Private - Two Friends

A real world...

She breathed in and out... Slowly, steadily, she accepted the hot summer air that constantly reminded her body of the scorching temperature that would be the weather for the day. Locks of brown hair stuck to the crevices of her pale face uncomfortably, her feet shifting under the weight of her body in the shade a building provided from the blistering sun. Lily let out a soft groan as her small fingers wiped at the sweat dripping down her forehead before shaking it away, and letting her irritation become evident on her face. The woman was standing in the shade the arcade building behind her had to offer, waiting for her dear friend to show up for their hangout day in one of their usual spots.

However, she was beginning to grow a bit impatient. She would never admit though that it was her own fault for showing up a bit too early; maybe a bit earlier than their scheduled meeting time. But Lily always enjoyed any time spent with Cody, and always would get excited when getting to go anywhere with him. Or, heck, even lounging about his home was fun to her. They didn't even have to do anything for her to have even an ounce of fun. Just any moment with Cody was enough, although she would never say that out loud. She would die of embarrassment otherwise. And no one would ever see her again, for she would be hiding in the closet of shame and wearing a paper bag over her face for the rest of her days.

It was in the midst of her thoughts that she pulled out her phone, ignoring the people passing her by on the busy street before her. It was an exciting summer day with kids running about with either their parents or friends, enjoying whatever free time they had before another term of school began. Ah, she remembered those days... She remembered spending them with her other friends, and always set a specific day to be with Cody even then, too. She always had a special day each week set aside for him as she knew how he was in school... She never wanted him to feel alone.

It was then something strange began to stir in Lily's chest, her eyes squinting at the thought as the thumb once scrolling along the glass of her phone stopped abruptly. Just what exactly was the woman feeling in the moment? Her thoughts seemed to be filled with him and distracted, causing a special sensation to tingle in the depths of her heart as she blinked absentmindedly. It wasn't until a quick shake of her head that she shoved that emotion away to the caverns of her mind, simply choosing to ignore it for now as she now focused fully on the article on her phone about one of her favorite games while waiting for Cody.

 

The heat in the south wasn’t much to feel envy of. It was uncomfortable, and unbearable, and the air was full of wet and bugs (well… less of the bugs). Cody’s hair would feel the wet of both the humidity and the sweat compound into horrible sticky, gel-like mess that he didn’t like. Luckily he kept a towel in his van for days like this, especially when he was going to hang out one of his closest friends.


Between work and Terrasphere he hadn’t found too much time to see her lately. They both seemed to have plans that didn’t always work with each other’s, and because of that it was harder to actually see each other. Instead they had agreed to meet up at the arcades, and while the arcades had become a little quieter as of late due to “unexplainable reasons” they were still a great source of enjoyment for families, friends and solo players alike. He and Lily still enjoyed going to these places because they were filled with so many fun games and machines.


He pulled up into the parking lot, patting down his head and spraying a little deodorant on the pits to keep up with the blistering heat. It was definitely not the best planned event, but at least inside would be full of air conditioning units. No arcade wanted a bunch of sweaty nerds so they usually paid for good building cooling. Also he figured it did some kind of good so that the arcade machines didn’t overheat in the summer.


The young man jumped out of his work van, shutting the door with a slight thud, and locking up the vehicle tight. He would then make his way over to the building in all its gaming glory. It looked like a massive building, for a place that only seemed to have one floor. But he could remember that inside was spacious in case they had the giant knock em sock em robots out on display. But that wasn’t reason why he was here.


Instead someone caught his attention as he got closer. A young woman who he instantly recognised by her short height that matched her short hair. She was grossly involved with checking something on her phone which meant he was probably late in her eyes…. Whoops. He would just have to find some way to relax the tension… hmmm…


” You know,” he called out to her. ”If you’re playing mobile games outside of this establishment I believe it’s a pretty huge fine.” His mouth turned to a cheeky grin as the man walked a little closer to Lily.


”But I’m sure that we can settle that fine inside this place with a game or four. What do you say?”