I'm Not Ready

The Knight

Riptid3's P.O.V.

We head over to Aech's shop. I spend a lot of time here. He's trying to teach me how to fix up stuff. Keyword: trying.

"This is my shop. Touch nothing," he says with a tone that I know very well. He gets so pissed anytime someone touches anything of his. It gets ugly...

"Holy cow! Where did you find an iron giant?!" Arti shouts with a voice laced with surprise.

"He didn't find it. He's building it," I smirk with my arms crossed.

"Aech is well known throughout the OASIS. He can fix anything. People pay him serious coin," Delorian chirps while skipping towards a toolbox.

"Oh, check this out! Here's Galactica from Battlestar Galactica. Oh! Here's the ship from Alien..." He rambles on and on about all the ships in that box. It's actually kinda cute.

Wait, what am I thinking?! Knock it off Ty!

"Dude, don't touch my shit," Aech sternly says while taking a ship out of Delorian's hands. "You'll have to excuse him. He gets nervous around pretty girls," Aech replies while looking at Ari and me.

Delorian laughs and scratches the back of his neck. Aech snaps his fingers and holds his hand out for Ari's bike. She throws it at him. His goggles go on which analyzes all the damage.

"I can fix it in ten minutes," Aech says and walks off.

"Now, who the hell are you?" I ask while turning on my heel to face Delorian.

"O-oh. My name's Parzival..."

"Ohohoho! You mean the knight that found the holy grail by himself," I say while crossing my arms.

"Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot," he says while waving his hand in front of his face.

"So, you and your buddy claned up?" Arti says nonchalantly while wandering close to the iron giant.

"Oh, Aech? Nah, we're just gunters," Parzival replies while leaning on the giant's hand. I watch them from a distance. It's clear he has a thing for Ari.

Man, guys can be a pain.

"Gunters, you say?" I speak up while stepping lightly towards them. Parzival turns to face me, and a slight tinge of pink takes over his face, yet he keeps a strong composure.

"Yeah..," he says while looking away.

I kinda zoned out after that because they got into a Halliday trivia discussion. I'm used to those so I just walk over to one of Aech's cars. I run my fingers over the smooth metal. That is until I hear that one quote...

"Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story..."

"Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe."

I glance up at them.

They finished each other's sentence?! What the fuck?! Just ew.

I finally decided to get involved in the conversation.

"Alright, so you're a Halliday expert. Anything else?" I say kinda pissed.

"Well, I think I'm a pretty decent racer," he replies with a little confidence.

"Ah, so how many times have you raced for the key?"

"I lost track.."

"Okay, let me ask you this: why the hell did you yank me off my bike?!" Arti yells in his face.

"No one makes it past Kong! It's a rule," Parzival replies in a strong tone.

"Halliday hated making rules! Any Gunter should be willing to risk all their coin to gain the keys from the contest: to prevent IOI from gaining control of the OASIS," I say, stepping up towards him. He turned towards me with a look I can't recognize. Our faces were so close if I leaned in, I could Eskimo kiss him. He baffled me. When I get like this, most people crawl into a corner. He's different...

Parzival's P.O.V.

Holy crap, she's so close.

My heart was beating at a million beats a minute. Art3mis was this close to me as well, but I didn't get the same adrenaline rush. Even though my mind was falling apart, I kept a straight face and stared right back at her.

"Who said that?" I inquire with a tilt of my head.

"Me."

Her eyes shone with confidence but swirled with a hint of confusion. I wonder why...

Aech's P.O.V.

I finished the bike and glanced over at the gang of misfits. Riptid3 and Parzival were having some type of staring contest. I used my goggles to check his heart rate because I knew he couldn't be calm at all.

His heart was beating at 160 a minute. But then I checked Riptid3's. Hers was at 125.

Do they have a thing for each other, or am I as blind as my grandma?

Riptid3's P.O.V.

"All done!"

I heard Aech yell, so I snapped out of the stare with Parzival. Arti's bike was as good as new. She smirked.

"Thanks for the fix up, my man," she said and put the bike in her inventory.

"Well, I better get going. I'll see you at the finish line, Mcfly," Ari said with a hint of sarcasm. She took off her visor in the real world and her avatar pixelated away.

Parzival glances over at me with a look of desperation. I think he wants me to stay, but I have to leave. Reality is calling me.

"See ya, Aech," I salute to him as he does the same to me. I then turn my gaze to Parzival. I give him a small smile.

"Later, Knight," I say and then I pixelate back into reality.

Hey Columbus. Did you miss me?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOLY COW, 50 READS?! I know that's  not a lot, but it means so much to me. I hope you guys are enjoying this story! I'll try to update more often!