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A slight tickle in his nose was the only warning before the Rum Tum Tugger erupted into a series of sneezes.
He sneezed once, twice, thrice, and about a dozen more times, his face twisting into stranger and stranger expressions as he clawed at the metal wall he had lounged against with annoyance.
When no new sneeze followed the most recent, he shook out his mane and washed his muzzle, grumbling under his breath. Hopefully nobody had seen him.
That wish seemed to be in vain, for he heard a familiar voice saying: “Bless-”, only to trail off and fall silent.
Tugger pricked his ears, stood up and went to investigate.
The voice’s owner did their best to not be found, but they underestimated Tugger’s keen eyes, as was usual.
They didn’t call him “artful and knowing” for nothing, after all.
Around the corner, over the old chicken cages, and — there.
Tugger opened his mouth and was immediately interrupted.
“I’d rather have no company right now.”
“If I didn’t know better,” Tugger said, sitting down and combing through his mane, “I’d consider you to be rude.”
The addressed cat snorted and rolled his eyes from where he stood on a pile of threadbare carpets. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you’re not a good listener.”
“Luckily you know better, and I don’t,” Tugger concluded cheerfully, appraising his look one last time in a nearby puddle and jumping onto the carpet pile. “So tell me, what are you doing, Mistoffelees?”
“Mr. Mistoffelees,” Mistoffelees corrected him, and then pulled a face as if he regretted it.
“My,” Tugger said, wagging his eyebrows, “did you go and elope after all? I thought I’d never see the day.”
Mistoffelees grumbled, brushing his front paws over his curved ears as if to righten them. Tugger pretended not to notice how said paws left a trail of glitter in the air where-ever they moved.
“Remember when I told you all that I would have something to show you soon?” Mistoffelees started, after he had opened and closed his mouth a few times.
“Certainly.”
“Well, it will have to wait.”
Tugger’s ears drooped. “Elaborate?”
“I will not. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have much to do, and said things require a lot of concentration.”
“What, am I distracting?”
Alas, Tugger’s smirk went unseen, but he didn’t need a verbal answer to know that it was ‘yes’, anyway. He was quick to follow the sparkly trail of Mistoffelees’ tail through the gaps between the carpets, trying to catch some of the glitter with his paws or tongue from time to time, but it blinked out of existence before he could touch it.
Thanks to their different length of stride, it took less than 30 steps for Tugger to catch up. Mistoffelees said nothing, but Tugger could tell from his twitching whiskers and ears that were just slightly pulled back that he wasn’t pleased with the general situation.
“You’re a nuisance.”
They came to a stop next to a stack of bent and broken easels.
“That might be one of my three names, now that I think about it…”
“Hmpf.”
Mistoffelees shook himself, casting off a cloud of glitter. Then he froze, watching Tugger observe how it was carried away by the breeze.
“That really wasn’t very impressive,” Tugger sighed eventually, throwing Mistoffelees a cheeky look. “I can see why we’ll have to wait a little longer.”
Mistoffelees’ mouth fell open. “You knew?!”
“You wound me,” Tugger sniffed dramatically, righting the single, artful (but not knowing) curl on his forehead. “Of course I knew. Did you underestimate me? I can’t blame you, I do it all the time!”
“It was supposed to be a surprise!” Mistoffelees whined, stomping his foot like a sulking kitten.
“And it was,” Tugger assured him, unsheating a claw to tap at a glittery particle still hanging in the air. “How do they say? Enchanté. I have been expertly wooed.”
Mistoffelees blinked. “Oh.”
The affectionate smile on Tugger’s face showcased all of his dimples. Unfair.
“Since I am aware that my… reaction wasn’t your intention, I will be the first to tell you that even though I cannot take a hint, I can definitely take a hint, if you get my meaning.”
A slow nod was the only reply. Then a frown, a nod, a deeper frown.
“In any case, I am certainly not someone to spoil a surprise, if you’re worried about that.”
Mistoffelees gnawed on his lip for a moment, then he looked up to his newfound ally. “Promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly,” Tugger swore, drawing a circle on the right side of his chest.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And I’ve made a career out of it! Am I not just so successful?”
Mistoffelees snorted again, but this time he leant forward and rubbed his cheek at Tugger’s shoulder, his short, fast-paced purr rumbling up. Tugger said nothing, silently admiring the way the glittery trail looked on his coat, mutely acknowledging Mistoffelees’ wordless confession.
Well, almost mutely.
“That’s convenient.”
Mistoffelees laughed, and the glitter multiplied, covering his entire coat from paws to the tips of his ears.
“Would you…” Tugger started and choked on his words when Mistoffelees took his paw in his, swinging it back and forth a little as if to try it out. He swung them as well when Mistoffelees stopped, wrapping his bushy tail around Mistoffelees’ short, black one and cleared his throat.
“Would you show me?”
Mistoffelees stopped swinging their paws and gnawed on his bottom lip again. “It’s… I’m not done yet. I haven’t gotten far, and I’ve made such a circus about it that it would be disappointing to watch it as it is.”
“Nonsense. Everyone’s seen you float things and yourself around since before you could walk, and I have yet to meet a cat who wasn’t absolutely amazed by your magic.”
At the last word, Mistoffelees twitched.
“You know… I’ve thought about calling myself ‘Mr. Mistoffelees’, like the magicians do that my family watch on the television a lot. Is that a good idea or embarrassing or—”
“The Marvellous Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!” Tugger boomed in his best announcer voice, joyfully observing how Mistoffelees jumped and a few nearby cats fell from their nap spots with surprise.
“It sure has a ring to it, dontcha think?”
“Not so loud!”
“I have been told that I’m a great hype man, in case that position is still open in your employ,” Tugger continued unperturbed, cackling when Mistoffelees huffed and swung their paws anew, almost violently.
“It’s certainly still open. Although I’m of half mind to let you and Cassandra fight for it.”
“You don’t say! Cassandra?”
“I was just as surprised as you are. Performative magic seems to be her thing. She still seems to be a tad wary around Tantomile and Coricopat.”
“Huh,” Tugger said. “I’ll see if we can solve that problem, but it shall have to wait for now. First, you will awe me into the ground we are standing on, if you please.”
Mistoffelees swung their paws, leant up to touch their noses together in a tender gesture that made Tugger’s knees shake and heart stumble, then he let go of his paw and stepped back, shaking out his fur, a flurry or glitter enveloping the two tomcats.
“See? I am amazed already,” Tugger said proudly, breathed in a load of tingling glitter, pulled a face, and began to sneeze.