Karen Yuletide was standing outside on the steps of her Moon Lake College dorm building promptly at 6 pm, waiting for her next date with Peter Talbot. While she was still a normal human being (for now?), she was rapidly falling in love with the handsome werelion and hoped that he would soon make her his.
The only two hitches in her dreams was that she had yet to totally accept the fact that werelions believed in the concept of an "open marriage" while still being otherwise faithful to their spouses and families, and that Peter was actually the lone Prince to the local "Lion King", which made him understandably cautious in choosing a potential mate.
But all that was quickly set aside, for now, as she saw Peter approach.
"So, what is on the agenda for tonight?" asked Karen, while giving Peter a quick kiss and taking his arm in hers.
"Something very important to both humans and weres," he said, because all their dates so far had also included lessons on weres in general, and werelion society specifically. "But first, let's eat. I'm starving."
Together, they walked over to the Student Commissary and split a four meat (hamburger, sausage, pepperoni, and Canadian Bacon) pizza between them, along with side salads and sodas, his treat.
The two of them just sat and chatted about school in general and how their respective days went, but neither mentioned the unfortunate encounter Karen had with Peter's hopeful suitor Elizabeth Brookshire*.
Then, as they were finishing their meal, Peter announced, "I have a major test in Economics tomorrow morning, so I can't afford to stay out too late tonight, but I already had this planned for us before Liz spilled the beans about who I really am to some people*. As I said earlier, tonight's life lesson is something very important to both weres and regular humans. How to destress and relax."
With that, after they cleaned up their dinner mess, he led Karen from the Commissary to the Student Union building.
As they entered, Peter turned to the right and soon Karen found herself standing next to him as Peter paid for two movie admissions.
"Would you like any popcorn or something to drink?" he asked.
"So soon after dinner? Just a bottle of water please," she replied.
Peter brought her that, while he got a large tub of plain popcorn and a soda for himself. "One of the few indulgences I've ever gone for. For some reason, I just cannot fully enjoy a movie without popcorn," he said with a smile, before leading them into the theater.
Sitting down, Karen turned and said, "I didn't see any posters or signs announcing what's playing tonight," while accepting her water.
"I'm on their e-mailing list, and have been looking forward to this for weeks. They do a different genre every night, but have anime every Friday night, and something called The Rocky Horror Picture Show every Saturday night if you're interested."
"I've seen it a few times back in California," revealed Karen, "but have yet to catch any anime or anything else here because I'm usually too busy with my studies or art to come."
"I've never seen that movie myself, but have no idea why Sylvester Stallone would make a horror film."
Karen was about to enlighten Peter to the truth when he said, "Anyway, with or without fur, it's important to relax. Tonight they're showing a couple of great classic comedies I hope you'll like," said Peter, as the house lights dimmed and the first picture began.
It only took Karen a moment to realize she was about to see, "The Cocoanuts with the Marx Brothers? I haven't seen this since..." then couldn't remember the last time it was shown on that classic movie channel.
"So you know the movie?" asked Peter, hopeful they would both have a good time.
"Why a duck? Why a no chicken?" said Karen, reciting some of Chico Marx's famous lines. "I may be seriously into fur with animation aspirations, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate other stuff," she added, settling in to watch the movie with Peter.
Soon the couple were laughing and having a good time with the rest of the audience. Karen shifted her sitting position and leaned against her date, as Peter lovingly put an arm around her.
Lost in the comedic antics, Karen absent-mindedly reached into the popcorn bucket, only to find Peter's hand already there. She tilted her head up and smiled at him, before picking up a piece and putting it in his mouth for him.
Peter just smiled, then kissed the top of Karen's head before feeding her popcorn the same way.
Unfortunately, that movie came to an end. Peter looked at Karen and said, "We have a little time during the Intermission before the second half of the double feature starts."
"Which is?" she wondered.
"Duck Soup."
"With the mirror scene? Count me in!"
"Want some more popcorn?" asked Peter, noticing that the large tub was almost empty.
"Yes, please. But where's the Ladies' Room?"
As they both started to get up, Karen paused, looking at figure hastily leaving the theater.
"What is it honey?" asked Peter, wondering why she was just standing there.
"I'm not sure, but for a moment I thought I saw Liz Brookshire in the back row."
Concerned, Peter rushed over there and started sniffing the empty seats, only to announce moments later, "There were definitely a couple of females here, but there's too many food and other scents to specifically identify the women. Are you sure?" he asked, while coming back to Karen's side.
"Unfortunately, no. Guess she's just still on my mind after what happened today. Let's just forget all about that and get ready to enjoy the other movie," suggested Karen, giving Peter a quick peck on the cheek before heading off to the bath room.
But what neither movie goer knows is that Karen was right.
It was Elizabeth Brookshire in the back row, watching them a lot more than the movie.
As she left the Student Union building, making sure she wasn't being spotted or followed by either Karen or Peter, there was just one thought on her mind.
I owe you Karen Yuletide, and somehow I intend to pay.
____________________________________________________________
*In "Drawing UNWANTED Attention".
And it's an established Moon Lake fact that it requires more than kissing, or feeding each other popcorn, to initiate a normal's first transformation.—tmw.