Chapter Ten

When the Moon Hits Your Eye

Wario breathed deep the cool night air as he stood out on the terrace. The moon was full, and the loud rattling of the crickets in the trees reminded Wario very much of the rattling of maracas. And where there were maracas, there was bound to be spicy food nearby.

He was leaning casually on the ledge when a silky voice called out to him.

"Hey, big W."

Wario almost slipped and fell, and when he recovered, he saw Mona walking up next to him. "Oh… hey, babe, how are you? Great night for a party, huh? Wah, ha, ha!"

"Yes it is," she said, smiling. She reached the ledge and sighed happily. "Look at the moon! What does it make you think of?" She inched closer to him as she said this.

"Hmm…" Wario said, rubbing his chin. "It looks like a really big matzo ball. The kind only the deli in my hometown could make."

Mona laughed. "Oh, Wario. Don't be silly."

"But that's my middle name," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Alonzo Wario Silly Fuchetti."

Mona giggled. "Well then, it couldn't be a more fitting name."

"Damn right," Wario said, clapping Mona on the back.

A silence fell as Mona calculated her best course of action. Finally, she said, "You know, Becky has a new boyfriend."

"Oh yeah?" Wario said. "That's great. I bet you're jealous! Ha, ha, ha!"

Mona chose her next words carefully. "Some people have asked me if you and I are going out, you know."

Wario furrowed his brow and turned to her. "Really? So what do you say?"

"What do you think I say?" Mona said slyly, nudging him with her shoulder.

Wario thought for a moment. "Well, you probably tell them that we are."

Mona was startled. "Why do you think that?"

"Well I mean, heck, I bet every girl in Diamond City says the same thing. It's the highest honor they could achieve!" he said with a snicker.

Mona laughed, but sighed inwardly; her plan had gone to dust. So after another short silence, she said, "Wario, what do you think of me?"

Wario blinked a few times, confused. "What do you mean?"

She looked up into his eyes. "Do you like me, Wario?"

Wario fumbled a bit for his words. "Well… um… the word 'like' can mean so many things… er… what did you mean?"

Mona was now gently taking both Wario's hands in her own. "I think you know what I meant," she said softly as she moved closer to him.

Wario was now utterly at a loss for words, and could only look left and right in confusion, right before…

The romantic moment came to a halt almost immediately as Dribble came stumbling out onto the terrace, laughing quite loudly, with a female canine biped clinging to his arm.

"No, I'll be the one to get YOU back!" he called back into the party, then continued towards the terrace, where Mona had let go of Wario's hands and moved to the side more.

"Oh, hey you two!" Dribble laughed, hiccuping once. "No monkey business out here or anything! We've got eyes on you!"

"Hey guys," Wario mumbled, kicking the ground. "Great party, huh?"

"Dribby-poo," said the she-dog, "Aren't you going to show me around this lovely house of yours? You must have worked so hard for it!"

"This is MY house!" Wario snarled angrily.

"Heh, heh, heh, don't mind him." Dribble said, and went to slap Wario on the shoulder but wound up almost falling and clutching his shoulder to stay up. "He's had a bit too much to drink." He took the she-dog by the arm and said, "Come on, I'll show you the…master bedroom."

"Hey!" Wario said as they started to walk away. "I don't think so!"

But the two dogs had already disappeared inside. Wario grumbled, and turned back to finish his conversation with Mona, but she, too, had gone back inside, leaving Wario alone in the frosty night air.