midnight at the arcade

“This is… nice,” said Xayah, knowing she was slightly forcing her smile as she said it.

“You don’t like it,” replied Rakan immediately, tuned to the slightest changes in her voice as usual.

“No, no, it’s not that.” She shook her head and placed a manicured hand on Rakan’s shoulder, smoothing out a crease on his hoodie. “I thought Sett would like a bit more… flair.”

Xayah looked around the empty arcade, flashing lights illuminating a path forward. By now, she knew Sett well enough that an arcade for themselves seemed mild in comparison to some of their other dates.

“What?” asked Rakan. “You don’t think arcades are romantic enough?”

She rolled her eyes at him, following the path laid in front of her, unwilling to admit the idea was quite lovely. Her boys knew her well: she loved competition and gaming was something she loved but didn’t have enough time to do.

The path ended in the space next to the racing games, right in front of Dance Dance Revolution. Xayah smiled. Sett knew his partners too well.

Leaning against the railing, holding a single red rose, was Sett talking to a turquoise-haired, lean guy that Xayah recognized as Aphelios from the many pictures Sett had sent to their group chat ever since he joined the band. Rakan had briefly met the guy a couple of times, but Xayah hadn’t said more than ten words to him so far. It never seemed like the right moment to say something.

“Hi, babe,” said Sett, closing the distance between them to give Xayah a quick peck on the lips, grabbing her hand along the way. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too.”

Before Rakan had time to get on Sett’s case about not getting attention, Sett gave him the rose he was holding. Xayah shook her head.

“For me? Oh, you shouldn’t have,” Rakan said, a light blush creeping up his cheeks anyway.

“And miss that adorable face you make when I give you something as pretty as you? Never.”

Without letting go of Xayah’s hand, he quickly kissed Rakan, then pulled away to give them some space.

“Well, Rakan, you know Aphelios already. Xayah meet Aphelios. Aphelios meet the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“You know, you gotta find a new way to introduce me to people, Sett. This one’s getting old,” Xayah replied with a smile. She nodded in Aphelios’ direction and said, “hi.”

“Hi,” he replied with a small wave of his hand, his voice small and mildly raspy.

After a moment of awkward silence where Sett looked at them as if expecting a fight, Xayah said, “you don’t talk much, huh? It’ll be nice to have some silence sometimes.”

Aphelios smiled at her, his eyes crinkling slightly. “They never shut up, eh?”

“They don’t know how to,” she replied, ignoring the guys’ protests. 

Aphelios huffed, then cocked his head as he asked, “so… Dance Dance Revolution or the Fast and the Furious?”

Xayah looked between the racing stations and the dancing game, but the choice had never been easier.

“Show me your moves, pretty boy.”

With a shrug, Aphelios took off his jacket and walked to the arcade game.

“Babe, Aphelios, my love,” said Sett, a warning in his voice. “Are you sure you want to play a dancing game against a dancer?”

All Aphelios did was smirk at him.

Oh, it was so on.

They ended up playing only 3 rounds because, as Sett put it, best out of three was good enough for a first date. Xayah still felt like she needed to gain some of her dignity back after her first crushing defeat. 2-1 was not gonna cut it. 

Once Rakan and Sett managed to pull them out of the game, they played air hockey, three rounds of races and skeeball. She didn’t do as well in those as she had in Dance Dance Revolution, but in the end, the guys decided to pool their tickets to give Xayah a big plushie from the gift shop. The guy working there clearly couldn’t care less that he was talking to celebrities and Xayah felt so relaxed that she forgot she was a somewhat public person as they went out of the building and a bunch of paparazzi came to try to get their picture.

It took her by surprise to be surrounded by people —even if she knew she wasn’t the one they were probably after, it still made her uneasy— and she froze by the door. Behind her, Aphelios murmured something, but her ears were ringing and the chaos around her didn’t allow her to think fast enough. All she could see were camera flashes, while people called out for Sett asking him about the next Heartsteel release.

Suddenly, someone pulled her hoodie up and took her hand, pulling her forward. She realized Aphelios was guiding her not long after, hyperaware that the paparazzi were zooming in on their linked hands. Rakan was holding the door open for them, frowning.

When they finally got in the car, Sett immediately put the car in reverse and drove away from the photographers as fast as he could.

Turning from his spot on the passenger seat, Rakan’s voice came to her in a haze, “Xayah, are you okay?”

Aphelios squeezed her hand and she looked in his direction. He looked as worried as Rakan sounded.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she lied.

“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t think they’d find us here. Not at this time of the night. It’s past midnight, for fuck’s sake” said Sett, exhausted.

“You know it’s just us, right?” asked Rakan.

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Xayah corrected. “It caught me off guard, that’s all.”

Sett apologized again, but Aphelios cut him off. “Sett, Rakan, can one of you play some music?”

Xayah saw them exchange a look in the mirror, but couldn’t decipher it fast enough. Rakan, on the other hand, was already getting his phone out and connecting to the car’s sound system.

Soft electronic music started playing over the speakers, the kind of lo-fi that calmed her down enough to go to sleep. The car was as silent as it ever got. She leaned her head on Aphelios’ shoulder. 

“Thank you, guys. Save for the last ten minutes, I had fun tonight.”

Xayah closed her eyes as her heartbeat returned to its normal rhythm. The last thing she saw was her boyfriends’ tiny smiles in the rearview mirror. 

She didn’t let go of Aphelios’ hand the whole ride home.