Home (Tumble's fam, Pounce, etc)

[jennyanydots]

((5 Years Ago. Tumblebrutus is 11, Pouncival is 12, Victor is 15, Jenny is NOT telling her age , and Skimbleshanks is 32.))

"You always disappear even when you're here. This is not a home, I think I'm better off alone." - 3 Days Grace

Jennyanydots kissed Skimbleshanks tenderly as they lay together, still a bit sweaty from their last round of lovemaking. She didn't want to if the kids were home, but couldn't help it. At least there was the wooden slab for a door they closed after Jenny grabbed Skimble by the waistcoat, and dragged him in there.

Skimbleshanks had been gone longer than normal. But he was back. That's all that mattered.

"And to think, you voluntarily leave this behind," she said, making a gesture to her body. She nuzzled against him. "And here I thought you forgot about Tumble's birthday." Oh, she'd be a bitch about it alright. Bring it up if she needed to. Not even being present for their births. He seemed even more absent since her second son was born. Maybe he just gave up after trying so hard with Victor. She didn't know.

[isthatasock]

"I can't let my responsibilities on the rail slide," Skimble said kindly. "At least I know someone here can keep things in order without me," he added, looking at Jenny. "I can't rely on that on the train."

[jennyanydots]

"They can function without you for more than just a few days at a time," she countered. "Each year, you're gone more and more. Barely recognize your face. Victor's been uncontrollable. I have no clue what's gotten into him. He needs a father figure."

Maybe it was a bit harsher than before.

[isthatasock]

Skimble sighed. "You said you didn't want to do this Jenny," he said. "We agreed that changing things would not help. We're not mates, I don't like here all the time. You told me you could raise the boys yourself."

[jennyanydots]

"What kind of father doesn't want to be here with their own children?!" Her voice raised despite the smallish den, and she sat upright, not covering herself. "Anything I said wouldn't have made a difference. You were always on the run. Always. And I thought you were going to stop that! Not mates, not fucking mates, who are you fucking? Who the hell are you fucking?!"

[isthatasock]

"You proposed this as stress relief after we agreed that we shouldn't be mates just because Victor was born," Skimble retorted bluntly, not moving. "You are the one who wanted this whole situation. If it wasn't for the boys I might not come back at all, with you like this. And I might as who you're fucking. I've heard you gossip with Jelly. I'm away a long time. 'Biggest there is'? Who are you comparing to while I'm not here?"

He never raised his voice. He just spoke calmly, but bitingly.

[jennyanydots]

"Why the hell would you care?! You never cared about me! You just cared about my tits!" She glared at him, voice raising. "And you could fool anyone about coming back for both of the boys! When have you ever spent just a day with Tumble?! You spend days with Victor. It'd be more acceptable if you acknowledged both!"

Her temper flared. "Why would you care about what happens when you're not here? Huh?"

[Tumblebrutus]

Tumblebrutus sat with his back to the wall outside of his parents' room. Or maybe he should just consider it his mother's from what he heard. Even if they were quieter, it was small. He could hear anything. Everything from them having sex, to them fighting. There were a few times they didn't fight. Those were nice times.

Why'd they have to fight on his birthday anyway?

He hugged his knees to his chest, just listening. He didn't know how long he could stay. During the day, when he could, he'd been going to a deeper part of the Junkyard. It was almost finished, almost ready, the perfect home. Really, it was more like a small fort of junk, different bits of scrap metal, wood, and tires holding the place up, but it was quiet there. And it was small enough to hold two at most. It was better for one. A home for one, so it wouldn't seem so lonely. And maybe a little bigger. Maybe sometime Victor would go with him.

He looked to the mouth of the den, wanting to leave desperately, but he felt rooted.

[isthatasock]

"Because you ignore Victor," Skimble said. "Ever since Tumble was born, you shunned Victor."

[jennyanydots]

"And that's your excuse?! I've not shunned him, but I'm not going to condone him running off with toms. Or queens at this age. You shouldn't be supporting it either! You let him do what he wants with no discipline. I swear to the Everlasting Cat, if Tumble ever goes to the comfort of a tom, you're the one to blame!"

[Tumblebrutus]

Tumblebrutus couldn't take it. He tried, but it just seemed too much.

He got to his feel and ran outside, shoelaces loose, bottom of his jeans fraying from being too long and dragging on the ground. His tshirt didn't quite fit right either, in an awkward stage of growth, but he didn't notice.

He kept running until he got to the part of the Junkyard with the small fort and stopped outside to admire his work. He could be alone. It'd be quiet. No fighting. He walked around the fort before deciding that one wall needed to be reinforced. He looked around the nearby area for any sort of scraps. Or maybe there'd be a pillow.

Birthday or not, he wasn't going back home that night. No. This would be his new home.

[Pouncival]

Pouncival climbed up from behind the fort, onto the top. He wriggled around. Pretty wobbly. The Tumble guy didn't make it very strong. One storm, and down it would come.

[Tumblebrutus]

Tumblebrutus didn't notice that he had company as he dug out a plastic toy kitchenette. It was the right size to work as a wall! It'd be huge. He gripped it and tried to drag it over, but it was too heavy. After tugging a few times and it barely budging, he gave it a kick, then turned around, eyes widening.

"Hey! Hey, GET OFF THAT!"

[Pouncival]

"You need a stronger roof!" Pouncival called. "This is crappy."

[Tumblebrutus]

"GET OFF OF IT!" he yelled, running to the side of his supposed home, then back and forth as he looked up. He didn't know how to get the other down. "Get down, get down!"

[Pouncival]

Pouncival sat down heavily on the roof. Through the roof. "My butt hurts," he said from inside.

[Tumblebrutus]

Immediately, Tumblebrutus scrambled inside, then looked up at the roof, and the hole. "You--you fat jerk!" he spluttered moments before the rest of the roof dispatched. It fell apart, landing softly. Without a support, the walls fell outward until everything was level to the ground.

Tumblebrutus gasped, then walked forward, to the side, and back, turning in each direction. The hours of hard labor gone to waste.

He started to cry.

[Pouncival]

"Wow," Pounce said. "That was pretty cool. What? Why you crying? I mean, it wasn't very good to start with. You could just do it again."

[Tumblebrutus]

Tumblebrutus couldn't answer as he rubbed his eyes and cried harder. His home. His new home. He had no home. There was no home.

He ran from Pouncival to the toy kitchenette and sat on the ground with his back to it, around the other side, face burying into his knees.

[Pouncival]

Pouncival got up and followed the other kit. "Just a fort," he said.

[Tumblebrutus]

"That was going to be my home," Tumblebrutus got out, pulling his arms up to try and hide as much of his body as possible as he weeped.

[Pouncival]

"Why would you want to live there? It sucked."

[Tumblebrutus]

"SHUT UP!" Tumblebrutus got to his feet then and shoved Pouncival. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP! It was perfect! It was small and quiet and it was going to be just me and it was perfect! Shut UP!"

[Pouncival]

Pouncival blinked. "Huh? What fun is a fort if nobody else is there?"

[Tumblebrutus]

"If no one's there, no one's fighting." He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes a few times. "And then I'm not alone. When your family's there but you're always alone, it's lonelier." He looked back to the area where the fort was. "If it was just me, it'd be quiet and it'd be okay to be lonely because I'd have a reason."

Despite his young age, his thought process was fairly profound.

[Pouncival]

Pouncival blinked again. "What?" he asked. "It's a pile of garbage. Not a good one. I could have done it way better."

[Tumblebrutus]

"I don't care what you could have done! It was mine! I did it for me, and you ruined it!"

[Pouncival]

"Fine. I won't show you how to make a better one if you're going to be like that," Pouncival huffed.

[Tumblebrutus]

He rubbed at his eyes, then lowered his hands. His eyes were rimmed red, still glossy. "Why would you show me how to make one?"

[Pouncival]

Pouncival shrugged. "Cause you clearly need help," he suggested. "And it would be fun to have one to climb on without getting a sore butt."