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[21stcenturyguy]

A place for memes and PSLs to live

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Escape Room Date

[mindofathief]

[The time was reserved - an hour-long evening session at one of the Escape Rooms in a nearby neighborhood. Aoi and Duster agreed to dress up for the game; the theme of 20's mobsters, so they had to dress in their best suits (that could afford to get a bit dirty) and grab the nearest costume-grade fedoras. Being the musician who refuses to compromise his style, Duster opts for the salmon jacket and white pants of his band uniform.

"Come stop the mafia from escaping! Steal their loot and get away with it!" the game advertises. There's three main rooms inside this plotline, each with its own sets of puzzles.

Duster stands in the lobby, waiting for his date and checking the clock. Ten more minutes, and they can enter.]

[21stcenturyguy]

[Aoi's fashionably not early. Looking this good ain't easy. He's dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a blue scarf draped over his shoulders. The fedora sits at a jaunty angle on his head.

He strolls in to the waiting room and leans back against the wall, casually cool. At least that's what he's going for.

Frowning at the band uniform, he shakes his head at Duster.]

Really, you went with that one? The purple one's way better, babe.

[mindofathief]

Hey, I think I rock this color.

[He flattens the front and adjust the bright red tie.]

Wasn't this the era of being flashy and showing off? [He eyes the scarf, the one sign of color on his boyfriend's outfit. He does admire how it highlights the contrast between the darkness of the suit and Aoi's white hair.] I think we'll both blend in. No one will bother two guys in good-looking suits.

[21stcenturyguy]

Yeah, you think you do.

[You're lucky you're cute, Duster. And also sweet and clever and willing to put up with Aoi's nonsense.]

We got different definitions of flashy. [But the compliment appeases him, and he winks at his boyfriend.] Yeah, ain't no stoppin' us. We're gonna screw over the mob.

[He's confident in their chance of success. Even if he doesn't have his and Akane's foresight here, Aoi lived and breathed puzzle games for almost a decade.]

You ready?

[mindofathief]

[A nod.] I'm ready.

[The attendant steps out from the office and greets the two, amused that this group is getting into the setting. It makes for an interesting work day. She gets into the background of the escape room, adding a bit more embellishment of what the mobsters are up to and throwing in a few references to their own leader. They have an hour before the mobsters return to their hideout, but the first step is to find the secret entrance.

Duster nods quietly, accepting this story.]

[21stcenturyguy]

[Aoi nods along at the rules for the room, and mostly tunes out the back story. He's getting what he needs of that from the atmosphere of the room. He's already looking around, making note of likely hiding places for secret panels. This ain't his first rodeo.]

Gotcha. We gotta get the dough and cheese it before the boss gets back.

[He's not sure if that's actually gangster slang or not, but it sounds sufficiently old-timey to his ears.

He clicks a timer on his watch, even though there's gotta be a countdown clock somewhere in the room. It's habit.]

[mindofathief]

[The attendant nods, then moves on to a review of the rules. Emergency doors are there if needed, don't break things, she can provide hints if things are going poorly, general safety measures. Duster takes in all in with a serious look, watching the one-hour timer as if it will start counting down any moment now.]

Keep a low profile, and we'll get out before the cops come. [He steps through the entrance to the room, and waits for the attendant to shut it. Before is an approximation of an alleyway surrounded by wood crates, an unrealistically placed glass display with old newspaper clippings, and a desk with a radio on it.] So.

[He turns to Aoi.]

What's the plan, partner?

[21stcenturyguy]

[Aoi purses his lips for a moment, deciding.]

Go look over those clippings. We're looking for clues, probably numbers that could be a lock combination or a radio frequency to tune that radio to. I'll start checking out the crates.

[And if that doesn't work, they can swap it up. For now, it seems like giving Duster some direction on how to start is what his boyfriend needs to get into the swing of things.]

[mindofathief]

[Duster presses his face against the glass and squints at the tiny writing. Lots of the text is too small for easy reading, which feels like it's not meant to be important to the puzzle. There are loose pieces of paper covering some of the photographs and headers, blocking the large words behind it.]

We need some way to move this paper around. [He checks the side of the display.] There's some small holes on the side.

[Inside the crates are empty bottles! And three have with nine cube cubed slots that can fit the bottles.]

[21stcenturyguy]

Good find, babe.

[He starts fishing the bottles out of the crate, turning them and giving them a cursory examination before peering into the box.

He hums, then starts putting bottles in the slots. He starts with a diagonal pattern, though if that doesn't yield any tell-tale clicks or lights, he'll try other patterns.]

Wanna come help with this? Lets see if it'll drop something that'll fit into those holes.

[mindofathief]

[No clicks so far, and Duster wanders over to watch Aoi try all sorts of combinations.]

Isn't this something that you can't guess? You said that puzzle rooms always have a clue for this stuff. [He looks around the room - the desk and radio, some scattered props...or are they props? He starts picking up stray barrels and trash cans looking for clues in there.]

[21stcenturyguy]

Brute force is always an option.

[It's just not always the best option when there's a time limit. Fine. He sets the bottles down for now and joins Duster in the search for clues.

He leaves the trash can for his boyfriend to search, though. He focuses on the barrels, which are larger, cooler, less gross trash cans.]

You having fun yet?

[mindofathief]

[Duster could say something about having fun in a certain tone of voice that he knows gets Aoi bothered, but considering they're being monitored and he's not into exhibitionism, he keeps that thought to himself.]

Yeah.

[He looks inside the can, revealing scraps of torn up paper.] Hey, I found something! [Duster snatches them up in a hand and spreads them on the desk like a pile of puzzle pieces.]

[21stcenturyguy]

[Solve puzzles now, make out later. If you die in the escape room, you die in real life!

Aoi straightens up from the barrel and pops over to see what Duster's found. He discards one piece that is for sure a red herring. The less distractions, the better.]

Nice. Let's see what we got.

[Time to scan for a pattern or a code.]

[mindofathief]

Uh. [There’s a set of numbers. 9-5-3, writing as if they were on a digital clock, all with right angles.] A code.

[A glance at the radio.]

That might not be for that, but… [Duster turns it on, and the radio bursts into static.] I’ll look for a station. They always have plot-relevant broadcasts in these things, right?