jumps he finally managed to touch the ceiling, and just like with his plant, multi-colored sparkles spread over the ceiling and the wall over his bed. The sparkles turned into small, shiny stars that became part of actual constellations that eventually covered his whole ceiling. 

Grinning widely, Mistoffelees got out of his bed, now somewhat rumpled, and looked over his work. He then turned on the ceiling lights and, to his great relief and happiness, the lights disappeared much like how his glow-in-the-dark stars had. Only difference was that if didn't know they were there, he wouldn't have seen the difference. They only appeared when the ceiling lights were off. 

'Let's see father trying to take these down.' He thought smugly to himself, when he was suddenly struck by a thought that made his whole body feel cold, like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.

This had been so easy to do. Too easy in fact. One touch of his finger was all it took for his magic to slip out and reveal his secret. What if he touched a chair in class one day and that chair was suddenly neon pink because he hadn't been paying attention? Or worse, what if he made something explode? He had managed to make light bulbs explode when he was a child while having tantrums or simply lost control of his emotions. What if that happened at school? 

Magic was too easy to use now that he had more control. One day if he felt a bit absentminded he could let it slip out. 

Mistoffelees felt himself grow stiff, sank back down on his chair by his desk and stared straight out into space. Ooh, this was bad. Very, very bad. On one paw, Old Deuteronomy had taught him control and he didn't need to have such a tight grip on himself anymore. His magic obeyed him more now and he did release it more at home, in secret. But he couldn't very well just start relaxing and let go of himself too much.

"Cats are afraid of what they don't understand, son. So you must never let anyone see this power you carry. They may very well see the next Macavity if they did. If they were to ever see what you are, then I don't know if I would be able to protect you."

Mistoffelees suddenly felt very nauseous and bit down on his lips to keep his dinner down. 

Tugger had said he loved magic and wished he could do any of the amazing things he had seen what Macavity had been doing before he went around the bend. Or just knew more Magic Cats in his everyday life because he thought it was so cool.

"Look, I'm the last person you'll find who'll try to defend Macavity, but I don't think he was bad because he happened to be a Magic Cat. His magic changed as he changed, not the other way around."

Tugger seemed to be under the belief that magic in itself was neutral, that it was shaped by the cat who had it, not the other way around. But how could he possibly know that? He had only ever known one Magic Cat and he was not exactly the best source for that hypothesis. Also, he'd been a small child when Macavity had been kicked out by his family, nevermind while he'd still lived with them. 

Tugger couldn't possibly understand what he was talking about. He knew little to nothing about magic, he was going by how magic was portrayed in media. In books and movies, TV shows and musicals. And while it was true that Mistoffelees also had a soft spot for stories about magic, he could tell it wasn't real magic, because he had been cursed with real magic and had an inkling of how it actually worked. 

In those stories, magic was a plot device. It was created for a purpose, to move the story forward, to make the world more interesting, it had rules to follow. Real magic was unpredictable and took a lot of effort and energy to keep it under control and make sure no one knew the truth of what he was.

Mistoffelees took a deep breath to calm his racing heart, got up from his seat and looked around his room again. The lush pothos that now covered more than half of his book shelf and the stars that covered his ceiling were both wonderful to look at but also made his stomach twist. 

Yes, he had more control of his magic now than he’d had a month ago. And yes, Tugger had said that he loved the idea of real magic existing in the world. But that didn't change anything. Even if Tugger had meant what he said, he was only one cat. And one cat's opinion and support didn't mean he could just tell him the truth.

Mistoffelees looked up and saw himself in his full-body mirror from the other side of the room. 

He walked closer to the mirror and looked over his reflection. He'd changed out of his school clothes into a pair of sweatpants and a pajama shirt, his fur was now slightly ruffled after a day of school, rehearsal and talking to a friend. And just looking at himself he could see that he had gotten looser with himself. 

He'd let his guard down too much today. And as a result he'd left himself vulnerable and he could easily have let something slip out. And while the new information he had of his friend was good to have, he still could not take any risks. He would need to know for absolute sure that Tugger would actually still treat him like a friend if he learned the truth. If he ever felt like telling it, though it was very unlikely.

He stopped in front of the mirror, took a deep breath and looked himself in the eyes.

"This changes nothing." He told himself firmly, putting on the same stern face he'd always seen on his father. "Tugger doesn't know what he's talking about, he is in love with the idea of magic, not the real deal. If he ever were to see real, genuine magic he would change his mind about you. You know he would. You know they all would. He cannot know about any of this, ever." 

As he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt the power run out of him as he felt the impact of his words hit him. Sighing deeply and shutting his eyes tightly so he wouldn't cry, he turned away from the mirror and trudged back to his bed. He sat down with a heavy sigh, grabbed one of his pillows and hugged it tightly to his chest.

"Nobody can ever know."

Chapter Text

The next day Mistoffelees tried to act as if yesterday’s evening hadn’t happened. He pushed away all thoughts and what-if’s in regards to his magic and especially the conversation with Tugger on the subject, telling himself over and over again to forget it ever happened. He’d even considered using his magic to take down stars from the ceiling and the plant go back to how it had been before he’d touched it, but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. He just started to willfully ignore them, acting like he didn’t see them.

‘It didn’t happen. And even if it did happen, it doesn’t mean anything’

However, it was made a little harder to ignore his magic and the things he learned about how Tugger viewed magic as he had another magic lesson with Old Deuteronomy that day. Which in turn made it harder to act as if nothing was wrong when he’d had another nightmare the night before. 

It had been fairly similar to the ones he’d had previous nights, except for one key difference. 

Tugger had been looking at him with a mix of horror and disgust on his face, before literally shoving him away, making him fall to the ground, then sneered down at him. 

“Get away from me you monster! I’ve seen what magic can do, I don’t want it anywhere near me!”

“b-but…” Mistoffelees had stuttered, slowly sitting up and leaning his weight on his arms as he stared up at Tugger with wide, sad and hurt eyes. “but you said that you liked magic… You said it was cool,”

Tugger scoffed and sneered again. “And you believed me? Everyone says they like magic, it doesn’t mean anything. I was a kitten, do you honestly expect me to like the one thing that broke my family beyond repair?!” 

As he spoke his face went from sneering to angry and he glared down at Mistoffelees with a fire burning in his amber eyes that Mistoffelees had never seen before. Not even when talking about Amaryl or Macavity.

This was a wholly different side of the Rum Tum Tugger that made his blood run cold. 

“Stay the hell away from me, you monster!” He said, fluffing up his mane while looking down his nose at Mistoffelees with disdain and disgust. “The Rum Tum Tugger doesn’t associate with monsters.” Then he’d turned on his heel and stomped off, ignoring Mistoffelees soft sobbing behind him.

Mistoffelees swallowed hard and shook his head, trying to banish the images and words from Dream Tugger. ‘Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it!’ He chastised himself. Then, taking a deep breath, he refocused on the task in front of him.

Today’s lesson consisted of making two books change positions with each other, then their colors, then switch the covers out while leaving the pages where they were and so on. It was a spell that hinged on focus and being able to see the image of what you wanted to do clearly in your head as you said the words. But it was hard to maintain his focus as the words and images from his dreams kept popping up uninvited. 

He muttered a low “Presto” and the books before him changed. However, instead of the covers changing places, the pages were switched out, making the history book now contain algebra and trigonometry on the inside and the math book now telling about the French Revolution and World War II. 

Mistoffelees groaned in frustration and mentally chastised himself for messing up again. ‘You’re not paying attention, Mistoffelees! Old Deuteronomy has better things to do with his time than waste it on someone who isn’t trying. Remember, he’s doing this for YOUR benefit! Get your act together already!’

“Don’t be discouraged Mistoffelees.” Old Deuteronomy said gently, even as he looked over the books and turned the pages to see the effects of the spell. “These things take practice and time to master. And every step you take is a step closer to mastering your powers. Even if it doesn’t always turn out the way you want it to.”

Mistoffelees tried to smile back at Old Deuteronomy but didn’t feel much better with these words. He’d been asked to switch the covers out, not the pages, which meant he had gotten it wrong. And Mistoffelees didn’t do well with getting homework and schoolwork wrong, he never had.

It took a few more attempts to get the desired effect, first to switch the books back to normal and then try again to switch the covers, but eventually he got it right, which made him feel a little better. But the feeling of ‘not good enough’ still chipped at his brain, as well as the images from last night’s nightmare. 

‘It’s not good enough.’

‘You’re not good enough.’

Old Deuteronomy eyed Mistoffelees with ever-growing concern. The boy had seemed distracted from the moment he walked into the room and it was also clear that his heart and head wasn’t entirely in his actions. He was sloppy, making small mistakes he normally wouldn’t and his mind seemed to be elsewhere. And despite this, every time he did make a mistake, Old Deuteronomy could practically see the boy scold himself for not getting it right. 

It was concerning to say the least and not very like Mistoffelees.

As the hour came to an end and Mistoffelees was packing up his things to leave for lunch, Old Deuteronomy stopped him before he stood up. “So, Mistoffelees, how are you doing?”

Mistoffelees looked up, a bit taken aback, then tried to smile. “Oh. Um,  I’m fine, Old Deuteronomy. I think I’m starting to get used to being here now.” Which wasn’t exactly a lie, but something Mistoffelees tended to say when he didn’t know what else to say when people asked him this question. 

Old Deuteronomy smiled warmly. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m happy to hear you’re adjusting and finding your place at our school. I understand that it has been quite an adjustment for you. I know Munkustrap also struggled with going from a regular public school to Jellicle Arts and it can be quite taxing, mentally and physically, to adjust. Just know that you can always come to us and ask for help if you ever need it. Even if it’s just to talk about how it’s going for you.”

Mistoffelees smiled and nodded, though Old Deuteronomy saw how he clenched the strap of his bag tighter as he did. ”Yes, of course. I will. Thank you.” Polite and gentle as always, but once again, Old Deuteronomy saw and heard that this was a very rehearsed response from the boy. It almost felt like he always said the same thing, over and over again, only with slight variations of words and tone of voice. 

Again, a bit concerning but not necessarily strange behavior from a teenager. He would know, he’d had three, one of which still going through their teenage years, one on their way out and the last one years of his. 

But that meant he also knew better than to push or come on too strong. The best way to make a teenager isolate themselves further from you was to pester them or make them feel like they had to talk to him. The best thing he could do as a teacher and adult in this situation was make himself available for his students and try to show that they could trust him to look after and care for them. Let them come to him rather than try to force them to talk.

So he just smiled and carried on the conversation.

“Tugger also tells me that you two will be performing at the Anniversary Celebration in a few weeks. Is this true?” Mistoffelees nodded, prompting Old Deuteronomy to smile wider. Though he also noted how uncomfortable and nervous Mistoffelees became when asked this question. 

“Yes, we are. He asked me to perform with him after showing this new song he was writing. I sort of helped him with it, and since I helped him get a good grade on our last math test he wants to return the favor, I guess. Didn’t really let me say no, really.”

Ah yes, that did sound a lot like Tugger. Old Deuteronomy grimaced a little on behalf of his son. 

“And how does that feel? I know Tugger has a tendency to get carried away and wanting to put on a big show. I do hope he listens to your input and isn’t going too big too fast for you.” 

Mistoffelees shook his head, though his smile became a bit more plastic as he did. “No sir, he isn’t. We’ve mainly been practicing the song together and taking it slow. Nothing too big so far.”

Old Deuteronomy raised his eyebrow a little at suddenly being called sir, as well as how clinical Mistoffelees suddenly sounded. Most students at the school were comfortable calling him Old Deuteronomy, very few ever called him sir, and this was by choice. He wanted the kids at his school to feel comfortable talking to him and not see him as a scary or imposing authority figure in their lives. 

He still smiled at Mistoffelees and leaned a little closer over the table, gently placing a paw on Mistoffelees’ arm. “Well, I’m happy to hear this. I am very happy to see and hear you’re finding your place at our school. And we’re all very happy to have you here. But I hope you know that if you ever feel you need it, my door is always open if you need someone to talk to about it.”

Mistoffelees looked at him, raising both eyebrows a little and his eyes darted from side to side before smiling tentatively back. Old Deuteronomy had said that several times during this day’s lesson and every time he did, it felt like he saw right through him. Mistoffelees had never been someone who wore his heart on his sleeve and considered himself very good at hiding his deepest emotions and thoughts after all the years of practice and the advice he got from his father. But under the watchful gaze of the older cat in front of him he suddenly felt completely transparent and all his thoughts, feelings and fears were an open book for Old Deuteronomy to read through. 

And what a terrifying concept that was.

He swallowed and nodded, smiling a little wider and tried to look casual. “Yes, of course. I will remember that. Thank you.”

He felt cold and anxious after having left Old Deuteronomy’s office, staring down at the floor as a million thoughts ran through his head. 

‘Damn it! He could see it. Of course he could, how could he not?! The way you were so distracted and could barely focus on what you were doing, of course he’s gonna see something’s wrong! You need to get your act together or he’s gonna ask more questions. He’s already done so much for you, you don’t need to add more to his load. This is your problem, not his. Figure it out for yourself!!!’

He clenched his paws tightly, took a deep breath through his nose and let it out of his mouth, letting his shoulders drop as far as they could go and tried to relax his muscles. 

‘You’re fine Mistoffelees. Everything is fine. Just keep acting like you have these past few weeks and nobody’s gonna know. Not your sister, not your father, not your principal or teachers, not your friends and certainly not-’

Mistoffelees stopped in front of his locker, stared at the blank gray surface then sighed again, letting his forehead fall forward and hit against the cold metal with a thunk. “Get your act together Misto.” He muttered to himself before methodically unlocking and opening the locker and leaving his bag, taking out his headphones and the book he was currently reading. 

He hadn’t thought much about Tugger today, as the images from his nightmare kept popping up in his head whenever he saw him. Which made his stomach turn and he had to fight hard to look and act like nothing was wrong and to keep up the bantering he and Tugger had somehow made into their routine. And if Tugger had noticed anything out of the ordinary about his behavior, he wasn’t showing it and he hadn’t asked about it either. Then again, Mistoffelees had learned the hard way that Tugger was far more perceptive and empathetic than he let on, so it was anybody’s guess whether or not he could see Mistoffelees’ inner turmoil. 

Mistoffelees sighed again, put his headphones on and made his way toward the cafeteria. His noise-cancelling headphones had been a gift from Victoria and he loved them very much. Not only because they were great at helping him block out the world whenever he needed some peace and quiet, but also helped him focus much better on whatever he was doing. It’s much easier focusing on school-work or the books you’re reading when distracting noise and talking cats are close to nonexistent to you. 

Plus, he also liked listening to music or audiobooks whenever his brain felt like it was turning against him or he felt overwhelmed and needed a distraction. It helped ease his anxiety and calm him down.

Perhaps it wasn’t ideal, to push his thoughts and feelings aside through distraction, as they were bound to come back later and bother him again, but it was at least a small time of peace. Especially since he knew it was only a matter of time before Tugger and his other friends tracked him down and he’d be forced to socialize and be distracted from his thoughts anyway.

After grabbing himself some lunch he plopped down at an empty table in the corner of the crowded cafeteria. As they were getting further into the autumn season, the weather had gotten grayer and wetter. And on this particular day it was raining cats and dogs outside, so everyone had chosen to remain inside for lunch. And Mistoffelees was fine with this, as it was easy to become invisible in a big crowd. And with his headphones on, and the soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz playing in his ears, it was also easy to not be bothered by the loud chattering around him as he was reading his book while nibbling on his lunch.

While he didn’t consider himself a big fan of musicals (didn’t dislike them by any means but didn’t actively seek them out either) he did like the music from Wizard of Oz and when he was having a bad day, listening to Somewhere Over the Rainbow usually helped. He’d imagine himself in a nicer, happier place with no fear, anxiety or people who might fear him for his magic. It was a very nice cure for a bad mood and he rediscovered it after Jellylorum had encouraged him to look up some classic musicals to get an ear for the kind of music they’d be singing in her class.

And hey, if he was gonna be dragged to see Wicked this weekend- which Tugger had said was something of a prequel to The Wizard of Oz- he might as well re-watch the movie and listen to the soundtrack to freshen up his memory on it. He had also re-read the book last night, just for the sake of freshening up his memory and nostalgia, despite it looking like the musical had more in common with the 1937 movie than the book. 

He was a bookworm, sue him. 

And the less said  the book Wicked was based on and its similarities to the musical, the better. Or lack thereof in this case. He’d picked it up from the library after going home from Tugger’s house yesterday, and based on the minimal research he’d done about the musical, it looked like they’d taken very big liberties when adapting it into a family-friendly musical for everyone who loved The Wizard of Oz because Heaviside Above, this book was dark! He’d barely gotten halfway through the book yet, but even he could tell that it was very different from the family-friendly musical he had seen advertisements for. He figured he probably shouldn’t tell Tugger what he’d read in that book, he might actually have a heart attack.

He’d considered listening to the soundtrack to Wicked as well, so he’d be a little prepared, but eventually decided against it as it felt a little over the top, even for him. And considering how the show was very lightly based on the book, it might be fun to be a little surprised. 

He could practically hear Victoria’s voice in his head and see her rolling her eyes at him for the way he was preparing himself for the weekend.

‘For Heaviside’s sake Mistoffelees, it’s a night out to watch a musical with a friend, not homework! You don’t need to treat this like a research essay! Just take the stick out and just enjoy yourself for once!’

As he took a bite of his lunch and started to read, he suddenly felt a very gentle tap on his shoulder, jerking him out of the chapter. He looked up, a tad startled and annoyed and rolled his eyes as he began to turn around. For a split second he expected to see Tugger smirking at him and ask him where he’d been hiding, and was already prepared to throw him an annoyed frown for interrupting his peace. But once his brain caught up he realized that the tap was far too gentle and hesitant to be Tugger- if he even bothered to and didn’t just ruffle his fur, playfully pull off his headphones or sit down right next to him and startle him. Because he was a jerk and Mistoffelees wasn’t quite sure why he put up with him.

He dropped the frown and turned to look over his shoulder, seeing a queen standing behind him, smiling shyly while also looking a bit unsure, and pulled one of the ear-cups off one ear. “Yes?”

The queen in front of him was a bit taller than him, her fur was mostly white but- like Alonzo- had large black markings over her body and face. She had bright amber eyes behind a pair of round glasses. She was dressed in jeans that were covered in different colored splotches- like these were jeans she painted in but forgot to change- and a t-shirt that looked to be a few sizes too big. She was cradling a notebook to her chest with one hand and holding on to the strap of her backpack with the other. The backpack she had slung over one shoulder was also covered in different colorful pins and sewed on patches that looked like she’d done herself. 

“Uh hello, sorry to bother you.” Her voice was low, and she squirmed a little where she was standing. She looked about as uncomfortable as Mistoffelees tended to feel when talking to others, but was seemingly not trying to cover it up. “I uh… do you mind if I sit here for a bit? I’m waiting for a friend so we can have lunch together but it’s very crowded so I can’t find somewhere else to sit and wait.” 

Mistoffelees smiled gently and gestured at the table. “Not at all.” She smiled back, seemingly relaxing a bit and sat down across from him. She opened the notebook and pulled out a pencil case from her bag and started working on a sketch.

“Thanks.” She said, pushing her glasses up on her nose and her eyes darted from her notebook to Mistoffelees a few times, as if unsure where to look. 

He could relate. 

“No problem.” He answered and took a closer look at her. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at remembering names, but we’re in the same year, right?”

She looked up from her notebook, looking surprised that he was still talking to her but then smiled as if pleasantly surprised. “Uh yeah, we are. I take art classes mostly, but I see you in our joint classes.” Then her smile dropped and looked horrified. “N-not that I’m looking at you , specifically, of course! I only meant that I recognise you from other classes too! Obviously, since we’re in the same year and all, and we have a lot of classes together.”

She talked very fast and a blush was very quickly covering her face which she tried to cover by staring down at the notebook in front of her. But in a way Mistoffelees felt a bit relieved that she seemed to be socially awkward and unsure how to talk with him. It felt like he had met something of a kindred spirit.

So he just smiled and played it off as if nothing strange or weird had happened and just reached out his paw. “Yeah, I thought I recognised you too, but I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Mistoffelees Jones, I’m a dancer.” 

She stared at him, looking shocked that he wasn’t weirded out by her, then smiled back and shook his paw, but still looked fairly awkward and unsure. “Yeah, I know. I saw you at the showcase. You were very good. You and Victoria.” She smiled at him, then blushed again and looked down into the table before looking up at him again, looking a bit more shyly. “I, uh… also remember how you stood up to Amaryl on your first week at school. You know, after she poured coffee on you on your first day? She’s very mean, to everyone. I thought you were very brave and cool to stand up to her like that.”

Mistoffelees tried not to stare incredulously at her after she’d finished. Him, cool? Him? Mistoffelees Jones, the shy, quiet bookworm who’d gone his entire life without friends and top-candidate for being the class nerd and overachiever, was seen as cool?  

Well, that was certainly a first.

“Oh, um, thank you. I was just trying to make it clear it’s not okay to treat others like that. Although I’m not sure she’s really taken that to heart, considering she’s still doing it.” 

But the queen in front of him just shook her head, smiling wider now and her eyes seemed to sparkle behind her big glasses. “Even so, I thought it was really awesome how you put her in her place like that. I could never do anything like that. I can only wish I’ll ever learn to be that brave.” She raised a paw to her face and straightened her glasses, and Mistoffelees could see there were some differently colored fingerprints on the frame here and there. Like she had been straightening or adjusting her glasses while coloring and forgot to wash her paws before or cleaning the frames afterwards. “I’m Galathea Young. I’m an artist. Though you can call me Thea if you want. I’d like my friends to call me Thea.”

Something about how she said that made Mistoffelees think she didn’t have many friends, cause if she had friends who called her Thea she probably said that. Which, given her shy and awkward demeanor, made a little too much sense. Not that he could see anyone in their class being mean or teasing her for being weird, but sadly some cats were unsure how to handle weird and awkward cats. Or maybe she was just too shy to make friends, which was also a possibility. 

Again, he could relate. 

“Alright then, Thea. Feel free to call me Misto if you’d like. Most of my friends do. Nice to meet you, officially.” 

Galathea smiled wider and nodded. “You too… Misto.”

After that was said they sat in silence for a bit. Galathea pulled out her phone and started to type something out, maybe a text to the friend she was meeting up with before turning back to her notebook and Mistoffelees turned back to his book, pausing every once in a while to take a bite of his lunch. 

If it had been someone else at the table, it probably would have been very awkward to sit in absolute silence like that, but Mistoffelees felt absolutely fine with that. With friends like Tugger he could always count on endless chatter and bantering back and forth, but when he was sitting with cats like Plato he liked being able to just sit and be. To have cats around him he didn’t need to talk to or engage with all the time in order to spend time with them. It was something Tugger was far too restless and impatient to handle for longer than a few minutes, at most.

But after a while he looked up and glanced at her drawing, which seemed to be a sketch of the London Eye and the surrounding city. While clearly in the early stages, it was easily one of the best drawings Mistoffelees had ever seen. Her eyes were glued to her work and she worked very fast, and looking at her draw was like looking at it on fast-forward. 

“Wow, you’re really good.” He said gently, so he wouldn’t startle her and accidentally mess up the drawing. Galathea however didn’t even seem bothered. She just stopped sketching and looked up at him shyly, a few strands of her bangs fell over her eyes. 

“Oh, thank you.” She said, pausing to attempt to blow her bangs out of her face, only for them to fall right back to where they had been before. She tried this again, giving the same result, then rolled her eyes and pushed them up on her head. “I prefer to paint with acrylics and other paints, but sketching is fine too. Although,” She glanced down at the table and pursed her lips, “I would love to spend all my days in the art studios. So I can just paint all day and not have to care about anything else, like history class or homework. It’s where I’m the most happy.”

Mistoffelees nodded, recognizing the feeling. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I would love to spend all my time in the dance studios and forget about the rest of the world. I just feel more alive when I’m dancing than when I’m in class.” 

Galathea smiled widely, then looked down at the table and the copy of Wicked Mistoffelees had set aside for the moment. “What are you reading?”

Mistoffelees glanced down at the book, picked it up and showed her the cover with a cat with green fur, a pointy hat and a broomstick. “Oh, Wicked. Picked it up from the library yesterday actually.”

Galathea’s eyes lit up and smiled as she looked at the cover and laughed a little sheepishly. “Oh, I love Wicked! Well, I love the musical, I should say. I found the book… kinda off-putting if I’m being honest. It’s way too dark for my taste. Have you seen the show?”

Mistoffelees shook his head and put the book down with a sigh after marking his spot with a bookmark. “No, not yet. But I will be seeing it this weekend and I guess I wanted an idea of what to expect. Though based on what I’ve read online it doesn’t sound like the book and show have a whole lot in common.”

Galathea laughed and shook her head. “No, they don’t, trust me. I can really recommend the show, it’s a lot of fun. Fantastic music, wonderful story and all. But the book is certainly an acquired taste.”

 Suddenly her phone vibrated on the table and dinged loudly. She picked it up and looked, smiled and started to gather her things. “My friend is almost here. We go to different schools so we don’t get to see each other very often, but we like to have lunch together some days.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Which school do they go to?” 

Galathea put her pencil case and notebook in her bag, then looked back with a smile. “Kensington Prep. It’s a fancy private school in central London.”

Mistoffelees blinked, very taken aback by this response. “Really? What a coincidence, I used to go to Kensington too! You know, before I transferred here.” 

Galathea stared at him, eyes wide. “What? No way! That’s so weird, what are the odds? Maybe you’ll recognize each other then.” Then she glanced up and smiled and waved to someone behind Mistoffelees. “Oh, there she is!” 

Mistoffelees turned to look over his shoulder and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw who was walking up from behind him, unable to stop himself from letting out a startled yell. “Aah!”

“Aah!” Came the startled reply and the queen in question seemed as shocked to see him as he was to see her. Mistoffelees even pulled his bangs back, as if they were somehow messing with his eyes and he didn’t see properly. But he didn’t and it was indeed who he thought it was.

“Jade?” He asked, staring at the queen in front of him. It was so strange to see her in her uniform outside of Kensington Prep, especially since it really didn’t fit her style anyway. But it was her, alright. Thick chocolate-brown fur, big hazel eyes with that confrontational gleam that never seemed to leave her face and the school uniform that she wore as rebelliously as she could get away with. Her white shirt was untucked and unbuttoned from her neck and down to her chest and the sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. Her tie was loosened and hanging around her neck like a scarf, though Mistoffelees was honestly surprised she hadn’t taken it off altogether. She’d taken off her blazer and tied it around her waist like a belt making it so the school emblem wasn’t even visible. Only difference from how she’d usually dress at school was that she’d changed out of her knee-length pleated skirt and was instead wearing loose fitting ripped jeans and replaced her black mary jane shoes with a pair of worn-in sneakers, which fit her much better. 

'Aunt Castalia would flip out if she saw her daughter right now.’

Jade had always been against the life of the upper crust, choosing to wear cheaper and more practical clothing and shop in second hand stores rather than the expensive stores that her mother loved. She was also something of a tomboy and hated fancy dresses and the skirts Kensington Prep forced her to wear. Ever since she first enrolled there she- along with a few other cats- had fought hard with the faculty to at least let her and the other girls wear the same pants the boys wore. 

‘Doesn’t look like they’ve won that battle yet.’

Jade stared at him right back, mouth hanging up and eyebrows raised. "Mistoffelees?" She took a small step forward, leaned on her hip and gave his face a good long look. “Wow, it is you. What are you doing here, you go here now?”

Mistoffelees shook his head to clear it from the initial shock of seeing his cousin here of all places and then nodded. “Uh, yeah, you know I left Kensington. It’s been over a month now.”

“Well, yeah, I know, it’s just,” Jade cut herself off and took a good long look around the cafeteria and then turned back to him with a small smirk. “I just didn’t think that- I mean, doesn’t one need to be, you know, talented to go here-” 

She cut herself off again when she saw Mistoffelees and the look he was giving her: one eyebrow raised, head slightly tilted forward and lips pursed in a small frown. She suddenly looked very sheepish, realizing what she’d just said, and rubbed the back off her head awkwardly. “That, heh… that came out wrong-”

“No, please, keep going. You’re doing great!” Mistoffelees quipped at her and his frown became a teasing smirk at Jade. Jade was a lot of things, tactful was not one of them, but he also knew that she never meant to offend anyone. Still, she had a tendency to say whatever thought first entered her brain without thinking it over first, and much like how he teased Tugger about his ego, Mistoffelees liked to make her squirm about it from time to time.

‘Might help her learn to think before speaking if nothing else.’

And to her credit she looked properly apologetic and chuckled self-deprecatingly, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s cool.” Mistoffelees shrugged and smiled, less teasingly at her this time.

“It’s just, I never thought you’d end up here of all places.” Jade continued, more gently but still with the teasing undertone she and Mistoffelees shared whenever they talked. “Like, I know Tori has been trying to get you go here for forever, but haven’t you been swearing up and down that you’re not a performer? That you’d sooner die than dance on a stage? I never thought I’d see the day where you of all cats chose to become a performer.” 

Mistoffelees chuckled self-deprecatingly and shrugged. “Yeah, neither did I. It was not part of any plan on my part, but, well, Tori’s dance partner sprained his ankle the night of a big showcase a few weeks back and they needed someone to step in and dance with her. So she dragged me into it, we danced together and, well…” He raised arms in a ‘there you have it’ fashion and smiled sheepishly. "Here I am.” 

Jade smirked and folded her arms over her chest, still leaning on one leg. “Huh, no kidding. Well, the world sure is a funny place.” She said and shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Boy, Percy’s gonna love this.”

She said the last part under her breath but Mistoffelees still heard and the mere mention of his other cousin’s name was enough to set him on edge. For as long as he could remember he and his other cousin Perseus had been at odds with each other and never gotten along. Perseus had also seemed to constantly be trying to push Mistoffelees down to make himself look taller, which was exhausting to deal with. 

Mistoffelees was a fantastic dancer? Yeah well, Perseus was studying to become a lawyer and didn’t waste time on hobbies that weren’t gonna get him anywhere. Especially since you refuse to even try to make a career out of it anyway so you can’t be that good!

Mistoffelees got A+ in all subjects? Yeah well, have you decided what you’re gonna do with your education after you’re done with school? No? Yeah, didn’t think so. 

Mistoffelees got praise from all adults for being a good proper son, with perfect grades, lovely manners and a fantastic dancer on top of that? Yeah well, you’ve got no personality or friends to speak of so how good is that to have? 

And once he learned that Mistoffelees had transferred to a prestigious school where 98% of the students become big names in show business, as well as having his A+ grades as a cushion if that didn’t work out, he was likely going to blow a gasket. 

Mistoffelees didn’t care for being the best or competing with Perseus in anything. But he had never given it a rest and they had been at odds with each other since childhood. And their parents had been feeding that fire for years.

Well, he said parents but it was mostly Aunt Castalia who kept that fire going while his father actually tried to see them as little as possible since he didn’t like seeing his sister. 

“Are you gonna tell him I go to Jellicle Arts now?” Mistoffelees asked, the teasing undertone in his voice replaced with weariness. Jade wasn’t  what he’d consider a gossip but she- along with her tactlessness and confrontational personality- had a tendency to say whatever she could to get the last word with people she argued with, just to win an argument. And that accompanied by her tendency to speak without thinking when she got upset did sometimes end up with her saying things that hurt others far more than she meant to. Like one time when they were little, she’d had an argument with her mother about her ‘not dressing like a lady’ and had said “Sorry that I’m not the sweet perfect little daughter and that I hadn’t gotten the chance to be replaced with Victoria at birth since that everyone knew how much you’d much rather have her for a daughter.” Which had upset Victoria a great deal and she’d left the dinner table in tears.

Jade had of course apologized several times and said she didn’t mean to hurt her, but things had been tense and awkward between them for quite a while. She had gotten better over the years, but both Mistoffelees and Victoria made a point of telling her when certain things were off-limits, just to be safe.

And for the most part, it had worked 

“Why, you think I tell him everything or something?” Jade muttered and rolled her eyes skyward. “You and I both know he’s an insufferable twat and I don’t like to listen to his whinging any more than you do. At least you don’t have to live with him and listen to him and his complaining 24/7.” 

While this conversation had been going on Galathea had been looking back and forth between them like she was watching a tennis match and she finally spoke up when the conversation took a pause. 

“You two know each other?” She asked, standing up from her chair and threw her backpack over her shoulder while glancing questioningly at Jade and then at Mistoffelees. 

Jade’s face lit up and she smiled widely at Galathea, like she finally remembered why she was here. She hurried up to her, threw an arm around Galathea’s shoulder and hugged her close. “Thea, babe, this is Mistoffelees, my cousin! You know, the nerdy bookworm I told you about?” 

Galathea tensed up a little when Jade hugged her to her side, threw a quick microsecond glare at her before smacking Jade on the shoulder. “Jade, that’s rude!” She chastised but Mistoffelees waved her off. 

“No no, it’s okay. I know how Jade is, this is her way of showing affection. I mean, what else can you expect from a wannabe activist, right?” He shot back and Jade smirked back, giving him a mocking grimace.

“Wow, maybe I should visit you here more often? This energy never shows up at family dinners.” She smirked and hugged Galathea closer. “Don’t believe anything he tells you or how he behaves, alright? He’s a little brat and no one ever believes us when we try to tell them.”

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes with a small smirk on his face. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about-” but before he could finish his sentence, he felt a paw land heavily on his shoulder and he was also pulled into a one-armed hug when Tugger appeared by this side. 

“There you are, Misto! You are not an easy cat to find in this crowd, why didn’t you answer my texts?” And suddenly Mistoffelees’ nose was attacked by the smell of fur products and his face was almost smushed into the pointy rivets on Tugger’s leather jacket. 

‘Again, why do I like this guy?’ He asked himself before pushing himself out of Tugger’s grip on him and straightened out the fur on his head, mock-glaring up at Tugger. 

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I needed to tell you where I am at all times. Does that mean you’re my mommy now?” 

Bombalurina, dressed in her signature dark red leather jacket, tight jeans and long sleeved black shirt, sat down on Tugger’s other side, snorted when she heard the response, shrugging off her jacket and draping it over the back of her chair. 

Tugger gasped in mock-excitement and ruffled Mistoffelees’ fur as revenge. “Ooh, kinky. Didn’t know you like to talk dirty.” 

This caused Mistoffelees to make a scoff of disgust and pushed Tugger off him again, smoothing out his fur while trying to suppress a laugh. “ Ugh, don’t be gross.”

Tugger grinned teasingly at him, then seemed to notice they weren’t alone and his teasing grin turned to his charming smile as he turned fully towards the ladies.  

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had company Misto.” He reached out a paw, taking Galathea’s paw and raised it to his lips while looking her in the eyes as he did. “Lovely to make the acquaintance of such a lovely pair of queens.” He moved to press a kiss on the back of her hand, but Galathea snatched her paw back, clutching her paws to her chest and her face bright red.

“Hi Tugger.” She whispered and kept her eyes locked on the floor. Jade glared at Tugger but didn’t say anything, just tightened her grip around Galathea’s shoulders. When Mistoffelees thought of this moment later, he would think of it as almost a possessive move on her part. Like she was being overly protective of her friend.

Bombalurina, who had started eating her lunch, rolled her eyes at Tugger and swatted her tail at him. “Stop making her uncomfortable, Tugger.” She then turned to Galathea and smiled reassuringly. “Don’t mind him Thea, he is harmless as a kitten. If he makes you uncomfortable, don’t be scared to smack him.” Galathea, still blushing, looked up at Bombalurina in awe, as if shocked that someone as popular as Bombalurina seemed to know who she was, nevermind that she was talking to her at all, and tried to smile back.

Tugger however didn’t seem to notice Jade’s glare, just grimaced at Bombalurina and her comment, before fully turning his attention to Jade and then seemed to do a double take as he took her in. 

“Oh, hello there. Now, I make a point of remembering all the pretty faces in this school and I’m sure I’ve never seen you around here before. Who might you be?”

Jade growled and moved her paw towards her bag. “Don’t get ideas, buster. I have a can of pepper spray on my keychain and I’m not afraid to use it!”

Tugger seemed genuinely taken aback by this response, taking a few steps back and raised his paws defensively. “Whoa, okay, backing off!” Then Mistoffelees could hear him mutter under his breath, “Sheesh, am I losing my touch here?” 

Mistoffelees smirked at the interaction between Tugger and his cousin, then turned to Jade, placing one paw on her arm in an attempt to calm her. “At ease, soldier. No need to get violent, we’re all friends here.” 

Jade did not look particularly convinced, but Galathea gently took her paw in hers and rubbed her shoulder with the other. “Jade, really, it’s okay. Tugger flirts with everyone, it’s really no big deal.” 

Jade glanced over at Galathea, her glare softening slightly though she still looked a bit angry. “It is a big deal when he attempts to sexually harass my friends right in front of me.” But she moved her paw away from her bag and seemed to relax a little.

Tugger, genuinely shocked and disgusted by the accusation, spluttered as he tried to come up with something to say to defend himself, but Bombalurina just smirked as he did. “Yeah, that’s what I’ve been saying man. Flirting is one thing, attempting to kiss someone without consent is another.”

“I didn’t- I wasn’t- I’m not trying to-!” Tugger kept spluttering, threw his paws up and exclaimed, “It’s charming! Ladies love a nice kiss on the paw!”

“Not always.” Mistoffelees said with a small smirk. He knew full well that Tugger knew the difference. He’d seen Tugger pull this before with several other queens before and 9 out of 10 times, they really liked it and loved it when he gave them attention. But there was always a risk that the response he’d get rejected, and to his credit always seemed to recognize when he’d crossed a line and never wanted to make anyone uncomfortable. 

“But really Jade, it’s fine. It’s like Bombalurina said, Tugger is harmless. His bark is far worse than his bite and I know for a fact that he’d never want to make anyone uncomfortable.” He turned back to Tugger. “Isn’t that right?”

“NO!!! Of course not! What kind of guy do you take me for?” He cried, sounding offended that Mistoffelees even asked, then turned to Galathea with his ears pulled back. “I’m sorry, Galathea.” Galathea mumbled a quiet “thank you” and smiled at him. 

Bombalurina, in an attempt to change to subject, turned to Mistoffelees and eyed Jade curiously. “So, you know this girl Misto? Friend of yours?” Mistoffelees opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say a single word, a high pitched squeal rang through his ears causing him to wince as a blur of white and pink came flashing by.

“Jade!” Victoria came running, throwing her arms around their cousin and in doing so, pulled her away from Galathea, hugging her tightly.” Oh my Everlasting, hiiiii! How are you? It’s been forever since I’ve seen you!”

It was a sheer testament to how adjusted Jade was to Victoria and her energy and personality, that Jade didn’t fall to the ground and just accepted the hug. She still stumbled a bit due to the force behind the hug and scrambled to return it, but considering she hadn’t spent nearly as much time with her as Mistoffelees had, she handled it very well. She smiled and hugged her back, patting her on the back as she did.

“Hello Tori. Yeah I know, been a minute, hasn’t it?” Victoria gave her one good squeeze before letting go of her, noticing Mistoffelees was also there and turned to him with a wide grin, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. 

“Misto, it’s Jade!” Mistoffelees nodded, smiling at his sister’s excitement and chuckling softly.

“Yes, I can see that.” He then turned back to Tugger and Bombalurina and Plato who’d been walking after Victoria, holding both of their lunch trays in either hand. “This is Jade, she’s mine and Tori’s cousin. We also used to go to the same school before I transferred here.”  

Jade nodded, looking a bit more at ease again, crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. “Yeah, imagine my surprise when Percy and I came to school one day and he was suddenly gone and didn’t show up for weeks. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he’d gone and died or something. Nothing else would keep Mistoffelees Jones from coming to school.” 

Victoria gaped at her, eyes wide and not even realising that Plato was handing her lunch tray back to her, seemingly on auto-pilot. “You didn’t know? I didn’t tell you about the Showcase? Well, here I’ll tell you: Plato here-” She gestured to Plato who waved politely at her. “-accidentally got hurt on the day of the show- he was my dance partner at the time- and Misto-” She set her tray down on the table before hurrying over to Mistoffelees, threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly from behind. “-came through and saved the day so I could still dance. Isn’t he just the best?” She squeezed him tightly and nuzzled her face against his cheek, prompting Mistoffelees to roll his eyes and shake his head even as he grinned and squeezed Victoria’s arms with both paws to hug her back as best he could.

“It wasn’t that dramatic, Tori. Besides, as I remember it, I was practically pressured into joining your show with the whole school trying to get me to dance with you. Try to say no when an entire school is asking you to save their show, but it’s totally okay to leave if you want to!” 

Victoria rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on the shoulder while waving him off with the other paw. “Details! Besides, you still saved the day and me that day. That makes you the best twin brother a girl could ever ask for!” She squeezed him tightly one more time and nuzzled his cheek before turning back to their cousin. “Don’t you think so Jade?”

Jade, leaning on one hip and arms crossed over her chest, smirked sardonically and shrugged. “Well, he’s definitely better than my brother, that’s for sure. Though that’s not saying much, really. Mostly I’m just surprised you managed to convince him to transfer here after just one performance. Especially after all those years of him going on and on about not being a performer and all that.”

As she spoke, her initial wariness faded, replaced by the easy confidence Mistoffelees recognized from childhood. 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and felt a small blush form on his cheeks, but before either he or Victoria could respond, Tugger interjected himself into the conversation, throwing his arm around Mistoffelees’ shoulders and pulled him closer. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t easy. Took a lot of convincing on our part to convince him to give our school a try. But the principal saw him dance once and offered him a place on the spot. Clearly he has a good eye for talent.” He turned back to Jade and winked. “It runs in the family, y’see.” 

Jade just looked at him unimpressed, Galathea snickered quietly and Bombalurina and Plato eyed each other and smirked before Bombalurina smacked Tugger on the shoulder with her tail again. “Knock it off Tugger.” 

Galathea, who’d been standing awkwardly next to Jade this whole time, laughed softly. “He is a very good dancer. You should have seen him and Victoria at the Showcase, they were fantastic.”

“Aaaw, thank you Galathea!” Victoria squealed, her paws pressed over her heart and smiled widely. “That’s so sweet of you to say.” Then she turned back to Mistoffelees. “And yeah, I’ve always said that he’s a fantastic dancer and he should join us here at J.A and he’s fought me every step of the way, like the little turd he is.” Then her grin turned into a smug smirk. “But I won in the end, because everyone at this school agreed with me and managed to convince him to give in already.”

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes and shoved her face away, making a show of looking annoyed and frustrated. “Yeah, yeah you were right, I was wrong, you’re oh-so wise and all-knowing, Victoria knows best, bla-bla-bla, will you shut up about it already?” Though it was hard to maintain the facade of looking annoyed at her antics.

Victoria just grinned and said “NEVER!” as loudly as she could, cupping his face, forcing him to look her in the eye and getting so close that their noses were touching, her voice now lower and attempting to sound more serious. “I will never stop until you accept the truth that I am and will always be right. The sooner you realize and accept this, the better for you.”

Mistoffelees snorted and pushed her off him, one paw pushed up against her face to keep her at arms length away from him, though unable to stop himself from grinning. “Yeah, not gonna happen anytime soon, sis. Keep dreaming though.” Victoria snickered and Mistoffelees could tell that she was about to start again, but before she could he heard Jade speak up again. 

“Should we get going, Thea? We might if we wanna have some time before I have to get back to Kensington.” She placed an arm around her shoulders again and her smile was now a lot softer and warmer than it had been minutes ago. 

Galathea adjusted the bag she had strung over her shoulder and grinned, also looking more relaxed when looking at Jade. “Yeah, let’s go. Still up for sushi, or is that not politically correct anymore? Planning on going on strike for the sake of the salmon?” 

Jade snorted and shook her head. “I’m always up for sushi! Although-” She raised a finger and waved it slowly in contemplation. “-that’s not a bad idea. The world certainly overdo it with how many fish they haul out of the oceans every year, nevermind every month and day. And that’s not even mentioning all the fish farms, those are definitely not ethical or environmentally friendly. And at the rate it’s going the ecosystems of the oceans will be destroyed and with it the world as a whole! If I wasn’t already so busy with my work to convince Kensington to let girls wear pants instead of skirts and convince more students to join us I definitely look into it because that’s definitely a worthwhile cause.”

As she kept talking her voice got louder and she spoke faster with every word, getting more and more worked up as she spoke. Tugger, Bombalurina and Plato looked at her and then eyed each other, as if trying to make sense of the sudden change of topic and how worked up over it Jade seemed to get, but Victoria and Mistoffelees just eyed each other with a smirk and rolling their eyes at each other. This was nothing new to them, Jade had a lot of causes she cared very much for and would try to rally others to those causes and help fight for them, going to protests, sometimes organizing them herself, using social media to spread the word as much as she could, sharing and signing petitions etc. And while it could get a bit much at times, they’d grown very used to it and didn’t really react as much to it anymore.

Galathea apparently was pretty used to it by the looks of it because she just rolled her eyes and shook her head with a fond smile before placing a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. “Hey, Jade, indoor voice please. We’re all friends here, no need to yell at us.” 

This snapped Jade out of it and she smiled sheepishly at the group. “Sorry. I get carried away sometimes.” She tugged at her shirt, turned to Mistoffelees and Victoria and her smile turned a bit weary. “So, I’ll see you guys on Sunday, yeah?” 

Mistoffelees had to stop himself from groaning and rolling his eyes, this time in weariness and frustration. Right, he’d almost forgotten about Sunday. Their grandmother’s birthday and their father had invited her, aunt Castalia and her kids to have dinner with them. Which meant a long evening of stale conversation, the obligatory viewing of Sound of Music and Mistoffelees receiving the bare minimum of questions and compliments before everyone moved on to gushing over Victoria, argued with Jade over how unladylike and argumentative she was and having to put up with Perseus and his asinine comments and attempts at putting him down for everything he wasn’t and being ignored for the entire evening but being unable leave because that would be rude. 

Oh joy, what a treat. 

Even Victoria’s ever present smile seemed to waver and turn a little stiff at the reminder but at least managed to maintain her positive attitude long enough to respond. “Of course, it’ll be so good to spend more time and catch up with you. I’d love to hear more from you and what’s been happening since we last saw each other.”

Jade, who seemed to be looking forward to this awkward and stale night as much as Mistoffelees and Victoria did, smiled sardonically and nodded as she hooked her arm through Galathea’s. “Oh yeah, I can’t wait to have our yearly rewatch of Sound of Music, the arguments over why I refuse to wear mom’s fancy dresses or why I won’t consider going to law school. It’ll be fun.” She softened a bit as she looked at Galathea and smiled warmly before turning back to Victoria and Mistoffelees.

“Anyway, it was great to see you guys. We’ll have to catch some time outside of school or family dinner. I’d love to hear how you’re liking it here, Misto. See you, nice to meet your friends!”

And with that they turned and left the cafeteria, Galathea turning to look over her shoulder and wave at Mistoffelees as they walked away and Mistoffelees waved back, allowing himself a smile before turning back to Victoria with a tired frown.

“I’d almost managed to forget about Sunday. Oh joy of joys, can’t wait to see how this one turns out.” He rolled his eyes as hard as he could and sighed dramatically.

Victoria sighed, also sounding weary but trying to maintain a positive attitude about it. “Her birthday only happens once a year, Misto. If this is how she wants to celebrate it, then let her. It’s not that big of a deal.” Though she did not sound thrilled about it either. 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes again though held back from groaning again. “Oh yeah, sure, not a big deal.” And then, loosely to the tune of Favorite Things, muttered to himself. “Auntie’s judging, cousins complaining,
Long family dinner, so long and so draining.”

Victoria snorted and kept it going, “Passive aggression, compliments that stings.”

Mistoffelees grinned wryly and they finished together. 

“These are a few of our favorite things.” Then they laughed together and Victoria shook her head before grabbing her lunch tray and went back to Plato’s side.

“We’ll be discussing our number during lunch, but I’ll see you later Misto!” He waved at her as she, taking a page out of Jade’s book and hooked her arm through Plato’s and dragged him away. But before they disappeared into the crowd, Mistoffelees saw how Plato’s face turned bright red the second her arm hooked through his and Mistoffelees almost thought he was going to faint on the spot as she started to pull him away. 

Laughing softly he turned around to his own lunch and his friends who were sitting with him at his table. Bombalurina smirked and her eyes bounced between Mistoffelees and Tugger with an amused spark in her intense eyes. “Is everyone in your family this spicy and fiery Misto? I’m pretty sure your cousin almost traumatized our beloved Rum Tum Tugger.”

Mistoffelees snorted and turned to Tugger who, true to her word, looked a little wary as he looked in the direction Jade and Galathea had left in and shuddered a little as he tried to shake it off. “I’ve been turned down before, in some memorable ways, but I have never been threatened with pepper spray before.” He stared off into space for a moment before turning to Mistoffelees with wide and sincerely horrified eyes. “Did I really come across as creepy?”

Mistoffelees was, for just one moment, tempted to answer with a snarky comment as was their banter. But hearing how sincerely worried he sounded when he asked, he decided to respond in kind. “I mean, I don’t think you did. But I know you and your antics, so does everyone at this school, we know you and how you behave. But I can’t blame Jade for not knowing and acting before knowing for sure.”

He placed his paw on Tugger’s arm and squeezed gently. “Don’t take it too personally, though. Jade can be a little defensive and quick to choose to fight whenever she feels even the slightest bit threatened. And that extends to her friends. Just- try to read the person you’re trying to flirt with before doing, maybe?” 

Tugger sighed heavily and took a long sip of his water, exhaling after a long pull from the bottle. “I always thought I did.” He muttered under his breath and shuddered, shaking his whole body to try and shake the uncomfortable feeling out of his body, 

“So, that’s cousin Jade, huh?” He said, trying for a smirk and going back to his normal Rum Tum Tugger persona. Though Mistoffelees could see he was still a little affected by the last few minutes, but decided to keep it to himself. 

He nodded and snorted as started to eat his lunch. “Yeah, she can be a bit much at times. She has a lot of opinions and no qualms about sharing them with anyone and everyone who will listen. Even those who won’t listen will sometimes be forced to listen. I know my aunt is not too thrilled about how-” Mistoffelees paused to raise his paws, making air quotes with his fingers while also rolling his eyes. “-‘unladylike’ she is.”

Bombalurina rolled her eyes even harder and put one finger in her mouth, gagging hard and pretending to throw up. “Ugh, I already hate her. Sorry Misto, but your aunt sounds obnoxious. Anyone who keeps harping on girls not being ladies or whatever are the worst kind of people. Not to mention outdated and sexist as hell.”

Mistoffelees snorted and nodded. He’d figured that she’d react like that. Bombalurina was not someone who liked to be bossed with or told how or who to be. She was a strong, independent and fiery person with a lot of will, attitude and ambitions for herself and refused to let anyone boss over her or tell her what she should or shouldn’t do. If she wanted to dance on a table or said she’d one day sing at Royal Albert Hall before she was twenty five, you could count on her making it real somehow. She was unapologetically herself and made no excuses for being who she was and had no time to waste on cats who didn’t approve of that.

“I am who I am, why should I try to be anyone else?” She’d said to him once, playfully winking at him and smirking as she did. And that really embodied who she was very well. Tugger made a performance of who he was and who he wanted to be seen as. Bombalurina simply was, showing off who she was very naturally and without coming across a showoff or someone who wanted attention. It just seemed so natural to her in a way that felt so unnatural and alien to Mistoffelees.

Mistoffelees envied her in a lot of ways. Because while she and Tugger were similar about these things, Bombalurina was a lot more sensible, knew where she wanted to go in life and had the work ethic to one day get there. Tugger had only recently started to learn discipline and how to work for more than music and the things he liked. Mistoffelees could only hope to be as confident, strong and unafraid as Bombalurina one day. 

He smiled tiredly at her and nodded. “Yeah, I can’t say I disagree. She can be a lot. And it always makes family dinners with her family very awkward and tense. Just a group of people either arguing or being cold and passive aggressive for a whole evening.” He rolled his eyes and shuddered theatrically. “Good thing it only happens two or three times a year, I can only imagine if it had been more often.”

Tugger and Bombalurina eyed each and grimaced at each other. “Yeah, sounds fun.” Tugger muttered sarcastically before shaking his head and smiling at him. “Good thing we’ll be having some fun on Saturday then, right? That way you can remember how awesome your very first real musical experience was when you’re sitting through a painfully awkward family dinner. That’s going to be a plus!”

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes again as he took another bite of his lunch. “Sure, I guess.” He said halfheartedly, shaking his head softly. Bombalurina looked up from her own lunch when Tugger mentioned them going to a musical, looking very surprised and had a ‘wait, what?’ look on her face.

“You’re going to a musical?” Bombalurina stared at Tugger, then put one paw on her hip, turned to face him in her seat with mock-offended glare, kinda like how Victoria would do to him whenever she pretended to be angry at him. “And you didn’t think to invite me?”

Tugger, suddenly looking very taken aback, leaned back in his seat as she looked straight into his eyes with her intense glare. Then he shrugged and pursed his lips. 

“Didn’t you say you and your family were going to visit your grandparents this weekend? I figured you’d be busy so I didn’t ask.” He did have the decency to sound a little sheepish, but it also wasn’t an apology, which made Mistoffelees cringe a little. 

Bombalurina narrowed her eyes at him, pressing her lips together in a grimace before smacking him on the cheek with her tail. “That is beside the point! You could have at least asked first.” She said, still somewhat acting it up, raising her nose in the air indignantly. “And here I thought we were friends.”

Tugger huffed indignantly and spluttered as he waved her tail out of his face. “Pfft, alright, I’m sorry, geez! I’ll ask you next time.” He then grumbled under his breath, “Sheesh, what is this? Ganging up on Tugger day?”

Mistoffelees snorted and covered his mouth with one paw to try and stifle his laugh, but a few giggles managed to sneak out. Bombalurina’s ear twitched as she heard him laugh and glanced over and with a soft smile.

“Thank you.” She glanced over at Tugger for one brief second before turning back to Mistoffelees. “But your first proper musical? That’s fun! Which one? Hadestown? Phantom of the Opera? Maybe Les Misérables? That one’s a classic.”

Tugger shook his head and grinned at her. “Nah, we’re going to see Wicked. It was the only one Misto seemed remotely interested in. You have no idea how hard it was to find one that wasn’t ‘’fine’ or ‘sounds good’. If you’re going to see your very first musical, you can’t half-ass it. It needs to be a good one, one that you want to see!”

Bombalurina, who knew her friend very well, seemed to connect what was going on here, looked at him with one raised eyebrow and a dry look. “Uh-huh.” Then she turned back to Mistoffelees. “He annoyed you with this idea until you said yes, didn’t he?” Mistoffelees nodded and both of them ignored Tugger’s squawk of offense. She kept going. “Well, Wicked is definitely a good one to start with, but don’t be afraid to tell this guy no if you really don’t want to do this. I know you hardly need me to tell you this, but I know how annoying he can be when he really wants to be and how it can feel easier to just go along with it to shut him up.”

Tugger squawked again. “ Rude! I am just looking out for my fellow Jellicle Cats, helping him learn the ins and outs of being a performer and the joy of being a theatre kid. And the best way to learn is to see it all upfront and personal. It’s not something you can learn through studying, homework or reading books.” He winked at Mistoffelees and smirked confidently at him. “By the time the show is over on Saturday I know you will be ready to start Dancing Through Life, I guarantee it!”

That last thing was way too specific to not be a reference to the show that Mistoffelees wasn’t getting yet, but he didn’t rise to the bait. He just snorted and shook his head at him. “Yeah yeah, you keep saying that but I wouldn’t hold my breath.” 

Bombalurina however seemed to agree with Tugger for once. “And I wouldn’t be so against that notion, Misto. For all of his methods being a bit questionable, seeing a musical or a show and really being open to the way it can make you feel, especially as a performer, is a beautiful thing. My sisters and I probably wouldn’t love singing half as much if we didn’t get to see so many live performances and musicals from a young age.” Then her eyes fell on the book next to Mistoffelees’ lunch tray, raised both eyebrows and locked eyes with him again, looking a bit cautious. 

“I see you’ve discovered the book too. How do you like it so far?” The tone of her voice made it clear to Mistoffelees that she already had an opinion of it (maybe she had already read it) and it might not be the best.

Mistoffelees shrugged and winced a little as he went over the part he was currently on, five years after Elphaba had left Glinda behind to join the resistance and was starting to meet up with a minor character named Fiyero who was so minor Mistoffelees had honestly forgotten about him until the book brought him up again. “It’s… certainly an interesting read, I’ll give it that. Not something I really would have picked up if I knew what it was about.”

And then, the bigger shock happened, something he really didn’t expect. Tugger visibly shuddered as he looked over to the book and shook his head at it. “Oh Everlasting, that book is something else. You watch a show, fall in love it and learn it’s based on a book so go into it expecting a cute story between unlikely girlfriends and some good ol’ ‘stick it to the man’-messages and what you get is-” He shuddered again and gagged. “Not that.”

Mistoffelees gawked up at him, eyebrows raised and mouth hanging open slightly. “Have you read it?” He didn’t mean to make it sound like he was shocked Tugger of all people had read a book, regardless of the book in question, but he was truly shocked because Tugger didn’t strike him as a big reader. 

Tugger glared at him, only looking slightly offended. “I do read books every now and then, smart guy. Just because I don’t read a hundred books a year doesn’t mean I don’t pick up the occasional tome, you know.” 

“I’m sorry.” Mistoffelees said, feeling a little stupid for catching himself judging his friend again. He really needed to stop doing that. “I just… didn’t think you were a big reader in general, that’s all. And considering the book in question, well…” He trailed off and shrugged with a grimace on his face. “I just didn’t think it’d be to your taste.”

Tugger grimaced and shook his head. “It wasn’t. But I watched the musical, heard it was based on a book and got my hands on a copy some time after. And Sweet Everlasting Cat above, I was not expecting the story I got. I couldn’t even finish it, I got like halfway through before I gave up. It was way too dark for me. I can tell you right now-” He put a hand on Mistoffelees’ shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. “The show and the book are hugely different! So don’t go in expecting too many similarities.”

“Yeah, I figured as much. I didn’t want to look up too much from the musical but what little I’ve read about it I’ve gathered they are both very different.” Mistoffelees shrugged and put the book back in his bag. “But I was curious and it was only about five hundred pages, so why not?”

Tugger stared at him, then muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes and grimacing mocking as he did. “It was only five hundred pages.” He shook his head and stared at Mistoffelees incredulously. “How did I manage to become best friends with a total nerd and a bookworm?”

Mistoffelees snorted and smirked at him. “Don’t ask me, I’ve been asking myself that since you first started following me around after we first met and I’ve been trying to shake you off ever since.” 

Tugger grinned and placed his arm around Mistoffelees’ shoulders and pulled him close. “Oh, so you admit we’re best friends? Aw, I knew this would happen one day!” 

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes fondly and shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I’ve just been forced to put up with you and your declaration that we’re best friends until you either get bored or I finally manage to get you off my tail one day.” Though, even as he said it, he knew deep down in his heart of hearts that he didn’t really mean it. Though he’d never say it out loud, he knew that he was also starting to see Tugger as a very good, maybe even best, friend and didn’t really want him to leave. 

Though, again, he’d never say it to him. No need to feed his ego more than it already was. 

Tugger chuckled and playfully ruffled his fur again. “Never gonna happen, little buddy. We’re friends now, best friends til the end of time! And there’s doing anything about it. Ever.” 

“Oh joy, my life is complete.” Mistoffelees’ deadpanned and shrugged Tugger’s arm off him again, going back to his lunch. Though he could feel that nice warm feeling spread from his stomach and to the rest of his body as he heard this, though knew better than to let it show. 

“Get away from me you monster! I’ve seen what magic can do, I don’t want it anywhere near me!”

“Just stay the hell away from me, you monster! The Rum Tum Tugger doesn’t associate with monsters.”

Mistoffelees swallowed hard but managed to maintain a neutral face so his worry and fear wouldn’t show. And though his better judgement told him to be careful and not let Tugger get too close and not get too attached to him, a small part of him prayed to the Everlasting Cat that Tugger was right. That their friendship could be something that would last no matter what. 

'Don’t wish for too much Misto. You know that never ends well. Not for cats like you.’

Though that voice was not quite strong enough anymore to drown out the warmth and comfort he found in these new friends he’d found. Which he found both wonderful and freeing and slightly terrifying.