A "Silent" Dinner [Bow]

Kyoshi was trying not to freak out too much as they drove away from her house. The girl had never in her life snuck out and she had a very strong feeling that this was a mistake. She had no right to go against her parents wishes and sneak out without their permission. Especially with a girl she didn't even know!? What was she thinking!? The small red head was beginning to hyperventilate and just started to raise her hand to sign that they should go back, when she spoke of a boy. That didn't calm her down any. That made things worse! People expected you too talk to them and she couldn't, which just made every single thing awkward.

She rose her hands again to sign, only this time she let her read a text from her father. The girl couldn't help but giggle at that and bit her lip. Dammit. What was she supposed to do? This girl seemed like fun, but... and then the phone rang.

Kyoshi listened to their conversation in a bit of awe. She had always wondered what it would have been like to have had a sibling, though she was often glad she didn't. The girl blinked when Chessa signed to her and bit her lip, cheeks going red while the rest of her face went pale. Again she rose her hand to sign slowly when they heard a car honking on both the phone and outside. The girl blinked and looked around, wondering where the source of the noise came from.

Chessa looked around for a second too. The fact they heard that from his end AND their end made it seem like he was nearby. "So you're not busy or anything right?" Chessa asked, not getting an answer from Kyoshi one way or the other. So she decided to drag him along!

There was a pause as if Daniel might have been vaguely aware of the fact they heard that car horn. "I'm around, trying to find more reasons for Dad to let us stay here," Daniel replied sincerely.

"So you're free to hang? Awesome!" Chessa said more or less deciding for him.

"Well- I guess, but I thought you were with dad," Daniel commented with confusion.

"Nah. I changed my mind and decided to come bother you," Chessa replied, leaving the part about kidnapping out. "So where you at bro? Anywhere that I can make a portal?" Chessa asked managing to break away from traffic to find a mostly empty parking lot nearby.

"No... not really. The only thing I think you could use for a portal is a dumpster. Oh and I think I see an open manhole, but there's workers near it," Daniel replied.

"Don't get yourself down in the dumps Bro, but I think we both know what you must do," Chessa said smirking as Daniel groaned over the phone not just because of her pun. But he also did not like the idea of using a dumpster for the simple fact she could easily prank him by not opening a portal for him.

"Wait! Why can't you just park the car somewhere and come grab me?" Daniel demanded, clearly not wanting to dumpster dive.

"Cause I got some important stuff in the seat next to me," Chessa promptly replied, playing with a strand of hair as Daniel groaned again. "Come on bro, I promise not to leave you hanging," Chessa assured him. There was a sigh as Daniel finally caved in.

"I'm at the back of a Mcdonalds where they keep a large dumpster next to what looks like a shed, with a white wall stretching out from the shed that circles around the dumpster except for a gap that I'm standing next to. Oh, there's a couple of mop buckets outside of the shed door," Daniel explained in detail where he was, knowing how Chessa's portals worked. While he explained, Chessa rolled down one of the back windows and without any indication, the entirety of the opening gave off an ever changing colored light. After a minute or so, a dirty blonde haired teenaged boy came flying through the opening on their side with a thump. Wasn't the most graceful landing ever.

"Nice of you to drop in. What's in the backpack?" Chessa questioned curiously.

"My clothes. I don't trust that hotel to-" Daniel paused as he looked up and noticed Kyoshi sitting in the passenger side. She was cute, which seemed to make him instantly nervous. "U-um... h-hi," Daniel greeted her nervously, glancing at Chessa as if she was expected to save him from a scary monster.

"Daniel, Kyoshi. Yosh, Danny. So I'm thinking we go hit up an arcade not far from here. Feel like getting some more prizes," Chessa suggested as Daniel made himself more comfortable. "By the way Dan, she doesn't speak. But she can hear you just fine. Now you be a good boy and behave yourself," Chessa added with a wink back at Daniel as she started driving them back onto the road.

"That's not funny," Daniel said going red in the face. This was totally like her to tease him in front of a cute girl.

Kyoshi listened to their friendly family banter in awe. It looked like they actually liked each other. It was so weird. The girl just sat in the passenger seat of the car, looking down at her lap and twiddling her thumbs. She should have brought her 3DS along. At least then she would have something to do. Trying to keep up in a conversation was hard enough. Not knowing the people that were conversing and one of them being over the phone made it near impossible, so she would just have to wait until he got here to do anything.

When Chessa referred to her as more "important stuff" the girl couldn't help but blush lightly. Then the back window was rolled down and she looked at it, blinking as she watched its ever-changing colors in awe. Before she could make a conclusion about what it might be, she understood very clearly what it was. This was the portal they were talking about. It was kind of obvious when the boy fell through.

The red head in the front with Chessa blinked and her cheeks turned the same color as her hair. She bit her lip and waved when they were introduced, kind of glad that the fact that she was mute didn't come as such a huge shock like it usually did. The girl couldn't help but giggle lightly when Chess told him to behave and smiled over to her. She tapped her on the shoulder to make sure that she would be watching when she signed. -An arcade? That sounds like fun. I've never been to an arcade before.- She smiled ecstatically.

Maybe this was a good choice after all.

"I shouldn't be surprised- but I am," Chessa replied knowingly, Daniel had no idea and Chessa didn't feel the need to tell him about her wacko parents. Besides, Kyoshi could do that on her own if she really wanted. "But yeah it's a cool place. Has all kinds of those fun machines where you can win prizes, some old school arcade games with the guns and stuff, and some gamer odds and ends," Chessa described it to Kyoshi as they drove off toward it. Daniel had been there with her once already so he knew.

"D-do you think they're done with my 3DS?" Daniel asked Chess curiously.

"Maybe. Who did you ask?" Chessa replied.

"Um... now that I think about it, I think it was the guy who's always sleeping at the counter," Daniel said in dismay.

"Ah! Then it's probably done then since I figure he's always tired from working on those custom decals for people," Chessa assured him, this seemed to cheer Daniel up as they pulled up to a mostly nondescript looking building on the very corner of a block. "This is a great part of town. Got a comic book store that way, and a little maid cafe that way- and all kinds of stuff inbetween," Chessa commented as she found a parking spot outside the orange bricked building. The only notable thing about it was the signs on either visible side of the building, which said "The Game Corner" in seemingly shimmering letters and mario styled question blocks in the their corners. The main door looked like it was styled after a red door based off of a Mario Boss Door. "Here we are!" Chess smiled.

Kyoshi bit her lip and blushed in embarrassment as she talked about not being surprised that she had never been to an arcade. When she explained what it was like there, her eyes went wide in glee and she grinned, nodding her head ecstatically. Her hands moved a little quicker, trying to be in view of both of them, just in case Daniel wanted to "listen" too. -That sounds like super fun.-

The girl then listened to them talk about his 3DS and blinked, smiling gently as she realized how awesome these two were. She was suddenly really happy that her father had invited their father to their house tonight. However, this whole kidnapping thing was still on her mind. What kind of girl would just take someone out of their home and take them to an ar-... Never mind. She was just being dumb.

As they pulled into the parking lot, Kyoshi brought her knees into her chest and laid her head down, hiding her face. What was going on with her? Why couldn't she just enjoy herself?? The silent girl sighed gently and then blinked, turning to face Chessa slightly as she talked about this part of town. Kyoshi had heard of everything around here, but she was never allowed this far from home so she never got to experience any of it. When they got an actual spot, she looked up at the door and blinked, her eyes sparkling a little.

They got out of the car and she walked behind them up to the entrance. As she walked in, her eyes popped open and her jaw dropped to the floor. It was absolutely amazing! There were so many lights and sounds, her mind didn't know where to go to first. She spun around and around, quickly getting dizzy. She stumbled and accidentally grabbed onto one of the siblings, trying to stabilize herself.

The inside wasn't brightly lit, but was lit enough that eye strain wouldn't be an issue. The inside oozed Nostalgia with the Mario "underground" dark brick walls and ceiling. The floor was a basic black tile floor, which the various lights seemed to dance across almost hypnotically. Among the various sounds and voices of players, there was some kind of ambient track playing in the background from a game Kiyoshi may have heard but couldn't remember where it was from.

The sibling she happened to grab onto was Daniel, who was surprised and turned red when she latched onto him to stabilize herself. "You move quick don't you bro?" Chessa teased him.

"W-what d-do you- I mean s-she almost fell an-and I-" Daniel stammered, clearly flustered for a number of reasons.

"Heh don't sweat it bro. Come on! Let's go get your 3DS," Chessa said leading the way deeper inside. Going around a big looking claw machine, they stepped through a doorway in the shape of a warp pipe that led into a much more brightly lit room with a black and white checkered floor, and wallpaper inspired off of the Bomchu Bowling place in Orcarina of Time. A Catchy tune was playing that the three could hear clearly.

There were display shelves here and there with all kinds of gamer related things from little statues, action figures, board games, clothes, and certain special edition consoles. At the counter on the opposite side of the room, was a blond haired teen with a bowl cut and glasses leaning against one hand half asleep. Chessa casually walked up to the counter and gave him a gentle pat on the cheek. "Heeey, Mikey~" Chessa greeted him as he stirred from sleep.

"Hm huh? Oh- it's you guys again. What's up?" he yawned reaching down and getting a Monster he had waiting down there.

"We were in the neighborhood and decided to say high to you Sunshine," Chessa replied sticking her tongue out at him. "And to pick up Danny's 3DS if you're all done with it," she added truthfully. "Mikey" nodded sleepily and stretched once before shuffling off into the back room, which actually led up to him and his brother's loft where they slept and stuff. After a couple minutes he came back with an emerald green 3DS with some gold trimmings and a triforce on the back of the upper screen. "So I take it Tony's watching the prize counter in the Arcade?" Chessa asked curiously, the brothers usually traded positions based on their moods- not that it was easy to tell with twins.

"Oh wow! This looks so cool now! I love that you included the three spiritual stones into the design," Danny gushed with excitement after Mikey gave him his finished 3DS.

"No pro' Danny. And um... I think so... we're supposed to be hiring some new people to mind the counters and utilities but- I don't really wanna deal with new people right now," Mikey replied, yawning half-way through his reply as he started to drift back off to sleep.

"Thank you again Michael!" Daniel said still happy about his 3DS.

"Might have another customer later. Take it easy Mike," Chessa waved as Mikey sleepily waved back at them as they wandered back into the main arcade. "Okay then- Danny, got cash on ya?" Chessa asked him.

"Yes, I have some money," Daniel nodded.

"Cool. You and Yoshi go have fun while I go get some change from Tony," Chessa smirked and went on her way, leaving the two of them together.

Kyoshi squeaked when she realized that she had clung to Daniel's shirt and instantly pushed off of him, gasping for air and signing 'I'm sorry' over and over again. The girl was so embarrassed her entire face was now cherry red. The girl started to panic over such a simple mistake, thinking that something bad would happen to her now. If she had done the same to one of her parents, she'd be on the floor right now with an almost glowing red handprint on her cheek.

When Chessa just teased her brother, Kyoshi blinked, looking up at them extremely confused. It had been something she had thought about and heard about, but never had she seen a happy family in real life before. The sight made her blink and stare as she watched the two of them interact with each other. It was like she was watching a movie. The girl realized she was staring and bit her lip, looking down quickly, sighing gently. Again the thought that she shouldn't be here entered her mind, but she tried to shake it away this time. Even if this was wrong, it felt good to be out of her house.

The girl looked up just in time to see the two siblings walk away and went wide eyed, running to follow them. She had severe social anxiety and they were the only two here that she knew at all, so she made sure to stay with them. As they entered the new area of the arcade though, they were the only one's there so she was free to look around. All of the merchandise had her completely entranced. It was nice to have something to do while the two of them talked to some guy about something else. Kyoshi spent her time looking and dreaming of owning most of the stuff in here. Never in her life had she ever wished she had a job and money more than right now.

Then her brain honed in on the comment that they were hiring here. That sounded like it would be fun. However, the more she thought about it, she realized it would never work. She wouldn't be able to do an interview. Even if she did, this job would definitely involve talking to people, which she couldn't do. Or at least dealing with people, which she also was no good at. She sighed as she thought about how difficult it would be for her to get any job whatsoever.

The girl couldn't dwell on it for too long though as the two siblings again started to walk away and she ran after them. She listened to what Chessa said and went wide eyed, squeaking and holding out her hand as if to tell her not to go, but it was too late. She was gone. Kyoshi looked up at Daniel with bright red cheeks and bit her lip, chewing on it lightly as she tried to think of what to do. Slowly, she signed. -What would you like to do?- The girl was already starting to shake slightly as her anxiety set in.

Daniel was having his own social anxiety. He had trouble dealing with people too but for slightly different reasons. His kind disposition made him a big target for bullies... for awhile. But then people were intimidated by the sight of him and left him well alone. It was a miracle! "W-well uh... um uh," Daniel stuttered nervously. Why did his sister do this to him? He looked around the arcade, trying to find something when he spotted a DDR machine. But then that meant he'd have to dance infront of people, which made him nervous and... yeah nevermind that. "Oh cool, they have Pacman, AND Ms Pacman," Daniel said gesturing to the machines which were conveniently right next to eachother. "Would you like to play one of those?" he offered.

When the boy stuttered, Kyoshi immediately thought that it was because he didn't really want to be stuck with the mute girl. She started to scratch at her forearm, a nervous tick she had along with chewing on her bottom lip. Why was she here again? What had made her decide to actually go with that girl in the first place? This had been a horrible idea and she wanted to get home as quick as possible...

Then he spoke again and mention Ms Pacman. The petite girl looked up at him with wide eyes that he might be able to tell were filling with tears, but at the words of actually playing something, were starting to dry up. She simply nodded and followed him over to the machines. Once the quarters were in and they were playing, a smile slowly formed on the edges of her lips. Before long her tongue was hanging out of her mouth as she concentrated on the game that much more. It seemed that games helped her relax.

Daniel did take notice that Kyoshi was about as comfortable with this whole thing as him, perhaps more so. This didn't set well with him on the principle that a cute girl should not be uncomfortable. He'd have to be more- or rather less socially awkward somehow. As they started playing this became much easier, as they both seemed to relax. "Watch out for Blinky. Aah! We bumped into eachother!" Daniel said as they played, because it was a two player game after all. "Help! They're gonna box me in," Daniel pleaded as he ran from Inky and Sue (the orange one). Yes, this was much better.

Kyoshi felt much more at home playing this arcade game than she ever had...well...at home. It was so strange that she was actually enjoying spending time with this stranger, but she knew that the game was somehow involved. When they bumped into each other and Daniel made a scene, the girl beside him surprisingly giggled lightly, running off in the opposite direction. She was focused on her task when he asked for help. The small girl blinked and nodded, racing over to eat a cherry so that they all became edible. She then went over to help him devour them before the time was up. To be honest, they actually made a pretty good team.

They were onto the next level! And after getting used to the other's play style, the game became abit easier as a result while still getting more difficult during the higher levels. Daniel had been so absorbed in what he had been doing, he didn't notice Chessa lurking behind them curiously. Seeing them enjoying themselves, Chessa decided to wander off and win herself some prizes from the claw machine.

Kyoshi completely dove into the game, allowing herself to be engulfed within the screen of Pacman as she almost forgot that she was playing alongside of someone. Part of her had even reimagined him and assumed that it was an A.I. playing with her. However, she then looked over at him and went wide eyed, squeaking and looking back at the game, blushing wildly. Her heart started to pound in her chest and her game began to slip. She but her lip and tried to get it back, but was cornered. It didn't look good for them.

And then one of the flukes of luck (or simply game code that neither of them would understand) played in their favor. Daniel managed to evade the ghosts long enough to reach the level's last power pellet and turn the tables on them. But this far into the game, this bonus wouldn't last long. Daniel immediately after getting the power pellet, turned on the ghost chasing after him, gobbling up the others as they ran away from Kyoshi. "Booyah!" Daniel exclaimed triumphantly, briefly forgetting where he had heard THAT particular phrase. But only for a second as he remembered where he was and that one or two people had turned to look at him. He coughed and turned red in the face with embarrassment at the display. How long had they been playing exactly?

"Sounds like you guys are enjoying yourselves," spoke a voice Daniel didn't recognize, causing him to jump for a moment. The speaker looked exactly like the other guy basically napping in the other part of the building, except... wide awake and giving off an energetic aura.

"O-oh yes. Sorry if I was too loud," Daniel apologized as the last level was about to start up.

"Nah it's fine. Hey, if you guys can manage to top the high-score before beating this level... they'll be something special for ya," Antonio grinned happily.

Daniel liked the sound of that. "No pressure though," he heard Chessa joke as she returned to watch, arm laden with her "trophies."

"Thank you for leaving some like I asked," Tony looked at her funny.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Chessa giggled, enjoying her plush toy prizes.

Kyoshi blinked when Daniel saved her and sighed, chasing down a couple of the ghosts herself to make sure that they got the maximum number of points before entering the last round. When she heard the voices of a stranger and Chessa, the mute girl just stayed staring at the screen. She gripped the joy stick as hard as she could and started to pant lightly, concentrating on the screen. As it started to load the last level, the girl tugged on Daniel's shirt very lightly to show him that it was time to go again. Having two people watching over their shoulder though wasn't helping. The girl bit her lip and tried her best to maintain focused.