"So, is Mel safe now?" wondered Virginia McCoy, as she watched the four were-raccoon boys leave the Halloween dance.
"Should be, provided those kids don't return, Alice Decrux doesn't show up, or there's anything else around here spiked with her Love Potion #9," figured her fiance, Harold Jenkins, as they watched thirsty dance attendees start to get punch from the alternate bowl that Migumi brought out earlier*.
The engaged weretiger couple were concerned about his teenage daughter, who was still a normal, although apparently Decrux wanted to change that situation out of spite because Harold spurned the were-raccoon for Virginia.
"Well, Mel's the one who told us about her... premonition concerning were-raccoons and the punch, so she knows to avoid them."
"True," agreed Harold, while looking at his lady. "Besides, we should have some fun tonight ourselves when you don't have to chaperone."
"What did you have in mind Mister Jenkins?" asked Virginia, as a smile crossed her tigress muzzle.
"Wait here a moment and you'll find out my future wife," replied Harold, before disappearing into the crowd on the dance floor.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Where would you like these?" asked a male voice behind her.
Virginia turned and saw a man holding a large stack of pizza boxes. Even if she wasn't a were, she could tell by the smell that each box had a delicious aroma coming from it.
"I'm Moe Charleston, from Moe's Pizzeria**," he said. "This is the next batch Miss Migumi Tachibana ordered for tonight."
"Oh. My apologies. I just got lost in the smell," said Virginia, as she took a couple of boxes from him.
"I know. My Meat Lovers' Special is a big hit among many weres," Moe said happily, as he set the boxes down in the empty table space Virginia pointed to.
"I've heard great things about your pizza, but haven't had the opportunity yet to try any."
"Well, I've only been open for a few weeks now," said Moe, thankful that the nasty business with the Gamboni Crime family was over and his family was safe, "but word of mouth has been my best advertising so far. Here, try a slice," he offered, opening a box and handing Virginia a slice of the Meat Lovers' Special.
"MMMMM...." said Virginia, after taking a bite. "This really tastes great!"
"I know. I use only the best ingredients possible, although it was difficult switching over to West Coast suppliers after being back East for so long. But the taste and the great business it brings in are worth it."
"Okay honey," began Harold, returning to his fiance's side. "I-"
"Harold, you have to try this," declared Virginia, as she reached into the open box and handed him a slice.
"Say, this is good," agreed Harold, after a couple of bites.
"Moe Charleston. Moe's Pizzeria," said the human on the other side of the table, after shaking hands with the weretigers.
"We definitely have to go to his place sometime," said Virginia.
"Yeah. Maybe a double date with Mel and Trevor," thought Harold.
"I have to bring in the rest of Miss Tachibana's order. Be right back," said Moe, before tipping his hat and leaving them.
"Say, I know I'm still new to all of this, but could you tell whether or not he smelled like a were?" asked Harold.
"With all the other weres here, it's hard to distinguish one scent from another, but I couldn't tell either. Why? Does it matter?" asked Virginia in return.
"No. Just realizing that weres probably have to stay in their human forms when working around food," replied Harold, while finishing his slice.
As Moe came back into the Moon Lake High School Gym with another handful of pizzas, he was distracted by all the cheering and applauding that suddenly started.***
Between that and not being able to see very well over the boxes, Moe accidentally bumped into a table, which knocked over the now almost empty punch bowl on it.
Thankfully, there must have been a lot of thirsty people here, but I still have to clean up this mess, Moe realized, grabbing a handful of napkins to start mopping up the mess he made.
After he finished cleaning Moe, wanting to correct his mistake the best he could, carried the plastic punch bowl through the gym and stumbled upon the entrance to the high school cafeteria's kitchen that Migumi had used earlier.*
Seeing the other punch bowl sitting out on a metal table, Moe poured what was left from one punch bowl into the other before carrying that punch bowl back out to the refreshments table at the dance.
Trying to do a good deed, Moe Charleston didn't realize that, although now somewhat diluted between the additional punch and the melted ice from the original bowl, that he had brought the tainted punch with Alice Decrux's Love Potion #9 back into play! A powerful aphrodisiac that would affect weres and humans alike.
"But you are definitely looking at the future Mrs. Karen Talbot," said a woman dressed as Cinderella, standing next to a man dressed as Prince Charming, talking to the werewolf disc jockey.***
As the applause from that announcement died down, Moe moved around to gently tap Virginia on her furry shoulder.
"Excuse me, ma'am, about the punch..." Moe started to say.
"Oh. If you're thirsty, help yourself," said Virginia, as the opening notes of a well familiar tune started to play.
"Harold. You didn't!" said Virginia, looking at her weretiger.
"That's what it sounds like?" said Harold in return. "All I did was make a request to the disc jockey. Care to dance, my love?" he asked, holding out his paw to her.
"I'd love to honey," replied Virginia, as a smile crossed her feline muzzle.
Together, Harold and Virginia walked out a couple of feet onto the area designated as a dance floor for tonight and began dancing to John Sebastian and the Loving Spoonful's ♫Do You Believe In Magic, In A Young Girl's Heart?♫
Moe Charleston just simply shrugged his shoulders and left, unaware of what consequences his actions might have that night...
TO BE CONTINUED!
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*In our previous episode.
**And sadly, also an unfinished story among the Moon Lake threads.
***See the Moon Lake, Andersons episodes "Perspectives, Parts 1 and 2".—tmw.