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Farther down in the alley, where precious little daylight shone, was a white tom with two big black spots and a black tail, patiently washing himself until his pale fur nearly glowed in the dim lighting. He looked for all the world to not care at all about the two cats he heard approaching, but his ears were cocked, taking in all they said.

Captain, the girl had said. Mittorien had seen the guy, once or twice, from a distance. He'd never had a reason to mess with Captain, and he wasn't entirely certain he wanted to. But this girl, for all she seemed to know the alleys, stank of housecat to him. Whatever brought her back here must be something fairly interesting.

Around the corner they came at last, a grey and some strange pinkish colors that he couldn't quite name. The white tom paused in his washing to stretch, and then resumed once more.



Messilika was stalking pidgeons on the slanted rooftops above the alleyways - a little meat was always welcome in the diet. Even so, she wasn't very successful today, as the pidgeons in this area had learned that she was dangerous at long last. She'd have to tell Mittorien that it was time to move on.

Speaking of, the brown cat glanced down at the alleyway below in time to see her mate stretching lazily. Rather, that's what it looked like to anyone else. For her, it was a signal saying that he wanted her to keep an unobtrusive eye on him...and interfere if necessary.

Curious now, Messilika snuck further down, studying the two new arrivals.

Mittorien was stretching again, a long, luxurious stretch to be certain that his partner would notice, when the grey female made her exclamation. Red eyes opened slowly and focused on the pair, studying them quickly and choosing a plan of action before he spoke. It would be the grey one he had to convince, the one who knew where she was going, who'd spoken of Captain.

"Well, hello there," he greeted them calmly, sitting up and smoothing a last stray tuft of fur with his tongue. He thought about saying more, but decided against it. It was never good to be too forward when pumping unwitting cats for information.

Meanwhile, Messilika was descending from the rooftops as quietly as she could, slowly maneuvering into position. Mittorien would keep the two stationary and talking until then. If they were lucky and his tongue was silver today, she wouldn't have to do any more than that, and the pair would never know that they didn't outnumber the white tom.

"Good afternoon," Mittorien nodded politely to the stranger cats and waited for the grey one to speak. His eyes narrowed a tiny bit at her evasive words.

"Just passing through? This isn't one of the most popular alleys in London though," he pointed out with calm logic. Inwardly the white cat seethed. Seems this one had retained some sense when she moved into the house. She wouldn't make this easy.

Messilika's eyes also narrowed as she caught the beginning of the exchange. That silly grey housecat would ruin it all! Except...wasn't that why she was here, slinking around? The brown female reached the ground and moved to lurk behind a pair of crates with just enough space between that she could keep an eye on what was going on.

Mittorien silently acknowledged the hit. "True enough," he replied, subtly relaxing as he caught a green glint behind the strangers. He continued on, "But, looking for someone? What would bring someone like you back here?" The longer the conversation went on, the more he could see how the grey female had lived as an alleycat for a fair chunk of time...and not overly long ago at that. He'd have to tread carefully here.

This was the hardest part for Messilika. Waiting silently, not betraying her presence in any way until she was needed...or not at all if not. She would keep watch silently and invisibly (to the strangers) until then.

Mittorien had had long practice in not smirking at the ineptness of born-and-bred housecats, but Nameie's words shocked him and he couldn't keep the surprise from face or voice. "Missing cats? I haven't heard anything..." he mused in a concerned undertone. Then the tom looked up sharply, eyeing the grey cat. "Are you certain they haven't just run away to the alleys?" His tone promised trouble for whoever would try to pin the blame of missing housecats on him.

Still...maybe it wasn't all housecats. Not if they were going to see Captain. So...Jellicles. The white cat mentally spat the word. Missing Jellicles. There was an opportunity in this. Come to think of it, hadn't he noticed a cat or two that hadn't been seen in a while? Perhaps they were connected...hmmm. Clearly this would require a great deal of thought and some planning, but later. Right now, he had to get as much information from these two as he could.

Messilika froze in her hiding spot. Missing cats? And two housecats seeking help of some kind in the alleys? It had to be those damned Jellicles. Green eyes narrowed as she began plotting ways to use this to her advantage for her revenge on the whole Jellicle tribe. Maybe, just maybe, her and Mittorien's day had finally come, and these two unwitting message bearers were calling them forth!

The brown cat suppressed the wild surge of glee in order to remain hidden. There was more to be gleaned from this meeting, and it was still possible for things to go wrong.

Red eyes flashed angrily in Anackroan's direction for a split second before Mittorien managed to regain control of his temper. "Clearly not," he replied acidly to the female instead of lashing out with his claws at the male.

When she asked him outright, the white tom eyed her suspiciously. She probably suspected him, he decided, and it would be prudent to be completely honest. "There's maybe one or two that I haven't seen as recently as I should have," he admitted. "I don't know if they're related to your missing cats though."

Messilika didn't like where this was going. The male was openly suspicious and was clearly just a housecat. He might do something stupidly noble and attack Mittorien at this rate. She began moving, silently and carefully, closer to the trio.

"You're welcome," Mittorien said pleasantly enough. His sharp teeth showed and eyes narrowed as his tone changed. "However, I'd like to hear more about these missing cats of yours, if you don't mind."

As her mate's demeanor changed, Messilika stepped out of the shadows to stand squarely between the housecats and retreat back the way they'd come, just as Mittorien stood preventing their advance.