[I recommend reading the original Stone Sisters before this one! Link]

    
“You want me to wear that, Tera? Again?”
    “Like I said, Cleo. I paid a lot for these! I gotta get my money out of them!” Cleo frowned at Tera. She held the two matching leather jackets in her hands, “They’re our good luck charms!” The gargoyle explained, “They got us these dates and they’ll carry us through these ones too!” Both jackets on the back said ‘Stone Sisters’ in big letters with ‘Here to kick ass and make the bed rock!’ under it.
    “But I wanted to dress nice,” The medusa whined as she gestured to her casual ribbed knitted black dress with a matching cardigan.
    “Just take that coat off and wear this one! You don’t have to wear the necklace or shades this time,” She flapped her wings excitedly, “Come on. You’ll see. Those guys think we look good in them!”
    “Yeah… They did like them,” Cleo remembered how she blushed when Luke had complimented her on it. He said he thought she looked good in it when the four of them had all gotten drinks together. The tip of her long, light grey snake body thumped against the floor as the serpents on the top of her head writhed in a similarly anxious fashion, “Fine,” She took the cardigan off and threw it aside before taking her leather jacket from her friend.
    Tera’s short tail and powerful wings both twitched with excitement, “Now we’re talking!” She brushed her short black hair out of her face.
    Cleo posed in the jacket for herself in the mirror. It did look good on her. At least she liked to believe that. She finished her look with some silver earrings on her pointed ears and a black bow on one of the snakes that made up her hair, “What do you plan on wearing?”
    “Just this,” She gestured down to her loose white shirt and form fitting black bike shorts. She threw on the jacket, making sure her leathery wings made it through their holes in the back.
    “Really? You always wear that.”
    Tera’s concrete colored face turned red, “Luke said I looked good in them!” She huffed, remembering how her date for tonight had complimented her when they had all four gone out for drinks, “So I’m gonna keep wearing it!”
    “Fine,” Cleo smirked, “Lemme text Trevor again, just to make sure we’re still on.”
    “You’ve texted him like five times already,” Tera shook her head, “But go ahead.”

    Trevor sat up straight as his phone buzzed and a jingle played. He quickly paused Soul Calibur and snatched up his phone, disrupting Luke mid combo, “Bro. Is that Cleo again?” Luke grunted.
    “Yeah. No one else texts me, I kinda like it,” Trevor chuckled as he started to type in a reply, “She’s asking if we’re still on for tonight.”
    “Again? She asked an hour ago.”
    “She’s just nervous. It's kinda cute,” Trevor admitted as he gave Cleo a friendly text that surmounted to ‘yeah, we’re still good’ with a few smiling emojis.
    “You like her already, huh?” Luke teased.
    Trevor quickly got defensive “What about you and Tera? You were practically salivating at those shorts she wears!”
    “N-no!” He shot back, hardly keeping his voice from cracking, “I just liked the outfit she had on. I caught you staring at that medusa’s hair!”
    “I was just being nice and complimenting her! I read that some echidnas and especially medusas get self conscious over it so I made sure to tell her that I liked what she did with them. I also happen to like the bow she puts on them and I think those matching jackets they wear look nice.”
    “Whatever,” Luke sighed, “Unpause so I can kick your shit in.”
    Trevor nodded. He wanted to finish getting ready but he at least could do his best friend the courtesy of finishing their match. He frowned as he watched his friend’s Nightmare obliterate Raphael, “Alright, I need to finish getting ready,” He put his controller down and started to make for his room.
    “Should we try to match like they do?” Luke asked sarcastically.
    “What are you, an alp? No. I’m just gonna throw on a button up and some casual slacks.”
    “Really? You want the IT guy look?”
    “Cleo said she liked it on me!” Trevor quickly explained. He recalled how the medusa told him she liked the button ups he wore when the four of them had gone out for drinks. A smile spread on his lips  as he thought about it, “What about you?”
    “Eh, just a hoodie and some jeans. We’re just going to a movie and Tera made a nice remark about me looking good in a loose hoodie,” Luke tried to think back on when the four of them got drinks together, but struggled to remember the details, “At least I think so. Maybe she made a comment about my hair?”
    “Whatever, man,” Trevor smirked, “Put some deodorant on. Don’t forget this time.”
    Luke scowled, happy that he hadn’t gone easy on Trevor, “I don’t need you to remind me!”
    “Then go put it on! We’re leaving soon!”

    Luke gripped the steering wheel as he turned onto his date’s street. Trevor rode shotgun, his hands gripping his knees. The car coasted slowly as it rode behind a horse drawn carriage, “Dammit,” Trevor grit his teeth as he glanced out at the houses and buildings around him.
    “What’s up?” Lukr anxiously chuckled to himself as he rode toward the girls’ apartment building.
    “You think Cleo likes me? Like, Tera seems to like you, maybe that medusa is just doing these double dates to hang out with her friend and just tolerating me.”
    “I think she’s too nice to do that to you. Why would you believe that?”
    “Well… when we got drinks, she wasn’t really looking at me. I complimented her on her hair-- snakes-- whatever it is! Then she was quiet for a little while.”
    “You’re overthinking it! I know you’re nervous, shit, I am too! This date’s just us taking them to the movies. Easy. Just buy her some candy or share some popcorn and you’ll make her happy.”
    Trevor gave his friend a little smile, “Right. T-There it is…” He nodded at the apartment complex.
    
    “I’m not sure Trevor likes me,” Cleo sighed as she and her best friend exited their apartment. The sun was high in the sky with very few clouds around it. She quickly put on her shades as the sunlight felt more extreme to her than most others, “Do you think he’s actually interested? I feel like he’s just being nice to hang out with his friend without wanting to make me feel bad.”
    Tera glanced at her friend, “He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to lead you on like that.”
    “Well, probably not… but…”
“Stop being so worried! Look, they’re here,” The gargoyle pointed to her date’s car and stomped toward it. Cleo sighed to herself and slithered across the ground after her, “Hey boys~!” 
    “Hey!” Luke called back after rolling the window down. He took a moment to find somewhere to park.
    “You boys ready to ROCK tonight!?”
    “You know it!”
    The medusa watched her friend banter with her date while her own fidgeted nervously in the passenger seat, “Look,” Tera grabbed Cleo’s arm and spoke in a hushed whisper, “I’m nervous too. Just relax. We’re just gonna go watch a movie with them. Maybe he’ll try to kiss you too! I know you’d love that.”
    Cleo’s face turned bright red as she playfully shoved her friend, “Don’t say that! He’s not going to do that!”
    Tera laughed, “Come on! I’ll make sure your whole tail gets in,” The gargoyle threw the car door open and watched her friend slide across the seats and sit behind the driver. Cleo and Trevor made eye contact for a few moments, making both freeze. Anxious smiles spread across their lips before the eye contact broke just as awkwardly. The medusa’s body was pulled under her, trying to leave enough room for her friend.
“How are you ladies today?” Luke asked as he waited for the pair to put their seatbelts on.
    “Good!” Tera replied for the two of them, “Just been waiting to hang out with you guys.”
    “Yeah, same with us,” He laughed to himself, “Does anyone have any idea what movies are playing?”
    The entire vehicle went silent, “N-no,” Cleo squeaked as she wrung her hands nervously. Her serpents also writhed in discomfort.
    “I thought you two would pick one for us,” Tera grumbled a little sheepishly.
    “I… well…” Trevor folded his arms, “I didn’t look either. I thought I’d let them pick.”
    “Dammit,” Luke growled to himself.
    “We can just pick when we get there,” Cleo suggested, “I’m sure there will be something we want to watch.”
    “Right,” Tera smirked, “If not, we can just go to the mall and goof around.”
    “Fine by me,” Trevor leaned back in his seat and tried to relax. He turned up the radio and let the somewhat soothing sounds of Electric Light Orchestra wash over him.
    “Wow, gramps,” Tera teased, “Is this what you listen to?”
    “Yeah, Trevor listens to that dad-core stuff,” Luke chimed in, “Led, Blue Oyster Cult, Dio, all that kinda music.”
    “Dad-core?” The gargoyle repeated with a laugh and even her medusa friend giggled as well, “Where do you two come up with this stuff?”
    “I’ve always called it that,” Trevor shrugged, “It’s the good stuff. There’s way too many love songs in the post mamano genres.”
    “Well, most girls do have boys and their cocks on their minds at all times,” Tera reminded him, “But it’s all real catchy.” 
“Very catchy,” Cleo sighed, “Did you hear that new Amanda Dawn album? It’s full of sweet love songs.”
    “Amanda Dawn…” Trevor repeated the name to himself, “Doesn’t she actually live in town?”
    “She’s been spotted at Morrigan’s salon before and I think Kimiko mentioned meeting her once,” Tera pointed out.
    “She wrote a song about that burger place just down the street from the Monster Mart, didn’t she?” Luke grunted, “Or at least that’s the story I see the internet repeat.”
    “Oh! I know that story!” Cleo’s eyes sparkled as she thought about it, “I think Fíon told me. Amanda apparently had a burger in that restaurant that was so good that she completely lost her disguise! She got swarmed by fans! Just like in the song!”
Trevor chuckled and glanced back at her, “Sounds a little far fetched to me,” The medusa pouted at him, sending chills down his spine as he looked into her reflective sunglasses, “Hey, there's the movie theater,” He quickly changed topics.
A close parking spot was quickly found and soon enough the group of four was staring at the posters out front, “Well…” Luke rubbed his chin, “Only five choices.”
    “Makes this easy then,” Tera nodded, “‘Manticore Manor’?”
    Trevor shook his head, “I’m, uh, not really keen on watching what, to me at least, surmounts to bad horror and too much gratuitous porn.”
    Cleo quickly agreed with him, “That’s more of a married couple movie. What about ‘'Find Me In The Alps’ or ‘Cash and Kerry’?”
    “Eugh, rom coms?” Tera stuck out her tongue.
    “Yeah, gross,” Luke scoffed, “‘Way Of The Salamander’?”
    “Oh! Yeah! That one’s really good!” Tera clenched all four of her hands excitedly before glancing at her friend. The medusa frowned at the mention of the movie. Cleo didn’t want to end up crying in front of her date, “But, uh, we should skip it. Maybe we can watch it if you and me do a solo thing.”
    “Make that a promise and I’ll agree to skip it,” Luke smirked.
    “Fine. You and I will watch it some other time. That leaves…”
    “‘Monster Girl Hunter’,” Cleo read. The movie didn’t even have a poster, only its name was printed along with the other four on the billboard above the ticket booth, “Never heard of it.”
    “Same here,” Tera grunted, “You don’t think it’s one of those edgy anti monster movies do you?”
    “They wouldn’t risk playing that shit here,” Luke remarked, “It’s our last option. Let’s go for it.”
    The others nodded, “How bad can it be?” Trevor foreshadowed with a chuckle.
    Luke and Tera hurried up to the ticket booth, “Two for ‘Monster Girl Hunter’, please!” Tera managed to talk over Luke. 
    “Here, let me pay,” The human offered as he went for his wallet.
    The gargoyle scoffed, “No way, bro. I’ve got it.”
    “No, I insist.”
    “I AM insisting!”
    “It's the gentlemanly thing to do!” Luke argued, “Let me pay!”
    “Oh, now YOU’RE an old fart stuck in your old ways!?” Tera shot back, “Times have changed, old man! I’m paying!” The teenager behind the glass considered closing the shutters and hitting the emergency button as their ‘politeness’ escalated.
    As the two continued to bicker, Cleo and Trevor stood behind them awkwardly, “You… Look good,” Trevor bleated at the snake woman, “I think I said this before, but I like that jacket a lot.”
Her gaze as well as that of most of her snake hair turned to her date. She tried to hold in how much she was blushing, “T-thank you. Um. I’ll pay if you don’t mind,” The medusa offered.
    Just like every other time the two spoke, Cleo wore those sunglasses keeping Trevor from seeing her eyes and never really letting him be sure what she was thinking, “Sure. I won’t fight you on it. Not like them,” He glanced at the two ‘love birds’ as Tera managed to put him into a headlock and hold him there with three arms while she paid with her fourth.
    “HA!” Tera screamed as she shoved the two tickets in her date’s face, “I win again!” She stepped away from him, fanning herself with the tickets and receipt haughtily.
    “Dammit,” Luke murmured, “You’re lucky you look hot in spats.”
    The gargoyle turned paler than usual, “Y-you making fun of me!?”
    He cringed as he realised what he had said, “You misheard me!” He slowly got up, helped by his best friend, “I said something about you being lucky and then acting like hot shit.”
    Tera didn’t believe him at all, “Maybe you’d like to get up close and personal with my ‘hot shit’!?” She teasingly shouted, wanting to flaunt the compliment she had received.
"Haha, gross!" Luke gave her a shit eating grin.
She froze, realising what she had just said, “Oh my god! I meant hot spats!” She fell to her knees and covered her face with all four of her arms.
    Cleo wrapped her arm around Trevor’s and pulled him out of his stupor and to the ticket booth. The teenager and everyone else around was wholly feeling second hand embarrassment, “Two please. For the same movie as them,” She requested in a deadpan voice. She gave her card to the man at the front and quickly got it back along with her tickets, “Do you need any snacks too?” 
    “You paid for my ticket, let me get you something there at least,” Trevor pleaded. The medusa quickly gave in and nodded.
    “Hey,” Luke stood over Cleo, “Come on. You can pray for death inside.”
    She stood and folded her arms. All of them. Her face was still beet red, “I… I like your hair like that. Idiot,” She huffed and put her hand in his, letting him pull her to her feet.
    “Ah, sorry about that,” Luke apologized quietly.
    The gargoyle pushed him away, “Yeah. Uh… do you really think that I--”
    “Hey!” Trevor called, “Hurry up you two! Movie starts soon!” He took his date inside without waiting for them. They exchanged glances and shrugged, heading inside.

    The four settled into their seats. Each pairing had a bucket of popcorn to share and Trevor and Cleo had gotten some candy as well. Tera frowned as she saw how little people were in the theater, “Empty, huh?” She grumbled to herself, the only other people she could see were a fox girl and her husband as well as their children up toward the front. 
    “They’re hardly advertising this, so it kinda makes sense,” Trevor shrugged, “But…”
    “Don’t worry about it!” Cleo grinned, “I’m sure they wouldn’t play just any trash here.”
    “Haha, yeah,” Luke quickly recalled the mountains of trash he had watched in this very theater even before monster girls had shown up two years ago, “Well--” He was interrupted as the cinema lights went down and the surround speakers came to life with a pleasant jingle reminding them to silence their phones. 
    “Shh!” Tera jabbed him with her elbow, “It’s starting!” She watched as the trailers started. First was a romance called ‘The Fly Who Loved Me,’ starring a lazy beelzebub and a somewhat dorky man. Luke thought it looked schlocky and unimpressive and Cleo made a mental note to check it out later. Next was a cursed sword harem action romance comedy starring nine cursed swords titled ‘The Cursed Blades.’ Tera thought it looked interesting enough and Trevor was annoyed by the amount of romance movies that monster girls had been farting out since they arrived in this world. They combined romance with every other genre in some strange experimental way. They at least pulled it off usually. Soon after the two long trailers, the movie seemed to actually start.
    
    Luke struggled to keep himself awake. He felt ill because of the fast and frantic camera cuts. Tera leaned on her propped up arm as she tried to pay attention to the movie. The action scenes were few and far between and the main hero, Arthur, was some kind of incredible Gary Stu that managed to easily beat any monster girl that tried to claim him minus the time when the director’s self insert, a large red scaled dragon, came to fight him. Even when there was action, it was incredibly boring. Cleo wasn’t enjoying it as the movie lacked real romance. The director’s role as the dragon obviously liked the main human and they would probably get together at the end with a forceful sex session but they were fourty some minutes into the movie and they hadn’t kissed or even hugged once. Trevor slumped in his seat as he had realised this movie was based on a comic he had actually read and was mostly upset that the movie strayed so far from the source material in a horrible way. All four of them hated it for a mixture of all of those reasons and none had it in them to speak up to the others and say so for fear of ruining the day for everyone else.
    None of the four seemed to register the sudden blaring alarms as their brains had turned to mush. Trevor was the first to notice it, shaking himself out of his stupor with a start and jumping out of his seat, "Is that the fire alarm!?"
    The others only seemed to wake up as one of the children near the front row began to wail loudly at the sudden noise. They watched as the two parents quickly began to struggle with wrangling their four small children as the wife was also pregnant. The flashing lights quickly stunned Cleo due to her high sensitivity to bright lights. Luke and Tera glanced at one another before hurrying down the front row to help them corral their children. Cleo started to panic, unable to find her sunglasses, “W-where are they!?” 
Trevor grabbed the medusa’s arm, “I’ll guide you, just close your eyes,” He told her over the alarm.
With a child each lifted in their arms, Luke and Tera quickly exited the theater along with their children’s parents. Trevor and Cleo were a little slower, but both managed to get out of the room and out into the sunshine of the day. The children were quickly returned to their parents before the gargoyle and her date sat down on the curb outside the theater, “Talk about a blessing,” Tera chuckled.
    “Huh?” Luke smirked, “You didn’t like that movie?” He asked teasingly. 
    “Ugh,” She groaned, “Awful. At least those kids seemed to like it.”
    “I guess so. Good job helping me with those kids, by the way,” He held out his fist for her.
    “Yeah, whatever, nerd,” She fist bumped him with both hands on her side near him.
    “Still upset about your slip up?”
    “SHUT IT!” Tera punched him in the arm, making him laugh. She found herself laughing too.
    Trevor pulled Cleo gently towards the doors as they waited for the rest of the panicked crowd to file out. He didn’t want her tail to get trampled on. Neither was too worried since they couldn’t smell any smoke. He looked at her now that they had some real light and reached up to the top of her head. She pushed herself into it as she felt his body heat near her head. He barely managed to wrench the sunglasses free from the top of her head as the writhing mass of excited snakes tried to absorb his body heat, “I found your shades,” Trevor smirked as he put the glasses in her hands.
    She swiftly put them on, “Where did you find them?” 
    “You, uh, put them on top of your head. D-don’t look so embarrassed, I’ve done the same thing before,” He admitted.
    “Thank you, Trevor,” She put her hands on his shoulders as her brain told her to kiss him on the cheek as no one was paying attention to them. She quickly chickened out and merely hugged him around the neck. He was too shocked to hug her back before she let him go and took hold of his arm, “Would you… finish leading me out?”
    “Oh, right,” He chuckled nervously before locking arms with her again and leading the way. Being two of the last people out, they watched as most of the crowd went to the ticket booth for their coupon for a free ticket due to the false fire alarm. They spotted their friends sitting on the curb together, rough housing again as Luke continued to tease the gargoyle, “Hey! Luke!” 
As Luke got distracted, Tera grabbed him in a head lock again, “Apologize!” She demanded.
    “Never!” He croaked out.
    “Fine!” She spat, keeping him in a hold, “So, you two enjoy the movie?”
    Trevor and Cleo both looked at one another with frowns, “No,” Cleo decided for them.
    She laughed back, “Yeah, we weren’t having much fun either,” She let Luke go as he tapped her arms a little frantically, “Next I’ll put you in a leg lock if you mouth off to me!”
    Luke was panting but a grin formed as his lips curled up, “You want to leg lock me? Ha, maybe I should buy you dinner first.”
    The gargoyle blushed and grit her teeth, “I meant like a head scissor lock, you damn perv!”
    “Even better!” Luke got punched in the arm again, “I thought monster girls liked perverts?”
    “Shaddup!”
    Trevor stepped in before they turned into a slug match, “What are we going to do now?”
    Cleo looked at the nearby mall, “Want to go window shopping?”
    Tera and Luke glanced at each other but nodded, “There’s a pretty good sushi joint in there, wanna hit it?” Tera asked.
    “Sure, but I’m paying this time,” Luke demanded.
    “Ugh, you’re such a baby. Fine.”

    Hours later after going their separate ways, the two girls decided to head to Tyler and Ellen’s bar to regroup. Tera held the door open for Cleo to slither into the pub, “Thank you,” Cleo smiled softly before making her way to the bar. The medusa quickly got a seat and the gargoyle joined her. Cleo sighed, “That movie date was a bust,” The air in the little pub was warm and smelled of liquor and fried foods as various groups laughed and joked in their own little corners of the bar. It was a cozy little place where people got together to have a bit of fun.
    “Window shopping was a bit of fun, right?” Tera reminded her.
    “Yeah, but…” She grimaced again as she took off her stylish sunglasses, “It could have been a much better day.”
    “Well, at least it wasn’t your date that made himself sick with the sushi,” The gargoyle scoffed as she wrapped her wings around herself. 
    Cleo managed a giggle despite her distress at the date that had occurred earlier that same day, “What do you think about him?”
    “Luke? Guy is a block head. A perv too. He can take a punch and a joke at least but he might be better at joking than I am... I might be in love,” She looked at the medusa, “Stop grinning like that! I just think so! What about you and Trevor?”
    Cleo blushed, “W-well. He is quite sweet and a real gentleman, I feel. I had to keep myself from kissing him today when he walked me out of the theater,” She admitted sheepishly.
    “You should have! Sealed the deal right there!”
    “I don’t know…”
    “Hey there, ladies,” Ellen stomped over to them, “You two look like you’ve had a good day,” She wiped her hands on her apron as her flaming eyes burned softly, “I take it your dates with those boys went well?”
    “Well enough. Someone yanked the fire alarm at the theater,” The gargoyle explained, “Saved us from that god awful movie at least.”
    “Spent another hour or two in the mall which was nice,” The medusa reached into her purse and proudly displayed a tiny red R/C car, “And he bought me this,” It was something that she might have otherwise quickly discarded into a drawer to be forgotten for years, but because Trevor had given it to her she found herself infatuated with it.
    “Mine bought me sushi and got sick,” Tera grumbled.
    The hellhound chuckled a deep, gravely laugh, “Well, you still sound like you had a good time, right? That’s a win in my book.”
    “I suppose you’re right,” The medusa sighed as she examined the car.
    “I’ll drink to that!” The gargoyle grinned, “Hit me with something hard!”
    “Something fruity and light for me, please,” Cleo put her little car away.
    “Comin’ right up you two,” The hellhound grinned before turning to grab some liquor for them.
    “Psst!” Another voice tried to get their attention. Turning to their side, the two girls saw a small, brown haired kobold staring at them with blue eyes, “I can’t believe you didn’t come say hi to me when you got here!” 
    “Sorry, Daisy,” Tera sighed, “We just made a beeline right for the drinks.”
    “Well come sit down! We’re just dying for more company!” Daisy insisted as she pointed back at the booth she came from. Two tall and imposing girls sat in the corner booth right next to one another as they spoke quietly. One was a hellhound and the other was a jinko.
    “Here you go, ladies,” Ellen passed them their drinks, “Need another drink, Daisy?”
    “Not right now, thanks! Come on you two!” The Stone Sisters hardly had a moment to pick up their drinks before the kobold tried to drag them back to her table. Quickly relenting, they went with her, “Hey, girls, look who's here!”
    “Greetings,” The jinko grunted. She had an eyepatch over one eye, short hair and wore a plain black shirt and jeans.
    “Wow, surprised you’re not in a kimono, Kimiko,” Tera prodded as she slid into the booth, “Hamiltons not paying as well as they used to.”
    The jinko didn’t show a single twitch of anger, “No. I got a raise recently, even. I was merely told I should dress more casually. My usual look draws a lot of attention, apparently,” She took her sword off the seat next to her and put it on the table so Daisy could sit beside her, “I am struggling to get acclimated to this look.”
    “Yeah, she came to ME for advice!” The hellhound laughed. She sipped on the bottle of water she had because of her swollen belly. Her pregnancy shirt said ‘CREAM PIE STATUS: BAKING.’
    “Hello, Ruth,” Cleo greeted her quietly.
    “Hey, hey, Cleo. Fíon, wake up, our old drinking buddies are here,” She shook the martini glass that the fairy was lounging in.
    “EH? Wha--? Who the FUCK-- Oh! Hey gal pals!” The fairy got out of the glass and used a napkin to dry herself off. She was wearing a green bikini that she quickly threw a green dress over, “Why the shit do you ass hats never call me anymore?”
    “They got boyfriends,” Ruth reminded her, “They’re too good for us now!”
    “W-we just haven’t been going out as much,” Cleo explained sheepishly.
    Tera nodded, “And when we do it's with the guys. We’ve been going to their favorite dives recently.”
    “I wish I could see you guys more…” Daisy whined.
    “Gone on any fuckin’ dates or are these cunts just givin’ ya the run around?” Fíon asked as she used a straw to drink whisky from a shot glass.
    “We went on one today!” Tera quickly claimed, “Saw a movie and got some sushi.”
    “A-and Trevor got me this,” Cleo showed off the R/C car, “Other than the fire alarm going off during the movie,  it was fun.”
    “Good for you,” Kimiko gave them a little smile, “Do you have another date planned?”
    “Yeah! Do something romantic!” Daisy chimed in.
    Fíon nodded, “Not a bad idea.”
    Tera grumbled, “I dunno. What would we do?”
    Ruth’s fire blazed a little brighter, “Oh! Kimiko, isn’t Maxine funding some play? She asked me if I wanted to go see it.”
    “Hm? I suppose she is. I’m being forced to go along. I believe it should be premiering next week. I could get you four tickets relatively easily,” The samurai closed her one eye as she thought about it.
    “Oh! That sounds great!” Daisy grinned, “I-I can’t go, unfortunately, but Maxine and Gwen will be there!”
    “Ah, I wonder if Gwen will bring along the little ankle biter,” Fíon smirked.
    “I would love to go!” Cleo smiled, “What do you say, Tera?”
    “Shouldn’t we ask the boys?” Tera grimaced.
    “Let it be a surprise! Come on!” The medusa insisted.
    “Fine,” She gave in, “I’m down.”
    “Give me a moment,” Kimiko excused herself from the table with her katana in one hand and her cellphone in the other. The table went quiet as everyone wet their throats as they waited anxiously for the jinko to return. Her conversation was only a few sentences long before she stomped back to the table and sat down, “Your tickets will be here soon.”
    “R-really? That easy?” Tera asked in shock.
    The kobold’s eyes sparkled, “Yay! Good for you guys!”
    “Thank you, Kimiko,” Cleo smiled warmly.
    Kimiko nodded back with her usual stoney expression, “It is nothing. Maxine requested more attendees for the play so I merely provided.”
    “Yeah, now the fuckin’ illustrious Stone Sisters will be there!” Fíon’s voice oozed with sarcasm.
    “Better them than me,” Ruth chuckled to herself as she thought about her and her husband suffering through the play. She wondered if her unborn child would appreciate it. Probably not, knowing the genes she was coming from.
    “Wait,” Fíon turned to the jinko, “What the fuck did you mean when you said they would ‘be here soon’?” 
    “The Hamilton family hires their own couriers,” The samurai closed her eye as if listening to something. Everyone sitting at the table waited for her to move or speak again. Eyes turned from one person to the next as shrugs and strange looks were exchanged.
    Fíon scoffed, “The hell are you--?”
    “She’s here,” The jinko’s eye flew open dramatically as the front door to the pub flew open.
    A single, winged woman stomped into the room, “Eve-Courier is here!” The black feathered harpy announced with a loud screech. People in the pub glanced at her then went back to their drinks and conversations, “Hi, Kimiko!” She squawked again before dashing over to her.
“NO RUNNING IN MY BAR!” Ellen barked, startling the harpy. She slowed down to a snail’s pace as she stared at the hellhound in fear.
    “Eve!” Fíon shouted, “Hurry the hell up!”
    As if immediately forgetting about the furious hellhound, the harpy began to trot over to her friends. She stood at attention and saluted them, “Eve-Courier is here! Delivery-item for you!” She was dressed in an all khaki uniform with a matching baseball cap on top of her messy hair. Eve reached into her leather messenger bag that read ‘HAMILTON’ on the front and produced two unmarked envelopes, “Here you go!” Tera slowly took the two envelopes. 
“How’s work, Eve?” Cleo spoke.
“Good-fun! I get to fly all around town-city!” She grabbed Ruth’s water bottle without asking.
    “Hey!” Ruth growled. Eve stared at her with big eyes and her mouth was just about to envelop the lip of the bottle. The hellhound relented, “Fine. Just take the bottle. I don’t care,” The harpy greedily drank the water that was ‘offered’ to her.
    Kimiko cleared her throat, “You should go back, Eve. You do not want to keep the Hamiltons waiting.”
    She nodded back, “Right-correct! I’m off! Bye-bye friends!” Eve skipped out of the building and back into the dimming light of the sun.
    “Take good care of those tickets,” Daisy warned, “I’d hate to hear that you lost them.”
    “Yeah… I’ll be careful,” Tera shoved them into Cleo’s purse.
    With a grunt, Ruth adjusted herself, “Come on, enough with those faces. Get some more drinks! It’s time for smiles!”
    “Yeah, that’s fuckin’ right!” The fairy grins, “Next rounds on me, fuckers!”
    Smiles spread across peoples’ faces. 

    Two days later, Luke held the door open for the girls and Trevor. Tera leaned close to Cleo, “You’ve got the tickets, right?” They were in a restaurant that smelled like fish and pasta with a hint of alcohol. 
    “Of course I do!” Cleo retorted, “I’m organized,” The two gave each other excited looks 
    “Name an’ how many?” The young sahuagin at the front asked with a thick Bostonian accent. Cleo and Tera couldn’t quite place it. The entire restaurant was staffed by sahuagins and their husbands and sons.
    “Four,” Luke raised his hand and held up four fingers, “Luke.”
    “I’ll getta table ready for ya soon, go ahead an’ take a seat here,” The waitress said with a little smile.
    The four friends sat down on a long bench across from another one in the small waiting area. A man sat nearby them with two plump, winged goblins, or goblettes depending on where you’re from. The man glanced between Trevor and Luke while the two goblettes tugged on his sleeves and whined about being hungry, “Don’t you recognize an old friend?” He asked them.
    Trevor and Luke stared for a few moments, “Oh! Chris!” Trevor tapped his forehead in a non verbal, ‘duh’, “I didn’t recognize you with those tattoos.”
    “Boss, who’re dey?” One of the goblettes demanded.
    “Calm down. They’re my friends. Even if I haven’t seen them since high school,” Chris chuckled, “The tattoos are per Gorka and Morka here's request. Not that I mind.”
    Tera stared at him in wonder. She recognized him from the news, “You mean you know ‘Warboss Chris da Pink, Chosen Warboss of da Great Green Gods!?’” 
    “Oh! It definitely is him! I recognize him from the news!” Cleo chimed in.
    “What are you talking about?” Luke folded his arms and looked at her, “Chris didn’t do anything like that. He works in an office, I’m pretty sure he works for your friend Gwen.”
    “What? But the news said he took over Canada! Turned it into Ork-Land!” The gargoyle insisted.
    “That doesn’t really sound like him,” Trevor gave her a cross look, “Just because he has green skin wives doesn’t make him or them savages.”
    “Oh, are you getting politically correct with me!?” Tera jabbed a finger into his chest.
    Cleo threw her hands in the air, “Why not just ask him!? He’s right there!” 
    All four pairs of eyes turned to the amused expression on Chris’s face and the smug smirks on the plump goblettes’ faces, “Well, Chris?” Luke blinked at him.
    “Yeah, ‘Warboss Chris da Pink, Chosen Warboss of da Great Green Gods’ what story is right?” Tera demanded.
    “Boss,” Morka leaned into her husband, “Dat overgrown pile a’ rocks sounds like she needs a good krumpin!”
    Gorka nodded, “Yeah, boss. Maybe a smashin’!”
    “Why you little--” Tera tried to get up only to be pulled back into her seat by Luke.
    Chris looked like he was having a great time, “Well… what really happened is… up to interpretation, really. Who knows if I settled down in a cushy office job and put kids in these two or if I really did invade Canada? It’s not like they don’t deserve it,” He shrugged.
    “Chris?” The waitress called, waving him over.
    “Looks like my table’s ready. Call me for drinks sometime, will ya? We need to catch up,” Chris got up and his goblettes used their leathery wings to fly after him. Both stuck their tongues out at the gargoyle.
    Tera waited until he was out of earshot, “You better not have drinks with him,” She growled.
    “We, uh, probably won’t,” Luke sighed.
    “What does ‘up to interpretation’ mean in real life,” Cleo looked terrified, “It’s not like this is some kind of book! Either it happened or it didn’t!”
    “He’s always been like that,” Trevor explained, “Best not to overthink it.”
    “Luke?” The waitress called, waving them over. The four rose and quickly made their way to a booth table where they sat next to their dates. Cleo and Trevor stared at the nearby bubbling fish tank as the sahuagin passed out their menus, “My name is Penelope an’ I’ll be ya waitress fa tonight. Can I start ya with some drinks?”
    All four quickly ordered a drink and went back to scanning the menu, “Anything look good?” Cleo asked Trevor.
    “I don’t eat much seafood,” He quickly admitted, “I’ll probably get that fish and chips to keep it simple.”
    “That sounds nice,” The medusa adjusted her dress, wishing she hadn’t dressed so nice now that she had seen the restaurant. It wasn’t as downtrodden as an Applebees but it wasn’t super fancy either. The atmosphere was friendly at least.
    “I want that grilled salmon,” Tera salivated.
    “Scallops for me, I think,” Luke decided.
    “I think you should be careful after the last time you ate seafood!” The gargoyle laughed.
    “Maybe I’ll get… clam chowder?” The medusa pondered.
    “Do it. It’s good,” Luke encouraged. He glanced over to Trevor as he put his menu down, “Uh, Trevor. Did you…”
    “Yeah I did,” He replied with a smirk. Luke smiled back.
    “What are you two on about?” Tera groaned.
    Trevor glanced at her then Cleo, “Should we… right now?”
    “Yeah. Do it,” Luke encouraged. 
    With a sigh, Trevor reached into his pocket and grabbed four thick pieces of paper, “Ta-da!” 
    “Tickets?” Cleo took one and started to read it.
    Luke nodded smugly, “Yeah. Thought you classy ladies would want to go see a play, so--”
    “No way!” The medusa shrieked.
    “That excited, huh?” Trevor grinned, proud of himself.
    Cleo shook her head, “A-actually, yes I am, but…” She reached into her purse and grabbed four identical tickets, “We were going to surprise you with tickets to the same play!”
    Tera looked at them, quickly seeing they were for the same still unnamed play, “How the hell did you nerds get tickets!?” 
    Trevor sighed with defeat, “Our buddy, Nick is best friends with Aiden, the man in the play. We saw him the other day when we went for drinks and he gave us the hook up. The more the merrier, he said.”
    “Don’t look so down, Trevor,” Cleo pat his back, “This just means it was meant to be! How romantic!” She swooned.
    “You’re funny, Cleo,” He smiled, “Looks like drinks are here.”
    “Alrighty,” Penelope had a tray in one hand, “We’ve got a bloody mary,” She set the drink on a coaster in front of Cleo, “A moscow mule,” She pushed it to Tera, “Rusty nail,” Quickly she put it in front of Luke, “And a cider,” She reached across the table to give it to Trevor. The ice cold bottle slipped out of her hand and crashed into the table, the lip of the bottle wound up in his lap, spilling its contents on him before he could snatch it up as Cleo and Penelope gasped loudly, “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” The sahuagin quickly grabbed the partially drained bottle as the medusa grabbed paper towels and furiously attempted to wipe him down.
    Trevor just laughed, “It’s fine. I was a little too hot anyways.”
    “Let me get you another one right away!” The waitress hurried back to the bar.
    “Just your luck, huh?” Tera laughed.
    “Yup!” Luke grinned ear to ear.
    Cleo was distraught, “Your pants are ruined!”
    “They just need to be washed, don’t worry about it,” Trevor assured her. 
    “H-here, I brought you another one. O-on the house!” The sahuagin held it with two hands. She reached across again, slowly and gently trying to give him the spiked cider. Her foot adjusted, making her stumble and spill the beer in his lap again. If her face hadn’t been red before, it was now. Tears welled in her eyes as she picked up the bottle, “I’m so sorry,” She hardly squeaked out before running off again. This time into the back. 
    Tera and Luke laughed at their friend’s misfortune. Cleo shot a furious look at them, “Stop laughing at him!”
    Trevor put a hand on her arm, “It’s fine,” He had a big goofy smile on his face, “It happens,” He glanced up as another, much older sahuagin approached the table with another bottle of cider.
    “Sir,” The sahuagin looked wholly embarrassed. Penelope was right behind her with her head bowed, “My granddaughter, quite a clumsy woman,” She chuckled sheepishly, “Your meals and drinks, on the house,” She reached over the table to give him the drink, “I am so sorry that--” The drink slipped out of her hand and into his lap. Luke nearly choked on his drink as Tera started to laugh loudly. Even Cleo found herself laughing this time. The older woman looked mortified. She bowed her head, “I-- I--”
    “Don’t worry about it!” Trevor laughed, “Maybe I should just stick to water.”
    “Haha…” The sahuagins looked at one another, “I-I will be right back.”
“What do you even say after that!?” Tera snorted, putting her head in her hands.
“That it’s no big deal,” Trevor told her as he wiped his lap, “I can’t even be mad now. This is beyond accidents and more of divine intervention now.”
The older woman returned carrying three things. A cider with the cap still on, a bottle opener, a gift card to the restaurant, “P-please forgive us,” She begged. She put everything on the table in front of him and got on her knees to plead.
“Hey, it’s alright,” Trevor assured her as he opened the bottle himself. 
    “Yeah, you guys get a five star rating from me for this entertainment!” Luke grinned like a cheshire.
    “All that’s left is to spill his food on him too!” Tera laughed, “Now THAT would be comedy!”
    Cleo couldn’t keep her giggles in, “Maybe you should order an ice cream float and have them dump it on your head!” 
    The older woman laughed wearily, “Y-your food will be out soon. Again, I am very sorry,” She trudged away with her head hanging down.
    The rest of the night went by relatively peacefully other than the constant jokes about spilling food or drink on Trevor.

Both girls silently and nervously got ready. It had been five days since they had last been on a double date and tonight was the night of the play. Both wanted it to go perfectly. Tera and Luke had gone and seen that ‘Way of the Salamander’ movie since then and Cleo and Trevor had gone out to eat together for a small date. Tonight was a big deal for all of them, “They’re here,” Tera announced to herself and Cleo, “Ready?”
    “Ready as I can be,” She took a deep breath and nodded, “Third time's the charm and all that. Do I look good?” She asked. She wore a long and red elegant dress that shimmered in the dim light. Her grey serpents were all pushed over to one side in some vain attempt at a hairstyle. Some of them also wore her signature black bow on their necks. Around the medusa’s shoulders was a thin, but warm enough, black coat. Accessorizing the outfit was a matching red purse and small silver stud earrings.
    Tera cupped her friend’s cheeks with her hands and put her wing hands on her shoulders, “You look great. He’ll tell you as much,” The gargoyle wore a nice dark purple button up and a black dress skirt. Her hair, for once not a messy, curly mop atop her head was done up in a bun tied with a matching purple ribbon, “Come on, we better not keep them waiting!” She stomped out of the room, somewhat wobbly in the pumps she wore.
    The two monster girls hurried out of their apartment and into the sparsely used parking lot and gasped at what they saw. Illuminated by the quickly setting, softly glowing orange sun, their dates stood with either at one side of the door of a fancy horse drawn carriage that they had booked, “Ladies! Your chariot awaits!” Luke called with a grin. He wore a dark green polo under a grey sweater and khaki pants, “A romantic ride to the theater and a moonlight walk back into town afterwards!”
    “Right this way,” Trevor smiled as he opened the door to the carriage for them and put the little step ladder down. He was in a cream colored button up, a dark blue waistcoat, black slacks and a nice black coat.
    Tera ventured up to them first, her wings folded around herself like a cloak, “Oh, thank you, sir,” She giggled with a playfully mocking tone, “You look good, slick.”
    “You look great. Pretty even. That’s a pretty big feat for you!” Luke shot back. She rolled her eyes, letting him take her hand and help her up into the carriage before following her in, both of them sitting on the same side of the spacious wagon.
    Trevor stammered as he stared into the medusa’s gorgeous face, “Y-you look beautiful,” He held out his hand to take hers. Gently, her graceful, tender hand caressed his palm before stopping in his. She held her breath as he brought the back of her beautiful hand to his lips before kissing the supple skin in an awkward, gentlemanly gesture.
    Every thought in the medusa’s brain told her to kiss him back. She kept calm and smiled softly, “Thank you. You look quite handsome in that,” She complimented him quietly before letting him help her into the wagon. He followed her, making sure the entire length of her body made it into the vehicle. He sat next to her, his hands gripping his knees. 
    All four jumped as the wagon began to rattle down the road driven by a skilled rider, “Sunset looks nice tonight,” Tera noticed as she settled into the plush seat and opened the window. A cold chill drifted into the wagon as the last of the fleeting glow of day did.
    Trevor glanced to his side of the wagon and noticed an aux cable dangling from a small speaker, “Modern amenities for an ancient vehicle,” He mused as he grabbed his phone and plugged it in. He quickly put on some music. The carriage grew quiet as they listened to the neighing of the horses, the creaking of the wood and the smooth tunes that Trevor had put on. He sat, mouthing the words to himself as he tried to stay focused. Cleo gripped her date’s shoulder and forced him to lean back and sit next to her.
    “Would it have killed you to have done something with your hair?” Tera growled at her date as her hand roughly messed with his hair suddenly.
    “Hey! Cut that out!” He shot back, “You said you like it!”
    “Yeah, usually but not when we’re going to a fancy theater in the middle of the damned woods!” The gargoyle barked as she started to wrestle with him.
    “You don’t mind if I...” Cleo trailed off from her question as she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt his body stiffen as the scales of one of her snakes grazed against his cheek. She could feel his delightful warmth as she hugged his arm with both of hers. The tip of her tail wrapped around his ankle too as she struggled to keep herself from coiling around him and getting to all his body heat. She closed her eyes and let the feeling of his heart beat and the music he liked lull her into a state of calm relaxation. Trevor also slowly began to feel relaxed as her serpents began to stroke his face and 'kiss' or taste his cheek with their tongues.
    “I said stop it!” Luke demanded as Tera’s hands grabbed his in a fight for control.  She flattened his slightly less messy than usual hair with her free arms, ignoring his protests and continuing to try and groom him. He yanked back with his arms, attempting to wrench them free of her grasp. Instead, he managed to pull her onto him. His arms, suddenly let go by the surprise, wrapped around her as he scrambled to keep her from falling to the floor, “Sorry!” He tried to let her go but the wing arms kept him from releasing her.
    Tera’s own arms wrapped around him as her head pressed against his chest, “It’s fine. As long as you keep this up, I’ll forgive you, dummy.”
    Luke smirked, “Y-you got it,” All four riders settled into the carriage ride, short as it may have been.

    Luke and Trevor helped their respective dates out of the wagon before watching it pull away, back into the woods, “Hamilton Theater, huh?” Luke folded his arms as he stood next to Tera, “That cat’s got a big ego, huh?” The theater was obviously old but had been refurbished very recently with funding from the magical cat girl witch.
    “Pfft. Her magically inflated ego probably mader her do it. Probably got it from her mom,” Tera jabbed him in the ribs as the two chuckled.
    “I did not choose to have it named that,” A mildly hurt voice scoffed. The duo turned around quickly to see the very woman they had been joking about step out of a particularly fancy carriage. She wore her usual cone shaped witch's hat but her black robes had been swapped for an ornate black and gold dress, “The owner insisted that he name the building after me.”
    “H-hey Maxine,” Tera sheepishly greeted.
    “Thank you once more for the tickets,” Cleo chimed in, quickly smoothing things over.
    “Oh, it was no trouble at all!” The witch grinned, “It is the theater’s maiden voyage! The more the merrier!”
Out after her was her husband, Richard. He exchanged greetings with Luke and Trevor. After him was a kikimora, Maxine’s best friend Svetlana. She gave the stone sisters and their dates a little curtsy before standing next to her friend. Next was the ever imposing and somewhat famous jinko samurai, Kimiko. The wagon rocked as her weight exited the vehicle, “Tera. Cleo. Hello,” She wore a  black kimono with large flowers printed on it in intricate designs.
    “Thanks again for the hook up, Kimiko,” The gargoyle smiled.
    “Any time.”
    Lastly, making the gargoyle and medusa both mutter ‘aw’s was Bridgett, a young, green scaled dragon girl wearing a nice lilac colored dress adorned with printed on watermelon slices. She stood on the last step proudly, her quickly developing wings flapping behind her. Right behind her was her weresheep mother, Gwen. Her cream colored wool was covered by a nice grey long sleeve and puffy blue vest. Bridgett quickly jumped off the stairs and looked around, “Hi, stone sisters!” She called.
    “Bridgett, you know their names,” Gwen scolded gently.
    “Uh…” The little dragon girl fidgeted, having obviously forgotten them.
    “Aren’t you just the cutest!” Tera grinned as she squatted down, “How’s those wings?”
    “Good!” Bridgett gleefully showed off her wings, quite excited to talk to another monster that had both horns and wings like her. She knew many with one or the other, but Tera had both which she obviously thought was really cool, “Mom said I got a growth splurt this morning!”
    “S-splurt?” Cleo struggled to contain her laughter.
    “Yeah! Splurt! Like the sound that dad’s paints make when he’s running out! Or the ketchup bottle when I squeeze it too hard! The plrrrrbt sound!” She blew raspberries to show what she meant.
    “S-spurt, honey,” Gwen corrected her, “Growth spurt.”
    Bridgett slowly looked back at her mother, “What’s a spurt? You keep telling me new words! How am I supposed to remember ALL of them!?”
    Maxine laughed, “You’ll learn just like we all did.”
    “Aren’t you just the cutest!” Tera pinched the dragon’s cheek playfully which made her spew smoke angrily, “When I have kids, I hope they’re just as cute as you!”
    Bridgett tore away and assumed a pose that exuded smugness, “I doubt it.”
    “Bridgett!” Gwen cried in embarrassment. Tera felt her soul leave her body. Luke laughed out loud while everyone else managed to hold it in. 
    “Show’s gonna start soon,” Maxine announced, “Come along,” She trotted toward the building with her little entourage of her husband, kikimora and bodyguard. Bridgett stomped after the witch.
    “I’m so sorry,” Gwen apologized profusely.
    “Don’t worry, it's just a kid being a kid,” Luke smiled for her. The weresheep hurried to catch up to her group.
    “Kids are cruel, huh?” Someone asked with a chuckle. Looking up the four saw another pairing. A man with a soldier beetle next to him. 
The beetle hid behind her journal as she quickly opened it to a page with ‘HELLO’ scratched onto it with charcoal.
    “Hey, Nick,” Trevor gave the man a little wave, “Hello to you too, Penny,” The soldier beetle smiled at the mention of her name, “Thanks again for getting us tickets, by the way.”
    “Yeah, thanks,” Luke chimed in, “These are the lovely ladies we told you about.”
    “Hello,” Both Cleo and Tera greeted at about the same moment.
    “Nice to meet you both,” Nick nodded. He wore a button up under a hoodie while his date wore a simple white dress, “It’s cold as a frozen hell, let’s get inside.”
    “Agreed,” Cleo grumbled before leading the charge to get everyone inside. The six quietly stepped inside and stared at the small crowd that had gathered. Mostly friends of the only two actors and a few friends of friends.
    One of the two actors was in the receiving room greeting everyone as they came in. The spectral form of a well dressed specter bowed to Maxine, “Ah, the guest of honor has arrived!” Victoria grinned, “Please, make your way to your seat. The show will be starting soon!”
    “Thank you, Victoria. I am quite eager to see you on stage!” Maxine returned the tooth filled smile as she led her group in.
    “Hi, ghost lady!” Bridgett excitedly greeted with a just as eager wave. The phantom quickly returned the wave.
    “How come your daughter is terrified of me but ecstatic to say hello to a ghost?” Maxine asked in an exasperated tone as her head hung in a completely defeated fashion.
    “Hey, there,” Nick stepped up and offered the ghost his tickets, “I finally get to meet the lucky lady,” He smirked. The soldier beetle skittishly hid behind her husband.
    “Oh! You must be Nick and Penny!” Victoria’s eyes sparkled at them, “Aiden has told me about you, Nick! I hope you both enjoy the show! Your spot should be near the back so that Penny can sit comfortably.”
    “Thanks,” Nick pulled his date into the theater. 
    “Hi, there,” Luke searched his pocket for the tickets.
    “Hmm…” Victoria coyly hummed, “I think both Nick and Maxine mentioned you four.”
    “Yup,” Trevor gave her a little smirk as he produced eight tickets, “We, uh, got a few extra.”
    “No trouble at all. Pick whichever section you four wish to sit!” She instructed before letting the four into the theater. 
They quickly made their way to their seats and plopped down in them, the girls sat next to one another with their respective dates sitting to their side. Soon, the dim yellow lights shut off and gave way to icey blue lights that illuminated the stage. A man stepped out onto the stage, “Thank you all for coming,” He put on a big smile, “My name is Aiden. I’ve been here helping with restoring the theater for about a month now. I probably would have dropped dead from all the work I had to do if it had not been for our most mysterious and beautiful benefactor, Lady Hamilton, stepping in and lending a hand, including donating the deed to the Hamilton Theater to us. So once more, thank you for that,” He bowed for the emerald eyed witch.
    “Yes, yes! Thank you very much!” Victoria joined him on stage. She was wearing a gorgeous dress with her golden hair falling fashionably on her shoulders, “The play will be starting momentarily, the maiden voyage if you will of a play I wrote myself with help from Aiden here. A tale of love and loss! I hope you all will enjoy it, despite its somewhat short length. Presenting, My Undying Love!” The audience clapped as the curtains were closed on the two actors.
    “Love?” Cleo gripped her date’s wrist nervously. Both her and Trevor’s heart rate increased as they felt one another’s skin.
    Tera smirked at her, “Scared to see some real loving on a real stage?”
    “N-no. I just didn’t know what to expect,” The medusa frowned, unsure if her date would enjoy it with her.
    “If you need to step out just let me know,” Trevor smiled, “I’ll come with you,” The medusa smiled back, not wearing her sunglasses for once.
    “Shh,” Luke hushed them as the curtains were pulled open by some unseen force. 

    The four stepped out of the theater and into the cold, dark night. The sky was dark and where there should have been stars for their romantic walk through the woods. The gravel path had a few offshoots that led them off of the main road and on a faster route back to town, “That play was pretty good,” Luke divulged in an almost embarrassed tone.
    Cleo wiped her eyes again, “It felt like those emotions were real! Like Victoria looked like she was really going to cry over Aiden’s decision to stay with her!”
    Trevor nodded, glad he had been able to keep his emotions in check, “I enjoyed it.”    
    “Eh,” Tera shrugged, pretending she hadn’t cried at all, “Could have used a bit more humor and action.”
    “Oh, I know it tugged on your heart strings, Tera,” Luke teased.
    “Say that again and I’ll throw hands!”
    “All four of them? Or are you gonna go easy on me?”
    “I’m gonna throw your ass with all four of them!” She lunged for him, the two were giggling while they grappled playfully.
    Cleo started to huff, “Not in your nice clothes!” The medusa scolded the two of them, “It is quite cold, we should hurry.”
    “I don’t like these clouds either,” Trevor frowned, “If you want my coat, just say so, Cleo.”
    She smiled warmly, “Thank you, but--” She felt a drip of water on her serpent hair. Soon the drips turned into a drizzle. Before she could speak again, Trevor had his coat off and was offering it to her. She took it hesitantly but thankfully before placing it atop her head in an attempt to keep herself somewhat dry. 
    Tera used her wing to keep herself dry as the cold rain came down, “Dammit! This was nice too! It’s too far to call a cab out here, we better run!”
    Wordlessly, the four agreed and hurried back to town. Their would-be peaceful, moonlit, stargazing walk had turned into a dash to find somewhere dry. The uneven gravel underfoot slowed them down as they struggled to find good footing in their dress shoes, all except for Cleo whose snake body easily kept her up right. Soon the group broke through the treeline. Luke recognized the area and pointed down a street, “I know somewhere we can duck into for a bit!” He took off jogging with the others giving chase. He turned into a parking lot full of mostly dim buildings and one or two still brightly lit restaurants. He picked the pizza parlor and went for the door, holding it open for everyone else to step or slither inside. With their spirits as damp as their clothes, everyone looked around, “Go grab a seat, I’ll call a ride,” Luke decided.
    “Don’t bother, that shit’s so expensive this late,” Tera grunted, “How close do you guys live?”
    “It’s still a bit of a walk,” Trevor grimaced, “Are you sure you want to? Wait, you want to come over?”
    “Yeah. You gonna say no, punk?” Tera scowled at him.
    “I wasn’t going to say no… I just... didn’t clean my room very well is all,” Trevor shrugged awkwardly.
    “Go grab a booth,” Luke ordered, “I’ll grab some pizza at least. I’m pretty hungry. I’ve been here before, I’ll get something good.”
    “Sure… where are we anyways?” The gargoyle asked herself, “Pussy’s Pizza Parlor? What the hell kind of name--” 
She glanced at the counter where a grey colored werecat stood, giving them all an amused look. She was wearing an apron that had the name of the restaurant and a cartoonish grey cat on it. Sitting on the counter next to her was a smaller and much younger black furred werecat, “Yoohoo~ Luke!” The grey furred mother cat called, “You and your friends look soaked!” The restaurant was empty except for the four that had just ran in.
    “Down to the bone, Miss Cook!” Luke laughed wearily. 
    “Well, I’ll give my favorite customer the ‘wet pussy’s’ discount!”
    “Hey, thanks,” Luke looked back at Tera’s jealous grunt, “She’s happily married, calm down,” He strut to the front to make more small talk with the werecat.
    “Her kid’s cute,” Tera mused again before leading the other two to a table. 
    “Better not talk to her. I’m sure you don’t want a repeat of your conversation with Bridgett,” Trevor smirked weakly at her.
    “If you were Luke I’d punch you,” Tera and Trevor both turned to the silent medusa as she slid into the booth next to her date, “Hey, Cleo? You alright?”
    Trevor put his hand on her shoulder, “Need something?”
    She looked up, the light makeup she had put on was running because of the rain and her tears, “Why can’t ONE of these dates go well!?” She wailed, “The movie was bad! Trevor had drinks spilled on him! And now we’re all soaking wet!”
    “Cleo…” Trevor trailed off as he wrapped his arm around her, “We had fun every time, didn’t we?”
    “Yeah! Those drinks getting spilled? That was HILARIOUS!” Luke agreed as he joined them at the table.
    “And didn’t he buy you that little car you love at the mall after that god awful movie?” Tera reminded her, “Like, yeah, things have gone wrong but when have things ever gone good for the two of us, sister? Other than these two bozos waltzing into our lives that one night.”
    “Yeah, same here. Things have never gone great for me and Trevor. At least until I met Tera here. Things have been going better since then,” Luke smiled as he ruffled the gargoyle’s wet hair.
“Yup. And me with you, Cleo” Trevor smiled softly at her. Cleo stared at him for a few moments before she lunged at her date and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. She said nothing as she absorbed his body head.
    Tera leaned towards Luke and kissed him on the cheek, “W-was that--?” He stammered.
    “Shut it,” She warned through grit teeth, “Before I decide to take it back.”
    “Here you are, love birds!” Miss Cook announced as she set a big pepperoni pizza on the table. Two children hid behind her legs, the black furred child who must have been around eight years old and a younger, purple furred werecat with yellow eyes, “Heres something to warm you up too,” She gave them a plate of garlic bread rolls too, “Holler if you need anything!” She left the four of them.
    “Was that a cheshire?” Luke mumbled.
    “She was adorable!” Tera grinned before looking at her friend, “Hey, Cleo! Let him go and have some pizza!” 
    “Hm?” The medusa finally broke the hug, “Oh, right,” Trevor’s face was beet red.
    “Eat your fill and we’ll try to make it back to our place. Hopefully the rain will let up a bit,” Luke glanced out the window and watched the rain splash against it.

    Trevor unlocked the apartment door and let everyone in. The girls looked around the boys’ apartment. It wasn’t too different from their own flat. Couches, a TV, a little table. The boys did have a lot more electronics compared to the monster girls. Trevor went to the kitchen while Luke plopped down on the couch, “Looks like that rain won’t be letting up any time soon,” He sighed. Tera sat next to him, “Want me to drive you girls home?”
    “Ah, come on!” Tera punched him in the shoulder, “I thought you were fun! Let’s hang out all night!”
    “You two want to crash here?” Trevor asked as he offered both girls towels.
    “Would that be alright?” Cleo timidly asked.
    Luke glanced at Trevor, “Sounds good to me,” Luke shrugged, “You got an issue with Cleo sleeping in your bed?”
    “Of course not. I can sleep out here,” He shrugged. Luke gave him a look like he was an idiot as did Tera.
    Cleo tugged on his sleeve, “Could you show me to your room? I am quite tired.”
    “Oh, of course,” He cleared his throat and brought her into his room. He quickly started to push clothes aside and pick up blankets from the floor, “Please ignore the mess. It’s not usually this bad, I swear,” He shut down the monitors of his computer and put his shoes away in his closet, “Uh… Cleo, do you need anything else tonight?” He turned to the medusa. His eyes went wide as he gazed upon her nude form. He covered his eyes to not embarrass her, “I’m so sorry!”
    “Why are you sorry?” There was no embarrassment in her voice as she approached him, “You asked me if I needed anything else tonight,” Her tail began to coil around his waist as her hands lifted up his shirt and felt his warm, damp stomach, “I need you tonight, Trevor. Keep me warm,” She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it aside. Her serpent hair hissed as she ran her fingers across his exposed skin making the man shudder and get goosebumps, “Won’t you lay with me, my beloved?” She grabbed his hands and tried to remove them.
    Slowly he let her move his hands, “I-I-I…” He gazed upon the beautiful form of the most gorgeous woman he had ever met. He stared into her crimson eyes and swallowed nervously, “You know, when we first started these dates, I thought you didn’t like me.”
    “I thought the same,” She admitted, kissing him on the cheek before holding him at arm's length again, “But I love you. I want you to be mine.”
He nodded, “I-I feel the same way-- I mean, I love you too,” He chuckled anxiously, “You’re finally gonna make the bed rock, huh?” 
    Cleo grinned, “I’ll rock your world, Trevor,” She pulled him into a hug as her tail removed her pants. Soon, Trevor was tossed onto the bed with the medusa assaulting him with a barrage of kisses as her tail wrapped around him. As the snake woman’s long tongue pushed into his mouth and began to play with his, she grinded against his already rock hard member. 

    Tera glanced at Luke. She wrung her hands nervously. She had him alone, in his house and she couldn’t work up the courage to say anything to him. She could faintly hear her friend talking to her man, and Cleo was supposed to be the nervous one! Tera slapped her own face with the palms of her hands, nice and easy, she told herself, “So, uh. You still want me to leg lock you?” Nailed it.
    The shock made Luke’s drink go down the wrong pipe. He coughed and laughed, “W-where’s that coming from?”
    “Come on! You said it yourself you think I’m hot! And I think you’re hot too!” Tera undid her skirt to reveal the spats she wore underneath, “Wore ‘em just for you!”
    “F-for me?”
    “Yeah! Go ahead and touch!” She leaned over in front of him, putting her rear on display, “B-but if you touch me, I’m gonna touch you!” She shuddered as Luke immediately grabbed one of her firm cheeks.
    Luke scrambled to find a good compliment, “You’ve, uh, got a cute butt. It’s great.”
    “W-well!” The gargoyle quickly got flustered, “Your face is, uh, handsome!” She swiftly put her hands on his face, cupping his cheeks before kissing him on the lips. His facial hair tickled her chin making her giggle. She stroked his face as she climbed onto his lap, “Well? You never said if you still wanted me to leg lock you.”
    “I always took you as the kind of girl that would wrestle me into submission,” Luke admitted as his arms wrapped around her.
    Her wing arms grabbed his face as her hands started to wander. She grabbed his butt with a smirk, “I’ll hold you down if you want me to,” She gave him bedroom eyes as caressed his face and his chest.
    “Well,” Luke grabbed her hands, “You’re gonna have to prove to me you want it.”
    “Oh, you’re so getting it now!” The two fell off the couch as they roughhoused, fondling one another, gasping whenever the other grabbed them resulting in both having their zeal redoubled. Soon, Tera was straddling Luke. All four of her arms held his hands above his head. Slowly, she kissed his cheek, “So? Still doubt that I want it?” Her chest was heaving as she panted. She was both winded and horny.
    Luke smiled, “No, I don’t doubt it. How about we go to my room?” His chest was rising and falling slowly as she stared into her eyes.
    “Fine. Take me there,” She went limp on top of him, forcing him to push her off of himself then pick her up, “Bridal carry me. Show me that YOU want me.”
    With a grunt, Luke grabbed her and hoisted her in both arms. Soon, she was tossed onto his unmade  bed in his messy room, “Don’t mind the mess.”
    “Oh, I’m just admiring it, you slob,” She sat at the foot of the bed and threw off her button up. Her bra was next. Her breasts weren’t the biggest but they still had a nice heft to them. Luke stripped to his underwear and stood before her, “Looks like you’re raring to go,” She grabbed the bulge in his pants somewhat gingerly. She fondled the package, rolling it back and forth between her fingers while her other hand ran down his chest.
    “Kinda wish you didn’t have to take the spats off for this,” Luke grumbled as he played with the gargoyle's dark grey nipples.
    “Oh, I’ve got you covered,” She grabbed the fabric and tore a hole. She wasn’t wearing underwear. With her wing hands she tore his underwear in half, making his man meat flop out violently. Tera froze as she saw it. She, of course, knew about penises but knowing and seeing were two very different things, “So… that thing just gets jammed in me?”
    “I-I guess?” Luke nervously glanced away from her nude body, “I’ve never done this before.”
    Tera grabbed his hand gently with two of hers, “Hey, neither have I. Let’s just do what feels good for both of us, alright? I’ll get kinky on you later,” She smiled sheepishly as she pulled him close. She rubbed her clit gently.
    “D-do you want me to… inside you?”
    “Well, knowing my lineage I’m gonna leg lock you involuntarily.”
    “That’s uh…”
    “Weird?”
    Luke’s cock throbbed as she looked down at her. His heart was pounding and his stomach was fluttering, “Really hot. I think you’re really sexy,” His hands felt her toned body.
    His cold, clammy hands gave Tera goose bumps, “Ye-yeah, well. P-prove it! Shove that thing in me. I can’t take this anymore,” She spread her legs for him. Her normal arms grabbed his hips and guided him in while her wing arms rested on his shoulders, making sure he wouldn’t run away. Luke grabbed his shaft and eased the head into her. There was a flash of ecstasy in both of them as he began to slide himself into her. Tera violently shuddered as she pulled him deeper into her. He collapsed forward, propping himself up on his arms over her. Both sets of arms wrapped around him, holding him close as he began to thrust into her. 
    Luke grunted as his hips thrust slowly into her, pushing himself a bit deeper each time. Tera’s claws raked across his back as she moaned in ecstasy. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him deeply, “God, I love you,” She panted.
    Luke stared down at her, his hips still moving, “Oh, you do?” He smirked.
    “Say it back, dammit!” Her limbs grabbed him, all four arms wrapped around his back and her legs wrapped around his hips, “Fuck me!” She groaned.
    “You got it!” Luke grinned, only excited more by her leg locking him. The smug attitude vanished as he continued to thrust into her. He was getting close and from the way she was writhing and howling he guessed she was too, “Hey, I love you too. I’m gonna cum,” He warned.
    “You are SO cumming in me!” The gargoyle snarled as she grabbed him tightly with everything she could. She started to moan loudly as she climaxed, the pleasure of it all being too much for her to bear. Luke threw his head back as his back arched. He panted, keeping himself from crying out as he emptied his load into the gargoyle. He collapsed on top of her as the orgasm stopped. He was spent. The two lay together, basking in one another’s body heat for a time. The gargoyle shifted suddenly as she got restless, “Get offa me, dummy!” Tera shoved him aside and climbed on top of him and put her head on his shoulder. “That was even better than what I imagined.”
    “Same here,” Luke smiled, rolling onto his side and forcing the gargoyle to be the little spoon, “Stop struggling, dammit.”
    “Fine. Just because I love you I’ll cool it,” She grabbed his hands and kept them wrapped around her body, “Can we have pancakes tomorrow?”
    “Sure, whatever you want,” Luke yawned, “Go to bed.”
    “Fiiine,” She struggled to lay still. She liked when he held her at least, even when he was asleep.

    Cleo’s mouth pulled away from Trevor’s. Remnant strands of saliva quickly fell away as the medusa wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her prey panted beneath her as he tried to catch his breath. Her hips slowly grinded her wet pussy against his throbbing member. She knew both of them were ready, but she was nervous. Her hands caressed his face, “Are you enjoying yourself?” She asked coyly. Wordlessly, he nodded in response, “Good! Well… I’m nervous for the next part.”
    “Hey,” Trevor looked at her before straining to sit up and kiss her on the cheek, “I’m terrified of all this. But, I feel good knowing I have you. I’m ready.”
    Cleo stared at him with love in her eyes. She wanted him. She had to have him. Her hips moved and the tail loosened enough for her to stand his member up and feel it. Just touching it excited her. Firmly grasping it, the medusa slid her boyfriend’s penis into her. She pushed herself completely down to the hilt. Both gasped as pleasure shot through their bodies light lightning. Cleo’s grip on her man tightened as she felt him squirm from the feeling. She was engrossed with the expressions he made as her hips began to move. She went slowly, rising up and dropping back down. The medusa pressed her own lips against her man’s once more, letting her tongue wriggle into his mouth and wrestle with his tongue as he moaned underneath her. She grinned, her heart full of love as her entire body was covered in his warmth. Her hips moved faster as her lust heightened. All timidness within her had melted away and was replaced with a massive amount of love for her man. He was completely at her mercy as she took him repeatedly down to the hilt, her hands idly playing with his hair as he struggled to stifle his moans.
    Trevor looked her in the eyes. He was writhing from the intense, hot feeling of her vigorous riding. His member was throbbing, he was close to climaxing, “Cleo--” He grunted her name in an attempt to warn her. 
    “Shh,” She put her hand over his mouth. Her eyes and those of her serpents were on him, “Cum. I’m ready for you.”
    Trevor’s moans were muffled by Cleo’s hand. She climaxed as soon as his cum started to be shot into her womb. Her pussy quivered and gripped him tightly as it coaxed more and more out of him, greedily taking as much cum as it could from his balls. She felt warm as her now husband filled her with his precious, hot, seed. The couple pant and stared at one another before kissing again. The medusa slowly uncurled herself from around him, “That was fantastic,” He told her with an awkward chuckle.
    “Wonderful,” She giggled back, “Perhaps we should have another go?”
    “Not tonight. I need a bit of time to rest,” Trevor grunted before adjusting his position and stretching his sore limbs. 
    “Take all the time you need,” The medusa stretched before resting her head on her husband’s shoulder. Her serpents quickly laid themselves out on his body to take in his heat, “I’ll be here to shower you with affection as soon as you need it. I love you,” She whispered as she lay in the heat of the after sex warmth.
    Trevor’s breathing started to regulate and slow down, “I love you too,” He told her as he pet her scalp and felt the cool, slick scales of her snakes, “I’m damn lucky a beautiful girl like you picked me.”
    Cleo giggled, “Aren’t you sweet?” She kissed him lovingly on the lips, “Rest. I suspect I will ravage you again tomorrow.”

    Cleo put the last few finishing touches on the meal she made. She struggled to think about how much time it had been since she met her husband. The two were living in a house together now. Only half a year since their first night together. She stood up straight as she heard the doorbell ring, “Honey! Can you get that?” 
    “Yeah!” Trevor called from another room. The door opened and greetings were tossed around.
    “Where’s my friend!?” Tera demanded as she pushed past him, “Hey, bestie!” She dashed into the kitchen and gave her friend a hug, “How have you been?”
    “Good!” Cleo smiled back, “We just finished settling down here and I was reminiscing.”
    “Yeah, I was too. We finally found a house we both liked. Were you thinking of the wedding again?” Tera looked at the granite counter tops and picked up a wedding photo. Both girls had their weddings on the same day, the ultimate culmination of all the double dates they had gone on with their husbands was to have a big double wedding. The photo was of the two girls in their dresses together with their husbands on the outside.
    “How’d you know?” The medusa chuckled, “Looks like your baby is well,” She gestured to her best friend’s swollen belly.
    “Yeah, the big dummy put a little bundle of joy in me,” She proudly rubbed her stomach and looked back at her husband as he chatted with his best friend about new games and movies, “Like I said, we’re finally moving out of that apartment and into a house. One near here too!”
    “Good!” Cleo clasped her hands together, “Come and sit down, I’ll set the table.”
    “Alright,” Tera grunted as she sat in her seat, “Damn, this table looks old!”
    “It was Trevor’s grandmother’s. No idea why he wanted it so much.”
    “It’s an heirloom!” Trevor insisted as he and Luke wandered over, “It means a lot to me.”
    “It looks nice too,” Luke assured her as he placed the salad and mashed potatoes they had brought on the table, “Food looks great, Cleo,” He nearly salivated over the steak. 
    “Yeah! You’re still the best cook I know!” Tera praised as she started to plate up.
    Each smiled and chatted with their friends as most of them drank lightly, happy that they had a four person friendship that would last the rest of a lifetime.

    “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.