Chapter 5 A Typical Date (2)

Chapter 5

A Typical Date (2)

“…I know probably too much about you…” Just John, Alexa’s date admitted.

Then Alexa in her attempt to deescalate the situation answered the only way she knew how. With the truth. “Yeah, probably.”

There was an awkward pause as the two looked at each other. They were both here for a date. Or as Alexa liked to refer to these, a date consultation. She was not on a date, as she could never be able to express herself in any meaningful way on a true date.

“Look, I am sorry if you were misunderstanding of the terms and conditions of this Date Consultation. Should you feel that this was a mistake or misrepresentation then I will avoid noting your initial score to others. I will also make it, so all observations made about you during this meeting are never recorded.” Alexa began giving her well-practiced pitch.

This was not the first time she had run into a problem where people assumed more than what was agreed to. They did sign a document stating that they knew the terms and conditions, but most people, especially boys fail to read the fine print. At least that was what Alexa had come to discover in her recent fore into the world of Dating Consultation.

“No, gods no. I want this. I have wanted this for so long…” Just John trailed off. “I am probably sounding more and more creepy the longer this goes?”

Alexa paused, cocked her head to the side and evaluated the boy before her. “No, you are not creepy. At least I do not get the creepy vibe coming from you. Most true perverts have a malicious intent hidden. They try to mask it with subtle gestures. You,” she paused as she put together her insights. “You are not creepy, just a little too nervous.”

At that, the boy visibly relaxed.

“Thank you.”

“Now should you wish to continue with this evaluation, know that this will count against you.” Alexa admitted.

Chuckle.

The boy laughed at the comment. “I would want nothing less from you. Please treat me as you would any other date consultation.” He added a particular emphasis on the last word, to let Alexa know that he knew this was not real.

Hearing his response, Alexa nodded to herself.

“Okay. I would also like to point out that you are dressed entirely improperly for this. We are after all going into a dungeon.” Alexa noted, then gestured to his nice brown suit and the full form fitting body suit she was wearing.

“Oh, I know. I just figured first impressions were important. That was why I wanted to make sure I was memorable. Dressing up, even if inappropriate for the venue is always a way to gain a date’s attention.” John said.

Then with that out of the way, John began tugging at his immaculately tied tie, then began unbuttoning his designer shirt. After the first few buttons were removed, it was clear he too was wearing a protective body armor over his dress suit.

At that, Alexa nodded appreciatively.

“Well done. You gain a point for this, and creativity.”

“So that’s two points?” He asked, while neatly removing his garments and folding them into a briefcase that had been hidden off to the side.

“Yes.” Alexa confirmed.

“So that is a 3.2?”

“3.1, you still lose a point due to nervousness. Though most women tend to find that as an endearing quality, when reading my reviews.”

“So you study not only your date consultation candidates, but also the feedback you receive on your reviews?” John asked, taking off his brown loafers and placing them gently on top of his pristinely folded suit.

“Yes, this is a business. While it might be a unique model so far, if I do not improve my overall product, I will eventually fall when someone with more clout comes in.” Alexa answered.

“So now that I have you. Can I ask you a few questions?” John asked.

“You can. Though know most dates appreciate this, I often do not. So I reserve the right to deny answering any and all questions. Though know that asking questions is a way to improve your scoring.”

“Duly noted. With that, can I ask what you plan to do when you get older?” John asked.

“Older as in College, or older as in if I awaken?” Alexa asked.

“Both. I want to know what you intend to do when you go on into the world.”

“This is very good. This shows you have a desire to know the future of your date, implying that there is more than just a physical attraction.”

“Right, but again. I want to know what you plan to do.”

“I will stop you right there. I have found that answering this generally crosses a boundary line that is hard to walk back from. For the sake of keeping the semi-professional nature of this visit in place, I will stop you there.”

Hearing that John just nodded to himself.

It was clear that he was thinking, and coming up with something else to ask, but decided against asking. With that, Alexa let out a breath, though she maintained her overall stoic demeanor. While she was not afraid, she knew from past experiences that often a strong response would be needed to stop some people at this point.

“So what if you awaken to find you have super powers?” John pressed.

“Again, I will note this down, but I refuse to answer.”

“Very well. Would it be okay if I tell you, my plans? Assuming of course that on a real date you would have given your answers.”

Alexa nodded, “that does seem fair. Please proceed.”

“I would want to go into business.” John began, but as he spoke the tiny tremors in his body gave away this as being a lie.

“Lying does not help establish trust.” Alexa admitted.

At that, John just smiled. “Right, I’m sorry. I should state that barring something major happening like my awakening to powers, I will go into the family business.”

“True.” Alexa said, as she nodded in approval.

“You know, that is part of why I wanted to go on this date consultation, with you. I will admit that I am somewhat frightened of what we will find.”

Hearing his words, Alexa could tell he was being completely truthful. This teenager was clearly afraid, though he showed an impressive amount of bravery for facing his fears.

“I have to ask. How much of this is you wanting to be with me, and how much of this is your wanting to run your first dungeon?” Alexa asked.

At first Alexa thought that she was getting a deal by getting a perspective date to pay for the entire run. But now she questioned that. What if she was wrong? What if she could have a separate venture set up where she didn’t have to put up with the whole premise of a date, and just ran people through dungeons. Then she quickly nixed that idea, dungeon running in that way required licenses, classes, certifications, and most importantly it required one to already be declared awaken. None of which Alexa had currently.

“I’d say about seventy -thirty.” John admitted, though the slight tremble of his body spoke to this being a lie. If Alexa had to guess his want to be with her was a lot higher than his want to go into a dungeon that was clearly terrifying him.

“Fair enough. Do you know what to expect?”

“Sort of, but I would love a refresher.”

“This is a low-level trap dungeon. Similar to escape rooms. We go into the dungeon and are instantly teleported to a pocket dimension where the energy of the dungeon core resides. Once there, we will go through a number of different challenges and puzzles to unlock doors and perceived treasures. There is only one real exit, though each room should either have a puzzle piece, or a reward. We take the puzzle pieces to unlock doors and passageways. Doors generally lead to the exit, while passageways lead to additional rewards. Once we have fully exited the dungeon we will be rewarded with a chest. Depending on how well we performed, we should get anywhere from one to two augmentation crystals. Our chests are individualized, meaning it does not matter which chest is open, who opens the chest first, or any other superstitious nonsense. The reward is the reward and will be based solely upon your individual effort within the dungeon. Meaning if you drag along and do nothing, you will only gain one augmentation crystal in your chest.” With that Alexa paused, before adding, “any questions?”

John paused as he tried to take in the deluge of information. Then after a moment he paused and nodded in agreement. This was something Alexa always found confusing about people, the way people would nod, when they meant no. She later chalked it up to the fact that people seemed to answer the intent, versus the actual question being posed. Fortunately John decided to follow up his physical gesture with a verbal response.

“No questions, that was, surprisingly well put together.” Then he paused, “actually, there is one question I have. Can we die in this dungeon?”

At that Alexa nodded. “The answer is yes, you can die. Each trap dungeon is allowed at least one room that can lead to death or physical damage. These are generally side rooms and denoted by bright red markings on the walls. These markings indicate that it is a special reward challenge room and can be avoided. Often the main draw is the reward in these challenge rooms is far greater than the reward from the final clearing.”

Hearing all that John visibly looked both concerned and committed to going.

“Any final questions?” Alexa asked, not sounding bored but wanting to make sure ay confusion or possible problem were fixed now.

“Would you mark off points if I admitted to being slightly frightened?” John began, as faint traces of sweat could be seen forming on his forehead.

“Honestly, if you weren’t I would consider you either a fool, or someone overconfident enough to put your team at risk. The fact that you show fear for the unknown is healthy and something that for this particular consultation will get you points.”

“So 3.2?”

“3.2” Alexa said, nodding in agreement.

With that, John let out a slight sigh in relief. “So ladies first, or should I take the honors?”

Alexa seeing this, just smiled. While she didn’t find the actions endearing, she knew from social standards that a comforting smile now would work wonders in allowing John to relax. “Thank you for offering. As the most senior member I will be the one to lead our team.” Alexa noted.

“Right.” John said, with a slight sigh of relief.

“You do have our tickets right?” Alexa asked.

With that a look of surprise fell over John’s face, then a slight fluster of embarrassment as he dropped to the ground and began going through his suitcase.

“Right, I knew I forgot something.” With that, John began going through his well folded jacket, until he found the two tickets.

Seeing the tickets, Alexa just chuckled. “You know it is exactly for this reason that they let electronic variants of the tickets be accepted at all ticketing booths.”

“Right, but I just wanted a physical reminder of this.”

“Your first dungeon dive?” Alexa mused.

“Right, that’s it.” John said a little too quickly, again he was lying, but Alexa was willing to let this go. So far John had not been anything more than a love-struck puppy. This was fine, it was only if he went too far that she would need to deal with things. She gave the boy one last glance.

All of her instincts told her that this boy was harmless, a bit too flustered from being near her, and going to a place that clearly frightened him. So long as he was this easy to read, Alexa figured that there was nothing wrong with continuing.

With the tickets in hand, the two made their way to the entrance. After which point, they were given lockers where they could store their equipment. John got one for his briefcase. Alexa got one to hold her bouquet and chocolates. While she thought the process was tedious, she did have to give him points for thinking ahead. Even if the gift was completely impractical for the setting. Still, she did not let this affect her grading, as she was the one who forced the location on him after all. This was the least she could do. Also, the roses did smell nice, at least.

Once they both had their items packed away in the storage lockers, they met up.

“Shall we, my dear?” John said, bowing low and gesturing with faux courtly grace to the dungeon entrance.

At that, Alexa gave a slight courtesy of her own, “we shall.”

That was how the first date of John-18924, and date consultation specialist Alexa Thyme began.