“Do I have to, Tera?”  
    “Cleo, I paid A LOT for these!” 
    Cleo frowned and stroked her snake hair. They hissed nervously at her friend as she held up the article of clothing for her, “I-I don’t know...” 
    Tera stomped her clawed foot and flapped her grey wings, “Come on! If it goes bad tonight, we can burn em! Promise!” She put the leather jacket in her friend’s arms.  
    Cleo’s long snake body curled underneath herself, “I-I was going to put all these bows on my snakes, I wanted to dress cute!” 
    Tera growled, “Cute isn’t working! Cute doesn't bring boys back to your place!” She throws the leather jacket on, it had holes in the back specifically for her wings, “Leather jackets, we’re cool now!” 
    “Stone Sisters?” Cleo’s jaw dropped as she read the back, “Here to kick ass and make the bed rock. No. I can’t wear this.” 
    “Aaaaand here’s your aviators!” The gargoyle handed the medusa a pair of reflective aviators, “I didn’t get any small ones for the snakes. Sorry.” 
    “What am I expected to wear with this?” The two girls were still in their sleep clothes.  
    “I know EXACTLY what we’re wearing!” Tera grabbed some clothes for the both of them. Matching outfits. Underneath the leather jacket they would wear only skin tight athletic shorts, bike shorts. But for Cleo, it was a matching skin tight nylon skirt. To cover their breasts they would wear black crop tops.  
    Cleo merely starts shaking her head in shock, “No, no no--”  
    “Yes, yes yes!” Tera shut her up, “Come on! Do it for me! I’m gonna go shower, we don’t have a lot of moonlight to burn!” 
    The medusa sighed, “Alright. I will. For you. I’ll go clean myself up as well.” 
    “Yesssss! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this!” 
 
    Cleo stared at herself in the mirror. She was in her new ‘cool’ uniform. She had snakes for hair of course, they, along with the scales of her snake body, were a light grey color. She looked, well, fine in the athletic clothes and leather jacket, albeit a bit uncomfortable. She tied a single black bow to one of her snakes. The snake’s black eyes stared into her red eyes as she examined the bow. Cleo tried to style the snakes, contemplating pulling them back in a ponytail or into twin tails. Maybe she should move them all over to one side of her head. She shook her head and just left them down.  
    “A bow? Really?” Tera groaned, “Here's a necklace,” She put a little chain around Cleo’s neck and then one on herself. She reached up to remove the little bow in the snake hair but the snake pulled itself away with a warning hiss. 
    “Can I keep it, please?”  
    “Fiiiiiiine,” The gargoyle groaned, “Put one in my hair,” The medusa nodded and put a black bow in her dark black hair. Tera had dark grey skin like concrete that was actually really soft and warm. She definitely wore the clothes much better than Cleo, at least in Cleo’s eyes. The bike shorts formed to fit her nice butt quite well. She filled the shirt much less than Cleo did, but everyone was more into butts now. Tera had a short tail and a pair of large leathery wings. Tera smiled at Cleo, “Lookin’ cool, best friend!” 
    “T-thanks...” Cleo blushes.  
Tera gives her an expectant look, “You’re supposed to say I’m cool too!” Tera groans. 
    “You look cool,” Cleo adds quietly. 
    “Better. Come on! Come on! Come on!” The gargoyle grabbed her friend by the hand and pulled the quickly slithering snake out the door of their apartment, “Ready to get out there and ROCK, stone sister!?”  
    “I-I guess so,” Cleo stammered as she was dragged into the elevator. She dragged her entire 12 feet of snake body into the elevator as her friend held it open. The elevator rumbled down to the first floor as generic pop music played. Tera swung her body from side to side as she moved along to the music. Her little grey tail swung from side to side as she shook her hips. Cleo found herself moving slightly to the rhythm as well. 
    “Gotta keep that energy up for the night! You me, a couple of boys and some drinks! We’re gonna have a lot of fun tonight!”  
    “Y-yeah!” Admittedly, some of Tera’s enthusiasm was rubbing off on her.  
    “Lets walk tonight, I need a drink or three.” 
    “Please don’t. You know what happens when you drink.” 
    “Yeah I turn myself to stone as a joke... Or something. Or I fly...” 
    “Or you ditch me and you call me crying in the rain at four in the morning to come get you!” Cleo angrily reminded her, still upset about that horrible, horrible night. 
    Tera frowned and stepped out as the door dinged. Cleo quickly slithered out of the elevator and into the hallway, still looking cross at her friend, “I said I was sorry,” Tera grumbled. 
    Cleo sighed, “Come on, we’re going to go have fun tonight, remember? Sorry I snapped at you... Best friend.” 
    Tera smiled back, “Yeah, come on. We’re not coming back empty handed tonight! We’re gonna be BIGGER and BOULDER than any other night tonight!” 
 
    The two friends hit up their first bar of the night. A small, quaint little joint run by a hellhound and her husband. Both girls got non alcoholic drinks and Tera paid for them both immediately. Two Shirley Temples. Could be passed off as alcoholic when in a pinch. Cleo crept over to the usual booth in the corner. Tera got to work immediately, “Hey, handsome,” She said as she slid up to a man at the counter, “Lookin’ for a girl to ROCK your world tonight?” The man scowled at her before moving further down the bar. She sighed, her tail and wings slouching before she retreated to her friend at the booth, “Didn’t even humor me. Your turn,” Tera’s sad frown turned into an excited smile. 
    “O-okay...” Cleo took a drink before getting up and picking out a target. A single lonely looking man drinking at the bar. She slithered up after calming her snake hair down, “H-hi,” Cleo put on the most confident smile she could fake, “Want me to make you rock hard tonight?” She flashed a bit of magic in her red, petrifying eyes. The man looked up at the snakes on Cleo’s head, turned pale and scurried away without a word. Both Cleo and Tera sighed painfully, “Sorry,” Neither were sure if Cleo’s apology was to her friend or herself.  
    “No being sorry! Look, a group of three!” Tera only gave the three young men a moment long enough to order a round of drinks before dragging her snake friend over to the three. Tera opened her mouth to speak but caught a glimpse of two men’s left hands. They both had wedding rings. She shoved her friend onto a bar stool two seats away from them and took a seat one chair away.  
    “Wh-what is it?” Cleo asked quietly. 
    Tera turned and silently used two fingers and tapped them to her right cheek. Then she used her other hand and tapped the left cheek with one finger. Cleo nodded back, understanding. Both pretended to sip on their drinks as they listened in on the mens’ conversations.  
    “Man, thats a nasty bruise,” One grunted. 
    The second glanced at his arm, “Eh, just sword training. Not like she’s beating me. She’s a samurai so she takes it really seriously. How’s the range?” 
    The third gagged on his liquor, “Fine... Fine... Wife’s being really hands on with it, which is helpful. Hey... Is your wife still gonna put that rune on my back?” 
    The first friend nodded, “She’s still gathering materials. Your request is kinda odd. And then there’s...” 
    Cleo and Tera both tuned it out. They turned to each other with downtrodden expressions and three fingers on their right cheek. Cleo formed both her hands into fists and clapped them together lightly once, one on top of the other, before turning both into finger guns and gesturing towards the door with a quizzical expression. Tera nodded, “Yeah, come on. Let’s rock and roll on outta here.” 
 
    “Yeah, me and my buddy are in a rock band together,” Tera grinned, “G-get it? Rock? Because I’m a gargoyle?” She raised her eyebrows at the guy, “What about that word, gargoyle? Gargle? Wanna find out if I can garg-oyle cock well, big boy?” 
    “I, uh, have to go to the bathroom,” He got up and walked out the door of the tiny bar. 
    “I guess he didn’t get it. But I nailed that delivery...” Tera shrugged. She turned the corner to watch her snake haired friend put the charms on another man. 
    “I-I said I like a guy with a chiseled jaw,” Cleo smiled weakly as the man she was talking to ignored her, “How a-about a drink? O-on the rocks?” 
    She glanced at Tera. The gargoyle blinked hard and shook her head. Cleo sighed, defeated and got down from the bar without another word. The two friends slid into a booth, “No luck?” Tera asked with a stony expression. 
    Stone faced, Cleo shook her head, “None at all. I’m not really feeling this anymore, Tera,” Her heart was starting to sink like a rock because of these failures. 
    “Hey, hey, come on. The night is still young! Look, the club, people go there to hook up. Maybe we can make a friend or two!” 
    “I... I don’t know...”  
    “Look at me,” The gargoyle grabbed her friend’s face and forced her to look into her eyes, “You’ve got medusa energy right now, right?” Cleo looks confused but nods, “I need you to drop that and start with the seduce-ah energy, alright?” 
    With resteeled resolve, she nodded, “Alright. Lets go.” 
 
    The disastrous duo, their failures not eroding their spirits, made their way to a club. Tera bounced to the beat of the loud dance music while Cleo tried to use her snake hair to block out some of the sound. She tried to keep her snake tail underneath herself the best she could so it wouldn’t be tread on. Despite being a big noodle of muscles, the scales did little to protect her. They didn’t do much other than look pretty. Tera was more than happy to take up more space than she really needed. She uncurled her wings to flaunt the somewhat large and muscular things. The two girls approached the bar and got a pair of hardly alcoholic drinks. Tera does her best to show off her cool new jacket and ass in form fitting shorts to anyone behind her. She immediately turned to the man next to her and tried to lay on her rocky, feminine charm, “Hey there, big man. I won’t take you for granite like other girls.” 
    With a groan, the man turned to the enthusiastic gargoyle, “Not interested, thanks,” He mumbled before stepping away. 
    Cleo smiled at a man a bit further down the bar who nervously avoided eye contact. She frowned and turned back to Tera, “See anything?”  
    Tera winked and pointed to two guys sitting at a booth in the back. Neither looked like they were having that good of a time. She put two fingers on her left cheek and an excited smile on her face, “Okay, okay... I’ll strut over there and chat them up. I’ll wave you over or come get you, alright? I’ve gotta hype my girl up.” 
    Cleo nodded and turned back to her drink. She glanced over her shoulder to see the conversation looking like it was going alright. There was a noise behind her, maybe a snicker or a giggle. She turned around and was face to face with four massive mamano, “Stone Sisters?” One laughed, a hellhound. 
    “What, is that a gang? You steppin’ on our turf?” The second, an amazonian growls. Cleo starts to sweat and stammer, making three of the girls laugh. 
    “Maybe we should take her out back and show her what we do with other gangs?” A kakuen grins as she cracks her knuckles.  
    The dark valkyrie chuckles, “There's only one of her, hardly fair.” 
    “You fuckin’ with my friend?” Cleo heard a growl behind the girls. They turn to face Tera. Tera isn’t the biggest of mamano, standing at a little under six feet. All of the girls in this other leather jacket and chain wearing gang were taller than her. 
    The hellhound let out a boisterous laugh, “Ooooh, what? You gonna protect your friend, little girl? Know what we do with girls like you? We--” 
    Tera shut her up by punching her full force in the stomach. It felt like all the music stopped as the commotion started. Cleo grabbed her drink and dumped it on the amazonian’s back. She turned, enraged, only to get turned to stone temporarily by Cleo’s bright red eyes and hissing snake hair. The kakuen caught a glimpse of it and was also partially turned to stone from the waist down. She shouted in fear at her own situation as Tera got decked in the nose by the dark valkyrie. The ferocious gargoyle lashed out with her claws and tore the valkyrie’s jacket to shreds. Security stepped in, some massive onis, and broke up the fight as the two girls continued to shout vile obscenities at each other. Tera got thrown out by one of the oni as Cleo was told to leave as well. The medusa left, not looking to get manhandled. She mercifully unfroze the other girls before she left.  
    Tera picked herself up and wiped herself off. She had a few bloody scrapes on her knees and a massive grin on her face, “Good thing I came to your rescue! Right!?” She laughs. 
    “Let's go home already, this nights been a disaster,” Cleo whined. 
    Tera glanced back at the club, “Hey, we better dip, those other girls are probably looking for us.” 
    “Finally, a good idea,” Cleo sighed in relief. 
    “Come on, let's go to that arcade bar and actually drink a little.” 
    “No!” Cleo groaned 
Tera looked shocked, “What are you talking about? This has been great!” 
    “No it hasn’t!” Cleo groaned, “No one has been receptive of us at all! The ice cold shoulder--” 
    “Stone cold shoulder,” Tera whined. 
    “No more puns! This isn’t working! Your nose is gushing blood!” 
    “Oh, I must look cool as hell! Rugged and shit!” Tera grabbed her phone and tried to get a look at herself, “Shit, I am cool looking!” 
    “Tera,” Cleo pleaded quietly. 
    She sighed, “Okay, we’ll go home. But that arcade bar is on the way and I know you love a few of those machines. I just want a shot before we go home.” 
    Cleo nodded, giving in, “I wouldn’t mind playing a round or two of Galaga.” 
    “Heeey!” Tera hugged her friend, “That's my girl! Remember, seduce-ah.” 
    “What about those two guys you talked to?” 
    Tera wretched, “They were alps. Fresh ones. Don’t even ask what line I used on them. Glad I offended them at least. Come on, I need to get away from this place.” 
 
    Cleo didn’t have any intentions of putting on the charms like Tera had kept telling her. She gladly put a few quarters in the dusty Galaga machine and started playing. The familiar jingle and the scrolling stars made her smile a little. Probably the most she had smiled tonight, “Here,” Tera handed her friend a margarita, “Sorry that tonight hasn’t gone super well.” 
    The medusa shook her head. She held the margarita in one hand, held the joystick in the other and pressed the buttons with her tail, “Not your fault. Its been exciting at least.” 
    “Yeah, but I liked that club. Can’t go back there for a few months,” The gargoyle slumped as she sat on the disused Street Fighter Two bench. She wrapped her wings around herself as a cloak, “Not a lot of boys here either,” She shrugged, “Guess we’re done here whenever you wanna go.” 
    “What happened to your energy?” Cleo asked as she played her game.  
    “Eh, just a little sad my plan didn’t work at all. We can still burn these if you want,” Tera sighed sadly. 
    “No, I kinda wanna keep mine. Its comfortable at least. Maybe we can try again some other night?” 
    Tera smiled, “You’re just saying that to make me smile. Its working.” 
    Both girls turn as they hear a polite coughing near them. Two men, about Tera and Cleo’s age stand with drinks in their hands, “You guys using the S F Two cabinet?” 
    “Huh?” Tera gave them a confused look. 
    “They want to play the game you’re leaning on, Tera,” Cleo giggled.  
    “Oh. Shit, sorry,” Tera hopped up and tucked her wings against her backs.  
    “Stone Sisters?” One of the men asks with an inquisitive eyebrow raise. 
    “Kick ass and make the bed rock,” The two men chuckled at each other, “I like it.” 
    Tera’s mouth was agape as she stared at the two cute boys that actually LIKED her stupid jacket, ‘This is it,’ she told herself, “You boys come here often?” She asked as she leaned on the Tempest cabinet. 
    “Oh, just to play a little bit of Street Fighter together,” One chuckles a little nervously. 
    Cleo abandoned her Galaga game to stand on the other side of the SF2 cabinet. The two girls did their usual checks, they seemed polite enough, were cute, definitely friends... She looked up at Tera, both ‘Stone Sisters’ had the two fingers on their left cheeks. Neither man had wedding bands and there wasn’t the scent of another mamano in the air on them. Tera went first, “You guys looking for some ladies to make your beds ROCK tonight?” She asked with a smug and playful tone. 
    “I-I’ll keep you rock hard all night, honey,” Cleo smiled.  
    Neither girl knew how to respond as both men seemed to be pretty receptive to their jokes. They even smiled back at them and chuckled, “Have you two been rehearsing this?” One teased, “Or do you start every night with a clean slate?” 
    Tera’s eyes grew wide as she realised that he actually made a pun back. She started to stammer and sweat, she had never gotten this far, “I’ve never had someone joke back with me, maybe we should take a photo? Ya know, for the sentimental value.” 
    Tera looked at Cleo to tag her in. Cleo shook the frozen, stony expression off of her face, “J-Just poke me with a stick and water comes out...?” She blushed after she spouted the first thing that came to mind. The boys and Tera found it kind of funny at least. 
    “How about we get you boys numbers? Its getting pretty late for us,” Tera asked. 
    “Only if you promise us more rock puns in the future,” The first one nodded. Cleo hastily wrote down their names and numbers on a crumpled up piece of paper from her bag. Tera was right, exhaustion was beginning to sneak up on her and her eyelids were growing heavy, “We’d offer you girls some drinks, on the rocks, if you were looking to stay longer.” 
    The two girls look at eachother, and despite the weariness, nod at one another, “Yeah, I’d love a drink,” Tera smiled as she stretched. 
    “Same here, please,” Cleo smiled as well. 
 
    Cleo and Tera lay on Cleo’s massive mat that she slept on. They stared at the ceiling, back in their sleeping clothes. They kept passing the paper with the names and numbers back and forth. Both just stared in stunned awe at the paper, “I can’t believe it,” Cleo muttered under her breath. 
    “Two cute boys to go on double dates with,” Tera sighed dreamily, “Which one are you gonna coil up with?” 
    “I don’t even care which one I get. They’re both so cute. They’re both pretty sweet too.” 
    Tera looked at her best friend, “Yeah. Probably better to let them pick. Think they’ll pick which girl they like after our first date?” 
    “Don’t rush them!”  
    “I won’t!” Tera laughs, “We need more rock puns. Think they’d wanna join our rock band?” 
    “We don’t even have instruments,” Cleo reminded her. 
    “But you sing really well! That's one instrument.” 
    The medusa yawned, “Alright, friend. Go to sleep.” 
    “Alright, alright, good night,” She rolled over and fluffed her pillow before trying to sleep face down.
     “Go sleep in your own bed!” Cleo fruitlessly tries to shove  her more muscular friend from the bed. Tera started to snore loudly.  Cleo frowned, unsure if her friend was faking it or not. She shrugged  and pulled the heated blanket around herself. She glanced at her  gargoyle friend and sighed quietly. Using only her tail she threw a  mundane, soft blanket over her friend and moved away from her, “Good  night,” Cleo mumbled before she drifted off to sleep.