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Inviting the evil, malicious, strangely charming and attractive professor Ratigan for tea certainly wasn’t a part of Basil’s brilliant plan to take him down and get him behind bars. And yet, there he was, taking up Basil’s entire couch, sipping a fine cup of tea, finger stretched out like the polite mouse he wished to be. There was this air of tension Basil was sure he wasn’t going to be able to shake, this fear of a fight breaking lose that he welcomed in. In truth, one he wouldn’t admit to, since it would squander his reputation, he had no real plan for what to do in this situation. His mouth simply worked too fast for his brilliant mind in a moment of weakness, and the words slipped out too quickly for him to think about what he was deciding to do.
“Been some time since you invited me to your place like this,” Ratigan laughed, placing the teacup down on the end table, crossing his legs, tail flicking in the air like a whip, a curious look on Basil’s face that Ratigan couldn’t help but notice, “Is this what your brilliant mind has cooked up?”
Basil dragged his hand along his face, taking in a breath, redoing the tie on his robe again that he was never able to get quite right, “You intrigue me, Ratigan. Every cruel thought in your head, every malicious plan you find a way to begin, each one with more insanity than the last. How do you do it? How does your mind work? Even my brilliance can’t seem to comprehend it,” he stands up, going over to the portrait of the professor he had hanging up, tapping his foot on the hardwood, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to comprehend your decisions.”
Ratigan chuckled, going over to the mirror Basil had in his front hallway and fixing his tie, “You’re not as brilliant as you think you are, my friend. Not all mice can see my ways.”
“Only because mice have more common sense than wretched sewer rats.”
Ratigan watched him in the mirror, back turned to him, sneering, “Watch your mouth, Basil. You remember what happened the last time you didn’t?”
“Yes, yes, like it was yesterday. You tied me up onto a burning building, only to get your tail caught until some rubble. I escaped your poorly tied ropes and then saved you from death,” Basil approached him, hand sweeping across Ratigan’s tail, twisting it with his finger, “It was a fun day, don’t you think?” He watched Ratigan’s fur stand up as his lips lay close to his arm.
Ratigan’s tail stiffened, hearing Basil’s laugh, he could almost sense his smirk that lay on his face with his eyes held shut, hand clenched, “You talk far too much for you to still be alive.”
“And you’re all bark with no bite. You have very nice teeth, by the way. Very sharp,” he laughed as Ratigan huffed, “We would be a great team, wouldn’t we?” Basil held his arm, cautiously leaning his head on his arm, eyes closing as he found comfort, “If you could just set aside your wicked plans for once and just… let me lead. I think we could bring a lot of good to this world, don’t you think?”
His fingers trailed against Ratigan’s arm. He cautiously let Basil take his hand, weakness beginning to form, “Did you invite me here to ask me to give up my greatness to work with the likes of you?”
“If that’s the reason you would like to go with, then yes,” he laughed, patting Ratigan’s shoulder, going onto his toes and kissing his cheek, “I think your mind can come up with a much more satisfactory answer, however. You are, in many ways, a very clever rat. Certainly, the best of the best. Cunning, mischievous,” Basil made his way around Ratigan, toying with his tail again, “Awfully charming.”
“You flatter me,” Ratigan laughed, “Always a good flirt, aren’t you, Basil?”
“I’m glad you finally recognize my greatness for something, you seem to always forget that I’m rather good at things.”
Ratigan rolled his eyes, “No need to boast, mouse. It’ll do you no good getting cocky,” he let Basil come in front of him and undo his tie in one sly motion, unbuttoning his shirt ever so slowly, as if taunting his rival, to make him give into those animalistic instincts they both so often teetered on when in each other’s presence, “I’m very impatient, you know,” Ratigan’s hand pushed Basil’s away, grabbing the tie on his robe and pulling it open with a growl.
“Why so tense, my friend? Let yourself go for a bit,” Basil pushed his hand away, pressing his hand to Ratigan’s chest, fur poking through his half-undone shirt that made him smile when he recognized it, “Let me lead. It’ll do you a lot of good.