Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle, Janice Covington, Melinda Pappas, etc. belong to Renaissance Pictures, etc. I am borrowing the characters for the 2020 Academy of Bards Halloween Invitational. If you squint hard enough, this is an über tale.
Story © JS Stephens 2020. All rights reserved.
Katie Hopkins groaned as she looked at the party invitation glowing on her monitor. "I'm not a party person," she informed her cat, Bast. Bast flicked her ears, refusing to comment on her human's moaning and groaning. "I don't even have a costume, but Cassie will expect me to be there." She stroked Bast's head, thinking. "I know, I can go as Janice Covington. I do have khakis, boots, leather jacket, and that brown fedora of Dad's." Bast opened one yellow eye and yawned, showing sharp white teeth against sleek black fur. "I guess I'd better reply," Katie grumbled as she clicked on the RSVP link.
Cassie Simmons opened the door wide, exclaiming, "Aren't you cute! Are you supposed to be Indiana Jones?"
"No, Dr. Janice Covington, Gabrielle's descendant," Katie explained. starting to regret her choice of costume.
"Who?" Cassie asked, puzzled.
"You know, from Xena: Warrior Princess?" Katie asked.
"Sorry, I never watched it," Cassie said, shaking her dark head. "Come on in, Katie, help yourself to goodies. Food is in the dining room, drinks on the patio. I think you'll know most people."
"Thanks," Katie said. She followed Cassie into the house, waving to some neighbors that she knew. Before she could get to the food line, David Simmons saw her and waved as he came over. "Hi, Katie, good to see you," he said as he gave her a quick sidearm hug. "It looks like quite a few from the neighborhood are here, plus some of my co-workers I invited. Say, who are you suposed to be?"
"Janice Covington, from the show Xena: Warrior Princess," she explained.
"Yeah, I get it, that was the descendent of Gabrielle, the bard, right?"
"Right," Katie said. She looked at his costume and hazarded a guess. "Captain Pike from Star Trek: Discovery?"
David tugged at the bottom of his gold jacket, beaming. "You're right! My wife didn't figure it out, she just called me Captain Kirk." He smiled. "Do you like the white streak I put in my hair?"
"It's good, David. I had to wear a wig to be blonde."
"I'd love to stay and chat," David said, "but I see some other people I need to greet. Great to see you here, and don't let me forget to bring your ratchet set back." He walked off, leaving Katie to ponder which goodies to add to her plate. She decided to start with a slider and a couple of fruit kabobs before going out to the patio to pick up a drink.
Katie finally made her way to a chair near the fire pit after picking up a water bottle and exchanging greetings with people variously dressed as hobos, rabbits, cheerleaders, soccer players, doctors, drag queens, and nuns. It always amused her to see her neighbors dressed in unexpected costumes, like the accountant in full drag, or the church choir director dressed as a cheerleader. Most guessed she was dressed as Indiana Jones, and she started agreeing rather than explaining about the über characters in Xena. She was really regretting not coming as something more recognizable when she heard a woman's voice behind her asking, "Dr. Janice Covington, I presume?"
She turned in her chair to take in a tall woman in a 1940's style olive suit, rimless glasses, and black cloche hat. The woman had dark hair drawn back in a simple bun under her hat. "Um, yes," Katie answered, standing immediately. "Dr. Melinda Pappas?" she guessed.
"Why, yes, darling," the woman answered with a deep southern drawl. "You are the first person to guess correctly. I've had a lot of guesses from Diana Prince to the Evelyn Carnahan, the librarian from The Mummy. I'm Nicole Preston." She held out her hand, which Katie almost belatedly took.
"Katie Hopkins, I live next door. I haven't seen you at one of these parties before," she almost stammered.
Nicole swept around to sit in the empty chair next to Katie. "It's because I've just moved here," she explained, "I work with David, so he invited me to the party. It seemed like a good idea to get out of my apartment."
"Well, welcome to our neighborhood. So, um, you're a Xena fan?"
Nicole smiled, dimples showing in her cheeks. "Yes, I am. My older sister got me hooked on it. She stopped watching around the fourth season, but I watched all the way through. How about you?"
Katie sat back in her seat to get more comfortable. "I found it when channel surfing one day and caught the episode Altared States. I laughed so hard when Gabrielle was under the influence of henbane and directed the imaginary choir." Katie smiled at the memory. "Luckily, I was able to catch up on the whole first season later. I just loved the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle."
"Me too. I also loved the The Xena Scrolls, obviously. Mel reminded me of my Aunt Kay, who taught drama at our local college for years. Aunt Kay and her best friend, Doris, lived together for many years. In fact, this was one of Kay's suits. I just love that 40's style."
"Really? You look good in it," Katie said.
Nicole leaned closer and whispered, "And all you need is a bullwhip to complete your outfit."
"I knew I was missing something," Katie said with a smile.
"Oh, there you are, Nicole," a voice interrupted them. "I had no idea you were here."
Nicole's face went stony as she looked up at the leering man. "Todd, I'm busy, leave me alone."
Todd set his drink down on a nearby chair and reached for Nicole's hands. "There's music, I wanna dance with you," he said sloppily, trying to pull her up. "You kept ignoring me at the last meeting, I'd like to get to know you much better."
Katie found herself standing up and squeezing between the two, stiffening her back and announcing, "Too bad, Todd, she's going to dance with me." She emphasized her words by pushing him back a few steps. "Move it, buster."
Todd stumbled backward, protesting, "But I called first dibs!"
"No, you assumed you asked first," Katie countered bravely, channeling Janice Covington's brashness. "As a matter of act, Nicole had already agreed to dance with me. So leave us alone. Come on, Nicole," she said, holding out her hand.
"With pleasure," Nicole replied, rising to follow her flagstone dance floor. "Thank you for rescuing me," she added.
"My pleasure," Katie said, "but who is leading?"
Nicole laughed as she twirled Katie around. "I am," she said as the music changed. "Oh, I love how Diana Krall sings The Look of Love." She started singing along, her lovely contralto vibrating in her chest against Katie's ear. They danced to the enchanting song, enjoying the moment until the song faded out. Katie looked up; Nicole smiled and bent forward, lips almost touching--
"You had your dance, now it's my turn," Todd whined as he tried to cut in, grabbing Nicole's arm. "Besides, it's supposed to be boy/girl, not girl/girl."
"Todd, I am not dancing with you, I do not have any interest in you, and you are being a royal pain in my backside," Nicole snapped, yanking her arm out of his grip. I am much more interested in Katie, so go sit yourself down."
"Bitch, I want you," Todd persisted, grabbing at her again.
Katie once again interposed herself between the two. "Todd, you touch her again and you will regret it," Katie said forcefully. "She said no, and that means no. Go away before I do something I will regret."
"Like what?" he sneered.
"Like this," she said. shoving him hard. He fell backwards, arms flailing in huge circles, losing his balance. He fell hard on the ground, but bounced back up, charging at the women. Katie and Nicole sidestepped him and glanced at each other, grinning. As they kept moving, Todd kept trying to run into them, until they moved out of the way one more time and he fell into the pool. "Maybe you'll cool down," Katie said.
"Help!" Todd called out, "I'll drown!"
By this time, the party noise had started dying down as the rest of the guest watched the fight progress. David finally pushed through the crowd as Todd started hollering for help. He stopped by the edge of the pool, laughing. "Hey, Todd, you won't drown if you stand up. The pool is only three feet deep where you are."
Embarrassed and fuming, Todd slowly stood up, walking up the steps out of the pool, water sluicing off of him. "Now you got my costume soaked," he spat.
"Gee, I thought Aquaman always went swimming," David laughed as he reached out and finished pulling Todd out of the water. "And maybe the dunking will cool you off. Come on, I probably have some sweats you can wear."
As the two men walked toward the house, Nicole slid her arms around Katie, murmuring, "My hero." They locked eyes, leaning forward-
-and bursting into laughter as the DJ cued up the theme song to Xena. "Perfect," Katie murmured.
And now they shared that first kiss, accompanied by the swirl of music and cheers.
The End