#djgrooves

Hat Kid is Chaotic Evil. Everyone knows it at this point. First she crashes ships, then she dares two of her friends to go through a notoriously evil manor with a bloodthirsty queen...

“You have got to be joking, darling!” DJ Grooves exclaimed as he stared down the frozen path to Queen Vanessa’s manor. He rubbed his flippers together, keeping them from getting cold.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Bow Kid asked, crossing her arms. “Don’t you remember what it was like when you went in there? It was scary, wasn’t it?”

Hat Kid shrugged her shoulders. “It’ll be fine. Sneak around. Take the picture.”

DJ Grooves and Bow Kid shared a look with each other. “Look, darling, I don’t know about you, but I think you’re a little off your rocker if you think that something like this would be fine. Take a picture of the attic? What a cruel dare!”

Bow Kid took a deep breath. “But... I can tell you that I’m a little curious. Let’s just... head inside and take a quick peek. If we feel like we’re in danger at all, then we’ll get right out of there.”

“Now you’re losing it!” Grooves exclaimed.

“In and out in 5 minutes!” Bow responded. “Even if we don’t have the pictures. We’ll be out in 5 minutes.”

He took a deep breath, then looked back to Hat Kid. “Fiiiiine. I’ll do it. But I still think you both are crazy. If I die, my blood is on your hands.” Grooves ventured out into the snow-laden path towards Vanessa’s manor, Bow Kid tagging along behind him.

Bow Kid was already starting to feel spooked by the whole environment, and the cold wasn’t helping her at all. It didn’t take long for them to reach Vanessa’s manor, though they had a bit of difficulty with some of the obstacles on the path.

DJ Grooves stood there frozen as he stared up at the looming manor in the distance. The fog obscured its true form and made it look even scarier. Bow Kid slowly walked forward and Grooves followed closely behind her.

It took a little while for them to reach the porch as they made their tiny steps through the snow. Bow was the first to gather the courage to step onto the porch and head up to the front door. She stared at the knob for a moment, then gently reached for it. It was freezing cold, and Bow hesitated, but then found the courage to twist it.

The door was unlocked!

Bow slowly moved the door open and peeked her head inside. She stared into the dark parlor of the mansion. The furniture was in shambles and the wallpaper was torn to shreds. It was creepy, but there were no sounds or any indication of there being anyone in the nearby vicinity.

Bow turned back to DJ Grooves, then said, “I think the coast is clear. We’re good to go in.” She turned her head back and was prepared to open the door, but then was greeted by a demonic shadow approaching them.

“My prince?” the shadow asked in a ghostly tone. “Have you returned for me?”

Bow Kid’s eyes widened and she immediately slammed the door. She turned around and went into an immediate sprint, shouting, “The coast isn’t clear! The coast is not clear. RUN!”

14. *it’s crowded and Person A falls into Person B’s lap*

DJ Grooves walked down the center aisle of the top floor of the train. It was his first time riding a train and he was actually a bit unnerved. With each bump, the moon penguin found himself clinging tightly to the backs of people’s seats in order to keep himself from toppling over.

After some time walking, Grooves finally found an available seat by the window. He grabbed his piece of luggage and struggled to place it in the compartment above. As soon as he felt it was secure, he let go and was about to sit down when the train suddenly jolted forward as it slowed down to stop at its next destination. Grooves let out a heavy grunt as he lost his balance and immediately fell over into someone’s seat.

Or more precisely, someone’s lap.

“W-wo!” the stranger exclaimed. “You ought to keep a good grip when the train slows down like that, lad. Unless ya want to hurt yerself.”

“I’m so very sorry,” Grooves said quickly as he made every effort to get himself up and onto his feet. “This is my first time on a train… I’m still getting the hang of things.” He stared at the owl in the seat, getting a good look at who he just fell on.

“I can tell! And what a shame, too. Trains are great! I’d ride them all-day if I had the chance.” The owl straightened himself out and turned to the empty seat next to him. “Why don’t ya sit on over here? We already seemed to have gotten acquainted. Or at least… you have.” He chuckled a bit to himself.

Grooves was immediately flustered, but then nodded his head. “R-right.” He tried to maneuver himself around the owl’s legs in order to get to his seat. He plopped himself down into his seat, then turned to his right. “My name’s Darrel James, but people call me DJ Grooves.”

“DJ Grooves, huh? Seems like a silly name to me. I’m Wesley, but everyone refers to me as The Conductor.”

Grooves chuckled. “You’re calling my name silly when you go by the Conductor?”

Conductor rolled his eyes. “Hmph, you don’t understand. There is no greater job than being a conductor of a train.”

Grooves smirked. “Please, tell me more about how much you love trains, darling. I find it fascinating.”

“I told ya I don’t want ta do this!” Conductor exclaimed. “Will ya stop pushing me?”

Hat Kid continued to push Conductor towards a nice high-end restaurant, going slow as she fought Conductor every step of the way. “It’ll be fun.”

“It’ll be a nightmare!” Conductor exclaimed. “I haven’t dated anyone in years. What if the person you set me up with is, well… stupid? Is that what you want?”

Hat Kid grumbled, stopping the owl director right in front of the door of the restaurant. “Try it.”

“But!”

“Try. It.” Hat Kid crossed her arms.

Conductor sighed. “I liked it better when you weren’t so pushy, lass. Fiiiiiine. I’ll give it a shot, but I’m warnin’ ya. The moment things go sour, I’m out of there and I’m never doing this again.”

Hat Kid smiled and nodded her head before slowly walking away, leaving Conductor to his date. “Table 7,” she said after a moment.

Conductor grimaced, adjusted his tie, then entered the restaurant. It was mostly ran by birds. The host was an owl while most of the servers were a mixture of owls, moon penguins, and crows. Conductor walked up to the counter. “I’m uh… here for a date. Supposed to be some kind of blind date or… something.”

“Oh, yes sir,” the owl said as he walked from behind the counter. “He checked in a few minutes ago. I’ll take you right to his table.”

“Alright…” Conductor followed the host through the restaurant. He examined all of the tables, particularly the few that only had one person sitting at them. He got close to some of those people, making his heart lurch forward with anxiety, but the host quickly turned away from them. When the Conductor finally stopped at a table, he hadn’t even paid attention to where he was going.

“Here’s your table, sir. Enjoy.”

Conductor turned his head and his feathers flared up when he saw who was sitting at the table. “D-darrel?! W-what are you doing here? This must be some sort of prank.”

DJ Grooves rolled his eyes as he stared at the Conductor. “Well, if you must know, I’m here waiting for a date. Why don’t you just… run along while I wait for the handsome gentleman?”

Conductor shook his head. “I don’t think you understand… I’m your date!”

Grooves’ eyes widened as he planted his flippers onto the table. “You’re my WHAT?! What were they thinking pairing us together?”

“I don’t know!” Conductor crossing his arms and looking to the side. “We’d… we could never make a date work between the two of us. Never! We’re rivals.”

Grooves sighed and stared at the table for a moment. He tapped his flipper a couple of times before looking up at Conductor again. “Well… sit down. Let’s just get this thing over with.”

Conductor looked down at DJ Grooves again, stunned. “S-sit down… wait, you want to go through with this?”

“Why not?” Grooves asked. “I’m hungry and the food was paid for in advance. Might as well make the most of it, huh? You can sit down or you can leave. It’s your choice, Wesley.”

Conductor took a deep breath as he considered his options. Why would he want to sit with his rival? He stood there silently for a moment, then sat down into the booth. “I guess I can get a quick meal and then go. But, uh… no small talk!”

“Of course not, but… we could at least make this a little less awkward and talk a little.”

“R-right.” But Conductor sat their silently. It wasn’t until then that he really feel the awkwardness of the situation.

Am I really that bad at dating? I can at least… say something. I know Darrel, I can say something.

This story is a sequel to this drabble. Check it out to get some context.

After having her little chat with Snatcher, she immediately boarded her ship and headed to Dead Bird Studio. When she arrived, it was a bit past noon and several different birds were coming out of the front doors and entering the many different fast food restaurants nearby. Lunchtime.

Hat Kid entered the studio and walked into the lobby. She immediately saw DJ Grooves as he walked off of his set. When DJ Grooves locked eyes with her, he said, “Well hello there, darling. What brings you back to the studio? Wanna shoot another movie? I have room for an extra.”

Hat Kid shook her head. “I’m looking for Conductor.”

“Wesley, huh?” he asked. “Well, he just left to get something to eat. What do you want to talk to him for, anyways?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “He called it... the birds and the bees.”

DJ Grooves was stunned, similar to how Snatcher was when Hat Kid had questioned him. “Birds... and the bees. Oh, darling, why would Wesley bring up something like that with you? That’s just disturbing.”

“What is it? Is it... bad?”

Grooves sighed. “It’s just... well, you’re young. It’s not something that you need to know about right now. Why would Wesley even bring it up?!”

“He said something to one of the actors,” she explained. “Something about a girl in his bedroom an-...”

“He what?!” Grooves exclaimed. He quickly turned around. “Oh, he’s gone and done it now.” The penguin sternly walked off, making angry comments like “There will be no locker room talk in my studio” and “There are children here!”

Hat Kid simply stood there quietly, watching as Grooves stormed out of the building.