The night, unlike so many others, was quiet. Not quiet in the way which makes one want to somehow cure it of its silence with hearty song or talk, no. The kind of quiet which threatens to stalk one's soul, the kind which one feels somewhat uneasy to disturb; as if the slightest of sound or movement would cause the universe to fall apart, leaving one stranded in a neverending field of nothingness...
"...Break me."
The heavens had refused to cast their light upon the Jellicle Yard tonight: the moon was nowhere to be found and heavy clouds had masked any sight of the stars. The blaring klaxon that made everybody's furs stand on end had gone mute, and the Jellicles had all left the Yard anyway.
Except for two.
In an abandoned school bus on the far side of the yard, two Jellicle Cats were busy minding each other's business; although the truth was that they would have rather faded away from it all if they could have. Had one looked closely enough, barely recognisable would have been the ginger and black fur of one - striking fear in most of his subjects despite its unkempt state, and on the other: a delicate sprinkling of diamante crystals over a matte black coat of fur. Not that it could have been seen: the engulfing darkness had turned everything into indiscriminate shades of grey. The colour had faded from the striking mane; the crystals not glimmering nor glittering.
"Isn't it all so... perfect."
He tightened his grip on the other's throat ever so slightly, leaving the cat pinned up between the cold, decaying shell of tin machinery and the warm, almost reassuring grip of his hand. One lone diamante bead fell to the floor - dead, having lost its former lustre - and the sound of stone hitting metal echoed uneasily through the interior of the vehicle.
"Nothing here, or there. A cat of your calibre must think about it, surely?"
He gestured with his free hand to a world outside the window of the bus. With this darkness it was not entirely clear where "here" ended and "there" started, but they cared not. The only thing that mattered were the two, whom - as far as they were concerened - were in this surreal, self-contained universe.
"So you want... to be free. Free of what? You know as well as I that there is only one -place-, and it is where we must stay until we must... leave. Most follow the rules, others take advantage of it, and some ignore them altogether."
Still gripping the other's throat firmly (Contrary to what a passer-by would think, it was not confrontational but rather comforting to the other), he stared intently into the sunken eyes of the other - still retaining their crystalline lustre despite years of hard cynicism, as if he were seeking an answer to an eternal question, an answer which he know was not true but wanted so much to believe it anyways...
"Is it not ironic, us - opposites - rivals - being strung together like this, facing such situations which only each other could feel..."
But before he could complete the sentence, Mistoffelees was overcome by a shock of emotion surging through his nerves, dragging him through a field of thought and involuntarily dropped the ginger cat to the floor. The sound of the drop echoed loudly across the metal, the skeleton of the bus creaking loudly through the night in response. Meanwhile, the other was on the floor, leaning himself on his front legs and looking up, helplessly and pleadingly, into Mistoffelees' eyes. The title of "Napoleon of Crime" seemed no longer fitting to this feline figure at his feet, his brooding frame no more than a twisted wreck, his intimidating fur shrivelled into oblivion...
Mistoffelees fell to his knees and stared intently at the floor.
"Forgive me."
"You have nothing to be forgiven from, little one. You would not know, but it had been been - I ca'n't even recall - aeons, since anybody had made me feel and realize things like that. You must also have known that I would have been able to overpower you... anytime..."
Saying that, Macavity's forelegs gave way and he collapsed onto Mistoffelees' lap, barely conscious. Mistoffelees gently embraced him, holding his head against his chest, the quietness and cold of the night giving him a sudden shiver down his spine. He drooped his head over Macavity's, and as a tear ran down his cheek the entire universe quietly folded itself and vanished into a silent void engulfing them.
~*~
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