vidya game time

[retraced]

Who: Yosuke and Gilbert
When: Backdated to the 17th of March
Where: Arcade in the underground mall
Summary: Bros playing video games. Only one of them is probably any good at it.
Warning: Warnings for embarrassing DDR failure.

This place is too loud. Too bright. There are too many flashing lights that still confuse him and fill him with anxiety. But two years living in this 'modern' world and Gilbert still hasn't assimilated properly when it comes to all of this technology.

He's been in this arcade a few times before. The first time he'd left with a migraine that he thought would never go away, and the second time he'd embarrassed himself by tripping over a stray power cord and nearly shoving an entire rack of stuffed animals on a small child. He'd caught it before it could do damage, but he'd still fled and promised never to show his face in this place again.

But he can't say no to a friend either. Especially a friend who 1 - he owes, and 2 - wants to continue helping his antiquated way of thinking expand a bit more.

Luckily, no one recognizes him as he stands just inside the entrance waiting for Yosuke to show up, staring down at his feet and trying not to bump into anything or anyone.

Comments

[inthejunk]

At what, having reflexes?

['Nother slapshot! He's pretty merciless when it comes to fun and games, dude. Sorry about that. Except he's totally not. Hah.]

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[He swings the paddle out in front of him to try and block the shot, but only succeeds in letting it bounce off the side of his hand. It takes him a second to recover, find the thing and hit it back.]

My reflexes are fine!

[inthejunk]

[Smack!]

Sure, for someone your age!

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[SMACK.]

I'm only twenty--!

[...Wait, he has to think about that.]

Twenty-six...?

[inthejunk]

[Slap!]

Really? Hmm. It's not what I would have guessed.

[retraced]

What would you have guessed?

[WHACK.]

[inthejunk]

Maybe 40.

[Snerk. Whap!]

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H-HUUUUUUUH?!

[And it slides right past him and into the goal. Yosuke - 3, Gilbert, NOTHING.]

[inthejunk]

Score!

[He just cackles gleefully. That was the plan there, after all. Way to fall for it, dude.]

[He also nods at you and gestures to the other side, where the puck is.]

You've gotta set it out again, dude.

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[Oh, he'll set it out. And this time he hits it WITH PURPOSE.

GO IN YOU STUPID TINY PUCK.]

[inthejunk]

Ow!

[If by go in you mean bounce backward off Yosuke's fingers and slap him across the face, then it totally does.]

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[He should feel bad for that, but -

THIS IS WAR.]

That's not the way you're supposed to hit it.

[inthejunk]

[Asshole.]

[WHAP! Have it slammed back at you with a little more oomph than what is strictly necessary, here.]

How's that?

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[It bounces off of Gil's paddle. Or rather, it bounces off of his fingertips from the awkward way that he's currently holding his paddle. Still, the puck is on its way over to Yosuke's side now while Gil hisses in pain.]

[inthejunk]

[Whap! No mercy here. It whizzes back to Gil's side as soon as it dares cross the line.]

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[AND A SUDDEN HAIL MARY SHOT BOUNCING OFF THE SIDE OF THE TABLE AND SAILING DIRECTLY FOR HIS GOAL--!]

[inthejunk]

[Somehow the odds are in your favor, Gil. Because just then a beautiful buxom blonde with an excited toddler in tow drops her tokens while she's walking past. She bends over to pick them up and suddenly Yosuke's eyes aren't on the table anymore.]

[The puck sails right into his goal and he completely ignores it, dropping the paddle indifferently. It glides across the table's surface in Gilbert's direction. Meanwhile, Yosuke is on his knees under the table, feeling around for tokens. Just a sec, dude. Damsel in distress, ya know?]

1/2

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[And for a moment Gilbert is the happiest dude in this room--]

2/2

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[Until he realizes that Yosuke isn't even paying attention. Or even standing in front of him anymore. Placing his hands on the edge of the table, he leans forward and tries to see just what he's doing down there on the ground.

Because the blonde doesn't even register as being part of this equation to him.]

Did you drop something...?

[inthejunk]

Back off I saw her first!

[Is what the table hisses back at Gil. A buzzer goes off and Yosuke knocks his head against the bottom in surprise. Time's up, you lose. Also, ow shit ow.]

[He crawls back out from under the table and returns the tokens to their rightful owner like a puppy fetching a stick. The woman takes them with a brief thank you and continues on her way, but Yosuke stares after her a while before he remembers that Gilbert even exists, and slowly shakes his head out to clear the cobwebs.]

So, what next?

[retraced]

Back off what...

[Aw, the game is over? Man, that's no fair. It didn't even make sense and the puck kept hitting other people instead of scoring points. Okay, something else, something else. He won't be defeated for long!]

Which one is your favorite?

[inthejunk]

[What's something else that Gilbert will definitely suck at?]

[Yosuke's eyes wander in the direction the woman went, even though she's out of sight now. What he does spot over there, however, makes him grin broadly.]

[There's definitely no way Gilbert can dance. He can't relax enough. Time to win another round!]

C'mon, this way.

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[Fortunately (for Yosuke) Gilbert doesn't even realize that by asking him to play his favorite he's inevitably setting himself up for an even worse and more embarrassing failure.

So he follows dutifully across the loud and filthy floor.]

/innocent face

[inthejunk]

[And they end in a corner with several machines that people seem really excited about. See that flurry of movement, Gil? See the small crowd gathered there, clearly amused? Prepare yourself. That'll be you flurrying in a few seconds.]

[retraced]

[Well, that one looks popular. It must be a good one if that many people want to play it.

No wait, they're not all wanting to play it. They're just watching the two people playing the same game against each other. There are two people standing on identical machines, matching their feet to the arrows on the screen that move in time with the happy, upbeat song playing through the speakers.

And they're moving fast, jumping onto the 4 different squares, slamming their feet down in sync with each other.

Welp.]

W-we're going to play that...