Exploring the Gateway

Even by the end of school, John wasn’t sure not talking to Alice was the right thing to do, but he was looking forward to the date with her anyways. For now, however, he had decided to forget about what had happened. During the date he wanted to enjoy himself, and being obsessed with their problems or Ember’s reveal would help no one. He still needed to act normally to shelter him from any fallout of the second, as well, so there was a more than selfish reason to do so.

With that decision sitting in the back of his mind, John quickly walked out of the front of the school building through the large wooden doors that were now open. His destination was the main courtyard, where he believed he would be able to find Alice. Luckily, he was correct, and he was able to find her only a few minutes after he had entered the courtyard. Before he walked over to her, however, John realized something he already deeply regretted. He would have to lie to Alice at least until he knew he could safely tell her about the Abyss, and he didn’t even know how to do that.

Determined that he had to lie about magic, whether he wanted to or not, John walked towards Alice and tried to strike up a conversation. She spoke before he could say a single word, however. 

“I was waiting for you,” she began, and although she had attempted to hide her anger and frustration, John could see it on her face. If it was directed to him, or something else, he didn’t know. Attempting to ignore those emotions, not wanting to make things worse, John responded politely. .

“Sorry for making you wait. Now that we are officially on a date, where do you want to go?” He responded, his tone conveying both uncertainty and distance.

“Do you really have to ask?” Alice responded, the idea of the date taking place replaced the anger in her voice with a cheery attitude. Grabbing his hand, she ran towards the gates of the school and through the various streets. 

As soon as they took the first turn, John knew where Alice was taking him. He chuckled inside his mind, as he had not been there in a very long time. It was an old arcade, one of the only ones still running in the city. That was not what John fondly remembered it for, as it was the main place they found themselves hanging out after school together for many years. Neither of them liked spending their time at home. Alice was reminded of her father, and John felt too distant from his parents. To both of them, this place represented where they could be themselves together. It represented something much more specific than any random arcade ever could again. That’s why the last time he had visited it was three years ago, it had become too painful to come there without her.

Like all those times years ago, the couple went to that arcade. They walked, some parts in complete silence and some in short conversation, for what was probably thirty minutes but felt much longer for both of them. In the sort of way where the silence and their hands on each other extended every second, and kind words hung in the air pleasantly. The couple walked, looking mostly at each other and hands held like they were in a world all their own. As they walked, all John could think was the image of the two of them when they were younger. Walking through those same streets almost every single day. It somehow reminded him both how similar this was to back then, and at the same time how different it was as well. He suddenly understood that not only did he need to forget everything for a while, but he could to.. Because he saw the smile on Alice’s face, and heard the slight giggle she had every time he fell behind a bit before she returned to silence. Felt how her hand pressed harder onto his when she was waiting for a light to change, and when she was tired of his slower pace. None of this annoyed him, however, as he believed anyone else doing it would, it just filled him with a weirdly happy and fluffy feeling. Making him feel as if he was floating in the air. Eventually, the feeling faded somewhat, as they had gotten to the old arcade. Strangely, John did not mind the feeling ending, he figured a different one would fill it’s place soon enough.

The Arcade was an even older and more run down place than John remembered it being, but somehow it still carried the same magic. The first thing one would notice about it was the giant neon sign identifying the place. “The Arcade” It screamed out into the world, almost as if its decrepit and unmaintained interior was trying to hide behind that flashy neon sign. John also saw the faded nature of the posters stuck on the door, and that the glass was so dirty that you could barely see the light coming from inside.

John only looked for a minute, however, as he had already seen all this many times before, despite it becoming worse for wear. His strange feeling of anticipation only bolstered by the familiar sights, he entered the arcade. Taking Alice with him into the building in a reversal of what happened before. 

“Well, it seems you got your enthusiasm back,” she said, chuckling wildly. “I wanted to ask you about what really happened earlier, but I’ll keep that for later. I wouldn’t want to ruin our chance to have an actual date. So how about we have some real fun today, just like old times?” Her face conveyed just as much genuine happiness as John was feeling at the moment. Especially after Alice herself told him he could stop worrying about the bigger picture, at least for now.

“Yeah. Just like old times,” John said, half responding to Alice and half saying it to himself. That was when they finally entered the arcade. Unsurprisingly, it was almost empty. Only five people were in the large space of the arcade, along with a couple of workers. John noticed that the Arcade, while being more old and decrepit than three years ago, hadn’t changed much. Strangely, John saw not only the beloved classics that they had always used to play but also some new games which he didn’t recognize.

’That’s weird, people are still making arcade games?’ he thought to himself, although the answer was right in front of him.

Not long after John and Alice decided to play one of those beloved classics together, a really old game called “Final Fight”. While both of them were quite rusty at the game, they were eventually able to beat. Mostly using their coordination, which they had always been proud of when they used to go regularly and their skill at the game. Throughout the entire game, they both sent each other looks without the other noticing, seemingly more distracted by the fact they were doing this again than busy playing the game. At one point one of their glances intersected with each other, which led to a bout of awkward chuckling and them holding hands for a minute or so afterwards. Once they had beaten the game, they saw the classic ending that they remembered. The ending was one where they reunited the daughter of one of the main characters with him, the daughter also being the girlfriend of one of the other main characters. Next, they played a Gundam themed game in the vein of a more advanced version of Galaga, which they were able to beat quite handily. After playing some other classic games and laughing a bit about how fun it is to do this again, the couple went on to play two more games. First, they played some Golden Axe before abandoning it as it was too long. Second, they played a weird Dance Dance Revolution clone based around the two of them being ninjas that fight other ninjas. Their coordination and experience made them quite formidable when playing the game, but it took quite a physical toll on both of them, being quite tired afterwards. Once they had beaten a few levels at that game, it had already become late enough that the Arcade was going to close, so they left for the day. 

“I enjoyed myself John. Can’t say that was a normal date but it’s good to spend some time just the two of us again,” Alice said, smiling, as they walked away from the Arcade.

“So did I, what matters is that we’re together, not how we spend our time,” John chuckled, “I’m sorry, that must sound so cliche,”

“It’s ok,” she took his hand in hers and they kept walking in silence for a while.

While the date had not been particularly traditional, and most of it was spent playing various arcade video games. They both enjoyed it so much because they spent time together, and particularly in a place they shared so many fond memories in, and with. Not to say that it ended there, as they still walked back home together. To them, it felt like no time had passed when they eventually reached Alice’s house, and they both wanted to spend more time together. Sadly, neither of them felt comfortable telling the other, and it was already quite late. Before they separated, standing in front of the stairs leading up to Alice’s house, John leaned towards her and drew her into a kiss. She leaned back towards him, and for a minute they both nervously pecked each other's lips. Until John let his worries go and focused on the kiss. They stood there for a while, both getting more passionate as they continued kissing, almost calling for something more to happen. At first, John wanted to oblige that calling, but he knew that neither of them was really ready. His mounting insecurity eventually led him to break the kiss, and a few seconds later, they exchanged some awkward glances and goodbyes. Alice quickly went up the stairs to her house and entered it, and John began walking home.

Until only moments later, when they both looked back at each at the exact same time.