Ready, Set, Date ((Henry))

[Anna Robertson]

Today had been a long day for Anna. Whenever she got excited about things it was difficult to contain her enthusiasm and today she was definitely excited. It was the day of her date with Henry and they were going to be go karting and mini-golfing and overall just having fun. Even if this wasn't going to be a date and been going with friends, she'd be excited for it. Who didn't love a good day at the arcade? The problem was, the enthusiasm also made it really difficult to get any work done and she needed to get some done before she left. So, she forced herself through her history essay, almost giving up several times because it was taking longer than anything else in her entire life and was more boring than the time she'd had to sit through a three hour Catholic wedding for her step-father's cousin. Ugh. At that point she'd thought nothing could ever take so long again, but she was wrong. Trying to write a history essay on a boring subject on the day that you were headed on a date with a completely hot guy to a totally fun place, that was the longest day.

Once she'd finally finished, she decided that she was done for school work even though she did still have a bit of time left before she'd even need to start getting ready. She hopped in and took a long shower, blow drying her hair and putting on some light makeup before heading over to her closet to pick out her outfit. Which had to be somewhere between casual and adorable given their choice of activity. After searching through some options, she made her choice in shirt and pants and then finished up everything else. By the time that she was done, it was an acceptable time to leave and get there around the time when she and Henry were supposed to meet. Throwing on her coat, along with a scarf and a hat, and grabbing her room keys she made her way out of the building and started downtown. Arriving to the Powerplay Center and pulling out her phone to see that she was somewhere around five or six minutes early, given how quickly she'd walked from her dorm room. Oh well, it wasn't too terribly cold out and even if Henry got there last minute, she wouldn't be waiting too long.

[Henry Blackburn]

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Henry had to say, he was pretty glad about this turn of events. Though he hadn't gotten to spend as much time talking with Anna as he might have wished on that first night they'd met at the Hurricane, they had texted one another and IMed a couple of times ever since, and they had in the meantime established a time and place to have a first date. After all, there was no way he was gonna let the opportunity of going on a date with her slip through his fingers, so he'd decided it would be better to make his move sooner than later. Granted, he had no doubt that if he had taken too long for her taste, she would have come forward and suggested a date herself, because she didn't seem like a shy girl in any case, and he figured she probably did what had to be done to get what she wanted. Not that he thought he was so terribly special, but it was clear that she had been just as interested in him as he had been in her at the club, and he had not doubt that their first date would go well. After all, how many girls wanted to go go-karting and mini-golfing on their first date?

It had taken him a bit by surprise too when she'd suggested that, but he'd definitely been game. After all, who didn't enjoy a nice day at the arcade center? Not that he'd gone very often in his life if he were completely honest, but he liked playing those kind of games just as much as the next guy, and the main activities that they had planned for today were some he definitely enjoyed as well. He was also glad with how casual this would make their first date, because he always felt like there was an edge of awkwardness when trying to make it too formal, like going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant or something. After all, he was just getting to know the girl, and though he wasn't a cheapskate, he still preferred not to pay a hundred bucks or more on someone he didn't know that well yet. He'd managed to fill up his day fairly well with school work, trying not to think too much about the evening before him, and once it'd gotten to about half an hour before their meeting time, he'd gotten on a clear pair of jeans with a gray t-shirt, figuring there was no point in trying to dress up. After grabbing his coat, wallet and keys, he'd gone on his way to the PowerPlay Center, making it there with a couple of minutes to spare and grinning slightly when he spotted Anna. "So, are you ready to go? Fair warning, I don't downplay for girls," he told her teasingly.

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[Anna Robertson]

To some people, the choice of an arcade for a first date might seem like a weird choice to make. Most people preferred like dinners or shows or something, but that wasn't who she was. Besides, in her opinion, it was a pretty boring way to try and get to know someone. Why wouldn't she try and do something fun instead? They'd be able to still talk to one another, find out a bit more about each other, and on top of that she'd be able to find out how fun he was. Which was way better because if for some incredibly strange reason Henry turned out to be a total bore on this date, not even his amazingly hot good looks could save him from her deciding that it wasn't worth it. She hadn't had a lot of relationships, but hell if she'd ever date someone who was boring. She needed too much fun in her life to be stuck with someone who was in snoresville and anyone who knew her could easily understand why. Routines were boring and she had a short attention span, that was all that needed to be said. Luckily, Henry had agreed to her request for the date, even if he'd seemed a bit surprised by the suggestion.

She was sure that they'd have fun though and maybe even some more fun later, depending on how well the rest of the date went. When she saw Henry arrive she grinned, standing up and making her way to meet him as he made a teasing comment about not downplaying for girls, to which she simply laughed. "Thanks for the warning," she replied, just as teasingly. "But I should warn you, I don't downplay for dates and you're going to need all the help that you can get." Even though her tone was still teasing, she was kind of serious. She did happen to have some skills in both mini-golf and go-karting. Not that she was amazing at either, but she still usually did fairly well and wasn't ashamed to admit it. After all, why not try and be a little impressive on a first date? Heading inside with him, she made sure to get a locker to put her stuff in, not feeling like carrying it around the whole time they were there. Putting her coat, hat, scarf and bag inside of it. And since she'd picked the general idea for a date, she figured that she might as well let him have the first choice in activity that they'd do. "So, where should we start?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

[Henry Blackburn]

img src="https://image.ibb.co/b9ssUF/Henry002.png" style="max-width:100%;"]

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It was pretty rare that Henry came across a girl who had a novel idea as to what she wanted to do on a first date. It wasn't like a hundred percent of his previous dates had consisted of the usual dinner and a movie evening, or just one of the two in some cases, but still, it was a vast majority that tended to go that way. He didn't really mind, they were usually good enough first dates - dinner allowed him to have good conversations with the girl, and movies... well, let's just say he'd rarely payed for movies that he'd watched all the way through. Still, he was glad that Anna had come up with something like this. It was out of the ordinary, which he figured matched well enough with her general personality. She was a pretty upbeat and lively girl, and she seemed to do things her own way, and he liked that about her. Granted, he didn't know her all that well yet, considering the fact that they'd met each other very recently, but he planned on changing that, and tonight was just as good as any other time to do that. He had no worries about the outcome of this date night.

He grinned slightly as Anna laughed at his warning before thanking him for it, raising an eyebrow slightly when she went on to say that she didn't downplay for dates so he was going to need all the help he could get. "Well, if that's the case, I'm sure this is bound to be an interesting day," he said with a smile, following her inside the arcade and getting a locker for his own coat after Anna payed for hers to put her stuff in. he turned to look at her when she asked where they should start, glancing around the room and debating on what he felt like doing right now. "I'm thinking go-karting should be a nice starting point," he said after a few seconds of thought, heading with her over to the section where the go-karting course was. "You know, if this is gonna be an evening of competitions, maybe we should make the outcome of these races and games a bit more interesting," he added, the teasing tone still present in his voice. He didn't really have anything in mind as to how exactly they could make it more interesting, but they were two pretty smart people, he was sure they could come up with something.

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[Anna Robertson]

Anna wasn't someone easily contented and anyone who knew her was well aware of the fact. She got tired of things if they were always going on and honestly she didn't see how other people managed to like being stuck in routine all the time. Didn't they get tired of just doing the same things all the time? There were so many experiences to have in life and she wasn't one who wanted to miss them. Sure, there were plenty of things that she'd have to do more than once in life and some were even enjoyable and things that would want to be done more than once. But if you had the choice to do something new instead, why wouldn't you? At least Henry had been game for the idea that they didn't do the boring dinner and movie routine. Sure, if things went well they might end up in that position anyway, but it was best not to start out that way. Give it some time before they had to go on normal and boring dinner and movie combos. Besides, she was pretty picky in her choice of movies anyway. If she was going to sit through a few hours of something, it better at least be entertaining.

As soon as Henry said that they could start with the go-karts she was ready to go. So, she didn't have her license yet - not surprising given her age - but she had plenty of experience in driving go-karts and she was pretty good at it. Plus she wasn't afraid to bump a little, even if that was technically against the rules. She raised an eyebrow at him as he suggested that he make the outcome of the races a bit more interesting if they were going to be competing against each other all evening. "I'm in," she grinned, having no clue what was on the line but not really caring. This was supposed to be about fun, right? "So, what can you afford to lose?" She taunted. Maybe she wouldn't win everything, but she did tend to be pretty confident in her skills. Besides, depending on what the prizes or punishments were to be, it might not be a bad thing to lose every once in a while against the attractive Senior. "I mean, since obviously, I won't have to worry about losing." She stuck her tongue out at him, interested in what he was going to come up with.

[Henry Blackburn]

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The last thing Henry wanted was to appear arrogant or full of himself, certain of his impending victory. He was mostly playing around with Anna, and he definitely hopped she wouldn't take his teasing for what it wasn't. Seeing how she was responding to it though, it didn't seem like it was a problem as she seemed to have a very similar mindset to his own. He couldn't lie, he liked that too. Liked how confident she seemed and the way she held her own. He didn't exactly know her well yet, but he didn't think it would be wrong to say that she was definitely one of a kind, and that was definitely one of the things that had attracted him to her in the first place. She had a bright personality, and she didn't try to hide it - everything about her, from the way she talked to the way she dressed, to even her hair, spoke for it. And while he knew some people didn't like girls like her, simply because they felt overshadowed, he was really attracted by it. Besides, he figured there was no reason to feel overshadowed by a great personality if you had one of your own - people who fell in other people's shadows were often those who couldn't stand up for themselves, regardless of who they were with.

He was definitely curious to find out just how much skill Anna had at these arcade games, considering the fact that she seemed pretty confident in her abilities to kick his ass. And seeing as she didn't seem to worry too much about her iminent victories, he was fairly sure she wouldn't mind his suggestion of making this date a bit more interesting by making it a bit more of a competition. Admittedly, he didn't really have any ideas as to what could count as a prize or whatever they would play for, in spite of it being his idea, but he had no worries they would ultimately figure something out. "How about we take it as it goes?" he said with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Whoever wins gets to pick their own prize. Loser has to comply - as long as it's mostly reasonable," he added with a slight grin. He wasn't too worried about giving warnings against things that a middle schooler would pick as punishment, such as licking the floor or eating a packet of mustard - which he knew from experience was disgusting. "Sounds like a deal?" he asked as they got in line for the go-karting section.

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[Anna Robertson]

The bragging that Anna was doing might not sit well with everyone, she knew as much from years of experience. Some people would call her overconfident or not fun or whatever else they wanted to say about her choices in letting her skill be known. And maybe they might be right, after all she had no idea how much skill Henry possessed when it came to playing arcade games or racing go-karts. Maybe he was an expert and he'd easily put her in her place and make her look foolish, but the thing was, she didn't really care if that was the case. She knew that at the very least she had some skill and enough to warrent being proud of herself, even to the point of doing a bit of trash talking. The most important thing was that she wasn't a sore winner or loser, for the most part. Sure, sometimes she could get a bit upset when she lost something that meant a lot to her or when she felt like she'd been cheated out of it, but it didn't last for all that long. Life was too short to be upset about a lost game for more than a few minutes.

She waited for his answer in regards to what they'd be betting, figuring that whatever it was, she would be game. So long as it didn't turn out to be something really terrible, but she figured that it was highly unlikely. At his suggestion of taking it as they went, she gave a nod, figuring that it was as good a plan as any. Even more so when he added the bit about winner picking the prize and loser complying to it, so long as it was within reason. "Sounds like a deal," she agreed with a smile, stepping into line in front of him. Given the lack of people, when they were actually let in, they ended up in a the same row with her in the go-kart in front of him. After pulling her hair up with the ponytail that she'd brought along - seeing as the arcade only ever gave out rubber bands and that was no fun - she buckled herself in and waited for the guy working to come along and check it, noticing that he chatted for a few moments longer than necessary but not really paying him any mind. Instead just waiting for the light to go, hitting the gas as soon as it turned green.

[Henry Blackburn]

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Henry had to admit, he was tempted to let Anna win on purpose just to see what she would then have him do - however, he was pretty sure she would be able to tell if he just threw the race and he had no doubt she would then call him out on it. Besides, he was starting to get some pretty good ideas of what he could have her do - nothing inappropriate of course, he wasn't that kind of a guy, though he definitely couldn't deny the appeal. And he couldn't help but be hopeful that she would be on the same train of thought as him, so that it would make for an interesting evening regardless of who won what. After all, they would probably be here for a good amount of time, or at least however long she wanted to stick around, so there would be plenty of opportunities for each of them to win a few times. It wasn't like he was a sore loser either, so he didn't care if she ended up beating him at a few things, though he did have a competitive strike to him, which was another reason why he didn't want to just let her win on purpose. After all, there was no fun in a game if someone wasn't playing fair.

He walked up to the line for the go-karts, taking a step back to allow her to pass him and following along as they started letting people on. He took a seat in his go-kart once he was let in, watching her as she pulled her hair up and just taking in the shape of her body one more time - or at least what he could see of it. He could tell that the employee who came along to check her seatbelt was doing the same thing too, not feeling too bothered by it - for one thing, he didn't feel like the other guy had anything on him, and for another, it wasn't like he had a claim on Anna at this point, so if she decided that she was more attracted to someone else, there was nothing he could do about it. Thankfully, it didn't appear to be that way, and he grinned slightly as he got himself ready and the light turned green, hitting the gas and doing his best to catch up to her. They went through a few laps, switching positions quite a few times thorought the time alloted, and as they started on the last lap he was confident that he was in it to win - until she passed him in the last turn, narrowly beating him. He shook his head a bit as he got his go-kart back in the line and hopped out of it, waiting for her to do the same. "I want a re-match," he told her teasingly as soon as she was standing next to him.

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[Anna Robertson]

Anna was pretty sure that nothing could be more fun of a first date than going to the arcade and battling it out in competition. Maybe it wasn't the thing for everyone, but thus far Henry seemed to be enjoying himself and while they were speeding around the track with each other it was definitely fun. She found herself laughing when she passed him and fighting to take back the lead when he stole it from her. It seemed that they were pretty evenly matched for the most part. She had confidence that she could win, but she had to admit that he was good and he was definitely holding up to his word about not downplaying for girls. Good thing too because she couldn't stand guys who treated her like she was breakable or needed things to be brought down to 'her level' since that definitely was not the case. And if he had even thought about taking it easy on her, she would have made his punishment for losing not a pleasant one in the slightest since they didn't exactly set limits on what could or couldn't be done as far as tasks.

For a minute, she really thought that he was going to win, but she managed to slip past him at the last turn and come in ahead of him. Causing her to throw her arm up in the air in victory and grin. When she was allowed to exit the go-kart, she undid her seat belt and stepped out of the car. Heading over to meet Henry with a triumphant smile, rolling her eyes as he told her that he wanted a re-match. "Admit it, you lost fair and square," she replied with a smirk. "But maybe later we can do it again, so you can try to win." Depending on how the next activities went and who won them, maybe she'd have to go a little easy on him their next race. "But for now you must now do what I want as punishment for your loss. And that is..." She thought for a minute, a couple of interesting ideas coming to mind but deciding that for the current moment to go with something a little more tame. "You've got to give me a piggyback ride over to our next activity, which is going to be some laser tag." Something that she hadn't played in a while.

[Henry Blackburn]

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Henry dutifully gave Anna her chosen prize of a piggyback ride to the laser tag section and went on through their afternoon of fun. They were pretty even in terms of winnings, which at some point did make it slightly tricky to come up with something to ask for as a reward on both sides. He didn't want to push things on the first date, and even though she didn't seem like the type of girl who would get offended over the idea of kissing - or making out - on the first date, you could never know. After all, just because she was a playful, forward kind of girl, didn't mean he should expect anything out of her, or pretend that he knew what she wanted. And he would be very happy if it turned out that she wanted the same type of stuff as he did for their first date, but he wasn't one to try and force things along, especially not while they were in a public space. He preferred letting things take their own course, and when the moment seemed right, it would make things that much better. After all, if they'd started kissing from the first moment of their date, they wouldn't have gotten much else done by this point.

After going through about every game in the place several times, he figured it would be about time to go and get some food, as he was starting to get pretty damn hungry. Still, he wanted his rematch on the go-karts first. "Alright, here's what I suggest," he told her. "One more go-kart race, just so I can reclaim my rightful title," he said teasingly. "And then, seems like a good enough time for food?" he added, glancing over at her and grinning as she agreed to his plan. He made his way back over to the go-karting section with her, waiting in line before getting into his own kart and starting the race. Knowing this would be their very last 'competition' of the day, he did his best to get in front of her, though once again they were pretty much neck to neck for length of the game, until it was his turn to overtake her in the last turn, getting his kart back in his lane with a wide grin and jumping out as soon as they were allowed to move. "Now that was better," he said in a teasing tone as he walked out of the go-kart section with her, pressing his forefinger to his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. "And what could I ask for now," he pondered.

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[Anna Robertson]

Anna was having a great time with Henry as they continued on, doing all sorts of different activities. Finding that for the most part, they were actually pretty evenly matched and it seemed almost like a volleyball match with teh wins bouncing back and forth from one side to the other. Each task they gave each other creative, but not unpleasant at the very least. All in all, she would say that things were going well. She and Henry were getting along well and having a good time from what she could tell. In fact, the way that things were going, she was pretty sure that they could easily go on another date sometime in the near future. Unless something went terribly wrong in the remaining moments that was, but that seemed very unlikely. So far everything that she found out about him only made her like him more and realize just how great of a guy he was and super fun for that matter too, which was great because boring guys just didn't make the cut as far as she was concerned. She wasn't high maintence, but she did have some standards.

She raised an eyebrow when he went ahead and made a suggestion, smiling a bit as he said that they should do another round at the go-karts so that he could 'reclaim his rightful title' before they went to go get something to eat. "Well I doubt you'll be claiming any titles, but I'm up for another chance to win against you before we eat," she teased right back. "All this winning has been making quite hungry, if I'm honest." They got into the line together and she was pretty determined to win against him, just so that she could say that she'd won the last round and get a great prize out of it to top it all off. Unfortunately, even though they were neck and neck at the whole time and she was sure that she was going to pull ahead of him in the end like she had before, he was actually the one to pull ahead of her. "Sure it was," she teased back as he said that it was better and watched him press his forefinger to his chin in a thoughtful look. "Well I don't know," she replied with an innocent shrug. "But it is the last thing you get to ask for, so you might as well make it worth it."

[Henry Blackburn]

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It was definitely a relief to Henry just how great his and Anna's date had been so far. Not that he'd been too worried about it, but sometimes girls who seemed great at first glance turned out to be... well, not so great. And it wasn't necessarily that they weren't great as a person, but they just weren't the type of girl he wanted to be with, or they simply didn't have the same interests and such. For example, this one girl he'd dated the year before whom he'd let decide what they would do on their first date, and she'd picked hanging out at an art museum followed by some weird ass play. That was good and all for her, and if she enjoyed those kind of activities all the more power to her, but she would have to enjoy them with someone else. Something like this though, going to the arcade and spending the whole afternoon having fun playing games before heading out to have a bite, that was his kind of stuff. So the moment Anna had suggested it, that had been a pretty good point in her favor - along with what seemed to be her general personality type (at least from what he'd seen of her so far) and well, he couldn't deny her looks were pretty awesome too.

As it was, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that their date had been flying by so fast. Sure, they'd still have plenty of time ahead of them if things kept going this well, because he didn't plan on just dropping her off at her dorm room once they were done eating - unless of course that's what she wanted - but still, it felt like they'd just gotten here a few minutes ago when in reality, it was a few hours. Which he figured went to say about how much fun they'd been having and how well they got along. At the end of the day, this date did have to end though, especially in order for it to make room for the next one - because he was definitely hopeful, and quite confident, that there would be a next one. He smiled a bit as he waited for Anna's suggestion as to what he should ask for, raising an eyebrow slightly when she said she didn't know and letting a light smirk form on his lips when she added that it was the last thing he could ask for, and so he should make it worth it. "That does make a lot of sense," he agreed, not bothering to take a look around to see how many people might be watching them as he moved his body closer to hers, leaning down until their lips met, one of his hand moving to cup the back of her head as the other one lightly grabbed onto her waist.

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[Anna Robertson]

Anna figured that Henry would be able to take the hint in what she'd been saying for him to do. If he didn't, she'd probably be pretty disappointed in him because from what she'd seen of him so far today he seemed like boyfriend material. True, she wasn't against having a casual relationship with no terms and just dating someone, but she had to admit that she was more the type that preferred the boyfriend/girlfriend dynamic most of the time. It was just the easiest way to make sure that they were on the same page as to how things were defined between the two of them. Besides, she wasn't so much into sharing guys she was interested in with other girls that might be interested in them. With a guy like Henry, that certainly had to be a concern too because he was super hot and any girl that wasn't interested in him had to be absolutely insane. The guy was practically sent down from Heaven for goodness sake! She'd totally noticed the other girls who had seen them together and sent her a bit of the stink eye because of it, to which she'd just given a slightly smug smile.

The best part was that Henry was fun. Sure, being hot beyond belief was something that drew girls in and was never anything that anyone would find her complaining about, but if that was all there was she'd have stopped the date faster than the gossip column could get a scoop on the latest happenings around the school. This date was just such a blast and she felt like there was some real chemistry between the two of them and was pretty sure that he was feeling the same thing as well. The only thing left was to test it physically, which made her all the more excited when he smirked and agreed with her. Feeling her stomach turn a bit funny as he stepped closer and leaned down, standing up a little to help their lips meet quicker. Oh God, yes. Physical chemistry was definitely right. Her arms moving up around his neck, her left hand tangling up into his blonde hair as she returned the kiss deeply. Oh, this kissing was going to have to continue during the night and in her opinion there needed to be a whole lot of it.