The Holidays Can Get a Little Batty Ch. 02

"Hey, you're both really gonna want to read those cards." The bubbly Blonde insisted, just a bit too strongly.              She punctuated her emphasis by giving her friends a suspicious wink and strange smile.

"Well, I've got head out. See you later." Noelle bounced away before either of her friends had a chance to say anything else. Now all she could do was hope they actually followed the instructions on those cards.

Charlotte and Olivia were left watching the girl as she melted back into the crowd, each holding their respective envelopes. When Noelle was out of sight, the two girls turned to share a curious look. Not for a second did either believe the cards were from a real 'secret admirer,' but no way did Noelle actually expect them to fall for that. So that just begged the question, why exactly did Noelle look so excited to give them the cards?

***

The Next Morning

***

Valentine's Day had finally rolled around, and Miri certainly had a lot of excitement in his step as he made his way up to Noelle's front door. He'd arrived a little before 10, just as his (soon to be official) girlfriend had asked. That meant it would be a couple hours until they could make the lunch reservation he had set, but spending more time with the girl was perfectly fine by him. To make the start to their day even better, the brightly smiling visage of the girl was there to greet him at the door before he even had to ring the bell.

"Hey Noelle, happy Valentine's Day." Miri cheerfully greeted her. In full honesty, the Bat was at least a tiny bit nervous about today, since this was going to be their first real 'date' date after all, but he was just far too excited to worry about that as much as he usually would.

"There' my sweet little Valentine's treat!" Noelle gushed, her expression far more outwardly excited than the Bat's.

The ever-jubilant girl quickly swept up her Beastly lover in a tight hug, giving him a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth before slackening her grip. However, she did not let the Bat go completely, just stepping back enough to beam at him again while holding his fuzzy wrists in a playful bind.

"You look really nice." Noelle mentioned, her usual tease only barely noticeable, and it really seemed like she was giving him a genuine compliment. And the Bat did clean up nicely too, not that he was usually a slob, but sporting a silvery-white polo shirt and some crisply pressed black dress pants it was obvious to Noelle that he likely intended to take her somewhere pretty nice today. That was incredibly sweet... unfortunately, that would kind of be a waste.

"Thanks Noelle. You look great too." Miri offered back as confidently as he could. Though admittedly, after having been such close friends for so many years, he still found it somewhat difficult to actually compliment the girl on her more... 'girly' aspects.

"Oh yeah sure, you're dressed in your Sunday best and I pretty much just got out of bed." Noelle playfully chided back. She knew his was an automatic response, after all he was dressed so nicely and here she was standing in just a simple black tank-top and some hot-pink athletic shorts. She hardly deserved an equal compliment.

"Yeah, but unlike me you always look beautiful." Miri replied, a lot more coolly than Noelle could've guessed he could manage.

"Oh gee thanks. I'm sure that's totally genuine and not something you're just saying because you're my boyfriend and you have to." She teased back through a mirthful grin.

"Hey, I do mean it." Miri insisted through his own smirk.

"Then how come you almost never called me pretty in the decade we spent before we started dating?" The girl pressed even more mercilessly.

"Well apparently back then you were a lot easier to compliment." The young Beast actually managed to fire back, earning a sincerely impressed chuckle from Noelle.

"Wow, you're actually matching me tease for tease. You must be in a really good mood today." She said, her smile only growing brighter.

"I am." He said simply through his own honest smile.

Satisfied enough, Noelle finally stepped back to let him inside and started to lead him upstairs to her bedroom. Of course, Miri was nearly as familiar with the girl's house as he was with his own, having been here countless times growing up.

"So listen, I know I've been kinda vague about today, but I promise it's all gonna be great!" The Bat started to allude, really feeling a good bit of pride for everything he planned to do with Noelle today.

"Of course, we'll have to kill some time now before we get going. By the way, was there a particular reason you asked me to come early?" He asked, now actually starting to feel a bit curious about that.

"Oh yeah, I'll explain in just a minute." Noelle just replied cryptically as she tugged the fluffy kid into her bedroom.

Spinning around him she urged the Bat to take a seat on her bed, which he did without complaint. But when he got a look at her face again, his smile started to falter in the beginnings of confusion. He could tell that the Blonde was thinking something over, and she looked... conflicted.

Indeed, Noelle was finally starting to feel a bit anxious about the thing she'd been planning to ask her boyfriend for the last week. It wasn't exactly going to be a 'fair' request, and it was definitely going to mess up whatever plans he had. But the girl took a deep breath, ultimately deciding that it wasn't going to be any crazier than the things she'd convinced him to do before.

"Sooooooo, listen. I know you had this whole day planned out, and I'm sure whatever we were going to do was gonna be super amazing. But I kinda had a... different idea of what we could do today..." Noelle led off gently, gaining a very confused and more than slightly worried look from Miri. To him she looked like she was about to admit to her parents she just crashed their car.

"You know my two friends, Olivia and Charlotte?"

"Yeeaahhh?" The Bat could only reply in growing concern.

"Well, to put it bluntly, neither of them were able to get a date for Valentine's Day. And since you're such an incredibly sweet guy, I was kinda thinking you could... play 'Cupid' for them today." Noelle asked as she folded her hands in front of her, really pouring on the saccharine sweetness in her voice to entice the boy.

At first, Miri's confusion only grew, Noelle immediately realized he did not understand her.

"So, wait? You want me to like find them dates or something? 'Cause you should know better than anyone that I don't exactly have a lot of connections like that..."

But before the Bat could continue Noelle just shook her head and cut him off.

"No, no, I don't want you to find them dates. I want you to be their date."

As she finally admitted that, Miri just looked at her with a perfectly blank stare, the kind she'd expect from a peg in a game of whack-a-mole.

"What?"

Noelle let loose another long sigh. This conversation was going to be a little awkward, and worse, tricky.

"You know, the girls are just feeling really down on their luck lately, and like no guys are after them right now. Well, no decent guys anyway. So I just though, you being the super sweet, cuddly, and caring boy that you are, you could maybe... make them feel a bit better today?" Noelle again gently pleaded, once again laying on the compliments to really butter up the Bat.

Unfortunately, Miri just gained a far more worried look.

"And, how exactly do you want me to do that?"

Noelle's eyes glanced off far away from meeting the Beast's, but that did nothing to hide the pure mischief showing on the rest of her face.

"Wwweeeeellll... you remember all that stuff we ended up doing with Mrs. Klaus?"

Now Miri's face jolted in slight panic as her meaning really started to set in.

"Noelle are you serious? You want me to... with both of them?!" Finally understanding what exactly the girl was asking of him, the young Beast's brain started to spark in disbelief.

Sensing how tense he was getting, Noelle quickly seated herself beside her Beasty best friend and draped herself on his shoulder to try and relax him.

"Oh c'mon Miri. I know you aren't exactly as good of friends with Charlotte and Olivia as you are with me, but I also know exactly how much you enjoyed all that time I got you with Brandy." Noelle's voice was slowly turning from tacit pleading to salacious enticement.

"You can't tell me you don't think this would be extremely fun too."

"T-That's not the point... Noelle, this..." Miri was still just too flabbergasted, and just ended up floundering off.

He gave an exasperated grunt before he turned and forced Noelle to meet his eyes, and she quickly saw the real, genuine concern in them.

"I care about you, Noelle. That's why I had all this stuff planned for today... I just... i-it feels weird that you'd ask me to... have sex with your friends, especially today." The little Beast said uneasily, worried that no matter what he did or said at this point he'd be stepping on toes somehow.

And Noelle instantly sympathized with the Bat. The poor kid really just wanted to make her feel like the most special girl in the world, and here she was asking him to fuck a couple other girls on what was supposed to be her special day. She was forcing him into a conflict of interests here.

Noelle cooed thoughtfully in Miri's big ear and rubbed his furry arm. She leant over to put a small kiss on his lips, and the Bat was totally helpless to resist her. She pulled back, and she saw the worry in his eyes, and just tried her best to reassure him that he didn't need to feel so concerned for her sake.

"Miri, besides you Charlotte and Olivia are my best friends. Today especially they could really use some love, and I wish I could fix things for them myself, but... I'm not exactly the kind of company they need right now. But I know there isn't a single boy in our school who would treat them better than my sweet, caring, and oh so loving Miri. So yes, there's nothing I'd like more today than to see you be the best Valentine's Day gift they ever receive."

It really was a ludicrous situation, Noelle asking her boyfriend to sleep with her other two best friends just so they'd feel better, but she was asking Miri with such sincerity and love for her friends that he couldn't take her less than seriously.

The Bat's gaze flickered down to the floor, and he just remained quiet for a little while. Eventually though, he let out his old defeated sigh, the same one Noelle had heard a million times before whenever he was about to let her get her way.

"You know, I really did want to take you on a real date today." He just spoke a little melancholily.

Noelle simply smiled and hugged herself even tighter against the thoughtful Bat.

"I'm sure you did, but I think you'll be just as happy today if you help me spread the love."

***

A Couple Hours Later

***

A little after noon, Noelle's doorbell rang and the girl happily rushed to answer. She opened up with a bright smile to greet her two friends that were waiting on her.

"Girls, you showed up right on time!" She exclaimed with a dazzling wave of her arms.

Charlotte and Olivia, in contrast, just kind of stood in the doorway and looked at their third friend with an odd mix of suspicion and concern. They immediately noticed the Blonde's attire, her simple black tank top and pink shorts; a little festive, but a lot more casual then should've been appropriate for a big Valentine's date.

"Alright Noelle, spill it." Olivia was the first to reply, albeit a little tersely.

"The card you gave us just said to come to your house today, so it's pretty obvious you're our 'secret admirer.' Why don't you just tell us what this all about already?" The little Redhead continued, obviously not amused.

"Yeah Noelle, this is pretty weird. You must have plans with Miri today, so why invite us over now?" Charlotte added, an equally odd look on her face.

Noelle did not let their lack of faith wipe the mirth from her own expression.

"Geez, I would've expected you'd be at least a little excited for your surprise. Now get in here!"

The bubbly girl didn't give the other two another moment to grumble in complaint, and practically dragged the other teenagers inside her house and straight up to her bedroom. Charlotte and Olivia couldn't do much to object, and before they knew it they'd been herded like sheep and been forced to sit down on Noelle's bed. For her part, Noelle just kept looking at them with that cocky grin, and Olivia was quickly losing what little patience she arrived with.

"Okay Noelle, okay, we get it. You've got some little game for us to play, so will you just get on with it?" The fiery Redhead spoke snobbishly.

"Alright, alright. Look, I know you two were expecting to have a disappointing Valentine's Day after yesterday, but I think you're really gonna change your attitudes once you see what I've got for you!" Noelle continued to beam at her friends.

But Olivia just kept her minor scowl and Charlotte looked on with only the barest interest at all.

"So you were our 'secret admirer,' after all. Well alright, what's our surprise?" Charlotte spoke like an exhausted parent trying to humor a toddler.

But at that Noelle just playfully shook her head, her grin seeming to grow wider every second.

"Nope, wrong. I'm not the secret admirer at all. I'm just the one who found you two your own Valentine's date!"

Now Olivia and Charlotte both couldn't help giving the girl a really curious look.

"In fact, I think he should be just about ready for you two, so I'll be right back."

Before the other girls could pipe in their skepticism again, Noelle bounced out of her room and shut the door, leaving her two friends to share some uncertain glances as they waited. They were certainly surprised enough once they actually heard two different sets of footsteps coming back towards the room a minute later, and actually started to wonder if Noelle had really managed to set them both up with someone today. That said, even if that were the case, it sounded like there was only one extra guy for the two of them, so they were still wondering exactly what her plan was.

Charlotte and Olivia's doubts were slowly ebbing, and they watched the door with increasing curiosity as the footfalls came closer and closer until they were just beyond the room. Now the girls could hear some soft, muffled arguing just past the frame. One voice obviously belonged to Noelle, but the other was too quiet for the girls to recognize.

"Noelle, I don't want to go in there like this." The mystery voice softly protested, and quiet as it was there was clear reluctance there.

"Don't you chicken out on me now, you already promised." Noelle responded in a loud hush.

"The costume was not part of the deal!" The other voice angrily insisted.

"The 'deal' was that you do everything I tell you forever, and that's always been the deal since we were kids." Noelle fired back with an almost ludicrous certainty.

"I never.... Ahhh, crap." The other voice muttered in apparent resignation.

Charlotte and Olivia struggled to listen to this comical exchange until finally the bedroom door opened, and Noelle slid inside, alone. Her two girlfriends were obviously waiting with bated breath to find out who their mystery caller was.

"I know neither of you thought you'd have anything to celebrate today, so here. Consider this my extra special Valentine to you both!" Noelle excitedly announced, and like she was the host on a game show the girl stepped to the side and made a flourished motion towards the door.

It creaked back open and in stepped the alleged 'secret admirer.'

"Oh what the fuck..." Olivia could only mutter in shock as her jaw practically hit the floor.

Charlotte had no better response, her eyes just popping as she raised a hand to stifle a choked gasp.

"Uhhh, hey Olivia, Charlotte... Happy Valentine's Day?"

Out came an incredibly nervous greeting from Miri as he slinked shamefully into the bedroom. The purple Bat was never exactly the sort to ooze confidence, but at the moment he looked particularly spineless as he presented himself to the girls, and it was quite the presence he gave them.

Miri was dressed in what looked like a very loose white toga, with a white skirt that draped from his waist down to just above his knees and a sash that stretched up and over one shoulder, leaving most of his fluffy, silvery-purple body exposed. To make the ensemble a bit more festively appropriate (or just laughable in the Bat's opinion), he also held a little toy bow with an arrow tipped in a heart.

The poor little Beast tried his absolute best to give the girls a sexy smile, but the shame and embarrassment he felt was as obvious as a neon casino sign. Charlotte and Olivia weren't doing much to boost his confidence as they just continued to gape in dumbfounded silence, although at least Noelle was giving her Beastly angel a much more appreciative smile.

"I wanted him to wear the white angel wings too, but he argued they wouldn't make sense since he's already got the Bat wings and all." Noelle broke the silence, as nonchalantly as if she was showing off a new phone to the girls.

"Still, what do you think? You're very own personal Cupid for the day!" Noelle excitedly turned to see her friends' reaction.

For just a moment, the room was dead silent as Noelle looked expectantly at the other two ladies, Miri held his oh-so-strained smile, and Charlotte and Olivia just stared. But very soon that silence was broken, and Olivia burst out in loud, obnoxious laughter as she took in the sight of the 'angelic' little Bat. Charlotte, meanwhile, just dipped her face straight down as she covered her eyes with her hand.

"Oh for the love of..." Charlotte could only mutter, sounding more than slightly mortified.

At their response, Miri's face immediately fell and he cast a stony glare between the hysterically laughing girl, the thoroughly unamused girl, and the most evil of the three, the girl who had put him up to this in the first place. The Bat dropped the little pose he'd struck and turned in defeat towards Noelle.

"I told you this would happen." He frustratedly chirped at the Blonde, but she just flashed him a more determined look and pointed her finger at him.

"You just shut up and keep standing there looking pretty."

As Miri groaned in exasperation, Noelle stood in front of her two friends.

"Girls, come on! This is my Valentine's gift to you, you're supposed to have fun with him!"

As Noelle tried to urge them on, Olivia somewhat managed to contain her laughter, but still had difficulty speaking in between fits of mocking giggles.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry Noelle... It's just you sounded so sincere... then you... you drag Miri in here... dressed like... like the lamest character in the school play!" The ridiculing Redhead gasped out between bouts of her snickering.

As Olivia continued to laugh to herself Charlotte at least tried to give Noelle a slightly more apologetic look. That said, she looked no more convinced by Noelle then their friend did.

"Yeah, Noelle... I didn't... I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't... this." The Brunette awkwardly fumbled as she gestured towards the poor Bat.

Miri continued to simmer and kept casting unhappy glances at his girlfriend, and by now Noelle couldn't deny that this was not how she envisioned the day would start. Even so, she still wasn't willing to give up on this idea.