Karen had left about fifteen minutes before Jenny and Harry had returned to the dorm from dinner as part of the date with Peter Talbot. She had hoped to introduce her roommate to Peter, but she hadn't seen Jenny since that morning and so Karen left a note and made her way out. She found Peter standing beside an old looking car, like it was out of the fifties or sixties, Karen didn't know, and approached it.
"So... what do you think?" Peter asked with a polite smile.
"I think it's an old car," Karen answered simply, not sure on what else to make of the vehicle.
"It is... but my family's kept it in remarkably good condition over the years," Peter answered, "My dad's always been a bit of a car nut..."
"I suppose I'd know who to go to if mine breaks down," Karen commented.
"Eh.... while he does work with cars... he doesn't fix broken ones," Peter answered, "he and his brothers are hired on commission to restore old classic cars. They do business with a lot of people... not just those from Moon Lake to do so. I think they might have restored a P-51 for some old air plane collector or World War II historical society... but I don't know for sure."
"Sounds interesting," Karen commented.
She knew next to nothing about cars, but did think the idea was an interesting one. It was certainly a different career from what she would have thought from someone who worked with cars, and that only made her more curious.
"So... is this to be a family business or... do you plan to do something else?" Karen asked curiously as she climbed into the car and Peter settled in behind the driver's seat.
"I actually think it isn't a bad thing," Peter answered, "Most of the modelling I've done for the art classes is just to help cover some of my own college costs..."
"It's not a bad thing," Karen asked, "Not what I would want to do with my life, but that doesn't mean it's bad."
Peter began to drive forward and away from the college campus and to head toward the rest of town. Karen smiled to him as they rode along. He was a fairly handsome man, and what he'd told her about his father's work was interesting. It actually made her curious.
"So... was this car a commission that didn't go through or something that your dad put together as part of a hobby?" Karen asked curiously.
"This?" Peter shrugged, "this was actually a birthday gift. Once I got my driver's licence... I came out one morning to find my dad leaning against the side of the car with a huge smile and holding the keys in his hand. I know it's an old car, but he said, "you can't beat a classic," and it's run quite well... so I really haven't had room to complain."
They rode along quietly, and Karen found herself enjoying the ride. She didn't know if it was the work that had been done on the car or the work that had been done to pave Moon Lake's roads, but the ride was rather smooth. Regardless of which, it made the ride comfortable.
"I can't complain right now, either," Karen gave a chuckle, "so... what's the plan for tonight?"
"I was thinking pretty traditional," Peter commented, "dinner and a movie."
"Moon Lake has a theater?" Karen asked.
"It used to be an old drama theater... as in with actors on stage, but was upgraded to allow for movies," Peter answered, "they still do theatrics... in fact the college's drama department does its plays there... so does the High School's drama department. The result is that movies have to be adapted for a different size screen and means that it takes a little while for movies to make it to Moon Lake... so they might be one you've already seen outside of Moon Lake..."
"I don't mind," Karen playfully rubbed his shoulder, "with as nice a guy as you... I don't think anything would matter."
"Really?" Peter asked, "but we just met..."
"And you've been nice to me... you've been helpful... you haven't put me in the "friend-zone" or outright rejected me because I've been into furries, and so on," Karen answered, "that strikes me as you being a nice guy..."
Peter gave a somewhat shy smile.
"Thank you," Peter answered, "now... do you want dinner first or do you want the movie first?"
"Do we have time for either?" Karen asked.
"Well... Moon Lake has a nice diner if you want a more traditional dinner... but if you want that, we will need to movie first," Peter answered with a shrug, "as if you go to the diner first... we wouldn't get our food before the movie starts... It would mean that if we're to eat first... we'd need to go to a fast food restaurant..."
"Will the diner be open after the movie?" Karen asked.
"Yeah... given Moon Lake's were population... the diner does have much later hours than many restaurants outside Moon Lake," Peter answered, "especially for those of us that go hunting."
"Hunting for deals?" Karen laughed.
"No... as actually hunting deer," Peter answered seriously, "we have great strength and the ability to stalk them... but that doesn't mean we have a high success rate. So... if someone misses... the diner can serve them..."
"I see," Karen said slowly and thought for a moment, "We can eat later... let's watch the movie first."
Peter nodded and drove along. He drove to Moon Lake's old downtown and pulled into a parking lot that was next to a series of old stone buildings that were all built next to each other. Karen stretched as she climbed out of the car as Peter came around the car. As he approached her, he offered her an arm, which she eagerly took. She even reached across her body to touch Peter's hand as they walked. He lead them them up to a stone building that had no front window and had a rather broad front. There was an illuminated sign above the doors which Karen noted as having movie titles written in black plastic letters and illuminated by a lit screen behind it... by lights that were around the edge of the sign. She couldn't quite tell which, though it also gave the sensation of going to an older theater in a sort of "classic" environment.
"Any preference on what movie?" Peter asked.
"So long as it isn't a scary movie I don't mind," Karen answered.
Peter nodded and lead Karen in. The two of them ended up with an action movie that Karen had remembered being popular in California before coming up to Moon Lake for college. It wasn't bad, not Karen's first choice, but it wasn't bad and she did enjoy the movie. In a way, it even worked out for her as she was able to actually cuddle up to Peter as the watched the movie. He shared popcorn with her and as the hero rushed around some office building to try and arrest a criminal mastermind on the screen, Karen carefully rubbed Peter's arm as they watched. By the definition of his biceps, Karen tell that Peter had to be strong, even in his human form, and he only smiled as they watched. The "furry fandom/fetish" was new to Peter, but to a great extent, there seemed to be more to Karen than just that.
And in a strange sense, some of what Karen had told him about her interests was actually interesting to him. Normals that had grown up in Moon Lake had grown up to respect and understand weres. While they could come to be attracted to their human forms, they weren't always attracted to their were forms, particularly from those that were predators. Even werecats, weredogs, and werefoxes which weren't apex predators could scare normal humans with bared teeth or claws. With werewolves, weretigers, werelions, werebears, and wereleopards, which could be bigger and stronger than others, that sort of threat and fear due to their larger size. Even normals that were familiar with were-beasts could susceptible to that fear. Karen's furry "fandom/fetish" pretty much erased that fear, and Peter's real concern had been that she wouldn't have any interest in anything but the lion in him. But, even from their conversation at lunch, he could tell that there was more to her than that, and a part of him really wanted to find out about that part of Karen Yuletide.
"So what did you think of the movie?" Peter asked asked as they made their way out of the theater after it had ended.
"It wasn't bad," Karen answered, "though to be honest... I was just glad to be there with someone. Not a lot of people have really banged down any doors to date me... particularly when they've found out about my interest in furries."
"Hateful?" Peter wondered.
"Not really... a good many actually remained friends with me... but they didn't want to be anything more than friends," Karen replied and hugged Peter's arm, "You're actually the first I've honestly talked to about this and... and it's felt good."
"Well... I suppose it's like you said earlier," Peter gave a playful smile, "Moon Lake is like a candy store for you... and I am your lion flavored toffee..."
"I've actually been more partial to jawbreakers," Karen joked, "but yeah... Moon Lake is like a candy store for me... and from our talk earlier... I've learned a lot and found plenty to feel that you are the perfect candy for me."
Peter only chuckled as they walked along. "Well... I suppose that's good. Having fun?"
Peter got his answer when Karen hugged his arm tighter and gave him a friendly smile.
"Yes," Karen answered, "it's been very fun..."
"And there's still dinner to be had," Peter answered, "and trust me... it's good."
"I'm sure," Karen smiled, "Is it far?"
"Not really... why do you ask?" came the reply.
"Well... I'm a little full on popcorn right now," Karen smiled weakly, "and I figured we would walk and talk on our way to dinner. By the time we get there... I'll be ready for dinner and we can get to know each other even better..."
"Okay," Peter smiled and they walked on, and told each other about their interests.
It felt good for both of them and Peter enjoyed talking with Karen quite a lot. It was the best date that both had been on, and they both enjoyed. They shared plenty of tales about themselves and their lives. Peter with being the only male child born to his pride, Karen with her interest in any shows that had anthropomorphic animals. Karen even commented on an idea for a cartoon about Moon Lake that could allow the town to introduce themselves to the world in a way that would surely lend people to understand that were-beasts weren't the mindless slobbering monsters out to eat people that they were depicted as... Peter said he liked the idea, but told Karen that until were-beasts were exposed or deliberately revealed themselves, such a series might only fit on Moon Lake's public access channel on the local cable network. Karen thanked him and enjoyed the conversation. It was the best date she'd ever been on.