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“I’ll kill you! You infuriating mouse!” Tom lunged at Jerry. His claws extended as if to dig into the mouse’s skin.
“You’d have to actually catch me for that, you idiot cat!” Jerry dodged Tom, jumping to the side. Jerry landed on his feet, as fleet footed and spry as ever.
“ArgHH! Tom growled, landing face first on the ground.
Jerry snickered merrily. Rubbing salt in the wound; Jerry blew a raspberry. Tom snarled; anger rising to his face. Of course, Jerry knew exactly how to push Tom’s buttons.
Tom made a noise of complete madness. He yowled, launching himself at Jerry once again. This time, Tom had enough of a force behind his actions that he was faster than Jerry’s reactions. Tom felt euphoria overtake him as his hands wrapped around Jerry’s shoulders. His sharp nails dug into Jerry’s shoulder blades; keeping Jerry pinned in Tom’s grasp.
Jerry instantly recoiled away from Tom. Jerry’s heart beat in double time as he jerked backwards and leveraged his body to be able to kick upwards. Jerry felt an immense sense of satisfaction as the blow landed, knocking Tom’s head backwards. Due to the momentum from the attack, Tom dragged Jerry with him, both of them landing on the floor with a crash.
The moment that they recovered from the shock, Jerry bared his teeth at Tom. Anger boiled in the pit of Jerry’s stomach as he began kicking at the cat. It felt as if his life depended on it. Tom retaliated, landing a particularly harsh punch to Jerry’s eye.
Jerry’s head snapped back, momentarily shocking him out of his fury. Dang it, this stupid cat could throw a wicked punch! Jerry forced his head forward, headbutting Tom right smack dab in his face.
Tom’s eyes widened with pain, and the cat hissed as he reeled backwards. Damn, this infuriating mouse had a hard head!
Jerry’s head began to spin, but he still lunged at Tom with the same reckless abandon as usual. Tom seemed to have the same steadfast, stubborn resolve to finish the fight. Claws extended; Tom slashed at Jerry’s oncoming punches. Pain bloomed in Jerry’s arms, the placement matching the bite marks that Jerry bestowed on Tom’s arm. Seems that mouse teeth were good for something after all.
Fury abounded through each of them. Tom bit down on Jerry’s shoulder until an audible crunch was heard. As soon as Jerry finished recoiling from the pain, he elbowed Tom’s ribcage with all the strength he could muster; the move oddly reminiscent of a piledriver. His blow landed with such force that Tom momentarily wondered if it was possible to puncture a lung with a rib.
Tom responded with a kick to Jerry’s side, just as Jerry landed a punch to Tom’s nose. The bright red flow of blood gushed from Tom’s nose as Jerry clutched at his side. With their adrenaline starting to fade, the pain of their injuries kicked in.
Jerry’s smile became a grimace as he gingerly touched his bloody arms. Tom winced as his arm brushed against his chest. Neither had stopped moving for a second, still wearily circling each other as they began to feel the weight of their own injuries.
Tom still felt a snarl on his face as he turned his attention to Jerry’s wounds. Jerry narrowed his eyes at Tom, performing his own inspection of the cat’s injuries. Simultaneously, both began to smirk, pride shining in their eyes.
“What’s wrong, pussycat?” Jerry teased, a wide smile on his face, “Too beat up to continue the fight?”
“I’ll show you who's too beat up, pipsqueak.” Tom spat back, the corners of his mouth rising with every word, “You’ll beg for mercy when I’m done with you.”
“Mercy, huh?” Jerry repeated, “Sounds kinky.”
Tom dropped his mouth open. The seriousness of the moment was instantly broken. Tom spluttered, “Not like— Not like that you heathen!”
Jerry could barely contain his laughter. He cracked up, slapping his leg as he laughed; immediately regretting it as soon as he did. The pain sobered Jerry up as he wiped tears away from his eyes. “Sorry, sorry, I know you’re not into that.”
“I should hope so!” Tom replied indignantly, “You’re not into that either!”
Jerry shrugged goodnaturedly. “Yeah, but the jokes are funny.”
Tom pursed his lips, tapping his finger on his mouth. “Well… yeah, sometimes.”
Jerry made a motion with his hands, conveying his attitude of, “ See? I’m right. ”
“But not all the time!” Tom argued, waving his hands about as he spoke, “And not when we’re attacking each other!”
“Eh, the timing was perfect,” Jerry waved it off, “Plus, we were mostly done fighting anyways.”
“Unless,” Jerry smirked, making intense eye contact with Tom, “You were planning on pouncing with a broken rib?”
“Like you’re any better off,” Tom countered in spite of the embarrassment rising to his face, “Mr. I’m-Bleeding-Out-to-Death.”
Jerry winced at the reminder, darting a quick look down at his arms and legs. He shrugged it off. Jerry clicked his tongue dismissively, “I’ll live.”
“For how long?” Tom countered with a taunting tilt of his head.
“Long enough to dance on your grave, cat.” Jerry glared, putting his hands on his hips.
“Oh really?” Tom mirrored his pose, “You and what health?”
Jerry took a step forward, “That doesn’t even make sense.”
Tom took a step forward, “It doesn’t have to. You know what I mean.”
“Just because I know what you mean doesn’t mean I care to.” Jerry jutted his hip and took another step forward.
“I didn’t say you cared . ” Tom raised an eyebrow as he took another step forward.
“Well, I—”
By the time Jerry made it halfway through his sentence, both Tom and Jerry were suddenly acutely aware of how close they were to each other.
Jerry looked up to meet Tom’s eyes, just as Tom looked down to meet Jerry’s stare. The duo’s sharp movements collided, Tom’s chin meeting the top of Jerry’s head.
“Ouch!”
“Owwww!”
Bright red with embarrassment, Jerry finally met Tom’s gaze.
“Agree not to bring this up again?” Tom proposed, rubbing his chin.
“Agreed.” Jerry nodded, bringing his hands away from his head. The downside of knowing someone for so long; you tended to think a lot alike. “You have a hard head.”
“You’re one to talk.” Tom rolled his eyes, pointing to his forehead.
“Hey now, that was a perfectly fair move to make.” Jerry held up the palms of his hands unrepentantly.
Tom put a chastising hand on his hip. “And a stupid one, you probably caused yourself just as much pain and you did to me.”
“Worth it.” Jerry shrugged before he offered his hand to Tom.
Tom rolled his eyes. He took the hand he was offered. “You’re such a stupid little mouse.”
“I think you mean ‘mouse that’s smarter than you’.” Jerry challenged, weaving his fingers in between Tom’s. The two began to walk down the hall.
“I think you mean ‘mouse that’s going to be lunch’.” Tom said as he side-eyed Jerry as if he were sizing him up.
“I think you mean, ‘mouse that was planning on paying for lunch’,” Jerry said, unrepentantly meeting Tom’s gaze; a sly gleam in his eyes.
“You mean ‘mouse that stole my wallet’,” Tom said flatly as they walked towards the door.
“Oh, I definitely mean ‘mouse that stole your wallet’,” Jerry smiled widely.
“I knew it.” Tom glared with as much anger as he could manage. “You infuriating mouse.”
Tom shook his head back and forth, clicking his tongue dismissively, “I’ll get you one of these days.”
Jerry’s expression couldn’t get any more pleased if he tried. Jerry tightened his grip on Tom’s hand, careful to avoid all of their various injuries.“No, you won’t.”
Tom smiled softly at the sparkle in Jerry’s eye. “No, ” He agreed. “No, I won’t.”