"That's it? That's all we have to do?"
Rain gives a quizzical look to the young man behind the counter, who is obviously frazzled.
"Y-yes sir...as I said...you just knock down the pins at the end of the lane. The computer will keep track of everything else and tell you what your score is."
Rain glances to the side at the bowling lane in question, then back at the young man, growing more confused.
"But...the surface is perfectly flat, with no obstacles...and the err, pins, are all crowded together. If we just hit them in the center with one of those weighted balls, won't they all fall down?"
The young man gives him a confused look.
"Well...yes sir...that's the idea. But I assure you, it's not as easy as you're making it sound..."
Rain opens his mouth to express his confusion again, but a hand suddenly squeezes his arm, breaking his train of thought. He looks over to see Tess holding onto him, an admonishing smile on her face.
"Rain...he's been quite clear, that's just how the game works. Quit wasting time and let's go."
He smiles apologetically back at her and nods, then turns back to the staff member. The young man is once again staring at Tess, completely infatuated. Rain clears his throat, and the young man's head snaps towards him, his face becoming a bit flushed.
'Can't say I blame the poor guy...'
Rain puts on a polite smile, pretending he didn't witness the shameless ogling of his girlfriend, and he offers his wrist with the omniwatch forward.
"Uhm...apologies for all the questions. We'll both be bowling, please. We're with the Academy...here's my ID."
After a brief, confused delay, the young man comes to his senses and scans the watch. Then, he does something on the computer behind the desk, offers them each a strange pair of shoes, and sends them on their way to a specific bowling lane. Rain and Tess take off walking towards it, people openly staring at them as they pass.
Arriving near the lane that's designated as theirs, Rain begins inspecting the bowling balls curiously, looking at the weights of them printed on the sides. He hears Tess behind him.
"Mmm...I'll go put in an order for some drinks and one of those pizzas. Why don't you change into your shoes and get our game started while I'm gone?"
Rain casts a smile at her over his shoulder and nods, then walks over to the nearby couch and starts changing shoes. He hears Tess's receding footsteps near him.
After, he walks to the lane's computer station and starts following the guide to setting up the game, which is pretty straightforward. He just tells it the number of players, then enters their names. In no time, the machine is beeping, and a fresh set of the so-called pins are being machine-placed at the end of the lane. The screen above their lane is telling him to start.
Rain walks over to the rack of bowling balls and, not knowing any better, picks up the heaviest one. He lines up in front of the lane, trying to remember the staff member's advice.
'Right...he said I can't just throw it directly into the pins...I have to roll it.'
As he looks down the lane, he's once again confused by the apparent simplicity of the game. The bowling ball can't weigh more than ten kilograms, so he's certain that he'll have no trouble sending it exactly where he aims it on a flat surface. Shrugging, he pulls the ball back and gives it an underhanded throw down the center of the lane with modest effort.
To any onlookers' surprise, the ball goes screeching through the first half of the lane, barely skidding along the ground. A second later, the ball slams into the front pin with a thunderous crash, blasting all the other surrounding pins into the back of the metal-reinforced lane along with the bowling ball.
Rain stares up at the screen above him, waiting to see if he did that correctly. The screen begins flashing wildly, one word blinking on it over and over again.
STRIKE!
Rain's face pales.
'Oh gods...is that like...a penalty? I wish I'd looked up the rules online now...I just searched for good date ideas and left it at that...'
To his horror, the screen then signals the end of his turn, indicating that it's waiting for Tess now. According to the guy at the counter, he's supposed to get two throws per turn, so the machine is obviously punishing him for something. He clicks his tongue in disapproval.
"Damn it...I knew there had to be more to this...it seemed way too easy. This is going to be tough if there's this many restrictions...but what rule did I break?"
Rain lets out a defeated sigh and flops himself on the couch, turning his attention to where Tess was headed. As his eyes scan the crowd for her, he sees a group of men gathered around the concessions counter, gawking at something. At the end of their gazes, Rain sees a beautiful brown-haired woman wearing a simple, black, knee-length dress. It's Tess.
Rain lets out an amused chuckle. Tess seems to be giving them all a friendly smile, but he's been around her enough to know better. Her eyes are full of annoyance, and the gaggle of men is clearly wearing her patience.
As Tess begins quickly weaving her way through them, making her way back towards Rain, one of the bolder guys steps in front of her. Tess's eyes widen in surprise, and the two seem to share a brief exchange, then Tess gives a terse smile and moves to step past the guy. To Rain's surprise, however, the guy moves in front of her again, holding his hands up innocently with a smile. Rain raises his eyebrows incredulously at the sight.
'Ohhh, she's not going to like that...'
Sure enough, Tess's face twists into a glare, and Rain sees her say one or two words at most to the stranger. In response, the man just smirks and waves his hands dismissively. That's when Rain's body floods with unease, because Tess's face slowly morphs into an unbelievably polite smile, but her eyes turn cold as ice.
'Shit...'
Rain briefly fears that Tess might use her Talent to make the insistent guy do something unpleasant, but instead she just moves to walk past the man again. Once more, the man moves in front of her, trying to convey that he wants to keep talking. But this time, Tess doesn't stop walking...she just steps into him as though he's invisible, driving her shoulder into his chest.
Despite the fact that Tess's actions seem effortless, and the man is at least half a foot taller than her, the man is unceremoniously knocked on his ass as Tess breezes past him coldly. Rain involuntarily grimaces at the display, and the man looks up from the ground at the departing Tess, his face completely stunned.
'Ouch...'
Tess closes the remaining distance to Rain, and plops down right next to him on the couch with a heavy sigh. She lays her head onto his shoulder and glances up at him, eliciting an amused smile from Rain.
"Well...having fun yet? For a moment, I thought that man was about to find himself doing jumping jacks in a corner for the next three hours."
Tess smirks humorlessly.
"Don't be ridiculous, I wouldn't do that..."
He smiles, ready to apologize for thinking she'd use her Siren Talent on a normal human, but Tess continues speaking before he can...
"If his behavior had been unsavory enough to justify using my Talent, then I'd have made him do something far more unpleasant than exercise."
Rain shuts his mouth abruptly, assessing Tess's expression...she doesn't seem to be joking. After a moment, he just clears his throat nervously.
"Ehem...so, did you get the pizza that you wanted?"
Her dark thoughts seemingly forgotten, Tess looks over at Rain suddenly with a wide smile.
"I did! They'll bring it to the table here when it's finished, along with our drinks...I got you water. What about you? Did you get the game started?"
Rain grins sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"Uhm...yeah, it's your turn. It...seems I broke some kind of rule and got penalized though. The computer ended my turn after the first ball, and it was flashing a warning that I got some kind of strike. I probably should have read the rules first...that guy made it sound like all I had to do was hit the pins."
Tess stares at him blankly for a moment, then covers her mouth with her hand as she chuckles. When she responds, her tone is very amused.
"Rain...you dumbass..."
He raises his eyebrows questioningly, and she just shakes her head in exasperation.
"I bet you threw the ball too hard...that's why you got penalized! Didn't you hear the guy at the counter say you are supposed to roll the ball?"
Rain gives her an incredulous look, his voice becoming defensive.
"What, no!? I rolled it! It was touching the ground...mostly!"
Tess gives him a smug grin, then climbs to her feet and walks over to the lane confidently, calling at him over her shoulder.
"Watch and learn, Rain...this needs a lighter touch."
She grabs one of the balls off the rack, lines up in front of their lane, then sends her ball towards the pins. To her credit, the ball does roll properly, but it's still quite destructive. It smashes through the pins, the ball violently slamming into the metal supports at the back of the lane. The screen above begins flashing again...
STRIKE!
Tess looks up at the screen, a stupefied expression on her face. Meanwhile, Rain starts laughing hysterically, covering his mouth to keep the noise down. She glances at him in annoyance, then makes her way back to the couch beside him, avoiding eye contact. When she takes a seat, her expression is embarrassed, and there's a bit of color in her cheeks. He's grinning at her ruthlessly.
"What's the matter, Tess? I thought you were going to show me how it's done?"
She scowls back at him.
"Nobody likes a gloater, Rain. Plus, you got the same penalty I did. Obviously, the first one of us to knock down all the pins without getting a penalty will have bragging rights. I suggest you take your turn."
He chuckles at her and rises from the couch. This time, he rolls his ball even less aggressively than Tess, and it collides with the pins, causing only minor noise. However...
STRIKE!
Seeing the familiar screen alert, Rain clicks his tongue angrily as he walks back to Tess. She's giving him a puzzled expression, and her tone becomes uncertain.
"Hmm...perhaps I was wrong about what the cause of the penalty was..."
Rain shrugs at her dejectedly, then watches from the couch as she lines up her next shot. Her face is one of pure focus, and he can't help but let out a wry smile.
'She's so cute when she gets competitive like this...'
To her great dismay, Tess's second shot elicits a 'Strike!' message as well, and Rain hears her say something very un-ladylike under her breath.
After that, the two spend about half a dozen turns testing various ideas about what the cause of the penalty could be. They try rolling the ball diagonally, not hitting the front pin as directly, letting the ball start rolling before the start of the lane, and making sure the ball impacts at various spots behind the pins – everything gives the same alert.
At that point, they take a break and enjoy the pizza that Tess ordered, which seems to relax her some. While eating, Tess notices a record of some kind on the screen above them, which has nothing but ominous-looking 'X' markings for each of their turns. She glances at him, frustration clear on her face.
"Ugh...this is miserable! How do people do this!? There are only ten slots on that chart up there...does that mean our game will end if we get one more penalty!?"
Rain pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a frustrated groan.
"I have no idea, but that wouldn't surprise me...guess we'll find out soon enough. Jeez, this ended up being way harder than it sounded."
Tess nods dejectedly, munching on her pizza in silence.
After they finish eating, the two are able to take three more turns each for some reason, all of which give the dreaded 'Strike!' alert. At that point, a 'Game Over' message flashes on the screen above them, displaying both of their scores...
Rain – 300
Tess – 300
Rain glances at the sullen Tess uncertainly.
"So, uhm...I guess it's a draw. How bad do you think 300 is?"
She flashes him a disapproving expression.
"What do you think?"
Rain lets out a dejected sigh and nods. Ultimately, they decide that they've been humbled enough by their first game of bowling, and agree to leave. After placing their bowling shoes on the counter as instructed, the young staff member that they first met sees them leaving and calls out to them pleasantly.
"How did it go? We hope you had a good time!"
Rain shrugs at him, his voice embarrassed as he talks over his shoulder to the young man, not bothering to stop walking.
"Well, we're glad we tried it. You were right, though, it's harder than we thought. We got penalties on every single throw..."
With that, Rain and Tess exit the bowling alley, leaving the young staff member with a puzzled expression on his face as he inadvertently mumbles to himself.
"Penalties? What penalties?"