Rating: PG to T
Summary: How Alonzo came to the Jellicles.
Disclaimer: CATS is not mine.
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A master of misdirection, the Rum Tum Tugger knew precisely how to manipulate any situation to best benefit himself. With the capability to fluster or intimidate as he saw fit, the large tom had no moral issues against the use of his charms to secure certain prizes. Adding a soft sway to his walk, a flirtatious curve to his tail, and a subtle, teasing smirk to his features, he quickly parted two of Macavity’s minions from a rather shiny brass pocket watch and two sterling bracelets.
He maintained his sashay as he wandered away, seemingly without a direction. The sway to his step bordering on a swagger.
“With the danger of sounding like a squealing kitten,” the voice caused an agitated twitch to the Tugger’s tail, pausing his wandering so he could locate the speaker; “but that con was brilliant.”
Eyes fell on the patched tom lounging in the sunlight, sprawled across the lid of a dumpster near the gaping mouth of an alleyway and the Maine Coon cross fluffed his mane. With a slight of hand trick, he secreted his prizes away in the long fur, secured against his collar and the deeper tangles. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, luv.”
The patched tom, black and white splotches of fur standing in testament to mongrel breeding, stretched and hopped from his perch, only the slightest twitch of ear and tail suggesting that he had faltered in any way on his landing. “I thought I knew all the street toms in this area. Who’re you?”
“I can ask the same, pet. But I got some business to attend to.” The sun was almost at its zenith, allowing it to beat down on the streets and into the properly opened alleys. While the conditions were not ideal to a thief, the Tugger preferred to think of himself as daring and charming in his confidence; but even he knew when he had only a few minutes to get away from his own victims before they came after him, and a bright street was not conductive to hiding.
The dismissal did not deter the patched tom and he fell into step beside the larger cat. Despite all mongrel appearances, the black and white tom exuded a street-born confidence-- something that Tugger assumed was well-earned if his uninvited companion was bold enough to follow who he knew to be a capable thief.
“You Jellicle?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“Got a name?”
“Do you?”
A short pause in the exchange inspired the belief that the Tugger had won. Convinced that the street cat would leave him be, the fluffy tom turned towards the pathways that would take him to the junkyard haven of the Jellicle tribe.
“Alonzo.”
The smirk faltered; the mongrel was persistent. Grudgingly, Tugger stopped and faced the newly named tom, offering his own gruff greeting and name before examining the cat closely. “Clean for a street cat, aren’t you?”
Alonzo shrugged, a nonchalant gesture. “Nothing wrong with grooming.”
“Gonna turn me into Macavity for fleecing his boys?”
“Unless you give me a bit of a hand.”
Now the Tugger was curious, “In some kind of trouble, eh?”
“I want into the Jellicles.”
“Can’t help you there.”
“Then I can’t help it if Macavity just happens to be directed to you. After all, you’re not a very subtle tom.”
The Tugger narrowed his eyes, more on the verge of a petulant pout than an attack. “You’re not a very fun cat, luv.”
The confident smirk that had been firmly plastered to Alonzo’s face took on a different air. His posture straightened, becoming a notch below confidence to border on pure arrogance. “Plenty fun, Rumsy. I just happen to be smarter than you.”
A fluff of his mane and the Tugger turned back to his path. “Come on then, Patches. I’ll take you as far as ol’ Silver Stripes himself, but that’s it.”
“Silver Stripes?”
“Munkustrap.” The Tugger made a face, distorting his features to an obvious mockery of distaste. “Bloody noble Guardian of the Jellicles. Get him to like you and you’re in.”
Alonzo nodded absently, following the larger cat once more. “Sounds like he’s a syllable away from being a sex toy.”
A pause, a muffled noise that was caught somewhere between a choke and mewl from Tugger was all the warning given to Alonzo before he found himself pulled up against the larger cat-- a friendly closeness accompanied by an approving chuckle. “I think I like you, Patches. I’ll put in a good word for you if you tell me just why you want to join the happy little tribe.”
“Put in the good word first. I’ll tell you when I’m in.”