Hanging Out

The game lounge was somewhat filled with noise as people used played the various games in it. Anima stood somewhat hidden away. Fuck, why did there have to be so many people? For the moment, she was just waiting for someone else to show up. Maybe if she was lucky things would be a bit more endurable after Evelyn showed up. Assuming she'd show up. Surely she did intend to come, right? They'd arranged this a few days before, and if something came up, Evelyn would have cancelled wouldn't she?

Here.

If she was being honest with herself, she'd always wanted to pop by here, but she'd never worked up the courage. Besides, she'd never been any good at games like this. When they'd managed to arrange a place to meet up, for a moment, just a moment, she'd thought that maybe this could turn out okay. Sure, she hadn't expected her first visit here would be getting dragged along by some random girl she'd met at the pool, but at least here, they didn't have to talk. It lacked the intimacy of a restaurant or the memories of the cafe, and they could distract themselves from having to actually interact with each other. Good, great, perfect.

Evelyn shifted her feet, her eyes flickering restlessly from behind her bangs, playing with her hair clip. She'd been standing next to Anima in the corner for the past five minutes, but it looked like she hadn't noticed yet. When she'd shown up, all the words had caught in her throat, and she hadn't been able to choke out a proper greeting. So, obviously, the only thing she could do was stand there and hope Anima noticed her first.

No luck so far. That was probably what she should've expected. Would it be better to just slip outside and come back in and try again? Evelyn fretfully twirled a lock of hair around her finger, biting her lip. No. Definitely not. That'd be ridiculous. But...

She sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor. Gray flats, leggings, a ruffled skirt and a white ruffled shirt that dropped to her thighs. She was even wearing a stupid little bell-shaped hat that she'd dug out of her closet, from God knows when. I never wear hats. All she knew was that it was cold out there, and there was a cute little ribbon, and she couldn't think of a reason to not wear it.

Maybe she just felt pressured to dress up nice. Their first two meetings, she'd been drunk or hungover, unkempt with unbrushed hair and bags under her eyes. There were still bags under her eyes, but now, hopefully, maybe, a little bit, she looked half-decent for once. Evelyn picked at her bracelet, a silver little chain that looked nice enough as long as no one knew she'd won it in a broken down 25 cent prize machine. Her snowflake necklace was looped around her neck, like always, a familiar bittersweet comfort.

Well, here went nothing.

Evelyn cleared her throat, still remarkably quiet, and piped up, her voice barely louder than a whisper above the din of the arcade.

"Um... I-It's pr-pretty cool in here, h-h-huh?"

...Fuck.

That sounded familiar. Was that Evelyn's voice? Anima had only just managed to hear it over all the other noise, but that was enough. Anima turned, taking notice of Evelyn after a moment. Oh. Oops. She was right there the whole time. Giving her a smile which contained a hint of embarassment, Anima started writing in that same notebook she always carried around. Oh, hi Evelyn. Yeah, it is really cool in here. Do you have anything in mind that you want to do? Anima had spent a little too much time on how many other people were around and trying to spot Evelyn and not enough time on thinking of stuff to actually do.

After a moment Anima took notice of what Evelyn was wearing. She looked nice. Thoughts started to rise through Anima's mind. Maybe I should have dressed a bit nicer? Anima was just wearing a baby blue parka and blue jeans, rather simple. It'd been the usual thing that she'd wear whenever she went out to Rosebury even since she had gotten the outfit. Shit, how long have I been looking at her? Anima realized she'd probably been staring as she got lost in thought, quickly writing again. You look really nice today, Evelyn~

"Oh, um, th-thanks..." She shifted uncomfortably and returned a weak smile. "Uh, you too..." It was hard to feel overdressed in such casual clothing, but Evelyn couldn't help but feel suddenly self-conscious. Most days lately, she'd just throw on an old t-shirt if she could even be bothered to change out of her school uniform, but today she'd taken extra care in picking out what to wear. Why am I wearing this stupid hat...? It felt like she'd spent half an hour trying to get it to sit right on her head, but now it was too late to adjust it.

Agh, what she wanted to do? Evelyn glanced around, almost dazzled by all the sounds and flashing lights. It was pretty busy in here, huh...? There was so much to choose from. Too much to choose from, even. She'd never been good with decisions like this, but with Anima here, it doubled the pressure. "Um, w-w-whatever you w-wanna do, I g-g-guess..."

Whatever she wanted to do? Uh... shit. Anima started to look around almost frantically. Guess it was up to her to decide what to do. Anima took notice of the DDR machine first, seeing that whomever was using had just reached the decision they were done for the day. Well, at least that meant it was free-ish of people, at least for now. So why not? Not wanting to take any delays lest someone else decide they wanted to use it, Anima sheepishly took Evelyn's hand and lead her over to the DDR machine. No one else went for it, huh? Well, that probably wasn't something to complain about. Anima looked back at Evelyn, smiling shyly. This would work, right? She hadn't made a bad choice, right?

"Agh..." She knew she couldn't exactly say it out loud, but did she have to grab her hand? Evelyn let herself get strung along toward the rows of arcade cabinets, dread flooding down her spine? No miming it out? No charades? No pointing? Not even just jotting down a quick answer? It's not that big of a deal... It'd just be some quick and simple game, and then—...

They stopped in front of a wide platform facing a tall screen, where arrows went scrolling down the screen.

"Um... Th-this one...?" she asked sheepishly, her voice almost dying in her throat. "Are yo-you sure?" They couldn't just play something a little less... well, something with a little less dancing. This was a hell of a game to start out with. She rubbed her arm, staring up at it. Fuck that...

"Are you sure?" Did Evelyn not like it? Shit. Fuck. Maybe she had made a bad call. Panic started to reveal itself across Anima's face, as she begun to look around rather frantically . Fuck, where the hell was something else that didn't already have people making use of it? In Anima's disorganized looking around, she failed to see any arcade machines where their game wasn't already being played by someone else. That is, if there were any to see. Anima gave up looking around after a few moments, looking at Evelyn. What the hell are you supposed to do in a situation like this?

Um... was she okay?

Things had seemed normal until then. Well, as normal as you could get between her and Anima, but still, nothing weird. But right now, Anima looked like a cornered animal ready to bolt, her eyes darting from side to side to try and find an escape route. She had to fight the instinct to step away right then, if only because if she did, she wasn't sure how Anima would take it. "Uh..." Was it... was it something she said? How was she supposed to act in a situation like this? Helpless, Evelyn started to glance around too, hoping that copying Anima would give her some sort of answer or easy out. Did she see a ghost over her shoulder, or something? What the hell was wrong?

God, she wished this girl could just talk. Maybe then, at least she'd know what was wrong without having to ask. And fuck, she didn't want to ask. She didn't want to go through that awkwardness, especially if it was nothing. Evelyn eyed her notebook out of the corner of her eye, but kept her lips sealed, even if the sudden discomfort was gnawing away at her. This... wasn't normal.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, just wishing she'd smuggled in a flask.

"Yo, Anima!"

Down the isle between a racing game and some kid cussing at Frogger machine stood Preston, watching the girl curiously. He'd been wondering where the girl had disappeared too since he'd seen her last, however, the arcade was one of the last places he'd actually expect to see her. "Is this where you've been hiding all this time?" The only reason he'd recognized her was from the outfit she'd picked out, the same one from the store they'd went to together.

Gripping tighter onto his crutch, he'd walked up to the girl, brushing past another body once he'd gotten close. The young man didn't think much of it, muttering a half-ass apology to whomever he bumped into and continued to stare the lazer-lady down with a smirk. "What are you doing here?" She looked like a frightened rabbit, ready to panic and bolt off at any moment. What was her problem now?

Shit, what the hell was she supposed to do? Evelyn wasn't doing anything, either. Maybe she should just ask? Anima was about to open her notebook when she froze upon hearing a familiar voice. Was that... Preston? She hadn't seen seen him since they had a run in with that man that attacked them both. A look of shock rolled across Anima's face as Preston approached. Damn, he hadn't exactly walked away from the fight unharmed, but... Anima hadn't realized just how hurt he had gotten in the fighting. At least they still managed to send their attacker running.

Uhm... I'm here with her... Anima pointed at Evelyn, whom Preston had seemed to bump into without caring too much. He probably didn't mean to do so, though. Mentioning Evelyn reminded her about what was at hand before Preston's approach. Well, she probably couldn't afford to flip out now that two people had their eyes on her, huh? Is there something wrong with this, Evelyn? The words were written a bit more sloppily than usual.

That wasn't a voice she was expecting.

Evelyn blinked, and staggered away as someone bumped roughly past her, reaching up to keep that stupid hat on her head. He was a handsome guy, but his foot was wrapped in what looked like a cast, and he was leaning heavily on a crutch as he rattled off some greeting to Anima. She rubbed the back of her neck, looking at the both of them in confusion as Anima started to scribble down something in her notebook.

When Anima pointed, Evelyn just wished she could've melted into the background. She probably should've said something, a quick 'hello' or a wave or something, but the words died in her throat. She just let her gaze wander off toward the wall, hoping he wouldn't pay any mind. It sounded like they had some business... Were they friends?

The Autumn blinked, shooting a glance to wherever the mute was pointing. Sure enough, there was another girl there, watching the two of them carefully. Shit, he wondered how the hell he hasn't noticed her before. "Ah, I see." Is this what was keeping her so busy? He hadn't known that Anima kept a lady friend around. He looked to the notebook, seeing the question scribbled down and put two and two together quick enough, looking back towards the stranger. "Cute hat," He gave her a courteous smile, holding out his better hand. "Preston Andrews."

"Normally I'd feel bad about interrupting whatever it is you lovely ladies have going on but you've stepped right onto my turf." This place was his not-so guilty pleasure. He looked over the DDR machine. It didn't strike him as Anima's type of game. "You know I heard a chick danced herself to death on there. You know what you're getting into?" There wasn't any other good game nearby, so he assumed.

Danced herself to death? What the hell? He had to be joking, right? Well even if he wasn't being serious, she was probably just putting a bit too much effort into things. Now, about stepping onto his turf... What the hell did that mean? There wasn't any harm in asking, was there? What do you mean we've "stepped on your turf?" Anima glanced over at Evelyn. Hopefully she wasn't going to end up taking off or something. She probably wouldn't of course, but still. Although, there was still the question of whether or not she'd be willing to play this.

"Oh, um... Th-thank you..." she murmured back, shifting her feet. The compliment was unexpected. She adjusted the hat, standing a little taller. It was kind of a cute hat, wasn't it? She glanced back up at him with upturned eyes behind her bangs, her hands folded in front of her as she wrung her fingers. "Um... My n-name's Evelyn. White. E-Evelyn White." Cough. It was probably better if she shut up now. She backed up further, until her back was to an arcade cabinet, still within easy reach of the two of them. Maybe he'd distract her? "You we-weren't rea-really in-in-...interrrupting anything..." she muttered, but she wasn't sure if either of them could even hear.

Evelyn raised her head a bit at the dumb joke. Well, what she hoped was a joke, anyways. Someone getting killed by a DDR machine? Wasn't that a bit over the top? Then again, this place was choked with stupid urban legends, and half of them were probably true... She wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. What he meant by 'his turf' seemed clear enough to her. Was that a challenge? It wasn't any of her business, really, but she couldn't help but listen in to the two of them.

She raised an eyebrow. In the condition he was in now, it didn't look like he was in much position to be talking so tough. If he could still maneuver around a platform like that, then she'd be impressed.

"Nice to meet you, Evelyn." Even as he said this with a smile, he'd forgotten it as soon as he looked away, glancing back down at the notebook held in Anima's hands. Her small voice had become background noise for the moment as he cracked a small laugh at her words. "Shit, this whole place is my turf. I've got a name on most of these high scores." Most of them were beat by some punk with the initials LGN, but he preferred not to talk about that. "Even the DDR machine. I bet I could dance circles around you both, even dragging this thing around." He did a small stomp with his cast leg, shooting the two of them a wink.

Or maybe he was just playing off his small wince. "If you're not in the mood for that though, I know something else we can do. You girls know how to shoot?" Preston made a little gun with his fingers and 'firing' it off towards Anima.