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"Mixed Blessings a Cat Tail "Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, male/male pairings of a most ridiculous
nature; told from Quatre's point of view, so beware the fluff. Pairings: 1x2, 3x4 Summary: The GW boys are all cats finding their little paws in the big, bad world. For Dyna Dee. A/N: The author needs her head examined, as does
her friend and editor, Waterlily, who suggested it, but I wrote it
just the same in order to make you laugh and as an eleven chapter
gift to Dyna Dee! " Mixed Blessings a Cat Tail " Meow-velous By
shoveling the contents as far out of the box Chapter 8 - Catapulting I know we disappointed Wufei a little by not stopping at his cherished koi ponds, but Trowa insisted that he had to go directly to the circus or be late for his performance. For a moment I thought our group might divide, some staying to enjoy the fish and the rest intrigued by the promise of seeing "big cats" safely behind bars. It was Milliardo who cracked the impasse with many purring promises to visit the ponds on the way back. And so we padded on. It was a long, long way. My little paws stung from the sharp rocks. The long-haired cats complained of the heat. We could all have used a drink of water. "There's a horse trough over there. All we have to do is get over, under, or through the fence," Duo pointed out. Cats leaped, slunk, and ripped out chunks of fur to get past the barrier. We made a run for the cement watering trough and jumped almost in unison, for the edge. Oh, how wonderful that tasted! "No better water, ever," Duo extolled. Wufei attempted to compare it to the koi pond water, but he gave up to drink instead. Of course, we were all terribly thirsty so anything would have been acceptable. I was head down, lapping up my second share, when I heard Duo calling Heero. "Anyone see him?" Trowa, the tallest, looked around, scanning the landscape. "Not far. In those plants. Oh, he's found the nip." Catnip! Who knew it grew from the ground! Heero was rolling about right in the middle of a large mound of catnip plants. He purred like nobody's business. Duo took a flying leap to join him, while Relena and her brother approached more cautiously. "I don't see what the attraction is," sniffed Wufei. "Come try some. Rub in on your face," Duo insisted. "Live a little!" Wufei sniffed more. "It's minty." "Trowa? Don't you want to join in?" I asked. "Actually, it doesn't affect me or I would. Go on, we have a few minutes to spare." "Naw, 'Fei, don't eat the stuff. Whatta waste!" Wufei seemed to like the taste and ate more, even though Mill encouraged him to rest his head on him and relax. Heero had blissfully fallen asleep on his back in the sun. Relena's purrs near his head didn't even bother him. Duo covered the perfume of shampoo with the scent of catnip, rolling over and over in it and mussing his lustrous fur. I was afraid to overdo things and fall asleep like Heero. I didn't want to miss Trowa's show. Slowly, though, I gave into the heady fragrance and found myself curled in a bed of leaves. "Wake up! Humans! Run!" I awoke with a start and Trowa's head pushing me to my feet. "What's going on?" I heard what he heard and gathered my wits as the other cats tried to do the same. "Run!" he yowled again. Heero's warning about not sleeping in strange territories came to mind, a rule even he broke. We were very lucky that Trowa had thought to stand guard! I ran. I could see him and his longs legs and at times one of the other cats bobbing up and over a tussock of grass, or a tail, but mostly I could hear the sounds of shod feet mashing the grass, thundering as they got closer. People chasing us! I couldn't understand why or where they'd come from. The dirt path suddenly turned into the hard roadway material humans put down for their cars to roll on. We'd been in human territory, a park or something, and now we were being chased out, or so I thought. I heard shouting and could see a blur of fur dash across my path, so I turned and headed that way too, only I was the last and not as fast as the others. "Ahhh!" I howled as a pair of big hands gripped my belly. In sank my claws. "Ahoooo!" screamed the human. I heard hissing and snarling and out of the corner of one eye, spied Trowa, my protector, climbing the back of my cat-napper. The instant the hands released me, I twisted to land feet first on the ground. I took off like lightening, with Trowa hot on my heels. "Follow me to the drainpipe," he huffed. Those beautiful, long legs extended completely and he pulled out in front, leading the way. I didn't see any of the other cats, but I wasn't looking. I was running with the sound of footfalls and skittering rocks and angry men behind us. The men fell behind as Trowa took us on a zigzag path under shrubs, over logs, and through muck. "Up ahead!" he tossed back at me over his shoulder. The drainpipe opening was large. Nothing dripped out of it, but I could see a channel cut in front, so at times it dumped runoff, which I guessed ran into a stream to our right. Duo sat at the opening. "They made it!" he said to others deeper into the pipe. "'Ro's gone off with their collars. Mill and 'Lena's collars. He found tracking devices on them and... um... removed them." "Where'd he go?" Trowa asked Duo, pushing me into the drainpipe ahead of him. "That way." Duo indicated the direction with a tilt of his head. "Follow the stream." "Stay put," Trowa ordered me and Duo and anyone else considering going after Heero. "I know the lay of the land. I'll be fine." One moment I was staring into his eyes and the next, his camouflage-like color pattern allowed him to disappear into the grass. "I don't hear the humans. They weren't that far behind us." "Heero was probably right, then, and the humans are homing in on the collars." Oh, poor Heero, was my first thought, but then I sensed that he'd be just fine keeping to the shadows. "He'll be all right," I said to Duo. "I know." His intelligent eyes met mine a moment in shared respect. "They aren't looking for dark cats." Which is why the men went for me. The wait was terrible, but not long. "I hear cats on the run," Duo said. "Better give them space to get in here." Duo and I moved back into the pipe just as Trowa and Heero exploded out from a stand of brush. "Just move!" Trowa yowled. "It opens up at the circus." So we sprinted again. I felt Heero at my heels and could hear Trowa's breathing behind him. The tunnel was mostly dry and ran straight for a long way before turning up a grade. That lasted a few feet with dim light at the end and a cluster of exhausted cats circling the opening. It was night, but the illumination from the circus provided us with more than enough light to see by and cast long shadows perfect in which hide. I picked my way around Duo and Wufei and collapsed near the patch of white fur, either Relena or Milliardo. It mattered not to me. Trowa had been the last of us to emerge from the tunnel. Wufei sniffed the air. "This must be the circus. I detect a wide range of animal life nearby." "No brainer there. Where to, oh master of the spectacle?" Duo asked Trowa. "This way. We can get food and water and there's a safe spot to rest." Trowa's head bumped mine. "Hey, don't fall asleep here. I got a better place." "Oh, sorry!" I scrambled to my feet and joined the glaring of cats we'd become. There were tents and great stacks of hay, lots of baying and groaning, and snuffling of animals we couldn't see, and then we saw more cats. One hiss from Trowa and they scattered like dry leaves in autumn. "Here's where they leave out provisions for the cats. They keep performers like me and mousers around. Help yourself." We all did. I'd missed a meal and several naps, so I supposed we all had. Trowa lay high atop a stack of hay bales, eyes closed. While cleaning his face, I worried that he'd miss his call to work, but more so I thought he deserved a chance to rest. "Should you nap long?" I asked him. "Not long. When the music changes to dark notes, that's the start of the big cats that precede me." "Dark notes? You mean the minor key?" I asked, wanting to know the extent to which he knew music. "Yes, you know music, then?" "I adore music. I am learning the piano and I sing." "I sing, too. But for now—" "If you aren't up, I'll awaken you when the music changes. I feel more rested than I thought, now that I've had my fill of water. Go ahead. I'll stand watch for you." He purred his assent and almost instantly fell into a dead sleep. Heero and Milliardo were in disagreement. The two alpha toms were never going to get along, I was afraid. "I swear I didn't know!" Mill said. "You didn't recognize them for what they were right away either, so don't go laying all the guilt on us." Duo nuzzled into my neck to whisper. "Apparently the homing device was concealed pretty good in the jeweled collars. I mean, how long had we been meeting Relena and not noticed?" "Maybe she wasn't wearing one," Heero snarled. "Maybe only this guy had one and that's why they let him out to go find her and bring her back?" "That's possible," Mill said, not very cordially, "but as I said before, I didn't know anything about it. Yes, I wanted to find Relena. I was concerned something might have befallen her. But I am no servant to the humans!" I knew there would be no settling this question for now, if ever, and aimed to change the conversation before Mill and Heero made a scene. "What did you do with the collars, Heero?" "I carried them to the stream, where there were some large rocks to go out into the flow. I dropped them there. I could see the water carry them away as they sank." "Well, then the men will not think to follow us here," I said. "That was good thinking, Heero." His irritation subsided. I had mollified him sufficiently and we all found soft, dry hay to curl upon. I'd have to tell Trowa how lovely his accommodations were, when he awoke. I wouldn't dare trouble him with that nonessential information now. "Trowa says he will go on soon, but that there's time to nap first. I'll let you all know when it's time." My eyes sought out Heero and when he noticed and looked my way I told him, "It's all right. You rest. I'll stand guard." "Besides," Duo said with a yawn, "with all the big cats nearby, I doubt any strangers can get by unnoticed." Heero agreed, I guess, because he nestled into the straw next to me and didn't move. No one asked me how I knew when anything would happen; they probably figured that Trowa had informed me. I said nothing and closed my eyes nearly all the way. I could cap nap and still listen to the sounds around me, and there were so many new and intriguing sounds to hear! I remained cued into the changes in tune while still noting the different animal noises and roar of humanity not far off. Screeches and cheers, cries and shouts, laughter and chatter all amid the blare of horns and calliope of notes from unknown sources. It was wonderfully exciting and would have been a little scary if I hadn't been snuggled against Trowa and Heero. Duo had retired at my feet and Wufei nested between Heero and Milliardo. Relena was squeezed up between Heero and her brother with her head butting Wufei's. It was quite nice and familiar as it was strange and thrilling. Dum dee dum dum... duuuuum... The tone altered dramatically and I knew it was time to get up. "Trowa," I whispered into his ear. His head had come to rest tucked under my chin and pressed against my chest. "I hear it. I just don't want to move." He yawned and stretched. I couldn't help but lick his eyes until they opened, one at a time. "Now I want to move even less." "But you must!" Once he was on his feet the others aroused themselves, too. "What's the plan?" Duo was first to ask. "If you want to see the show, follow me, otherwise, you're safe to stay right here if you like." "We all want to see you perform!" I assured him. He found us wonderful perches in one grand tent, under some bleacher seating on the wood frame work. There was so much to see! I didn't know where to look first! And then a parade of huge animals passed right by our noses! "Those are elephants," Trowa announced. "Cats are next." That meant he'd have to leave us, I guessed. "I'll be in the center ring. Look there," He indicated a wide clearing on the dirt floor. "Later," he chirped and was gone. None of us said very much; we were all eyes and ears, taking in the new sights and sounds. Duo was sitting next to me and even he was quiet, until a pair of new animals appeared. "Horses! Wow, wouldya get a load of the fancy feathers on their heads!" "Those must be hats," I corrected him. "Only birds have feathers, and those are not birds." "I don't know..." "I do. Rashid told me that birds have only two legs and two wings and feathers. Nothing else is like them." "Oh? Okay. Funny hats. Right," he said with an elaborate shrug. When the parading animals were done and walked off-stage, a big cage was dropped into the center ring. The cage filled the center and looked strong. It opened in the front and the back, and it was from the back that the biggest cats I'd ever seen entered the cage. I mean BIG. Duo gasped and Wufei on my other side let out a plaintive mew, not that I blamed him. I was alarmed, too. Real wild cats. "Lions and tigers!" Mill said from where he sat on the other side of Wufei. "I never thought I'd ever see them this close up." The big cats leaped onto platforms and obeyed the directions given to them by a human. For cats, they didn't sound right. They were loud and, oh my whiskers, their claws and teeth were terrifyingly big and dangerous looking! "Dear Bastet save us," Duo growled deep in his throat and lurched back into Relena on his other side. I thought he was just reacting to the sights I was seeing, but he noticed something else. "There's Trowa!" "Oh! H-He's o-on the b-back of t-that... t-that..." I simple stammered into stillness. He rode the back of a spotted leopard around the ring. "Oh!" Flames leaped from a circle hanging in their path and then he jumped through the circle that was on fire! The leopard trotted around, and then sped up to catch Trowa on the other side. My dear Trowa landed safely onto the big cat's back and circumnavigated the ring once more. I watched him do leaps and rolls, reminding me of what I'd seen him do in the trees. Suddenly, he hopped upon a giant ball and rolled across the floor while standing on his hind legs. "That took leg strength and superior balance," I heard Mill say and he even sounded sincerely impressed. "How does he keep track of what to do when?" Relena asked. I was about to admit I didn't know, when the answer came to me all at once. "The music! He moves in time with the music and uses the changes in rhythm and tune to time his jumps and end one act or begin another. Just listen!" Of course, not every cat feels music the same way. I don't think Wufei heard it at all. Duo felt the beat and could pat his paws in time with it. "What's he doing now?" Duo glanced over at me. I must have looked worried because he tried, yet failed, to be reassuring when he added dubiously, "I'm sure he's done all this before without a hitch." I took a deep breath and said in as offhand a tone as I could produce, "I'm sure, too." Trowa climbed stairs that went up, up, up to the tippy top of a very, very high platform. I knew he liked high spots and seemed fearless of heights, but this was so high that if he fell, he'd be hurt, and my heart pounded. There was a terribly thin wire that connected his platform to another. I just knew he was going to walk that. I heard his howling meow! "He's calling to you," Duo told me, but I knew that. My eyes were glued to his face so far and wee in the air. "Dear Bastet! What does he think he's doing!" "He's walking a tightrope," I said in my calmest of voices, hiding the dread going on inside me. What if he slipped?! I knew that the sensible thing for me to do was not to go running out crying for him to go back or come down (not fall down!)—that would be monstrously stupid of me, but that's what my legs were telling me to do. "Oh, yeah, is that all?" Duo replied, his eyes glinting with amusement. "I gotta hand it to ya, Cat. You sure can be one cool kitty under pressure. I don't know if I could sit there and watch 'Ro do something so... dangerous. And yet... Tro' sure does seem good at what he does. There! He made it to the end. Now, what-? No! No way!" A large tub of water had been wheeled in and left under the second platform. "He is not going to dive into that?!" I heard Wufei say through a hiss and eye me uneasily. Any answer I could have given was lost in the shouts and cheers coming from the human audience. Trowa crouched, tail twitching, the music swelled, and he dove, head first, lovely form, straight and long, and lean, directly center into the water... and splash! Seconds later, his head popped up and he swam around and around. I heard Heero's concerned voice, demanding, "Won't anyone get him out?!" No one did. "Shouldn't we do something?!" Relena asked. "No," I replied, assured that Trowa needed no help from any of us. "I can guarantee that he is a very able cat. Just watch." And it was true. I found I trusted him completely not to do things he was unfit to do or to rely on others to get him out of fixes. He'd invited us to see this, me especially, to see him perform. I let the excitement replace the fear inside me and watched the spectacle. His sharp claws clung to a carpeted edge and he dragged his sodden body up and out. The people roared and clapped. Trowa shook his coat free of water in the manner of a dog, and there was Duo, practically hooting and doing his own set of stunts for the joy of it. "That was amazeballs!" It was! The wonder of everything struck me just then. Trowa. Trowa, Trowa, Trowa, Trrrrroooo-wa! What a wonderful name and how it slipped over my tongue with ease. The more I said it the more I relished saying it. "He's wonderful, isn't he?" I remarked to Duo. "Yeah, pretty much," he said. Duo was quick to nuzzle Heero reassuringly. I was so pleased when the other cats gathered around Trowa and said the nicest things to him. As Wufei put it, "You have elevated the 'circus cat' to a performing marvel. But I'm curious how it is that the big cats allow you on their backs. Wouldn't your claws cause injury?" "My claws would hurt, so they wear a small harness and I dig into that. It's painted to match their coat and not stand out." Trowa butted heads with Duo, who seemed to understand Trowa's uncommon but friendly gestures. "What's your plan? You are all welcome to stay here, you know." "Um—" "We can travel incognito best at night," Heero recommended. The next question was to sort out who would stay over and who would go home. There was no question about what Relena would do—she planned to stay. Trowa promised her safety. Mill felt he should return to his cattery, even if it would be very late. "He shouldn't go alone," Relena said. "Heero-?" Heero spoke up again. "I will accompany anyone who wants to go home." Not to be bested in the male show of strength department, Wufei declared, "We will all go." Wufei spoke grandly, speaking for us all. "Safety in numbers. I cannot miss my morning call to duty and, Cat, won't Miss Iria be worried if you didn't come home?" "His name is Quatre, by the way," Trowa said. He just had this wonderful way of inserting himself into the conversation that made the most interesting waves in the sea of emotions. "It's French." He looked over his shoulder and then back at me. "And on his collar." So after another tiny uproar over my name and the fact that Trowa understood and read several languages, not just Chinese, I stepped forward. "May I have a moment alone with Trowa before we go?" Duo was a sensitive and generous friend. He helped lure the others away for one last nibble and sip at the feeding station. And there I was with the noise of hundreds of people around me, but with only Trowa in my sights. That fluttering excitement I felt before in his presence threatened to take over, so I jumped off my wood perch and ran about in a circle, chasing my tail and worked it off. Actually, he pounced on me. That's what stopped my run. We lay on the ground with his weight, his lovely, heaviness pinning me in place. I simply melted under his smoldering gaze. Then came the lingering good night kiss. I was ready to stay forever and give up my home and every comfort I'd ever had just to keep the soft tickle of his whiskers on my face, the low whispers of his assurances and purrs and warmth right where it belonged, just to keep from having to part. "We'll think of something," he told me. All the way home I thought, but nothing came to mind. Ten ways to kill the dog at home, but no good plan to keep Trowa and me together! TBC
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