On the Town

"Well, no guarantees," she said. It wasn't as much of a magical cure as she made it out to be, but it did its job well enough, even if there was a chance of it being a placebo. "But caffeine jolts your brain and gets the blood flowing, so it should do the trick." Jane gave an impish grin. "What, don't you trust me? I didn't poison it."

Logan sighed, and after the breath, took a swig. It still tasted like sewage, but he kept his disgust to only a shutting of the eyes, and even took in more than he intended. He swallowed it and passed the cup back to her, sliding it across the table. "Next time I'll live with the headache." he groaned.

"Is it that bad?" Jane laughed. He looked like he'd just swallowed rat poison. It was hard to imagine why anybody would hate a swig of coffee that much, even after she'd loaded it with creamer and sugar. She reached out and patted his hand. "You'll live."

"Thanks for the condolence." He stretched and looked over at the waitress, who was busy with another customer. "You ready to go? Or do you want to take in your sludge a little longer?" He grinned, fishing in his jacket pocket for dollar bills.

"You in a hurry?" She took a quick swig, finishing off the last of her coffee, and set the cup down. Jane stood up after Logan. "Ready to go where, exactly?" she asked with a small smile.

"I don't know." Logan looked at the window. Damn, the town was small. "Is there anywhere fun around here? I heard there's a Game Center somewhere. If you're into that, of course." He tossed his cup to the trashcan and missed awfully, much to the watchful annoyance of the waitress. She'd been looking so fondly at him a second ago. He was a good kid a second ago.

She grinned as the cup went clattering shamefully to the floor. Damn. That was always the moment you realized you weren't half as smooth as you thought you were. Jane had plenty of moments like those in her life. "I wouldn't know, but I don't mind tagging along wherever you go. Hope I don't annoy you too much."

Logan picked it up quickly, and coughed. "Alright," he said in between the coughs in sharp intakes of breath. "Let's go, then." He made sure to leave an extra tip for the waitress for his childish display. He smiled at her when they left.

The Game Lounge was a little way's down the road, and when they entered, they were greeted by bright lights and lines of arcade machines, a pool table speaking out from a spotlighted area in the corner. They were really trying hard to seem colorful and fun. And it was working, it did seem pretty cool to Logan.

"Oh shit, Pacman." he spotted the machine from the door. "I'll have you know, I was the Pacman champion of a little hub in Lake Union, Seattle. They threw me a little going away party when I came here, I was kiiinda a big deal." He knew it wasn't something to impress a lady with, and he sounded sarcastic and dry when he said it, a thin smile on his face. He walked over to the machine and cracked his fingers, "I'll show you how it's done."

It wasn't his best game, the ghost nabbing him for an absolute bullshit Game Over at the end. Still, it was more impressive than most.

Jane slipped into the old 'Game Lounge' after Logan. Christmas lights strung up along the corners, bean bags, lava lamps, a TV and a couch and arcade cabinets lining the whole building, with a bar for smoothies and juice and whatever else off to the side. "Why haven't I seen this place yet?" she asked as they walked in. "I think I just found my new home."

The Pacman machine was close to the entrance, and Jane was quick to hurry after him. "Seattle, huh? I'm from Portland. Maine, not Oregon. Gray and cold though, so not too different. Practically neighbors." That was all the way across the country from her. "Alright, hotshot, show me what you got."

It was an admirable effort, and Jane leaned over his shoulder as he played, giving a sympathetic pat on the arm as 'GAME OVER' lit up in white pixels. "You had that in the bag. Lake Union would be proud."

"No they wouldn't." His voice and face and body language were glum. "There'd be a fat kid laughing at me by now. 'Hey, Logan, where do I ship the reward? Hey Logan, a girl could beat that score.'" He laughed humorlessly, and backed off. "I should get out more. Here, why don't you try?" There was a part of him that expected her to beat him. The irony of beginners luck always prevailed.

"He's fat and you're not. You already beat his score in the game of life." Jane stretched out her arms and cracked her knuckles, sliding forward to take on the machine. Her fingers wrapped around the joystick and she grinned at him. "I don't know if a girl can beat your record, but I can try. I'm a bit rusty."

Pac-Man blipped back to life, and then she was off, weaving through the maze and mowing through dots like the little fatass pill-popper he was. It turned out beginner's luck wasn't great luck, because by the time she was reduced to zero lives (Blinky caught her on a corner—sneaky little fuck), her score was hundreds below Logan's.

She stepped back with a sigh, pulling at a lock of hair. "See? I'm no good. Tell that fat kid to shove it."

"That's one way to prove him wrong." Damn, she was pretty bad at video games. He began to scan the lounge for something to do next, crossing off similar escapades to Pacman's own. It was then that a vibration began in his chest. It had seeped into his concentration when he was playing the game, but now it was getting more and more prevalent. It felt louder than it probably was. He felt like the whole lounge could hear it.

"Um, I'll be right back. I have to use the bathroom..." He smiled uncomfortably, and rushed off. It didn't take long for him to find the heavy door, marked with the plain 'male' icon.

"Huh, bathroom?" Jane straightened up, tearing her gaze from the arcade screen as Logan spoke up again. He was already halfway to the door before she could say anything. "Oh, alright, I'll be right—..." The door swung shut behind him, and then she was alone by the machine. "...here."

She let her arms flop to her sides. Maybe it was something in the tea. Jane's eyes scanned the arcade, picking out her surroundings, before settling on another machine tucked into the corner, farther back into the building. A shining grin split her face. "Oh, yes..." she murmured under her breath, glancing back at the door before turning to make her way toward her destination.

Two raised platforms, patterned with four pink and blue arrows each, sat in front of a tall scrolling screen. 'DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION.' "Ohhh yes." She stepped onto one of the platforms, stretching her arms across her chest and taking in a deep breath. "Logan, finish pissing and get over here!"

Logan was pressed against the wall of the bathroom, finger to his neck. It may have been his imagination, but the bursts seemed to be happening more often. He supposed that was what happened when you got used to stuff. He forced himself to believe it was all in his head.
He suddenly heard Jane's voice muffled through the wall, the cracks in the door. Damn, why was she being so loud? The whole lounge probably heard her! "I-I'll be right out!" He pressed his finger harder to his trachea, breathed faster, and he walked out in a rush to find what she was raving over.
"I'm not playing that..." He said. He'd go to France, watch sunsets on a whim, but there was no way he'd get up on that thing. He'd look so ridiculous...

She rushed over as he came out, grabbing at his wrist. "Don't be a square. You're playing. I'm playing. We're both playing." Jane tugged on his arm to drag him out toward the platform. "There's only one real way to get your blood flowing, and that's embarrassing yourself in a building full of people." AKA dancing. "Just c'mon. What happens when some beautiful French girl wants to dance with you under the silver moonlight? You have to bust out your skills. Paris is the city of love, French is the language of love... They call it 'frenching' for a reason. You can't mess this up."

Jane was rambling now, but it didn't matter. She'd managed to drag his ass onto the right platform. "What I'm saying is, you're going to thank me in the long run. You're not living until you live without shame, or something like that. Just keep my lessons close to heart, okay? I'm like your Mr. Miyagi. Of dancing." She dug around in her pocket, popped in a few coins, and the screen sparked to life.

"DANCE, DANCE, REVOLUUUTIONNN!" a cheesy voice boomed out from the speakers, and Jane grinned, standing parallel to Logan.

"Try not to move like a white Seattle boy and we'll both be alright. I'm pretty terrible at this too."