Bittersweet [Rozumbrad]

[Chris]

Hunger drove him out.

The hours at the factory were still draining, more so with the few hits he went on, with punching sandbags and doing push ups to stay fit. Normally he'd push on overtime, but this wasn't one of those normal times.

He needed food.

Usually it was readily available at the factory, but now... no.

He needed food.

And for the past hour he'd crept through the dark streets of Macavity's terrain, looking for any sort of meat, any sort of food.

The noxious smell of rotting rats filled his nostrils as he padded toward a wall, his shadow illuminated by the street lamp, hesitating. They were rotting. He'd be ill. But he was hungry. ... so... so hungry.

A claw extended though he withdrew it, shoulders rounding over as he choked back a sob and punched the wall. "Fucking bitch." He missed his humans. Missed them so badly. And that bitch, that bitch he did everything for, fucking betraying him.

Though normally indifferent, the temper he was feared for was starting to fester, already growling from the back of his throat. Something would be hurt that night. Maybe something would die.

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad was annoyed. Who left all the dead rats around anyway? He wanted something that had been dead for less than a day.

Then again, many things were annoying him at the moment. Mostly Fangor being cryptic about what he was planning. And Macavity basically ignoring him.

[Chris]

His head turned more sharply at the noise, a tongue licking his lips once more. The idea of cannibalism wasn't appealing, but the idea of roughhousing some punk to find food. And so he vanished.

He could see a silhouette. A silhouette in the distance.

Chris had a style. Something he claimed as his, the way he'd creep--silent, unseen--then like a freight train hit hard. Often he was shorter than the other cats, but he was stout, solid muscle. He was fast.

And he sprang upon the other from behind, fast, tackling him to the ground, a knee to the center of his back as his arms moved around the other in a choke hold. His collar jingled a little. "Where the fuck's the food?" he growled into Rozumbrad's ear, nose wrinkling. Something was off. Something familiar, yet he couldn't place it.

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad fell to the ground. He should not be getting attacked here. This was Macavity's territory, and he was an important agent now, he was known.

"Get the fuck off, or you'll regret it!" he snarled.

[Chris]

He moved his head near the other's face, though still behind him so they were more aligned, nostrils sniffing a little. "I said, where's the food," he growled, then stopping as he sniffed some more. That scent... there was something about it... it didn't mean he was relinquishing the other's hold.

Yet another stiff, the free arm moving, then up to the dreads as he slowed.

It couldn't have been...

"... Brad?" he asked quietly, weighing the decision before deciding he took down the other easily enough that he could let him go. Still, he sprang back, crouched should the other attack as he took him in. "... you're... here?" A shaky breath. "I thought you were..."

Nothing.

Pathetic.

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad rolled and sat up to stare at Chris.

"Bullshit," he said. "You're dead."

[Chris]

It was that tone.

Chris moved a hand to his collar, covering the wound as if protected. It felt pathetic for the cat who became so apathetic. But the scar was there, raised and deep, among others.

For a moment, he stayed there, crouched, before he sat on the ground, conceding to his fate. "I wish I was dead since Fangor and Banshee told me what happened..." A soft sentence. A shaky breath.

"Why didn't you visit me? I thought I was important to you."

Words too somber for the normally imbalanced, but happy and loving, cat.

[Rozumbrad]

"But you were dead!" Rozumbrad repeated. "You were killed. How could I come and visit you, I didn't even know you were alive>"

[Chris]

"DO I LOOK FUCKING DEAD TO YOU?!" he snarled, hands reaching back as he fumbled with the collar, struggling before finally getting it off as he hurled it toward the other cat. The fur was worn beneath the collar but the grotesqueness of the scar lay on display. "They nursed me back to health after that bitch destroyed me. They said you'd visit me. And you didn't. You never visited me!"

[Rozumbrad]

"But they said you were dead," Rozumbrad persisted.

He had no idea who Chris thought killed him. But he figured Fangor had made a nice lie to compensate.

"I, I did miss you," he said.

[Chris]

Chris ducked his head, hands gripping at his hair, eyes squeezed shut. It was overwhelming. The sensation. Thinking that Rozumbrad hated him, being completely alone except for Banshee, Fangor, Pascal, and sometimes Macavity or Cinder. He was a born extrovert--he hated loneliness and isolation.

He pushed himself to his feet enough to somewhat tackle Rozumbrad in embrace, face burying against the shoulder of his waistcoat before turning his head so he'd be even closer.

"You're not going to slice me open the way that bitch did to me and my kids, will you?"

[Rozumbrad]

"No," Rozumbrad said, somewhat baffled. "Who did it to you?" he asked, holding onto Chris.

[Chris]

"Who do you think?" he spat fiercely. "That bitch Kit--Coalie." A growl came forth, fierce anger building. "I loved her. I loved her and that bitch betrayed me, and the kittens. The tiny kittens... Mecurius and Silverna. They looked like me. They really looked like me. And she left me for dead."

The anger that boiled spilled over the top as he shook.

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad absently tried to pat Chris on the head. Fangor certainly knew how to mess someone up. And kittens? Well, shit.

He really didn't know what to say, so settled for letting Chris continue to vent.

[Chris]

"That fucking... bitch... I loved her. You saw me. You know I loved her. I loved her so much. And the kits... they were too young. Too... fucking... young..."

He growled then as he pulled back more suddenly. "I'm gonna find her and kill her."

[Rozumbrad]

"Do you even know where she is?" Rozumbrad questioned. After all, if he did, he would have killed her already.

[Chris]

"... no." His shoulders slumped, defeated, hands pressing to his stomach to stifle a hunger pain. "No... Fangor doesn't know. No one knows. But when they do, I'm going to kill her. But Banshee told me how to do it. Because it can't be easy."

His eyes dropped.

"... this isn't a bad dream and I'm going to wake up with you not here, is it?"

[Rozumbrad]

"No."

He rested his head against Chris's. "I did miss you though," he said.

[Chris]

The cat shifted his weight, a hand closing to the collar he pulled off before shakily redoing it around his neck to hide the grotesque scar. Only then did he rewrap his arms around the other, eyes falling shut as he inhaled.

"Me too." He shivered. "I wish I weren't straight. Then that cunt wouldn't have tricked me and I could have shared love with you."

[Rozumbrad]

Well, at least one of Chris's delusions hadn't changed. Rozumbrad gently stroked Chris's hair, comfort not really his strong point.

"I've still got that carving of Macavity you made," he said, trying to cheer Chris up.

[Chris]

There was a glimmer of something, maybe like hope, as his eyes lit up. "Really? You kept it all those years?" But soon that spark died down a little. "I never was any good at whittling. You didn't need to keep it."

[Rozumbrad]

"Of course I kept it," Rozumbrad said. "And it does look like him. It's good."

[Chris]

The tiniest bit of a smile came back before he wrapped his arms around the other's neck fully, nuzzling his cheek. The expression didn't change much and reverted easily, but it was another glimpse at the old Chris.

"You thought I was dead?" he asked softly.

[Rozumbrad]

"Yes," he replied. " I heard about what happened, but, I didn't know you'd survived. I was very upset."

[Chris]

He nestled closer, seemingly a little bit comforted by the statement. "Then you'll stay with me? I don't wanna be alone. Banshee's there and I love her but sometimes I don't like her games." A shudder was given as he squeezed the cat closer. "Don't leave me, Brad. Please."

[Rozumbrad]

"I won't leave you," Rozumbrad assured. Really, the affection was somewhat disgusting, but Chris had always amused him enough to tolerate it. Plus the sex was great.

[Chris]

Chris exhaled deeply, nodding his head, the slightest swish of his tail given. Exhausted. Famished. Needy. More needy then. His eyes moved to the other's face before he swallowed hard. "Got anything to eat?" he asked meekly. And then, more pathetically, started to cry, paws balled up by his eyes. "I wanna go home," he whimpered. "I wanna go home."

[Rozumbrad]

"Come on," Rozumbrad said quietly. "Lets go home. There should be something to eat there."

Poor Chris. Maybe he could get his playmate back soon.

[Chris]

He rubbed more at his eyes before pulling to his feet, sniveling a tiny bit as he nudged the other with his nose. It really was difficult--when angry, his rage was unable to be contained often, but he was a good guy. One who, under different circumstances, might not have turned to tribe. One who just loved and wanted to be loved in return.

[Rozumbrad]

"So what have you been doing all of this time?" Rozumbrad asked, for way of conversation while they walked.