#spuke

Harvey tucked the small wand into his jacket as Hopus finished explaining to the young rabbit. “And lastly, don’t use it on anyone unless you’re sure you can bring them back safely,” Hopus advised, “no making someone appear on the edge of the cliff or on top of the ferris wheel or nuthin.” “Got it, thanks dad,” Harvey thanked. “Great! You might see a couple of your sisters there,” Mrs. Hare mentioned, “But no dumping your little sister on them, got it?” “I won’t!” Harvey insisted as Hanna walked over and hugged him. “Alright be safe! Your father will pick you up tonight.” Harvey raised an eyebrow. “Really?” His father did not go to the carnival or really much of anywhere when he came to visit. “Yes, I figure I’ll need to stretch my legs after your mother and I…catch up on some things.” The two adults shared a wink, making Harvey confused but he didn’t question it. “Oh, okay. Well, good bye. We love you,” the two children said before bolting out the door and down the path toward the second Inkwell Isle, looking forward to what would be a night of carnival games and excitement. – Goopy Le Grande hopped up to Isabella’s home and knocked on the door. “Hello, it’s Le Grande,” he called, remembering the woman was still vision limited so the extra audio cue might be nice.

Upon hearing the arrival of the visitor, Mina grew very excited. “Finally!” Mina jumped from her chair and opened the door. “Let’s go, lets go, lets go!” She shouted at the grinning goop. “Mina…” Her mother called. “But I really have to go! They’re waiting for me!” The b-cat insisted. “It doesn’t mean you have to lose all your manners.” The little girl knew her mother was right. She lowered her ears and extended an inviting hand towards her home. “Hello, Mr Le Grande. Would you like something to drink before we go?” She said in a much more calmed tone.

Goopy smiled at the politeness. “No, but thank you. It sounds like we are very eager to go.” He looked toward Isabella. “Is there anything else you remembered you want to tell me before we head out?”

Isabella took a moment to think. “Yes! Whatever you do, under ANY circumstances, don’t let her have cotton candy.” Mina rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as her mother continued. “Also, here are a copy of the house keys,” the mother remembered, leaving a set of keys on the table. "I should be back from work around 3 or 4 in the morning, so make yourself at home.”

“No cotton candy, got it,” Goopy repeated. He looked at the little bat. “Ready to go?”

The little girl smiled at Goopy and nodded “Yeap!” She wiggled her little kitten tail happily and hugged her mother “Break a leg, mama!” Isabella smiled and hugged her back. “Thank you, my little fur ball.” She tenderly kissed her forehead. “Have fun, and listen to Monsieur Le Grande!” “Yes, mama…” the b-cat answered, tired of her mother repeating herself, and walked outside of the house. “Te iubesc foarte mult” She heard her mother call from the house. “I love you too, mama!” Mina called back before following Goopy down the path.

–

Harvey was surprised to see Spike already waiting at the entrance of the carnival when he and his sister arrived. He didn’t think the pup would actually show up, or rather, he was really hoping he wasn’t going to show up. Spike spotted him and gave a curt nod in his direction. “Surprised you decided to show up, dummy,” Spike huffed. He spotted Hanna and raised an eyebrow. “Who’s the shrimp?” Hanna puffed out her chest. “I am a rabbit not a shrimp and my name is Hanna and I am 6 years old and I make quilts and even though you are mean, I will make you a quilt so you better be nice to my brother because he knows magic now too!” Spike rubbed his ears. “I didn’t get any of that. Was that even English?” Harvey sighed. “She says she’s gonna make you a quilt.” “I don’t want a dumb quilt,” Spike grumbled. “She wasn’t asking. She was telling you,” Harvey explained. Spike grumbled and looked away. “So where’s the vampire? She decide to be a chicken and stay home?”

Just as he finished speaking, Mina and Goopy arrived at the carnival. Mina spotted her friend Harvey accompanied by little Hanna and… Spike. “That’s Spike, the little dog,” she whispered to Goopy, “and the bunnies are Harvey and one of his sisters, Hanna.” On their way to the carnival, Mina had taken the chance to explain her brilliant plan to turn Spike from a bully to a buddy.

Goopy rubbed his chin thoughtfully upon seeing the pup that Mina had been talking about. “Well, I think that’s a very noble attempt at keeping the peace. I’m quite the peace mediator myself, but I suppose you kids have got to figure it out. Although nothing settles a disagreement like a good brawl, in my opinion,” Goopy added as they approached the children. Harvey waved at Mina and Goopy. “Hello, Mr. Le Grande,” he greeted pleasantly. “Well, hello Harvey. Is this your little sister? I don’t think I’ve seen her since she was a bunny,” Goopy greeted, tipping his top at the little rabbit. She smiled and curtsied politely. Spike scoffed. “Really? You brought an adult? You guys must be more scared than I thought.” Goopy eyed him. “Hello there, Spike, I’ve been sent to accompany Ms Mina, but by no means am I going to be following her around all the time.” Goopy gave her a nod. “If you run ahead, just make sure to eventually come back, got it?”

Mina smiled and nodded at Goopy. She then turned to Spike, crossing her arms. “So what would you like to start with?” She asked defiantly, grinning at the pup.

“Why don’t you ride the roller coaster ride first?” Goopy suggested when the puppy didn’t speak.

Hanna pouted. “I don’t think I’m big enough for that. How about the merry go round?”

Spike shook his head. “That stuff is for babies.” Harvey bristled at that.

Goopy scoped the park so more. “Did you want to do carnival games?”

Harvey did but he wanted a chance to do it without Hanna in case he could win her something. “Not now, maybe later?”

Spike crossed his arms and pointed at Mina. “If you’re really serious about having this scare off, we should started with the least scary places and keep going to scarier stuff until you give up.”

“You’re right, Spike. Perhaps you’re not as dumb as you look!” Mina smiled at him and looked around. “We can go on the wheel, unless you’re afraid of heights?”  The little bat suggested. She figured they could enjoy a bit of calm with Hanna before they screaming really started.

Spike crossed his arms even tighter. “I’m not scared of heights. Let’s do it!” The dog ran off before any of the kids knew what was up, forcing them to run after him toward the ferris wheel, leaving Goopy to slowly hop from behind.

–

The Baroness’ eyes couldn’t help but pop at all the lights of the carnival. “Goodness, Beppi really has put in a lot of effort to make things look good this time,” the woman noted to Grim. The two had walked from her castle to the carnival entrance and just paid the fare to enter.

“Yes… he d-did a great job…” the dragon agreed, admiring Baroness Von Bon Bon’s outfit. She looked absolutely ravishing tonight.

Bon Bon looked over at the dragon, unaware of the dragon’s interest in her outfit. “Do you see any rides you’d like to try first?” She asked.

The dragon couldn’t stop thinking about how much he enjoyed her company, her sweet smell, her delightful voice…But at the sound of her question, he snapped out of his thoughts.

“Uh… how about the ferris wheel? Or the b-bumper cars?” he considered.

“Let’s do the bumper cars,” Baroness decided, a malicious grin alighting on her face at the suggestion. “I think the cars have Beppi’s face on them and nothing would be more satisfying than to smash them into each other,” she added.

Grim chuckled and followed her to the bumper cars. When it was their turn to ride, the dragon realised he was slightly too big for just one car. But he was determined to ride anyway. Ignoring the technician, he took two cars and used them as if they were roller skates.

“I’m r-ready!” He smiled at the Baroness and give her a daring stare.

The Baroness laughed at the bravado. “Better clench your claws, Grim, I don’t hold back!” At the sound of the buzzer, all the bumper cars started to jerk and move around, fueling Bon Bon’s somewhat macabre desire to hurt things as she gleefully rammed and collided with other cars.

Grim skated towards Bon Bon, but a car bumped him, making him lose his balance and fall. He growled angrily and tried to look who it was but there were so many people he couldn’t be sure who did it.

He was standing up when another car ran over his tail, making him roar in pain. This time he stood up quickly and recognised Cuphead smiling victorious before he got bumped by another car who nearly made him get out of his own.

Grim smiled, showing his fangs as he slipped back into his roller cars. This was going to be fun!

The Baroness was having so much fun, especially crashing into Cuphead that she didn’t notice  a certain clown approaching the controls of the bumper cars.

Beppi eyed Bon Bon and Grim having a wonderful time. “Let’s make this ride a lot more interesting,” he chuckled, pressing a few buttons and raising the speed of the bumper cars.

Bon Bon didn’t realize the speed increase at first. It was only when she was T-boned and actually jostled a bit more did she realize the cars were hitting with more force. Not enough to hurt, but definitely enough to rattle someone. Especially someone balanced on two cars.

Cuphead took advantage of the increasing speed and kept bumping against Grim, laughing out loud as he did. The dragon kept losing his balance and ridiculously wiggled his limbs to keep himself from falling, only to end up falling anyway with a heavy thud.

It was annoying for Grim (and a little painful) but he was still having fun. He loved the crazy look of the Baroness when she fiercely succeeded in bumping someone. Especially when that someone was the little annoying cup.

And speaking of the cup… Grim was near BonBon now, he looked at her with a grin and wanted to bumped her softly. Before he could do this, Cuphead gave a particularly hard charge to one of his feet. The unexpected impact made Grim lose his balance again and sent him spiraling down once more. Only this time, it was toward the Baroness.

The woman saw the shadow over her and realized she was in imminent danger of being squashed. She jumped out of the moving bumper car quickly and rolled to safely just as poor Grim landed right where she had been moments before.

The bumper cars were quickly halted as she stood up and dusted herself off. She swore she could someone loudly giggling, “TIMBER!” and she looked around for the source. That almost sounded like Beppi. She scowled but softened when she saw Grim lying on the ground with a groan. She walked over to him carefully. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” She asked carefully, placing a hand on his shoulder.

‘You almost crushed her…’ Grim thought to himself, 'You almost CRUSHED her!’ He felt terrible. He could have hurt Bon Bon so badly. He looked at her full of guilt and sadness, thinking about the horrible thing it could have happened.

Cuphead got out of his car alarmed “Grim! You ok?!” The little cup immediately stepped back when the dragon blew warm smoke at him with an angry growl.

“I could have KILLED her!” he roared standing threarning on all fours.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to… ” Cuphead slowly backed up.

The Baroness recognized an angry dragon when she saw one. “Grim Matchstick!” She yelled sharply, hopefully getting the dragon’s attention.

Grim’s ears backed down and he slowly looked at Von Bon Bon. The little cup took the chance to run away from the dragon.

Grim was so ashamed, not only did he almost crush her but he just lost his temper towards a kid. This night was going to be memorable alright, but not the way he hoped it would.

The Baroness saw how distraught the dragon looked and sighed. “Oh, Grim,” she coaxed, taking the dragon’s claw and leading him off the bumper car track, “you can’t just go burning people all willy nilly,” She explained, picking up a wrench and looking toward the individual by the controls. “You got to disable your target first,” she added darkly and fiercely chucked the wrench in that direction.

She smiled sweetly at Grim before leading him toward the ferris wheel. “Do you understand?”

The dragon allowed BonBon to lead him away from the bumper cars but was rather confused by her throwing that tool. He didn’t really understand what she meant by all of this, but he was just glad she didn’t leave him.

“I-I-I’m sorry, baroness… ” he said embarrassed and unaware of the cluster gathered around the control box.

–

A couple of carnival attendees stood over a fallen clown, with a wrench shaped dent in his head. Beppi was rubbing his head. “Ow…clearly I need to up my game a bit,” he groaned.

–

While Grim and Baroness left the bumper cars, another couple was just entering the park.

Amber walked toward the entrance of the carnival apprehensively and was concerned when Sullivan was already there, waiting for her. Her eyes narrowed. Had the salamander already scoped the place out? Did he know all the secret places a girl could get dragged to? Would he try anything? She shifted, feeling the small concealed weapon under her clothes rub against her soft fur and smiled. He would very quickly learn a painful lesson if he tried.

She plastered on an enthusiastic smile and waved at him. "Hello, Sully!” She greeted cheerfully.

Sullivan’s eyes brightened at the sight of Amber. “H-hi! ” he waved,“How have you been?” He smiled shyly, hiding an arm behind his back.

Amber did not like the fact that she could not see Sully’s other arm. Still, she managed to keep a playful smile on. “I’m good. It’s so nice to see you. What happened with your arm? Did you get hurt?” She asked, attempting to peek behind him to see what type of weapon he could have.

'Hurt with Cupid’s love arrows,’ the salamander told himself.

“Hehe… No.. it’s… ” he showed his arm holding a small black box. “I got you a little something…” he blushed and opened the box in front of her. It was a thin silver bracelet with delicate flower and leaves carvings. He looked at her to see her reaction.

Amber’s eyes open wide at the gift. 'Ooh, a shiny,’ her mind thought automatically. She liked shinies. She took it carefully and placed it on her own wrist. “Sully, this is beautiful! Thank you!” She thanked, planting a tiny peck on his cheek.

Psycho killer or not, the salamander had taste. Amber had to make sure she stole something extra nice for him tonight. Or at least stole enough cash to win him something.

Sullivan blushed and caressed the kissed cheek. “I’m so glad you like it!” It took him so long to decide what to get her… He knew Amber was a more sophisticated woman, and that only showing off physical strength wouldn’t suffice to conquer her heart.

He offered his arm to her like a gentleman. “Ready to have some fun, m'lady?” He said, smiling at the feline.

Amber took his arm. “Of course!” Her ears perked up at the sound of an announcer declaring the bumper cars were starting up again after a temporary pause and she grinned.

“Let’s do the bumper cars!!” She squealed, “I wanna hit something!” And with that, she dragged Sullivan into the park with a purr.

Sullivan let her drag him still smiling. The evening looked promising!

There was a lot of people starting to wait in line but thanks to Amber they were one of the firsts.

On the side of the tracks they saw one.of the cars all smashed. “Wow! Somebody had an extrabumpy ride…” the salamander said starting to worry for Amber.

Amber blanched. “Huh. That’s uh… different,” she admitted. Still, she did just pick pocket about 3 people in this line. It would look suspicious if she just left after coming all the way here. “Well I know which car we’re not taking,” she joked.

—

“You call that scary? I was falling asleep on that ride!” Spike laughed, as the children walked away from one of the rides.

The scare contest was still on amongst Mina and Spike. It took them a while to see which ride they would start with, mostly because they needed to find a ride that Hanna could also ride since she was so short. They had finally found a scary ride and although Harvey was a bit spooked, it looked like it hadn’t left much of an impression on Spike.

“That was kind of scary,” Harvey admitted.

Hanna patted his paw. “Don’t worry, the monsters in that one were all fake. They’re not real.”

Spike continue to laugh at poor Harvey who pouted. He turned toward Mina. “You’re going to find a real scary ride now or what?”

Mina was with Spike. So far the rides didn’t made them scream so much but she didn’t want make Harvey feel bad.

“Well, at least they were fun,” she smiled. “And that face you made when we were up high in the air? That was priceless, Spike” She chuckled.

She looked around and saw the perfect ride to go on next.

“I guess it’s time for the real scary stuff.” She pointed at the haunted house, grinning maliciously.

Harvey didn’t like that ride one bit. “That’s the really spooky one,” he mumbled.

Goopy patted him on the back. “Now, now, kiddo, just remember it’s just all smoke and mirrors. No actual monsters and spooks.”

They started to walk over to the ride only for Harvey to catch sight of one of the carnival games. He wondered if he could find sewing needles for Hanna in there. Maybe he could check after the ride if he didn’t run out screaming.

The carnival attraction looked harmless enough at first glance. Just a large dark looking mansion. Yet the closer the children got to it, the more menancing it became. The windows open and shut on their own. The sounds of groans and chains rattling grew louder with each step. And by the time Mina and her friends had reached a certain point in the line, they could hear the screams of the attendees who had gone before them.

Harvey was seriously spooked despite the fact that Hanna was still giggling about the whole thing. “I wonder if I can make the ghosts some quilts.”

“Hanna, there’s no such things as ghosts. Skeletal horses, yes, but not ghosts.”

“Ooh! Actually, there are!” Goopy prompted. “They run a train on the third isle.”

Spike gaped at the blob. “Nu uh. No way.”

“Mmhmm.”

They were waiting in line for a while. It seemed there were a lot of people waiting in line for the attraction. It looked like they were having patrons go in as small groups, rather than by themselves. Mina was disappointed with this information. It probably wouldn’t be as fun if they had to go with some other folks. Especially if these folks weren’t scared easily. So she looked around to check if there were people who looked easily spooked…or someone who looked like a spook.

She spotted a salamander who didn’t look very brave next to… the freelancer! It would be fun to ride with them!

–

Sullivan was delighted they were going to the Haunted Manor. He was tired trying to win prizes for Amber testing his very little strength. But this, didn’t took any skill to walk around holding  and reassuring his beloved lady.

“I was a little kid since the last time I went in there.  I wonder if they changed the ghost sheets,” he chuckled.

Amber had no interest in a spooky haunted mansion. Initially. She hadn’t been too impressed with Sully’s attempts to win her stuff and she had to resist the urge to win her own prizes. So when he suggested the spooky mansion walk, she was about to shoot it down. But when she read the little pamphlet on it claiming that the ghostly spectres haunting the mansion came from a solid gold artifact, she was much more on board.

Even if the gold thing wasn’t true, there were still plenty of incentive to walk through a dark mansion. The darkness could provide cover for her to frisk a few patrons, especially if they were traveling with a group. Sully had been rather talkative up until this point, talking about how this mansion had been up for ages, ever since he was a boy.

Amber was fairly sure by his nonchalance that he didn’t believe in the spooks, especially by the way he almost put his arm around her a couple times. Even if he might be a psycho killer, she did admit it was kind of cute watching him try so hard.

She for sure thought they were going to be part of the group in front of them going in, only to be stopped just before they could step in by a bedraggled looking clown. “That’s it for now, gonna have to wait for the other group to leave before you guys can go in,” he explained.

She felt something approaching her and glanced up to see…holy shit, a dragon. Her eyes widened at his appearance. It was a dragon…in an oversized coat. Huh. That’s new. Probably shouldn’t try to take anything from him. Fur was flammable.

Sullivan noticed Amber getting nervous at the dragon. “Oh, him? Don’t worry! He’s a very nice dragon, his name is Grim Matchstick, he lives in that big tower over there.” He pointed to the silhouette of the old white structure illuminated by the dim lights of the night, giving it a mysterious look.

He also noticed the person next to him. “Oh gosh! The Baroness Von Bon Bon… now THAT one you can fear….”

Amber observed the Baroness and scratched herself dismissively. “I don’t see why she’s scary. She’s just a princess, isn’t she?”

“She’s the Baroness of Sugarland. She had a bit of a temper… you should stay on her good side or she will take your head. Literally!” Sullivan explained to his lovely companion.

–

Mina made a motion to approach the freelancer and the salamander only to stop in her tracks when a giant green lizard stepped between them. She poked at Goopy excitedly.

“Is that what I think it is?” She smiled, not believing her own eyes.

Goopy turned to see what Mina was was pointing at and grinned instead. “Oh, Grim! Why hello there!” He greeted, tipping his tip at the dragon.

–

Grim was a bit nervous. After the fiasco at the bumper cars he didn’t have the courage to get on another ride… but he still had to make the Baroness scared so she would ask him to stay in her castle.

He looked up at the scary facade of the Haunted Manor and gulped. He was probably more scared than Bon Bon. He looked down to her. “T-t-hey say it’s really scary… A-are you going to be ok?”

The Baroness smiled at Grim’s sincere question. “There are very few things that scare me, Grim. But I’d like to see what Beppi has in store for the average patron. Who knows, maybe he’ll get lucky and make me laugh,” she chuckled, gently tapping the dragon on his arm.

Why did she tap him? The Baroness glanced away so he didn’t see the faint trace of red on her cheeks. She didn’t know why, but she really wanted to keep touching Grim tonight. Maybe it was because he was wearing a darling coat? Or had actually worked up the courage to ask her out? She knew deep down he was a very nervous dragon so the fact that he was willing to go to a haunted ride just for her sake was endearing.

Grim blushed at the touch of the Baroness and smiled shyly. He was about to talk when he recognised a voice behind him.

“Oh! G-g-goopy! How have you b-been?” He noticed the bunch of kids around him and smiled, showing a little too much teeth. “W-well you are in good company.”

Mina couldn’t help but stare at the dragon with wide, admiring eyes. That made Grim feel a bit uncomfortable.

“I am doing well, old sport! How about yourself?” Goopy greeted. He spotted the Baroness and his smile widened. He gently nudged the dragon with his elbow. “And I see you have the most lovely Baroness as your companion for the night?”

The Baroness smiled disarmingly at the goop. “Good evening, Le Grande…Flattery will not make me forget that you spilled punch on me the last time we were all out,” she spoke cooly.

Goopy chortled. “Yes, yes, I remember. No need to lose your head about it.”

“And more importantly, yours,” she dangerously reminded him, still smiling, unaware of the cat behind her now watching her much more warily than she had just a few seconds ago. She looked at the small bat like creature next to him. “You have a child?”

Goopy gestured to Mina. “Oh, this here is Mina. She and her mother recently moved to the first isle and she’s working tonight, so I offered to accompany the little rascal and her friends to the carnival,” Goopy explained. He gave Mina a little push toward the couple. “Mina, this is Grim Matchstick and Baroness Von Bon Bon. I believe they are on a date.”

If the woman was phased, she did not show it. She knelt down and extended a hand to the little girl. “Hello, Mina. How are you?”

The dragon blushed even more at the blue goop’s remark but cooled down when Bon Bon talked, full of confidence. She was so lovely when she threatened people. He shyly waved at Mina who kept staring at him weirdly. Kids made him nervous. He couldn’t predict when they were about to start crying, or yelling, or laughing in volumes that would burst anyone’s ear drums.

The little b-cat stopped staring at the dragon and now looked at the woman kneeling in front of her. She smelled like sweet delicious candy! And she was a Baroness? Looked more like a princess to her.

“H-hi! Eh…” she tried to remember the correct way to greet  nobility. She decided to go the 'knight’ way and put a fist on her chest, lowered her head, and bowed as far as she could go. “It’s an honor to meet you, your highness!.” She looked up at her with an eyebrow raised and spoke softly so only Bon Bon could hear. “Are you made out of candy?”

The Barones smirked at Mina. “My dress is,” she explained to the small child. Mina looked at the dress with a mix of admiration and hunger. Bon Bon looked behind her at Harvey, Hanna and Spike. “Are these your friends?”

“Oh! Yes! These are my friends, Harvey, his little sister Hanna and Spike” she introduced them to the odd couple.

“Nice t-t-to meet you all” Grim waved at the children.

“Are you kidding? It’s nice to meet YOU! I mean, you’re a dragon! There is nothing in this world more awesome than a dragon!” She turned to Harvey all excited “Man I love this place!”

Grim couldn’t help but feel a bit proud and chuckled. “Oh, wow. I guess I’m t-the first dragon you’ve ever seen, uh?”

“THERE ARE MORE?” Mina yelled eyes wide open.

–

The salamander noticed Goopy talking to Grim and BonBon. He didn’t wanted to interrupt , so he waited for Goopy to glance at his direction and waved hello at him.

Amber continued to observe her surroundings, unaware that Sullivan was actively trying to draw attention to them. She checked out behind the Baroness to see a large blue slime and some familiar looking kids. Oh, she knew those two. Hopefully…they wouldn’t notice her. Or at the very least, wouldn’t out her to the rest of the group.

Eventually Sullivan was successful at waving at the blue slime ball and the ball took that as an invitation to approach. “Hello, Sullivan! I almost didn’t recognize you out here!” He greeted. He turned to Amber. “And who is your companion?”

“I’m Amber,” Amber greeted, shaking the hand that sprouted from the goop.

“Hello, Amber, I’m Goopy Le Grande. Is Sullivan behaving himself with you? He’s not getting too handsy, is he?” He teased, elbowing Sullivan now.

Amber smiled and almost said, ‘that he wouldn’t last too long if he did,’ but decided against it. Instead, she giggled. “No, he’s been quite the gentleman, actually.”

Sullivan blushed, embarrassed, but kept his smile. He would love to get handsy with Amber, but not before proving his worth and winning her heart.

“W-what about you? What you doing with a bunch of kids?“ He asked curiously, getting a better view of the children in front of the dragon and the Baroness. "You don’t fight today?”

Goopy shook his head. “Not tonight. Later next week. Should be an exciting one if I don’t say so myself. I could score you an extra ticket if this evening goes well?” He offered with a wink. “And as for the children, I’m watching them for the night. Mina and her mother recently moved to the Isle and she’s working tonight at the bar.”

Sulivan laughed nervously “ Eeh… y-yeah, we’ll see about that ticket.” He looked at Amber. “It might not spook us but I’m sure those kids will create the ambiance for us,” he chuckled. “After this we can go have a drink or something… i-if you like.”

Amber perked up at Sullivan’s words. “A drink, eh? Now that would be a great way to end the night. Well, almost the best way to end the night,” she purred, letting herself rub up against him suggestively when he got a bit closer to the dragon.

Goopy chuckled to Amber. “Well, we gotta let the kiddies have their fun first. The kids have a little wager going right now, a scare competition. Whoever is the last one to get scared wins. I really hope they updated the spooks in here otherwise these tykes are going to be a bit disappointed.”

Amber sighed. “Yeah, Sully was mentioning the “spooks”. Do you think we should even bother with going in?” She asked, jutting a thumb at the exit.

–

The Baroness smiled at the enthusiasm the children showed. It was nice to meet young ones who weren’t afraid of Grim. She often felt a mix of rage and sadness when Grim met with fear from the various island inhabitants. He had been here for years and he was still always worried that someone might start screaming when he would go to get groceries.

She gently waited for the dragon to answer the excited little girl.

Grim got startled by the child’s sudden yelling and chuckled when he realised she wasn’t yelling of fear. “Well yeah, there’s a whole Island full of them.”

Mina pulled at her ears “Oh.My.God. Mr Matchstc- Mutchstruc, Mr. Dragon, can we please meet tomorrow after my flying lessons? I want to note EVERYTHING in my adventure journal!.”

A silly smile got stuck in the dragon’s face.  "F-f-flying lessons uh? That s-sounds fun. How about we meet then? I c-c-could show you a trick or two….“ He spread his wings, almost hitting people around him, including Amber, Sullivan and Goopy.

"Hey! Careful, Matchstick,” Sullivan said, protecting Amber with his body.

“Oh! Sorry! I g-g-got a bit carried away…” his confidence fell to the ground and he tried to make himself small retracting his wings.

Mina noticed the change of humor in the dragon and cocked her head wondering why he didn’t eat their heads. She got closer to Grim. “Sir, it would be great to see you tomorrow!” Grim smiled at her and nodded. “Oh and you’re also welcome to join, your majesty,” Mina bowed again to Bon Bon. Grim looked at the baroness with puppy eyes, hoping she would agree to come.

The Baroness nodded. That would be quite amusing to see Grim teaching someone to fly. “I would actually look forward to that very much,” she agreed, trying to mask her excitement at watching Grim flap around like a dragonling again.

—

“Harvey, do you really not wanna go?” Hanna asked her brother as the adults talked, “You can stay outside if you like?”

Harvey shook his head. “No, mom and dad said I’ve got to stay with you. I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t be such a baby,” Spike teased, “If some girly princess can go in there, you can go in there,” he pointed to the Baroness.

Harvey wasn’t feeling like a very brave bunny and his sister gave him a quick hug. “Don’t worry! If any ghosts come by to scare you, I’ll scare them so hard, they will disappear!”

Harvey was about to ask why ghosts would be scared by a baby bunny when he felt something hard press into his ribs during the hug. His sister pulled away to look eagerly ahead and he reached into his jacket. His paws touched a stick and he realized he still had the training wand. His eyes widened and he looked around, but no one spotted him. He smiled a little and took his paw out. If a fake ghost really did spook him, maybe Harvey could make it disappear after all.

Harvey spotted Amber and his ears perked up. “Hi, Amber!” He greeted cheerfully. Seeing the “freelancer” did make him feel a little bit better. He wasn’t sure how much of a fighter she was, but between her, his wand, the baroness and a big dragon, he felt a bit safer going into the spooky mansion.

The cat looked worriedly at who was calling her name and relaxed when she realized it was Harvey and not some disgruntled victim. “Hey, long ears,” she greeted, “You going in here too?”

“Yeah, with Mina, Spike and my sister,” he explained. At the mention of herself, Hanna edged closer to look at the cat. Harvey looked at her. “This is my sister, Hanna.”

Amber extended a paw to shake Hanna’s. “Are you a goody two shoe like your brother?”

“I make quilts,” Hanna proudly exclaimed. She oohed at the feeling of her paw. “Your fur is so soft!!!”

The cat puffed out her chest with pride. “I take a bath everyday,” she winked.

“Can I brush you sometime?”

“…I like you, kid. You ever think about being a freelancer?” She suggested with a wink. Harvey crossed his arms and she laughed. “Kidding, kidding…although-” She was interrupted by a bull dog pup pushing past them and stomping up to the carnival employee managing the line.

“I’m tired of waiting for this dumb ride!” Spike barked at the employee, “everyone has to be gone by now!”

The carnival employee shrugged. “Unexpected delay. One of the guests passed out so we’re having to carry them out the back. Hopefully shouldn’t be too much longer.”

Amber blinked in surprise and glanced at Sullivan. “I didn’t realize sheets were THAT scary.”

Spike growled. “I wanna go on now!”

“Eager little puppy, ain’t cha?” A giggling voice called out. The pup turned to see a red and white bouncy clown skipping toward them. The clown patted the employee on the back. “I think I’ll take over from here, thank you.”

Spike raised his ears. “You’re that weird clown, Beppi, huh?”

Beppi nodded and smiled at the group. “Oh yes, I’m Beppi! Owner of the circus! And what a ride I have in store for all of you! Especially you, Baroness,” he winked, enjoying the scowl on her face and the nervous expression on the dragon. He leaned forward. “Who here wants to get scared?” he chuckled.

There was an uneasy response from the group. Beppi was smiling but there was a weird vibe about his whole introduction. The clown looked even more pleased. “Wonderful, just WONDERFUL!” He cheered, “Very well! Please, go on ahead. And enjoy yourselves! And remember, the last one who screams wins!” He chortled before opening the door and stepping back.

Spike started to walk toward the door, before glancing at the clown. “How ya know about our competition?” He asked.

Beppi cackled. “I know EVERYTHING that goes on in my park! Now, get along now, little doggies!” He waited for everyone to move forward.

Mina was intrigued by the clown and she marched out in front of the group. Following closely after her was Spike, also eager to see what all the fuss was about..but more importantly, to win the challenge.

Right behind them followed Harvey with Hanna, holding hands to make sure she wouldn’t run off and try to make quilts for spooks. Goopy, Sullivan and Amber were next. Bon Bon and Grim finally followed. Grim was fairly nervous already. Beppi seemed to be very happy they were here. A little too happy.

They all stepped into the manor, and the doors slammed behind them, leaving them in a room with dim light. And maniacal laughter.

–

Another individual was also going through his own sense of foreboding and despair. And although this one wasn’t related to spooks in the slightest, it was still rather terrifying.

It was date night with Hilda.

Cagney looked at the setting sun as he walked toward the club. It was still early but he wanted to make sure he showed up early, especially if he could scope out the spots and escape routes if necessary. Tonight, this was practically terrifying on its own, without the possibility of death by sky witch. And to try to get her to let him spend the night? A week ago, he would have had a chance even as a friendly sleepover, but now, after everything, he thought it was a snowball’s chance in hell.

He finally reached the club doors as the sun finally finished setting and gave a rap on the wood. The doors parted to reveal a tiny mole man. “Good evening, sir, do you have a reservation?” “Yeah, uh, for Cagney,” he explained. “I see. The reservation says it’s for two,” the mole read off his list. “Yeah, she’s not here yet?” “No, sir.” “Good, good. Okay, yeah, her name is Hilda. I guess she’ll be here soon,” he added hopefully, walking past the mole. “Very good, sir. I’ll go ahead and take you to your table.” The carnation was instantly hit with the loud music and chatter of bar patrons. He followed the mole to a table. “Might I suggest a drink sir from the bar?” The mole inquired. Cagney eyed him warily. “What? Why?” “You look very nervous, sir. And you’re tearing a hole in the tablecloth.” He looked down to see that he had actually ripped part of the tablecloth from pulling too hard. “Ah, uh, yeah, maybe,” he admitted. “Excellent, I’ll send over your waiter and he’ll get you started on something.” The waiter stepped up as if right on cue and suggested something that Cagney had no idea what it was, but it sounded harmless enough so he ordered that. As the waiter left, Cagney couldn’t help but eye the front door worriedly. He was all worried about what she would do to him when she showed up, but what would he do if she didn’t show at all. That would truly mean the end of the relationship as he knew it. He found himself tearing another hole in the tablecloth, only stopping when the drink came to him. He tapped his foot anxiously instead, continuing to eye the door.

—

Even though she was ready way before the time, Hilda thought it would be fun to make the flower break a sweat and arrived a few minutes late at the Night Owl club.

The mole greeted her and started to lead her to Cagney’s table, but she froze before she could take another step inside.

'C'mon! You can’t bail now!’ Sagittarius tried to encourage her. 'You already made him wait… he must be in a worst state than you.’ Hilda mentally agreed, the flower wasn’t very good at stress managing.

“Problem, mis? ” the mole asked interrupting her thoughts.

Hilda shook her head “No! I’m good.. I just… thought I forgot something…” she made sure her dress was perfect and followed him inside.

It was crowded tonight but there was a good ambiance. Jazzy tunes filling the air as people relaxed, chatted and danced. Hilda could feel her shoulders untense at the scene. She was glad they both agreed on coming here.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Cagney at the table. She was so happy to see him, and he was all dressed and everything. Scorpio’s note had a stronger effect than what she thought.

As they closed in, she tried to stop herself from smiling at her friend and focused on showing a hard look.

—

Cagney was panicking. He kept an eye on the clock behind the bar and when it was a minute after 7, he really did start freaking out. Holy shit she wasn’t coming after all. Had she faked a story about buying a dress and bribed the saleslady into convincing him she was going? How would she have known what store they were going to if she did that? Oh man, was Grim on it too?!

No, that was just him being paranoid, right? No, there’s no way Hilda would do something that cruel…then again he did nearly kill her so maybe this was a possibility after all. He grabbed the tablecloth subconsciously.

It was 3 minutes after. Shit, she wasn’t coming. Maybe she was outside looking in through a window, laughing at him. He looked around quickly. There were no windows in this place. He spotted Hilda briefly, looked away and then realized that that actually was Hilda and holy shit she was absolutely stunning. And she looked pissed.

His arms dropped but too late he forgot to let go of the table cloth. The force of his arms dropping led to him accidentally yanking off the entire table setting with a clatter to the ground. He was absolutely mortified.

Hilda had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from roaring in laughter, her chest hurting when she did. People stared at the flower for a moment, chuckling and whispering, before they returned to their business. A few waiters came quickly to clean the mess.

Hilda got to the table without any trace of that hard look. “Gee Cags, you really now how to get a girl’s attention,” she smirked.

When Hilda’s first words were not a swear at him, Cagney froze and his mind went blank. And then his brain screamed at him to say something because she just said words and that probably warranted a response of some kind.

He swallowed hard and then gave a weak smile. “Well, you’re here, so I guess it worked?” That was the dumbest line he could have said. He tried not to glare at the people around him who were still chuckling at him.

'Yes. Yes it did.’ Gemini intruded, giggling and admiring the carnation’s effort to dress elegantly

Hilda noticed the awkwardness in her friend and realized she had the upper hand. It was lovely to see her giant, intimidating, grumpy friend shivering at her presence.

After the staff set the table again she took a seat like she practiced at the joint, sensually crossing her legs, only this time her shoe stayed in place. She wasn’t sure what to say so she decided to torture him a bit more by remaining silent and just looking at him.

Why wasn’t she yelling at him? Was she messing with him? Should he call her out on it? What if she wasn’t messing with him and she just got madder. Maybe, he could just start with asking how she was doing?

“Soooo….crazy weather huh?”

He could have slapped himself. That was not what he meant to say at all. Holy crap. He just called her crazy.

'Did he just called us crazy?!’ Tauros demanded, making Hilda’s eye twitch.

“Yeah,” she said, her tone angry but still calm,  "Glad to see it didn’t drown you.“

"Yeah, glad about that….I think.” If he had been drowned, he wouldn’t have had this conversation right now. But still, he had to say something.

“You look nice,” he finally managed. She still looked pissed. If he wanted any shot of staying the night, he was gonna have to start by apologizing. “Listen, about the other night…I just wanna say I didn’t mean to break your dome.”

Hilda’s stare softened a little. Finally! A chance to clear things up. “I know… ” she said softly. “And.. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you….” She cleared her throat and hardened her voice again. “Anything ELSE you would like to apologize from that night?” The sky witch asked, crossing her arms roughly against her chest and releasing a soft painful groan.

Cagney heard the groan and remembered that Hilda had been stuck like a pin cushion when he accidentally attempted to crush her.

“I’m sorry I nearly killed you,” he finally managed, “and I’m sorry I couldn’t get all the thorns out,” he added turning a bit red.

“Yeah… ” Hilda couldn’t help but blush as well. “Next time, please wait for me to be conscious.” She showed a small smile.  

“Cags… ” she took a deep breath and leaned in over the table. “I apologize too… I should learn to better manage my anger. But…what happened? I mean, the things you said? The way you looked at me?” she hold her arms and looked at her friend worried. “It sounded like you meant it.”

Cagney buried his head in his leaves. “Ugh, Hilda, no I didn’t mean it. I was just so tired and angry and hurt and when I turn into…well, THAT, I just say a lot of things. A lot of dumb hurtful things.”

The second drink had loosened his tongue significantly and he groaned. “This is so hard for me right now to try to explain but I missed you. Like a bunch.”

Those last words melted the woman’s heart. She looked at him with a sad mile. She wanted to jump up and hug him tight, but she remained in control and stayed in her seat.

'What are you waiting for? Go for it!  For the love of God! Hug him, you crazy witch!’ Gemini was tried to convince Hilda.

'Hell no! You should kick him under the table! And then drag him outside and kick him some more!’ Tauros spoke.

'No! Let him talk! Look at him, he feels terrible… ’ It was starting to get crowded.

The woman shook her head to try to focus. “I don’t know If I want to hug or beat the life out of you.”

"You can do both if you want. I think it would be worth it and I might deserve it.” Cagney helpfully offered. He looked at how beautiful Hilda looked and his mind was starting to swim. She was even more beautiful than she was earlier this week when she showed up at his field, drunk and with…a different guy.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, before you do either, can you tell me something? Who is Carl?”

'CaAAarl’ she couldn’t help repeat in her mind. She had a choice to make here: be childish and pretend this guy was going to be her best friend, OR, be mature about it and tell him that it was just somebody she met with the sole purpose of making Cagney jealous.

“Oh, Carl…He’s a … He’s a friend. We met at the Joint and uh… sorry we woke you up.” She hid her face behind her drink, hoping there wouldn’t be more follow up questions.

The fact that she got fidgety with the question made Cagney’s stomach twist. “Didn’t realize you frequented the Joint.” He managed, trying to keep any spite out of his voice/

He had been on his third drink now and his mind swam with thoughts that hurt his chest. She met a guy at a bar and what, was she planning on bringing him back to her place? Technically, Cagney’s field was on the way if you were walking and with Hilda being unable to fly, it was feasible.

He tried not to pull at the tablecloth. Had there been other guys and he just managed to sleep through her bringing them back? That thought hurt a lot. Had she been living a double life and lovesick Cagney had been too dumb to see it until now?

“A friend, huh? What type of friend?” He asked, keeping his voice calm.

'Of course there was going to be follow up questions! What did you expect!’ Sagittarius scowled.

“Well, I have a life, Cags. You probably hang out with other people I don’t know about… Don’t you?” She asked really curious and kept drinking.

Cagney really didn’t have anyone. At least not anyone that Hilda didn’t already know. Admitting that would have just made him sound more a stupid loser. He tried to think what to say but only could manage a “Not really…” before the he was interrupted.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” A well dressed rooster announced from the stage. “Put your hands together and give a round for our newest, lovely siren, Miss Bella Bechstein!”

Hilda’s eyes widened and choked on her drink and coughed.

At the sound of the familiar name, he turned to see Isabella on stage. She was quite breathtaking to be sure and you could hardly tell she was blind by the way she handled that microphone. “Huh,” he observed, “I didn’t know Isabella worked here.”

Hilda glared at Cagney. “You know her?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

The crowd applauded as Isabella entered the stage, accompanied by one of the lizard musicians, and got to the microphone. “Good evening everybody! I sincerely hope your night is going well,” she charmingly spoke as the rooster and lizard left the stage.

Cagney nodded. “Yeah, I accid-” he stopped mid-speech. He was about to admit to Hilda that he attacked a small child in a drugged stupor. That would probably not go over very well. It’s not like Hilda had strong maternal instincts, but at the same time, kids were kids and attacking them (Cuphead and Mugman being the exception) made you look like a monster.

So he bent the truth. “I acc-actually ran into her and her kid by my field. She’s new to the isle, did you meet her?”

“I-I met her too… she and Goopy helped me clean up the dome mess…”

"They did? Dammit.” Now he really felt bad. He should have been the one helping her clean up. Now if only he knew how to fix it. “She’s got quite the mouth on her,“ Cagney remembered with a chuckle, thinking about she swore him out just a few days ago

'Quite the mouth on her?!’ Gemini bursted in jealousy. 'I knew it! They have something!’. Hilda looked at him alarmed.

“W-wh-what do you mean about the mouth thing?” the sky witch mumbled scared of the answer, trying to sound as if she didn’t really cared.

The music started playing and Isabella talked in her sweet tone.

“You know folks, I like games. And there’s one in particular that used to play with a that special friend…”. And at her cue she started singing “I double dare you’.

Hilda’s next question made him pause. Cagney didn’t have a lot of insight into the female mind but he suddenly had the inkling that maybe he should choose his next words carefully. He pointed a thumb at the bat on stage. "Well, I mean, she’s a pretty good singer, right? She’s keeping with the band pretty well. It’s probably something that could be danced to, ya know, if you felt like dancing at all…” He felt like a kid asking a girl to a school dance.

'OH MY GOD! Forget what I said! Go dance with him!’ Gemini yelled with excitement.

'Yaah! Dance with him!’

'And step on his feet!’

The constellations in her head all yelled, encouraging her to go have some fun with her friend. She wasn’t very good at dancing, but Cagney was. She just had to let him lead and not step on his leaves.  Plus dancing was really fun and she really enjoy it.

She smiled shyly “Sure. I’ll try to step on you as much as I can,” she chuckled, standing up from her seat.

“Fair enough,” and with that, he led her to the dance floor.

Isabella finished her song and people clapped. “Thank you.” She kept smiling sweetly. “And after all this playing, I used to go dancing. I loove dancing, folks, but the music has to be… zazzie”  she shook her shoulders “You know what I mean? It’s gotta have that special thing that makes you want to shake it.” And so, she started singing. 

Cagney had danced since he was a sprout. Actual dancing did not spook him. Dancing in front of a crowd could give him the jitterbugs but that was okay because the jitterbug was still an acceptable dance style. But with Hilda, they had done some casual swing goofing around but this definitely had a different feel to it. Maybe it was because they were in nice clothes. At least that’s what he was telling himself.

There were other couples already on the floor and he blended in as best as a large plant could. Then again, he wasn’t the only non human so it wasn’t that off. He led her into dance as best as he could, and although yes, she did step on his leaves every now and then, for the most part she followed pretty well.

He was starting to feel more confident and soon they were both snorting and breaking out into quiet snorts and laughter.

Being so close to Cagney without the intention of smacking him made Hilda feel a bit awkward. But the more they danced, the more fun she had, and the more she realised this felt really nice, just her and him, shaking their bodies together. She almost forgot why they fought and felt sorry when she accidentally (most of the times) stepped on him.

“I can’t believe how bad you are at walking and how good you are at this.” She said, laughing and trying to keep up with his rhythm and this time avoiding his feet.

Cagney held Hilda tightly and was relieved when she stopped stepping on him. Heels beat stems any day, no matter how thorny the stem was. He was actually surprised his thorns hadn’t popped out already but realized that he wasn’t freaking out anymore. This was his zone, his expertise. Well other than extreme pollination and total domination.

He felt himself heat up at that thought. Shoot, wasn’t he thinking a few days ago that he and Hilda might actually head in that direction? And now he was here, with her slender body rubbing up against his, that dress flattering not just for her sharp personality but her rather attractive body. He swallowed. He still couldn’t believe he wrote that stupid letter.

But if he was telling the truth, it had been something he had daydreamed for a while now. And now he was trying to see if he could spend the night. He wasn’t sure if this made him a bad flower because he was trying to do this, or a good flower to save his friend from seeing the stuff he wrote about her. Or did that make him bad too?

A few minutes later as the song reached its end with an applause from the public, Hilda couldn’t help but feel really sad. She didn’t wanted to go back to talking! She wanted to be near him, laugh with him…maybe step on his toes again.

“Thank you! Thank you again!” Isabella started talking. “And at the end of the night, after all day laughing and having fun with my dear special friend…” she sighed “….there was always this moment where another gal came in and took him away from me,” she said angrily, a sad smile on her lips. She placed a hand on her hips. “And I never could tell him how I really felt…”. And with that, she began to sing a slow song.

Hilda looked at Cagney with a shy smile hoping they would keep dancing.

The song changed to a slow one and he realized he couldn’t keep just salsing to it. No, this one required…focus. Maybe he should sit this one out. He glanced down at Hilda and noticed she was smiling at him shyly. Was she feeling as awkward as he was? Somehow that made him feel better and he slowed his tempo down, trying to enjoy the moment, despite the sad undertones of the song playing.

Hilda danced close to him, appreciating the change in tone. She had been holding on to him tightly without realising it and leaned her head against his chest. The bat lady may rub the woman the wrong way, but Hilda had to admit her music was delightful (and strangely appropriate). It was setting a romantic mood between them, making her remember how she felt a few nights ago, under the stars.

He looked at Hilda. “Listen, Hilda, I want to apologize, ya know, for all the stupid shit I’ve done, that I’ve been doing and will probably do in the the future.”

She chuckled at Cagney. “Well, I will accept your apologies for what have you done, I’m not sure if I accept whatever you have been doing, aaand… I’m keeping my options open for what you may do in the future. Dancing on your leaves is kinda fun.”

He winced “Yeah, I’ve noticed. Think you could not use the heel so much when you stomp on them?” He chided, glad the woman was in a better mood.

He wondered how Hilda was doing. He had been drinking before she showed up and was starting to feel a bit light-headed from the latent effects of those alcoholic beverages. Part of him wanted to sleep, ideally at Hilda’s place.

Shoot, he still had to see about spending the night before the alcohol really hit. But another quick observation of Hilda made him hesitate. She looked like she was having fun. He decided to enjoy the closeness for now. He could ask after this song.

“You know, I only wear high heels when I know I might end up dancing with you,” Hilda smirked, interrupting the flower’s thoughts. They kept dancing, bodies pressing together, moving softly to the rhythm. Hilda’s bruises hurt a little with the closeness, but she felt the pain was worth it. Or maybe the alcohol was starting to numb her a little.

She faced Cagney. looking him straight in his eyes, full of alcoholic confidence. She was about to lean towards his lips, but the sound of applause brought her back from her thoughts.

“Thanks, everybody! We’re going to take a break to freshen up a little, but we’ll be back with more jazzy tunes to accompany your memorable evening!” Isabella called from the stage, blowing a kiss, and the rooster from before accompanied her offstage.

Hilda looked around to hide the fact she was as red as a tomato and cleared her throat. “W-we should go back.”

Hilda’s discomfort immediately jarred him from the spell of the singing and he nodded. “Yeah, I could use the break from being trampled,” he attempted to joke, trying not to show that he was starting to get nervous without the music before heading back to the table.

–

During her time on stage, Isabella caught the memorable scent of the carnation but she wasn’t certain. When the rooster helped her down, she decided ask to be sure.

“Say, is there a giant flower among the public tonight? A carnation?” She asked in her notorious sweet tone.

The rooster took a quick look and it didn’t took him long to spot Cagney. It was rare to see any flowers at the club this time of the evening.

“Well, yes there is. Doesn’t look much of a carnation, but it’s the only flower I see,” the rooster answered. “Want me to take you to him?”.

“Oh, that’s very sweet of you, darling. But I can find my way,” she smiled and walked slowly, avoiding any obstacles as she followed the smell of the giant flower.

–

As the two sat down, Cagney remembered the plan. Right. He had to retrieve that letter. “Hey, Hilda, I was thinking, about the other night…do you think you’d want to still do that, you know, have a sleepover or something?” He tried to suggest. He paused, “Ya know, with like sleeping bags or something,” he added quickly, not wanting her to think he was directly asking to sleep with her…not that he would be totally averse to that, mind you.

The constellation’s inside Hilda’s head were still going wild from the dance!

'Why didn’t you kiss him?’

'It’s alright! Just take your time, we don’t want to rush this!’

'You barely stepped on him!’

'It was perfect!’

'Not quite… it’s full of people in her~ ’

But at the question, all the voices stopped before screeching in unison: 'He wants to stay over?!’

Hilda took a looong sip from her glass and the voices grew silent. That felt good. She really needed to think this through. He made it sound like an innocent sleepover among friends, but after their slow dance, she wasn’t so sure.  She had to ask him and clear the air once and for all.

“Cagney~?”

“Well, hello there, Mr. Flower,” a familiar sweet voice interrupted her. “Didn’t know hippies like to swing,” Isabella chuckled. Hilda glared at the bat and gulped down the rest of her half full glass, turning her cheeks a bit more red.

His petals flared instinctively at the voice. There was only one person who called him a hippie. He turned around to see Isabella standing, looking even better up close. How did someone blind know how to dress up so well? Or maybe she was just good looking in general and everything looked good on her?

He was starting to think it was the latter. He recovered and smirked. “That was some good singing, Isabella. I didn’t know you were working here.”

“Aw! thank you, darling,” the bat blushed. “I started yesterday, actually. Your friend Goopy helped me get the job!” Isabella gushed.

Hilda stared at both of them, trying to hide the fact she was really pissed for being interrupted AND ignored.

“Cool. Cool. Looks like that pompous ball has some talent after all.” Cagney was aware of Hilda being strangely quiet. “Hilda, you’ve met Isabella, right?” He prompted.

“Yeah, we have…” Hilda forced a smile and gestured to a waiter to bring her another drink.

“Dumnezeule! I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear you there!” Isabella said, wiggling her ears towards Hilda. “Am I interrupting?” She asked innocently, assuming from what she talked with Goopy that they were talking about the dome incident.

“We’re just hanging out,” Cagney attempted to explain, still not 100% sure they were on a date. “We might be going soon though?” His statement came out more as question, looking toward Hilda for any affirmation of this.

Hilda looked at Cagney a bit surprised, she was hoping to dance a few more songs, but then again,they were here to talk about their friendship. This wasn’t a date. It might look like one. It certainly felt like one. But it wasn’t.

Was it?

She though it might be better to talk about it on their way to… her place, maybe. “Eh…yeah, I guess we should be go~.”

“Oh no! I was hoping to get to dance with Cagney.” Isabella regrettably admitted. She didn’t get close just to get some juice for her gossip, but also wanted to test her tour guide’s dancing skills.

“Just one! Please?” She begged, using her enticing voice. Even Hilda looked at her a bit saddened for a moment, until she remember why she made a storm the other day and decided to focus on her new drink.

An evil smirked appeared on her face. The bat was blind, that wasn’t a problem for singing, but dancing? She could already see Isabella making a fool of herself, stepping clumsily on Cagney’s already sensitive leaves.

“I know exactly what we can dance to, I just have to tell the band real quick! Please?” The singer insisted, getting closer to him. Hilda didn’t like that gesture, but decided to encourage Cagney anyway.

“Aww… c'mon Cags! Show her what you got!” She couldn’t contain her devilish smile.

Cagney was definitely surprised by Hilda’s change in tone. He could have sworn she was a bit reserved about the bat but by the way she was goading them on, he must have been mistaken. Maybe after this, then they could talk a bit more about where they saw this going.

Now with Hilda’s insistence, he smiled craftily. “Alright, I better hope your dancing is as good as your singing cause I’m not gonna hold back on you.” He offered a bat a leaf to go to the floor so she could tell them her song selection

Seeing Cagney all confident made Hilda grin even more. This was going to be fun to watch!

Isabella held on to the flower’s arm and told the band she wanted to dance to ’Tom Tom Swing Combo’.The musicians waited for the dancers to get in place before they started playing.

Isabella decided to let Cagney lead so she could measure his level.

Cagney heard the boom and bang on the instruments and his eyes lit up. He bumped and grooved to the beat, maneuvering Isabella through sways and turns, expecting any second for the bat to step on his feet like Hilda had.

Hilda kept smiling and enjoyed seeing the giant flower shaking it to the rhythm of the beat. He sure knew what he was doing… and apparently so did the bat!

At first, Isabella was letting herself get dragged by the carnation but soon enough she picked up the pace and started to accompany and accentuate Cagney’s movements to the point where it actually looked like a rehearsed dance.

Isabella was having so much fun. Every time Cagney made her do something, she managed to embellish the pose: if he made her turn, she would do extra turns positioning her free wing in diagonal so it would look like a spiral going up her body; if he toss her on a side, still holding her hand, she would spread her wing at the right moment to make it look more impressive.

Cagney’s cautious attitude had turned to one of bemusement as the bat managed to keep rhythm and time. As the dance continued, he couldn’t help but feel legitimately surprised when she even added her own flair to each move he threw at her.

When they were close, Cagney could hear a very soft chirping coming from his partner. She was using her echolocation to measure the distance between them and, therefore, avoid crashing into him.

Hilda couldn’t believe her eyes. At some point they were so coordinated they even managed a tandem charleston. There was no trace of that evil grin anymore. This plan really backfired.

With they finally finished what was probably one of Cagney’s more demanding performances, the club broke into thunderous applause. He couldn’t help but grin a bit goofily, the alcohol making him somewhat impervious to any weird giddiness from performing in front of an audience of unknowns.

Hilda decided she needed some air and stepped outside the club before the dancers returned to the table.

“Alright, you did good, kid,” he admitted to Isabella, “And that chirping thing you were doing, that was like echolocation or something? That was pretty cool.” Hilda was a fan of science shit and that would probably be pretty cool. “Man, Hilda would get a kick out of that. Let me just…just…” He looked toward the table and froze when he saw it was an empty.

“I haven’t danced like that in years!” Isabella said, recovering her breath.

Hilda was gone. When had she left? Had he done something wrong? Was this whole night a bust? Maybe she had gone to the restroom? No, all her stuff was gone. Why did she leave? He couldn’t figure it out even as he continued holding Isabella’s claws.

Wait.

His eyes apprehensively widened. Here he was, holding another woman’s hand in a bar. Hilda hadn’t thought he was into the bat, did she? Isabella was really pretty and sassy, sure, but Hilda was the ultimate woman he really wanted to put his leaves around.

“Shit,” he quickly swore, giving Isabella’s claw a hurried pat before letting go, “I’ll be right back.” He dropped some coins on the table before darting outside.

Suddenly her partner patted her hand and left in a rush. “Wha~ wait!” She called but it was too late, Cagney had rushed out of the club.

The singer’s ears drooped in disappointment, hoping that he would return to explain. Although, she suspected it might have something to do with her….

Outside, Hilda was sitting on a big branch of a nearby tree. She had her arms crossed and was looking at her stars. She noticed some mistakes in her star placement which only made her feel worse about herself.

Cagney glanced around outside but didn’t see her. “Hilda?” He called.

Cagney’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked down. Man, he looked good in that outfit. She cleared her throat (and mind) and waved at him.

“Hey! Up here, Romeo. What happened with Juliet?” The woman said, annoyed by how badly this night was turning.

Shit. It WAS related to Isabella. Which he was probably gonna have to go explain things to after this. But hadn’t Hilda pushed him to go dance with her in the first place?

He crossed his arms, slightly irritated. “We finished our dance and then you took off. Why’d you tell me to go dance with her if you weren’t going to stick around?”

He bristled slightly at a new thought but kept it to himself for now. He waited to hear Hilda’s response

“I saw your dance, you pea brain…. it was pretty impressive,” She hated to admit, “I just needed some air.” She turned to look at the stars again, hiding her guilt. It was her fault they danced and that was eating her up.

Cagney huffed, “Alright, well I gotta go back and explain why I just left Isabella in the middle of the dance floor. Are you gonna disappear or are you going to stay here?”

He watched her carefully, the thought really eating at him now to see how she’d answer. He had a feeling she wasn’t telling the truth but he wasn’t sure about what. His initial thought of it being jealousy had been pushed aside when he remembered she had told him to do it in the first place. Jealous people didn’t do things like that, right? No, they didn’t. He thought.

He was getting deceived in some way though. Had she told Cagney to go dance so she could leave and meet up with someone else, hoping he would remain distracted. Was it Carl? She answered quite evasively about him before.

“Yeah sure, I’ll wait here,” Hilda sighed. “Oh! Shit! I forgot to pay~ no, you know what? You pay. Least you can do for breaking my dome”.

She would have punched herself right in the mouth if she could. She was just mad at herself but, somehow, she wanted to release it all on Cagney. Maybe she wanted Cagney to be mad at her so she had a reason to be mad at him, and therefore justify her being angry at herself?

She had to take a few minutes to understand what she just thought.

“Fine!” Cagney agreed and walked back inside.

—

Isabella decided to wait at the bar and refresh herself with a lemonade when Cagney reentered the club.

He flagged the waiter and paid the rest of the tab. He caught sight of Isabella at the bar. He groaned, and approached her, taking a seat next to her. “Hey, it’s me, Cagney. Sorry about vanishing on you. Hilda up and disappeared, and I, well, she’s doing okay, just cooling off. I guess it’s too warm in here or something. Can I get you something?” He offered

Isabella smiled tenderly and raised her glass “I’m good.” She took a sip “I… I apologize for interrupting your date,” she said sweetly.

At the mention of the date, Cagney rolled his eyes. He looked to the bartender, “Hey, bartender, can you get me a whiskey shooter or something?”

As the bartender made up the drink, the flower sighed. “Yeah, I’m not sure if that is what it is at the moment…”

“Oh, c'mon.” She softly punched his arm “The small fights just makes the making up sweeter,” she smiled, not understanding that they weren’t officially dating. “As Annette Hanshaw used to sing 'happiness comes double, after a little pain… ” Isabella sang sweetly the verses “…If you want the rainbow, you must have the rain”.

“I broke her observatory. So it’s not just the rain, it might as well hail.” He pulled his petals. “That dome cost a fortune to replace. And I definitely don’t have anywhere close to fixing it.”

“Sorry, all we got is honey whiskey, is that gonna work for you?” The bartender asked, setting a glass down.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Cagney chuckled picking up the glass. “I didn’t know Rumor was branching out into the liquor business. Then again, she got the resources for it. Probably the only one on the Isles who’d have the cash to fix the dome too,” he mused, thinking more about this than he normally would.

He chugged the liquor and coughed, his thoughts interrupted by the fact that this was a lot more powerful than he thought.

Isabella listened to Cagney choke, a bit surprised to hear him being so open to her. The alcohol must have loosened his tongue. She’d have to remember to ask more about that Rumor character…

So much gossip! But no! This wasn’t the time to think about that. This looked more than just a simple fight. “If you can’t afford to pay for it, at least assist her into getting one. You have any contacts? Somebody who might know somebody?”

“Maybe,” he admitted, “Djimmi and Rumor might…” He blinked. “Wait, shit, Hilda’s still outside,” he realized. Oh crap he probably should get going to her before she thought he was ditching her and not the other way around. He got up unsteadily. “It was nice seeing you again,” he said, holding out an unsteady hand.

The bat noticed the flower standing up with some trouble as she heard his stool scrape along the floor. “You need help getting to the door?” She chuckled, not realising he extended his hand to her.

Cagney remembered that Isabella was blind. “I think I’m good, just gotta not lose my feet…” He mumbled, pulling his hand back and pointing down at his feet.

Isabella listened to the carnation walk away, taking his flowery scent with him. She turn to her drink and sighed. Last time she danced like that was with Mina’s father, long time ago. “Waiter, put some of that honey liquor in here, please…”

–

Carl was not having any luck this evening. He was really hoping there’d be one lonely lady here in the club tonight but so far no such luck. He had been hanging near the sides, away from the dance floor, feeling a bit sorry for himself before he finally decided to try the bar again.

This time he was in luck. It was the singer from earlier this evening! Sitting alone and looking rather melancholy. Carl puffed up his chest. That’s because she had never met Carl before. Every lady felt better when they met Carl. He sauntered over to the empty seat next to the bat. “Miss,” he greeted, “I’m sorry to bother you, but I wanted to tell you that you have the voice of an angel!”

The bat turned her head towards his direction. “Aw, thank you, darling. You’re enjoying your evening so far?” She said sweetly taking a sip of her drink.

Carl blushed at being called darling. “I most certainly am now that you’ve shown up. I was worried it was going to be a regular night but you’ve brought some life into this place with your charm,” he sweet talked, motioning the bartender to bring him something.

Isabella chuckled, still sitting at the bar, “Well aren’t you the sweet talker. Your companion must be so happy with you”.

“Oh! You flatter me so! I’m afraid I don’t have a companion with me this evening. I realize that might be quite the shocker for a bug of my type,” he 'humbly’ explained, taking advantage of the fact that she was blind by glancing at her legs.

–

Hilda hopped down from the branch with the help of her cloud and was now leaning against the tree with her arms crossed, waiting for him to return. She managed to calm herself down, only to get pissed again thinking of the reasons why Cagney was taking so long.

–

Cagney got to the door before he stopped. Shit, had he paid the bartender? Last thing he needed was to get banned from a place because he didn’t remember to pay. He started walking back, having to touch the wall to balance himself every now and then.

Cagney approached the bar and blinked. Huh, Isabella was still there. Maybe she was getting another drink? He glanced to the side and did a double take. “What the hell?” He muttered.

It was Carl. The stupid caterpillar he should have beaten the pulp out of a few days ago. His eyes widened. Oh man, those thoughts earlier of Hilda distracting him…were those true?! She must have planned on meeting up with this idiot when he was on the floor with Isabella.

He watched the bug check out the bat lewdly and his eyes narrowed. Yeah, no, this was not going to work for him. He walked toward them, realizing he was about to cause a problem.

Carl was unaware of the danger. He looked up from his incredibly long look. “A lovely woman such as yourself, surely you’re not alone here?”

Isabella realised she was dealing with a narcissistic Casanova, it wasn’t the first and would probably not be the last.

She got the scent of the carnation again and wiggled her ears to try to identify where was he coming from. She smiled at the caterpillar. “I’m not anymore.” And she turned toward Cagney’s direction. “Forgot something, partner?”

Carl blinked in surprise as she looked away. He could have sworn she was blind. He turned to greet her friend only to pale. “Oh…nut berries,” he managed before Cagney slammed a hand down next to the caterpillar.

“Hope you got a good look, Carl, because that might be the last thing you see when I’m through with you,” Cagney snarled, holding back the urge in him to drive his hands through the floor and transform.

“I, oh, just this is all just a misunderstanding,” Carl babbled.

Cagney loomed dangerously over the caterpillar. “So, you and Hilda planning on meeting up here together to make an idiot out of me, is that the misunderstanding?” He growled, slamming his hand next to the bug again.

The bat got startled by the noise and decided it was better to move away from it, so she slid to the seat next to her. Cagney sounded really angry, she thought would be best not to say anything and hear how this plays out.

Oh man! She had so much to tell Goopy tomorrow.

Carl had no idea what the carnation was talking about. “Hilda? Who’s Hilda? You mean the woman from the Clip Joint?”

“Hey!” The rooster approached them. “You got a problem, take it outside,” he pointed toward the door with his feathery thumb.

Isabella wasn’t sure what to do, but she did have similar experiences in the past so she kept her distance. “ Eh.. Cagney, maybe you should go 'talk’ outside…”

–

Hilda was livid “How long does it take to pay a tab! Is he washing the dishes or something?” She yelled and walked towards the club.

–

Cagney stared down at the insect, ignoring the bat. “Really? Cause she said you two were good friends!” He argued.

Carl shook his head. “No, no! I hardly know her!”

Cagney blinked. “What? Why were you with her then?”

“She was just some drunk, dumb girl!”

Cagney leered. “She’s not dumb, say that again and I’ll turn you into fertilizer.”

“She wanted me to come back to her place to make her friend jealous!” He confessed, doing his best to look small.

Cagney snorted. “What friend? All you did was come by my…field…” He stopped. Wait a second. Things were starting to click into place. Had Hilda tried to make him jealous? Why the hell would she be trying to make him jealous unless…she liked him.

Carl took advantage of the hesitation to discreetly use one of his many hands to reach behind him to grab a glass to chuck at the very confused carnation. “Yes, all her idea! Not mine at all! I was just planning on walking her back to her place! I definitely wasn’t going to spend the night!” He stalled, his fingers wrapping around the glass. He would claim self defense even though Cagney hadn’t actually touched him yet.

--

Hilda entered the club and looked around for the giant flower. She frowned to see him at the bar with Isabella and… was that Carl? Looked like Cagney was threatening him, and everybody was starting to stare at them. She rushed towards them. “Cagney!”

Cagney turned at the sound of Hilda’s voice and was about to ask her what the hell was going on between her and Carl when something hard broke against the back of his head and he fell to his knees.

Carl stood behind him triumphantly, dropping the broken bottle at his feet. “Ha! Who’s the idiot now?!” He yelled.

The bartender glanced over the counter. “You…just broke a bottle of 30 year old Scotch,” he mentioned.

The mole owner, who had been watching from the sidelines anxiously, nearly passed out in horror.

Carl froze. “Uh…”

The bat covered her mouth in surprise, not daring to move. Hilda’s jaw dropped and looked at Cagney on the floor starting to bleed, or… the equivalent of bleeding for a plant.

Her eyes lit up and she glared angrily at Carl. “You son of a bitch,” she said softly, covering herself in thick mist and letting Taurus take over. “YOU’RE DEAD!” Her voice sounded like thunder all over the club.

The rooster got to Isabella and quickly guided her to the exit. “No! Wait! I want to know how it ends!” The singer said trying to remain where she was, but the rooster saw the bull was thrusting towards the bar and pulled Isabella away with him.

Carl didn’t think this was how his day was going to go. He woke up this morning, did his morning routine of stretches and yoga with the girls, then went for a stroll around the meadows. He had planned on cocooning soon and wanted to come out to celebrate, and possibly bring back a lucky lady he could boast to. He thought for sure his news would just draw women to him.

Having Hilda charge him as a bull was not what he had in mind and he jumped over the bar with a scream.

Cagney was seeing stars on the ground and could feel something trickling off of him. Was that his blood? Or was that the Scotch? He had no idea but was too dizzy to check. He could hear Hilda yelling and he was really really hoping she wasn’t going for him because there’s not much he could have done about it.

Taurus destroyed half of the bar with one powerful thrust, sending shards of wood and glass everywhere. People screamed and ran towards the exits. “Stop hiding, you worm!” The constellation yelled, “This is how you go! I’ve seen it in the stars! Hahaha!” The bull said with a manic laugh.

Carl was not a fighter. He felt like one when he knocked the flower down but now this was definitely out of hand. He made a dash for the door as Cagney finally recovered, pulling himself back up with a groan and a swear.

Hilda, well, Taurus noticed the caterpillar making a run for the door and saw Cagney standing up. He was afraid he would trample over his friend if he tried to charge again.

“Hey, giant dandelion! He’s getting away!” He said, hoping the flower was still aware of what was going on.

Cagney looked toward Tauros very confusedly. “What?” His words sunk in and the carnation looked to see Carl bolting. He tried to plant his arms but they hit the wood floor and he hissed in pain. “Ow, ow!” He groaned.

Guess he was running it then. He chased after Carl and managed to snag the bug outside of the club, right next to the tree Hilda had been on before.

Carl squeaked. “Wait, wait, don’t hurt me!”

The carnation huffed angrily. “Think just cuz someone can’t see, you can pull those stunts?”

Perfect! They were outside the club. Taurus followed them making the clouds that formed him more dense until it covered his entire body. Once outside, the cloud revealed a handsome centaur already pointing his arrow at the caterpillar. “Goodbye, CaaAAaarl!” he mocked, and with another terrifying laugh, he shot his arrow.

Unfortunately, Hilda was a bit intoxicated, so his arrow missed the target and pinned the caterpillar to the tree by his clothes.

“Oh, shucks… I was aiming for the head!” Sagittarius lamented, not realizing that both men froze at the thudding of the arrow by their heads.

Carl freaked out. “No! My mom is gonna kill me if I wreck this suit!” He lamented.

Cagney, leaned against the tree next to the caterpillar, trying to look both cool and to keep himself standing despite the fact that Sagittarius’ arrow nearly scared the sap out of him too. “You’re worried about your MOM killing you? I’d worry more about your friend here murdering you with arrows,” Cagney spat.

Carl shook his head. “Definitely not my friend! I hardly know her!”

Cagney blinked. Oh yeah. Carl was blabbering about this in the bar. He turned on Sagittarius with a hard look. “So, Carl and I were having a friendly chat in the club-”

“Friendly?! You were slamming the-” Carl protested but a glance at the arrow pinning his suit to the tree kept him quiet.

Cagney continued. “And he says you’re not his friend and that night you guys went by my field was del-delib- on purpose!” He stuttered, alcohol making his word choice difficult.

He pointed to the caterpillar. “But maybe he’s lying. Why don’t you prove me wrong and tell me what his favorite color is? Or how about his last name?”

The centaur rolled his eyes. “Oh! Enough with the charades! Hilda is in loaaAAAh ..” Sagittarius held his head in pain and white smoke started to cover his body again. When the cloud dispersed, Hilda was standing there with her hands on her head, breathing heavily.

“Cagney! He broke a God damn bottle on your head! Why isn’t he dead already?!” She yelled, hoping the carnation would focus on hurting the caterpillar instead of interrogating him.

Cagney pointed at the caterpillar still. “What’s his last name, Hilda?”

Hilda cringed feeling how her cheeks turned redder than usual. “It’s… hmmrrrssss…. Smith. He’s Carl Smith,” she decided to go with what she thought was a very common last name.

Carl gaped at her. “What? Smith?! What type of name is Smith?! You don’t even know my last name and you invited me over to sleep with you?!”

Cagney slammed the tree and the caterpillar squeaked into silence. Shit, he was really hoping the caterpillar was lying. But judging by how red Hilda’s face was, he didn’t think so. His chest ached at the thought. “You were going to sleep with him?” He asked, looking more hurt than upset.

“WHAT?!” She was livid now and got closer until she was facing Carl “The fuck are you saying?!” She yelled angrily “I never said I was going to sleep with you! You filthy worm!”

She poked him hard on his chest. “I just wanted THIS idiot to be jealous!” She pointed at Cagney with her thumb and turned to him still blushing. “There! I said it! I wanted to make YOU jealous! Happy now?! Can we go back being friends again?!” Her eyes were starting to get wet. “Please…” she said softly. This sentimental stuff really wasn’t her thing.

Cagney was taken aback by Hilda’s outburst. Carl might have been talking but he wasn’t listening. So it was true. Hilda was trying to make him jealous. Because maybe she liked him as much as he liked her?

But that last line, that emotional one from the normally smart mouthed woman really nailed him in the chest and his plant heart hurt. “Can I do one thing first before we go back to being friends?” He asked.

“Wha~… yeah?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, thanks,” he mumbled, walking over to her. He swallowed hard and before Hilda could say anything more, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a rough kiss.

The woman didn’t dare move. Her eyes went wide open and her heart skipped a beat. The constellations in her head were as shocked as her and remained silent.

Cagney finally broke from the kiss and looked deep into her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something only to stop and hold up a finger. “Gimme a sec,” he managed. He stumbled away from her and threw up behind the tree.

Hilda was still paralyzed and just stood there, looking at the carnation emptying his stomach. A shy silly smile drew on her face and she completely forgot about Carl, Isabella, and the whole mess which made them get angry to begin with.

“I’m- I’m not throwing up cause of the kiss!” Cagney protested, climbing back to his feet unsteadily, gesturing to the club. “Alcohol doesn’t go well with being a plant.”

Carl just stared at the scene in front of him. This was how he was going to die, watching a murderous flower getting rejected by a murderous sky witch. There was no way any girl was gonna come back from that (he knows, he tried it before many times with women he just met)

Hilda’s smile grew bigger. She was about to make witty comment but was interrupted by the sound of police sirens getting closer. Reality brought back the woman from her happy cloud and made her realise they had to get out of there if they didn’t want to get in more trouble.

“Shit!” She cast a cloud big enough for the both of them. “Cagney, we gotta go! Hop on!” She extended her hand to help him get up.

“Aw man, not the cloud,” Cagney groaned, but he knew the last thing he needed was to spend a night in jail so he grabbed her hand and climbed onto the cloud.

She got closer to the caterpillar. “And YOU better keep your mouth SHUT!” She grabbed the arrow and waved it in front of him “Or next time I WON’T miss,” her bracelet glowed and the arrow disappeared in a puff.

Carl nodded hurriedly.

“Hold on tight!” Hilda waved her hands and the cloud flew towards the observatory.

Carl waited for the police to come. He glanced at the time. “Ah gee, my mom is gonna be so mad I missed curfew…”

———–