Lazing About in a Dating Sim

After Lucia and I finished confessing our feelings, we silently walked toward the long line in front of the school gymnasium, while holding each other’s hands.

And when we got there, Lucia broke the silence. Which made the atmosphere slightly less awkward.

“So uh... do you want to try playing one of the card games that I brought with me today? It looks like we’re gonna have to be here for at least another hour or two.” 

“Hmm? Yeah sure, why not?”

“Alright then, which game do you want to play? Grumble or Loxodon?”

Lucia asked, after pulling out two small and colorful boxes out of her knapsack.

“I’ll just go with whichever one you want to play more, considering that I don’t really know how to play either of them.”

“Grumble it is then. Also, didn't I show you how to play both of these games, just yesterday?”

Lucia said, after stuffing one of the boxes back into her satchel.

“You’re not the best when it comes to explaining things.”

“Or maybe it could just be that you’re a bad listener.” 

“Hey, I’m a selective listener, not a bad one. There’s a difference.”

I said dismissively.

“Whatever. Do you at least have some idea about how this game works?”

“All I know is that the person who gets 5 grumble points first loses the game. Though, I have no clue what that even means.”

“Great, then it looks like I’m gonna have to explain how the entire game works to you all over again. Try to pay attention this time alright, Otto?”

“Yeah yeah, just get on with it.”

“Okay. So essentially, this game is just Solitaire but for two people.”

Lucia said before stretching her arms a little.

“We will each be taking turns pulling cards out of the deck, placing cards down, and moving cards around. If you cannot put a card down or move a card during your turn, you get 1 grumble point and move the card that was on top of the deck to the bottom. And finally like you said before, if a person ever has 5 or more grumble points, they lose the game.”

“Sounds simple enough.”

“I mean, this thing was made for a bunch of dumb five year olds, Otto. I doubt the creators were trying to make the game complicated.”

“No wonder you like this game so much. After all, your brain’s probably less developed than a toddler’s.”

“That’s rich coming from the person who’s essentially a vegetable on most days.”

“I can’t help it if a lot of things aren’t worth doing.”

“You just love making excuses don’t you? Anyhow, now that you know how to play this game, do you want to go first or should I?”

“Well since you’ve played before, I think you should go first.”

I said after sitting down on the grassy ground below us, which was fortunately dry.

And a few moments later, Lucia followed suit. 

But instead of sitting a few inches away from me like she normally did, she sat directly next to me.

“Hey Lucia… you’re a bit close.”

“…Do you want me to move further away from you?”

“Not really no.”

“Quit whining about it then!”

Lucia said before quickly emptying the deck box, setting a few cards to the side, and separating the rest of them into 7 neat columns.

Then she looked up at me with her crimson red eyes.

Which made me realize for the first time, just how bright her eyes were.

“Alright, I think that’s all we have to do before we begin playing the game… so unless you have any objections, I think we should be good to start a round of Grumble.”

“They’re just like rubies.”

“Eh?”

Lucia uttered in surprise before reaching for her eyes, seemingly aware of what I was referring to.

“Ah sorry I didn’t mean to say that out loud, and yeah I’m fine with you starting the game right now.”

“Right... uh I guess I’ll start us off then.”

Lucia said softly before pulling a card out of the deck, placing it down in the 1st column, and prompting me to do the same thing.

In response, I took a card from the top of the deck and then placed it in the 5th column after thinking about my decision for a few seconds.

“...It’s just the second turn. How have you already made it so that I have to get a Grumble point?”

Lucia asked, with a hint of annoyance in her voice before moving the top card of the deck to the bottom.

“I’ve played a lot of Solitaire. I know what a dead setup of cards looks like when I see one.”

I said before moving a stack of cards in the 5th column to the 7th column.

“Oh come on, did you seriously have to fuckin move those there? It makes my turn 10 times harder.”

“It’d be no fun if I just let you win.”

I said while having a smug expression on my face.

In turn Lucia just rolled her eyes before grabbing another card from the top of the deck, making it slightly thinner.

And about 15 minutes later, the deck ended up not containing any cards at all.

Though, this didn’t mean that the game was over.

“…How the hell did we go through the entire deck and neither of us have won yet?”

“Is there a rule for when this happens or?”

“Hmm. I’m pretty sure the person with fewer Grumble points wins whenever this happens.”

“Well I got two, how many do you have?”

“Also two...”

“Ah… well if you want to, we could always just play again-“

Before I could finish my thought, a stern voice cut me off.

“Next!”

“Oh right, sorry!”

Lucia exclaimed before quickly getting up and rushing over to the ornate counter in front of the gym.

Then she pulled her ward out of her knapsack and slid it over to the person standing behind the counter.

Who then spent a few seconds filling it up with a sickly green substance before handing it back to Lucia.

Afterward, Lucia and I simply just left the area.

“...Hey Lucia, I thought you said that this thing was gonna take at least 3 hours?”

“It usually does, but I guess the school is finally starting to invest in better staff.”

"Seems like it. Anyway, if we're done for the rest of the day. I think I’m just gonna head over to my dorm room now."

“Ah hey wait a second...”

Lucia said softly before grabbing onto the back of my shirt.

“What’s up? Is there another line that we have to go to or something?”

“Uh no, it’s just that well… I was thinking that we could spend the rest of the day together. If that’s not too much of a hassle for you.”

“What, you haven’t had enough of me for today?”

I said sarcastically.

“If I could get fed up with you that easily I wouldn’t have said that I liked you… dumbass.”

“Yeah yeah. Alright, then just let me grab a few books from my dorm and I’ll meet you in front of your room in about 30 minutes.”

“Sounds good.”

Lucia said cheerfully before placing her ward in her knapsack and skipping away, presumably to her dorm room.