Private Escape With Me

To say that Mukuchi was excited was...quite accurate, actually. He had always loved puzzles, mysteries and solving them. So, when the concept of escape rooms was first invented Mukuchi had been among the first ones to endorse them. Literally. He had visited the first ever opened escape room establishment. It had still been quite archaic, nothing compared to escaping some of the ancient ruins Mukuchi had had to navigate, but modern escape rooms were phenomenal.
And Mukuch was excited to share such enjoyment with Briar.

Mukuchi waited in front of the escape room establishment, waiting for Briar. They had agreed to meet there. He was almost bouncing on his heels, he was that impatient and looking forward to it. Mukuchi had had some...mixed emotions about Briar lately. He was no fool, he knew what those emotions were, but that didn't mean Mukuchi was any more equipped to handle them. So, Mukuchi had pushed them out of his mind for now, and wanted to concentrate on having some fun in his own way. Hopefully Briar would appreciate Mukuchi's way, they were quite different, after all...
Mukuchi glanced at his phone again impatiently, scratching his cheek. If Briar didn't hurry they might miss their reservation.

Briar had clearly made it one of his favourite past-times to try and startle Mukuchi, or make him blush. He usually succeeded, especially in the blushing department. But this time Mukuchi could see Briar approach from the corner of his eye, and he could also see how the man attempted to sneak behind him. Mukuchi, with a small amused huff, didn't react until Briar was behind him and whispered in his ear. The closeness made Mukuchi blush slightly, but he didn't react in any other way. Instead, he lifted his hand and gave Briar a flick right on the forehead. It wasn't a hard flick, Mukuchi was quite weak, but it was enough to surprise.

"Do not do that."
Mukuchi signed at Briar once he turned around and got the man's attention. Then he pulled out his phone and typed
"I have decided that it's appropriate for me to give you a small punishment in the form of a flick to the forehead whenever you do something unnecessary. Trying to scare me is unnecessary"
Mukuchi let out a huff and he loosely crossed his arms, looking at Briar with what was probably supposed to look like an annoyed expression, but Mukuchi's amusement shone through.

Mukuchi shook his head in defeat when Briar yet again failed to learn his lesson. But Mukuchi wasn't truly offended, it was innocent fun and wouldn't truly hurt him, even if it did make Mukuchi more flustered than he preferred.
"Surprises come in many forms, Briar, and they're not always pleasant"
Mukuchi typed and tried to take on an expression of disappointment. He didn't manage that well, Mukuchi found it hard to express negative emotions towards Briar.

"Please do not"
Mukuchi tried one more time, but probably in vain. But the topic was changed when Briar reminded Mukuchi what they were actually here to do. Mukuchi nodded and his excitement returned as well, so much so he didn't even mind Briar being so close. Well, not that he would mind even if he acknowledged it, it just failed to make him flustered this time.
Mukuchi entered the escape room business and headed straight for the main desk, where there was a young woman receptionist.
"Excuse me, I have a reservation for a room under the name Grahan"
Mukuchi typed on his phone and the robotic voice repeated the words. The woman nodded and handed Grahan a key.
"Once you are inside the room deposit the key inside the designated locker. Using your powers to escape is forbidden. If you aren't able to escape within the time limit the door will be opened for you. Have fun!"
It was brief and to the point, and Mukuchi liked it like that. The further instructions would probably be in the room itself.

Mukuchi lead Briar over to the room door, it was designed to look like a door of a spaceship. Mukuchi opened it, the door was designed like an airlock in a spaceship, the walls even had hologram windows of the vastness of space and millions of stars. Truly like in a spaceship.
The door slid shut once Mukuchi and Briar were in, and a robotic voice (not unlike Mukuchi's phone, only female) said
"Airlock malfunction. Immediate repairs required. Emergency hatch will open in 0800 minutes. Please equip your spacesuits. Initiating countdown"
Bright red numbers appeared on the wall. This place was really high-quality, the flickering dim light of the room and realistic hologram windows really pulled you into the scenario. As expected of Manta Carlos.

Mukuchi put the key in the small hole on the wall that said "Key" above it, and once the key was in it disappeared. Mukuchi turned to look at the room. There was a table that looked to be a simple metal cube with some scrap metal and spare parts on it, four space suits were on the right wall behind thick glass, they seemed to be locked and there were keypads on each door with strange symbols on each key instead of numbers. The walls were lined with numerous small lockers and each was a different colour. And on the far end wall there was a control panel that looked like it was broken, only part of it was still flickering with light.
"It seems our ultimate goal is to get those space suits and put them on before the countdown reaches 0"
Mukuchi typed after taking the room in.

Mukuchi wasn't so distracted by the room that he missed Briar's reaction, and he followed with a small smile as the man gaped at the space in awe. Sometimes Mukuchi forgot that Briar wasn't from a technologically advanced society, unlike Mukuchi who had been a part of one ever since it first started.
"If this place impresses you then perhaps you should visit the space station sometime, the views from there are even more impressive"
Mukuchi suggested, and to his surprise he immediately imagined himself and Briar walking around said station, marveling at space and holding hands. Mukuchi was surprised at how clear the image was and he blushed subtly, which was mostly hidden in the dim lighting of the room.

Mukuchi nodded as an answer to Briar's questions, but when the man went to open a locker Mukuchi quickly put a hand on his arm to stop him, typing with his other hand.
"Many escape rooms have systems that punish the players if they act thoughtlessly or make bad choices. Let's check the room first. Anything can be a clue, though I recommend looking for colour-based clues. Since the buttons on the control panel are the same colours as these lockers, and each keypad is a different colour as well"
Mukuchi explained, trusting that Briar would listen to his advice, and then proceeded to walk to the control panel to look at the buttons. Each button wasn't just a different colour, they also had different symbols on them. Interesting...

Mukuchi paid close attention to Briar's pondering, he could understand the need to wonder out loud even though he himself couldn't do it. And Briar might give him ideas as well by presenting his ideas.
Mukuchi had decided, that even if he was able to figure out the puzzles in his head he would include Briar as well. He wanted them to do this together, and Mukuchi wanted Briar to feel the joy of solving a puzzle after working hard for it.

Mukuchi nodded a bit at Briar's idea, and he himself eyed the buttons. It seemed like the symbols weren't there to be a code, otherwise he would've noticed a decipher key.
"Go ahead and try it."
Mukuchi typed and gestured to the control panel. And while Briar pressed the buttons Mukuchi kept an eye on the room. Instead of the keypads lighting up though the lockers on the wall popped open once the button of the corresponding colour was pressed certain amount of times.

"Looks like you were partially right. Well done."
Mukuchi praised Briar and smiled at the man with his eyes. Mukuchi walked over to the red locker, since there was only one of those, and pulled out a Rubik's cube. But instead of colours all the sides only of the same symbols as on the keypad. Mukuchi was already fairly certain how this was supposed to be solved, but he turned to Briar with the cube and typed
"Do you know what this is?"