The Bar Show

Into the Crowd

The venue was really just a bar with a stage.

A low ceiling. Speakers stacked beside the drums. Posters of old bands curling slightly away from the walls.

The raccoon paused near the doorway, looking toward the stage.

The centipede stepped beside it and took one of its hands.

“Come on. We can go this way.”

It led them through the crowd, slipping carefully between people until the stage sat only a few rows ahead. Close enough that the speakers hummed faintly through the floor.

The lights dimmed.

The drummer counted in.

And suddenly the room was loud.

Too Loud To Think

The raccoon leaned forward almost immediately, attention fixed fully on the band. Its head moved gently with the rhythm, tail swaying slowly behind it.

Beside them, the centipede watched the stage for a while before glancing sideways instead.

The raccoon was smiling.

Not at the band.

At them.

The crowd shifted harder during the next song, bodies pressing together as the room grew rowdier. The raccoon stumbled half a step with the movement.

The centipede steadied them automatically, catching their hand without thinking.

The raccoon smiled in quiet acknowledgement.

They stayed like that.

The set blurred together after a while. Drums folding into guitars. Lyrics shouted by the crowd with far more enthusiasm than accuracy. Heat building slowly through the packed room.

The final song ended in a crash of feedback and applause.

Lights returned gradually as people drifted toward exits and bars.

“That was great,” the raccoon said.

“I thoroughly enjoyed that,” the centipede replied with a slight smirk.

A small pause followed.

“And the music was good too.”

The Walk Outside

They followed the crowd toward the exit, moving slowly down the narrow staircase leading back onto the street.

Halfway down, the centipede spoke.

“Well, we made it through another day together. May as well keep holding my hand at this point.”

The raccoon laughed, finally letting go as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Careful,” it said, nudging the centipede slightly.

“You’re starting to sound like you have a thing for me.”

The centipede laughed along with them as they stepped out into the cooler night air beyond the venue.