A cute little story I wrote as a gift for JeevestheRoo.

Contains cute romance and some bad language and sexual dialog. Reader discretion is advised.

A Simple Night at the Movies

"Dude, you didn't tell me it was called the 'Date Night Special,'" Joe threw his hands at in the air and dropped them at his side.

"What's the big deal?" Sylvia interjected.

"I'm not sharing one with Matt, people will think I'm gay."

"You are gay," Blaise intejected.

"Bi. And I don't want people to think I'm dating Matt."

"Thanks," Matt said.

"Look, it's not actually called the 'Date Night Special,' the theatre just calls it the number three," Sylvia, a snow leopard, tried to reason. "That's just a kind of nick-name."

"Then why does the sign say, 'Perfect for Date Night?'" the tom cat pleaded.

"Because it is perfect for date night," Blaise, a ringtail, hissed. "It's perfect for every night. It's the best deal on the menu. It's just two large drinks and a large popcorn and after you divide it up it's cheaper than a small popcorn and a medium drink each. Everyone gets it whether they're dating or not. You just have to order by the number, and seeing as how that's the only way you know how to get food, I don't understand the problem."

Matt rubbed his face. The collie couldn't believe they were arguing about this, "Look, it's okay, I don't really want popcorn anyway."

"Hey, guys," Matt recognized the voice of Trisha, a vixen friend of theirs. She was accomapanied by her not-boyfriend Jack (another tomcat), a female cat Matt had met once before, Mary, he believed was her name, and a female kangaroo he didn't recognize.

Mary waved sheepishly at them. "Fancy seeing you here," Blaise remarked.

"I told Joe we were coming," Trisha remarked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," he smiled in the direction of Mary. "Hey, you guys getting the number three specials?"

"Yeah, Jack and I are splitting one and Kayla and Mary are splitting the other. Oh, yeah, this is Kayla, she's new to our building. She's an undergrad but we won't hold that against her."

"Hi, Kayla, nice to meet you," Joe said quickly. "How about we do this, Mary can split one with me, and Matt can get one for him and Kayla."

"You mean pay for the whole thing myself?"

"Dude, she's new here, don't be rude."

"I'm covering Kayla for tonight," Trisha said.

"It's okay, I've got it, let's just get in there before the movie ends, okay?"

"Geesh, what's gotten into you?" Trisha rolled her eyes. Matt resisted the urge to mutter under his breath.

The group walked up to the cinema box office. Matt prayed a thanks that there was no last minute arguing over the movie.

Then there came the minor ordeal of organizing the pairs into a line at the concession stand. Matt and Kayla took up the rear. The collie looked up at the kangaroo. She looked around nervously from Matt to the others to the concession stand to the video games in the corner to the cardboard standouts of movie characters. Matt sighed internally as he realised it would be up to him to try and make her feel welcome.

"I'm Matt, by the way," he extended a paw.

"Kayla," she took it, relaxing a little.

"We're usually not this screwed up. Well, actually we are."

Kayla snorted a small laugh. "Lot's of arguing over popcorn."

"Yeah, the theatre shows older movies cheaper for us broke college kids. Popcorn's cheaper too, by movie theatre standards. We're basically fighting over fifty cents. Of course it's obvious Joe just wanted a chance to be by Mary and couldn't just ask her out like any normal fur."

"Originally I was suppose to pair with a guy named Kay and Mary was going to be with a cat named Cindy."

"That figures. Joe probably told Cindy and Kay what was up to get them to back out. Trisha and Jack will kill him when they find out."

"I'm lost."

Matt sighed, "Alright, getting you up to speed on the gossip. Jack and Trisha aren't going out, though no one knows why since they spend more time together than conjoined twins.

"Joe I've known since my undergrad years. He was bi until a girl he was dating completely took advantage of him. So he went on this huge tirade how he was swearing off women and how they were all a bunch of tramps and whores, his words not mine, and he would have nothing more to do with them."

They stepped up to the concession counter and ordered their number three combo. "But now he has a crush on Mary and wants to get closer to her without making too big a move himself to save face."

Matt payed for their snacks and they went to join their friends who were making a show of waiting impatiently. "I don't know Mary's story, but it looks like she feels the same way about Joe."

"I think I'd agree with you on that." Mary was looking longingly up at Joe. Kayla and Matt both chuckled.

They all headed into the theatre and began the chore of choosing a row of seats. The theatre wal never particularly crowded. Matt hung back with Kayla. "Kay and Cindy are, " Matt sighed, "Trisha's and Jack's pet project. Cindy is a very prudish girl, Kay is a complete tramp, and that's where their differences end. Trisha and Jack keep trying to get the two in the same place at the same time thinking they'll hit it off. Except Kay and Cindy are both avoiding one another mainly because each doesn't want a lecture from the other on their chosen lifestyle."

"What about the other two?"

"Blaise and Sylvia? They've been sweethearts as long as I've known them."

"Aww, that's sweet."

"Until they make out through the entire movie."

Kayla laughed again. "The drama never stops, does it?"

"Never," he smiled up at the kangaroo.

The group finally reached a compromise on the seating arrangement. Matt sat next to Jack, with Kayla on the end. "Now to see what they ruined from the book," Kayla remarked.

"You read the books, too? Awesome. This is probably going to suck, though. I heard they don't even do the line."

"Which line?"

"'You're not saving victims so they can try and get killed again, you're saving murderers so they can try and kill again.'"

Kayla stared in disbelief, "But..., how can they not? That's the whole turning point in the Sam's personality. They'd better not ruin Sam and Pardi's romance. I swear, if they do I'll drive to that studio and holding the entire cast hostage until they fix it."

"We can take my car," Matt added.

"Oh, gods," Jack pounded his fist against his skull.

***

The group walked out of the theatre.

"That wasn't too bad," Matt said.

"No, at least they didn't get to Sam and Pardi to ruin them. I still wanted to see that, though."

"What do you mean, 'wasn't to bad,'" Jack ranted, "you two didn't stop complaining about it the through the whole film."

"We weren't that bad."

"Yes, you were," Trisha added. "Between you two yapping and those two making out, " Sylvia and Blaise were too busy staring lovingly into one another's eyes to hear Trisha's remark, "We didn't get to enjoy the movie."

"We're heading home," Blaise announced, "We'll see you guys later."

"Well, we're heading out too then," Trisha added. They all said their goodbyes. Kayla and Matt stood by themselves as Trisha, Jack, Blaise, and Sylvia walked off.

"Sounds like they're off to play another game of who can fuck the loudest," Matt snidely remarked.

"Shh," Kayla pointed. Joe and Mary were standing over by the cinema wall. Joe held both of Mary's paws as he spoke to her. Matt couldn't hear what was being said but imagined it to be rather sappy.

Matt mimed gagging. "Oh, come on, I didn't get my romance in the movie, don't take this from me," Kayla hissed.

Matt looked at the 'roo then at the happy couple. Or not so happy, as it suddenly seemed. Mary cried heavily as she spoke to Joe. She stopped and lowered her head. She murmured something. Joe bent over and whispered in her ear. He kissed her cheek. She looked up into his eyes. He pulled her in, and they kissed on the lips.

"Now I think we should leave them alone," Kayla led Matt off. "I'm a sap for romance in case you couldn't tell."

"Me too," Matt said. And then reading Kayla's accusing stare he added, "Well, I'm a sap for fictional romances, anyway."

"Why not real ones?"

Matt looked back toward the cinema where he knew Joe and Mary continued their tender moment. He wondered briefly why his heart didn't melt for them the way it did for Sam and Pardi in the books he read. "I don't know. I guess I just can't imagine that sort of thing happening to me." He realised his heart was beating faster as he looked up into the kangaroo's eyes. Why couldn't it happen to him?

"I've always thought that, too. But I've been thiking lately that it doesn't have to be that way." Her voice got softer as she leaned in closer. "All you need is to find someone you like, someone who likes you, and then reach out and take them."

"I bet you're right." He smiled as he continued to gaze into the green eyes of the kangaroo he had so far spent a wonderful night with. Maybe, just maybe, he could have that if he wanted. "How about we get something to eat? There's a good diner near here that serves the best pie."

She smiled wider, "That sounds excellent."