Save The Date (N-Not That It's A Date Or Anything!) [Maia]

"Nah, I'm good with orange," Isaac said, slipping on the harness and helmet. It was a little bit bulkier than most laser tag gear, but he kind of liked that. It made him feel even more like some sort of wayward soldier from the future. He unholstered the laser gun strapped to his hip and took a good look at it, eyeing it up and down carefully. Was this going to be as tough of a fight as the one he and Elliot ended up having with Alicia? Likely not, but it was also a very different kind of fight. Besides, the point here was to mess around and have fun with Maia. He just hoped she'd feel comfortable with the one on one game. Surely it had to be less pressure than being mercilessly chased down by strangers. "How do I look?" he asked as he tried to pose casually with the plastic weapon. The answer was probably very silly, and judging by the light tone to his voice he knew it.

Isaac walked over to the orange door, giving Maia a small wave. Her entrance would be the teal door she was currently standing right next to. "See you on the inside!" he called as he entered the orange door, a prerecorded voice giving a quick debriefing on the rules of laser tag. No running, no shoving, no blinding people, no screaming, the same usual rules that all blurred under the general headline of Don't Be A Jerk. There were recharge stations in each corner, orange's at northwest and southeast, teal's at southwest and northeast. Beyond that, just get into that neon-colored maze and have a good time. The voice tried to weave in a storyline, too. Isaac was to be a space pirate pillaging the Earth's first space colony, Maia one of the colony's stalwart heroes and last hopes. It was a pretty cheesy setup, but there was an earnestness to each tacky explosion sound effect that made it feel strangely entertaining.

And then the doors opened, allowing the two to get in and start stalking through the maze. Isaac crouched low, keeping his back to walls as he shimmied into the entryway. Sure, Maia would be on the complete other side of the room, but it was never too late to be prepared. Each wall was a different vibrant color, with the corner Isaac currently stood in glowing a bright yellow and Maia's a deep purple. There were UFO patterns painted on the ceiling in neon colors, and occasionally clouds from a fog machine rolled into the room. They did a really good job nailing the atmosphere, even if it was pretty tacky.

Isaac was fairly light on his feet, but his armor was another question entirely. The plastic chestpiece clattered against Isaac's stomach with practically every footstep he took, a little bit too loose for the boy. Hopefully it wasn't too obvious, but Maia would be tipped off by a little rattling noise that grew louder as Isaac began his otherwise stealthy approach. He was also keeping a low, hunched-over profile, making sure to keep his side to the wall and stomach covered whenever possible. First rule of laser tag was to never leave your weak points exposed, and second rule of laser tag was to keep your ears open so they didn't sneak up on you from behind.

Soon, he found himself on the opposite side of the wall Maia was standing on. It wasn't like he knew the girl was there, of course, and he started loudly walking over to the left side of the wall. "Know you're around here somewhere," he called out, projecting his voice to the left before quickly dashing to the right side of the wall instead. If he was lucky, Maia would turn to the left to look for the source of the noise and end up perfectly exposed to a shot from the rear. It was a foolproof strategy! That is, of course, for that darn clattering noise, which was even louder now that Isaac was sufficiently close to Maia. It seemed he had failed to take into account all of the variables, but if he was lucky Maia wouldn't either. Would he still be able to pull off this plan?

As Isaac hopped around the corner, aiming his gun at Maia, he was shocked to find she had her gun pointed right at his target as well. Instead of just shooting him, though, she starting bursting into a full-on fit of laughter. Isaac was heavily confused at first, wondering if he said something stupid or put his chestplate on backwards or something, but started to find Maia's laughter contagious. Soon he was laughing along with her as well, lowering his gun because he was just too busy laughing to focus his aim on her.

"God, I don't know. Because we're wearing goofy outfits shooting fake guns at each other in a big old Pac-Man maze?" he asked, finding himself snickering just thinking about the absurdity of it all. Sure, he thought laser tag was really fun, but he also recognized that it was a really goofy situation that they were in. And this silly, funny day was just a day after their horrifying near-death experiences. How could this not be hilarious? "You've got a really nice laugh, though," he said as he recovered from the fit of laughter. He didn't even seem to realize what he said until it came out of his mouth, a light blush spreading across his face.

Crap, he needed to save face, and fast. Thankfully, he had a surefire way of escaping his own awkward comments, and it was right in his hand. He picked up the laser gun, fired at one of Maia's targets, and quickly dashed away. If she was going to want more qualification on what he just said, she was gonna have to chase him down for it!

The rules said no running. For this reason, Isaac was sure his quick shot would let him open up enough space and get away. It beat being cornered and having to give answers, right? Now he had the leisure to slink away while Maia, a law-abiding citizen in all ways, shapes, and forms, kept at a brisk yet manageable pace of her own. What he didn't expect was for Maia to start tearing through the maze like a woman on a mission, waving her gun as if she was holding up a bank for a robbery. Upon hearing her footfalls Isaac tried to pick up the pace, but she was moving at a practically unstoppable pace. By the time he was able to start accelerating he had already been shot right in the back, his targets and the lighting on his armor dimming. The dimmed lights would give Maia just enough time to see Isaac rounding a corner, now doing his best to try and keep pace with her.

Left. Right. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. The walls passed by in a blur as Isaac tried to keep one step ahead of Maia every time. Occasionally he turned around and blindly fired his laser gun, hoping he'd be able to stop Maia if she tried to pursue him. How this turned into a high-speed chase, Isaac wasn't sure, but he didn't quite mind. The walls were clear enough to make identifying his direction pretty easy, and it wasn't like they were at risk of smashing into any other people. The laser tag arena was their own little personal playground today, and frankly Isaac was having a great time. Even if he was currently trying to run away from a cute girl before she could mercilessly gun him down.

Of course, if Maia could cut him off, maybe she could end up cornering him. And then he'd end up having to spill the beans after all! The stakes had never been higher.

Slowly, the sound of footsteps died down, and Isaac found himself able to breathe easy again. He'd escaped. Now all he'd have to do is keep moving, and he'd be able to end this little game embarrassment-free. He had to admit, though, it felt a little bit disappointing feeling the chase come to an end. He kind of liked Maia running around, doing her best to pursue and catch him. Would he be bashful as heck if he had to answer for his previous statement? Oh yeah, big time. Yet despite it being as easy as just avoiding Maia, he found himself inevitably drawn right back towards her.

It was the score. That had to be it. They were 1-1. He wouldn't be able to run and hide in good conscience until he was at least up by another point. Surely it wasn't the thrill of the chase that was motivating him, or even the idea of Maia catching him. He didn't find any of that tempting at all. It was just numbers and numbers alone. He stalked off to the middle of the maze, crouched low and holding his gun close. Any second now he could end up bumping into her, and he'd have to keep his finger on the trigger to stay properly prepared. Maia was a gamer of the likes he'd never seen before, and one slip-off could lead to her blasting him to bits with relative ease.

So of course, upon a corner he found himself almost walking right into her. Despite all of his attempts at preparing, he obviously wasn't prepared. He fumbled to lift his gun, hoping to get Maia right in one of her targets before she could blast off another one of his. Whether he hit or got hit, though, he would then proceed to try and run right back off into the maze. Then again, the chestplate was dangling a bit off of his back, and being right in front of Maia meant he was practically in arm's reach. If the girl really wanted some answers, grabbing him by the outfit's collar would easily leave him stopped in his tracks. If not, it seemed like the chase would be on yet again!

Isaac had won the battle, but he had lost the war. With her hand wrapped around his wrist, he was now but a helpless prisoner. On paper the score was 2-1, but now it might as well have been 2-infinity. At this point he didn't even run anymore, instead standing there and already starting to preemptively blush. He couldn't help but laugh a little at her initial tease. "What can I say? I've never really learned good ma-"

We interrupt this awkward attempt at humor to bring you a compliment! Isaac felt a strange warmth in the pit of his stomach at what Maia had to say. "Wait, really?" he asked, caught off guard and a little bit stunned. He was never really big on his laugh. It was too high, too uneven, just in general so flawed. Did she really see it differently? Maybe she was just humoring him, like she was humoring him with Street Fighter. But that didn't seem right either. There was a casual honesty to the girl's voice, and Isaac just knew she meant it.

Besides, if she was lying, she wouldn't have already been planning a course of retreat. When Maia let go of Isaac's arm, he simply settled for taking her hand instead. He didn't want her to leave just yet. Not while he was still trying to figure out how to even react to all of this. He looked her in the eye and hoped she'd at least stick around long enough for him to speak. "Hey, thanks for that," he said, practically all of the boisterousness in his voice replaced with a strange bashfulness. "That really means a lot to hear. Especially coming from you." He let go of her hand at this point, waiting for her to run off so the chase could resume again. Maybe it was his job to run, since he was the last person to fire, but he didn't really want to leave her side right now.

The warmth in his stomach seemed to swirl and churn around, and he didn't quite mind it at all.

Good, no more running. Isaac was starting to get tired of it too. Although it seemed that it wasn't his legs tiring out, but instead something else. His heart? Maybe. "Yeah, I'm pretty tired too. Lets try and finally get some rest, eh?" he asked, leaning against the wall slightly. It wasn't the most comfortable place in the arcade, but he'd be damned if he was sitting on the floor here. Rule 3 of laser tag, and life in general, was to never trust the floors in a dark, heavily populated room. They were always filthy, moreso than even Isaac was comfortable with.

When she mentioned how fast he was, though, he couldn't help but laugh. In his mind, Maia was the one who he had been running from all day. That little teasing tone on her voice, those warm amber eyes, that smile hitting as hard as a knockout punch. Each and every little thing closed the gap more tightly as Isaac tried to run from his thoughts. From her, even. Yet it was becoming apparent as he stood here, still holding her hand for reasons he couldn't explain or rationalize, that he couldn't just keep running forever. "Heh, you're pretty fast too," he managed to say, somehow keeping the rest of his thoughts behind their wall.

He didn't know how much time they had left here. Was it based on points, time, or most likely both? Just in case he decided not to risk future shots, wanting to make sure that the two of them wouldn't be interrupted at a critical moment. "You know, it's weird," he started, trying to think of how he was going to word what he planned on saying next. This all felt so strange and dreamlike. Knowing it was one of his last days here really stung. "I don't think I'm ready to leave yet."