Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 13.5

(+) Yeah! (+)

B

"Would you be alright with a late lunch?" you ask Raven.

"Yeah, sure," she says. "Not too late, though, right?"

"Well, if after 2 isn't too late," you say.

"How long after 2?"

"Probably around 2:30."

"Oh. I guess that's fine."

You drive on Highway 425 and cross the Mississippi River into Louisiana. This moves you northward through Ferriday, West Ferriday, and Red Gum. You move on through Young Landing, Foules, Sicily Island, Wisner, Gilbert, Chase, Winnsboro, and more until transferring onto I-20 West. This takes you through Monroe, Louisiana and then you transfer to Highway 15. This takes you through Lake D'Arbonne State Park, Farmerville and Foster Farms.

You finally cross the Louisiana-Arkansas state line and transfer onto Highway 7, which then puts you on 167 for just a moment before returning to 7. You transfer to 79 at around Camden, and then hop onto 9 before Holly Springs. You finally arrive in Hot Springs, Arkansas at 2:45.

A) Eat first
B) Go to Arlington Hotel first
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Cartridge88 posted...

B) Go to Arlington Hotel first

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A
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B)

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B

You find the Arlington Hotel within the Hot Springs National Park. It's right on the corner of a three-way intersection between Route 7 and Fountain Street. You turn onto Fountain Street and go to the parking lot.

"Good work, boy," you pat Shadowfax on the seat.

Raven brings out the luggage from the knapsack and you help her bring them in.

"Welcome to the Arlington Hotel Spa and Resort," the concierge says at the front desk. "Do you have reservations?"

"No," you say. "How much per night?"

"$95."

"In that case, do you have a room with two beds?"

The concierge checks with the computer.

"Yes, we do," she says.

"We'll take that," you say.

The concierge gives you the keys to room 307.

"And here is a map of the hotel," she says as she hands you a pamphlet. "The pool is open 24/7, but the spa and restaurant close at 10 PM."

"Thank you," you say.

You and Raven take the elevator and go up to the third floor. You find your room and go in. The beds are both up against the far wall on either side of the window. You go with the right side and set your things down.

A) Eat lunch at the hotel restaurant
B) Go out to eat still
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A
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A

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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Eat lunch at the hotel restaurant

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A

"How about we try the hotel's restaurant for lunch?" you ask.

"Sure," she says.

You two go back downstairs with the elevator and follow the map to find the restaurant. There is actually a Lobby Cafe and Lobby Bar, but you can't go to the latter because you're underage. You skip the cafe to go to the Venetian Dining Room.

"Aw, we missed Friday Night Seafood Feast," you say as you spot the sign.

"Wow..." Raven says. "This is beautiful."

"Agreed," you say. "Where would you like to sit?"

"Let's be away from the window," Raven says. "But not too far. The middle here maybe."

"Alright," you say.

Raven leads the way and you sit at a nice table by one of the pillars. You sit facing the floral pattern panel with the sunlight to your back. The two of you pick up the menus from the table and find the standard fare. You're definitely hungry after waiting this long, so you'll order a salad and...

A) A steak
B) Pasta
C) Chicken
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A
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Cartridge88 posted...

B) Pasta

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B

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B

The pasta section has many good choices, but you'll go with spaghetti and meatballs.

A waiter walks over a few moments later and serves you water.

"Are you ready to order or do you need more time?" he asks.

"I am," you say. "Raven?"

"Um, I might need another minute to decide," she says. "Maybe start with our appetizers?"

"Yes, we can start there," you say. "I'll have a salad to start."

"Caesar or garden?" the waiter asks.

"Garden salad, please."

"I'll have a Caesar," Raven says.

"Anything else?" the waiter asks. "Perhaps something more to drink?"

"Lemonade for me," you say.

"I'll have lemonade, too," Raven says.

"I'll be back with the drinks in a moment," the waiter says.

The waiter walks to the kitchen while Raven looks over the menu again.

"What are you having?" she asks.

"Spaghetti and meatballs."

"Hmm... That sounds alright, but I might have seafood. What do you think?"

"I think that's fine," you say as you check that part of the menu for yourself. "They do a buffet so they must be very good at it. Maybe try the..."

A) Shrimp skewer
B) Crab legs
C) Smoked salmon
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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Shrimp skewer

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B
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A

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A

"Shrimp skewer. I like the recipe notes here. Olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and grilled."

"Mmm, yeah," Raven says. "And with rice pilaf, that sounds nice."

The waiter returns with your lemonades and sets those down.

"Have you decided on your order, Miss?" he asks Raven.

"Yes," Raven says. "The grilled shrimp skewers, please. With rice pilaf."

"And for you, sir?" he asks.

"The spaghetti and meatballs," you say. "A little light on the garlic if that's possible. Sometimes garlic can overpower the sauce."

"Oh, have you dined with us before, sir?"

"Oh, no, but I've seen a similar recipe before," you say.

"Oh," he says, a bit perplexed. "Alright. I'll be back with your salads."

The waiter heads back to the kitchen and you sip the lemonade. It's very nice, with it being sweetly sour but not acidic as to scratch the throat. As you set your glass down, you think of what to do with the rest of the day here.

A) Try the spa
B) Try the pool
C) Go see the sights
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B

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C
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A)

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RANDOMIZE!

B

"How about we check out the pool after our meal?" you ask.

"Always needing to see me in swimsuits, don't you?" she asks back with a smirk.

"I wouldn't call it a need," you smirk. "But it'd be nice to cool off, wouldn't it? The summer's still hot out here, even at night."

"I do understand that," Raven smirks again. "A nice dip in the pool would be nice. But it's also open around the clock, right?"

"Right," you say, remembering what the concierge said.

"Then we don't have to go right away," she says. "We can have a late night dip."

"Yes, I wouldn't mind that, actually," you say. "Say around..."

A) 8 PM
B) 10 PM
C) Midnight
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A
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Cartridge88 posted...

B) 10 PM

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C

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C

"Midnight?"

"Wow, that late?" Raven says with an excited smile. "Hmm, seems like a really good idea, actually. A late night dip while the spirits might be out."

"I was thinking more that it'd be an empty pool all to ourselves, with no spirits," you say. "But yes, we can be on the lookout for a spirit wanting to take a swim."

She gives you an "Oh, you" smirk then sips her lemonade.

The waiter returns and sets the salads down on the table.

"We have the Caesar salad dressing here," the waiter says as he puts the bottle down for Raven's salad. "Would you prefer Ranch dressing or Thousand Island?"

A) Ranch
B) Thousand Island

sorry for being short, been trying to get a lot of work done.
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Cartridge88 posted...

B) Thousand Island

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B

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A
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B

"Thousand Island, please."

The waiter nods and heads back to the kitchen. He isn't gone long, and sets the bottle down on the table.

"The main course is almost ready," he says.

"Thank you," you say before he heads off.

You open the bottle and pour dressing out onto the salad. You then dig in with fervor from having waited this long to eat. By the time the waiter returns with your main dish, the salad is 90% gone.

"Thank you," you say while wiping your mouth with the cloth napkin.

The spaghetti and meatballs is well-plated and well garnished, with the sauce evenly spread on the noodles already. The meatballs are nice and round, like golf balls made of meat. You stick a fork right into one to cut it open and see they are medium well, like a gourmet burger. You're actually rather surprised by this.

From the smell, you can tell they went lighter on the garlic. You spin up some noodles and pop those in your mouth. Yes, they went light on the garlic, so that there's more of a balance with the other flavors. You also have that meatball you cut in half and it's just like taking a bite of a gourmet burger.

"Is your spaghetti good?" Raven asks.

You nod while chewing. You do your best to motion to her your question.

"The shrimp's very good," she says with a smile. "I like the seasoning."

You smile and swirl up more noodles.

A) Have dessert
B) Skip dessert
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A.
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A.

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A

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A

You look at the dessert menu while sipping more lemonade. Obviously there is ice cream, and there's anything from scoops in a bowl to sundaes and parfaits and other fancier things. There's also cake and tarts but you had cake yesterday with Raven's mother.

"Are you up for having some dessert?" you ask Raven.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind something," she says. "What were you thinking of having?"

"Probably just some ice cream," you say. "We could split a sundae or share a bowl of a few different flavors."

"What flavors were you thinking?"

"Chocolate," you say. "But we can also have mint chip or butterscotch."

"Those sound nice," Raven says. "Could we have some toppings on it?"

"Certainly," you say. "Perhaps chocolate syrup and..."

A) Sprinkles
B) Chopped nuts
C) Cookie pieces
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C and b
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Cartridge88 posted...

A) Sprinkles

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C

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RANDOMIZE

A

"Sprinkles, if that's alright."

"Chocolate sprinkles?" she says.

"Well that would make for a lot of chocolate," you say. "But sure, we'll ask for chocolate sprinkles."

Raven smiles and finishes her shrimp. You finish your spaghetti and wash it all down with your lemonade.

"All done here?" the waiter asks as he returns.

"Yes, thank you," you say. "And we'd like to move on to dessert if that's alright."

"Of course," the waiter says as he gathers the plates. "What would you like?"

"We'll split a bowl of ice cream," you say. "Could we get a scoop of chocolate, mint chip and butterscotch, with chocolate syrup and chocolate sprinkles?"

"That's quite a lot of chocolate," he says with a chuckle.

"Yes, it is," you also chuckle.

"I will have that bowl and two spoons with you shortly," he says.

The waiter returns to the kitchen and you start thinking on what to do before the pool.

A) Play a game
B) Just watch TV
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A.

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A

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A
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A

"How about, after dessert and we return to our room, we relax with a game?" you ask.

"Sure," she says. "Cards or chess?"

"I was thinking of cards," you say. "Chess would be a lot after a long drive."

"Alright," she says. "What game would we play?"

"Well, Go Fish would be too boring with just two," you say. "But War seems a bit of a drag... Perhaps Blackjack or, you know what? How about Old Maid? We haven't tried that yet."

"I've been curious about that game, too," she says. "But there won't be stakes, will there? I'm not even sure what we'd bet."

A) No bet
B) Yes bet
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B.

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B

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A
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B

"Oh there's something to bet," you say. "We can make it about Vegas."

"That far away?" she asks. "We won't be there for like another week."

"Even so," you say. "We can get there with some time to spare, have some extra fun."

"Oh, okay," she says, sensing something before you do. "So extra fun like a show, or more like...?"

"Well, if you win, you can make that distinction," you say. "But that should be what we wager. Winner chooses what we do with our first day in Vegas."

"Alright, sure," she says. "I can come up with something fun for Vegas."

"Oh so you're up for it now," you say with a chuckle. "So it's decided. Let's play Old Maid where the winner chooses what we do for Vegas."

Raven nods and the ice cream arrives. You thank the waiter and dig in.

The flavors are right on point, with the texture thick and creamy. The syrup and sprinkles are good additions, though really only to the butterscotch since the others already have chocolate in them. Especially the actual choclate ice cream.

After the delicious bowl of ice cream, you leave a $15 tip for your waiter, then leads the way back to your room. Raven sits on her bed while you bring out the deck of cards.

"Let me double check the rules of Old Maid," you say as you also bring out your phone.

With a quick internet search, you find the information you need.

"'It can be played by two or more players,' obviously," you say as you read. "From a standard 52 card pack, remove one Queen, leaving 51 cards. It is also possible to play with a special pack, see variations below. Well then, let me sort these cards out."

You leave out the Queen of Diamonds and shuffle the deck.

"Well, wait, 51 cards is a lot for two people," you say.

You keep reading.

"Oh, of course, you put pairs down on the table," you say. "So after the 51 cards are dealt, we'll get rid of all the pairs we have, and go from whatever is left."

"Well that means there's a big advantage to the person dealt second," Raven says. "They get ever even numbered card. They'll have 25 and the other will have 26."

"Well let's rock-paper-scissors for the deal," you say.

You and Raven go, "Once, twice, shoot." You win so Raven will be the odd numbers. As Raven calculated, you have 25 cards and she has 26. The two of you sort out your hands into the pairs you have and set them beside you. Luckily for you, you already have a pair of Queens so you don't have the Old Maid. All you have left are a Two, a Five, a Six, a Nine and a Jack, meaning Raven has those, and the Queen of Clubs.

"I dealt to your first, so I'll choose first," you say.

Raven holds her six cards up, and you choose...

A) ?
B) ?
C) ?
D) ?
E) ?
F) ?
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A
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A.

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E

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A

The card on the far left. You take it and find it is the Two. You now have another pair and discard them. That leaves you with four cards and Raven with five.

Raven takes her turn, and doesn't even hesitate to take a card. She ends up taking your Six, and she puts the pair down. You have three cards, she has four.

With one in four chance, you choose the card that's now on the far left. That card is a Nine, and you complete the pair. Raven quickly takes your Five and completes another pair. You are left with your Jack, so Raven has the other Jack, and the "Old Maid" Queen of Hearts. This decides the game here. If you choose wrong, Raven will have you.

A) Left
B) Right
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A.

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