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 Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 9:35 pm
Calder had picked the place after some hard research. He wrote of lists of Barth's likes, ran it through the Interweb, and used what was called keywords such as "date" and "romantic". The search wasn't all that helpful at first as most of dates planned were for further down the relationship path, and finally when Calder removed 'sleeping' from Barth's likes word list and 'together' from the dating word list, he managed to get better results.
He hadn't been downtown much, and was often wary of it. Truth be told, it sorta scared him. There were lots of things to see, but he felt he would get lost. He didn't get how to read street signs and how to find his way home, and navigated better following paths and rivers than roads and sidewalks. There was also lots of noises and he didn't often get how to cross the street. However, he followed his directions carefully and had scoped out the place before he set up the date just so he was sure how to find it and that it looked interesting. So, after a few days from asking each other out, Calder sent a text to Barth telling him he'd like to go on a date, and then set up the time and the place.
On that afternoon, he left his room early just so that he could find the place again, and had gotten lost twice before he stood before the Scarecade. The chorus of noises and flashing lights danced inside and he bite his lower lip. It...looked a bit intimidating, but he had read online that it was really fun. A room full of games, and all you needed was a few pumpkin seeds to enjoy yourself. It was right in his student budget and seemed like something Barth would like. Calder had played a few games with Barth in his room and they seemed fun even though he wasn't too good at them. He did like hitting the buttons.
Nervous, he stood outside of the building, checked the time, and then checked himself. He was wearing a warm, cream-colored sweater with a green kilt, but this one was cut so that a flap went over the side at a diagonal and had a satin hem that ended up in a green bow at his hip. A small saddle bag was hanging on one shoulder, and he gripped the strap as he looked around, and then adjusted his hair. After the fight with Christof, he had put ice on his eye, but he still had a bit of a shiner around his left eye and so he braided his hair and then curled hsi bangs and parted it on the side to allow his hair to fall over half his face. He felt it looked nice, and that it cleverly disguised the mark. He also braided his tail to match his hair, and polished his hooves.
Now was the wait, and as he looked around, checking the time, he popped a mint in his mouth and tried to keep from blocking the sidewalk from pedestrians passing by.
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:48 pm
Calder had taken charge of the whole date-arranging front, which was good, because it was...frankly not Barth's strong suit, and part of his large inventory listing of Major Failings as a Boilfriend. This time, though, he would get it right.
And while Lilith had a sort of mysterious easy-to-displease air that required Christof's help if anything was to be done right, it felt sort of...nice to be dating someone that was willing to help too.
"Thank you, Grimhold. I'll Call you when we're done," Barth told his driver, exiting the carriage.
"Good luck, Master Barth," Grimhold said.
Barth smiled nervously, trying not to look as if he needed it. "My err, my cravat's straight, isn't it?"
"Yes sir," Grimhold replied.
"Good. Err, good." Barth took a deep breath, straightening his shoulders as well.
He slumped almost immediately into his usual posture, regretting how far away the curb was. He was already late (it wasn't really fashionable for a sloth demon to be otherwise) and he had a lot of doubts about his ability to stay awake for the entirety of the evening. He encouraged himself with a litany of it's just a few video games. When he started to doubt that too, there, just ahead, was Calder, waiting patiently in the brisk autumn air.
He looked- nice. Very nice.
Barth found himself with a different kind of encouragement.
"Hello," Barth said, with the same sort of nervous smile, not sure whether to bend and kiss Calder hello or not and just settling for the verbal version, "Weren't waiting too long, I hope?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:31 pm
If anyone knew Calder's patience for waiting, they would know the story of Calder and Cade. Calder could wait for forever, but that didn't mean he didn't worry. No. In fact, the Cade Episode made him nervous. While all sense told him Barth wasn't leaving, his own doubts and worries made him wonder if Barth would even come. Part of him worried if Barth would even wake up and come here in time before the Scarecade closed at night. even though it was in the afternoon and hours from shutting it's doors, and another part wondered if....Barth even wanted to come. Even though the demon told him he would be coming, he could have always changed his mind. Maybe he had already been to a Scarecade and thought it was boring. Maybe he thought Calder was boring. Maybe he would find the very idea of Calder thinking this was fun boring and call everything off.
And so he waited, checking his eye-phone and feeling the worries from past bad relationships rise up and made him try and gather his breath.
Everything would be fine. Everything would be fine. He'd come.
"Hello."
Calder's head rose up and hsi tail flicked behind him at the voice as he watched Barth stroll up. The demon was well dressed, in a blue jacket with fur rim, shorter than the one he usually wore, with a dress shirt and cravat. A slick belt sat on his hips, with match slacks and slim boots. Calder smiled. "Oh no. I haven't been waiting long." He lied, all his worries and doubts melting away as the sight of the other boil.
He stepped over, and was also unsure if he could kiss and nuzzle the boil. Instead, he tip-hoofed and and pecked the boil on the cheek.
Standing, he glanced up at the Scarecade. "I heard it was a fun place to go with lots of games. I've never been, but, it seems a nice way to spend the day." A nice first date, just to start things. Away from school. Together.
Slipping over, he took Barth's hand, smiling. "If you get tired, just tell me, kay?" He said, and didn't imply if it meant with the games or with him. With that, he moved towards the door, still holding the boil's hand.
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:06 pm
Barth held Calder's hand gently, mindful of claw-placement.
"Alright," he said, grateful for the offer. "Plenty of places to sit in Scarecades." He hadn't known Calder was very interested in video games, but Barth enjoyed anything that was an unproductive distraction. He especially enjoyed holding Calder's hand. Christof had said Calder would prove to be an unproductive distraction, and Barth desperately hoped so.
"What did you want to do first?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:57 am
Calder entered the Scarecade with Barth and his ears jerked back at the combination of sounds and lights. His ears turned about as he was surrounded by dings, chimes, and fast beats from various machines. Lines of boxes and strange booths in flashy colors and graphics lined up in aisles as teens their age mingled about, cheering friends and jerking controllers.
At the question, he frankly had no idea where to start.
Looking around, he saw a long game that had a slick panel of wood and them several rings. A open shoot was left on the side.* "What about that one?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:43 pm
"Skiball," Barth said, trying not to sound wary, and explain the game without any balls jokes, "You err, try to roll the balls into the holes. Different holes have different point values-" this was going downhill very quickly, but he made the attempt to finish, and not think very hard about either balls or holes, "with the middle hole giving the highest points. They have the numbers there, see."
"Not exactly my game. With all the throwing. But you can try it." He smiled encouragingly.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:59 pm
"Oh...okay." Calder frowned a tad bit, feeling as if he had a personally bad grade against him for picking a game Barth wasn't into, though Calder had no way of knowing it was a throwing game. It just looked interesting to him. Still, they were here, and he decided he'd at least try. That way he could make Barth pick a game that he liked next. Hopefully he could regain the lost points and make the date enjoyable instead of just taxing on the demon.
"I'll give it a try."
Looking at the holes that Barth gestured to, Calder then looked around. "Where are the balls?" He asked, kneeling down and looking around the machine. He didn't see any.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:09 pm
"You have to put a seed in the slot," Barth said, leaaaaning onto the next unused skiball lane over, and trying not to think about that too hard either.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 9:45 pm
Calder looked at the slot in question and reaching into his saddle bag (not a purse), he took out a seed and slipped it through the slot. It happily gobbled up the item and then the lights flashed with a ringing chime and a heavy thunk was heard as the balls rolled into a side slot.
Standing up, he watched the lights dance around the frame of the machine and illuminate the score card and rings inside the back target zone. "Oh. It's on!" He said, looking at Barth and then back at the row of balls presented to him. Reaching out, he plucked one up and looked at it. It was rather normal, and he looked at the rings.
Barth said to roll them, and so Calder did. Hard. He threw the ball up in more of a underhand roll that bounced, hit the guard, and then flew somewhere behind them into the darkness of the many other arcade games. Frowning, Calder looked back at Barth and gave a nervous laugh.
He took another ball, and this time lightly rolled it. In rushed up and under the guard, and went on the biggest 10 point ring. A chime went off. "Oh, it worked! Look!" He pointed, though seeing as it was nearly impossible NOT to get the 10 ring, it was not really a big accomplishment. All Calder knew was that he got in a ring and that seemed to be the point.
He tried another, and this time it went to another 10. It was surprising. He did it twice in a row! Taking another ball, he rolled once more, and managed to get another 10. "I'm really good at this." It didn't require fancy button combinations to do things either. After getting a 10 and another 20, Calder then looked at his last ball. It didn't seem like there had been so little before when he first placed the seed in, but now they were gone.
Calder trotted over and held out the ball to Barth. "You should try too." Even if it wasn't Barth's sort of game, he wanted him to try at least once.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:58 pm
"Oh, yes, err," Barth took the ball, gravity dropping his hand to the aisle. He drew his hand away, then back again, giving it a tentative poke.
The ball rolled very slightly forward, then back to his claws again.
He cleared his throat.
"Right," he said, letting it roll all the way back into his palm, and then making a weak attempt at a push-toss. The ball landed a few more centimeters forward, before coming right back.
Barth looked at Calder, then at the rest of the Scarecade, then very, very slowly, a vine crept up to wrap around the ball. It edged along the aisle, like a snake with something in its mouth, then dropped it in the first available hole and withered away completely. Barth's expression was one of innocence and uninvolvement.
"Yes," he said, "very fun game, Skiball."
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:14 pm
Calder was trying to be encouraging and was ready to clap for his boilfriend whenever the ball started to move, but each time it rolled a few centimeters and he parted his hands to clap, he gently closed them without a sound as the ball rolled back. He didn't interfere, wanting Barth to continue, and then watched as his thorns went up and carried the ball up to the hole. He didn't know if he should clap or not, but looked around and then smiled back to Barth. "That's....one way to do it." It didn't say you couldn't. It wasn't like official rules were posted anywhere. In fact, he smiled even more. "You're getting better with those."
It was then that the machine gave a cat-like yowl and spitted out orange tickets. Calder jumped back behind the demon and watched as a row of paper was rolled out of a tiny slot, and then stopped. "Oh no. You broke it." Yeah, not Calder. It had to be the vine's fault. He then started to nudge the demon. "Quick. Let's go before they kick us out." He didn't want their date to be cut short because the machine decided to hate them. Blasted machines. He probably didn't push a button right or turn some dial.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:39 pm
"A bit better," Barth admitted. "Still not quite used to using them in...public."
The tickets spilled from the machine, and Barth looked behind him to where Calder was tugging. He smiled slightly at the idea of being kicked out of an Arcade.
"No, that's alright. You exchange them for prizes at the prize counter. The err, tickets, I mean."
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:29 pm
"Tickets?" Calder said, poking out from behind Barth and moving over to the machine. Kneeling down, he tore off the tickets and looked at the string of little tickets in his hand. While it wasn't a lot, he felt they were many, and smiled. Tickets and prizes? He didn't know he got prizes here?
Placing the tickets in his saddle bag, he looked around. "Okay, which one do you want to play next?" He asked, putting the ball in Barth's court to pick this time. He didn't seem to like the game Calder picked, and he wanted the demon to have fun and find out what he liked.
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 2:00 pm
Barth looked longingly at the racing games. He knew that the moment he sat down, getting up would be ten times as difficult, and that would effectively be the end of the date.
"Pinball," he suggested after a fierce struggle, tearing his attention away from the inviting Dead End Driving, and towards another nearby unoccupied machine.
"Not difficult at all. You just push this button on the side there. I can manage the other one."
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:24 pm
Following Barth over, he was brought over to look at a glass case that was long, standing at a slant on four legs. What was interesting was that you could look into the machine which has strange arrows, knobs, spinning lights, and words written all around like "Bonus" and numbers. The colors were vibrant and eye-catching, and he liked looking in things that had nice colors. This machine wasn't half as pretty as some of Christof's and Barth's inventions.
When the button was pointed out, Calder stood beside the other boil and placed his hand on the button. He tested it a few times, noticing a little lever spring up and back down.
Just when he was about to ask what they were supposed to do, a ball sprang out and flew threw the inside. Calder was far more transfixed with the bouncing ball, but noticed it would start to head down, and started to frantically push his button. "What are we doing?" He didn't get this game.
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