FSE

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In the city of Alladas, the Celebrations of the Dead were spread over several days. On the Night of the Dead, those that followed the old ways would honor those that had passed and remember their loved ones that had gone on to the hereafter. On the Dawn of the Dead, those in mourning were given permission to let go and move on with their lives. On the Eves of the Dead, however, was the chance to tell scary stories dress in costumes of monster and fantasy and be as wild as no other nights of the year would ever permit.

Tonight was the first of the three Eves of the Dead. Events were so widespread that traffic was halted in all directions and the only way to enter the central festival was by shuttle. Bands and performers filled the streets and parades full of drums and merry-makers played. Tonight was a celebration of life as it was the end, and all the chaos and wonders promised by each.

Before the shuttle, Dante was swarmed by people in the limousine. They ooohed and aaaahed over his dashing coat, his silk black and white bands and his styled cravat and wrist apparel. With the rapid-fire polish and grooming before he left the hotel, he had become the incarnation of an international spy, a male of mystery, power and cunning.

The panther had never imagined a car this large on the inside would make him motion sick. To his left were Bolli-Santi and his girlfriend, she dressed as a queen, he dressed as a canvas with the solar system painted all over his body. They were barely comfortable with the luxury they were borrowing for the evening; or rather, they were uncomfortable being borrowed for a luxury.

"You alright yana-chi? You look green at the gums." [1]

Even Velta's voice had been transformed into something holy. She was the classic goddess Shalo, the courtesan to the gods of high summer, patron deity of lovers and fertility. Her costume was satin the color of peaches and summer sunsets in iridescent variations flowing over her body. Her shoulders were daintily exposed but decorated with white pearls up to her cheeks, lined with only the lightest silver coloring to bring out her hazel eyes.

"The suspension on this sucks," Dante said. He loosened the cravat he was wearing until it was nearly dangling off his neck.

Then the other lady in the cab adjusted the knot back with delicate fingers. "Don't pull at it, you'll muss it up," she said. "There. Very handsome."

The female mouse draped long slender legs outward tipped with black pointed slippers. Her breasts moved naturally under the fabric of the sari. She was the incarnation of winter nights when snow was gentle but skies were blackest and never-ending. Her red eyes promised succor or death from the cold, depending on her mood. The spot between her legs showed no hint of ever being male.

"And close your mouth dear, you look silly," she said. She released a hint of a smile to him before fully unfurling her delight for her female companions.

Bolli-Santi did not recognize her. He treated her as a stranger, until his eyes moved to the one piece of gold at her neck. Before he could cry out, the mouse put a paw to his chin elegantly and lifted his jaw shut.

"Close your mouth dear," she'd also said. "Yani-Cherry-Pietan. I'll be your hostess for tonight."

Santi did not contradict her. His girlfriend Sookie had fallen in love with her immediately.

The three girls became fast friends and talked the whole way to the party. Santi caught Dante's nervous glances occasionally as if to agree with whatever he was thinking.

Now at the Boulevard, they had to walk into the throngs. The stretch was as far as the eye could see crowded with thousands of people. A parade was happening in the distance, with hundreds of police corralling visitors between the family-friendly carnivals and the streets full of revelers and cup companions.

The five were stopped for photographs ten times in a single block before they found a quiet spot to get their bearings. It was so noisy and wild they could hardly hear themselves.

Dante knew the neighborhood even though it was mobbed with people. Horace had used this party space once before when he had been engaged to Yani-Shana. The wedding never happened, but the liquid was great and the lonely girls at the reception had been more than willing to find solace in Dante's car.

Here was a building made of glass, lit up in orange, red, yellow and white across all five floors where parties of different kinds happened on every floor. Many took photos and pointed out into the crowd while some danced in flashing lights and the sound of heavy bass music. Horace was on the second floor and they were ushered inside to make room in the stairways and elevators for moving guests. Oh. Dante hadn't realized how noisy it had been. His ears were ringing. He'd spent too many weeks in silent places.

The party had easily fifty guests in a wide array of costumes. Horace was dressed as a pharaoh, donning a loin cloth of fake gold thread and cloth ornaments. He carried a pint in one paw and an ankh in the other making merry with his current girlfriend. Had Dante walked in with any other date, she would have been the hottest female in the room, but the pearls that Velta and Cherry wore were real. She was seething.Horace could not hide his wonder, which made his date even more furious.

Velta looked at Horace while stroking Dante's chin sensually. "For the record, he's our escort, not the other way around." She blew lightly in Dante's ear until he had a expression of dumb pleasure.

Cherry came around Dante's other side and held his arm while looking at Horace.

"You two do your boy things and play nice. We've got our rounds to make."

Velta moved around and took Cherry by the arm laughing like they were the best of friends. Sookie joined them and soon they were flocked by a gang of other girls in wild adoration of their costumes.

Dante took a drink the moment it was offered to him.

"I thought you said the moshva was yana!" Horace cried. "I knew it! You were holding out on me!"

Dante drank so fast he spilled liquid down his chin.

"Ghana-almighty..." Horace watched with wonder as the girls moved across the floor. "This is your best score yet! How'd you get the other one?! Is she available or is she business?" [2]

Dante growled and took another drink. "She's a sophomore at the University in Nuclear Physics and she's right-wing for the Alladas Danger Squadron."

"So IS she available?!"

Dante growled again but Horace was too deep in his cups to notice. "Here's a prediction for you. Your girlfriend is going to hit you in five seconds if you don't stop ignoring her."

The brown panther laughed. "She'll get over it."

Five, four, three, two -

Horace never saw it coming.

He dropped his ankh and his glass as he tried not to topple. Yani-Heth stormed out of the room.

The goddesses were the center of attention. Males watched with open fascination while females loved them or hated them on sight. .Velta found friendship immediately with some visiting chemists and hockey players she recognized from campus, while Cherry was introduced to a pair of Chinchilla twins dressed as rag dolls.

Dante was about to kiss a third glass when he recoiled. How the cops had laughed at him for stumbling into the cab just that morning! He put the glass down and licked his lips to cleanse his palette. The liquid didn't taste good tonight.

Girls that had not flown to his dates came back to him with the same expectations of mystery and thrill. Without his tools, he felt bored with the girls who came to him without distracting himself. Without toys to entertain them, they quickly bored with him as well.

After a time, Velta flounced by him flush with merriment. "I've never had this much fun," she said. "That was so sweet of you to bring us here yana-chi. I hate looking this girly any other night, but it's just so good!"

He scowled slightly. "I'm glad you're having fun."

"You're not?"

Right then, Cherry glided into view at the far end of the room. She had a tiger as a Viking flirting heavily with her while another tiger was trying to get her attention. They kept leaning in while she ducked and danced between them. She teased them with streamers, she mocked them with her covered claws, and she goaded new friends into blocking them and pushing them until they were chasing her around the room.

"She's really nice. You should get to know her yana-chi. I think she likes you."

Dante growled. "You know that's a male, right?"

"Shh! Not so loud!" She leaned in closer. "She's sensitive about some things."

Dante growled. "This is really creepy, stop it."

She huffed with frustration. "I don't know what's wrong with you. She takes care of you, she's nice to you, and she even made you look nice. She's like the nicest, sweetest girl I ever met, don't treat her mean."

The pair of tigers toppled into a punch bowl and there was laugher through the room. Cherry helped them up

Then she put a paw to her head. "Oh...I had too much too fast...ugghh..."

Dante nodded slowly. "I'll get some water."

At the refreshment table, Dante paused longer than he needed to. He took several cups of water and downed them to flush out what was left of the alcohol. He was fully sober to the environment again.

He hid in the latrines for a moment of solitude. There were too many people, too much noise, and too much strangeness. The bright costumes hurt his eyes and the cacophony of voices were making his head hurt. A drink would fix this. Being this sober was not fun.

He looked up in the mirror of the washroom and didn't recognize himself. Was this what everyone else wanted to see in him? He didn't like how clean and polished he looked. It looked phony.

He washed his eyes out to shake off the frustration and growing headache. The snacks were too salty and not spicy enough. At least a drink would delay the headache.

He looked up again and saw he was not alone.

In the dim light with party streamers behind him, there were black shapes of people standing behind him. Not one, but a dozen pairs of eyes were looking at him of different shapes and colors.

Together they blended from large to small, from wide to narrow with no clear beginning or ending to any of them. They had him surrounded.

Now they were close to his face. He didn't dare move. A shadow came close to his ear and he could almost see lips moving. Sounds...very, very faint sounds...he was too terrified to move.

He blinked.

The door slammed shut behind him and he jumped.

"Dante-san?"

The door swung closed. Dante swung around with his tail frizzed out and gripping the sink behind him. The shades were gone. The whispers were gone.

Now a dark shape with stark white approached him.

"You're jumpy tonight dear," Cherry said. She walked over to the sink next to him and pulled off a glove. Her arm was bright pink and smelled of sugar.

She looked up at him with some amusement as she dried her arm. "I'm jealous of you," she said. "Everyone is asking about you. I don't know what to tell them."

Dante's tail flicked.

"What are they saying?"

Cherry giggled. "You know, the usual. 'Is he single'? 'What's he like?' 'What kind of job does he have'? Apart from their nosiness, they're mostly lovely girls. You should meet them."

In the dim light with the world outside and no witnesses, Dante leaned in closer. He lifted the mouse's chin to him and held her gaze. "I should have said it to you earlier, I was stupid. You're incredible," he confessed. "The way you carry yourself, your confidence, your grace. Everything about you is magic tonight."

She smiled as if she didn't believe him. "There are far better females here. They're intelligent, charming and far more beautiful than me. I'm very ordinary on a special night."

Dante leaned in closer. He ran his fingers through her hair and caressed her face. She was not expecting that.

"I wouldn't know," he said. "You're the only one I noticed tonight."

None of this was what she had expected. She had never known that her body would be pressed against him and his arm would bring her closer. She tremmored from the heat and how little pieces of cloth barely separated them.

He inhaled her scent again. He could almost taste peaches and sweet apples on her lips. They were pink and healthy and her face was delicate to the touch. She was so soft...

She moved her paw to his face and stroked his cheek. Her fingers were beautiful, he thought. He savored their movement down his neck and shoulder to his chest. She had hardly any weight on them.

Their eyes met and she leaned up to him as he leaned down...

"Hey! There you are!"

There was a crash. There was stumbling and metal on ceramic, wood on glass, clattering and jumping.

Horace was disheveled and his accoutrements lob-sided like a jester.

"They're about to call the costume contest." Then he blinked twice with a dawning realization. "Hey...you can't do that in here. Males only. But...uh...find another place and...continue." He grinned at Dante and gave a congratulatory flap of his paw as he left. He was thrilled.

Dante looked down and saw a white mouse in a dress still in his arms. His limbs were stiff as he let go and stepped back. He fixed his arm bands and vest without looking up.

"Come on. Let's go. You'll probably win," he said gruffly. "Nobody here can top you, can they, Chero-san? Right?"

When he looked up again, his face felt that it had become stone. Two black tears dragged down the white face still paralyzed with unspeakable betrayal. He could not look away, and he could not soften his gaze.

In a moment, something beautiful and lovely transformed into something hateful and monstrous. Dante knew then, he was terrified.

With a harsh swipe, the mouse tore off the hat and several hairs with it, then threw it on the ground. Not making a sound, the mouse ran out of the room covering its face with it's paws.

Part of Dante knew he had to give chase, to say things and apologize for a grave offense he had committed. Most of him denied he had committed any wrong, and stayed firmly planted to the spot for a count of a hundred. Only then could he drag his feet out and into the aftermath.

***.

[1] -slang term of affection; 'handsome', 'studly',

[2] slang -for hire; prostitute.