Summary: Mankustrap waits for Demeter and worries over her absence.

Munkustrap sat up stiffly, his golden eyes wide and tilted cautiously, as though he were surveying everything with the utmost precaution and found danger lurking behind every corner. His fur was a bit wild near the shoulders and ears, his Jellicle form proving to be quite the animal. Black lips stood out against a variously striped face, and though he seemed wary, it only made him look more handsome.

He was always told by Jennyanydots that any Queen would be lucky to have him, yet for some reason he still remained alone, many moons past his first call and many females away from what he wanted. He longed for a companion to sleep by at night, somebody who would protect him from having to constantly worry over his tribe. He thought briefly of Cassandra, who was not only free of other obligations but extremely limber. The ways she twisted and turned about him made his heart creak with ill concealed needs and wants, but even though she was surely exotic and beautiful, she lacked the innocent compassion he hunted.

Bombalurina was the same. Well, hardly, really. Her scarlet fur was a red flag warning of her intentions, and the way she ran her hands possessively over him as she passed made his fur sponge up all around him, his body clenching. However, the variegated crimson Queen did the same thing to all other male cats in the tribe, so he dismissed her as a real option.

No, what he really wanted was Demeter. She was young, barely a Queen and still playful like a kitten. He barely knew her at all, hardly saw her around anywhere as she was habitually reclusive, yet what he had noticed of the gold and ebony female was the way her lips curled into a smile when she saw him, the way her tail wrapped sweetly around her leg when she thought he wasn’t looking. He liked her calm yellow eyes and her intelligent movements, enjoyed how she controlled herself around the other Jellicles. She was unclaimed, but he wanted very badly to change that. Very badly indeed.

This was partially the reason that he grew more and more depressed as the night wore on and she didn’t arrive, the hours getting colder and colder and darker and darker till at last midnight came and the moon shone its brightest. He was downfallen when he knew she wasn’t coming, torn up and about to leave when he saw at last a figure slither into his peripheral vision. Ears perking up and eyes widening, a smile spread across his face as he anticipated her sugar white face that mixed into a deeper color the farther from her eyes it got. However, it was not Demeter, but Cassandra.

He visibly deflated as she sauntered up to him, her hips swaying drunkenly as he tried to mask his disappointment.

“What a moon. It’s so…creamy looking tonight. It makes me hungry.”

Munkustrap did not share her feelings about it, preferring the darkness. He had never seen anything in the moonlight that made him hungry, besides a few stray rats. Settling down on his tire, he knew that he was now going to have to stay and finish the conversation he’d ended up in, so he sighed and watched as she got closer to him, slanted eyes tilted in his direction.

“You look sad, golden boy. Why so glum?”

She was incredibly close to him, crawling up onto his tire and settling down not but a few centimeters away. Her voice reverberated through his blood and made him shudder. She watched him for a moment, then put a tentative paw on the top of his outstretched forearm.

“Munkustrap?”

Sighing, he turned to look at her, his whiskers brushing against her nose and making it twitch as her long black tail flickered.

“Sorry.”

Rubbing the tip of her nose on her shoulder to get rid of the itch, she blinked a few times before turning back and inclining her head.

“Please. Tell me what’s bothering you. Did Demeter say something that upset your relationship?”

Immediately he became agitated, his claws stretching outwards and his eyes watering. Mouth drying out, he had the strange urge to pant.

“Demeter did not come.”

“What? You’re mistaken, I saw her leave for you myself.”

This was when they became confused, when both exchanged odd glances.

“Trust me, I think I’d remember seeing her. I’ve been waiting all afternoon.”

“I saw her start on her way when the moon was just rising. She should have already been here. I made sure to distract the tiger twins from bothering you for a while, so you wouldn’t be disturbed.”

“Well, she never got here.”

Silence fell between them, crickets chirping as they both faced forward, thinking each their own thoughts about what had gotten into Demeter. If she’d started off for him hours ago, but never made it, then she must have gotten delayed along the way. It just wasn’t like her to blow off something like a meeting between friends.

“It’s strange. Would you like me to ask her about it tomorrow?”

A beat, then Munkustrap coughed.

“No. No, I’m sure it just…slipped her mind. I wouldn’t want to bother her with it. I didn’t really need to talk to her about anything imperative. Just a few thoughts I wanted to share.”

Cassandra watched him with her piercing blue eyes unblinkingly, no readable expression on her face. He caught her at it and averted his own gaze, disliking how this habit of hers drove him crazy. Finally she raised both eyebrows, yawned hugely, and stretched her arms, squeezing her eyes shut until she came out of the movement and licked her lips. Jumping off the tire suddenly, she landed and twitched her ear, turning her back to him. Just before she left, she paused and said over her shoulder,

“You care for her, Munkustrap. Don’t be discouraged by minor setbacks.”

Then she was gone, leaving him alone but much more deep in thought that before.