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]

[Have a weird look, dude. You don't know what playing is about, do you?]

Well, yeah. Because it's fun. Fun things make you tired, right? It's always true.

[retraced]

[Playing gets in the way of fussing over people, okay.]

It is? Well...

[And that's what today is really about, isn't it? Having fun and...making a fool of oneself, apparently.]

[inthejunk]

Don't worry, you'll do fine.

[At getting your ass handed to you.]

[retraced]

[And as luck would have it, the two on the machine beat their high score and appear to be finished. Damn, Gil was hoping that they'd just stay there all day to avoid this inevitable ass kicking.]

Somehow I don't think that's true...

[inthejunk]

Ready?

[Yosuke's already jumping over to claim a spot. C'mon, dude, hurry up if you want nexts.]

[retraced]

Ah...?

['Ready' is a strange word. He doesn't think he'll ever be 'ready' for this, but he is standing next to it and is fully able to climb on and hit the buttons on the screen, so.

He sighs and does just that, stepping onto the platform and glancing down at the 4 lit arrows on the ground.]

I...think so.

[inthejunk]

Great.

[Yosuke nods at the arrows.]

Just step on the arrows it shows up on the screen.

[retraced]

[Well, time to embarrass himself. Again. He sighs and steps up onto the platform, but Yosuke is going to have to show him how to start the game so that they can play it together. And while he does that, Gil will just try to ignore the group of young women who have stopped to watch the two of them.

Oh good, now he gets to be embarrassed in front of girls too. Yosuke is probably ecstatic about this new development.]

[inthejunk]

[Yosuke definitely doesn't mind the girls that are gathering. Not at all. He winks at them, in fact. Then he deposits the tokens in the machine and tries to pick a song. It's no use asking Gilbert what kind of music he likes, so that's out. The kind thing to do would be to pick a really easy song.]

[He almost does, too. Really. He's not totally heartless. Except, there are girls watching. He can't dance to something really stupid if girls are watching. It needs to be something cool...]

[retraced]

[Oh man, these lists and bright lights and strange symbols make absolutely no sense at all. It also doesn't help that most of the song titles are in a language that he doesn't understand. So he'll just stand here looking awkward until Yosuke finally picks a Super Cool Song that may or may not make him want to run screaming out of this arcade.]

[inthejunk]

[It didn't even have to be the coolest song, as long as he got all the moves right. Hmm. Would it be best to do one that was in English, so everyone understood the lyrics? There weren't a lot of choices for that. Anyway, what did it matter if they understood the song? They were there to see the dancing. And it wasn't as if Gilbert was going to understand it one way or the other.]

[Yosuke could really show off if he set it to expert mode...no. No, that really wasn't nice. In the end, he decided on something difficult enough to be impressive, and not too girly or silly. But one that Gilbert might be able to keep up with, if he focused with all his might. Probably not, though.]

[Whatever, this song was fair play, more or less. It would have to do.]

Alright!

[retraced]

[Oh good, one that he sort-of-technically-maybe-possibly-can't-understand the lyrics to. Somehow he feels like that'll just make it all the more difficult.

But then, it'll be difficult no matter what, so maybe that's not even worth worrying about.

The music starts a second later after a loud, cheerful female voice wishes them luck (yeah, like that will help) and then the arrows start moving from the bottom of the screen to the top. Okay, so he just steps on the left arrow with his left foot. Easy enough. Except it still hasn't occurred to him that he needs to step on it at any specific time, so the first three arrows go by while he's standing on the wrong spots, and the game is more than happy to tell him.

His half of the screen is a sea of WRONG.]

[inthejunk]

Dude, what are you doing?

[Yosuke groans, and actually hops quickly over to step on one of Gilbert's arrows for him, exasperated. Then he quickly hops back, barely in time to catch his own set of arrows.]

Like that, alright? It's music, right? You're supposed to be dancing.

[retraced]

This is dancing?

[Put him on a ballroom floor instead; at least those things don't light up! But okay, he's starting to understand a little better. The arrow has to reach the top of the screen before he's supposed to step on it. Okay, trying again.]

[inthejunk]

It's the arcade version.

[They don't? Yosuke has totally seen dance floors light up before. You must be hanging out at the boring places.]

[retraced]

[Arcade. That word used to mean something else; it described vaulted building passageways, not loud noises and flashing lights in an underground mall. But no time to explain that, he has arrows to chase after with his feet, and possesses none of the grace in order to do it. Still, he's doing his best to keep his feet moving.]

[inthejunk]

See? It's not hard at all.

[Youske approves, once Gilbert figures out that the arrows are timed. he dude may not be great at what he's doing yet, and little does he know it's hilarious to watch him trying, but hey at least he's trying.]

[For his part, Yosuke bounces lightly and easily on the dance pad. He's been playing this game for years, since the beginning of middle school or so. He can even incorporate a few silly moves to show off. A spin here, a moonwalk step there, drop and slap an arrow on his side while playfully kicking one on Gilbert's side, too. Just this once, he feels pretty damned cool.]

[retraced]

[No no, it's still hard. Especially with Yosuke over there doing all of his silly moves! He's having enough trouble concentrating on when to hit the stupid arrows at the right times without this kid doing it for him!]

Hey! Stay on your own side!

[inthejunk]

[Yosuke just laughs at Gilbert's exasperation, but he keeps himself busy with his own arrows after that. Even if it's not going to be really easy to Gilbert, hopefully the guy will at least have a little fun. While getting his butt kicked, of course.]

It's a game, not a chore! Have some fun.

[retraced]

[How can you have fun when this game requires so much concentration?! But he tries to follow Yosuke's lead, loosening his stance and trying to put more bounce and less stomp into his steps. It helps, but...

Wow, this is embarrassing. So embarrassing. How long is this song going to go on for because he's just fighting not to ragequit out of it right this minute.]

[inthejunk]

[Bounce bounce hop bounce! What are you talking about? This is awesome! There are girls!]

[retraced]

[The song starts to come to a finish, and Gilbert couldn't be happier. He considers himself a guy who is pretty well in shape, but he's finding himself exhausted playing this game. With an explosion of light and digital applause on the screen, it's over, and he falls back against the short railing with a loud sigh.

That was worse than he thought it would be. Not just the act itself, but the hideous score of F that pops up on the screen to let him know that he failed his half of this song, miserably.]

Ugh...

[inthejunk]

[Yosuke flinched a little at that score, too. He claps Gilbert on the shoulder reassuringly.]

To tell you the truth I didn't expect you to be that bad at it. But don't worry, I think I know something to cheer you up.

[retraced]

[He gives him a disgruntled look that clearly says, "NOT HELPING."

But he bites.]

What?

[inthejunk]

C'mon, it's this way.

[Yosuke throws one last wink at the girls, and a wave, before he leads Gilbert away. There's only a bit of regret, because they're going to play racing games next!]