Hey guys, guess who´s back?
Me. That´s right.
Here is chapter 5, and it´s a big one. Talking 14k big.
Anyway, there is a lot going on and I hope you enjoy it! Have fun!
Beastars – Into the Spotlight 2.0
Chapter 5 – Hard lessons and wet fur (feat. RedLiteAlexi)
POV Legoshi
Juno and I had just finished re-stocking the bar and the fridge inside of it, when Haru handed me the freshly cleaned cocktail shakers she just got from the kitchen. Most of the other tasks we had already completed in the meanwhile. The pool was set to a comfortable 24°C, we had erected all the benches, chairs and tables which were normally stored in the basement, and the decorations Haru and Juno had taken care of really helped to make the place feel more inviting as well.
"The catering truck just arrived" she informed me, "I just ordered Jack and Anita to get out there and help them carry."
"Wait, what?" I asked with a chuckle, "Come on Haru, they´re guests here!"
In that moment the golden retriever and his wife already came back into the living room, both with a big tray of food in their hands.
"You guys really don't have to…"
"Come on, it´s no problem Legoshi" Jack waved it off with a smile after putting his tableau down onto the buffet table.
"There is a lot more out there" Anita informed us, just when the young raccoon-lady from the catering firm came in with another tray.
A pair of small fox pups ran up to us wearing red swimming trunks, breathing heavily as he caught his breath. "Mommy!" their six-year-old boy Grayson told her excitedly, "Leah and I already have our swimwear on! Can we go in the pool now? Are you coming into the water as well?"
"Maybe later sweetie" she told him with a little smile, "Mommy is still busy right now. You guys go ahead already and you´ll take good care of your sister, okay?"
"Mom I'm older than him" Leah complained while her brother already ran off towards the pool.
Jack and Anita's children were very sweet if not very hyper. Mostly fox-like with the exception of a pale golden colored fur like their father.
We all looked after them with amused smiles.
"I should better look after them" she excused herself from her voluntary buffet-task with a little smile.
"I go get some towels for you guys" Juno suggested helpfully.
Anita nodded gratefully.
"Come on, Mr. Wick" Jack told me in amusement, even though I wasn´t even wearing the top part of my black suit yet, "Let´s get the rest of the food in here!"
I followed them outside and just noticed more guests arriving at the front gate of my property. I opened it with the remote I had stored in my pockets just for this scenario and the black van with his band´s logo slowly rolled up my driveway.
"Oh I think I know who this is" Jack told me with an excited nudge, "Our old dorm is getting back together tonight."
They stopped next to us before they went down the ramp to the underground car-park. All their windows were winded down and the whole crew wore black sunglasses and black suits just like me, nodding to the beat of the music they blasted. It seemed like they´ve all decided to dress up like John Wick with sunglasses tonight, I couldn´t hide a little grin about that.
Durham slowly turned towards me with a little smirk. "Somebody ordered a good time?"
For the sake of the gag, I put on my own pair of black sunglasses and nodded to the beat with them for a moment. Miguno sat at the wheel, Voss and Collot were on the back seats, all grinning in amusement.
"A pleasure to make business with you, Mr. Wick." Durham told me while shaking my hand, trying to stay serious but failing a little bit as well.
I nodded with a content smirk and slowly pointed at the ramp to the car-park with one of my arms. The van began moving again and I quickly turned my attention back to Jack and the lady from the catering firm.
The ever-happy Labrador joyfully shook his head about their entrance, being really excited to meet the entire dorm again though.
"Let´s just hope we´re all never going to grow up."
When we put the next trays of food down onto the buffet table, they had already made it up the stairs and started greeting everyone.
"Legoshi!" Miguno greeted me with an excited hug, "So good to see you, how are you doing?"
"Doing great, how are you?"
"Oh I can´t complain" he waved it off, "Business as ever. Heard your son´s at Cherryton Highschool now, how´s he doing?"
"What dorm is he in?" Collot asked with great interested, "Not 701, is he?"
"Haha, no" I chuckled, "I don't think so. You need to ask him that yourself later."
"I was just about to ask" Jack mentioned, "Where is he?"
"Still up in his room rehearsing for his drama-club performance" Juno explained with an excited giggle, "…and Juliet is here as well."
"No way!" Anita yelled excitedly, "He´s in the drama-club?"
"Oh that is so cool" Jack commented while we all grinned widely, "I´m so gonna ask him about that later! Uncle Jacky needs to know everything!"
POV Leon
"Who are all these people down there now?" Lucy asked with great interest while looking out of the windows, apparently still having a really hard time focusing on our rehearsal practice.
It seemed like everything about our home was really special to her.
"Oh that…" I muttered lowly, "…it´s my dad´s birthday party."
I wasn´t that enthusiastic about being reminded of that again, but she seemed to be even more excited about that right now.
"Oh right" she said, "It was on the 9th of April, right?"
I nodded silently and read my last line of text again. I had quite a few really long monologues to learn I had to find out when reading the entire script, and I was nowhere near of knowing them all by heart.
She still stood by the window and looked down towards the porch and the garden, examining all the people arriving.
I was pretty sure I could hear uncle Jack´s kids playing around in the pool already, they have come earlier as everybody else, just as usual.
"These kids" she asked, "What species are their parents?"
"Their dad is a golden retriever and their mom a red vixen. Their names are Grayson and Leah" I tried to keep it short, "…do you wanna try this scene again or should we move on to the next one?"
"Uhm…yeah" she said, still being rather distracted by whatever was going on downstairs right now, "…sure."
I sighed.
"Sure…what?" I asked.
I became more and more aware that I wouldn't be able to ignore the party downstairs all evening long, and also that my mom would come and get me eventually anyway if I didn't show up there voluntarily. She would probably want Lucy to join as well, and once that happens, she wouldn't be able to focus on our rehearsals anymore at all.
"So…" Lucy said. "Your parents went to our school as well?"
I looked back at her and cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah…"
"That's really cool, I mean that they worked in the drama club as well and they became celebrities later on."
"Uh huh." I looked back at my script.
"Did they date all throughout high school, like going to May Ball and Meteor Festival together." She asked.
I sighed and thought about what I would say next. I really was trying to turn over a new leaf but I really wasn't interested in this topic. I might as well tell her something true.
"Well during the last year both of them were at Cherryton at the same time, they couldn't really go to May Ball together. I mean dad was pretty busy with his acting and my mom was…well…pregnant. With me. So no, they didn't do all that stuff."
She looked a little bewildered at the truthfulness of my answer. "Oh… I didn't know that."
She was silent for another moment. "You think you'll go to a May Ball?"
I was caught off guard by her question. "I haven't really thought about it, I don't know, I've been hanging out with my dorm mates more so maybe if they go I'll go."
She chuckled a little. "That's not really what I meant but whatever."
I found my blushing and I raised my script to cover my face.
Then I actually began reading again, hoping that topic was over with that for now.
I wanted to present at least a little bit of progress to Sanu next Monday, so getting distracted again wasn't the way to go in my opinion.
"…here" I suggested then, "This part with the balcony…wanna try that one again? Here, I´ll sit on the floor, the couch is the balcony. Page 24, you start."
POV Legoshi
My underground carpark was really filling up in the meanwhile. Soon after my old dormmates had joined us, Aoba´s wife Hina and their daughters Suki and Polly arrived.
It appeared Hina had rented a car since their daughters weren't legally allowed to fly yet, and they were without their dad when they arrived as he was still at his interview I assumed.
Hina arrived in a blue cocktail dress that suited her slender form. She wore a gold necklace and looked rather overly formal for this semi casual event. I'd leave it to Aoba to be smitten by such a beautiful eagle.
The girls following at her side looked like copies of their mother although dressed much more casual. Aoba's youngest wore capris and a nice shirt while her slightly older sister wore a black sleeved dress and red tights. I also couldn't help but notice the excessive amounts of mascara and eyeliner the teenage eagle wore.
I would have to remember to tease Aoba about that when he arrived.
I just had time to greet and offer them something to drink when another car arrived at the gate.
Kai looked just as sharply dressed as the last time I´ve met him. The Mongoose had come here all the way from Tokyo, it seemed like he really didn´t want to miss the chance to see the old gang again either.
"Kai" I greeted him with a chummy hug when he came up the stairs from the garage, "You made it! Good to see you!"
"Of course I made it" he said happily, "Took the entire weekend off and a few days extra. Hope I can stay a night?"
"Two if you want" I chuckled, "The guestrooms are all available."
"Oh I´m gonna visit another old friend of mine tomorrow" he waved it off, "He still lives around here too."
"That´s cool, always nice to meet old friends again."
He nodded in agreement. Then he quickly examined his favorite place in my home. The bar.
"Who is she?" he asked with an interested little smirk.
I was pretty sure he meant the raccoon-lady from the catering company Juno had booked to take care of the bar and the buffet tonight.
I just couldn´t hide a little grin about that question of his.
"You old rascal" I chuckled.
"Hey, I´m just curious, okay?" he asked with a wink, pushing my shoulders a little bit.
"Her name is Margot I believe" I told him, "She´s from the catering firm. Don't get me into trouble, alright?" I asked with a grin.
"When have I ever gotten you in trouble?" he asked with an ironic wink before he set off to greet the others as well.
I joined Juno and Aoba´s family again in the meanwhile, I was really interested in how they were doing as well. His two daughters have grown so much since I last saw them about a year ago.
"…where is Leon by the way?" Suki asked just when I joined their conversation again, "Is he out tonight?"
"No, he´s still upstairs in his room I think" I told her with a shrug of my shoulders.
"Oh he´ll show up when he gets hungry" Juno waved it off with a big grin, "Also, he´s rehearsing with a pretty girl for his drama-club role right now" she added with a little wink towards the girls, "…and they´re playing Romeo and Juliet!"
I already knew this would become one of the biggest topics tonight, but Juno was just not to be stopped or even slowed down about it. She just enjoyed this too much and was not patient enough to wait, even when Leon wasn´t even here yet.
"Oooh" they giggled excitedly, "Really? Who is she?"
"Her name is Lucy" Juno explained, "She´s a maned wolf."
"Can´t wait to meet her!" Suki said with a big smile, "Our Leon is probably going to get his first kiss pretty soon!"
Aoba´s daughters were just as excited about this as Juno as it seemed.
"Leon and Lucy sitting in a tree!" her sister Polly began singing in amusement. "…I´m just gonna call him Romeo from now on!"
"I´m sure he´ll really enjoy that" I chuckled with a big ironic smile.
"Oh he can´t hide from me forever" Suki grinned, "I´m gonny fly up there and spy through his window if I have to!"
POV Lucy
I just wasn't able to focus on our rehearsal anymore at this point. Whatever was going on downstairs was just so much more interesting. Just alone the thought of meeting Legoshi and Juno again had me shaking in excitement.
But the way Leon was trying to postpone it right now really had me wondering in the meanwhile. Maybe I was not really welcome at that party, maybe I was just expected to leave their house when we were done with our rehearsals.
They´ve gotten to know me as a waiter in a restaurant after all, maybe even being here was a great gift on their behalf already. I was a little scared of angering them with my presence, celebrities of this greatness and importance especially, my biggest idol and inspiration.
"But they´ve been so nice to me earlier already, why would they not be nice now too?"
I just remembered how relaxed Juno had been when Leon opened the door for me earlier. She had told me to just ask if I need anything and feel just like at home here. Legoshi smiled at me when he walked past us with a heavy looking box in his arms and carried it through the giant living room towards the porch. He was dressed in almost the same fancy suit he was wearing in the John Wick movie, missing just the black jacket as it probably was too warm for that during the day. Juno wore a really pretty red dress and looked ready for a party as well.
I was a little bummed that I couldn´t see more of this very exciting place before Leon asked me to follow him upstairs towards the second floor.
His room was even bigger than I first imagined it would be. He had almost half of the entire top floor to himself, he had his own bathroom and all the space one could ever need.
Apart from the giant king-sized bed, there were a large couch, a big flatscreen TV with a gaming console connected to it, a big desk with a computer, an electric piano, an unnecessarily-large wardrobe and quite a lot of other objects in his little kingdom.
Nothing of that seemed to be of any importance to him though. And he didn´t seem to care about that party downstairs right now either, I figured it either wasn't anything special to him or there were people he didn´t really want to meet.
There even was music down there now, it just looked so inviting and exciting from the window up here.
Whatever it was, I wanted this situation to change right now. I was done with rehearsing today and I wasn´t afraid of showing that anymore.
"Does your dad throw a party like this for every birthday?" I asked casually, trying to switch the topic to specifically that right now.
"Yeah, every year so far" he said, tossing his script aside as well now as he realized that I didn´t have the intention of continuing with this any further.
"…and you don't like it?"
He seemed a little hesitant about answering that question. He tilted his head a little bit, looking down at his feet for a moment.
"I do. But they all have these high expectations of me…" he sighed lowly, "…just like Sanu, they all think I´m just like my dad."
"Oh…" was all that I brought out right now. I haven't even been thinking about that before, but it actually made a lot of sense. I felt a little dumb for having asked that now.
"Is…" I asked, "…is that why you said you´re sorry you´re not him in the club?"
He just looked at me with a little nod and a slight shrug of his shoulders.
"But…do you really think they all want you to be like him?"
"Why do you think Sanu switched the show to Romeo and Juliet all of a sudden?" he asked, "He had decided that as soon as he found out who I was."
I just had so many questions about this right now. I was glad he actually was this open to talk about it right now, this has been long overdue.
"…when did he find out?"
"About…about five minutes after I joined the club" he sighed with a little chuckle at me now, "…and he wasn´t afraid to tell everybody."
"What?!"
He now smiled at me even a little more. "You were literally the only one in the club who didn´t know it right from the start."
"Fuck. They all kept their mouths shut about it? Why?!"
I must have looked really dumbfounded right now, he still wasn´t able to stop smiling at me.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him, becoming a little louder than I had intended to. I kinda wanted to punch him for that right now.
"Because…" he sighed, still looking at his feet rather than at me, "Because you would have had the same expectations of me as well. And I just can´t give you that. I´m not my dad."
I´ve never looked at it like that, but it was just as obvious as the light of day now. I should have realized that as soon as I had found out who he was, but that thought had never come to my mind before.
I just couldn´t think of anything to say right now. He was just plain right about that, and I felt really bad about it now.
He had tried to kept a low profile about it but he couldn´t keep it a secret forever. What else was he supposed to do but stay quiet about it.
He had all this luxury, space and celebrity-aura around him but he probably tried to live a normal life just like the rest of us. Even though he had all those things I didn´t have, including a loving family, I actually felt kinda bad for him right now.
"I…I" I stuttered, and he now looked at me again, "I´m sorry I haven´t figured it out sooner."
"It´s alright" he waved it off with a little smile now, "I´m glad you´re not freaking out as much as everyone else I´ve ever invited here."
"Oh I´m freaking out alright" I chuckled nervously, "I´ve just been trying not to show it…"
Being this honest to him right now actually seemed to brighten his mood a little as well. I was glad we had this talk right now, this already made it a whole lot less awkward.
"You don't have to be afraid of my parents by the way" he now told me, "…they´re a little weird sometimes…but apart from that they´re quite alright."
"Quite alright?! Your father is the most-friendly, most-humble and most-talented man I´ve ever seen!"
I couldn't help but smile about that statement of his. He still seemed to be pretty convinced about what he said. I guessed to him they just were his parents after all.
"Can we go join them?" I just plainly asked him now, finally jumping over my own shadow, "It looks like so much fun down there."
"You sure?" he asked with a slightly hesitant chuckle, apparently having expected me to ask that at some point, "…you know, my parents are nice, and I think they really like you, but I can´t stop them if they´re in the mood for teasing me...or you for that matter…"
"What, because we´re playing Romeo and Juliet?" I asked with an amused grin.
He just shrugged his shoulders with a little nod, "For example."
"Come on, it can´t be that bad."
He lazily lifted himself off from the couch now. "Don't say I didn´t warn you" he commented that dryly.
Then he pulled his phone from his pocket and put it down onto his couch table for some reason.
"What´s that for?" I asked in slight amusement while getting up from the couch as well.
"My parents have a habit for pushing me into the pool" he said with a little sigh, apparently really being serious about that, "Lost too many phones that way already."
"You´re not serious" I grinned. This just sounded so made up.
"They think that´s very funny" he said, apparently being dead serious about it indeed.
In that very moment, an evil little idea spawned in my head. I actually really wanted this to happen as I found the idea of that rather funny as well. Maybe he was the one with the stick up his ass after all, and I still kinda wanted to punish him for that patter.
"I think you´re bullshitting me again" I told him now, throwing a challenging smirk at him.
I now left my phone and my wallet on his couch table as well just in case, I had no use for them downstairs anyways. My script I threw onto the couch next to where he left his, then I followed him out of the room.
"Wanna bet on it?" he asked in slight amusement while slowly walking down the stairs in front of me, "I´ll clean the rehearsal room for an entire week if I stay dry tonight."
That made me grin even wider. "Deal. I´ll do it for a week if you don't."
He stopped just when we reached the first floor, turned around and offered me to shake hands on that bet. I took it without a second of hesitation.
I had no problem with brooming the rehearsal room a couple of times, even less if that meant I could see him get pushed into a pool.
The music was becoming louder now as we got closer to the ground floor and I could hear voices as well. My pulse quickly rose to a really high level once again as I was getting more and more excited to meet them again right now.
POV Juno
I had just gotten myself the first drink from the bar when the moment we´ve all been waiting for finally came.
It was rather predictable that he wouldn´t try to make a big entrance tonight, especially with his female guest still being here, but some of us immediately noticed them nevertheless.
"Look who noticed the smell of food" I greeted him in amusement.
He just sighed with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh this looks so good" Lucy commented shyly, taking a careful look around as it seemed that she still felt pretty out of place here.
I didn´t want her to feel like that. She could stay the whole night if she wanted, I was so glad she followed Leon´s invitation in the first place. Most of his guests had always felt really intimidated by this place and who it belonged to, but I was glad Leon still hadn´t given up trying.
"Just help yourself to anything you want darling" I told her with a friendly smile, "No need to be shy!"
"Are…are you sure this is okay?" she stuttered, "I mean…I just came here for drama-club practice with Leon, but-"
"Hey wolfie!" Suki now greeted Leon loudly, nudging him playfully, "…you now gonna become an actor as well or what?"
I couldn´t hide a grin as Polly now did the same on his other side and rubbed the top of his head with one of her hands. "Practiced your kissing scene yet, Romeo?"
Leon just sighed really deeply again while Lucy actually couldn't hide a little giggle either.
"Nice to see you too" he muttered at the two bald eagle girls, playfully nudging them a little as well though.
"Hi, I´m Suki, this is my sister Polly" Suki now greeted the maned wolf girl while reaching her a hand, "Nice to meet you!"
"Hi…" she said with a little smile, "I´m Lucy. I´m from his drama-club at Cherryton."
"Oh my god your hair is so pretty" Polly told her excitedly, "I bet you´ll look so good on stage!"
"Aww thank you" she said with a humble smile, "You´re too nice."
Leon looked at the older eagle. "You need better YouTube makeup videos to watch." He said with a smile.
"Oh bite me, at least I make an attempt to look nice in public. I mean when's the last time you changed your shirt. I bet you rolled out of bed with that ratty thing." Suki said.
Leon looked at himself and spoke. "Hmmm where's the lie?"
I chuckled under my breathe and I could hear the cadre of giggling.
"How is it in Highschool?" Suki now asked, "Much different from middle school?"
Leon just shrugged his shoulders about that question. It didn´t seem like he wanted to engage in a lot of small-talk right now.
"The days are long" Lucy told them, "But staying in the dorms is kinda cool."
"Do they separate the boys and the girls?" Suki asked with great interest. It seemed like she couldn´t wait for joining a Highschool herself, even though she still had two more years of middle school before her.
"Yeah, of course they do" Leon sighed while rolling his eyes.
Lucy nodded as well.
"Aww" Suki giggled.
"What did you think you dummy?" Leon asked her now with a little smirk, "What a dumb question."
Suki now just stuck her tongue out at him in an ironic fashion.
Leon apparently had enough of the bickering in the meanwhile, he just rolled his eyes and went off towards the buffet.
"He has changed a little, hasn´t he?" Polly now asked with a little grin.
"Oh don't worry about it" I waved it off with a grin myself, "He´s probably just hungry."
"Wolfie hit his puberty…" Suki giggled, "…he´s becoming a man wolf slowly but surely."
Lucy couldn´t help but smile about that comment as well. The bald eagles probably had a point with what they said, Leon used to be a lot more light-hearted around them earlier.
We watched him for a moment, then Lucy went on her way towards the buffet as well.
Then I got distracted by somebody else once again.
"Juno" Anita asked me, having Grayson and Leah with her who both had wrapped towels around them, "Can we use your bathroom and your fur-dryer for a moment, please? I don't want them to get everything wet here…"
"Yes, of course!" I told her, "The bathroom on the first floor has everything you need."
"Awww" Polly said when she noticed the happy natured pups their mother was trying to escort towards the bathroom without dripping water everywhere, "Are you guys all wet from the pool?"
"My water splashes were a lot higher than my sisters!" Grayson informed her proudly.
"That´s not true!" his sister disagreed loudly.
"Come on you two" Anita told them with a little sigh, "They were both the highest!"
"Come on guys" Polly said while taking Grayson´s hand, "Let´s get you dried up!"
Suki took Leah´s hand and together they followed Anita up the stairs, who very gratefully accepted the help Aoba´s daughters offered. Those kids just where full of energy, keeping them under control at a party was always quite a tall order.
It was not like Leon hadn´t been in a phase like that either, but in the meanwhile, I was kinda glad I didn´t have to take this much care about him anymore. And I enjoyed his puberty phase even more for that matter, this was just as funny as it was interesting.
I was curious what would happen between him and Lucy tonight, if there was anything happening at all, but I kinda had a little bit of a positive foreboding already.
POV Lucy
"Those two are your best friends, yes?" I asked him with a nudge and a little grin on my face.
I liked the two bald eagle girls, they were sweet, they were fun and they were not afraid of speaking their minds. I guessed them to be about 13 or 14 years old, but the two sisters had quite sharp tongues nevertheless, and that I liked a whole lot more than them being shy as well. It gave me some confidence and that made me feel more welcome here already.
"What, Suki and Polly?" he asked with a full mouth.
I nodded. "Where do you know them from?"
"They´re the daughter of-" he said, stopping in his tracks as there suddenly went a short gust of wind through the entire living room. With the corner of my eye I had seen a quick shadow moving over the porch, almost as if something had landed there.
This now made him smile a little, this seemed to be good timing. "…you remember when Sanu told Haruto about the parts where he is supposed to fly?"
He now waved me to follow him outside as a few others turned towards the porch as well with great interest. I didn't understand what he meant with that right now, but I followed him nevertheless.
"…and when Hazel asked if they still meet each other sometimes?"
I now noticed Legoshi who was just greeting somebody with a chummy hug. When he released him again, I noticed it was another, slightly larger bald eagle.
"Oh shit" I said lowly, covering my mouth in shock when I realized it, "Is that Aoba?"
Leon now just grinned at me casually. "They do still meet sometimes."
I was just so dumbfounded right now.
"Now our old drama-club is almost complete" Juno commented, who had just joined us here as well I just noticed.
My heartbeat just went even faster.
After greeting Legoshi, the large avian casually went onto his way to greet the other guests, just as humbly as the grey wolf totally ignoring the fact that he was a very famous celebrity and most regular people would probably do anything to just meet him in person once.
Before I could even look, he was coming right towards us, greeting Leon with a casual fist bump.
"What´s up you rascal?" he asked with an upbeat smirk, "How´s Highschool?"
"Your daughters have been asking that as well already" he replied with a tried chuckle, "I can´t really tell yet. Also I see that Suki stole her mom's makeup."
Aoba chuckled and rubbed his forehead. "Youthful rebellion I guess, next she'll be wanting a cell phone and Beastbook. I heard Sanu is still rocking the drama-club?"
Even though I could have answered that as well, I still was too flustered to even move my tongue right now.
"He does" Leon affirmed with a nod, "…and he´s still talking rather highly of those ´good old days´. The pictures of you guys are still in the hallway."
"He´ll be adding some new pictures very soon" he told us with a little wink.
"They´re already practicing really hard for their first show" Leon´s mom told him, shaking his shoulder with a little grin.
"Mooom" he complained in slight annoyance.
Aoba chuckled about that with a big grin as well.
"Sanu is bringing back Romeo and Juliet" she giggled, "And guess who you have in front of you!"
"Mom!" Leon complained again, now pushing her a little.
It seemed like he really was a little embarrassed about that in front of all these people, but maybe he was just tired of hearing it. Even thought that was really funny and I had a hard time holding back my laughter about this, I was beginning to understand how hard his live could be as well.
"Oh that´s awesome!" the bald eagle commented in excitement. He now came a step towards me and offered me to shake his hand, "I´m Aoba, so nice to meet you."
"H-hello" I stuttered, "L-Lucy!"
"No need to be afraid" he said with a little smile, putting one of his hands on my shoulders.
"I´m sure you´re just as welcome here as everyone else!"
"T-thank you" I said, still flustered as I noticed how Juno was nodding to that statement of the bird.
"…just watch out for this little fluff-butt, okay?" he asked me with a little wink while pointing at Leon.
He just rolled his eyes in slight annoyance, I couldn't hide a little grin.
"Psst…Leon" Aoba told him with a little nudge, "…in the boys locker-room, is there still a locker with a dent in the door?"
Leon actually nodded to that question now, not understanding why he was asking that though.
Aoba now winked him quickly before he went onto his way towards the buffet, "…why don't you go ask your dad…or maybe your mom…how that got in there?"
I now noticed how Juno was grinning about that very widely, not commenting anything on that though. Aoba smiled at her once more, than he went on his way again.
Leon curiously raised an eyebrow while looking towards his mother, but she played it off as if she didn´t have any idea what the bald eagle was talking about.
"I have no idea what he means" she said with a little smile and a shrug of her shoulders. I kinda had the feeling she did know, but she was too embarrassed to share it.
These guys were just animals like me in the end, and just getting prove of that once again made it so much better. I had so much fun here already.
This day was just getting more and more crazy. I shook hands with Aoba just like that, he treated me with the same respect as everybody else did here. I was at a celebrity´s party meeting even more famous people, and it appeared to be just fine like that.
"Wait, Polly and Suki are his daughters?" I now remembered what I wanted to ask earlier.
Leon just nodded shortly, as somebody else now arrived him. He was a spotted hyena, and somehow, I had the feeling I´ve seen him before somewhere as well.
"Migu!" Leon greeted him with a chummy smile and a fist bump.
"What´s up big guy?" he asked with a happy grin, "Who´s the pretty lady?"
"Oh her?" he asked with a little chuckle, apparently owning it now, "She´s Juliet."
The hyena now smiled really widely as well.
"And yes" Leon added with a little sigh, "I´m Romeo in case it wasn´t obvious."
"You joined the drama-club?" he asked in great excitement, "That´s awesome!"
"My dad told me you´ve been on stage with him back in Highschool…" Leon now switched the topic away from us.
"Good old times" the hyena said with a nod, "Your dad was such a badass in Highschool, sometimes I wonder what happened to him" he said with an ironic grin.
"Excuse me?" another voice from behind us suddenly asked with a chuckle.
I turned around and Legoshi was standing right behind us. I hadn´t even noticed him at first, it got me really flustered right now.
"I was just kidding" the hyena told him with a big grin, "You´re still pretty badass in some of your movies!"
I just now noticed that the he wore almost exactly the same outfit as Legoshi, almost like they´ve planned this together in advance.
Legoshi looked just like John Wick in this suit, I just couldn´t get over it. He was just so handsome.
"Hey Lucy" Legoshi now greeted me in a friendly way, "Are you doing okay?"
"Y-yes" I affirmed, still feeling very nervous though, "Thanks for asking! T-thanks for letting me be here!"
"But of course!" he said with a friendly smile, "Just feel like at home, you´re very welcome!"
He was just the greatest man who ever lived. They could tell me whatever they wanted, nobody was as cool as him.
"Happy birthday belated!" I told him, "I´m sorry I hadn´t noticed it earlier already!"
"Thank you" he told me with a warm smile.
"I really like your suit by the way" I now found the guts to tell him, "It makes you look just like in the movie."
He just smiled a little about that compliment.
"What about my suit" the hyena now asked ironically, correcting his collar a little bit, "Do I not look like a badass killer in this as well?"
"What about me?" a coyote who suddenly had joined us asked, wearing the exact same outfit as them as well.
"…have you all discussed this beforehand or what?" Leon asked with a little chuckle and a shake of his head.
"I think you´re all looking very handsome" Juno commented in amusement.
"Me too" I agreed with her, "I feel a little underdressed right now to be honest."
"Pfff" Juno grinned while pointing at her son, "…just look at this dork."
She was kinda right with that statement, it seemed like she had just been waiting for an opportunity to bring it up again. Leon hadn´t even considered changing into something more fitting for a party. He still just wore the same black jogging pants and an old band T-shirt with the name "The leftovers" on it. I had assumed it was fine since he lived here and this was his dad´s birthday party, but most people here were by far better dressed than him.
"Hey, I´ve had this shirt for over three years now" Leon complained ironically, "What´s wrong with it?"
"I need to hook you up with the new collection" the hyena now told him with a little wink, "…we might even have some left in the back of the van."
Leon nodded contentedly about that offer. Legoshi shook his head a little bit as well, smiling in an ironic fashion though. It didn't seem like Leon was very impressed by that either.
"That´s not an outfit for a party though" his mom told him, "You could have made a least a little bit off an effort."
"Yeah, yeah" Leon sighed, walking towards the pool now and testing the temperature of the water with one of his feet, apparently trying to get out of this situation, "Blah."
He wasn´t even wearing any shoes right now, boys were just such disgraces sometimes.
I now noticed how Juno was looking at him with a slightly mischievous grin. I had a feeling Leon hadn't been that wrong with his earlier prediction that she probably wanted to push him into the water at some point. As he seemed a bit distracted for a moment, I noticed how Juno now looked from him to me and then back towards the pool again.
I couldn't help but grin a little bit as well, that seemed to be exactly what she had been counting on. She nodded with a big grin.
"Do it" she then suddenly told me dryly and with a big grin.
"Do wha-" Leon asked, but in that moment it was already too late for him.
I took a quick step towards him, used my whole body-weight and just checked him onto the pool.
I had many reasons why I wanted to do this, and getting permission from his mom herself was not something I wanted to miss out on. This was my moment and I wouldn´t waste it, no matter what followed.
When he re-surfaced all wet, spitting out water in great surprise and displeasure, they all started celebrating around us and Juno offered me a high-five with a chummy grin. I returned it with a big grin as they all seemed to enjoy that really much. Except for Leon, probably.
"Yeah!" Juno yelled in excitement, "That´s what you get for wearing jogging pants at a party!"
While everybody laughed, clapped and celebrated, Leon just shook his head in slight disbelief.
"Good thing you left your phone upstairs" I asked him with a big grin, "Isn´t it?"
"W-what the fuck was that about" he complained in a rather high-pitched voice, apparently really surprised that I just did that to him.
"You´re in the water" I grinned, "Are you not happy that you´ve won your bet?"
He just kept staring at us in pure disbelief. Now Suki and Polly came towards me and high fived me as well.
"Yeah, yeah" he sighed in defeat, waiting it out until everybody stopped laughing on his expense.
He swam back towards the edge where I pushed him over, reaching one of his hands out for me now.
"Okay, okay…" he sighed, "Very funny. Can you at least help me out now, please?"
I took a short look around now, but as I didn´t want to be too much of a dick towards him right now, I actually complied to his request and reached him a hand to help him out.
As soon as he got to get it, he grabbed it so tightly that I couldn't get away anymore and just pulled me down as hard as he could. My entire body was just pulled forwards and the blink of an eye later I ended up in the water as well.
"Shit, I should have seen that one coming."
I thought to myself, as they all started laughing and celebrating again, this time on my expense. But I started laughing with them. I couldn´t even remember the last time I´ve had this much fun.
"You really fell for that?" Leon now asked while sticking out his tongue with a grin.
As an answer I just splashed some more water in his face.
He splashed some water back and the people around the pool now took a few steps back, still very amused about our little fight.
Now I was really glad I left my valuables up in his room as well. This had been a good call from him.
I wasn´t even mad about being in the water right now. It was a lot warmer than the water in the pool on the roof at Cherryton and I actually felt really comfortable. Leon apparently was alright with this too, he was having a lot more fun with this as I had expected earlier.
"It´s about time you got a proper wash again, isn´t it?" Legoshi now asked his son with a mischievous little grin.
"Oh what are you opening mouth for old man?" Leon asked him in a challenging manner, splashing some water into his direction.
A few "Oooh´s" where to be heard after Leon fired that shot, but it was not like Legoshi couldn´t deal with a punchline like that.
"Why don't you show your ´old man´ how to not get wet at every single one of his birthday parties?"
They all grinned widely about that comeback. It appeared Leon really had a history with this.
"Ahhh" Leon growled in annoyance, heading for the edge of the pool once again.
I just noticed how Legoshi handed something over to Aoba quickly, it believed it was a phone and a remote of some sort. The avian took it without any questions, watching in great excitement what was going down as well.
This time Leon was actually getting out of the water, his dad just smiled down on him in amusement, crossing his arms before his chest.
"What now, big man?" Legoshi asked with a little grin, "Are you trying to get me in the water as well now?"
Leon wordlessly grabbed one of his arms and tried pulling him towards the pool, it was pretty obvious that this had been his intention all along. But he hadn´t counted on so much resistance from his dad, as he didn´t even manage to move him a whole lot and the older wolf still looked rather unimpressed by his effords.
Leon tried again, but this time his father reacted with a really fast motion of his arms, loosening up the grip of Leon´s hands from his forearms and grabbing them in the same motion.
Leon just stared in disbelief as his dad now pushed him towards the pool, lifted him up with great force and just tossed him back in the water again. He still was a little bit taller than his son, and quite obviously a whole lot stronger as well. None of us, including Leon, had been expecting this.
"Old man my ass" Legoshi chuckled with an ironic smirk as they all began celebrating him and laughing their butts off again.
The grey wolf now did a little bow in front of his audience. Then he turned around and smiled at Leon again who just shook his head in great disbelief and slight frustration.
"Maybe you have better luck next ye-"
Legoshi didn´t even get to finish that sentence though as Juno now suddenly rushed towards him after having taken quite a bit of run up and checked him into the pool as well.
There was another big splash and then John Wick was in the water next to us.
"That´s how you do it!" Juno yelled in triumph as the hype grew even bigger now.
Legoshi just grinned widely when he came up from under the water again, it almost seemed like he had been expecting something like that to happen.
Leon now tried wrestling him again, lunging on top of him and trying to push him under the water playfully. Legoshi just owned it though, not at all mad about getting embarrassed like that either.
I was laughing so hard my body began aching in the meanwhile.
This man was just such a legend, everything he did made him even more likeable. He already was like the father figure to me that I never had.
"So much for just fighting people in movies, huh?" he now asked his son with a big smile.
"You just got lucky there" Leon told him somewhat ironically, "I´ll get you eventually!"
POV Haru
I was so happy for Leon. I was glad he tried to challenge his dad, and I was glad he decided to own it afterwards instead of building up a grudge and disappearing from the party altogether.
And I was even more glad that Lucy really seemed to feel like at home here in the meanwhile. Or at least something close to that.
Even though her only outfit she had here now was completely soaked, she still looked like she had just won the lottery. It seemed she was even happier now than last Monday when she met us in the Restaurant.
While Leon and Legoshi where wrestling in the water, Juno went off to get a few more towels so they could dry themselves off afterwards. She had brought a whole stack of them down into the living room earlier, so her way wasn't too long after all.
When Leon and Lucy finally had made it out of the water a little while later, they were both completely soaked obviously. For Leon that wasn´t too much of a problem, he had dry clothing here, but it certainly was a different story for the maned wolf girl.
"See" he now asked her with a smile, "Told you I would end up in the pool."
"Yeah, yeah" she chuckled light-heartedly, "…but you didn´t say I would end up in the water as well!"
"I mean" he grinned, taking the towel Juno reached him, "It´s only fair."
"Yeah but you have spare clothing here" she pointed out.
Juno now handed her a towel as well with a warm little smile. "Oh don't worry, honey!" she told her, "I´m sure we can work something out!"
Lucy´s expression immediately lighted up a little more once again.
"Oh that would be so kind of you" she told her thankfully, "You think I could hang my wet stuff up to dry somewhere?"
"But of course" Juno said, waving her to follow her upstairs quickly, "Let´s get you inside before you catch a cold!"
Leon followed them as well, apparently not wanting to run around all wet either. Legoshi the old dork still remained in the water for now, he seemed quite comfortable there after Kai had delivered him a cocktail to the edge of the pool.
It seemed like the mongoose had stopped flirting with the catering lady for a moment and put in a shift as a barkeeper on his own right now. Legoshi hadn´t even asked him to do that, Kai probably just figured he wouldn´t dislike it.
The soaking wet wolf in the pool now raised a glass with everybody around and began drinking contentedly, pushing the spirits even higher. That really seemed to have set the party off now, the music was turned up a little louder and the mood became even more energetic.
These parties never really were my thing though. I didn´t feel quite so comfortable being among a lot of people, I liked it more to talk in a little group and engage in a deeper conversation with just one or maybe two other people.
Sadly, the evening hadn´t quite reached that point yet. And I haven't found anybody who I really wanted to have a conversation with either. Until now.
I suddenly had two arms laying on my shoulders from behind me. His shadow loomed over me when he put his head between my ears and playfully growled a little bit.
It gave me chills, but I immediately had a slight foreboding who this could be. The red fur on his strong arms confirmed that suspicion even more.
"Seb?" I asked curiously, looking upwards just to make sure.
"What´s up, bunny girl?" he asked with a smile, "Long time no see."
I now turned around to face him and he pulled me into a little hug.
"Pretty much one year ago" I chuckled, "Why do we only meet at Legoshi´s parties?"
"That´s a really good question" he agreed with a shrug of his shoulders, "But I´m glad I always find you here!"
POV Juno
While I had showed Lucy around my bedroom and gave her a selection of clothes of mine which she could wear for the rest of the night, and showed her the bathroom where she could shower and change, Leon had already changed and gotten back downstairs as it seemed like.
When I went up towards his room to check out on him, the entire second floor was empty.
His room actually looked quite tidy for his standards, it seemed like he wanted it to look at least decent for his guest.
I just wanted to close his door again, when I suddenly noticed something really interesting. There were to stacks of paper lying on his couch, neatly stapled together but obviously rather well used as well. I listened into the stair-case, it was all silent right now. Then I quickly went to check it out, and it indeed were the scripts of their Romeo and Juliet performance.
I opened it up on a random page and began reading a few of the lines. It immediately threw me back to my Highschool days when I performed that myself, this was just so exciting.
Then a funny little idea spawned in my head.
On my way back down to the party, I first made sure Leon didn´t see me with the scripts I had taken with me.
He was distracted by the buffet and the conversation he was having with Suki and Polly right now, that was the ideal moment to slip past them unnoticed.
"Legoshi!" I told him low but rather directly, trying to get his attention as quickly as possible.
He had just made it out of the pool himself as it seemed, drying himself off with one of the towels I had brought earlier. I handed him Leon´s script and showed him the page with the lines I wanted to do.
He immediately grinned a little bit, reading through the bit quickly. I did the same, trying to study the few lines as accurately as possible.
"Oh he´s gonna hate us so much for this" Legoshi whispered lowly but with a mischievous smirk.
"Let´s show him how it´s done" I just grinned.
I took another short look through the crowd, trying to find out if Lucy had already joined us again. I just saw her coming down the stairs, taking a closer look at the buffet as well now.
I decided to wait just a little bit longer, but it also had to happen before Leon noticed that I had stolen their scripts.
POV Lucy
Being inside Juno's closet was surreal, I hadn't ever seen such an array of beautiful outfits. I almost felt guilty in trying them on knowing that any of them could cost more than I made in a week working. I felt a shiver of embarrassment and perhaps giddy as I pulled open a drawer counting a multitude of panties. Juno had told me to take whatever I needed and seeing as my own clothes were drenched, she intended this as well. I saw various forms of silky panties and lacy lingerie. I blushed at the implications of owning such an article of clothing and my mind fluttered back to the night I saw them on their date. I picked up a plain pair of black shorts. But looked down at the other pairs. Many with big brand names and looked extremely comfortable.
I didn't think I needed anything like that, at least I think I didn't. It wasn't like anyone would see them. I picked up a pair of pink Lace panties with a small black bow on the rear and slipped into them. They felt nice and manageable. I blushed and threw on the bra to match. I glanced at myself in the mirror. It felt nice to see myself in something different from gym clothes or my waitress uniform. I thought I looked hot and it was nice to have undergarments to compliment that. I turned to Juno's rack of dresses and looked over them. It would be nice to return to the party in a nice formal attire. It would be really ironic if Leon looked the most out dressed at his own home. I pulled a sleek black cocktail dress from the hanger and saw how well it contrasted with my red fur. I smiled and pulled it over my head.
The contours snuggly held my hips and chest but fit rather well. The bottom of the dress lingered above my knees and exposed a good amount of my long legs. I looked at my image in the mirror once more and smiled. I loved how I looked and was happy that I was pulled into the pool.
Upon returning to the party, I almost choked on the grape and cheese combination I had just put in my mouth when I saw it. Juno was standing next to Legoshi right now, just a few steps away from the pool, pretty much in the middle of the party. Legoshi was still wet as it looked like, he didn´t seem too bothered about it right now. His black pants looked soaked and heavy, the different colors of the fur on his stomach showed through the drenched white shirt he wore.
What was by far more important though, was that he had one of our scripts in his hands, Juno had the other one. I immediately noticed the green highlights I had marked all my lines with.
"Leon" I called him out quickly, not able to hide a little grin at what was going on. Juno just had winked me shortly when she noticed I had seen them.
"What?" he asked, joining me while continuing to chew on something he had picked up from the buffet himself.
I just pointed it out and when Juno tossed my script onto the ground carefully.
"Oh Romeo!" she started out loudly, all the other conversations immediately died down as she was the center of attention now.
"Juliet!" Legoshi now took over in a dramatic pose, tossing Leon´s script onto the floor as well, "...why, oh why, does she have to be a Capulet? Why, oh why, do I have to be a Montague?"
This was just the best thing I´ve ever seen in my whole life. My favorite actor was improvising lines from my drama-club piece life in front of me.
"…feather of lead!" he continued, now getting down onto one of his knees while raising a hand and putting the other one over his heart, "Bright smoke; cold fire; sick health! …still-waking sleep, that is not what this is!"
"Why oh why!?" Juno now asked in a very overly-dramatic way as well, not entirely able to hide a little grin though, "Why oh why do you have to be a Montague? Why, just oh why did I have to be born a Capulet?"
I just couldn't stop laughing at this. This just brought me so much joy, Legoshi being down to even do something this silly. Unlike Leon, I didn't feel made fun of by this, I found it just flattering.
The other guests appeared to enjoy this just as much as me, they couldn´t stop laughing while Leon just buried his face in his hands.
He now actually began walking over towards them, it distracted the other two wolves so much that they couldn´t stop grinning at him anymore.
"Oh look" his mom now grinned at him, "There is the real Rome-"
In that moment he already placed both his hands on her shoulders and gently but then with a bit of force began pushing her towards the pool.
Juno did a little yelp when he actually managed to push her over the edge with a little jolt and she ended up in the water in quite a spectacular fashion.
"Juliet!" his father now yelled after her in a dramatic pose, keeping the act up just a little longer. He was just the love of my life.
He took a step closer towards the pool, getting back down onto his knees again acting like he wanted to help her out, but I assumed he just did it so Leon could push him in as well, "Are you alright my dear?"
"Romeo!" Juno yelled in great excitement, just as Leon took the opportunity to push his dad into the pool for a second time tonight.
I was laughing so much my stomach began hurting at this point. Legoshi and Juno just owned it getting pushed into the pool again of course.
Legoshi had been wet already after all, but Juno wasn´t mad about it either. I guessed she had somewhat expected that to happen.
Legoshi now took Juno into tight embrace with a loving hug, bending her head down gently and kissing her right on the mouth from above passionately.
We all now started cheering for them loudly, their smiles widened a little during their kiss. Leon just stood there by the pool, buried his face in his hands and shook his head in pure disbelief.
Juno still had that mischievous grin on her face when she and her lover turned their attention back towards their son again.
"Were we paying attention, Leon?" Juno asked him with a big smile once they had released each other again and the audience had calmed down a little bit.
"Unbelievable" Leon said with a shake of his head. But he grinned a little bit as well, it seemed like he wasn't that salty about it after all.
"Maybe there is still something you could learn from your ´old man´, no?" Legoshi asked him in amusement, still not being able to stop grinning at him either.
"Oh yeah?" he asked while rolling his eyes, "What would that be? Do you want to make-"
Legoshi just shook his head and wordlessly grabbed his soaked white shirt with both his hands. Then he simply started ripping it in half in front of everyone watching.
I just covered my mouth with my hands at that sight now. He was in so much better shape than I had imagined him to be in. Up close he looked even more attractive than in the movies, I just couldn´t believe I was allowed to see that happen right before my eyes.
He just grinned it slight amused about all the excited yelling and celebrating which that caused, owning it on every possible level.
Then he tossed his ruined shirt somewhere next to the pool and pulled Juno towards him again. She looked a little surprised by that as well, but it was not like she disliked it. The pretty wolf mom just put her arms around his strong torso, leaned towards him and locked lips with him for a second time.
"Yes Leon" I thought to myself, still not able to hide a girly little giggle, "There is a lot you still need to learn!"
I took a short look towards him, he just shook his head in pure disbelief. His parents were just shamelessly making out with each other in front of the entire party, and everybody just cheered for them in great excitement.
Everything felt so surreal right now. I was at my favorite actor´s birthday party, wore a really cute black dress his fiancé lend me because my own clothes got soaked in his pool and it just seemed to be okay like that.
"Hey!" I suddenly heard Leon yell, "No, don't-"
He tried to react in time, but the bald eagles were just faster than him. Suki and Polly had snatched up our drama-club scripts from the floor and now teasingly ran away with them before Leon could catch them.
I couldn't help but laugh about that as well. I thought he actually looked kinda cute like that, dropping his shoulders in defeat after first his dad had totally monstered him in the coolness department and now Aoba´s daughters were making fun of him as well. I found myself feeling a little bad for him even.
"I´m sorry about my parents" he now said with a little sigh, "They´re a little…weird sometimes."
Apart from Juno finding and taking our scripts to do this funny bit, which I absolutely loved, the two of them were the most awesome and adorable people I´ve ever encountered. They brought us all so much joy tonight, they welcomed me into their home, treated me with food and drinks and kindness, and somehow, he still was ashamed of them right now.
"You know" I grinned at him with a little wink, "…maybe it's you who has the stick up his butt after all?"
His eyes just went wide open when I said that, luckily nobody else heard me saying that. I stuck my tongue out towards him, he just shook his head in disbelief but couldn´t hide a little smile either.
"Touche" he then sighed with a little smirk. It seemed like he just wanted to own it at this point.
We both looked after Suki and Polly now as they were having the fun of their lives running around the garden and acting out some of the lines themselves.
"Not sure we´re getting those back anytime soon" he commented with a little chuckle now.
"Come on, let them have it" I grinned, nudging him with my hips a little, "At least we have an excuse now when Sanu asks why we don't know it all by heart yet."
"Hey Romeo" a to me unknown voice now suddenly approached us from behind, "To your right."
We turned towards him and it was a mongoose who had two drinks in his hands and a big amused smirk on his face.
He handed one of the cocktails to Leon, the other one he reached over to me. "Juliet" he said with a little bow, "A great pleasure to meet you."
I took the drink and gave him a little smile.
"Kai" Leon greeted him, "…what…what´s this?"
I already tried it through the straw, the decorations and the piece of pineapple on the edge of the glass made it pretty obvious what it was already.
"A poison that might help you deal with your show-off of a dad a little better?" he told him with a little wink.
Leon still looked at it rather skeptically, it seemed like he´s never really tried anything with alcohol in it.
"Is that a cocktail?" he asked in slight confusion.
"Try it" the mongoose told him, "Just try not to get caught in the rain."
"Huh?" Leon asked, still not getting it.
"It´s a pina colada you dumbass!" I grinned at him while shaking my head in disbelief, "Pineapple and Coconut. Try it, it´s really good!"
It really did taste fantastic, Kai certainly knew what he was doing. Leon now finally tried it as well and he didn´t seemed to turned off by it either.
"What´s the verdict?" the mongoose asked him in amusement after giving him a moment to taste it.
While Leon still couldn't quite decide, I quickly took a closer look at the man who had just handed us the drinks. I wasn't quite sure, but for some reason I thought I had seen him on some of those drama-club photos in the hallway as well.
"It´s quite alright" Leon now stated after taking another sip, "Thanks!"
Kai nodded with a little smile, then he suddenly switched the topic again.
"Tell me something" he asked the wolf, "In the drama-club locker-room…are there still those dents in some of the lockers?"
He was the second one who asked him that today, there must be something really curious about those lockers. At least my earlier guess had been confirmed, Kai actually had been in the drama-club as well.
"Yes" Leon sighed, "They´re still there. What´s up with that though? Aoba asked me that as well."
"Oh, you better ask your dad about that" Kai explained with a little wink, "...speak of the devil."
Legoshi and Juno had climbed out of the water in the meanwhile, apparently being on their way inside right now in order to get some dry clothes as well.
"What´s the devil done this time?" Legoshi asked in amusement while drying himself with a towel.
"Oh something about dents in lockers…" I repeated for him with a big grin. I said it without thinking about it twice, I sadly just realized that when it was too late already. A cold shiver ran down my spine.
"Did I feel too comfortable here in the meanwhile? Did I go too far just now?"
"Oh…" he said, apparently really trying to dodge that topic right now as well, rubbing the back of his head with an innocent smile, "…ah, yeah…that…"
"What about those lockers?" Leon now directly asked his dad, not ashamed about it at all obviously.
"Ah…" Juno now grinned loudly, pulling Legoshi with her, "…we should really get ourselves dried up now. Can´t afford to get a cold you know?"
"Uh…yeah…" Legoshi agreed with her quickly, still with a little smile though.
With that she already dragged him through the living room, successfully dodging that question for the second time today. I was just glad they weren't mad at me for repeating what Kai told us about.
The people around us who had been listening laughed as well now, this seemed to be somewhat of a familiar topic among them already.
"…I think I have an idea now" Leon sighed with a shake of his head.
Kai just winked him shortly, patting his shoulders a little. "Let me know if you need another one of these, alright? Same goes for you of course!" he added with a little smile towards me.
POV Leon
"Thank you, Kai" she told him with a self-confident little smile.
He nodded once again, then he made his way back towards the bar. It seemed like he really enjoyed helping out that catering-lady tonight.
But Kai wasn´t the only thing that wondered me a little. There was a lot going on right now, I had the feeling time was passing by somewhat faster than usually at those parties. And I could really feel the alcohol in the cocktail I had in my hands right now, I wasn´t quite sure if I really wanted to drink all of that tonight. I forced myself to take a few more sips, but I didn´t feel the need to finish the whole thing right now.
Lucy on the other hand seemed to feel even more comfortable in the meanwhile. Her pina colada was almost half empty already, she seemed much more relaxed than earlier tonight and her tongue was getting even sharper, even in front of my parents. My very weird and embarrassing parents.
They´ve been upstairs for quite a while in the meanwhile. A lot longer than it would normally take to dry yourself up and put some fresh clothes on. I had a slight suspicion what could be taking them so long, but I didn´t want to bring it up right now. The vibes between Lucy and I were awkward enough already in my opinion.
Now that things finally had calmed down a little, I for the first time tonight could take a closer look´s at all the people that have come.
All my dad´s old dorm-mates were sitting together by one of the tables outside, sipping on drinks and snacking on some of the buffet food, it seemed like Jack and Anita had tugged their kids into bed in one of the guestrooms in the meanwhile.
Aoba was talking to somebody I hadn´t seen here tonight earlier. I had seen the tiger at a couple of my dad´s earlier birthday-parties, but I´ve never really talked much to him. I just knew his name was Bill and that my dad knew him from Highschool as well. Now I knew a little more about him, but I didn´t feel like going over there and bringing that topic up right now.
Aunt Haru was sitting on the couch in the living room, having a rather deep four-eye conversation with a red fox I´ve just rarely met either. She looked happy about her company though, so I was happy for her as well.
Suki and Polly now finally put away the scripts they had stolen before I could stop them, leaving them on one of the tables outside and then making their way into our direction once again.
"Hey, where did you get those cool drinks?" Polly asked when they arrived us.
I just pointed at the bar. "Just ask Kai for a Pina Colada if you want one as well."
"Is there alcohol in those?" Suki asked, sounding a little skeptically about it.
"Just a little bit of white rum" Lucy told her with a smile, "Here, wanna try?"
I kinda asked myself where she knew that from with the white rum, but as I didn´t want to look even more uncool in front of them, I decided not to ask her right now.
Suki took a little sip from her straw and immediately pulled a face. It seemed like she didn´t like the taste of the alcohol too much either.
"Ugh" she said, shaking her head and her upper body a little, "No, thanks."
"Hey Leon" Polly now asked, "Do you still have that frisbee lying around somewhere?"
"Uh what? …now?" I asked in slight confusion, "But it´s dark already…"
"Oh come on, grandpa!" Suki giggled, "Since when have you become so lame? It´s not that dark in your garden, there are lights everywhere!"
"For real" Lucy agreed with her, nudging me with a big grin, "Why are you such a killjoy?"
"What do you all want from me all of a sudden?" I complained with a slightly ironic chuckle, "Maybe I´ve just gotten a little more mature, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah" Lucy grinned, taking another big sip of her cocktail, "Mature. Too mature for fun games. Pfff."
They all started giggling even more now, I just shook my head in slight disbelief. Suki and Polly have always been playful like that, but I wasn't sure if I really needed that tonight while Lucy was around. They knew a whole lot of little secrets about me after all, and I thought I had been embarrassed enough for one evening.
"Are you getting us that frisbee now or what?" Lucy asked shamelessly, "Alternatively, I know something else that´s quite fun."
She pointed at the pool with a big grin.
"Oh yes!" Suki giggled, "Lets push him in the pool again!"
"Fine!" I said in defeat, "I´ll get it, okay? Give me a second."
POV Jack
When Legoshi finally joined us again, our entire dorm from 16 years ago had gathered around one of the big tables on his porch. The tall wolf now didn´t wear his John Wick outfit anymore, he wore some light gray pants and a fresh white shirt. And even though he just had showered, he seemed a little more exhausted than earlier on a physical level. But he was visibly still very excited to have all of us here tonight. He put the cocktail down he just had gotten himself from the bar and took a seat next to me at the table.
"You put on quite a show just now" Miguno commented in amusement, "Still didn´t forget about your origins, did you?"
"Come on" he waved it off with an ironic little smile, "I´ve only been waiting for this moment for sixteen years. Why do you think I´ve bought a house with a pool?"
"But for real" I asked him, "Would you ever have thought Leon will play as Romeo in drama club once?"
"No" he said with a shake of his head and a little smirk, taking a sip from his cocktail.
We all watched the kids play frisbee in the garden for another moment, Legoshi seemed quite content about them enjoying themselves.
"…so what about you guys?" he now opened up a new topic, "What´s going on in your lives?"
"Wait." Durham interrupted with a little smirk towards him, "Are we not going to acknowledge the fact that you started making out in the pool and when you left neither you or Juno were to be seen for over half an hour just now?"
That made us all grin even wider. He knew he couldn´t deny that.
"Miguno" he glossed over that, trying his best not to flash a smirk but failing nevertheless, "You said you were working on a new album?"
"Oh yeah" he grinned, "It´s almost finished. I decided to call it ´horny wolves in the pool´."
"Of course you did" Legoshi sighed, still not able to stop grinning though.
"I think we should all raise a glass to that" Durham now proposed while raising his beer, "36 years old and still almost as sexually active as a 35-year-old Durham!"
Miguno nudged him a little bit for that comment but still raised his glass as well.
"To Legoshi! What a legend!"
"Happy birthday belayed old friend!" I said while raising my glass of cider as well.
Voss and Collot now raised their glasses as well with big smiles.
"I´m glad to have you all here" Legoshi said with a humble smirk while clinking glasses with us.
"Down the hatch, old man" Durham told him before we all started drinking. "It´s not every day we´re all here to watch you make out in a pool."
POV Leon
I felt well ready for another shower when we were finally done playing frisbee in our garden.
I hadn´t even realized how quickly the time had flown by, that was how much fun we had chasing after that round flying piece of plastic.
We only noticed how late it was when Lucy suddenly got overtaken by Aoba, who flew past her with great speed and caught the frisbee in mid-air just before she could reach it.
"Dad" Suki complained loudly, "This was going to be our point! Lucy so would have caught that one!"
"Oh, was it?" he said with a little smirk, "I´m very sorry."
He handed Lucy the frisbee with that, but she didn´t immediately throw it as he clearly had done that with a purpose.
"I hate to interrupt, but Hina wants to go home soon."
"Aww man" Polly complained, "Already?"
"You have got a long car ride ahead of you and there is a lot to do tomorrow" he explained, "I thought we had talked about this?"
"Yeah…" Suki agreed with a little sigh, "…just give us five more minutes, okay? We´re almost done with our game."
"Alright, five minutes" Aoba said with a reluctant smirk, "I´ll take your word for it."
Those five minutes went past just as quickly as the last two hours. Suki and Lucy won our match with a lead of just two points, and when we went back into the living room afterwards, their mother was already waiting for them.
With some chummy hugs, Lucy and I wished them a good night and a safe trip home, waved after them when they went down the stairs towards the car-park, and then I was alone with her again all of a sudden.
I was quite fine with that earlier, but now, after everything that had happened tonight, it felt kinda awkward to me.
While my dad was still sitting at the table with his old dorm-mates; Haru was still chilling on the couch next to that red fox in the living room; and my mom, Aoba, Bill and a tiger lady I´ve never met before seemed to have joined them for a quite lively and funny looking conversation. Not being that keen to get thrown under that drama-club bus by my mom yet once again, I tried my best to keep us on a little bit of a distance from them.
"I´m kinda thirsty after all that running around" Lucy stated after a weird moment of silence.
"Yeah…" I agreed, being really glad she had mentioned it. Or that she said anything to break the silence in general.
She now took the lead towards the bar, I followed her without a second thought.
"Hey you two" Kai greeted us, "What can I get you?"
"Can I have another Pina Colada, please?" Lucy asked him, "It was really good earlier!"
"Certainly" Kai told her. The raccoon lady next to him already opened the fridge and took out some of the ingredients they apparently needed to make that.
"What about you, Leon?" the mongoose asked me then.
He seemed to notice that I wasn´t quite sure if I wanted another one of those as well. I didn´t want to insult their craft, but I just didn´t want to drink any more alcohol right now.
"Didn´t like it?"
"N-no, I did like the pineapple and the coconut…" I said carefully, "…but I didn´t like the taste of the alcohol."
"Oh we can make you one without the rum" the raccoon lady told me with a friendly smile, "That´s no problem!"
"Yeah?" I asked, "Then I´ll take one of those, please."
Kai nodded understandingly, then he got to work as well.
When I turned my attention to Lucy again, I noticed how she was grinning at me in great amusement.
"What?" I asked in slight confusion, "What´s so funny?"
"You know what a Pina Colada without any rum is called?" she asked.
I didn´t know the answer to that question, but the way Kai suddenly began to smile as well already told me it couldn´t be something good.
"…what…what´s it called?" I asked with a little sigh, knowing I couldn´t get out of this anyway.
She just grinned even wider now, not looking like she wanted to tell me about it though.
"Oh come on" I groaned in annoyance, "…do I really have to go get my phone and look it up now?"
Kai now reached us freshly cut slices of ananas across the bar for some reason. Lucy immediately reached out for it and took a contented bite, still smiling at me in great amusement.
"Come on, Leon" the mongoose told me in amusement, still holding on the slice of ananas for me to grab, "I need my arm back."
The raccoon lady was shaking one of these fancy cocktail shakers already, Lucy was already finished with her slice.
I quickly took it out of his hand and let Kai get back to work with the cocktails.
This was just getting more and more weird right now. I didn´t know what any of that meant and I couldn´t read Lucy´s intentions either. Her behavior had changed quite drastically since this afternoon. She wasn't shy anymore at all as it seemed, not even in front of my parents, and seeing her like this was almost a little scary right now. I just didn´t know how to deal with this.
POV Lucy
"Is this better now?" I asked him when he took the first sip of this virgin colada, apparently enjoying it a lot more than the one with rum earlier.
He just nodded slightly, not letting go of the straw as he seemed really thirsty right now.
I could feel the alcohol very well in the meanwhile, but for the very first time in my life this really seemed to help me. It helped me with confidence, it made everything around me feel easier and so light hearted.
"So…what do we do now?" Leon asked, seemingly a little lost now that it was just us.
It didn´t seem like he had the same things as me on his mind right now, but I couldn´t tell if he was just a typical boy and too dumb to notice, or if he didn´t actually have any real interest in me whatsoever.
I kinda wanted to believe it was the first of those options, but I still hadn´t really found a way to get sure of that.
I took a short look around the party area, most of the people here seemed to be entangled in quite funny and lively conversations. Even Kai left the bar and joined the other group now.
This was the first time it was just the two of us since we joined the party.
I took another sip of my drink, then I suddenly noticed something interesting. Our scripts where still lying on one of the tables. This was just the thing I needed. There still was that scene we still haven't practiced one single time yet, because he´s always been dodging it with some lame excuse earlier.
I wordlessly went towards that table and picked them up, bringing them back towards the clueless wolf.
"Are you serious?" he asked with a little sigh, "Now?"
"You didn´t give me a single break the entire afternoon and now you don't want to?" I asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Fine" he sighed with an ironic little shake of his head, taking a short look around, "But not here."
"What, you scared you´ll end up in the pool again?" I grinned.
He just rolled his eyes about that comment.
"Okay fine" I chuckled, "Not here then."
"By the way" he now interrupted the topic, "Do you want to stay the night here or do you want to go back home later? Haru said she would drive you if you want."
"I…uh…" I said, trying to think of something to answer.
"He really hasn´t got a clue, has he? Of course I want to spend the night here!"
"…or you could take one of the guests-rooms if you want" he offered with a shrug of his shoulders, trying to sound as kind as possible about it.
"Oh. My. God. You dumbass! Take a hint!"
His cluelessness frustrated me a little bit right now, I tried my best not to show it.
"I…" I said with a little sigh, "Do I have to decide that right now?"
"N-no" he stuttered, shaking his head in slight confusion.
"Okay" I said, taking another big sip of my drink to get through that awkward moment a little easier, "Then let´s go."
I took the lead towards the stairs, taking the two scripts and my drink with me. Juno gave me a little smile when we went past her, I wasn´t sure if Leon noticed that or not.
While on our way towards the top floor, I suddenly remembered something else that could help me lighten up the mood a little bit.
"Your parents didn't throw you in the pool by the way" I told him with a grin, "So I don't have to clean the rehearsal-room!"
"Nonono!" he disagreed, "I said that I won´t stay dry tonight! You could probably have won that bet if you hadn't pushed me in yourself!"
"Totally worth it" I grinned at him, "And totally deserved as well by the way!"
He just raised an eyebrow at that comment.
"Also, I don't have a problem with cleaning the rehearsal-room, I just wanted to see you in the water."
"Yeah, yeah…" he sighed.
There was another short moment of silence, then I suddenly burst into a big laughter at his slightly annoyed expression. We had almost reached the second floor in the meanwhile, we had stopped on the same step on the stairs for some reason.
"Come on, wolfie" I grinned at him, nudging him a little bit with my elbow, "Pull that stick out already."
Damn, wouldn´t you like to know how this continues now?
…yeah, me to.
But I´m gonna figure it out and let you know ;)
See you soon for more,
~furr