[color=bc8dbf]"An..uh... Annabelle Wolfe!"[/color] she stumbled through her own name.

Anna smiled back at Eidel, noting her also stammered introduction. Perhaps she was shy as well. She seemed very nice though. She'd been very friendly and understanding, leading Annabelle away from the crowd of people, and the she'd even offered her a water bottle so cold it sapped all heat from Anna's hand as she carried it.  However, they hadn't managed to escape without Anna being spotted one more time. The Third Strike guy had seen her watching his game. Apparently, her powers of invisibility were severely lacking today. At least he hadn't seemed angry. In fact, he had also been quite friendly, smiling and giving her another thumbs up. She had smiled back, though she wasn't sure if he had seen past her black hood. As she'd followed Eidel to the rhythm games, she'd gotten a closer look at him when they passed. He was attractive, though from his eyes one could tell he'd been staring at a screen for a while. Then again, so had she. As they passed by the Third Strike cabinet, she made note of the score he'd obtained. It had indeed beaten hers- top of the board. "SAW" the initials read. She'd come back to this at some point. By the end of the week, she was determined now to move "SAW" into the second place, replacing the first rank with her own initials.

But for now, she was playing with Eidel. She knew at this point they had two things in common- video games and awkwardness- and as they approached the rhythm games, she suspected they would soon find a third commonality. Anna [i]loved[/i] music. It was part of what had drawn her to the theater. Though she'd always been unfit for the spotlight, she envied the soloists in her favorite musical productions. She'd spent many an hour-long shower singing into the device she was supposed to be rinsing herself off with, and several more hours sitting in front of her television, playing with plastic instruments much like the one she now picked up. As a music loving gamer, it was only natural for her to have gotten into rhythm games. Music, she knew, was just as important to the progression of a story as choreographed fight scenes. She pulled the guitar strap across her shoulder, looking at the song title that Eidel had chosen. It was a slower song, one Anna did not know very well, but she remembered liking the sound of it. She smiled again at her game partner.

[color=bc8dbf]"Thanks. Next game's on me."[/color]

Strumming the plastic guitar, she scrolled through the difficulties. She selected "Expert" and the game began. Slower songs on a higher difficulty meant lots of drawn out chords. She wished these instruments had real strings rather than plastic buttons. It would certainly give her an advantage. Plus, then it would be much easier to memorize how to play them off of the game version. As it was, she'd pick up her guitar at home and only be able to recall colors. "Red, Yellow, Orange" didn't exactly tell her what key the song was in. But pointless complaints aside, the game was going quite well. Eidel seemed to be doing fine on whatever difficulty she had picked (Anna had been too stressed out by introducing herself to pay attention) and she was definitely a good person to game with. Quiet, but focused, and she obviously knew what she was doing. 

[i]She's pretty too[/i], Anna thought, though she wasn't sure what that had to do with anything. A moment later, she figured it out though. This was someone she could look up to. She was like Annabelle, but prettier, stronger... willing to walk up to people she hadn't met in an arcade despite obvious shyness. She was an amazing potential friend. Anna had always told herself that she didn't need friends, but playing with other people felt right. She looked over at her opponent as she continued to strum the plastic instrument. She smiled, and even laughed quietly. This was so much [i]fun[/i].