Chapter 12: 1.11.2 – Follow the kitty

2.0 - Edited by: , , , - 8/30/2020 

 

Quinn dragged Leona past the waiting line and directly to the warehouse entryway, where they encountered a bouncer dressed in all leathers and spikes grinned in a way Leona wasn’t sure she quite trusted. “What’s this now? Mini-me?” He took in their appearances. The pair were perfectly matched, right down to their electric blue hair.

 

“Something like that.” Quinn smirked. “Our hair will completely match by the end of the summer. Anyway, you letting us in?” She asked with a wink and jokingly punched his shoulder.

 

“Wouldn’t dream of trying to keep you out of the joint, Quinn. Heh… I don’t like your stuff personally, but what the hell, you’ve got your fans.” He looked at Leona with a scowl and shook his head. “Eh, we could always use more chicks, even if she seems a bit young. Your mini-me’s pretty cute, anyway.” With that, he stepped aside to grant entrance. Leona smiled, happy to get a compliment even though his words were a bit condescending.

 

The place hadn’t quite filled to capacity yet. Leona had expected the need to force their way through the crowd, but the event was still in the early stages. Music similar to the stuff her sister was producing lately was blasting over the stadium-grade sound system. Quinn continued to lead Leona across the floor towards the main stage speakers. Leona squeaked and clapped her hands over her ears. Her sister laughed at her as another guy caught sight of Quinn from atop the erected stage. Their words were drowned out by the pounding music while Leona patiently suffered while Quinn finished up. Reaching some kind of accord, they nodded and he gave Quinn a hearty thumbs up. She flashed the man above them a grin and pulled Leona away to the bar.

 

Quinn’s lips moved but Leona didn’t hear what she was saying. She tilted her head and mimed laughter again as she reached down and booped Leona’s undefended nose. When it was clear the idea wasn’t coming across, she firmly took Leona’s hands away from her ears. “It’s quieter here… you don’t need to worry. Anyhow, hang out here for a while. The drinks are on me. They carry more than alcohol, so don’t worry. Goonie would kill me if your blood alcohol went anything over zero.”

 

“Who’d tell her?” Leona chuckled mischievously.

 

Quinn looked at her with wide eyes as though she wasn’t sure who she was looking at.

 

“I’m kidding, you goof!” Leona laughed.

 

“You’re the goof! Had me thinking I’d lost my goody two shoes little sis for a sec there. Anyhow, in the event you did drink, you’d best keep it to a very small amount,” Quinn lifted an arm and pressed her thumb and index finger together firmly. “And don't take drinks offered by anyone you don’t know. Ruffies y’know.”

 

Leona rolled her eyes. Another guy spoke up from behind the bar. “You telling me you want us to ignore… her size and age? This little squirt? You’re freaking kidding.”

 

“No, I trust her judgement. She’s literally packed to the gills with nothing but fluffy goodness.” Quinn smirked at the bartender. “If something does happen though, I’ll hear about it, won’t I?”

 

“Tch… fucking babysitter… damn it… you’d better play ‘Midgardener and the Serpent’.” That song was one of Quinn’s creations. She had played it a few times for her back at home and Leona’s eyes widened slightly when she realized this man must be a fan of Quinn’s. Was she really that well-known?

 

“Hah! Sure thing. I really hate playing my early stuff, but for you it’s fine.” Quinn shook her head and winked at Leona. “Ya see what I put myself through for your sake?” She grinned. “Anyway, I’m not going on for about another hour so feel free to get out there and dance a bit. This place should start really bumping soonish.” She leaned against the bar.

 

“You want me to go out there and dance?” Leona scoffed at the notion. “You’re taking the lead then, sis! Let’s dance!” She grabbed her older sister’s hands and proceeded to the dance floor.

 

“Weren’t you here for a drink?” The bartender called out after them.

 

“Shit… I knew you’d drag me out. Alright, bum. Let’s do this thing. I’ll give you the full dance rave experience!” Quinn ran to her sister’s side and when they reached the center of the floor the two started dancing wildly. It was clear Quinn better knew what she was doing while Leona had no idea at all what to do, just flailing and giggling. She did her best to emulate her sister and they had fun until Quinn was finally called away.

The rest of the ‘rave experience’ hadn’t been particularly fun for Leona after that point. Once her sister was up playing her music, Leona enjoyed the music while nursing her soda at the bar under the watchful eye of the bartender. She didn’t feel right mingling without her older sister there to guide her steps. 

 

Once in a while when Quinn played a song she particularly enjoyed, she bopped along right there by the bar, grinning broadly. Leona watched Quinn jamming on her equipment with laser beams playing across her body. Smiling as she admired her sister, Leona was reminded about why she loved her sister so much. She was a very talented musician who aspired to be renowned nation-wide. Quinn was occasionally a bit distant back at home while she worked on her stuff in her room.

 

“You gonna wallflower here all night? You’re gonna look like a lush,” The bartender commented behind the bar.

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Leona considered his criticism and nodded. “Yeah… I don’t really…”

 

“Hey, Leona, right?” Despite all the crazy sound and music, she heard someone behind her loudly call out her name. By now the warehouse was getting hot because of how many people had crowded in; the dance floor was totally packed now too. Leona wiped her forehead, brushing a lock of hair to the side. She turned to see who had called out to her and found an average looking young man in what seemed to be the dress code of the staff waving insistently while he forced his way through. The young man held a strange object and when he neared Leona, he held it out to her, talking in a quieter tone, “It’s Frank. I hope Quinn mentioned me.” Leona looked down at what he was offering, seeing that it was a wallet with a cat motif. 

 

“She told me a lot about you and even told me about the matching hair thing you two’d be doing, so I’d know you and be able to keep an eye on you when I can. Anyhow, I’m staff, helping out. A girl dropped this on the other side of the bar. I looked around for her but no luck. Look, I’m pretty busy with other stuff I’m supposed to do and I can’t keep an eye on you the whole time. I wonder if you’d mind helping out and look for its owner. She stands out pretty well so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

 

Leona blinked, gaping. She went over the long list of people Quinn brought up in conversation. Was there a Frank somewhere in that mix? Pursing her lips, she wondered why the guy was asking her. Just because she was Quinn’s sister? Had she been conscripted to help with the running of the rave despite knowing nothing about them?

“C’mon, help a bro out. You’d probably get on with this thing’s owner. You’re looking pretty lonely over here all by yourself anyway.” He shoved the wallet into Leona’s hands. “The girl’s got a hairband with glowing pink cat ears on it. She’ll stand out. Find her, pull her to the side, and give her her wallet and, boom, you're done. ‘Course, you could talk to her too.” He smiled.

 

“Alright, fine. Tell Quinn I’ll do it.” Leona took the wallet and charged into the crowd, looking around as she forced her way through. Frank smiled slightly as he headed outside. The music shifted, causing the dancers' movements to change and thereby threw Leona off-balance. She accidentally crashed into several people, some of them cursed at her while others laughed and bumped her back playfully. 

 

Working her way through the undulating mass of humanity, Leona searched, doing her darndest not to be knocked over. Finally, her eyes fell on a pair of fluffy and glowing cat ears. She chased after them as best she could but lost sight of them. Leona glared holes through the dancers that seemingly materialized out of thin air between herself and where she had last spotted the girl. This was a horrible mess. Leona looked back towards the bar, but given how short she was, she wasn’t sure which way was up or down. She was very much lost in the sweaty mass without any landmarks to help. 

 

As though the universe felt like pouring gas on the fire, one of Quinn’s catchier songs started to play and everyone threw their hands up in the air as they shook their bodies. Leona’s eyes spun and her head cocked as she lost the horizon amongst the teaming shapes.

 

Leona was on the brink of giving up, but before she fully threw in the towel she tried pushing her way to a wall so she could work her way around the crowd. She hadn't gotten far before someone crashed into her, knocking her to the floor.

 

Shaking her head, Leona gasped, disoriented. She looked at the culprit who was also firmly planted on the floor beside her. “I’m sorry!” the person who ran into her yelled. Leona’s eyes widened as they fastened on a glowing headband with... CAT EARS!

 

“It’s you!” Leona gaped and fumbled for the wallet she dropped in the collision. After searching for a moment, Leona spotted and reclaimed it.

 

“It’s my first time at something like this… I’m not used to it yet,” the girl complained. “I didn’t mean to, I was just running and trying to get out of this…” She was barely audible over the pandemonium. The girl was blushing so cutely Leona’s heart thudded. She was so nervous and vulnerable-looking Leona couldn’t be angry with her.

 

“It’s my fault too. I was dizzy and I didn’t know where I was. C’mon.” Leona took the girl’s hand and tugged her up. Refocusing her attention, she scanned around and finally spotted a piece of recognizable decoration just barely visible above the heads of some shorter dancers. “Hurry. Let’s go!” She pulled the girl free from the sweaty mass of ravers. 

 

When they were clear, the girl tugged to free herself from Leona’s grasp. “C-can you let go?” She asked nervously. Leona gaped and released her hand. “I’m sorry and... “ She looked at her sweaty hand and saw blood on it. The girl winced.

 

“Are you okay? Crap! What happened?” Leona took her hand again and examined it. She had a cut on it she’d just gotten. Leona looked around and saw there were broken bottles on the floor. That could be seriously dangerous.

 

“Y-yeah… it hurt when I hit you and... It was probably my fault. I’m clumsy. I was holding a bottle of coke I got at the bar. I’m more worried I might have spilled coke on you.” She patted Leona’s body to check for wet spots. There wasn’t anything worse than sweat damp. Leona blushed at being so manhandled by another girl.

 

“Wait now… anyhow… I mean… I have… a friend of my sis found it and asked me to look for you…” Leona held up the catgirl’s wallet.

 

The girl looked at her hand with wide eyes. “Oh no… I’m such an idiot!” She practically fumed. “T-Thank you… What’s your name?” She fumbled.

 

“Oh… um… Leona W- Ramses.” She hadn’t quite gotten used to giving Goonie’s last name.

“It’s nice to meet you, Leona! I’m Sarah… Sarah Namias.” Leona’s heart skipped a beat as a strange warm feeling blossomed inside her.

 

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