Hello, Wisconsin!

[DSX93]

Okay. Moving on. For now. Hopefully. Because damn, does Terrell not want whatever that was to last for the rest of the ride. Not that he wanted it happening at all, of course.

Anyway, he was looking forward to his next Standard match. Having this kind of motivation had served him well before. Even better than he thought possible. "Well, the next Standard match I have, I'm winning. And I'm gonna devote that victory to you." Yellow light. And cue the

another classic, this time from the game that introduced him to the Final Fantasy series. The timing brought a

to mind. One he thought he'd reference.

"And when I've got it in the bag..." Red light. "I'll, uh..." He waited until the car was stopped before he brought it home with a triangle sign done with fingers he didn't bring together. "Do this. It could be our signal." He wondered if she'd get it. If not, that was okay. He could always bring her up to speed later.

But man, it's cool when a reference comes together like this!

He managed to get Beatriz to crack another real smile with that. She knew he much he loved his references. And with that kind of timing? He was definitely feeling good on the inside, in that adorkable way of his.

Keira kept the trip down Reminiscence Avenue going. "Have you ever been to an arcade and seen one of those shooting games with guns for controllers? It was one of those. It's a zombie game, but when me and B first discovered it as kids, I absolutely refused to acknowledge it as one." They both started laughing. "Because I was growing up on Romero zombies -- Night of The Living Dead and all that -- and those weren't Romero zombies. Like, zombies in House of the Dead, they ran. They came at you with axes and chainsaws, throwing barrels and stuff at you -- and the first time I played it, I got mad because they weren't slow and they weren't trying to eat people."

"You know, now that you bring that up, I don't think the game ever called them zombies either."

"Yeah, it never did, actually. It turns out that they're biologically engineered instead of virus-made."

"So in a way, you were actually right."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "Yeah, I was. How about that? But yeah, the only reason I ever played it more than that one time was because you wanted to play it with me. So I'm there enduring this thing, and because you fell in love with it, I had to keep playing it again and again and again-" Beatriz cut in to remind him..."Dude, you got just as much into it as I did!"

"Yeah, I know, but that's how it was in the beginning."

"You're making it sound like I was dragging you kicking and screaming to that machine!"

"You damn near were! Whenever I tried to say no, you got those watery eyes, and I couldn't say no to that shit!"

Beatriz laughed, then he joined. Green light. "But anyway, we keep trying this thing, and for the longest time, we never made it to the end of the first stage because those things were fast, we didn't know how to aim, kept shooting the scientists you were supposed to save by accident -- and that costs your a life point -- we got that work."

"They tore us up pretty bad."

"We got all the business. They gave us the card, they invited us to the luncheons, we got seats at the table with the big boys discussing how to expand, all of that. But you know, you keep dying so much that you eventually learn exactly what's gonna happen and when, and you know, when you start getting older, you start playing better. But we weren't that much older when those two things started coming together. More like a year? Two? What was it?"

"I think it was like a year."

"Yeah. So I'm stuck enduring this thing for 'like a year' because of Ms. Waterworks back there..." That got him a flipped bird in response, which he ignored with a smile. "...And my kid brain was hoping that if we got far enough, the zombies would start acting right."

"And they never did."

"There were zombies that bit you, but those weren't the majority and they still ran."

"Romero elitist douchebag."

"Fuck you." And then, there it was. The grown-up version of that hurt expression she'd use to reel him in. Every. Single. Time. Hell, he was convinced that if she were to aim it at some unfortunate fellow now, she could make him do anything. But as for himself, here and now? "Hey!" He pointed up at her reflection in the mirror. "Don't you start that with me! I'm immune to that now! Call me every protagonist from every real zombie game ever, because you can be snacking on me until the cows come home, and ain't shit happening!"

And again, she laughed, and a few seconds later, he was laughing with her. "Oh man, I love that game. So many memories." Beatriz nodded her head in agreement.

[ThurmanMermanPlx]

"That's freakin' adorable, T," Keira replied with a laugh. The hand on his thigh gave him a light scratch. "I hope I'll be there cheering you on." She tried to mirror the unfamiliar sign he made with his fingers. It was sloppy at best, but that was okay. She only needed to look out for it, not perform it back.

But she'd be practicing it before her next match too, that was for sure.

She listened to Terrell and Beatriz ramble fondly about the game of zombies they used to play. She made note of Terrell mentioning Beatriz' puppy-dog eyes, but decided not to linger on that. That was, until she pulled it out right there in the back seat.

It was hard to be mad at him. It was kind of cute.

She wasn't laughing, though. But she did get it. But she didn't want to linger on it. Terrell already tried to rescue the mood, and she wasn't about to bring it down again. "Yeah, no, I'm with you. I'm not much of a gamer, but zombies are... well, zombies. Slow, walks funny, craves brains. Zombies with... with guns, and fast reactions, and fast movement kind of defeats the point of being zombies, doesn't it?"

[DSX93]

Not much of a gamer, huh? Well, Terrell had a whole new world to show her. "Yeah, but it gets quarters in the machine. 'House of The Dead' is one of the top names in Rail Shooter genre today, and that came out back in the nineties. It's..." He took a moment to try to find the words for it. "There's a sort of magic to it that just reaches out and pulls you in. It's a little bit like what you did to me." He turned to her for one of those indulgent seconds before putting his eyes back on the road. "You'll see what I mean when we get to Landmark's."

[ThurmanMermanPlx]

Keira returned Terrell's look of fondness. "Pulls you in, huh? Do I need to be jealous of this game? Is it gonna steal you from me?" Her tone and smile made it clear she was just giving him a hard time.

"I'll give it a shot. Pun intended. I suspect there's going to be a lot more 'firsts' in my future. You've already given me several."

[DSX93]

Fishing. That was one thing that Terrell found easy to handle in relationships. The lady throws in the hook, he takes the bait. "Oh, nothing's gonna steal me from you, Key." There weren't many times where he didn't mean the things he said, and this was not one of those times.

The quality present in those words -- that ready devotion...Beatriz considered it both one of his sweetest and scariest. Scary when the girl didn't feel the same way. It's gotten him hurt too many times.

As for those firsts..."I'll do my best to make sure they're all fun for you." Terrell wondered about what they would be, but it felt like a question to save for when they're alone.

The way they're talking and acting around each other really did convince Beatriz of Keira's sincerity, but...there was more that she should ask. But after that slip-up she had, she quickly had second thoughts of doing that now. It was a lucky thing that the mood in this car didn't come crashing down entirely.

As if to answer those doubts, Terrell's bladder told him that it needed relieving. Eying a gas station on the other side of the road and taking a look ahead, he saw that he was one U-turn away from answering nature's call. "Gotta make a quick rest stop, ladies. Anybody want anything while we're at this gas station?"

[ThurmanMermanPlx]

Terrell's answer got a smirk out of Keira. "Good, cause you've gotten your hooks buried pretty deep, and I don't think fragile little me could take having them torn out." She let out a giggle. Fragile was the last thing likely on anyone's mind; she was a fighter, after all. Plus, this went both ways; he had her hooked, too, and he knew it. Keira genuinely didn't feel like she had anything to worry about here, but she learned quickly that she enjoyed the teasing banter. Knowing he was sincere probably helped with that.

"I know you will," she continued, softly at first. "Can't say I've ever been excited about shooting anything before, but I'll let you know if I have an actual problem."

Keira spotted the gas station, and at Terrell's question, her stomach grumbled. Embarrassing, but it drew attention to the more immediate concern...

"Fuck!" Keira shouted suddenly, slamming her fist down on the armrest of the door. "My cinnamon bun!"

Then, realizing her outburst, her hand rubbed at the spot her fist came down on, as if that might make it better. Not that Terrell could even see it, with his eyes on the road. "S-Sorry." She turned sheepishly back to him, offering an apologetic smile. "I, uh... I've learned not to trust gas station food. ...Maybe just see if they have a bottled water?" That was probably safe enough, at least. She'd get proper food when they arrived... maybe this bar would have something.

[DSX93]

Oh, good lord, "That laugh..." It was the kind that reaches in and applies a warm touch to the heart. Made him forget about that bit of back and forth, because he just had to say something about it. "It's the cutest thing I've ever heard. I love it." And he has to come up with ways to keep hearing it. Like that kiss at the red light, there was no choice here. It's gotta be done.

The music kept him from hearing her rumbling stomach, but a certain something would make its way back into his memory soon enough. Terrell jumped in his seat and instinctively tightened his grip on the wheel when gave the armrest a hard knock. Beatriz just plain jumped.

Oh no. The first negative: She doesn't take being on the road without snacks well. Beatriz spent a lot of time traveling to shows throughout Mexico, so she understood, but she still didn't like it. It didn't warrant beating up his car. Keira's apology took the edge off, but she was pulled back into an investigative mood. Something she kept inside for the moment.

She did feel kind of bad for neglecting to remind them about that damn cinnamon bun, though. But it brought this about, so it wasn't all bad. Well, it wasn't good, but it was better that something like this come out early.

"Ah, damn, I'm sorry!" With the incoming traffic being several seconds away as he made the U-turn, Terrell's eyes went back and forth between the road and Keira as she rubbed her hurt hand and offered an explanation that went along with the apology. "You got it. Is your hand okay?"

No, no! T!

Just skipping right over the outburst. Letting it flow by like water off of a duck's back.

It was another frightening quality of his. Something that too many girls had taken advantage of over the years.

[ThurmanMermanPlx]

Keira suddenly felt a bit self-conscious. Probably because Beatriz was in the car; if it had been just Terrell and herself... well, she'd already shown him far more of herself than this.

"Would you believe that I don't normally laugh this much? It doesn't match my theme," she said, tone lighthearted, as she waved a hand over her outfit. It was true. Something about Terrell brought out a side of her that she herself hadn't really seen much, the side that giggled like a shy schoolgirl whenever she got any kind of positive reinforcement. She didn't like her laugh much, if she was honest with herself. Too cutesy. It wasn't really something she enjoyed showing off in public. She'd probably be even more embarrassed about it if the third person in the car wasn't Terrell's close friend. But having him right there beside her was comforting in a way she wasn't sure how to put into words, and having Beatriz out of her direct eyesight probably helped, too.

Then her outburst happened, and she'd been worried he'd be upset with her over her sudden assault on his car. Instead, he was... worried about her hand?? It took her a few seconds to realize she wasn't about to be snapped at.

"Uh, y-yeah, my hand's fine. I've punched faces harder than that. Anyway, you've got nothing to apologize for. It's my own fault for not giving myself enough time for breakfast. I'm sorry for beating up your car over it, I just... sudden, involuntary reaction."

[DSX93]

"It's alright. Water under the bridge already."

Beatriz was going to have to have a talk with him about this the next time they were alone. He is too nice for his own good. Still.

It was a worrisome outburst to him, but at least she apologized for it. Monique wouldn't have bothered with "sorry" if he'd forgotten something of hers, and Lisa definitely would've had something to say to him about it. Something that may or may not have come with a smack. Yeah, not exactly setting the bar high, but he wanted to give Keira the benefit of the doubt.

Terrell parked the car away from the pumps; he'd already filled up the tank last night. "And you're in luck, actually: There's a bunch of good spots near Landmark's. You can get sandwiches, chicken, pizza, Italian, Mexican, and there's a couple Japanese spots around too. Got a taste for anything in particular?"

[ThurmanMermanPlx]

There was a hint of something in Terrell's tone, something that told Keira that it wasn't actually alright. Her smile slipped briefly (but she made sure to put it back on after he parked; no need to let him see her looking worried). Something about this had bothered him... but what was it? Her outburst? Or that he forgot to remind her about her food? Something else? Keira wasn't sure, but he seemed not to want to linger on it, so she wasn't about to ask. Maybe later, when they were alone... if she'd done something to upset him, she wanted to know what it was.

But now wasn't the time. Not when they had a friend with them and a long day ahead. And not when Terrell had to make a pit stop.

Focus on the now. "All of that sounds good. I'm so hungry, I feel like I could eat an entire chicken. Or a pizza or three." She shrugged. "I could go for anything, really. I'll think about it while you're taking care of business." She looked in the mirror, hoping to catch Beatriz's eye. "Any preferences?"

When Terrell took his leave, Keira sat back in her seat, letting her expression fall again, a dozen thoughts running through her head. Beatriz remained in her spot, too. They sat in awkward silence for several moments, before Keira sighed loudly. Then she looked in the mirror again, making a snap decision. She was his best friend, right? Maybe she was imagining it, but might as well ask rather than drive herself nuts over it. "Hey, so you've known him for a while, yeah? Is it me, or did he sound... more bothered than he wanted to admit?" Was that the right word? "I feel like I might have upset him when I hit the door, but he didn't want me to notice."