6/12/2003

01:01 AM

Logfile from Chase.

 

Broadway Arcade

The building appears slender at the entrance, but it spans three floors, each with the second and third floors opening up further in the back. Just inside the entrance, there is a counter which is lined up against the metal stairway leading to the first floor, where one can purchase a token card. Instead of quarters, one uses a paper game card in the games to play. Several large, sand racer games from "The Phantom Menace" movie.

The second floor boasts of a variety of games, including several versions of DDR, several versions of fighting games, a few classic games like PacMan and Galagala, and some new-fangled games involving actual ducking and twisting in order to avoid being shot. Intersparsed between the videogames are prize games, where one can try to fish out a stuffed animal or a CD, and a few instant photo booths for making those strips of three pictures in a matter of minutes.

Obvious exits:

Exit

*Zing! BlipBlip! Poing!* Ahh, the sounds of the arcade. And there is Chase in the middle of it. No fuku, no smudges of the word 'Stupid' across his forehead, and no ponytails. Just him and the finger-tapping delight of a good fight game. Taptaptap. In the middle of a video sequence, he reaches up to take down the drink, sipping soda through the straw, sets it back on top of the machine, and starts in again. "There you go... There you go!"

 

Being that the place is an arcade, Chase's loudness is partially swallowed up in all the other sounds being produced by both the residents and the machines, but his particular brand of... enthusiasm is unmistakable. Even after only one meeting. Rainey, no longer sporting the 'trapped in the past' look, pauses on her way to one of the other games, glancing over at the vaguely familiar voice, and noting Chase's shock of black hair. Now, the only question... to glomp or not to glomp? After all, he's a nice guy, and with a couple of notable exceptions Rainey tends to greet everyone enthusiastically... Okay, watch out Chase! "Salut!" she cries cheerfully - in French - as she runs up behind the boy and hugs him around the neck, more likely than not distracting him from the game. Hey, at least she didn't kiss him on the cheek? Took a couple of guys weeks to get over that.

 

Chase narrows his eyes as the opponent does some sort of move on this character that doesn't do all that good to his life stats. "Dammit. Get up!" A flurry of more tapping. Well, that is until he is glomped by a girl. Now there is no amount of quick reflexes that will get a guy out of something like that, especially as he is being close to being annihilated upon a video game. "Ack!" Choking sounds to follow. Help! He is being attacked! "Ack!"

 

Not attacked, just greeted! Rainey wasn't that violent >.> She lets go of the poor boy before he can start to choke, even though she /wasn't/ gripping that hard to start with, muffling a giggle. "Chase, was it not? It is indeed a surprise to find you here." Though maybe not much of a surprise when she looks at what he's playing. "Ahh, I was never good at those sorts of games. Ah... is your man not close to dying?" Just thought she'd bring that up.

 

Chase blinks a few times to make sure his eyes didn't pop out with that glomping. Head turns at the vaguely familiar voice, and then he is finally getting a good look of Rainey. "Rainey?" he speaks aloud, blinking at her for good measure, placing the young woman, and then finally smiling. "Yes, Chase. I uh..." Wait. She mentioned dying. "Oh shi-" Head turns back around, hands flying for the controls, but it is pretty much well a lost cause as his guy is pounded to the ground with a rather graphic and bloody finale. Whoops.

 

Uhh...... Er? Mini-Wince. "Ah, I am sorry, I distracted you." There go some of Chase's valuable playing credits. "But really, that was quite blood-filled." Nope, she's not one of those girls that revels in gore, but the extent modern games go to just amazes her sometimes. Rainey returns his smile, if a bit apologetically. "If you'd like, you can use my card to play one game." Yes, she too is there for recreation - she holds up one of the little paper payment cards.

 

Chase gives the game a slight tap in annoyance, but is turning slightly to offer Rainey a faint smile. "No worries. I was about ready to die anyway." Heck, he has seen worse then the stuff animated on that screen. Desensitized or something. Hand reaches up to take down his drink once more, slurping from the straw, "Ah, thank you, but that's alright. I've got plenty." That's what happens when you come back from a trip seeing the parental figures and you get some money for groceries -only to be blown on other things. "What do you play?"

 

Instead of responding, Rainey giggles - yes, giggles - and points. And she's definitely pointing in the direction of square metal pads and flashing arrows. "I found this after coming to New York, it is very fun." Ahh! Mental lightbulb! "Come play with me!" Tug tug. Yes, Rainey would be tugging on Chase's arm, trying to pull him over to the realm of the mesmerizing arrows and freaky characters dancing on the screens

 

Obligingly, Chase's gaze follows that finger, continuing on across the room to... "DDR?" He'll blink at the machines before looking back over to Rainey. Obviously his humiliation for the day isn't quite complete yet. Clearly his constellation must be in some sort of funky astrological placement to cause this much trouble in so short of a time. He slurps again from the straw before nodding his head. "Ahhhhhh, alright." But already being tugged along. "Never played this before, you know."

 

Rainey won't tease him for being bad. It's the rare person who's good at the game the first time around. "Then you can practice. It is good for coordination." Tug tug tug. Come to the dark side, Chase. Rainey leads the Genbu over to the machines, which are miraculously free, and she feeds her card into the slot before stepping on the first pad and pressing the arrows to determine her playng level and song. Obviously she's done this a lot. "You do not have to play if you do not want to, but it would be fun, do you not think?" She won't /make/ him. She's not as bad as Mina. But she'll be disappointed if he takes off now.

 

Chase isn't about to back down from a challenge -even if this isn't really one. After all, it is just some game, right? He puts his card in the slot as well, stepping into the second person's platform. The teenager gives an almost skeptical look at the screen before finally a faint smile breaks out. "Alright. Alright. I'm playing." Hey, he is coordinated. He can do this. Right?

 

Rain studies him for a moment - then smiles brightly. "Do not worry, I was not good when I first began either." And she's the classical dancer. "Here, I shall help." Nudging Chase just a bit to the side so she can reach the proper arrow, she first uses her pad to select the two-player version, then sets her level on a rather hard one and his on the beginner level. "When the arrows are at the top of the screen, step on the arrow that matches," she instructs, pointing at his pad to illustrate which arrows he should step on. Should be easy, right? No. But he won't die, like he would on hers. He shouldn't be too bad. She smiles again. "Just do not be tense. React, do not try to think ahead, and you should be okay." And then she selects the song - a rather easy one, to give Chase something easy - annnnnnnd... they're off!

 

Chase can do this. He is excels as simply reacting! Heck, he gets yelled at for reacting and not thinking all the time. This shouldn't be that difficult. Watching her set the levels, he frowns for a bit as he gets the beginner level. Ah well, have to start somewhere. A glance down at his feet, another sip of the soda, and then the wry smile, "Got it. Ready." And as the game starts, he is quickly setting that cup to the side and stepping the first arrow in the sequence. Naturally, off of when he is supposed to. Second and third are the same way, but after that he starts to get the hang of it.

 

See, you DDR in stages. You build up. Stupid people who started on a hard level first have actually been known to hurt themselves, mostly by getting so confused they trip themselves, fall, and crack their heads. Even Rainey started on the easy level, but she's definitely not there any more, as her steps are much, much more complicated than Chase's, involving much more jumping around to the perky pop-ish song, even some spins. She's played this one a lot, as she pretty obviously has the steps almost commited to memory, proven by her still able to get almost all 'perfects' while keeping an eye on Chase. "You are not bad!" she calls over the song, half-laughing as she does another spin. Much more effective to get the arrows.

 

Chase is also the kind of guy that thinks easy levels are for wusses -and then promptly loses. He licks his lips, hitting a few more arrows in a fairly easy sequence. But it is all of that dizzying spinning next to him that causes the boy to flicker his attention to Rainey, and then blink. "Damn." She makes it look good. He is currently making it look like a stumbling ape. Of course, with that moment in inattention, he loses whatever focus he had, and completely loses his place with the arrows as well. One miss after another, after another. D'oh! Concentrate, boy!

 

Fortunately for Chase - or perhaps unfortunately - DDR tends to be short. Only a couple minutes later (though it seems shorter for Rain, and probably much longer for Chase), the final arrows come up and go, the song's over, and the results are displayed. Rainey stops bouncing around, not even breathing hard, as she gives her own scores a cursory glance before taking a closer look at Chase's- and then giving a nod of approval. "That is not bad. For your first time, you did well. I did worse when I began." And she gives him another smile, well aware of how he must be kicking himself now - she did the same thing. "I began many months ago, and have played frequently since then. As with most things, you must practice to be good. But you may be very good." His dexterity's amazing, of course he'd be good with some practice.

 

Yes, those are some very long minutes. Very, agonizingly long minutes. He squints at his score, his smile wry, and then looking over at Rainey's side. Okay, that is going to elicit a blink, and then a peer at her, "Okay, so you totally kicked my ass right then." He reaches over to reclaim the cup and another drink is quickly taken. "It wasn't so bad though. At least I didn't trip over myself and make a complete fool out of myself too." See, some sort of bright side. In teasing he drops a hand to his stomach and sways his hips back and forth for a moment, following with a wink in teasing. "Damn good."

 

Poor Chase. Rainey's much more the giggling type than the teasing type though, at least when it comes to Chase, so that's what she does, giggle. Fortunately, she's not one of those annoying gigglers. "Remember, I have een practicing a long time." She gives him a wink of her own. "I have seen people do just that, so no, you did not do bad." But then she has to blink at his hip-swivel and wink, and then giggle again. "Yes, 'damn good'." Yes, she quotes him, grinning herself. It's always fun to find someone who you can tease with.

Chase rolls his eyes, more at himself then anything else. Hip-lean against the front of the game. "And you're the dancer too. Obviously, I was out-classed from the start." One arm leans rather negligently against the screen as well. "Should have figured. But, I will have to practice up and take you on again soon." Preferably not on the beginners lever either.

"Of course I am a dancer, I have been a dancer for many years." Though her regular-ol' sneakers and jeans don't really give it away. Rainey smiles, though. "But it is very different from ballet - it is more like club dancing. That reminds me, I must find a discotheque here..." Because she needs some place to get out on weekends. And Rainey smiles again. She does that a lot, apparently, especially around people who aren't trying to freak her out with strange stories. "I would be glad to play with you again, Chase. It is always more fun with a friend."

 

"Disco-what?" Chase nearly echoes, looking at Rainey with a quirked grin. "You'll have to run that one by me again." The game looks like it involves dancing, but Chase is fairly sure it is just a lot of panting and stomping at this moment -although she makes it actually seem like a dance. Ah well. "You're on then, Rainey." He will behave and take her words at face value, the good boy that he is. Another lift of his drink, and it is in that movement when he notices the numbers on his wristwatch. Erk. "Oh, shoot. I've got a thing... sorry to play and run on you, but I need to go."

 

"Discotheque," she repeats, and it sounds somewhat like "disco-teck," as always with a bit of that Frenchness thrown in. "It is a place where teenagers and adults may dance. There are many in France." And most of the places here only admit the over-18 crowd. She's not quite there yet, damn. And yes, she only meant those words at face value - mostly because she doesn't know they can have secondary values, yet. She'd be so bad at innuendo-flirting, at least in English. But then she must blink at his taking off, but nod. "Yes, it is best not to miss an appointment. We shall play again later." And then she's giving him another smile and a cheerful wave before turning to the game again and selecting yet another song - and if Chase sticks around, he would see something that'd make his jaw drop, even after her previous performace.