186 Phase 141: Date (1)

He didn't flail. He didn't stumble. When Colin fell flat, he just fell flat. One moment he was strolling along in a leisurely manner, the next, he was completely on the ground, face down on a yellow tile with both arms stretched out on either side of his head.

All of it happened in a split second or so, but Alicia replayed it over again in her mind in slow motion.

There he was, strolling along, when her words registered in his head, and then his eyes widened, his jaw dropped, his feet got caught between strolling on and freezing on the spot, resulting in him somehow going up on tiptoes of his right foot and then tipping over very, very quickly... the look on his face, stunned to absolute speechlessness as he tilted forward, his brain too frozen to even think about recovering his balance or catching himself... falling forward so fast, he probably didn't even realize he was falling until his nose hit the dirt.

Then, *THUMP* landfall, and done.

Alicia's smile covered her entire face.

But then a thought slipped through her amusement. {It's a good thing this is in a Dream, or else his face would be very hurt indeed. Might have broken his nose or his teeth or even injured his eyes.}

Alicia's smile slipped. She had been on the verge of playing the scene over and over again in her head, but the thought of injury like that stilled her humor. All too quickly, she was reminded of something she had hoped to forget about, at least for a night. All too easily, her memories haunted her, the scent of antiseptic, the beeping of a machine that followed a heartbeat, and the look on her mother's face while on the hospital bed.

It was not by whim nor merely for Colin's dad's sake that she was staying over at his place these few days.

Speaking of Colin, he was still face-down on the ground, not getting up, or even stirring.

"Oh, relax." Alicia nudged him with a foot. "It's to disguise ourselves with matching masks so you won't get recognized and chased by the Cult. This is a city, remember? The Cult's in charge now. If they say the word, the police here have to arrest you and take you to them."

At last, Colin stirred. He said, "Oh."

"Just 'oh'?" Alicia's eyebrows rose. "Not even 'ow'?"

"Ow." Colin said, as if to correct himself. "Very 'ow'."

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Come on. Let's go find us some free masks."

***

Oddly enough, Gracie saw them together.

She was there, in Boom City, having registered for the Newbie First Steps Technique Tournament. It was only available for Travelers less than a night into their Journey and was supposed to be quite easy since most new Travelers never bothered to go all the way to Boom City for a cheap prize (a choice of a Fin Turtle Comrade, a Desert Lynxmouse Comrade, or 300cr), but it was a bonus quest for Gracie's new Guild, which kindly offered to transport her there for free. The reward for the bonus quest was a limited premium item; a water-resistant scarf of purple, green, or yellow.

{Dani at the Sunshine Gym was talking about Desert Lynxmice with that higher level Traveler. She mentioned they needed to be kept warm in colder places. If I win, I'll take both the scarf and the Desert Lynxmouse and I'll keep it nice and warm and cozy.}

But the Tournament only started an hour from now, and in the meantime, she saw something Very Interesting indeed.

Colin and Alicia were picking up Free Couple Masks at the South Gate.

{I KNEW IT!} Gracie pumped a fist triumphantly. {They're together! And it's just the two of them! And they're taking matching masks! In a fun place like Boom City! It's got to be THAT! It has to be!}

"It's a {date}!" Gracie whispered to herself in a conspiratorial tone with a large grin. "Oh, I got him this time! I got him good! Mom's gonna hear all about this!"

They were having a bit of an issue with the guys handing out masks. It seemed they wanted something else, a bird or a dog or something, but they were given matching mouse faces. Between one thing and the other, they managed to get their masks changed, but the best they were allowed were hamsters... and with that, they were whisked away.

"Wait! Where are we going?!" Colin yelped loud enough for Gracie to hear.

"Of course, you {have} to be given the Love Tour!" the guy yelled back as his colleague, a long-haired girl in a blue uniform and sports cap, dragged them both to some kind of auto-cart.

Colin wasn't done protesting. "But we have a Competition...!"

"No 'buts'! We put a lot of effort into putting this special event together!" The girl in blue flared. "Now, SIT DOWN!"

Colin sat down with a gulp. But still, he whined, "How long is this going to take? We need to train!"

Gracie's lips tightened. {Why is he still thinking about TRAINING? He's on a DATE for crying out loud! Pay Attention!}

She crept closer and closer, her own attention so focused on her brother and his date that she didn't notice the guy handing out masks approach her until he cleared his throat.

Gracie jumped, saw him looking at her questioningly, his head tilted to one side. She grimaced sheepishly, then gave him as innocent a grin as a guilty-looking girl could manage.

"Your sister?" the guy nodded toward Colin and Alicia.

"Brother." She clarified.

The guy let out a soft chuckle, then handed her a rabbit mask, gray with white cheeks, the inside of the ears quite pink.

"What's this?" Gracie asked.

"Rabbits have sharp eyes and ears." The guy told her, with a mischievous look on his own face.

Realizing that she'd found an ally, Gracie's grin turned sincere and very broad indeed. She put on the rabbit mask and immediately saw what he meant. {This} mask was equipped with a magnification function and focused audio enhancement to boot.

"Tug your right ear to focus your hearing on what you're looking at." He advised. "Tug your left ear to revert. Same system with the whiskers and the eyes. Return it here once you're done."

"Thank you!" Gracie exclaimed and dashed after Colin and Alicia as their auto-cart started rolling down the street. Her hand went to her ears, and then she could hear what was going on in the cart as if she were there too.

There was an upbeat tune playing in the cart, something Gracie recognized as one of the recent popular love songs. The two of them were sitting in total silence, exchanging glances, each of their hamster faces looking at the other.

"Aww." Gracie grinned. "He's finally paying attention to her!"

She hurried to catch up, then slipped behind a tree just in case one of them turned around. From there, she dashed over to take cover behind a bush, and then ducked beside vending machine.

They were stopping by a cotton candy stall. From the way Colin was waving the seller off, it looked like it hadn't been his idea. Come to think of it, that auto-cart didn't come with a steering wheel or anything; everything was automatic. It took a short while, but Alicia eventually just reached out and grabbed the cotton candy and that was the end of the delay.

Gracie tuned in her ears, trying to hear what they said next.

"...We don't actually need to buy cotton candy." Colin grouched.

"Forget it. The longer we argue with him, the longer we'll be stuck there." Alicia told him. "Besides, it's not that expensive."

"5 cr is the price of a can of tuna at Port Frichi!" Colin protested. "It's over-priced! And they said the masks were free??"

"The masks were free. But they have to make money somehow. We should have expected something like this." Alicia pointed out. "Just relax already. It's done."

Colin sighed. Then again, there was a long silence.

{Why aren't they talking?} Gracie growled. {Is Colin too shy? Are things only just getting started between them?! But they've already gone shopping together! He's even bought her clothes! Don't tell me that was their first date and this is only the second?! Oh, Colin! You shouldn't buy a girl clothes on the first date! It's too early!}

They stopped at a game stall where the objective was to shoot at moving targets while both of them held the same gun together. Again, Colin protested, especially when the game was 3cr for 3 shots.

"Stop complaining already!" Gracie blurted. "You're ruining everything!"

"Gracie?!" a low voice called from behind her.

Gracie jumped spun around to see Larry standing there, scratching his head at her. He asked. "What are you doing?"

"Hush!" Gracie tapped her lips, as though Colin and Alicia could hear him from all the way over there. "They're are on a date!"

"Who?" Larry, as always, looked blur.

"Colin and Alicia!" Gracie said, waving toward them. "Grab a rabbit mask! Tell them it's your sister on a Love Tour!"

"Love Tour?" Larry blinked, but he went and came back with a rabbit mask sure enough.

Meanwhile, Alicia had taken charge of the gun and Colin was just grudgingly laying hands on it while she aimed and fired. The targets moved fast, and kept changing directions and speed. All three shots missed, but then they started slowing down.

"3cr for another 3 shots. The second round will be slower." The guy at the shooting stand told them.

"NO WAY!" Colin flared.

"The prizes are the same." The guy assured them. "See? There's that big stuffed tiger still available..."

"Just one more!" Alicia raised her hand. "I can hit it! I know I can!"

Colin gave up at that point and let Alicia take her chances.

Again, she fired. Once, twice, thrice... and the third time almost scored. But in the end, all three missed, and the targets slowed down even more.

"3cr for another 3 shots." The guy sounded confident now that Alicia was hooked. "Same prizes! Slower speed!"

"One more round!" Alicia declared, clapping a hand over Colin's mouth before he could say anything.

Gracie jumped. {Oh! His lips are on her hand! Is that a kiss?! Does that count?! And she was the one who made the move!}

"She really doesn't like to lose." Larry observed next to Gracie as Alicia took her shots. Once... twice... a third time... but again, she missed.

"Are you {changing} the speeds?!" Alicia demanded.

"Of course the speeds keep changing. But it's slower, I promise. And the next round is even slower." The guy said.

"But it speeds up at all the worst times!" Alicia flared.

The guy shrugged. "It's entirely random."

Gracie eyed the other guy sitting behind the booth watching Alicia closely, one hand on a control stick. Something told her the targets speeds were not random at all. She growled to Larry. "That's not fair."

"That's how they make money." Larry shrugged.

Just then, Colin called out to a guy with a blue bunny passing by. "Philip! Hey, Philip! HELP! Get us out of here!"

"What? Colin?? Why?" Philip looked quite surprised.

"We're stuck!" Colin waved at Philip as if he couldn't see them already. "The seat harnesses won't budge!"

But it was too late. The auto-cart trundled on, leaving Philip scratching his head at their backs. He glanced at his blue bunny. "Maybe we should..."

"NO!" Gracie shouted, leaping up. "Don't get in the way!"

"What?" Philip blinked.

"They're on a {date}! Don't interfere!" Gracie dashed forward, Larry trailing along behind her. "Don't mess up Colin's date!"

"What? Colin's on a date?" on the side, a girl entirely in red spun around. She glanced up at a woman similarly garbed all in red and said, "Mom...?"

"Go ahead." She told the girl, and the girl grinned. She scurried forward as Gracie did, catching up to her as they reached Philip.

"How do {you} know Colin?" Gracie asked, surprised.

"Oh. We Traveled together. We raided a dungeon together." She told Gracie. "And you?"

"He's my brother!" Gracie declared.

"Ah!" the red girl grinned and held out her hand. "I'm May."

"I'm Gracie." They shook hands.

"And I'm wondering what's all this about." Philip added.

"Like I said!" Gracie repeated hotly. "Colin's on a date with Alicia!"

Larry finally caught up with them. He said, "They're getting away."

"Oh no!" Gracie spun to see that Colin and Alicia's auto-cart was pretty far off by now. "Grab a rabbit mask if you want to watch, but don't interfere!"

With that, Gracie dashed after her brother and his date just as they approached the roller coaster.

Seeing their next stop, Colin at first looked like he would seize his chance to make a dash for it, but then the auto-cart kept going and then stopped not at the ticket booth, but on the track itself.

"Oh no. Don't tell me..." Colin gulped.

The roller coaster train hummed up to them and very firmly latched on to their auto-cart... with the two of them right in front.

"Oh scrap." Colin said.

Gracie lunged forward. "Let's go!"

"Where?" Philip asked. Gracie turned to find him right behind her with a rabbit mask, the girl in red next to him.

"On to the roller-coaster!" Gracie waved them to follow as she herself darted for the ticket booth.

As they rushed to catch the next ride, someone called from behind them. "Philip?!"

"Kat!" He waved at her. "Come on!"

"What's going on?!" Kat asked, as she hurried forward.

"Colin's on a date!"

In twenty seconds flat, all five of them were on the roller coaster behind Colin and Alicia.