The Crate Escape

[Lamps]

[Meela Paireerak continued from Seventy Five Percent]

Somewhere hidden within the bowels of downtown Las Vegas, there is a open-air shopping center. Within that shopping center, there is a quiet little board game cafe from which the scent of hot drinks and cardboard wafts through the hallways. Inside that board game cafe, there is Meela.

A mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream sits untouched at her lonely corner table. The girl stares at it, holding onto her backpack with both arms as it sits comfortably on her lap. She’s always found the drinks here a little scalding, hence why she doesn’t touch the thing until it’s cooled down. A pair of black wireless earphones play the Advance Wars OST into her ears, freshly converted from Youtube URL to MP3 format.

As Meela’s head rests atop her bag, she lets the chiptune-esque melodies wash over her as time flies by. It’s nice just, letting all this 'nothing' happen for a while, she ponders. This cafe was her personal escape hatch from her own life. There are no tests, no expectations and no Ritas here in this place. Just her, the tables and chairs, a shelf of books and games on the wall, the hot chocolate going cold that she forgot about, the other shelf with minifigures on it and-

SHIT the hot chocolate! It’s probably too cool by now, damnit. Meela pounces at her beverage with both hands and sips it quickly.

Yeah, it’s cold. Ah well, at least the cream’s in-date this time.

[SharkyTGirl185]

Hm. Quiet. One of the few places in this damn town.

((CHESTER BISSETTE - CONTINUED from buzzing))

Chester Bassette glanced around the cafe, holding up a large coffee in his hand. He hasn’t been here before, probably because he stays clear of this noisy and ridiculously themed market place. But, for the life of him he had to get a drink. He glanced around the cafe, seeing most of the tables were taken and he grimaced as it seemed the only tables open were the ones right up against the outside, where all the chattering and laughing were passing by. He mumbled to himself, before he paused and did a double to the corner of the cafe.

Hm…..that girl…Meela? The tech girl from school.

He takes a small sigh through his nose and quietly approached. He paused as he stood near the other end of the table.

“..Hey.” He greets quietly “Meela…right?”

[Lamps]

Meela cleans the chocolatey cream from her top lip with a napkin, not having noticed Chester's presence. Then she hears him, looking up like a deer detecting a snapped twig in the woods. The napkin is still in her hands.

"...Sup. What do you want?"

There were two main reasons guys wanted to talk to Meela face-to-face -- the first, and by far the most common, was that they messed up their phone or computer somehow and needed her help to fix it. She'd had this 'local tech support girl' reputation since her first year of high school and while she embraces it, she'd prefer if they didn't interrupt her when trying to unwind.

The second reason, less common but dreaded infinitely, was that they spotted a short girl in a gaming-adjacent space and felt compelled to chat her up awkwardly. She could always feign an urgent phone call if that happened but, damn it, she didn't want to have to. Was her 'I WANT TO BE ALONE' demeanor not enough to get the message across to these weirdos?

Whatever the case, this guy hasn't even said 5 words yet. He doesn't... seem like a threat yet. Noticeably oily, fits right in with the wargaming crowd but, y'know. Meela's been there before.

[SharkyTGirl185]

Chester stared at her, as if he was processing her very simple question. He glanced away and cleared his throat “Bissette. We uh, we share like a science class I think?”

He decided to give a small introduction. God, talking to people.

He gave a sigh as he gestured to the far end of the cafe “It’s uh, really noisy over there. Wanna drink coffee. You’re quiet. Is this seat taken?” He then gestures to the seat across from her. He gave a sharp inhale, his eyes looking directly at Melanie with a bored and non-confrontational expression.

[Lamps]

Oh. It was the unprecedented third scenario: someone who also hates people happens to have the same idea as her. 'I mean, that's fair enough' she thinks, debating whether she's about to make the right call. '... he can stay for now'. Her eyes drop back down to her drink, swirling the lukewarm liquid with a teaspoon to make it sweeter.

"You're correct. Also nah, take it if you want." she says before taking another sip.

[SharkyTGirl185]

Bissette stared at her, blinking. It was as if he didn’t even think that would work.

He glanced around before pulling the chair and sitting down across from her, releasing a soft sigh as he finally got off his feet. He sniffled, looking around the place for a minuet. He played games before, but he never went to a game cafe because…why? It was stupid.

“Thanks.” Bissette muttered as he took a sip of his coffee…

…and immediately recoiled as he coughed into his arm “Jesus Christ, what temperature are they brewing these things..?”

[Lamps]

"Yeah, fresh coffee's hot." Meela says nonchalantly, not looking up. "They really should warn people about it."

She takes out her smartphone from the pocket of her hoodie, a black Samsung with a sleek, monochrome live wallpaper that moves based on the phone's gyroscope, and lays it on the table. The media player had landed on some boring menu music she should've deleted a while ago, which she swiftly rectifies with a press of the skip button.

All things considered, this was going not terribly. As long as Bissette doesn't exceed this level of social interaction, anyways. She has limits.

[SharkyTGirl185]

Bissette glanced over at the girl, raising an eyebrow at the smartphone and turning away to drink again. Yep. Burns. But we wasn’t about to cough again. He lowered the cup, looking at the people coming and going. Bissette always knew he could read someone well, just by how they; behave; look; and talk. It was a gift he mastered for years.

He glanced over at Meela, pursing his lips. He gives a sigh as he slowly sips the coffee again, his eye twitching from his mouth burning.

“You a fan of this gimmicky place?” Bissette simply question, leaning back as he engaged in a very simple conversation.