The Point Won Is Enough To Motivate Dolasach To Try Even Harder, But The Odds--and Her Own Mind--were

The point won is enough to motivate Dolasach to try even harder, but the odds--and her own mind--were against her.

The brief second of keen awareness that a crowd had gathered cost her a precious moment of reaction time during their volley, and it leaves her open enough for the puck to speed right past her attempt to strike it back. It slides right into the goal; the machine celebrates Jeremiah's victory with flashing bright lights and enthusiastic air horns.

She stares at his winning score.

"... Seems like you're telling the truth there."

Then she sighs out an airy laugh, setting the mallet down on the table before pulling her arcade card out as she makes her way to him.

"Congratulations," she says. Despite her disappointment, she offers him a genuine smile. "Shame I couldn't keep the pressure on all throughout, but it was fun trying to throw you off your game~"

(RE?)connecting; @jeremiahofphilo

Wednesday night. Cool, moderately windy, with the moon mostly blocked by the clouds.

Half an hour earlier than the agreed upon time, Dolasach arrived at the arcade—a flashy building with three floors of entertainment that ranged from the classic crane game, to a newly installed interactive holographic setup ‘that brought VR into IRL.’ Rolling up the sleeves of the beige and navy cardigan that her pouty lover insisted she wear lent her, she made her way deeper inside with a goal in mind.

Recalling that Jeremiah mentioned that he couldn’t figure out some of the machines, she made it a point to take some time to scour the place for anything that either looked like something Jeremiah would know about, or seemed like the right level of complexity for it to still be fun to figure out. Or maybe they could have fun with something they could both figure out together?

It crossed her mind that this was probably way more busywork than Jeremiah could’ve ever expected from her, but after how… Awkward? Some of their last meeting went, she just wanted to try and make sure things go relatively well. Or at least, they wouldn’t have that much dead air if it did get awkward again.

She pulled out her phone and quickly sent Jeremiah a text once she was satisfied with her findings, the time hitting close to their rendezvous.

->Mr. Philo-dendron: Let me know when you’re here, will meet you at the entrance. Take your time btw! No rush :>