Loving and Learning

Date Night Part 2

Dante and Elvira walked on the streets of Camden. People and animals were active alike, and it was a beautiful, fairly starry night; perfect for what Dante had planned.

"So what are we doing tonight, Dante?" Elvira asked curiously.

"Let's just say it involves this." Dante said, pointing at the concealed object on his back.

Walking a bit further, Elvira lifted her ear a bit at the sound of music. She turned her head in its direction to see the Canal Bridge, seeing another cat gig going down.

"That's where we were introduced." Elvira said.

Dante put a paw on her shoulder.

"Yeah, and that's where we are going, c'mon." Dante said.

Elvira looked a little taken aback while with her curiosity growing more apparent and followed Dante. As they got close, Dante could see three familiar faces, the Canal Crew; that consisted of Dylan's best friend Fergus the fox, Sid the Squirrel, and Big Fee the rat. All three had noticed him coming.

"Well now, look who it is. So my eyes haven't deceived me." Fergus said. "You really got yourself a girl.

He elbowed Dante while grinning while Elvira giggled a bit.

"Ey now, what's on your back there?" Big Fee asked, trying to peak underneath the black cloth.

"It's a surprise." Dante said firmly, moving himself away before she can look.

Something did come to Dante's mind, looking at the crowd of mostly cats. He survey the scene a few times closely. He wanted to be sure Portia wasn't around. He hadn't seen her since he refused to help her to get with Juday, and having destroyed the gift she wanted to give him. He didn't want any trouble with her tonight. He saw some familiar faces, such as Roxy and Hansel, and even saw Clarissa at a restaurant near by the canal who struck him a glare, noticing him, but no signs of Portia.

"Alright let's go." Dante said.

Elvira followed him into the crowd.

"Have fun lovebirds!" Fergus called out teasingly.

Dante rolled his eyes, he looked back and noticed Elvira looking around herself. He figured she was also on alert for Portia as well, but she soon seemed to ease up, noticing herself she wasn't there. Though Dante felt tempted to console her on it, he figure it was best not to bring it up. He wasn't risking ruining tonight.

The sound of a microphone could be heard screeching a bit, and all eyes looked over onto the stage where a cat band was playing. A scrawny yet rough looking grey cat with some piercings in his ears and spiky collar walked up to the front of the crowd, holding a microphone. He appeared to be the band leader.

"Well, thank you mates for being here, hoping to have a smashing night!" The band leader said, hyping the crowd up. "Unless you have been living under a rock, you know tonight we are hosting a sorta karaoke night. Any of you in the crowd wanna come up and perform with us, if you got your own instrument, feel free to play it. Come on, don't be shy."

Dante looked over at Elvira, who listen intently with her tail thumping a bit. He looked back on the object on his back, suddenly nerves being felt within him. He was taking his first date with Elvira, and he wanted it to be special. He raised his paw.

Immediately the band leader noticed him. Elvira gasped a bit in surprise.

"Ah, I see we have our first performer! Get up here mate!" The leader said, motioning Dante to come.

"You're going to perform?!" Elvira excitedly asked.

"Y-Yeah." Dante said, getting a bit flustered at her excitement. "Just a little something I think you like."

He slowly walked over the stage, almost hesitantly. He has just been confident a moment ago, but now with the realization of what he was about to do hitting him, he was somewhat frightened and unsure. He climbed up the stage and took off the object on his back and pulled it out of the black cloth.

His mother's guitar, finally truly out in the flesh again for all to see.

He had prepared to keep it hidden for the remainder of his life, to protect this precious object that was the few remaining memories of his mother, Darryleen Dalmatian. Now here it was making a comeback, exposed to potential risk of it getting damaged. He clutch it in his paws tight, looking at his reflection on it. He felt himself tempted to get cold feet.

But he looked back out in the crowd, Elvira looking on with anticipation and excitement. Her eyes were practically sparkling and her smile was wide. Elvira was now his light, the one who completed him. He was doing this; risking everything for her.

He wasn't gonna let her down.

"Alright mate, what song do you want us to play? Gotta list here of what we got." The band leader cat said.

Dante observed the list until one caught his attention.

"This one; instrumental version, please." He said.

"You got it mate." The band leader said, giving a thumbs up.

He picked a guitar of his own. His band mates, a couple other cats, also took position with theirs as well; a keyboard guitarist and a drummer.

"Hope this is ok mom." Dante whispered.

"Let's rock!" The band leader yelled to the crowd.

The band first lead off playing their instruments slowly, letting the crowd ease into the melody and gradually began to pick up their pace, preparing the audience for what was to come. Dante could feel his heart racing as he looked at Elvira, her body moving a bit with the rhythm. Before he knew it, the band was starting to play fast and grew louder. Dante's paws sweated.

And silence suddenly hit. It was time.

The band immediately let a full blast of their instruments fill across Camden, but it was Dante's guitar that was loudest of all as he let his paw tips loose across the strings at full speed, banging his head to the rhythm. The crowd roared with excitement, many holding up their paws in a rock symbol.

Elvira was especially mesmerized as she watched Dante give his all on the guitar.

"Whoooooo Dante!!!" She called out, positioning her paws also in the rock symbol and banging her head as she listened.

Even with the flood of various noises, Dante could hear her energetic voice in the crowd. Though he worried about putting strain on the guitar strings, he felt encouraged and kept going. Soon the melody beats slowed their pace, preparing for final beat. Dante gave a few final hard strums as the song came to a close. The crowd screamed and cheered loudly. After it had stopped fully, Dante had to catch his breath; he really let all out and his efforts had paid off.

Elvira, she was jumping up in down with her tail wagging before stopping to clap hard. Her smile and widen eyes popped amongst the crowd, and it made Dante smile as well.

"Good rock out there, mate!" The band leader complimented.

The crowd kept cheering, some even requesting an encore. Though Dante appreciated the attention, only one truly mattered to him at the moment.

Elvira rushed through the crowd and hugged him tightly as he stepped off the stage.

"Dante that was amazing! You are really talented! I loved every minute of it." She said.

Dante felt the blood rushing to his face and found himself melting in Elvira's firm, but gentle grip. He could feel her happiness flowing in her body and it felt like it was spreading to him. He didn't want to be anywhere else, and right now.

The night was still young.