#kallmekitty

Meeting a stranger at an arcade wasn’t the weirdest way that Kitty had met with someone, and, like most things that she did, she was looking forward to it. This was what she did: she met people however she could, had fun however she could, and, when the time came, she’d head on out and move wherever the wind would carry her. Though… she liked it in White Crest. She had roommates, she had people that knew what she was, she had stability that she hadn’t really been able to find since she started moving, running. It was nice. It was almost worth setting down roots. But Kitty felt like settling would give her family the chance to want to come visit, to want to get to know her life, and she… couldn’t risk them seeing her shame at what she did to parker.

But Kitty was good at shoving that down and putting on a real nice smile as she stood in front of the arcade, hands tucked into her back pockets as she waited for Cass to arrive. She greeted a couple of folks, eventually pulled out a cigarette and took a drag while she waited, knowing better than to even attempt to smoke indoors. She got halfway through before she decided to just go ahead and snuff it out.

It was nice, Cass thought, to have something normal to do. Ever since she’d first met Metzli and learned about White Crest’s supernatural underworld, her life had been a whirlwind of activity that she’d never imagined possible before. She was fighting vampires, she was being confronted by werewolves, she was hiding from hunters, she was being told she was never human to begin with. It was overwhelming, to say the least, and the idea of going to the arcade with someone she’d been chatting with online seemed so utterly ordinary that the relief of it hit her like a cool ocean wave on a sweltering day.

She was embarrassingly excited for the whole thing, really. Kitty was a blast to talk to, and the arcade was always a fun place to hang out. She wouldn’t jinx things by thinking that nothing could possibly go wrong… but she was confident that she’d have a good time. Approaching the arcade, she caught sight of a redhead about her age standing in front of the building, snuffing out a cigarette. Making an educated guess, she grinned. “Kitty?” She greeted with a wave. “Nice to meet you in person. I’m Cass. How are your pinball skills?”

At the sound of her name, Kitty looked up to the young woman calling her name and smiled brightly. “Howdy,” she said, looking at Cass as the other girl walked over to her. Fun, this was going to be fun. If there was one thing that Kitty knew how to do, it was have fun. And arcades were so normal and nonthreatening. More normal than working at a diner with hallucinogenic honey, more normal than a werewolf and spellcaster roommate, more normal than roots that quite literally sucked the life out of folks. And, really, Kitty didn’t know a damn thing about super normal lifestyles, but she liked pretending, and she was good at it. “I suppose my pinball skills are alright. I’m a whiz at air hockey, though, and my skee ball? You ain’t seen nothing like it.” She held the door open for Cass, a real gentlewoman at heart. “After you.”

Cass had never heard anyone say howdy in real life before, and the word made her flash a grin. Kitty seemed just as cool in person as she did online — a definite score in her favor of probably not being a serial killer. Her smile only widened as Kitty held the door open for her, and she ducked into the arcade with a nod of thanks. “So what I’m hearing is, we’re totally gonna dominate this arcade. I’ve gotta warn you, I kind of spend a lot of time playing games, so if you want me to take it easy on you…” She trailed off, brows raising in challenge. She figured she knew enough about Kitty to know that a little friendly competition would excite her as much as it did Cass.

“You’re hearing correctly, darlin’,” Kitty said easily, following Cass into the arcade. The lights and sounds and smells were a total sensory overload, but Kitty was getting used to it. She liked to go out, she liked to dance, she liked to have a good time, and that meant that she liked to be around places that were a little overwhelming, sometimes. Kitty laughed at the thought of Cass taking it easy on her. “Don’t worry, I think I can keep up. I’ve got a killer set of reflexes.” Great instincts, too. Animal-like, one might even say, but she wouldn’t voice that out loud. “Though, if you wanna go easy, you’re welcome to. I ain’t too prideful. I’ll kick your ass either way, but at least then you can have an excuse,” Kitty said, grinning wickedly at the other girl.

The accent was cute. The southern twang made Cass wish that she’d grown up somewhere that left her with anything other than her generic American variety, the one that was flat and boring compared to Kitty’s softer tones. She didn’t think she’d be able to pull off an accent like Kitty’s, though, so maybe it was for the best. It was like the uniform Kitty had mentioned at her job — something Cass was probably best avoiding. “Oh, now I’m definitely going to beat you,” she laughed, eyes sparkling as they stepped into the arcade. She’d always liked places like this, where you could lose yourself in the lights and the sound. When she was alone, it made for a great cover for picking pockets, or scamming people at the games by convincing them to place bets. She doubted there’d be any of that today, though. She didn’t want there to be. She just… wanted things to be kind of normal, whatever normal meant.

But, of course, this was White Crest. And in White Crest, apparently ‘normal’ meant a hulking mass the size of a grizzly bear was leaning against the rails of the Dance Dance Revolution game, impatiently waiting its turn.

“Oh,” Cass said, stopping in her tracks and tilting her head. “That’s… Okay.”

“I mean, you can certainly try,” Kitty said, smirking back at the smaller girl. She was always down for a challenge. And if she used a few inhuman reflexes to tilt the scales in her favor, then she was just a gal using all of her assets. It wasn’t cheating that way, she thought. She scanned the crowd, looking for the skeeball tables, when she saw what Cass was looking at. Kitty blinked. “What in Hahira is that?” she murmured, though she wasn’t expecting any sort of actual answer from the other girl. “Is that a fuckin’ bear?” She had heard, years ago, of a type of shifter that was also a bear, but she didn’t think one of them would just roam around town. And it wasn’t quite a bear. There was something distinctly un-bearlike about it. It’s arms(?) were crossed, fingers(?) tapping impatiently. No one seemed too upset, like this was a normal occurrence. Maybe it wasn’t dangerous? It was fucking huge, though, and Kitty was confused. “Do we just– I mean, we’re gonna dance, dance against that thing, right?” Maybe that was stupid, but Kitty wanted to get closer, just to figure out what it was. It didn’t smell dangerous, but, then again, she didn’t know what danger smelled like other than, spilled whiskey, cigarette smoke, and the muskiness that now clung to her own skin. Maybe this was a different kind of danger. Maybe she was more than a little eager to find out.

Kitty seemed to catch sight of the creature a beat after Cass did. She seemed just as confused, which was both a relief and a concern. Cass liked not being the only one who wasn’t well-versed in White Crest weirdness… but it might have been nice to have someone who could offer an explanation as to what she was looking at here. She squinted at it, tilting her head. “I think it’s… Bear adjacent?” It was about the size of a bear, at least, but the similarities seemed to end there. The arms were all wrong, and the stance was something that was almost human-like. Turning back to Kitty, Cass raised a brow. “Are you seriously asking that?” She sounded perplexed. “Of course we’re going to dance against that thing. There’s no way we can’t. Look at it. That’s bucket list material.” Grabbing Kitty’s arm, she pulled the other girl towards the creature with a determined glint in her eye. “In fact… We’re going to challenge it. To a dance-off.”

“Maybe it’s one a’ those off-brand bears,” Kitty said. “The weird ones that look like people walking around in bear suits.” But Cass was right. It was kind of not really a bear. It looked too weird to be a bear. It was kind of cute, in a really ugly kind of way, like one of those hairless cats or a dog with a smushed in face. It even had little horns. Laughing, Kitty allowed Cass to pull her towards the game and the creature, leaned down at an awkward angle. Cass’s legs might have been shorter than Kitty’s, but she made up for it in speed, apparently. “Hold your horses. Now, I’m down to clown with a dance-off. Always. I don’t even need to be drunk; this is kinda my shit. But I think you’re forgetting something very important.” She looked over to where the other arcade patrons were putting those little faux-gold coins into the slot of the game machine. “We gotta fork over a bit of cash, tragically.”

“There are bears like that?” Cass blinked, furrowing her brows for a moment. Hesitantly, she asked, “Are there… bears like that in places other than White Crest?” It was the only way she knew how to ask if this was a supernatural thing without actually asking, even if supernatural things were hardly White Crest specific. Whatever this thing was, bear probably wasn’t close. Cass was kind of excited to get a closer look. Glancing back when Kitty spoke, she raised a brow. “What?” And then, the inevitable truth — arcades weren’t free. “Oh. Right. I totally remembered that.” Okay, so she’d been distracted by the Not-Bear-Thing. Who could blame her? A little sheepish, she changed direction towards the ATM-like machines in the front of the arcade where cash could be exchanged for tokens. Pulling out her wallet, she hummed thoughtfully. “How much do you think we ought to get to start?”

“Sure, they’re like sun bears. Maybe moon bears, too. Astronomical bears,” Kitty said, thinking the big word might make her come off as impressive. “Those kinds of bears are real… natural. This one–” She looked at the creature that clearly wasn’t a bear. “Kinda… super. Unreal, even” She figured, if Cass knew anything about the town, then she’d probably get what Kitty was trying to say. She laughed a little as Cass clearly tried to cover up her tracks, and, really, Kitty couldn’t blame her for getting excited. She was curious about the weird looking creature, too. But she’d also grown up with a dog with an axe for a face, and once a month she turned into a raging monster, and not just in the biologically female body kinda way. She watched Cass, walking over with her and leaning against the machine. “Enough to kick that fuckers ass and to at least play skeeball, but the rest is up to you, sugar. I’m down for anything.”

“Space bears,” Cass replied with a nod, deciding not to question it. Kitty sounded confident enough to be believed, and the last thing she wanted was for the other girl to think that she was lame for not knowing the ins and outs of astronomical bears. She was trying to impress here. Kitty seemed to be implying an answer to Cass’s question while treading carefully, but it felt like enough to confirm that the other had at least some knowledge about the weirdness of White Crest, and Cass offered her a smile. “Yeah, it definitely seems a little… unnatural.” The problem, of course, was that Cass didn’t know enough about the ‘unnatural’ to know if this one was dangerous. But it didn’t seem dangerous. Mostly, it seemed frustrated by the Dance Dance Revolution line, which was a plight Cass could relate to entirely. Humming as she studied the coin exchange machine, Cass shrugged and put a few bills into it. It was more than they’d probably need, but it wasn’t as if she wasn’t at the arcade often enough to make good use out of them the next time she was there. Grinning as the tokens fell into the metal slot at the bottom of the machine with a series of clangs, Cass collected them and passed a few handfuls to Kitty. “Okay,” she nodded, “now let’s go kick a bear-thing’s ass at DDR.”

Kitty was pretty sure they were space bears. Heavenly body bears. She’d show Cass a picture eventually, about how they just looked like folks walking around in poorly designed bear costumes. But that could be for later. Kitty smiled back, and she was pretty sure they’d reached that “we’re both in the know about something” point. It was just a guessing game to see how much was too much to share. Cass wasn’t another wolf; Kitty would have been able to smell that. She could just be an in-the-know human for all Kitty knew. That had been her life. But that was unimportant. What was important was shoving most of the coins that Cass had given her into her pockets. She gave a very solemn nod. “I’m all for kickin’ ass and takin’ names.” And she was pretty curious, actually, of what this creature’s name was. Just for curiosity’s sake. Curiosity’d never killed the Kitty. They walked over and stood in line, almost directly behind the thing. It was as tall as a bear, but it was no bear. “That’s a big bitch,” Kitty murmured in awe, quoting a TikTok.

There was a silent understanding between them, that quiet way of acknowledging that both halves of the equation were aware that White Crest was weirder than most people really knew. Cass was glad for it. As much as she wanted a normal outing, she got the feeling that talking too much with someone who didn’t know exactly how dangerous this town could be would get stressful fast. And besides… normal was kind of out the window, what with the whole not-a-bear situation they were dealing with. Following Kitty’s lead, Cass shoved her tokens into her pockets and followed the other girl over to the Dance Dance Revolution line, which seemed to be thinning as the strange creature’s patience waned. Snorting at the TikTok quote, Cass nodded. “Do you think they’d take that as a compliment, or an insult?” She kind of wanted to make friends with them, if only to get a better chance at challenging them to DDR.

Kitty could find a way to be comfortable in any situation, even one as strange as this one. After all, she’d been joking with her would be kidnappers as they’d shot her and she’d broken their noses. She was nothing if not willing to always go with the flow and have a good time. And she had a feeling this was going to be a good time. Cass had been a hoot and a half online, and Kitty was confident that it would be no different in person. Plus, they had whatever this big fella was. “I meant it as nothing more than an awe-inspired compliment of the highest order, I assure you. And them! If they asked, of course.” The line moved a little more, and the creature snorted. She wondered how long they’d be waiting. She craned her neck up to try and look at its face, and it looked down at her with wide, bulbous eyes that couldn’t really narrow so much as fill her with a sense that it was, indeed, perturbed. Kitty wasn’t used to looking up at things. “Uh, howdy.”

The creature, whatever they might be, didn’t seem to be dangerous. A little impatient, maybe — they clearly weren’t thrilled about the long line ahead of them — but not violent. Nothing like some of the more terrifying things Cass had seen in White Crest. So even if they were insulted by Kitty’s comment, Cass figured they’d be fine. “I’m sure they’ll think it’s fine,” she assured her new friend, flashing a grin. She stole glances at the creature periodically, freezing when it became clear that both she and Kitty had been caught staring. Blinking, Cass offered the stranger a bright smile. “Do you play this game often? Because we’re pretty sure we can beat you.” She motioned between herself and Kitty, wasting no time pulling the other girl into the shenanigan. “And we’re, like, totally willing to bet on it.”

It was nice to be reassured that the creature probably wouldn’t mind Kitty’s comment, even if it was coming from someone who was just as clueless about it as she was. They seemed to be in a bit of a stalemate, Cass and Kitty staring at the creature, the creature staring at them. The line moved, but the three of them didn’t move at all.

“My name is Bartholomew,” the creature said, its voice prim and proper, “and I’ve an appreciation and desire for the art of the dance. I must say that, thanks to the great Judi Sheppard Missett and the fine art of jazzercise, I see myself as something of an expert.” It cocked its bulbous head, looking at them both. “A bet? Perhaps a deal of sorts? Should you beat me in the sport of the dance, then I shall tell you the most rich and knowledgeable secrets that you’ve ever heard in your mortal lives.” The creature, Bartholomew, looked down at them. “However, should I win…” There was a wide smile, tongue hanging out. “I should expect the very same.”

Even though she had started a conversation with it, Cass was a little taken aback when the not-bear — Bartholomew — spoke. She blinked, looking over at Kitty and mouthing what the fuck dramatically enough to hopefully get the message across. “Bartholomew. Do you ever go by Barry? Like the Flash?” The dance thing… also unexpected. Cass didn’t know what Judi Sheppard Missett was, and she only kind of recognized the term jazzercise, but she was willing to agree with Bartholomew’s assessment that he was probably an expert on the topic. He certainly knew more than she did.

But. But. This was Dance Dance Revolution. And that was something Cass understood a lot better than jazzercise.

Looking back to Kitty, Cass made eye contact and tilted her head, inclining her head to let the other girl know that she was totally down. She wouldn’t accept the deal on both their behalfs unless she was certain Kitty was cool with it as well, but… well, she couldn’t imagine Kitty not wanting in. This was, without a doubt, the coolest bet Cass had ever been offered.

“If you must, you may call me Bart,” Bart, the… whatever it was, said rather primly, tilting its bulbous head as much as it could. “What, perchance, is a Flash? Is this Flash a dancer of sorts? Some style of which I’m unaware?” It looked curiously at these two fresh-faced mortals, young, nearly infants. If they wished to challenge it to the art of the dance, then Bart was more than prepared to undertake such an endeavor.

Kitty, for her part, was tickled pink at the idea of a dance off with Bart. She looked at Cass, and the two of them were absolutely on the same page in this situation. Whatever was about to happen, it was about to be cool as fuck. They were about to have one hell of a good time, and she couldn’t wait. Even if they lost, it’d still be fucking great. “You got yourself a deal, partner.” And those seemed to be just the words that Bart wanted to hear.

“Bart!” Cass repeated the name with a grin. “That’s Impulse’s name. He’s cool, too.” Tilting her head to the side at the question, she shook her head. “He’s a superhero, from a comic book. I bet he’d be a good dancer, though.” She considered this for a moment, nodding. Yeah. Flash would kill it on the dance floor.

Kitty seemed to be right there with her in terms of the deal, something that was unsurprising but exciting all the same. Even if they lost the challenge, it’d be a cool story. And it wasn’t like they were putting their souls up for collateral or anything; this was about the most harmless kind of fun White Crest had to offer. She grinned as Kitty accepted the challenge, nodding her head enthusiastically. “I hope you’re ready to spill all your secrets, Bart, ‘cause we came here to win!”

“I will have you know that I have no such impulses,” Bart said, head cocking to the side. There seemed to be no real connection between the Flash and what a superhero was, but Bart wasn’t the kind of creature to spend a lot of time hyperfixating on whatever a superhero was. It had other fixations. Like jazzercise for the last forty years. And now it was time to take those skills to the dance floor, which just so happened to be very small and square and brightly colored. Plenty of space for jazzercise routines.

Laughing, Kitty was delighted by how much the creature in front of them knew but also didn’t know. “Flash’s dance moves are probably the fastest on the dancefloor,” she said. The line moved again, putting them closer and closer to their goal, and Kitty was about to jump out of her skin, she was so excited. “Oh, abso-fuckin’-lutely. You ain’t never seen moves like ours.” She could only assume that Cass was just as good. They were about to beat some Bart butt.

“Okay, no sweat,” Cass grinned, holding up her hands. Bart didn’t seem offended by the comparison — if anything, he seemed uninterested. It was clear that he was here to dance and nothing else. And Cass could respect that. It was nice to have goals and to stick to them. Glancing back to Kitty, she nodded. “Fastest dancer alive,” she agreed, feigning seriousness. The line moved forward quickly, likely due to the looks Bart kept giving anyone who was in front of the three of them in line. Cass didn’t think it meant any harm, but it sure looked scary enough to intimidate people into ending their turns early. In only a few short minutes, they were standing in front of the game, watching as the last person in front of them stepped down with a nervous glance back to Bart.

Clapping her hands together, Cass stepped up to the machine, gesturing for Bart to follow. “Now,” she said, “because me and Kitty here are real nice, we’ll let you pick the song we dance battle to! What do you say, Bart? What’s it gonna be?”

“Oh, we’re real nice. Just the nicest,” Kitty agreed, bouncing on her toes as they made it to the front, putting the tokens in for herself and Cass as Bart fumbled with thick clawed fingers. It was strange to look at, Kitty thought, and she’d seen a lot of weird things over the course of her life. However, the longer they were in Bart’s presence, the less intimidating it was. The few short sentences it had spoken were nice enough. Well-spoken, thoughtful, single minded in their appreciation of the dance. Specifically jazzercise. But Bart had another storm coming. Jazzercise and the strenuous art of DDR were not the same, and Kitty could not wait to be the bearer of that news.

Bart was unaware of the redhead’s machinations as it looked carefully through the songlist, nodding over various selections before attempting to click on one, but those stubby clawed fingers were not the same at clicking on things. Finally, it tapped impatiently at “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” This one. I want this one.”

It was fascinating, watching Bart. Cass had to remind herself not to stare as it pulled out its tokens and put them into the machine, forcing herself to look at Kitty instead. She thought they actually stood a pretty good chance here. Bart was clearly well-versed in dance… but only in a specific kind of dance. And DDR didn’t really go hand-in-hand with jazzercise. Cass just hoped that Bart wouldn’t prove to be a sore loser.

Leaning over Bart’s shoulder to eye the song list, Cass grinned. “Oh, that is an awesome song choice. I love that one!” Cass pressed the button for him, nodding to the screen as it began to count down. “All right, Bart. Let’s do this thing.”

The music began to play, and Cass bounced as she waited for the arrows to scroll across the screen. When they did, she was quick to leap into motion, humming along with the music under her breath. She forced herself not to glance over to Bart or Kitty to see how they were doing — if they really wanted to win this thing, they needed to have focus.

The song was on, and Kitty was in a groove, ready to get started. Her feet knew where the arrows were; she didn’t have to look down. When she was younger, a freshly obtained driver’s license in her back pocket, she and Parker used to drive up to Memphis to the arcades there. She’d been particularly fond of DDR, and she’d absolutely made him dance with her to “Girls just want to have fun more than once, more than he’d ever care to admit. It had been fun. It had been nice. It had been normal, and so was this, despite the fact that she was a werewolf and her and Cass’ opponent was a fucking monster of some kind. Her reflexes were impressive, and she did the occasion spin, using the bar to perform tricks. Sure, maybe she was showing off. Where was the harm in that?

Bart was not showing off. This Dance Dance Revolution was nothing that could be expected, nothing that it could have prepared for. Where were the bends and twists?! Where was the counting?! Where was Judi Sheppard Missett to tell it how well it was doing? This was not what Bart expected, and there was a sinking realization that it was going to lose the deal. Bother.

It wasn’t a particularly long round. Shorter, given how lost Cass found herself in the music. It seemed like they’d barely even started before the music began to fade, scores flashing on the screen. Cass grinned when she saw the results, glancing over to Kitty and flashing her a thumbs up. Bart, the poor jazzercise-fiend, had evidently not been adequately prepared for the chaotic world that was 80s music on 90s video games. The poor guy really never stood a chance.

“You did pretty good,” she offered, flashing Bart a smile as if it hadn’t missed half the steps. Poor guy looked more confused than anything. “You just got unlucky, what with me and Kitty being experts and all. I bet you’d school us in jazzercise, though!”

“Hell yeah!” Kitty said as the song faded and their scores were far superior to Barts. She pumped her fist in the air, grinning excitedly. There was always a rush that came from things like this. Physical exertion, joy, winning. These were the kinds of emotions that Kitty could ride the high of all night long, if she was allowed to. Good things rarely made her feel like she was on the precipice of a shift. Not anymore. This was just something that she could get to enjoy, and she was pleased with it. “Oh! Yeah, total experts. Sorry, pal. Better luck next time?”

Moving off of the platform, Bart put a lot of effort into not looking too disgruntled. It was so sure that Dance Dance Revolution was going to be a task that it could undertake. Nex time, perhaps. It would need more practice. Next time, an easier song. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was awfully different. “Next time, perhaps,” it said with a long-suffering sigh. “However, I believe I owe you youths with some information. Some knowledge.” It moved over to the seating area in the arcade, tongue out in thought. “Hmmm. What sort of local, current, and completely factual information might you both be interested in?”

Stepping off the platform, Cass felt elated with the win. Bart didn’t seem to be too sore a loser, which was a good thing. It would have really sucked the fun out of things if he were, and Cass really didn’t want this moment to lose its joy. Not with Kitty cheering like they’d just won the lottery and her own face aching with how wide she was smiling. “We can do it again when you’ve had more time to practice,” she promised Bart, because it was fun. And if Bart wasn’t a sore loser, he probably wouldn’t be a sore winner, either, if practice wound up making perfect later on down the road.

Of course, right now, the focus was on the prize. Cass looked at Kitty, eyebrows shooting up. “What’s the juiciest piece of info you’ve got on you, Bart?” She was pretty sure Kitty would agree that they were after quality gossip here. They didn’t throw their sweat, energy, and tokens into DDR just to get subpar knowledge.

“The juciest,” Bart rumbled, claw poking at its tongue before those bulbous eyes brightened and widened impossibly more. “Ah! The dreaded one known only as Zngnvshklt has recently partaken in the base and human pursuit of pet ownership, and it’s a cat of all things.” Bart chuckled, shaking its head. “Word on the street is that there’s a certain cat-shaped something that is going to be very upset about this new addition, especially when it gets a look at the color of Zngvshklt’s ‘pet.’” Bart clapped its hands together, looking determined. “Of course. I will study up on this Dance Dance Revolution, and we shall commence the battling once more.”

Kitty for her part, was still trying to understand half of the words coming out of Bart’s big ol’ mouth, lips trying to form the same syllables that it had with little to no luck. It wasn’t happening. She’d go cross-eyed from the effort if she didn’t stop. “That was…” she looked over to Cass to see how the other girl was processing. “Something.”

Cass leaned forward as Bart seemed to consider what he was going to offer them, anticipation thrumming through her veins. Whatever it was, it was bound to be totally awesome. Probably some kind of forbidden knowledge. Maybe there’d be a quest involved. Cass was fucking pumped.

At least… until Bart finally settled on its juiciest piece of gossip being that some guy with a name containing zero vowels had a cat. Cass looked over at Kitty, catching her eye. She didn’t want to say anything, of course, but… Bart’s gossip was a real letdown. Still, it seemed mean to hurt their new friend’s feelings, so she dug deep and used the con artist skills that had been putting food on her table for a while now, plastering a shocked expression on her face. “A cat? Oh my god.” She shook her head. “Well, we’re going to practice, too. No way we want to miss out on the chance to hear more juicy stuff like that.” She looked to Kitty, encouraging her to agree and keep the charade going. They were probably going to have to discuss what kind of gossip they’d give Bart if he did ever manage to beat them at DDR, because Cass got the feeling that it might not really enjoy their brand of juicy any more than they found interest in what it had to offer.

It wasn’t hard for Kitty to get the memo and put on that sweet southern charm she’d grown up with, that way with words that made everything sound better. “Why, I ain’t never heard something like that. I can’t believe Zing…something would do such a thing. The nerve, am I right?” Even if Bart’s gossip had… been kinda shit, it was enough to just have fun with this. She liked getting to have fun, and if that meant hanging out with Cass and something that was probably-definitely-totally a demon and dancing in an arcade, then Kitty was down. She was so down. “Hell yeah we’re gonna be practicing, too. Better get your ass in gear, Barty, because you’re gonna need it to beat us.”

Bart looked a little put out at the use of an expletive, but it turned very solemn, nodding it’s large head. “We will most certainly be doing this again. I shall vanquish you both in the art of DDR! I look forward to doing this again. It was most humbling to meet and dance with you both. I know now I have so much more to learn.”

“You are absolutely right, Kitty,” Cass agreed solemnly, nodding her head. The feigned seriousness quickly gave way to another bright grin as Bart agreed that they’d need to do it again soon. It was exciting, the concept of having a regularly scheduled demon dance party with Kitty. Cass couldn’t think of anything more thrilling, really. “You shall try, Bart. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves there.” She took a gamble and gave Bart a pat on the shoulder. “And if you want a couple of coaches… We might be willing to offer tips. In exchange for more hot gossip, of course.”

“I shall succeed, tiny one,” Bart said, looking to the smaller of the two humans. Still, the prospect of dancing tips… “Your offer is appealing, though. I shall consider taking you up on it, depending, of course, how our next duel goes. Should you both win, though, I shall inform you of how things are going with Zngvshklt’s attempt in pet ownership. It should be most fascinating and humorous.” It chuckled. “But, for now, I must go and study up on the art of dance. I bid you both a most pleasant farewell.” It lumbered off, the group of people in the arcade parting for it as it went.

Kitty turned to Cass, her face impossibly serious for a moment before she burst out laughing. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. That was– And we– Holy hell.” That was by far the weirdest thing she’d ever done, and Kitty had done a lot of weird things. She smiled at Cass, easy and warm and excited as all hell. “I’m thinkin’ the arcade was a pretty good pick, internet stranger.”

“Hey, cool it with the tiny,” Cass complained, rolling her eyes. She went back to grinning pretty quickly, of course, when Bart agreed to consider her offer. It was really all she could ask for. And, honestly? She was a little invested in Zngvshklt’s cat now, too. “I know I speak for both of us when I say I can’t wait to hear more,” she said sincerely. Offering Bart a wave, she watched it leave with a fascinated smile before turning back to Kitty.

It was impossible not to laugh along with the other girl, given everything that had just happened. “I know,” she squealed, shaking her head. White Crest was its own special brand of weird, but… it was rarely this entertaining. And it was nice, having a fun kind of weird instead of the usual doom and gloom. “I gotta say, I was not expecting that when I made this recommendation. But honestly? It’s the best possible outcome here.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to expect this kinda thing,” Kitty teased, but she was just as excited as the other girl. It had been nice, so very nice, to encounter something that was monstrous and not have to fight or run or worry about turning into a monster herself. It had just been a bunch of good old fashioned dancing fun, and Kitty was here for it. It was the kinda thing a gal could get used to, dancing and hanging out with good company. “I hope you’re not gettin’ too comfortable, though. It can’t be all fun and games.” Kitty’s tone turned somber, and she grew serious as she looked at Cass. “After all, I am about to wipe the floor with your ass in skeeball,” she said, a smirk drawing itself onto her lips.

“Okay, good point.” There was no way anyone expected this sort of thing when they went to the arcade. If they claimed anything different, they were lying. No matter how weird White Crest got, it could still surprise you. It was just… really nice to be reminded that not all of those surprises were bad. Not all the people were bad, either. Cass flashed Kitty a bright grin, rubbing her hands together. “You’re about to try,” she corrected. “But when I win… I really hope you have a better prize lined up than a story about some guy’s pet cat.”

“Ain’t no try, sweetheart,” Kitty said confidently. “I’m a skeeball queen. I will say, though, all my stories are better than ones about Zingy’s cat, and I’m excellent at pickin’ out prizes.” She wiggled her eyebrows as she walked them over towards the skeeball section. “Since you covered the coins and I’m buying supper, hmmm. Loser covers desert? There’s that froyo place downtown.” And maybe Kitty was just trying to spend more time with Cass, not that she’d admit it. Sue a gal for having fun and not wanting it to end. Was that a crime? She didn’t think so. It was nice to be able to relax and mean it for a change, and Kitty kind of liked it.