Excerpt from:
The Winter Formal, or The Fall of the Roman Empire, Part III: Ludi Scǽnici
(An audible odyssey from the minds of VerbMyNoun, Neosate, Cormenthor, and LillyOpossum)
All parts in this excerpt written by VerbMyNoun
January 17, 2014
The Chimera Prep Gymnasium
“Dōmo arigatō, Llyulf-senpai,” Midori Powell beamed with excitement as the taller Wolf held out his paw to assist her out of the limousine. As she stood, she gave his right bicep an appreciative squeeze and purred, “I hope the rest of your body matches your arms. You might need those muscles later tonight.” He then repeated the gesture twice more for his date’s friends, Elena and Ross, though both ignored him.
The ride over had been sort of awkward, starting when the younger green-hued feline began pawing all over him as soon as the limo door had shut behind them. He’d been warned by Megan and Roderick that she was known for being promiscuous, but decided not to judge her by others’ opinions. She hadn’t struck him as being that type of girl, and just twenty minutes earlier he was meeting her father, a flight instructor for the U.S. Navy. Leo wasn’t really the type to intimidate easily, but he had to admit that Major Powell’s steel-hard gaze made him a little uncomfortable, probably because he worried that he would corrupt his darling angel.
If he only knew.
Then there was the matter of their companions, neither of which he knew well enough to strike up a conversation with, though he had tried, and failed. Twice. Elena seemed a bit out of sorts; apparently her love interest was in North Carolina and unable to accompany her, leaving her to feel like a fifth wheel. When he tried to get her to open up more, he was met with “It’s complicated,” and stone silence, which effectively shut him down. And Ross… Ross is Megan’s ex, and Megan had recently become a good friend of his. Another case of her date living out of state - attending college in Tennessee, she said - so he had flown in and didn’t have a car. He was going to get a ride from his sister and her boyfriend and meet them there. In the meantime, she settled for staring icy daggers in his direction the entire time.
He was starting to think this was going to be a long night.
“Meet you two back here at the car at ten o’clock,” the older Tundra Lioness said, completely disregarding him as she spoke to the other girls. “Elena, call my cell if you need me for anything. Midori… Gyōgi yoku shi nasai.” Then, finally looking in Leo’s direction again, she spoke her first and only words to him that night. “You too.”
“Hai, Ross-san,” the foreign girl bowed, though she couldn’t hide the mischievous smirk painted across her lips.
As Ross walked off ahead of them, he asked his date, “Sorry, my Japanese is a bit… non-existent. What did she just say?”
The younger feline just shrugged off the question. “She’s just being bossy.”
Leo could tell that she was dodging the question, but he didn’t want to pressure her. Instead, he held both elbows out to his sides to the other two girls and said, “My ladies. Shall we?”
“What a gentleman,” Midori giggled, linking arms with him.
“Nah,” Elena managed to mutter with a weak wave of her paw. I’m not ready to go inside just yet. You two go on ahead. I’ll just sit out here for a little bit and listen to the music.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked as his date tugged him towards the entrance.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” the Cheetah hybrid said with a soft smile. “I just want to talk to my girlfriend for a little bit before she goes to bed. Now you guys go have some fun”
Midori let go of his paw for a second to give her best friend a hug “Elena-chan no sewa,” she said before grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the building. He could hear the sounds of Megan’s band pouring from the entrance to the school gym as the doors opened and closed. From what he could make out, they were performing a Kings of Leon song, and performing it admirably well considering the brief period of time the Bat had been playing bass. As they stepped inside, the Wolf boy saw an ocean of white, silver, and light blue accents punctuating the dim light of the room.
“Midori!” Turning his head, Llyulf saw a group of other younger girls shouting and waving excitedly at them.
“Come on!” she urged him, tugging him off towards the screeching. “I want to show you off to my friends.”
It was going to be a long night, indeed. At least the music was good.
Llyulf slowly picked his way through the crowd holding a cup of punch in each paw. The slow song that had just played seemed like the perfect opportunity to grab refreshments for himself and his date, especially since she seemed more keen on socializing than dancing. In fact, the extent of their conversation since arriving had been Midori telling him to say hello to one or another of her friends. As he attempted to sidestep a few of his schoolmates, one of them suddenly stepped backwards into him, causing him to spill the red liquid all over the front of his suit and staining his white dress shirt.
“Oh my God!” the girl exclaimed. “I’m so, so sorry!” She removed her shawl and knelt down to try and clean up the mess. “Aiden, could you please run and grab some paper towels?”
“Right,” the Stoat boy said as he rushed to get something to help.
“It’s okay,” Leo said. “You don’t need to ruin your wrap; it looks expensive.”
“Nonsense,” she answered as she awkwardly dabbed at the front of his outfit. “It was our fault. Besides, it didn’t cost me much to make, and I can make another one just as easily.”
Her date returned just then with a fistful of napkins, then seeing the girl on her knees in front of the older Wolf attempting to soak up the punch before it stained his suit, coughed to get their attention.
“Oh?” the girl said, looking up at the Stoat boy and the shocked look on his face. “Oh!” she exclaimed, leaping up to her footpaws. “Sorry, I bet that looked all kinds of inappropriate.”
“Here ya go, bud,” the Stoat said as he gave the napkins to Leo.
Suitably cleaned up and with two fresh cups of punch in paw, Llyulf returned to where he left Midori and her friends. As he approached, Elena quirked an eyebrow and asked, “What happened to you?”
“A girl bumped into me and made me spill our drinks,” the Wolf boy explained. “So I had to try and clean myself up and go back for more.” He glanced around, looking for his date. “Where’s Midori?”
The Cheetah hybrid gave him a sympathetic frown. “Leo, I’m sorry…”
He spotted the green-furred feline several yards away with another male, talking excitedly. Judging from the way she was clinging to the Badger, they were more than just friendly acquaintances.
“I wanted to warn you,” Elena said softly. “This is typical Midori behavior, but I really hoped that it would be different this time. The way she spoke about you, I really thought she liked you, but for some reason she keeps going back to that jerk.”
“I see,” he said with something of a growl. “Well, when she comes back, this is for her.” He set the two cups down on the table. “You can have the other one, if you like.”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to call a cab. Thanks for the lift.” He walked to the coat closet and grabbed his leather jacket, shrugging it over his shoulders as he headed for the exit. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to look up a taxi company.
Outside, Leo zipped his jacket and sighed, waiting for his ride. It had started snowing while he was inside and his breath hung thick in the crisp winter air. He wasn’t the only one out in the cold, though; a cute Chipmunk girl was sitting on the stairwell, huddled up and shivering. She wasn’t wearing a coat. With a resigned sigh, he removed his own and approached the girl.
“You shouldn’t be out here like that,” he said, “You’ll catch your death from the cold.”
“I’d rather freeze out here waiting to get picked up than ask my date to get my jacket out of his car,” she groused. The way she said ‘date’ practically seethed with contempt.
“Here,” Llyulf said, draping the warm leather garment over her shoulders like a cape. “Take mine. At least I have a winter layer of fur.”
“And they say chivalry is dead,” the girl said with a forced smile. “Thank you. So what brings a nice guy like you out into this mess?”
“My date ditched me for her ex. You?”
“Let me guess: feline, green fur, kind of slutty?” the Chipmunk girl asked.
“I try not to judge, but you have the green fur and feline parts right. How’d you know?”
“My date was the ex. I’m Holly.”
“Llyulf, but my friends call me Leo,” he replied as he took a seat next to her. He reached out his paw and added. “It’s nice to meet you, Holly.”
She took his paw and he gave hers a friendly shake. “You too, Leo.”
“I haven’t seen you around here before,” he observed. “Where do you go to school?”
“I’m in one of those online schools,” Holly answered as they stared out into the clear night sky together. “At least until I graduate this spring.”
“Oh yeah? Then what?” he asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” Holly replied. “As cliché as it sounds, I want to travel across Europe before starting college.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Leo frowned.
“Buuuut my dad is freaking out over the idea,” she continued. “He thinks that if I go, I won’t want to come back, or something bad will happen to me.”
“I’m sure he’s just being a typical father,” the Wolf replied. “It’s his job to worry about you - even when everything’s fine.”
“I guess,” she huffed. “It’s just frustrating, because I want to be able to experience the arts and cultures while I can. After college, I’ll have my career, maybe a family. The older I get, the smaller the window will be.”
“Your reasons sound pretty solid to me,” he answered. “So, you’re into the arts, huh? Anything in particular?”
“All of them, really,” Holly said, apparently thankful for the subtle shift in their conversation. “The ballet, the opera, the museums… I mean, don’t get me wrong, we have all of those things here in the States, but I think experiencing them in their native cultures would just take it to the next level.” Her blue eyes sparkled as she spoke, complimenting her dress wonderfully.
“It sounds like it would be incredible,” Leo commented. “And expensive. Are you sure you’ll be able to do all those things without your dad backing your decision to go?”
“I won’t need him to,” the Chipmunk girl shrugged. “I’ve been working part-time ever since I turned sixteen, saving up for this trip. Thirty hours per week, every week. I want him to see how responsible I can be by not needing him to pay for any of it.”
“That’s admirable,” he nodded, then asked, “So, do you mind me asking where you work?”
“I’m a hostess at a family Italian restaurant,” Holly explained. “One of my mom’s closest friends owns it, so they do a pretty good job of giving me as many hours as I can manage. Plus, if it starts to hurt my grades, they promised Mom they’d cut back my hours.” She smiled proudly and added, “I’ve only gotten one ‘B’ in the past two years, the rest ‘A’s.’”
“Beauty and brains,” he grinned. “So, I take it that’s how you met…”
“Prince Asshat? Yeah,” she scoffed. “The guy practically stalked me, coming in at least once a week, constantly asking me out. It’s not that I wasn’t interested, I was just preoccupied with school, work, and - once in a while - helping out my parents with their butcher shop. I think I caught him by surprise when I agreed to be his date to this dance, but I figured he must genuinely like me if he wouldn’t give up. Besides, I’d like to enjoy at least one high school dance before I graduate.” She sighed. “So much for that idea.”
A pair of headlights crested the hill. “That’s my dad,” she remarked as she stood up and gave his jacket back to him. “It was very nice to meet you, Leo.”
“You too, Holly,” the Wolf replied as he slid his arms into the sleeves. “Can I see you again?”
“Maybe,” she answered with a coy smile as she opened the door to enter the vehicle.
“Maybe?”
“I like you, Leo; you seem like a great guy,” Holly explained.
“Here comes another ‘but,’” he half-joked, despite the contemptuous glare being cast his way by her father.
“But the last guy I let in turned out to be a scumbag,” she continued. “So you’re going to have to earn it. I’ve told you enough that you shouldn’t have any problem finding me, if you were paying attention. I hope you were; I don’t usually open up so much to people I just met.”
“Fair enough,” Llyulf replied. “I’ll see you sometime soon, then. Good night.”
“Good night, Leo,” she said, and then teased him by adding, “Just remember: nothing - and no one - worth doing is easy.” With that, she pulled her door shut and her father drove off, leaving the young male standing in the snow with a boyish grin on his muzzle.
