1.12.2– Is it a date? No! REALLY!

2.0 - Edited by: Rellawing, AlliterativeArts, Raleon, Trismegistus Shandy - 8/30/2020

A few days after the rave, both Quinn and Goonie nagged Leona to call Sarah and ask her if she wanted to hang out. Even though the two had exchanged names and numbers and despite really wanting to call the kitty, it took Leona a good while to pull the trigger because she was too  shy.

“Ooooh… your first date… how cute!” Quinn teased as she drove them to the meetup in the new car she just bought using the hard earned savings from playing at parties and raves, and the last bit of money she needed was furnished at the end of the rave Quinn had invited Leona to. She had made enough to afford a used convertible in decent condition. Quinn wasn’t satisfied with the pink paint job, but she planned to eventually customize it to her liking.

“Don’t call it that! I’m a girl and she’s a girl! We can’t assume that she likes girls. This is JUST hanging out, got it?!” Leona yelled.

“Yeah, I get that. This from the girl whose face turns beet red whenever the subject of Sarah comes up. Uh huh…” Quinn laughed.

“Quiet, you!” Leona yelped and curled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them as she blushed beet red. “I can’t let her see me blush like this… I don’t know… it was probably those cute ears of hers. I’m sure it’ll pass.”

“Are you telling me you like men? You want to find a husband?” Quinn looked askance at her little sister.

“Noooooo! I haven’t thought about anything like that! Relationships are weird, scary and way too much for me right now.” Leona chewed her lip.

“Okay… take Jason. He was kinda nice, did you think he was interesting at all?” Quinn asked with a little smile.

“Not at all! He was friendly if a bit of a jerk. No, I didn’t…” Leona groaned remembering the bartender.

“How about Frank or Dave?” Quinn asked, setting Leona to blinking. Who was Dave?

“No! Frank fixed me up with Sarah… w-wait… I didn’t mean it like that.”

Quinn pressed Leona, smirking, “It’s definite, then. So you met them all, but when you looked at Sarah, your face turned redder than a ketchup bottle. You cannot tell me you weren’t having some strange thoughts.”

Leona winced and squirmed. “Oh fine… I did… those ears were just so fuzzy…”

“Is that all? A fetish for nekomimi? Really? You’re quite the oddball.” Quinn said as she took a sharp turn at a light.

“This coming from the oddbally-est person I know.” Leona pouted, staring at her sister with her now olive-green-hair. Wasn’t it a bit too soon to change again? There was absolutely no way she was going to dye her hair that shade, no matter how she begged! Olive green? REALLY? All she needed was a red tint up top to complete the fruit look!

“Tch… C’mon… what about her butt… or her skin… did she have nice boobs?” Quinn asked.

Her sister was surely deeply in the lesbian camp. “I did NOT STARE AT HER…” Her butt or her boobs? She only needed the nekomimi, thanks!!!

“You did… your eyes were fastened firmly on her the whole time you talked. I know when a girl is smitten when I see one, so don’t try to squirm out of it.” Quinn laughed.

“Damn it… I-- a… am…” Leona flushed more.

“Yup! Now let’s see where things go!” Quinn flashed a cheshire grin.

A short time later they pulled up to the Cobbles, an open-air mall near the ferry on the northside of San Isidro. It was one of the more ‘tourist-y’ areas in the city, and was well-maintained and policed, including a fine view of the sister city, Seaside City’s skyline across the bay. Crime had been skyrocketing lately since the local hero had gone awol due to bad publicity. Her codename was Cheshire, like Quinn’s smile. As Leona continued to be a fan of heroes and all the news related to them, she found out about the death of Black Angel and the near ending of her favorite heroine, Mistral, up in the Rockies soon after the event had occurred. The coverage was nothing but flattering and sympathetic when reporting the death of the S+ rank threat.

Leona turned her thoughts back to the present when Quinn found a parking spot and jumped out without even opening the convertible’s door. Leona smiled at her wild older sister and emulated her by leaping out as well, demonstrating her hard-gained balance and athleticism. She landed with aplomb. Quinn clapped with a warm smile and rushed to the other side of the car. “C’mon… let’s go see your girlfriend.”

“Don’t say things like that in front of her or I’ll ban you! I’m sure she’ll hate us!” Leona growled as her sister ruffled her carefully styled hair. “And don’t mess up how I look… damn it…” She pouted and readjusted her hair, using the car’s passenger side mirror. Quinn watched her with a knowing look.

“Pinky swear, I won’t.” Once Leona had gotten her hair in order again, they headed into the open air mall area. After waiting for a brief while at the food court, Quinn yanked Leona over while she was looking anxious around for Sarah, who wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “Don’t stress… let’s get a nibble. My treat.”

She pulled her to a hibachi stand where they got a hearty pile of teriyaki beef on rice apiece. They went to a nearby table toting large cups of sweet tea. They enjoyed the meal and Leona wiped her forehead as she ate. Her body had started heating up thanks to her thoughtlessly taking the side that wasn’t shaded.

“Careful, bum, you’ll get a heat stroke eating hot food under the sun, since it’s so hot today. Choosing to sit on that side wasn’t the smartest move. C’mon over here and rest in the shade with me.” She patted the seat next to her. Leona nodded and moved around the table. She sighed in relief and noticed there was a better view of the beach and the skyscrapers across the way from this position. Sometimes she wished she could take a trip over there, but they’d never left San Isidro before because Goonie was busy with running Au Naturale.

They enjoyed the meal together until familiar ears peaked through the crowd of the food court. Leona jerked to her feet and hollered, “Sarah!!!”

“Ahahaha... Mission complete.” Quinn winked. “I’ll leave you lovebirds alone. Wouldn’t want to spoil anything by accident with my big mouth. But I’ll be around… spying from the sidelines.” Quinn smirked and looked a little menacing when she wiggled her fingers like a villain. Leona blushed and hid behind her hands. “See ya later!” Quinn took her trash with her as she left.

Arriving at the table, Sarah watched Quinn’s retreat with a puzzled expression. “Why’d your sister go? Is she busy?” Sarah asked with a small frown.

“Ah… um… yes, she’s busy. Anyhow, um… what kinds of things do you like?” Leona asked lamely.

“We already talked about that at the rave, but I’ll tell you again if you forgot it already! Anyway, I understand. It was a mess.” Sarah laughed. “I like anime and catgirls… they’re like the CUTEST THINGS IN THE WHOLE WORLD!” Sarah’s squeal startled Leona.

“Wh-what? You didn’t mention those at the rave… you like girls? Like… like?” Leona asked, stumbling.

“Like them? Of course! W-wait… not ‘girl-girls’… just catgirls are like the greatest things in the world really! I want to be one! If I had to choose a power, I’d want to be one! Nyaaaaaa!” She balled up her fingers into mock paws and tilted her head, licking her lips. “Speaking of which, is there a stand that serves fish sticks around here?”

Leona nearly fell over. “Ahahahahahahaha! Of course! There’s a seafood kiosk over there… you can get all the fishies you want.” Leona giggled.

“Yay! Saved! I see you’ve already eaten! I’ll go get some tasty fish and I’ll make sure my tail sticks straight up so they’ll know how happy I am!” Sarah hopped a little. Leona laughed again.

“I’ll come with you. Anyhow, what were you doing at that rave? Someone like you doesn’t seem like the type… I mean neither one of us are Quinn.” Leona pointed out as they walked back to the stands.

“Hmmmm… I was there because some of my friends I met in a MOBA invited me. They’re the type it seems… and I was so nya-ny they said they had to meet me. I think I was too weird for them in the end, so they kinda ditched me.” Sarah pouted.

“More like too innocent and sweet.” Leona smiled.

“Yush! That’s me.” Sarah nodded, laughing. “I’m a really boring person, I know. Too dull. There’s nothing really interesting about me.” Sarah laughed. “We’re religious… and people kinda think that’s boring if they can’t relate. I mean… it’s a really, really, normal family… with absolutely nothing special going for us except for our exceptional faith, though Dad has a great job. We go to church every Sunday and we were all baptized. I think mama does the ‘tongues’ thing I never got.”

“Your family really does sound devout when you put it that way.” Leona smiled, wondering what she meant by ‘tongues,’ but she didn’t ask.

“Yeah… it’s a tradition… ever since way back, we’ve been religious. I think my great grandfather was a preacher. But I’m kind of the black sheep.” Sarah blushed.

“More like a ‘black cat.’” Leona giggled.  “Why? You seem totally normal.”

The corner of Sarah’s lips crinkled upwards as she said, “Because I want a little more from life than just what the bible teaches. That’s why I’m at a rave.” Sarah looked around as though she still wasn’t sure why she was here.

“I see.” Leona nodded. “You’re brave to do what you want, even if you know your parents’ll be angry. Anyhow, you said there were some so-called friends that invited you, right? What game were you playing where you met those jerks who left you? Maybe I know it?”

“Oh… Banners of the Bold!... and I don’t just like MOBAs… I’m also crazy about MMORPGs… There's this one called Realms of Valor that is just absolutely amazing. It makes me feel like a real hero! Hehe… even though half the time I’m delivering cheese to some random NPC or some other weird character makes me pick up pieces of things all over… but if you don’t count the menial labor bits, I feel like a real warrior!” she glowed as she delivered that statement. “And I love rhythm games, music, normal RPGs… the kind you play alone and…”

As they continued to exchange life experiences and what stirred their passions a certain kitty got her fish, she even purred convincingly. Sarah hadn’t made any friends until today since she  recently moved from the lonely state of Montana. California had proven to be a different experience, but she was nothing but happy to be on the west coast.