“Sounds like we need to visit the ice skating rink next time,” Ryan grinned. “Not that I’m assuming there’s going to be a next time,” he quickly blurted out. He didn’t usually get flustered so easily, but he didn’t want to seem too forward. “I’m just enjoying myself with you,” he admitted, looking across the table and smiling at Nora. Momentarily distracted, he let his guard down, the puck sliding past his reach and into his goal. “Fuck,” the rare profanity slipped from his lips. “That’s not going to happen again.” With Nora finally on the board, Ryan redoubled his efforts, hitting the puck hard in an attempt to score another point. “Who’s to say I wasn’t trying to show you up at karaoke?” he teased, knowing full well that he invited her onstage so he wouldn’t be alone. Looking back on that decision now, he was glad he did. “When I wasn’t doing schoolwork and working, I was here. I was a pretty sickly kid, so I couldn’t really get into sports. I spent a lot of time indoors,” he explained. “The arcade was the one place I didn’t feel so sickly. In here, I could do anything.” With one more forceful strike, the puck found its way into her goal once again. “In here, I was ‘rad.’” Eager to know more about her, he asked, “What were you like growing up?”
Nora was surprised by Ryan’s quick clarification, but even so, she still managed a sly hit that slid the puck home for her. She grinned to herself, letting out a bit of a laugh when he cursed. “My one lucky score of the whole game, I know. -- But ice skating could be fun,” she finally answered, just barely blocking Ryan’s next hit. “I’m good at roller skating, but the few times I’ve tried anything on the ice, I’ve fallen right on my ass.” Truthfully, she didn’t see any reason to not go out with Ryan again. After surviving karaoke together and finding that he had excellent taste in arcades, it seemed like a stretch to wind up clashing. Nora nodded as they bounced the puck back and forth, just to show that she was still listening. She was tempted to ask when the word ‘sickly’ came into play, but if there was one thing that she knew how to do, it was not pry. “Tch,” she clucked her tongue, snagging the puck to toss it back on the table. “You were always in Boston, right?” She asked, glancing across to Ryan. “I grew up a little further north, in Lynn. We lived like, right on the beach, so I was outside a lot. I collected hermit crabs from the tidepools.” It was a random, useless fact from her childhood, but it was just one of those vivid memories that always stuck around. Sweeping her hand back, Nora accidently scooped the puck back into her own goal, the score ticking up again in Ryan’s favor. “Okay, now I know you rigged this machine,” she teased, pointing an accusing finger in his direction. “I went to Salem a lot, too, and they have a cool little arcade, but no air hockey. A lot of older games like skee ball and that fortune teller thing. Like from the Tom Hanks movie, you know?”
