Ahoy, We Made It!
Scene: Racoon Concert – Rotterdam Ahoy, Indoor Arena
Zippy couldn’t sit still.
Even as the crowd slowly filtered into the giant arena, she was twisting in her seat beside Bumbly, eyes darting everywhere—up at the rigging, across the massive screens, toward the stage where techs were doing final checks.
“Oh my gosh this place is huge!” she whispered like she was trying not to squeal, even though her bouncing legs gave her away. “But it’s not scary-huge, you know? Just like… epic.”
Bumbly smiled, watching her take it all in. “I told you—indoor concert vibes without full sensory overload. You sure you’re okay with the crowd?”
“I’m thriving, Bumbly. This is peak Zippy.”
She held up her camera, snapped a quick panoramic of the stage, then turned to take a selfie with him, tucking close so they both fit in the frame. “Say concert mom and chill panda!”
“You’re relentless,” Bumbly muttered, but leaned in all the same.
They were in a wheelchair-accessible spot just off to the side of the main floor. Not too close to the speakers, with a perfect sightline to the center of the stage. Bumbly had picked it specifically because he knew Zippy hated being squished or overstimulated—and because he wanted her to be able to dance without worrying about anyone bumping into her wings.
When the house lights dimmed and the first notes played, Zippy gasped like a kid at their first circus. “Oh my stars, they’re opening with Shoes of Lightning! Shoes. Of. Lightning.”
Bumbly chuckled. “I’ve never seen someone so happy about melancholic Dutch rock.”
“I contain multitudes,” Zippy shot back without missing a beat, swaying along to the rhythm.
Throughout the night, she sang quietly along to the lyrics, camera resting in her lap, eyes wide and glowing under the flickering stage lights. Every time the lighting shifted or a fog burst rolled across the stage, she’d elbow Bumbly and whisper, “Did you see that?! That was insane!”
Bumbly didn’t say much—just nodded, smiling, soaking it in. This wasn’t really about the music for him. It was about her. The way she came alive in this space. The way she looked like she belonged there, dancing on her toes beside his chair, mouthing lyrics and pointing at him during her favorite lines.
Midway through “Love You More,” she turned to him, face flushed with excitement.
“Thank you for bringing me. Like—really. This is such a me thing, and you just made it happen.”
Bumbly shrugged like it was nothing, but his cheeks were warm.
“Couldn’t let you miss Racoon at Ahoy,” he said. “You’ve only mentioned it, what, twelve hundred times?”
She grinned. “You love me.”
He raised a brow. “I tolerate you.”
“Same thing,” she winked.
After the encore, Zippy made them wait for the full crowd to clear. She took a few last shots of the empty stage, then turned to Bumbly.
“We’re doing this again.”
Bumbly smiled.