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 Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:17 am
A little movie theater owned by the off island business monger couple, Joe and Mary Smith. Having heard that there was an island somewhere in the middle of nowhere in development, they rushed there and bought a bunch of building and opened various shops that were missing on the island. This is only one of them! Of course, they'll be more then willing to sell it back to anyone with a right prize.... and if whoever decided that they changed their mind and leave the island (or, most likely, die in a horrible death), they'll be more than happy to rebuy it for half the price! This is how they make their money. Until someone take over the ownership of this shop, they'll be happy to run it from the mainland, almost never coming on the island to see how it's going. The employees, NPC or not, are then free to work like always and customers to use their services.
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 9:10 am
It was a bit odd not having Axel trailing them or on his shoulders or running up ahead, but it was a bit refreshing to have a break from parenthood. He hadn't been entirely sure if Zelynity was the best option after the whole disappearance, but she seemed to be in good mind and spirit. So, he asked her to watch him while he had plenty of making up to do. He smiled over at Haruka as they walked, happy that she had agreed to a movie. He couldn't remember exactly how long it had been since they went to see a movie. They had become homebodies over the years, and it was time for a change! "Have you thought about what movie you'd like to see?" He needed something to talk about or he feared that he may start rambling on and on about how sorry he was for the umpteenth time.
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:13 am
Honestly, it didn't feel much like an anniversary, since it was fall and everything, and they were just going out to see a movie. Haruka wasn't disappointed or anything! She was just glad to get out of the house and have some quality time away from Axel (she loved him, but it was easy to overdose) but she didn't usually go to movies. Usually when they watched movies, they just picked whatever they had around. It was kind of a lot of pressure, having to make a decision like this. "I don't recognize any of the titles," she said with a frown as they approached the ticket booth. Her face was drawn into its usual frown, seemingly irritated on the outside yet thoughtful on the inside. Agh, they should have looked up the movies ahead of time, they paid those insane Nirvani internet fees for a reason, figures that the date would be going downhill before it even really began! Placing her hand on her chin thoughtfully, she glared at the movie posters. She wanted to avoid anything cheesy and cliche, and she wasn't sure she could handle watching a romantic movie, that would be too lame. Action... well, it wasn't her cup of tea, and horror was not the way she wanted to go. Ahh, this one didn't look too bad. "How about this one?" she asked, pointing to the poster. ...Oh, it looked really depressing, didn't it...
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 11:53 am
Then, something wonderfully beautiful happened. Haruka picked something, something that he hadn't heard about, but it was still something! He wanted to grab her and kiss her and thank her for saving the day, but that was weird. So, he just nodded in agreement and smiled with a look like don't worry baby, it's on me before he strutted over to the box office and got the tickets. "Alright, it looks like we've got a little bit of time to kill. The movie starts in an hour. How's the arcade sound to you?" He walked towards the door while he talked and grabbed it and held it open for her. Of course his manners had to be up to extreme levels today. He had to do absolutely everything within his power to make this the best date that they had ever had. Thankfully, even though it had been ...15? ...13? ...a lot of years, they hadn't gone on all that many dates. Most of their time alone wound up being some sort of takeout and some sort of movie that was lying around. So the sheer fact that they were out and about made the date already reach some sort of level of success. The fact that she looked so wonderful standing there made it all the more of a success for him, all that he could hope for was that she thought he looked just as good too.
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 4:31 am
"Oh, yeah, that'd be nice," she smiled softly, trying to conceal her lack of enthusiasm. In all honesty, Haruka didn't really like video games very much. They made her anxious, the ones that had timers or required that you shoot things that were trying to kill you, or they were just plain boring. But Raiden liked them, and she could pretend for him. Besides, she could just watch most of the time, and paint her nails or flip through a magazine while he was engrossed. It was a nice system! And to be totally honest, the two of them didn't have that many hobbies they could share. She wasn't willing to ruin a good thing just because she disliked games! So, hoping that he wouldn't pick anything too fast or challenging, she stepped next to Raiden and took his hand, lacing her fingers through his without thinking about it. "I picked the movie, so you can pick what to play," she said simply, glancing around. She was relieved they were alone inside the theater. It would have been embarrassing otherwise, considering they were both full-grown adults playing games like children. "You know this stuff better than me."
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Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:29 pm
He gently squeezed her hand with that silly grin still plastered on his face as he started walking towards the machine. What luck that they had all of these lovely games to themselves! There were no lines! They could probably play every single game before the place closed! Oh but then there was the movie, wasn't there? He reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins so they could get this show on the road. "Would you like to pick the first song? It's only fair since I picked the game." All anxiety of the night going wrong had slipped right out of his head. There couldn't possibly be anything better than a deserted arcade and the promise of artery-clogging popcorn on the horizon. Not to mention the companion that he had with him! He was in paradise.
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 2:48 am
But then... But then! He had to pick the absolute worst thing. Haruka's mouth cinched tight, so tight her lips almost disappeared, as he excitedly pointed to that flashing, arrow-y nightmare of a game. Haruka did not dance. Well, most dances. She could bite back her pride and let some guy lead at a nice, subtle slow dance. But anything that required she do more than step or sway in place, and she was a stumbling, tranquilized buffalo. Haruka had not inherited grace. She had to work for it every day, because in reality she was on the tall side and skinny, so she never knew what to do with her limbs. She had learned how to stand and how to walk with lots and lots of practice, but when it came to dancing, no amount of staring at herself in the mirror could fix a natural disadvantage.
However, she didn't want to disappoint Raiden -- look how excited he looked! So when he looked at her, she forced herself to smile. "O-okay," she managed to choke out. She was even more glad that they were alone, but there was still the risk that at any moment, someone could walk in and see her. But she had no choice. She would do this... for love. Shyly stepping up onto the platform, she realized she was not wearing the right shoes for this, so while Raiden fed coins into the machine, she bent down to unclasp her shoes. She didn't want to break a heel, or worst, lose her balance and snap her neck. Heels had a time and place, afterall.
Setting her shoes to the side, Haruka began to apprehensively flip through the songs. She didn't know what was good or no, so she closed her eyes and just hit the arrow button until it felt right to open her eyes. "This one... I guess?" she looked at Raiden for some sort of confirmation, but before he could tell her that she had ended up picking the hardest song or something equally terrifying, the timer had reached zero, and the song began to play. With wide, nervous eyes, Haruka stepped back, refusing to look at Raiden again. "Please don't judge me on this," she mumbled. How did this game work again?
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Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:49 pm
There were a few times when he attempted to look over at Haruka to see if she was having a great time, but those times all resulted in him missing something and cursing at himself. Needless to say, he only did that a couple of times. When the music faded out and he was devastatingly disappointed with the score he had gotten, he worked to find a song that was somewhat slower. "Let's try this one." He grunted out before assuming the position and making himself look like a complete idiot all over again. When that song had finally faded out, he was eager to move on to something else that he had more experience with. He locked hands with Haruka again and practically dragged her over to the loud growling of the dinosaurs that had beckoned to him since he walked through the door. Earlier, he had attempted to have more depth to him. He didn't want his girlfriend of 13 17 15 umpteen years to think that he was only capable of playing shooters, even if that was true. "Here ya go. Watch my back, partner." There was something a bit exciting about having Haruka as his partner against some massive dinosaurs.
Several coins and many shots later, he happened to glance up and notice the time. He dropped the gun into its holster and laced his fingers with his lovely date once again. "Maybe games weren't the best idea? I got a bit wrapped up in that one." And with a soft kiss to the cheek, he nodded towards the direction of the snacks. Sure, he couldn't do anything about the time he had just wasted, but he could hope that the movie she picked out would be enough to keep her happy.
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Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 3:33 am
Thankfully, Raiden hadn't seemed to notice the sheer terror plastered on his girlfriend's face, and Haruka was allowed to suffer in solitude. The song began, and all of a sudden their casual movie date dissolved into a frenzy of stomping, flailing, and strange noises. It was well-established that Haruka was not a graceful person by nature. Nor had she really figured out the strategy of the game. It did not occur to her to assign two arrows to one foot, so she could shift smoothly from one foot to the other. No, she instead stood in the middle and stomped randomly -- she was too distracted about moving her feet to really follow the arrows on the screen. By the time the song was over, she was out of breath and had turned a dozen shades of red. Both of their scores were abysmal, and yet it had to happen all over again. Her memory blacked out the second time, and the next thing she could remember was slipping on her heels as Raiden dragged them off to a different machine.
After that traumatic attempt to play DDR, Haruka was almost thankful to see something stationary, though shooting dinosaurs was not appealing in the slightest. At first, she had foolishly thought she could pass the rest of the time watching, until she found herself with a plastic gun in her hands. "O-oh, okay," she managed to choke out. She held the gun in both hands awkwardly, and in the next few games she discovered that she was as bad of a shot as she was a dancer. She didn't say much, mostly shot randomly and squeaked and cried out when things jumped out in front of her. Thankfully, it seemed, Raiden was much too engrossed to really notice that she was being so help at all. By the last game, she had begun to almost get used to it, and once she stopped being self-conscious, she could let herself be the worst sidekick and just send admiring glances at Raiden. She did like it when he was enjoying himself.
Their free hour was quickly coming to an end, and Haruka didn't think the end could possibly come fast enough. But as Raiden took her hand, she didn't really mind that she had just humiliated herself, and she smiled at him. "I liked watching you play, you're pretty cool when you get into it," she smiled as they went up to the concession stand. Haruka was as boring and weight-conscious as ever, buying just a water and choosing to share Raiden's popcorn than get her own meal. But what else was new?
While playing games, Haruka had almost forgotten about her grave mistake, the movie choice, and for a split second she had begun to enjoy herself, carefree. But once they had their food and began to make their way to the theater, she remembered with a jolt, as if a brick had materialized in her lungs. She gripped her water bottle so tight she was afraid it'd burst, and her heart began to pound. It was all gonna go downhill from here, she knew, and now embarrassing herself at a dance game didn't sound so awful afterall with what was to come. "Uhm, Raiden," she spoke through tight lips as they stood in front of the doors. "I love you," she said hurriedly, as if that would cushion the blow of his disappointment, and she pecked him quickly on the lips, hoping that he wouldn't feel how tense she had gotten.
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Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 5:44 pm
The multitudes of butter that he had poured atop their popcorn was beginning to feel like a horrible idea. He could feel the oil rubbing against his stomach as he walked and knew that his shirt had to be completely drenched. Thankfully, he was holding the bag on the opposite side of his lovely date. He didn't want to have to explain how much of a mess he was making over here. When he saw the number of their theater ahead, he was happy. It would be much easier to hid his embarrassment if they were in the dark. He turned to smile at her in the light one last time before heading in when he heard her start to speak. The way she said his name made him worry at first. In the few seconds that passed, he had determined that either he had truly ruined everything or she was feeling sick. Thoughts of having to run home with a sticky stomach starting to invade his mind. He felt very relieved when she leaned towards him and a smile crossed his face. "I love you too, babe." He wished he had a free hand to ruffle up her hair before walking in, although she would probably be happier that he refrained. He chalked her changing attitude off to nerves. It wasn't too often that they went on dates out in public, especially kissing in the doorway. That was something new, and a little thrilling.
Raiden turned after smiling awkwardly at her for a few seconds, desperately wanting to rub his buttery hands through her perfect hair. He then started into the theater and chose a seat towards the middle of the theater. To his surprise, they were completely alone in there too. "I'm starting to think that this movie might not be very good." He laughed over at her after sitting down into his chair. He placed his drink in the cup holder to the opposite side of her and placed the popcorn bag on his knee so that she could reach it too. "I'm just kidding, I'm sure it'll be great. It's probably just been out for awhile and everyone has already seen it or something." He smiled and placed a piece of popcorn into his mouth, instantly forgetting the mess it had made for that marvelous taste. He wiped his hand off on the napkin and placed his arm around her shoulder as the lights began to dim.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 11:41 pm
After some advertisements for movies that would have been infinitely better than their choice, the movie began. Haruka prayed to the Harvest Goddess and all of her fairies, even ones she had only heard of in passing, that she was overreacting, that the ad was just deceptively solemn and that the movie, while perhaps worthy of tears, would be humorous and thoughtful and they could leave the theater feeling better about themselves and the world.
Of course, Haruka was never that lucky. To say that the movie was sad was an understatement. It turned the soul-crushing vacuum of depression and despair into a two hour experience. Haruka had experienced some sadness in her life. She broke her favorite mug when she was eight. Meeting her father was a pretty bitter experience. And she cried when her grandparents passed away. She had even seen Schindler's List, which had reduced her mother to an incoherent lump on the sofa. This was worse. So much worse. It was one of those movies where nothing went well. The protagonist starts off with everything, a nice job, a loving family, a beautiful pregnant wife, a dog he had rescued as a puppy when he was in high school. Everything is sunny and radiant and warm, but then, one by one, everything important to him disappears. He loses his job, his relationships become strained. His dog is beaten to death by thugs. His beloved little brother dies of cancer. His pregnant wife gets in a car accident and dies a long, painful death. In the end, just when all you need is something positive, anything, a child smiling or a rainbow or a basket of kittens, anything at all, the protagonist attempts suicide, but fails. Instead, he falls into a coma, and the doctors say that he will remain a vegetable for the rest of his life, sucking money from his ailing parents as they pay to keep him on life support. Roll credits.
It was so much worse than what Haruka had thought, but somehow, that was even better. Her sense of horror and humiliation had escalated to such a degree that she felt almost Enlightened. The end was inevitable, she had no choice but to accept it, and by realizing this she had achieved something akin to inner peace. Still, she was paralyzed in her seat. To her credit, she hadn't cried. It was such an emotional punch that it had shocked her tear ducts out of commission. All that was left was to sit there and wait for the end to come. She was too afraid to look at Raiden, but surely he was just as horrified. He was probably rethinking all their years together, considering how to break up with her, who would get custody of Axel. Haruka couldn't handle a custody battle, not after all this. But she couldn't wait any longer, she had to rip the band-aid off, she just needed him to react, to say anything. "...So..."
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:38 pm
What had she even said? Surely she said something. She must have been raving about how wonderful the movie was. Think Raiden, think. What did you see before you dozed off? There was a dog, right? Yes. He was sure that there had been a dog. He blinked a few times before leaning his head down towards her, too afraid to actually look at her. "That dog really got to me." He rubbed at his eye. Yes! Great plan! He could act like his puffy eyes were from crying over that dog! Even if it had had a long and happy life, it could have just touched him. Hopefully he wasn't snoring. Did he even snore? "I had a dog just like that when I was a kid." Good work. Change the subject completely. Even if the dog was a minor character, nothing would matter besides the fact that he had once had a dog just like that. Even if all they ever had was cats. Even if he was pretty sure that he had told Haruka all he ever had was cats. That was okay. Surely she didn't have that good of a weird memory repertoire. He scooped up his drink and the rest of the unfinished popcorn and went to stand. The "emotions" were overcoming him and, by the look of his watch, they needed to get to the next stop on the date anyway. Maybe, with any luck, they'd never have to talk about this movie and he could continue to have a happy relationship.
He reached for his phone getting ready to send a text when he saw that he had already received confirmation that part 2 was ready for them. Wonderful! Everything was going according to plan. Well, except for basically everything else up to this point. He stopped at the end of the aisle and turned back to Haruka as he waited for her to follow along. "I've got one last surprise up my sleeve." He said with a smile, hoping to get her mind fully off of this place.
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Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:00 pm
"Oh, Raiden," she only managed to murmur, much too horrified that her movie choice had made her boyfriend cry. She had seen him cry before, but mostly at big stuff, not something as insignificant as a fictional pet. He must have been really upset! "I'm so sorry," she added, this one coming out more as a squeak. He didn't seem too offended, really, but they had never broken up before, she had no idea how he'd act if he were irreparably upset with her, so as he stood, she followed, but still felt on edge. She almost just wanted him to break up with her right now and get it over with, rather than making her wait. Was he gonna say it now? ...Now? Oh goddess he checked his phone, was it gonna be now?
When he addressed her, she nearly jumped a foot in the air, she was so tense. "'One last surprise?'" she repeated. One last surprise? Oh no, what did that mean? She took it back, she didn't want him to break with her now, she didn't want to get it over with, she wasn't ready...! "Why last? I bet you have tons more surprises, to last a very very long time, why does this have to be the last?" Oh no, she was getting hysterical, and the panic was probably clear on her face.
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Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:27 pm
[and then they go have a wonderfully romantic picnic and it's super duper great!]
~END DAY~
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 2:35 am
It was really too bad that he needed some money. Why couldn't everything be free and easy? His parents should just send him some more money. That would make everything a helluva lot easier. He kicked the heel of his foot against the cabinet and tossed his head from side to side. There was really only so much he could do standing here waiting for the time to fly on by. Of course he wasn't having any fun, so it would probably never fly. What kind of a life was this? Seventeen freaking years old and he had to stand by this counter and look at the stupid people that walked by. He was told to smile or something, but looking at them was just as good, he supposed. How many possible combinations of movement could he make? He began tapping his fingers on the counter and looked back down at the popcorn. Where had he left off? Ah ********.
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