The two did not stop their excursion through the city there. After leaving the Electronics district, Rick and Lisa wandered into the Entertainment section of town, where they found themselves at one of the large arcades. They wandered through the three story building with the various games trying to decide where to start first. The first floor were where most families stayed to play, the kids playing games that awarded tickets that could be redeemed for small prizes. There were also carnival games where people could try their skills to win a prize. The second level of the building had more traditional arcade games and pinball machines, while the third floor held the first person shooter games, simulator games and other multi player games. It was here that Rick and Lisa had the most interest and Lisa redeemed some cash for credits. Passing one of the cards to Rick they headed to the floor to start playing.
Seeing a popular racing simulator open up, Rick and Lisa jumped into the open seats and raced through a variety of famous city streets. Rick was not surprised by Lisa's competitive nature, and laughed when she became frustrated when he beat her. Rick and Lisa played game after game finally making their way to the back to where a popular Veritech fighter game was featured. Rick and Lisa put their names down on the waiting list and watched on the big screen the other players and fights going on. Looking around, Rick noticed a couple of other pilots he recognized on base giving him and Lisa a once over. Lisa didn't seem to notice them or chose not to notice the stares that they were getting. Rick realized that to the other pilots, it may look to them that him and Lisa were on a date.
Realizing that there was nothing Rick could do about it unless he wanted to cause more speculation about him and Lisa, Rick chose to ignore the looks and watched as Lisa took in the action on the screens.
"Are you familiar with the game, Lisa?"
"Hmmm, the controls seem to be very close to an actual Veritech fighter, I should be okay. Why? Worried Rick?" Lisa arched her eyebrow at Rick and Rick laughed. This was one area where he was pretty confident he had her. She might have beaten him at the dancing game, the Fruit Chop game and some of the other games, but behind the controls of a Veritech, Rick knew he could beat her.
As their names were called and Rick and Lisa took their positions against one another, they were still kidding around with one another. It wasn't until the lights dimmed in the simulator and the two were strapped in that Rick looked over to see Lisa with a very serious look on her face.
As the game began and the two were catapulted in the air, Rick knew that he was going to have to fight for the win.
In the first round, the pilots were given a number of target pods to shoot down in a specific amount of time without getting shot down or hit by debris. It reminded Rick of the time he flew though the astroid belt with Lisa yelling at him through the TacNet and he hunkered down in his seat and gripped the contols to better maneuver through the obstacles.
Rick barely came out ahead after the first round totally impressed with Lisa's flying skills. He was surprised that someone who spent most of her time on the bridge or attending to administrative duties still had the type of control over her fighter.
The second round was a search and rescue mission, where in Battaloid mode, they individually worked to reach the captives, free them and avoid capture themselves. Lisa won this round, although Rick noticed that Lisa seemed to be frustrated with the lack of response from the controls at times and was visibly annoyed when they entered the third and final round.
In this round the two opponents were fighting one another and although Rick barely scratched out the win on this round, he was fazed by how good Lisa was at handling her Veritech in all three modes. His win was not by a knockout but due to doing more damage to her fighter than Lisa did to his, however the payout waiting for them both at the end of the game was an unexpected prize. Their game had single handedly beat previous high scores in each round and earned credit back for every subsequent hit, score or milestone achieved. They both earned a round of a applause from those watching their fight on the big screens as well as credits that they were able to redeem back for cash.
Lisa and Rick left the arcade, laughing and retelling different moments of the game and their experience. They agreed to use the cash they received towards dinner and the two went to look for somewhere to eat. They both subconsciously agreed that Chinese food was out.
"How did you get so good at this Lisa? I didn't think that you would come out here to play." asked Rick as they walked to the food court.
Lisa hesitated before responding. "Well, I think I already told you that I graduated the top of my class at the Academy and that did mean I earned top scores in Flight School too. I also couldn't fulfil my duties of Flight Control Operations if I didn't have a good understanding of how to fly and operate the Veritech's myself. I don't get much practice in anymore, but l still hit the simulators on base sometimes."
Satisfied with her answer the two continued on with their adventure looking for a fun spot to grab some dinner. They ended up at a small eatery, that was doing a bustling business serving a variety of Medittreanean and Middle Eastern Foods. With the good smells coming from the kitchen, Rick and Lisa ordered a variety of items, falafels, gyros and pomegranate chicken all served with a Greek salad and pita bread.
Rick couldn't believe what a good time he had been having and honestly knew it was one of the best days he'd had in a very long time. Lisa seemed much more relaxed as he had ever seen her and he couldnt help admire how pretty she was. It wasn't just her classical good looks that drew him, but her underlying strength and the softness that she hid from everyone that attracted him the most. It was easy to see her as just another by the book officer when they were on base, but out here, he realized that there really was so much more to Lisa than even he had thought.
Lisa was also pleased with being able to spend some time with Rick. Her duties definitely kept her busy, but she knew that part of her reasoning for keeping herself busy was to try and get over her crush on Rick Hunter. Lisa thought that over time that the feelings she had for him would slowly fade, but inadvertendly spending the day with him today, made it more obvious to her that her feelings were not that of a mere crush. Being with him, made her heart beat a little faster and also gave her some hope that all would be well in this terrible war that they were currently in.
As they finished the baklava that came at the end of their dinner, Lisa sighed contentedly, "I haven't eaten that much in so long Rick, the food was delicious."
Rick had to agree and suggested that the two walk back to base to work off their meal. Rick didn't want the night to end and wanted to prolong this contented feeling he hadn't had in a long time. His worries about Minmei were forgotten and Rick wondered how to approach Lisa about going out with him again.
The walk back was a bit quieter than their day had been, both not knowing what to say to one another and both wondering what the other was thinking. Suddenly loud whooping and yelling were heard behind them and a group of teenagers on skateboards came flying down the sidewalk towards them. In a hurry to get out of their way, Rick nudged Lisa closer to the building they were walking next to and he turned towards her and braced his arms around her, giving the teens the chance to pass. Sheltered in his arms, Lisa could hardly breath. It was evident that Rick was no longer the boy she had first met so long ago, not only had he grown taller but he exuded a manliness that she could not deny being attracted to.
As for Rick, as he looked down in Lisa's eyes, he could see a flicker of some sort of recognition, a need that he had not seen before. Her eyes seemed to darken in color and her face was a bit flushed. Her hands lay on his chest and Rick could hear her breathing softly quicken.
In a low concerned voice Rick asked, "Are you okay?"
Lisa felt like she could barely respond, his phyical closeness affecting her so much, she looked up to find Rick's dark blue eyes searching hers and she had barely let out a whispered "yes" when she felt Rick's lips touch hers.
At first the kiss was just a soft feathering graze, his lips barely touching hers, but it didn't stop there. Rick, so caught up in the feeling, didn't wait for any type of acceptance from Lisa, instead gave into some of his own yearnings, leaned down and pressed his lips more deeply into hers.
Lisa couldn't believe what was happening. Was she hit in the head and dreaming now or was Rick Hunter really kissing her? Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Lisa tentatively kissed Rick back, only to find that her positive response seemed to encourage him more and Lisa soon found herself being thoroughly kissed by Rick and her own arms wrapped themselves around his neck, while his hands found his way to her waist.
As they broke apart to catch their breath, Rick rested his forehead on Lisa's and looked into her eyes. He could see the warmth in her eyes and the questions that she seemed to have. Not yet having all the answers himself, Rick felt her slowly let go of him, but he held onto Lisa. Trying to put a coherent sentance together, Rick gazed at her warmly and said, "I hope this means that if I ask you out for a date, your answer would be yes?"
Lisa smiled her shy smile and Rick suddenly very happy, tucked her hand into his arm and escorted her back to base.
Author's note: Once again, thank you for the reviews! I love hearing what you have to say about this story and the encouragement to have me write more. Hoping to be able to get this story out faster too, I just got a keyboard that connects to my tablet via Bluetooth, so I have a real keyboard to type with. Yay!