An Encounter (Theme 12)

Dinner and a show.  Well, technically a game.
Lead off with a shake of the hands and a familiar introduction.
Medium height, medium build, blond hair, blue eyes.  The more obvious physical features capture a first picture.  That is, when able to shift stares from the tiled floor to each other.
Up next continues awkward silences from two filled with chatter from very hospitable hosts.  She talks up one while he pokes playful fun at the other.
First round of smokes on the porch leaves the kitchen quiet.  Minor attempts at conversation play out into five minutes of small talk.
Catching a break, or halftime, brings plates full of chicken, bread, and salad.
A table of four welcomes completed sentences of a random manner.  School, hobbies, faith, work.  Questions followed by easy answers but can leave somebody interested in more.
Second round of smokes and the exchange of words comes more natural.  Cannot say the awkwardness has disappeared, but the night is only getting better.
Out comes the board game.  Instructions to Quelf leave one noticeably uncomfortable.  Either the other three wear better masks or enjoy all the attention.
Red, purple, black, and yellow pieces circle around a path of various colors.  Cards are pulled from five different categorized stacks.  Trivia, stunts, showbiz, rules, and scatterbrains.
Laughing, yelling, dancing, spinning, reading, humming buzzes through the room until one is left standing rubbing it in the others faces.
Who's up for round two?
Third and final smoke break first.  Five minutes goes by fast with effortless conversation.
Same colored ponds.  Same categorized cards.  Similar embarrassing stunts.  Same winner boasting.
The game had finished.  And as the ending seems, not all things were the same.
Different likeness of smiles exchanged.  Different warmth in a handshake goodbye.  Different feeling driving away.