Chillin' at the Arcade

Who: Alexis and Isaac
Where: An arcade at the mall
When: Evening

After talking to her dad, Alexis just wanted to get out of the house, and for once he didn't try to stop her. He even let her have the car, just so she wouldn't be walking in the cold. Even if she felt better about the whole ordeal, she needed some space, some fresh air, and a chance to go let off some stress, if it was possible. She thought about giving Kyle a call, then decided against it, since that might only make the situation worse. Instead, she headed to the mall and began to wander, eventually making her way into the arcade. It was a good place to waste time, even if a little money, plus she could put some of her shooting range skills to the test. Popping a few quarters into one of the games, Alexis picked up the plastic gun and began to work the stress out of her system by killing herself some aliens.

Isaac had just been, well ... restless. Kaysen was in a bad mood, his parents were freaked out, Thom was off doing Thom things, the ghosts were more than a little unsettling, and he'd just wanted to get out of the house. He'd thought about calling up some of the guys, to see if he could round up a Guy's Night, but as he was flipping through phone numbers, found that there wasn't anybody he really wanted to hang out with. It was weird for him, but he was apparently in A Mood. So he decided just to work through it himself. Borrowing the van, he'd headed out to the mall to walk around a bit, and wandered into the arcade. Maybe some old fashioned Mortal Kombat would make him feel better or something. As his eyes skimmed around, he saw a vaguely familiar blonde head, and meandered over in that direction to watch her shoot things. Alexis, that was who it was. "Not bad for a girl," he said in a teasing sort of way once there was a break in the action.

Her eyes left the game to see who was watching her and she smirked back, never lowering the gun, since she wasn't going to screw up now that she had an observer. "You think you can beat me?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're one of those 'girls can't play video games' guys." This wasn't what she normally played, usually sticking to the adventure type games at home, but her time at the shooting range helped a little. Unfortunately, video games weren't quite like the real thing and she'd never practiced with moving targets.

"Oh hell no, my girlfriend kicks my ass at video games all the time," he said with a chuckle. "She just likes to claim that she's the exception, and most of the time she's been right." Really, it was more that he hadn't really seen girls gravitate toward the violent shooting games. What with the alien guts and all. But maybe he just knew exceptionally girly girls. "As for if I can beat you? I dunno, once you die, I might be willing to find out." He grinned at her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I didn't know Peyton played!" Alexis grinned. "Now I'll have to save up for some multi-player games just so she can come over and have a girl's gaming night with me. See what you've started?" she asked with a laugh. It had been a while since she'd had a chance to hang out with Peyton, and their current gym activities hadn't allowed for as much talk time as she preferred. She really needed to make an effort to spend more time with her girl friends. "It probably won't be too long," she admitted as an alien came out from the side and got a good blow in. "This is my first time with this game, so I don't know all the little tricks. I'd be up for one of the fighter games, though, if you're interested."

Isaac should've known that this girl would know Peyton. Most people did, after all. He'd just remembered her being new or something. But the connection made him grin anyway. He could hear Imaginary Peyton in his head already, bragging about wiping the floor with some blondie at Soul Caliber or something. "Now you're speaking my language," he said with a chuckle, watching her screen as she fought through the game. "Not that you weren't before, but yeah, I'm way better at a stick and buttons than a fake gun. So prepare to be owned, little girl," he said teasingly, always one for some friendly shit-talking. "Don't mess up, though," he added, nodding to her current game.

Alexis was thinking that if this was a real gun, she'd be really kicking ass, but she decided that saying something like that might creep him out. Plus, it was quite possibly not true. She was good with stable targets, and these were aliens! "Aw, the big bad jock thinks he can kick the girl's ass at a video game," she grinned, now keeping her eyes on the current game. "It's not real life, so I might have a chance! I don't need big muscles to beat the crap outta someone like this. So what's up? Just wandering the mall?" She was actually surprised to see him alone, since Isaac seemed to have enough friends that there should be someone to hang out with on the weekends. Maybe he just wanted to get away, like her.

He laughed at the taunt. It honestly hadn't been the first time he'd been called a 'big bad jock' in that sort of tone, and it always struck him as funny. "I actually do have some brains to go along with the brawn," he countered, amused. "So we'll see. But yeah, pretty much just wandering. Needed to get out of the house for a bit, you know? Mom's got the news on too much. You?" He'd heard through the channels of information that existed in high school that she was dating Kyle, and he was a little bit surprised not to see the guy hanging around.

"Course you do," she teased. Though she hadn't talked to him all that often, she'd never thought he was stupid. It was just fun to pick on him with the jock stereotype. "Yeah, a bit of the same," she answered, her focus turning back towards the game as she frowned. "Had kind of an upsetting conversation with my dad, plus my stupid-ass boy-thing doesn't believe in ghosts. I thought killing some aliens, then eating something completely unhealthy might make me feel better." It hadn't exactly been the best of days, though she had enjoyed her time spent with Thom earlier. At least that had been pleasant.

Isaac arched an eyebrow at the "stupid-ass boy-thing" comment. He was assuming she meant Kyle, but it wasn't really the half-insult that gave him pause, it was what she said. ... how could anyone not believe in ghosts now? He almost asked, because that was kind of glaring, but he didn't want to push her back into a bad mood or anything. He didn't know the girl that well. He knew Kyle better, and made a mental note to call the guy soon. "Well hey, it's been working for teenagers for centuries, no reason for it to stop working now," he said lightly enough. He didn't much want to dwell in the dark either. "I'll beat your ass a bit in an electronic spar, and then maybe butt in on your eating something unhealthy."

"Very true," she agreed with a little smile with melted back into a grin. "You're awfully cocky for someone that hasn't seen me play. You know I'm gonna have to make you eat your words as soon as-- oh, shit," she laughed as her character got ambushed, resulting in an untimely-video game death. "Well, it looks like the aliens are gonna take over the world. Might as well go kick your ass in Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, or whatever game they've got." It didn't really matter, since her technique was about the same in all of them. Hit as many buttons as possible and advance fast enough that he couldn't get any of those fancy moves in. If she was playing at home, she might actually know what she was doing, but arcade games tended to be harder due to their different controls, at least for her.

He had to laugh at the timing himself. At least she wasn't a sore loser like some people he'd seen with video games. But then, most of them were guys. Chicks tended to be more laid back about losing to a computer, in his experience. "Eh, that's just the athlete in me. You go in cocky, and you lose gracefully, and you get by," he said, grinning at her as she holstered the plastic gun up again. He jingled the change in his pocket and pulled out a handful to start picking the quarters out of it as he meandered toward the nearest Street Fighter game. "First game's on me, just so I'm not kicking your ass and costing you money," he teased over his shoulder at her.

"If you lose gracefully, you're already ahead of half the guys I know," she smiled, following him over to Street Fighter. It really didn't matter how she did, since her main goal was to get her mind on something more uplifting than the conversation she'd had with her dad. Just hanging out with Isaac seemed to help a lot. "Big talk, but I'm not gonna turn down a free game," Alexis grinned. "These games are always fun, cause I get to pick the girl who's so out of proportion that I'm surprised she can even stand up straight, let alone do a round-house." Which reminded her that she needed to get to the gym. It'd been a while since she'd had a good work out, even if dancing did a decent job of keeping her in shape.

"I've lost enough over the years to have to learn to lose gracefully or risk my awesome reputation as a cool guy," Isaac informed her, amused with this whole thing. It kind of reminded him of the rare times he hung out with Kaysen and she didn't freak out over something. Not that Alexis was like that, the vibe was just ... sistery. "Y'know, in the real world? If most of these guys --" he said, gesturing to the screen and the male opponents on it, "-- were going up against the chicks they have in these games? They'd be too busy drooling on their chests to fight back. At least I know I would, with some of the outfits they put them in. ... don't tell Peyton I said that." He fed quarters into the machine and took up the Player 2 spot to pick his overly-muscled guy.

"Not allowed to drool over the ridiculous digital girl with the huge boobs and the costume that barely covers them?" Alexis laughed. "Don't worry; I won't tell." Hopefully Peyton knew not to be bothered, since live girls were always better than the fake ones. Then again, this was coming from a girl. Hopefully Isaac wasn't stupid. She'd never thought he was. "How's everything going with you two?" she asked, fairly certain the answer was 'perfect'. Every time she'd seen Peyton with him, they looked so happy that it made her smile. It was nice to know some relationships worked out. Her attention turned to the game, though, once he put the quarters in, and she selected the girl with the most colorful costume she could find. It probably wasn't the best way to select a character, but she had to choose one way or another.

Isaac knew better than to think that his girlfriend would get any sort of jealous over pixels, but it was fun to joke around about anyway. Predictably, he grinned large and stupid at the question. It was always one he enjoyed answering. "Awesome," he answered, moving he joystick around to pick his own avatar. He liked to play with the ridiculous-looking ones, even if they were usually slower. "Really just ... pretty damn awesome. How are things with you and Kyle?" he asked, glancing over before they actually started the match. Maybe not the best time to ask, but he was a guy, his finesse for such conversations wasn't terribly honed. Not with a girl on the other side, anyway.

While she didn't want Isaac, that was the sort of answer she wanted to be able to give. She was happy for them, and a bit amused at how Isaac's reaction was the same as Peyton's, looking very much like the happiest guy on earth. "That's good," she grinned, her smile fading a little at mention of Kyle. "We're not so great. I kind of think he's more into my ass than he is me." Along with a number of other issues, that was. Thoughts of Kyle might help her win the game, though, so she didn't quite mind as much. "I dunno. I thought he was a nice guy, but..." She shrugged, not entirely sure Isaac wanted to hear about it. He was Kyle's friend, after all.

That was ... surprising and not at the same time. Because most guys his age? Were only interested in ass. He knew a lot of them. He just kind of have an unarticulated universal hope that everyone's love life was going as well as his was. He didn't know Kyle really well, granted, definitely not as well as some of his other friends, so he couldn't really come to the guy's defense. "That sucks to hear," he said, and it was sincere. " ... well, if it makes you feel better ... most guys are like five years behind you girls, so the lot of us are still like ... twelve years old, mentally." He didn't really buy into that, but that was what they said, right? And it might cheer her up a little. "You deserve better than that, though."

"I don't know if that's good to know or depressing," she laughed. Did that mean she needed to be with a college guy to even get close to being on the same mental age? She didn't think so. She knew a number of girls that were close to guys still in high school, so she knew there had to at least be a few worth dating. "Thanks, though. I think what bothered me the most is that I texted him the other night when I was scared and he blew me off. While I don't expect prince charming, it'd be nice to have a guy come to my rescue when I actually go and ask." She didn't know what Kyle would have done to get rid of the ghost, but it just would have made her feel better not to be alone. "Luckily, Thia came over and helped me instead."

It was good to make her laugh, at least. Isaac pulled a face and shook his head at the next thing she said. That didn't really sound like Kyle, to blow somebody off, but ... he personally hadn't ever really needed the guy. And he knew a few dudes who treated their dude-friends vastly differently than their girlfriends, after all. He was about to comment on that, but then the name 'Thia' slipped out of Alexis's mouth and startled the ever-loving shit out of him. He'd just hit the start button for them and blinked at the countdown. Thia? Like ... Lullaby-Thia? She knew Thia? He almost blurted out the 'wtf?!' question when he remembered that she was new. Ish. She hadn't known Lullaby, right? Right? Couldn't have. Unless she knew she was a Fade. In which case he doubted she'd be so open about talking about her. "Thia?" he managed to get out. "Don't think I know her." Good cover, St. James, real smooth. Ass.

"She's home schooled," Alexis explained, not having expected Isaac to know her. "I met her wandering down on the beach one night. Really sweet and helped me talk to a ghost and all." Which won Thia friend points big time. Kyle hadn't been willing to help, but Thia, who she barely knew, had been willing to face the ghost with her. And so much more, actually. Kyle hadn't the faintest clue what she was dealing with and she didn't feel comfortable telling him. Thia knew one of her biggest secrets ever. "Maybe I'll have a party sometime and you can meet her," Alexis said, her focus turning to the game as the battle began.

Really, it was funny, if you thought about it. Isaac tried to picture himself 'meeting' Lullaby in a public place. Though he doubted she would be going to any real parties, not after ... that whole fiasco. But even just the three of them ... or the three of them and Peyton ... good god, no way he could pull that shit off. Anybody else he could think of that Alexis might know could blow up the whole thing. It was one thing to change your name, but she couldn't change her face. He was kind of grateful that he didn't have to talk for a minute, though his kick-assery efforts for that first round weren't the best. It had just kind of ... thrown him a little off-balance. What if she wanted to introduce her to Peyton and just did and then it got back that he knew? Fuck, this was ... tight. Really tight. He blinked as his guy went down pretty dramatically. Shit, he'd hardly laid a scratch on her.

"You're not going easy on me, are you?" Alexis asked, surprised at how simple it had been to take him down that round. It didn't occur to her that his mind was still ticking over the mention of Thia, since it seemed like such a little thing. She was just a girl that Alexis had met, a nice one that probably needed to meet more people. If there were complications, she wasn't aware of them and had never been given any reason to be.

Isaac rallied mentally. It was something he could work out with himself later, it wasn't like they were cavorting over to Thia's house right then to jump right into awkwardness. And he was acting weird and shouldn't be, so. "Hell no, I was just trying to think of the moves I know with this guy, and you owned me in the meantime," he told her, glancing over with a little grin. The next round started, and he actually put up a good fight this time, some of the combos actually for real coming back to him.

The next round started and Alexis grinned, even though she wasn't doing near as well. "This is more what I expected," she laughed, doing her best to keep up. He knew the combos and she didn't, which put her at a disadvantage, but that didn't mean she didn't give it her all, occasionally completing a combo by accident. If she could just figure out what she'd done and repeat it, then she'd do far better, but she didn't manage that before being put down. "Maybe you're not all talk," she teased him, even though she was the one to die that time.

He did a victorious fist-raise and laughed. It was a little forced, but hey, he was trying. It was easier when there was something like a game to focus on. "Just wanted to give you a little false hope that you're going to survive this encounter," Isaac told her with a rakish grin. It was down to the tie-breaker round, and he was pretty confident now that he was going to win. At least she was a good sport about it, he always appreciated that.

It didn't come as a huge surprise that he beat her, and when he won a third time Alexis challenged him to a re-match with a laugh. Getting her ass whipped twice in a row, though, was enough for her to know it was time to call it quits. There was no shame in losing to a guy. "Nice game," she laughed. "I've gotta learn some of the combo moves, or I'm never gonna beat you." Not that it was a shock when her strategy was to hit as many of the buttons as possible as fast as she could. "Wanna grab some of that fattening mall food?" she asked. "I'm up for, like... chicken fingers. Or nachos."

The more they played, the easier it was for Isaac to focus, and he ended up winning across the board. Which was fine with him if it was fine with her, and it seemed to be. Stepping back from the machine, he grinned amiably at Alexis and tucked his hands in his pockets. "There are corn dogs calling my name," he agreed and turned to head out of the arcade with her. He'd been getting kinda hungry anyway, and fattening mall food sounded like it would hit the spot perfectly. "So how's dance team going and everything?" he asked, always one who was up on who was in what sport. It was hard not to know, with as much as the other guys around him drooled over the dance team, after all.

"Ooo, corn dogs sound good," she said, unable to recall the last time she'd had one. It had to have been at the carnival... with Kyle. How did he keep popping into her mind? It wasn't like she'd been dating him that long, had she? "Dance team's great," Alexis smiled. "We're working on a new routine, which is awesome. Lily's got a mind for that kind of thing. I just dance," she laughed. Though she thought she was pretty good, she didn't know quite enough to put things together yet. Maybe she'd pick up on it, after a while. "How's wrestling going?"

"Not the season yet, but training's been pretty good so far," Isaac said with a shrug, walking along with her toward the food court. Now that food had been brought up, his stomach was definitely ready for a corn dog. Or like, three. Really, it was a wonder he wasn't three hundred pounds or some shit. "Anything else awesome going on?" he asked her, glancing over and smiling. "I dunno, everything seems so negative these days ... tell me you totally rocked the fuck out of a history test or somethin'."

Alexis laughed, trying to think of something that would meet those requirements. He was right about the overall attitude these days, and it was getting rather depressing. He wasn't the only one that needed cheering up. "Well, my essay on The Crucible totally rocked, if you wanna hear the role that grudges and personal rivalries play in the witch trial hysteria. But that might be hitting a little too close to home with all the crazy currently going on," Alexis said. Hey, she was trying. Most exciting was the fact that she'd finally turned a tiny bit of water into ice, but she couldn't tell him that either.

He laughed a bit, because he somehow could see her actually telling him and going into detail on the essay topic, just to do it. He remembered that damn book, he hadn't liked it. Play, whatever. "Awesome, I'm sure it was kickass," Isaac told her with a grin. Hey, when things like how they were? Getting happy about school wasn't so lame. At least it was something that they largely had control over, unlike everything else. "I probably need to actually get on some college applications and shit, but I just ... haven't."

College. That seemed daunting, but still far away for her, which she knew what's quite the case for him. Sure, he had all winter and spring, but he couldn't wait too long before starting on his applications. "Do you know where you want to apply?" she asked. "Wanna get away, or stay close to home?" Since she hadn't had a lasting home in years, Alexis figured she could go anywhere. Even if she hadn't put much thought into it herself, she was thinking again about Florida. It had been warm there... with nice, sandy beaches.

Isaac hesitated, pulling a bit of a face and shrugging. If someone had asked him that three or four months ago? He would've said away, definitely away. But. Circumstances were different now. He had a girlfriend that he loved, and his best friend, who couldn't leave his sister. And his sister had a couple of more years of high school. He didn't thing he could leave Marquette in good conscience anymore, not leaving those people behind. "I think now I kind of have to stay close to home," he told her with a faint smile. "I mean ... with the way things have been going ... I can't leave my sister. What about you? What year are you, anyway?"

"I'm a junior," Alexis answered. "I don't know. I've never had anyone I can't leave behind. This is the first place that I've kind of connected with anyone, though, so who knows. I was kind of thinking I might apply to some schools in Florida, since that's where I grew up, but so much could change." Right now, there was nothing really holding her back. Her dad had money and wanted her to go to a good school. She didn't even know if she'd be in Marquette next year, so she couldn't say where things would go next.

He nodded, though it wasn't really a perspective he could understand. He'd been young when they left New York, and those friends had faded out in his memory fairly quickly. But he'd grown up in Marquette, and even though he didn't have much of a love for the town itself, he was attached to too many people in it. "Might be a good place to go," he told Alexis with a little half-smile as they reached one of the counters in the food court. Lately? Almost anywhere but the Upper Peninsula, Michigan seemed like a better place to go.