Thursday night in Windia...A teenage Persona User was walking the moonlit streets of Windia, whistling a tune that penetrated the silence of the nighttime air. As he approached the Harlow residence, he adjusted his glasses once and tugged his "Made in Heaven" jacket tighter around his body. Taking a deep breath, Frank Maynard made his way to the front door and knocked on it politely.
This time, Carrie Harlow answered the door. When the elderly Windian caught sight of Frank, a smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Oh! Hello Frank!" Ms. Harlow said as her wings twitched lightly. "Kate has been waiting for you. Please, come in!" The elderly Windian said happily.
"Thank you Ms. Harlow..." Frank said as he adjusted the collar on his leather jacket. The Persona User walked into the house and into another room, where he noticed Kate waiting for him. Instead of her usual gray tank top, the young woren was wearing a sky blue sweater. As soon as she caught sight of her boyfriend...
"FRANK!!!" In a blur of gold and brown, Kate leapt off the couch and at her boyfriend. The Persona User didn't get a chance to say anything, because as soon as Kate had seen him, he was immediately pinned a few seconds later. Frank just looked up at his girlfriend and heard an audible purring rumbling from her throat.
"Three times..." Frank said as he tried to hold back his laughter. "Three times today..."
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?" Kate replied, while looking her boyfriend right in the eyes.
The Persona User just chuckled to himself before looking back into Kate's innocent blue eyes. "First Diane... when I got to work... wanting to know what her surprise was... then Neko-Chan, as soon as I got up... Now you... What is it about me?"
"Like I told you before..." Kate said as the tip of her tail flicked about happily. "You're just fun to pounce!" The young woren finally hopped off of her prey and regarded him for a moment before offering the Persona User a helping hand. Frank accepted it, but instead of helping himself up, he pulled Kate down and began to tickle her.
"Hey!!!" Kate said in between giggles. By now her tail was lashing about in surprise.
"Hey... this is for all those times that you pounced me..." Frank replied as he continued to tickle his girlfriend.
Both of them continued on for a couple of minutes, before Frank finally let up. Eventually, both of them were sitting together on the couch, continuing to laugh.
Carrie was watching both of them with a smile on her face. Eventually, Tellka came down the stairs, her ears batting in annoyance.
"What was all that? Ladon... I could hear you both upstairs..." Tellka said as she looked at both the Persona User and the young woren.
"Don't worry about it Tellka..." Kate said as she wiped a tear from her face before chuckling again.
"Well... you ready, Kate? The others are waiting for us..." Frank said as he looked at his girlfriend.
"Hold it." Tellka said as she looked at the Persona User and the younger woren. "Kate... no matter what you say..."
"Don't worry, Tellka..." Frank said to Kate's guardian, drawing an odd look from her. "You can come... I mean, this did involve you as well..."
"And just what do you mean by that?" The older woren asked Frank as she fixed a glare on him.
"Technically... you were there with us when we played Persona... I mean, you are a part of Kate... and Nate knows it. Therefore, you should be able to reap the benefits of the bet that Nate and Brad had made..." Frank said with a grin.
"Wait... hold it!" Tellka said as she whirled around to look at Kate. "What bet??? You didn't say anything about a bet!"
Kate just giggled at her guardian. "Nate and Brad made a bet with each other... and the loser has to buy all of us dinner at The Tiger's Catch!"
"And just who is going to be at this dinner?" Tellka asked both teenagers.
"All of us who played Persona today... Brad, Yuki, Nate, Janet, Ellen, Kate,and me." Frank replied to the older woren.
Tellka looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally, she answered both teenagers
"Okay... I'm going. Besides, I need to talk to you about your fight... and I've got something to... discuss... with happy ole Nate."
Frank and Kate looked at one another for a moment, before offering each other a shrug. "Right..." Frank started. "Shall we go? The others are waiting..."
The Persona User offered an arm to his girlfriend, who in turn accepted it while purring in content. The trio left Kate's home and made their way to The Tiger's Catch.
**************** "It's Frank and Kate!!! And Tellka's with them!!!" Ellen said happily as her friends entered The Tiger's Catch. The couple waved to their friends before making their way to the table. As soon as Nate spotted Tellka, a scowl appeared on the snobbish Persona User's face.
"What's she doing here?! Frank, if this is some kind of joke..." Nate started as he gave Tellka one of his looks. Tellka was about to snap back at the snob, but Frank intervened at that moment.
"Nate..." Frank said as he pulled his friend to a corner of the restaurant. "Dammit... you know about the bond that Tellka and Kate share... Remember when we went looking for the Diamond of Truth?"
"Shut the hell up, Frank! Don't remind me about that shit!" Nate said fiercely to his friend.
Frank just looked at Nate in shock. "Dude... are you okay?"
Nate just shook his head, as if to clear out some memories of the past. The snobbish Persona User just looked back at Frank and gave him a look that could make even the Snow Queen catch frostbite. "Stay the hell out of my business."
Frank flinched at the tone of his friend's voice. "All right... but you know of the bond Tellka and Kate share... Technically, she was there with Kate."
"Fine, fine..." Nate muttered. "You owe me, though... Just don't bring up that thing again!"
"Sure..." Frank said as he watched the form of his retreating friend. Jesus... he's never been that bad...
"Hey Frank!" Tellka said as she approached the Persona User. "What's this about a fight? In the coliseum?"
The Persona User let out a sigh before turning to face the older woren. "I should have figured you'd find out... but yeah. Next Wednesday, at the coliseum... I've got a fight. Some jackass name Luke Mickel?"
Tellka let out a low growl before looking the Persona User in the eyes. "The same jerk that Kate fought in the coliseum... Frank, I want to see you on Saturday, since you've got that dance tomorrow. I'm going to make sure that you kick that fleabag's ass!"
Great... I'm in trouble...
"Oh come on... Honestly, I was thinking of training you as well... maybe I should help Tellka..."
Katt... thanks. I mean, the only experience I've had in the coliseum was...
"I know, Frank... I know..."
"I'll be there, Tellka... I also need to talk to Chris about it, since he's also a fencer. He's also got some talent with unarmed combat, so..."
Tellka just batted her ears. "Don't worry about it now, okay?"
Frank just smiled as he and Tellka joined the others at their table. After Tellka had taken a seat, Brad, Janet, and Yuki entered the restaurant.
"C'mon Janet!" Brad said as he eyed the Windian. "Just one kiss?"
Yuki sighed before placing a hand against her forehead. "Kami-Sama, Brad... won't you learn? She's not interested in you! She's just your friend, and nothing more!"
"Brad..." Sonya said from atop his shoulder. "Stop embarrassing yourself... okay?"
"Aww..." Brad said with a fake pout. "You sure?"
"Brad... Yes! I think of you as a friend, but nothing more, okay?" Janet said as she turned to the Persona User.
"All right..." Brad replied. "Since you said so..." The normally comical teenager turned dead serious as he looked at Janet. "Since you feel that way, I'll stop bothering you about it. I don't want to ruin our friendship." Brad closed his eyes and thought about Alana back in Lunarvale. Like someone else that I'm about to cut off...
Janet was taken aback. "Er... well.... Thanks Brad..." Ladon... was that really Brad? That was certainly different. Beside the Windian, Yuki and Sonya were also in shock, since this is a side of Brad that they had rarely seen.
"Hey, there's Frank, c'mon, let's join them!" Brad said enthusiastically as he approached the table that his friends were at.
"Brad! What's up?" Frank asked as he took his seat beside his girlfriend.
"It's a direction, but if you want me to go into detail... I'll need a dictionary, dude." The egotistical Persona User replied before getting one of those goofy grins on his face.
Janet let out a light chuckle when she caught the look on Brad's face. Ladon... sometimes... the things he does... I swear, he reminds me of either Chad or David... Ladon... what happened to those two? They've been gone since Monday...
Frank just laughed lightly before turning his attention to Janet. "Hey..." The Persona User started as he reached into his jacket, withdrawing an envelope. "Yuki and I finally got around to making copies of those pictures for you."
"Pictures?" Janet said as she accepted the envelope. Immediately, she unsealed it and removed the photos, glancing over them. "Oh! These... the fountain pictures..." The Windian said as she looked at the picture of her with water flowing over one of her hands. "Thanks!"
"Hey... it was nothing..." Yuki said with a smile.
The group of friends finally got around to placing their orders. When Ryan brought the food out from the kitchen, Nate had to look twice when he saw the amount of food that was placed in front of Brad. As it was, Ryan was unloading three separate plates in front of the Persona User. Everyone else at the table just looked at Brad in wonder.
"Ladon..." Ryan started as he placed a plate of seafood pasta in front of Brad. "Can you really eat all of this?"
"I don't know..." Brad said as he looked at Ryan. "But since Nate's paying for all of us, I figured that I should get my fill, and then some." The Persona User got that goofy grin on his face once more. "Besides, I ordered mostly fish... whatever I don't eat, I can take back with me..."
"Don't expect to see your leftovers, Brad!" Frank said as Ryan placed a plate with a steak and a baked potato in front of the Persona User. "Once Neko-Chan gets a wiff of it, it's gone!"
Nate just sighed before giving Brad an annoying look. "Brad... I'm going to kill you..."
"No you're not, Nate..." Brad said with a chuckle.
The group of friends ate together while joking around, talking about various little things, and of course, the dance coming up. When the bill came, Nate's eyes went wide.
"Ryan, this can't be right..." Nate grumbled as he pulled some zenny out of one of his pockets.
"It is, Nate. You know that we have to charge a 15% tip on parties of seven or more." The woren said as he looked at the snobbish Persona User.
"My brother's right, Nate..." Ellen added in, knowing what went on at her work place.
"Fine..." Nate grumbled as he pulled out the proper amount. Before long, the group went their separate ways.
"Tellka..." Kate started as she looked at her guardian. "Um... Frank and I are going to go star gazing again..."
"Go on, Kate... I don't mind... besides... I need to talk to jolly ole Nate..." Tellka said to the younger woren. Frank and Kate left after saying good-bye to Tellka. With a glare, the woren warrior approached Nate Trinity, still thinking about how he had treated Kate.
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